"Oh, get on the floor and dance," Hannah shoos at me after watching me refuse Josh's offer. She's standing, about to go on the floor with Derek, and the others are all already on the dance floor. It's crushing, having her encourage me to do something as minor as that with him. She has no idea, and yet it feels like a form of betrayal.

I set my clothed napkin down on the table and stand up, my chest tight. Josh also stands and takes my hand to guide me to the floor. Him holding my hand is just setting in stone that I am trapped in this relationship. We get on the floor, his hand taking my waist and pulling me close to him. A slow song wraps around us, and I feel so incredibly broken in his arms. I don't want to touch him, and I don't even look up at those eyes. The ring glimmers under the light, and I want to throw it.

My eyes fall behind his shoulder, finding Louis slow dancing with Mia. He has a hand on her waist and holds the other hand, keeping the slightest distance so they don't cross any boundaries out of respect for her relationship. Although his eyes lock with mine, and I am in pieces. My heart is shattered glass on the floor that Josh is stepping all over. All of these people are in this room, and I can't take my eyes off those blue eyes. It's suffocating. I can't breathe.

"After this, I am literally going to kill you. Keep disrespecting me. I dare you," Josh whispers lowly, his lips close to my ear. I finally break eye contact with Louis. My heart and soul are demolished. I can't do this anymore. How is it that Louis noticed everything before any of my friends did? How is it that Mia saw the fear in my eyes and none of the people that supposedly love me saw? Maybe Josh is right. I leave him, and I will have no one. Everyone is wrapped around his finger. Everyone. My family even adores him. "You are never getting out of this damn relationship, so stop trying to fucking test me," he warns lowly.

That's just it—a loveless relationship for the rest of eternity. I'll die of a broken heart, or he may get pissed enough to end me physically. There is only one thing left for me at this point. I break away from his hold, a shaky breath escaping me. My eyes lock with those demonic ones that have held me in restraints long enough.

"What are you doing?"

My heart drops. Everyone else here disappears. Just me and him, those eyes are blaring through me with disgust. I can't do it anymore.

"Why don't you love me anymore?" I ask, my voice unsteady.

"What?" He looks at me like I have two heads, but that anger is still very much within him.

"You hurt me, Josh. I fell in love with you, and you have hurt me physically and emotionally. You took advantage of my love, and it had always been hard for me to trust people after what happened with my parents," I get out weakly, the pain ripping through my throat. My eyes are blurring, and I'm scared others can hear.

"People are looking at us," his voice deepens.

I am not staying in a loveless relationship because you're forcing me to. It's over. It's really over," I muster out with all the will that's left in me.

"Excuse me?" his voice becomes lower. Darker. He steps closer—my breath hitches in my throat. "You leave, and you will have no one," he whispers. My bottom lip trembles and I don't respond. I turn, and I dart so fast for the table. I grab my clutch and make a beeline for the exit. Maybe I really will lose them all, but were they really even there to begin with when they have ignored any cry for help?

I dash outside, picking my dress up so I won't trip. The ball is my safety net. He won't chase after me in front of everyone, and he doesn't want any unwarranted attention that will be drawn his way. He wants to stay on that high pedestal in everyone else's eyes. My heart is racing, and warm tears are escaping down my cheeks. A cab is outside, waiting to pick up anyone that wants to leave this function.

I quickly get into the back seat, my heart hammering against my chest. "Megan," Josh is heard yelling, proving me wrong. Maybe he doesn't care about the attention, and maybe he'll use this to make me look bad in everyone else's eyes. I shut the door so fast that my dress gets caught in the door.

"Where to?"

"Just drive, please," I plead, frantically looking for a lock on the door, and I cannot lock it manually. My heart races, finding Josh running right for the cab. The driver stalls and I'm terrified that he will get here in time and rip me right out. The driver finally starts off onto the road, and I let out a shaky breath.

"I need an address, Miss," the man grumbles.

I double blink, my throat now parched. My lips fall slightly, and I stammer a little. Finally, I tell him to take me back to the campus before I sink into the seat. My hands cover my wet face, and my heart won't settle. I did it. I officially just ran from Josh, but he's going to chase me back to the dorm. I need to get my things and get to my car before he has a chance to get to campus.

It feels like it takes ages getting to the dorm as if the driver is out to get me. He probably got there in good timing, and my mental state is all over the place. Once in my room, I take no time to shove random clothes into my toiletry bag. My hands are trembling, and my heart is all over the place. My body could give out on me at any given moment. These heels already bring an ache to my feet, and almost slipping on this dress doesn't help.

I can't breathe. I can't think. I need to get out before he finds me and actually kills me. I'm too scared to be face to face with him. He's too sinister of a person. He wants to keep me under his control his whole life, and I'm afraid I will be dead if things don't go his way. I rip that ring off my finger and toss it onto my bed. It felt more like a collar put on a dog by its owner than ever felt like a promise.

Someone pounds heavily on the door, and I drop the bag to the floor. My heart has stopped in my chest, stuck in my throat. I can't move, and I don't have an out. The windows in these dorms don't even open. My only escape is the door that he is on the other side of. It rattles, and this fear is pulsating through me. If I open it, his hands will instantly wrap around my throat. I have no way out.

"Go away," I plead, my voice giving out. "I'll call the police," I threaten, going to grab my phone, and my hands are too shaky to hold it.

"Megan, open the door," a different voice demands on the other side. I choke on my tears, my phone falling out of my hand. I unlock it, my heart going frantic as my eyes fall on Louis and Mia. He saw me dart out of there, and he came after me.

"What the hell happened?" Mia asks frantically.

"I need to leave. I'm running. I can't do it anymore. I need to go before he gets here," I whimper pathetically. I turn and grab my bag and phone from the floor. I hurry to grab my keys, this pain riveting in my chest. I don't even know where to go. I'm too terrified to go home. He knows where I live.

"You're coming to my flat," Louis states, suddenly taking my bag from my hands. I shake my head no, needing out of this town entirely.

"He doesn't know where Louis lives. You're not just running away with nowhere to go," Mia reasons. A shaky gasp escapes me, and she suddenly takes my car keys. "Do you want me to take your car to his flat? Louis will drive his back, and I'll take this, so he knows you're gone. You are not fit to drive. You had about five drinks and barely ate."

"I'm fine. Really. I can drive, and I will figure something out. Please give me back my keys before he gets here," I plead.

"No," Louis snaps. All I see is red, and my body trembles with fear.

"Louis, I'm not putting this burden on you or Jace. I will go to my brother's for the night and figure something out. I don't know, but I need to get out of London," I plead.

"You're not driving," he demands.

"Since when do you tell me what to do?" I snap back, defensive and aggressive, with this fear that Josh could arrive at any moment.

"Megan, you are not fit enough to drive, damn it," his voice echoes throughout my dorm.

"Louis," she warns, eyebrows raised.

"Mia, give me my keys," my voice wavers.

"You are not fucking driving," Louis stops me.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're not even my boyfriend. My boyfriend will be here at any damn moment and will rip me to shreds because you two won't let me leave," I scoff back.

"I already lost the love of my fucking life, and she lost her best friend to a car crash after she got hit by a fucking drunk driver. You are not going to fucking die in a crash because you're a crying, drunken mess."

I suddenly can't breathe, staring into those furious eyes. My head is spinning, and my heart has dropped entirely. I can't think straight. Mia's face is covered in sadness, and she looks away, a redness beginning to etch over her eyes. I don't know what to say or do. I assumed before that he was cheated on, which is why Jace was so protective over him. I was far off.

"Mia, drive her car to the garage. Megan, you're going with her so she can find it. Let's leave before he fucking gets here," Louis demands lowly, his fist balled up. This time I don't put up a fight. I gulp and nod, giving in. Mia clears her throat to fight back any tears. She touches my arm and guides me out of the room filled with such heavy tension.

I bring her to my white car without a word. Worry tugs at me that Josh may get here and find us. A sadness is consuming me, knowing the truth about Louis, and I don't even know what to say or do. Mia drives us back to his flat, parking my car near his, hidden away in a garage so that Josh would never find it. Mia doesn't say a word either, and I can tell she is hurting as well by what Louis said.

No one says another word. We get into his flat, and Finn is the only reason this flat isn't filled with total silence. Louis drops my bag by the door, and Mia sets my keys on the black table beside the door.

"I'm going to bed," she murmurs and breaks away from us to head off to her boyfriend's room. I don't know where Jace is, but he isn't here. My heart is heavy, and my hands dry off my wet cheeks. Louis waits until Mia's door is heard shutting before turning to face me. I gulp, not sure what to say.

"You can stay as long as you want, in the same bed as me or I can stay on the couch. I don't care. You're not leaving tonight," he states lowly. I swallow, my eyes focused on his. I want to thank him for doing this, and I want to apologise for what he has been through. I still can't find it in me to say anything. "If you still want to end whatever we have been doing, I won't stop you, but you aren't going anywhere until you sober up."

I had said that I wanted to part ways out of fear of Josh already knowing about us or having an inclination about the two of us. I don't want to part ways with him, especially after what he had admitted inside my dorm. My heart is stuck on him among all these emotions whirling through me. Finally, I can feel enough to move. I grab his suit jacket and pull him into me before wrapping my arms around his torso. His arms wrap around me, one hand tangling through my hair. My watered-down mascara stains his shirt as I bury my face into his chest.

He is my safe haven. He has been through so much and still did what he could to protect me, a random girl he had met on a beach. Whether or not we make something out of this or end up dropping everything, he will forever keep a piece of my heart because he is the sole reason I am finally free.