"P-peter?", I manage to whisper once the shock settled down a little, but I still can't believe it.

One of my best friends, one of the persons who approached me on my first day in the new high school, who showed me around with a wide genuine smile on his face, have now betrayed me. Stabbed me in the back, hard.

I ain't gonna lie. It hurts, his betrayal aches in my heart, it feels as a cold hand has it grip around it, like it's going to crush it any second.

The moment I saw Peter, I could almost hear my heart break, not like when you're getting dumped by a partner, not like when you hear that you're friend have been spreading rumors about you, but as you figure out you've been living in a lie. All the moments I had with Peter, were they true or just an act? Does he care about me at all?

I know it sounds like my world scattered around me, like my heart been broken beyond repair, but it's not quite true, mostly it's because of the shock of seeing him of all people standing in the doorframe, speaking casually with my kidnappers.

I'm hurt, but I will heal.

I'm sad, but soon the anger will replace my despair.

I'm confused, and I'm going to crave for answers.

Peter stabbed me in the back, but I'm going to take the dagger and figuratively speaking shove it in his heart, and twist it. Letting him feel the same pain like me, letting him understand how much a betrayal hurts.

I'm going to get under his skin and crave for revenge.

I'm not going down without a fight, and I sure as hell can put up a good one.

Deep in my thoughts, I don't realize that everyone in the room is dead silent, not until now.

A thousand different questions fill my head, and somehow. my brain decides to ask Peter for the least important one.

"Does Patricia know?" If his girlfriend, my friend, is also a part of this, I don't know how I will react but I can tell you one thing for sure.

I'm going to have serious trust issues from now on.

Peter meets my penetrating stare and shakes his head. "No, she doesn't and I'm not planning on changing that either."

My heart feels a little bit lighter at his words, put he only answered one question and I got a lot of them left.

"And Parker?", I ask, not showing any feelings on my face. Honestly, I'm surprised I can even talk to him without breaking down or trying to choke him, but then there's my ankle, which hurts almost as much as my heart.

Once again, Peter shakes his head in response. "It's just me, Allie."

I flinch at the old nickname no one else than Peter and Lindsey calls me, but now when I hear it coming out from his mouth, it sends chiller down my spine and makes me want to puke.

"Don't call me that", I spit out with as much venom in my mouth as possible.

The anger that's boiling inside of me suppresses some of the pain in my ankle, but tears are resting in the brim of my eyes and Will, who is standing beside Peter by the door, notice.

"Dude", he says to Nick, "you should check her ankle, like right away."

I feel Nick move slightly as I haven't moved from my spot on his lap, and he places one of his hands on my shoulder and turns my face towards him. As he sees my tears, something that looks like sympathy flashes by in his dark eyes before it quickly disappears again.

"Let's go to the bathroom and get your ankle fixed", he sighs and I immediately start shaking my head repeatedly.

"No, I'm fine." I try to sound as steady as possible and not showing any pain, but Nick easily sees through my lie.

"You just found out your best friend betrayed you, your ankle is broken and you are obviously in pain, both mentally and physically. You are not fine. You're devastated", he states.

Realizing his words are true, I bow down my head and let my hair fall in front of my face, hiding it. If they are feeding on my despair, I'm not going to give it to them that easily.

I only turn my face up after a few second to send Peter a death glare, full of all the mixed feelings I'm having that are tearing me apart. Sorrow, confusion, anger, fear, disappointment, pain.

"He is not my best friend", I state in a whispering tone, "He is not my anything. The only thing he is even capable of being is a heartless monster, and he fills that role quite well."

Peter tilt his head a bit and keeps his eyes on me for a few seconds before speaking.

"Sorry, Allie."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. With those words, he crossed the line.

A heating warmth quickly flows through my veins, anger, and this time, I can't keep it inside. I don't have the strength nor the will. Before I am able to control myself, I am shouting out my anger towards him.

"Sorry?! You say you are sorry? You're not sorry at all. But I am! I'm sorry I ever got to know you, I'm sorry we ever met. I'm sorry you're such a callously bastard and I'm sorry the air is letting you breathe. I'm sorry for Patricia who doesn't know what kind of person you are and I'm sorry I ever got here, and I'm sorry for your whole existence!"

Everyone in the room looks at me with open mouths, surprised over my outburst.

"Alex, listen to me", Peter is almost pleading, but his eyes are empty of feelings, "I mean it, I'm sorry."

I clench my jaw and shakes my head at him.

"Sorry for being the reason I'm here or sorry for getting caught?"

Peter didn't have time to answer before Nick interrupts our argument.

"Enough!", he said in a raised tone, causing my to jump a little since he practically yelled in my ear.

"We're off to the bathroom", he mutters and before I have time to say anything else, he puts a hand under my knees and the other on my back, and stands up, with me in his arms.

I start to squirm and kick with my arms and the foot which aren't sore, but Nick ignores me and just stride out of the room like nothings weird is going on.

Once we reach the bathroom, he puts me on top of the sink and I pout at him.

"I can actually-", I start but he interrupts me.

"What?", he raises an eyebrow in a questionable look, "walk yourself? I don't think so."

I cross my arms in front of my chest, anger boiling inside of me.

"I wouldn't be hurt if it wasn't for you guys!" I defend myself, earning a doubtful glare from Nick.

"So you are saying that it's our fault you decided to climb onto the roof?" He chuckles slightly and takes a soft grip around my ankle, his fingertips icing cold against my swollen skin. I flinch and yelp in pain and tries to take back my ankle by a reflex, but he holds it in a firm grip and won't let go.

"No", I hiss through clenched teeth as he stretches out his hand to the drawers under the sink and pulls out a white bandage, "I'm saying it's your fault I'm here, and if I wasn't, none of this would've happened."

I let him bandaging my ankle and I clench my fists in a weak attempt to hold back the pain. Everything is dead silent until his hands leave the bandage and he straightens up. I look down at my red foot, now wrapped in a bandage.

"Blame us as much as you like", Nick speaks up and eyes my as I get off the counter and tries to walk on my own, "it still won't change anything."

I curse as I put on some weight on my sore ankle, and immediately release it from the ground. All the people who say all you have to do is believe, probably haven't tried to walk with a broken ankle. Trust me, I do want to be able to walk on my own, but even though I'm trying my best, my own free will isn't enough. Instead, I'm leaning against the wall, standing on one leg. Nick watches me with an amused grin on his face.

"Need help?"

I shake my head in response, and - of course - he ignores it and closes the distance between us.

"You know", he whispers in my ear as he presses his body against mine, with the wall behind me preventing me from moving further, "for being such a beauty, you're really stubborn."

"And do you know", I say in a low voice as I try to ignore the lack of room between us, "that for being such a jerk, you're sure as hell also can fill the role as a possessive maniac too."

His gaze locks with mine.

"Why so?", he purrs in my ear and starts nibbling my earlobe. I try to push him away but almost loses my balance and therefore stops.

"Because", I start with a lighter tone, "you're a jerk, you're possessive and all of you guys here are maniacs, it's easy math."

Nick puts his hand on my hip, and this time, I do use all my force to push him away, but he stays on the same spot. He stays exactly the same except for a growing smirk on his face and he turns his face towards me again and with one of my hands, I push his hand off of my hip, but instead he just grabs my hand instead and interlaces our fingers.

I give out a sigh of frustration, trying not to show him the fear that I can feel creeping back. All the anger that have been boiling inside of me have now cooled down, being replaced with the familiar feeling of fear.

"I'm neither a jerk, possessive nor a maniac", Nick states. "I'm just a guy who lives to the fullest and takes what I want."

"And there you go again!", I complain, "you can't just take me and claim me being yours! I'm not a pet and you can't keep me here forever."

His eyes turn a shade darker and with his free hand, he starts following the contours of my collarbone, pushing my body against the wall as I struggle under his gentle touch.

"Gorgeous, I can do whatever I want, when I want it. And guess what? I don't want to let you go, so I won't. Easy math, huh?"

Despite the situation, I give out a dry laugh.

"If that's what you think, you're wrong."

He moves his hand from my collarbone and starts following my jawline. When he speaks again, his voice is full of amusement, not even the slightest serious.

"You think you can escape me? You're going to stay here, gorgeous, even if I so have to break you."

The creeping fear inside of me takes a few steps back and let the anger come back.

"Oh, I don't think I can escape from you, I know I can." Somehow, I manage to sound very confident.

Nick shakes his head, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he does so.

"Before you even taken a step outside this mansion, outside the fences, you'll be broken."

I raise my perfectly shaped eyebrows. "That's what you think?"

"Gorgeous, that's what I know."

I shake my head, my black hair dancing around my face. "You're wrong."

"Wanna bet on it?", he teases. My icy blue eyes shoot up to face his almost dark ones.

"Game on."