We withdrew then as he stroked a hand against my hair. I could only lean into him as he sat beside me now on the bed.

"So I heard you went to pick Raven up? How did that go?" I made the small talk and he nodded, pulling the blanket further onto me.

"It went fine." He said not surprising me with his clipped answers, but the following thing did. It was only for a second yet I noticed the change, making my eyes widen.

Justin had just smiled.

________________________

Think, it was all he could do, recalling a mere few minutes ago in the car.

"Of course you don't understand. I look in those stunning grey eyes of yours everyday and you wanna know what I see?" She murmured coarsely and he didn't respond, only looked to her with that very gaze she was describing. She pursed her lips for a moment before speaking again.

"In those eyes, I see nothing: no emotion, no want and definitely no fight. It's true when you said you would act no different for anyone because there's nothing else you can give."

At that moment, he could not understand what he had done to warrant such upset. The look on Raven's face had been one of anguish and it frustrated him to think he may be the cause, for reasons he couldn't even figure out.

Yet now, when he looked to her perusing through the shop shelves, it had felt as though that raw moment hadn't existed at all; like it had been a figment of his imagination. But, he wasn't one to manage such things; she had been upset.

"Raven." He called out, moving to her, basket in hand.

"Sweet or salted?" She responded, turning around with two popcorn packets in her hand and a nonchalant smile on her face. He shook his head at this, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to talk about what happened in the car." He answered bluntly, making her tense, her lips pursing into a thin line. He wasn't one to forgo an issue; it would only cause it to grow.

"There's nothing to talk about, so just leave it. We're good." She muttered with a huff, turning away from him and he let out a sigh, relenting for the time being.

"Sweet." He answered and she grimaced, her nose scrunching up as she threw it in the basket.

"Why did I even ask Mr. Sweet Tooth?" She teased and his lips quirked up slightly at her words as they waded through the aisle. Still, his grey eyes remained blank as he glanced at the shelves.

"Fine, add Nutella and pickles to the basket then." He spoke in a serious tone, despite the joking words, recalling her odd eating habits: pickles and Nutella was a snack she had brought when they had gone on a camping trip together. At his words, she turned to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed softly. He merely watched her blankly, icy gaze intrusive as a small wave of silence passed. He would have questioned her on it them had it not been for her turning away, scoffing as she reached for some sour sweets on the high shelf.

"I'll focus on grabbing the snacks; you should focus more on the leering eyes." She teased, smirking at him with a side glance. He followed where her gaze flitted in confusion, turning to see a brunette looking to him as she pushed her shopping trolley. She smiled as his gaze met hers, but he didn't return it, merely turning back to Raven with a blank look.

"Why focus on something so unnecessary?" He murmured, grabbing the sour sweets for her. She frowned at this, snatching it out of his hand before shoving it into the basket.

"What's unnecessary is you playing dashing hero!" She snapped, edging forward and he raised an eyebrow at this as he followed her around the corner.

"I wasn't playing hero; I was getting tired of wasting time watching you struggle." He responded just as quick and with sheer honesty. If he was trying to play anyone's hero, he would have made it known.

"So charming." She droned and his lips quirked up slightly at her words, but he said nothing as they reached the checkout counter.

"Have you ever thought that sometimes you can be too honest?" Raven questioned, eyeing him as they placed the items on the conveyor belt.

"There's no such thing as too honest. You either honest or dishonest, there's no in between." He answered with the only response that made sense. He had never seen reason to lie nor the appeal. Despite knowing that his honesty would sometimes makes ruffles, it never deterred him from being that way. After all, at least people knew where he stood and how to navigate themselves around him. Raven let out a small laugh in response, shaking her head incredulously.

"See, it's always just the 'black and white' that you see. You can never see the grey spaces; never see what's between the lines." She mused and he turned to her at this, light eyes searching hers with curiosity.

"Then tell me. Tell me what I'm missing; what I can't see." He answered just as quick and Raven let out another laugh at this, moving to get her wallet out, but Justin had already placed his phone up against the machine, making it beep in acceptance.

"Okay then, what do I tell you then? What exactly can you not see that I can offer my great help for?" She joked, placing her wallet back with a huff.

"Start with why you were mad at me." He spoke without hesitation, making Raven's gaze snap to him, any essence of her smile long gone. It was a moment that passed as she processed his words before she looked away, green eyes hard.

"Justin..." She began hesitantly and he shook his head.

"Don't push it off again." Was all he said and she let out a sigh before looking up to his eyes, her own gaze carrying a tumultuous storm that made something tug inside him. Still, he remained still as she sighed, opening her mouth to speak.

"Would you like your receipt?"

They both turned their gaze to the woman working at the till, her smiling eyes solely on Justin. In that small moment, he felt a small essence of frustration run through him, especially when Raven shuffled past him, grabbing the bags.

"Yes." He answered, turning to where Raven was placing the basket away.

"Give me the bags, I'll carry them." He answered and she sighed heavily, shaking her head.

"Don't sweat it." She muttered and he opened his mouth to speak, but it was then an arm extended the receipt to him and he turned to the smiling woman.

"It's got my number on it, just in case things don't work out between y'all." She answered suggestively and Justin felt a tug of annoyance, his icy eyes staring at her with no restraint.

"Forget what I said, I don't need the receipt." He said before turning and walking towards Raven, not waiting for a response.

She had walked away hurriedly almost as though to stay away from him and it made the frustration increase as he walked to where she was waiting besides the car.

"Open the door already." She called out as he neared, placing the bags on the roof of the car. He merely shook his head, making her frown.

"What do you me-"

He cut her off when he neared, pulling her closer with her forearm, his stern eyes not relenting as he stared at her rigid form.

"I don't like it." He spoke calmly and he felt her gulp, her back against the car.

"Like what?" She responded just as calmly, eyes searching his.

"I don't like that I make you mad and I don't like that I don't know why." He answered, voice deep, reverberating through her and a small silence passed as she stared at him.

It was for a moment, her eyes searing through his and his through hers before a gentle smile made its way to her face. It made him stiffen.

"It's not that I don't like you, Justin." She murmured softly, eyebrows furrowed together as she took him in with a focus that no one else had given him. Her smile widened then, green eyes glistening.

"It's the exact opposite."

_________________________

"Before, when I was leaving you in that hospital, you said something..." He trailed off and I froze instantly, knowing what he was talking about. That day in the hospital when he had left.

I watched in anxiousness as he regained his voice and spoke again.

"Well, I didn't have an answer then, but now I do." He said, looking down at me. I bit my lip and turned away. I was too mortified to look into his eyes. I considered running away from him, but immediately disregarded the thought when he pulled my face up to look at him, a sad look in his eyes.

"My answer is that I-" But, he was interrupted by someone calling his name.

We both turned abruptly to the voice and I stared hard. There stood a girl. Her hair as blonde as sunshine and her eyes an emerald green. She was looking at us and she had called Aaron's name.

But, who was she?

I turned to Aaron to see if he recognised her, but was only met with wide eyes. Aaron looked as though he had seen and ghost. His face had become significantly paler and he stood frozen to the spot. I was about to ask what was wrong, but Aaron opened his mouth and spoke.

"Avalon?" Aaron's voice rung out and he moved away from me.