That night, before Mason had to leave, Blake and Mason had decided to have one last hurrah as guys at the fighting club. Of course.

      Like yes, my last night before moving out, I'm going to go with my best friend to watch him beat people.

      I never understood guys' thoughts of fun.

      But I had to remember that they loved it. It was almost a regular for them, and it was always the two of them going together every time. (Except for when I stalked—I mean, followed them there those two other times.)

I honestly thought that was actually a good idea, though. The guys could have some bonding time alone before Mason left, and Sawyer, April, and I could have a girls night to ourselves.

And that's what we did.

We popped an unhealthy amount of popcorn, laughed until our stomachs hurt, and, of course, watched an enormous amount of Disney movies. What would be a night with little Sawyer without a Disney movie?

But all in all, everything went great. We all had a really good time, and all of the crap in my life seemed to float away for that short amount of time.

Everything was great, and then it wasn't.

My life just seemed to be like that, whether I liked it or not.

It was 2 am, and Sawyer had been laying down for about two hours now. (I was really hoping Blake wouldn't kill me if he found out she stayed up until midnight) but then I realized that he wasn't here and he could suck it. He was at a fighting club for Pete's sake.

April and I were chatting on the couch, getting to know each other more. She was telling me about how she grew up a couple hours from here in a town called Aricksville, and how she had two older sisters. Apparently her parents were never too fond of Mason, and things got really rocky between them. April moved away with Mason, and she hasn't really talked much with her parents since.

It made me sad to think that she doesn't talk to her parents, but at the same time the love she had for Mason amazed me. To give up her parents? And everything she had?

I couldn't ever imagine myself leaving my mom for a boy. But then I thought, I did. I left her for a summer to see Blake.

Whoa.

But he's my friend, that's different.

Anyway...

We were having a good time chatting and getting to know each other, when we heard the guys car pull up outside. We just kept talking and didn't think twice about it, when they walked in, and both of our eyes went wide.

I was getting deja vu all over again.

Blake walked in alongside Mason with a bloody face and hands, and so many cuts. It wasn't good.

"What the hell happened?" April cried.

I tried so say something, but I was stuck in shock. I had to shake it away and walk over to help.

Blake strutted straight to the kitchen, angrily fishing around for a rag. April and I looked over at Mason, waiting for a reply.

Mason sighed, "Jason. That's what happened."

Jason. Hearing his name made me want to hit something. Why did that little prick keep showing up everywhere? And what did he say this time to make Blake so mad? Honestly, Jason could breathe and Blake would beat him to a pulp.

I walked past April and Mason and ran into the kitchen, watching Blake huff and puff as searched around for something to help his cuts and bruises. I made my way over to him.

"Blake." I said, but he ignored me, still breathing heavy and looking around frantically. "Blake, calm down."

He didn't look at me, but he said, "Hadley, not now." In a strain. I couldn't tell what he was looking for now, he just looked angry.

"Blake." I pressed.

He then slammed his fist on the counter and yelled, "I said, not now!"

And then I shrunk.

He blew.

Both our eyes went wide, like we both couldn't believe that he just yelled so loudly. Especially at me.

I think he started to shrink, too, because as soon as he realized what he'd done, he sighed, and all I could see was regret.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, that I probably ran off to my room and cried. But I didn't. Yes, I shrunk, and yes, I wasn't expecting that, but I stayed.

"I-I'm." Blake stuttered. He actually stuttered. And then he wiped his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, Hadley."

He looked at me with those piercing green eyes, and I saw some sentiment. But I set my mouth in a straight line and said sternly, "Sit your ass down."

He looked down at me, showing no more emotion, and eventually did as he was told.

I looked around and found the first aid kit, and a rag. I got the rag and poured some peroxide on it. I was going to warn him that it would hurt, but I was mad at him for yelling. So, I took the rag and pressed it on his forehead, where the biggest cut was. He immediately hissed and latched his hand on my arm sitting on my side.

"Damnit, Hadley!"

I looked at him sarcastically and said, "Oh, it might sting a little."

He looked up at me in annoyance, and said, "Why are you being like this?"

I looked at him like he was dumb. "I don't appreciate being yelled at."

He let go of my arm, which I just now realized he was still holding onto. "I said I was sorry."

I sighed, and dabbed my rag at the cut. "What happened?"

He looked down. "I got into a fight." He said, like I was dumb. Like, duh, I went to a fighting club. What do you expect?

"I know that." I sighed. "I know it was with Jason. What did he do?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, and then I put my hand in his. He looked distraught for a moment, until I pressed the rag on his cheek. He hissed again and squeezed on my hand, but not enough to hurt it.

After a moment, he said, "Jason just likes to stir up trouble."

I looked in his eyes, waiting for a serious answer. And then he sighed. "He threatened me, and it pissed me off."

I lowered the rag from his face, and noticed how close were. He was sitting on the stool, legs wide, and I was standing in between them. We were so close that my breath started to hitch in my throat.

"Threatened? What did he threaten you with?" I asked, dumbfounded. Jason really was an idiot. We all knew that. But what was he dumb enough to threaten Blake with?

His eyes searched my face, and I could feel his breath fan my cheeks. He looked down at my mouth, and then up to my eyes. That's when he whispered...

"You."
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A/N: yay! New chapter. Tell me what you guys think!

Stay safe<3

-EllaRose