"Come on Avery. Don't be such a grump," Sophia pleaded, standing outside of my car door with a pout. I just shook my head at her and crossed my arms over my chest.

I know I said I would participate, but now I'm tired and would much rather be in my bed. I'm sure if Sophia knew what happened to me today, she'd immediately send me home. At the same time, if I told her she'd start interrogating me. She's gone an entire hour without bringing anything up and I'd like to keep that streak up.

Sophia pursed her lips and squinted at me before reaching to unbuckle my seatbelt again. I immediately grabbed her wrist in my hand and gave her a slight jab on her waist where I knew she was the most ticklish.

She yipped in surprise and yanked away from me. While she gave me the death glare, I leaned back in my seat with an amused smirk. We held each other's stare for a few beats until a slow, coy smile spread across her face.

Sophia opened her car door as much as it would go. I cocked my head and watched her with furrowed brows and she stalked closer to me. She slid her hands towards me with sensual deliberation. I held my breath as she swung a leg over my lap and adjusted herself so she was straddling me.

The car didn't allow for perfect positioning, but that didn't take away from the intensity of the moment. Sophia crowded my space to the point where there was nowhere else to look but into her eyes. Mischief danced there; unbounded and unapologetic.

I should've been afraid. She had me completely captivated and under her spell. My hands were drawn to her waist, circling her as if she was the one who needed protection. It should've terrified me how her skin felt like flames beneath my fingers, even through the layers of clothing.

But the only thing I felt was fascination. My heart was crashing against my ribcage, begging to join her mischief in their freedom. It begged to feel without repercussions for once.

Sophia's face leaned in close. Her eyelashes brushed against mine, beckoning them to close. I complied, slowly closing my eyes and gripping Sophia's waist to compensate for the loss of sense. The only sounds I could hear were my harsh breaths and my erratic heart.

Her nose dragged up my throat and there was a sharp inhale from me. When she reached my jawline, her face pulled away from me. My heart fluttered, waiting to experience Sophia's next touch.

Suddenly, there was an indistinguishable click and Sophia's weight disappeared from my lap. My eyes flew open just in time to see her yank me from my seat. I stumbled with a startled gasp but was able to go through the motion without actually falling.

With a hand over my chest, I struggled to gather my bearings and get my breathing back to normal. Sophia wasted no time shutting the door behind me and locking the car as I recuperated.

Once I was able to fully comprehend what had just occurred, all I was able to do was watch Sophia with an open mouth. She stood there sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs over her stomach. I was frozen in place as waves of emotions washed over me.

The first to come was embarrassment. It came with the desire to be swallowed by the ground and sputters for an explanation. The next was anger. It made my fist clench and my teeth grit together to keep something crude from getting past.

The last to come was indescribable. Maybe because it was hard to separate from everything else I was feeling. But it made me grab her hands in mine and slam her against the door of the car.

The shocked gasp she gave could've come from the both of us; it was hard to tell right then. I was too focused on holding her there, not letting her go.

I wasn't trying to hurt Sophia. My grip was loose enough to where if she really wanted to, she could slip away. And she was rational enough to do so. The overcast of lust clouding her eyes was clear as day, but it wasn't enough to take over her entire judgment. Her mind was right enough for her to decide whether or not she wanted this.

Moments passed and Sophia didn't do so much as flinch.

"What's going on here?" a bemused voice called out from behind us.

Any other day, I would've jumped in fear and begun to apologize to Sophia in a million different ways. But after what just happened, here and in the car, I couldn't bring myself to. In this space of time, there was a blanket of understanding over us.

Sophia had taken us to a place uncharted and in this place, we found that I can stand up to her. Maybe tomorrow the blanket will be blown away and I'll go back to being dangerously in love. For right now though, I was in love and alive.

I released Sophia's hands from mine and took just enough of a step back for me to sidestep out of her line of sight. I leaned against the car with an obnoxious demeanour and watched her fix her posture and hair. Sophia threw a playful glare my way before clearing her throat.

"Ethan!" she greeted happily, jogging up the driveway to meet him. I followed behind her at a much slower pace and watched as she launched herself into his arms.

His nose was still wrinkled in confusion as he returned the hug. Eventually his eyes fell on me, and his expression became more perplexed. When I reached the both of them, Ethan released Sophia from his hold.

"Sophia who's this?" he asked slowly, scanning my face.

Sophia and I shared a look of confusion before Sophia turned back to Ethan and took him by the shoulders.

"Avery." she stated, tilting her head. "You met her when you did me that favor and came to the school?"

Ethan's eyes continued to search my face until something visibly dawned on him and he began shaking his head in earnest.

"Oh yeah," he coughed, his face flushed. His eyes jumped back and forth between nothing at all for a few moments before speaking again."Sorry about that. It's good to see you again Avery. Why don't we go inside? It's hot out here."

It was actually a cool 70 degrees outside that was being accompanied by a frequent breeze; if anything I wished I had a sweater. Nevertheless, Sophia and I followed him inside and let him close the door.

I had let the whole moment go, chalked it up to a short-term memory. But then he started to wring his hands and bite his lip. The humming is what threw Sophia over the edge.

"Ethan, why didn't you remember Avery? You and I both know that your memory is impeccable," Sophia asked, stepping directly in front of him so he was forced to look at her.

His eyes slid off to the side and I could tell he thought about lying to her. However, I'm sure his experiences with lying to Sophia have gone as well as mine and that's what discouraged him.

He sighed, turning to face me. "You have much more bruises than before. They're almost disfiguring."

My hand immediately flew to my face. When my palm met bare skin instead of the fabric of my hood, a drop of panic ran through me. In the midst of Sophia and I's engagement, my hood must've fallen off revealing the worst of what Chris had done today.

When I went home earlier, I did my best to ice my face and neck, but it obviously wasn't enough. My cheek and neck were a vile shade of purple and yellow when I left the house. Based on Ethan's reaction, I doubt that's gotten any better.

Sophia's eyes flickered to me and did the same scan Ethan's did earlier. The wrinkles in her forehead told me she was doing her best to control her expression. Even so, her worry and anger were obvious. Whether she was angrier at me for not telling her or the person who did this to me was unclear.

"Sophia! Avery!" Drake came calling as he rounded the corner. "You made it. What's going- Avery what did he do to you?"

Drake's enthused yell had trailed off into a horrified whisper, as his eyes walked the beaten path of bruises. I was beginning to feel like a zoo animal. No one was actually touching me but their gazes felt enough like hands.

Sophia's entire being snapped towards Drake's direction. She took a few steps into his space.

"Why did you say "he"? Do you know who did this to her?" she demanded, her fist clenching at her sides.

Drake may have been preoccupied with Sophia's presence at the moment, but I knew he could feel the third-degree glare I was giving him right now. He needed to know that anything he's afraid of Sophia doing to him, I will do ten times worse if he tells her.

Really everyone but Sophia knows that it's Chris who was assaulting me. And keeping it that way is the only goal we can agree on.

"No. I'm just assuming that it was a guy," he shrugged, nonchalantly.

Sophia held him under a careful glare for a few more moments, before turning back towards Ethan and me.

"Will you help her with her injuries?" Sophia asked, eyes on Ethan. I gave her a bored look with a tilt of my head.

Sophia laughed humorlessly, shaking her head. "Don't even. You're lucky I'm not hauling your ass to the ER. Go with Ethan."

And even though I had finally had the courage to say no, the exhaustion in her eyes was what made me follow Ethan down the hallway.

Δ

"So you and Sophia are..." Ethan trailed off, slowly wrapping the gauze around my arm. I wiggled in my place on the counter, my ears turning pink. I was hoping that wouldn't come up.

Our conversation had jumped around to a million places. By this point, I assumed Ethan would be nice and forget about what he had seen outside. Luckily for me, I had seen some things of my own.

"So you and Drake are..." I mocked and immediately watched his face explode red. Bingo.

One of our various topics was how close he, Drake, Seth, and Sophia were. The enormous amount of love they all had for each other was clear. But the way he spoke about Drake was different.

Seth was his brother and Sophia was his best friend, but Drake was his, well, Drake.

"It's not what you think Avery," he defended, shakily kneading cream into my shoulder.

I hummed. "Don't worry, I get it. My lips are sealed," I promised, making a zipping motion over my lips.

He rolled his eyes at the action but helped me slide off the counter regardless. I tested out moving my body around and found it sizeably less painful than before. I may be wrapped up tighter than a mummy, but at least every step won't result in a wince.

"Now I don't actually study medicine. I just read a book or two every now and then. So if something goes wrong, blame Sophia," he disclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender.

I laughed quietly, nodding my head. "Will do. Let's go see what the others are doing."

He led us down the hallway to a closed door. Even from a few feet away, I could hear the screaming and commotion going on behind the door. I stopped in my tracks, giving Ethan an uneasy look. Did we really have to go in there?

"Don't worry, they do this all the time. They're probably fighting over what to eat for dinner," he reassured me, patting my shoulder.

Yeah, somehow that did not make me feel any better.