Alaina's P.O.V.

I wake up on Taylor's chest. He has his arm loosely around my waist. I blush a little because I haven't known him for very long and then I end up sleeping in the same bed with him and he doesn't have a shirt on. His hair is messy and over his face. I smile a little because he looks so cute. He moves a little and pulls me closer to him. I don't think he knows he did, but it gives me butterflies. I look at the clock and it reads 4:58. Great that means it's going to go off in two minutes. I try to get out of his grasps to turn off the alarm clock, but I can't get free. "I give up." I say in a whisper.

"You should never give up." I hear Taylor say.

"You're awake?" I ask and his eyes are still closed. Beep, Beep, Beep. I hear the alarm go off. Taylor pops up and turns it off and lays back in my bed.

"Yes, but I don't want to be." He says and looks up at me because I sat up. "I did an extra workout yesterday, so I'm skipping it today." He says still looking at me.

"Why are you so cute?" I ask and laugh at his reaction.

"I'm not. I'm manly and handsome." He says running his hands through his hair which doesn't help him look any less cute.

"If that's what you want to believe," I say and smile at him. Then there's a knock at the door.  Taylor sits up and groans. I get up and open the door. Trinity.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask and rub my eyes, but when I bring my hands up Trinity gasps. "What?" I ask and don't move.

"What happened to your hands?" She says and grabs one.

"I kinda started punching the brick wall," I say and she looks up at me concerned.

"Why?" She asks still concerned. 

"I'll tell you everything when we hang out," I say and she looks at me surprised.

"Everything?" She asks sounding excited and still surprised.

"Ya." I say and mock her girly tone.

"Ok, I'm going to grab you at 8:00." She says and looks at Taylor. She raises her eyebrows at me.

"No. Would you just go." I say and she laughs. I push her out and close the door shaking my head. Taylor mimics what Trinity did with her eyebrows. I gasp a little and hit him in the arm.

"I was joking jezzes." He says rubbing his arm.

Then I remember his friend or a person that messaged him. "Oh, your friend Sebastian I think that was his name, he messaged you saying something about having info." I say and Taylor's face drops.

"Oh, he's not really a friend more of an acquaintance." He says and grabs his phone. He messages something back but then turns to me. "Let's go through your music." He says and walks over to the desk. I follow him and unplug my phone. Once I turn it on it's like my old one except everything isn't organized how I like. I'll organize it later. I walk back to my bed and find my music app. Taylor sits down next to me.

"I have a lot of music and some of its country so this might take a while," I say and he shrugs his shoulders. I click random and the first song that comes on is She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. Taylor grabs my pillow and puts it against the wooden headboard and leans on it. I close my eyes to just listen, but Taylor pulls me. I end up in between his legs leaning on his chest. It's actually comfortable.

We don't move until I see the clock say 7:30. "I'm going to get ready to hang out with Trinity," I say and turn my head to look at him. He smiles at me and then kisses me. I still get those butterflies, but I think I'm getting used to them. I pull away and smile at him, he grins back at me. We both get out of my bed and grab our clothes. Taylor and I walk into our bathrooms at the same time. I smile remembering him kissing me and hop in the shower.

When I get done with everything I walk out the room and see Trinity sitting on my bed. "Hey." She says looking up from her phone.

"Hey, I'm all ready. Are you?" I ask knowing what she's going to say.

"Of course. Now come on. I told Taylor that I was stealing you so he's hanging out with Zack." She says pulling me out the door. I barely get enough time to grab my phone, keys, and wallet.

"So what store are you making me go to today?" I ask and hop in my car.

"Well once you tell me everything I'll tell you." She says and turns her full attention to me. I take a deep breath and tell her what happened. "My god, you're going to have to tell Greg sometime." She says and looks sad. She has known my grandparents as extra parents so it must be hard on her too, but I really don't want to think about it. I've had enough crying fiascos. 

"Ya I know. Hey but I have something happier to tell you. Now don't scream, squeal, or start talking really fast." I say and she looks at me confused. "Taylor kissed me," I say. She screams and then squeals. Of course, I even told her not too.

"Why didn't you tell, you should have told me. When did it happen? Did you kiss him back? Please tell me you kissed him back." She says really fast, but before she can get anything else out of her mouth I start talking.

"I couldn't tell you because of what happened. It happened when all of you slept over at my house on the 4 and yes I kissed him back." I say hoping I answered all the questions.

"Girl give me the details, not just what happened." She says still excited.

"I will, but first tell me where I need to drive to," I say and start my car.

"The mall. Now start talking." She says and buckles up. I laugh and give her all the details.

Taylor's P.O.V.

"K have fun," I say to Trinity and leave the room. I walk down to Zack's room and see him playing xbox. "Can I join?" I ask. Zack doesn't even look over he just nods his head. I grab the other remote and sign in.

Three hours into Gears of War 3

"Grenade," Zack says, but I get blown up.

"Damn," I say and Zack looks over at me.

"I told you." He says and shakes his head.

"I know, shut it," I say and wait for the game to begin again. Knock, Knock. Zack and I don't remove our eyes from our game. Then someone shuts it off.

"Hey?" Zack and I say and look at the person who ruined our fun.

"Miss. Helen." I say and both Zack and I pop up.

"Hi boys. Here to go through the physical with you." She says with her clipboard. She comes every four months and is second in command. She is one of the people that decide if you are fit enough to stay and healthy enough. Everyone fears her because she always finds something she doesn't like. "K who's first?" She says and looks at both of us. We both point to each other. "Both of you. Ok." She says and walks out of the room. I glare at Zack and he does it to me. "Come on." We here Miss. Helen say. We both jump and run to catch up with her. Here comes the hell, I think to myself and start doing the things she says.

Alaina's P.O.V.

"Ya that one's cute." I say even though I say it for most of them.

"You are so lucky I know fashion or I'd be walking out of here looking like a baboon." She says and gives me a look saying I should at least try.

"I told you I have no clue when it comes to fashion," I say in my defense.

"Fine, it's your turn to find some outfits." She says and pulls me off the wall.

"I don't want to." I say in a childish voice.

"But you're going to." She says in a motherly voice.

"Here try these." She says and puts a ton of clothes in my arms. This is going to be a long long day. I think to myself. I try on another outfit and I think it's the 50 one and walk out.

"That one looks really good on you. I like that blue on you. It makes those green eyes pop out." Trinity says and walks around me. 

"So I should get this one?" I ask hoping she says yes because this is really comfortable.

"For sure. Now you have like four regular outfits right?" She says and sounds excited. This can't be good. 

"Ya?" I say in confusion.

"Perfect." She says and hands me dresses.

"Not happening," I say shaking my head at her.

"Yes come on. You're going to the party with me so you'll need something." She says and pushes the dresses towards me. 

"Fine," I say and walk into the changing one. I get one of the dresses on, but it shows way too much so I put it in the no pile which is growing fast. I put another one on and walk out.

"Nope, try a different one." Trinity says and just looks at me. I change and walk out.

"Nope." She says and points back to the changing room. This happens for a while and then I walk out with another dress. It's a weird blue/green color and has a neat design in the middle.

Trinity gasps. "That one is gorgeous on you. It makes your eyes look beautiful." She says and walks around me. "You are getting that one whether you like it or not." She says and smiles at me.

"Can I be done now?" I ask in a whining voice. She laughs.

"Yes you can." She says and sits back down where her clothes are. I change into my normal clothes and walk out with the clothes I'm getting. We go to the cash register and pay for our new clothes. When we get to my car I open the trunk and we put our things in. 

"Are you inviting Zack to the party?" I ask and smile at her.

"He said he might come, but I'll persuade him in coming." She says with confidence.

"Then why do I have to come if your boyfriend is coming?" I ask and start my car.

"Because I want you to come and if we are drunk we need a driver I can trust to bring us home. You can bring Taylor along if you want." She says and smiles at me. I shake my head at her and laugh. She did a good job distracting me today with this shopping, but then I remember my grandma won't be at my graduation and I feel tears in my eyes. I try so hard not to disappoint my dad or grandparents and now they won't be there to see what I did. 

"Alaina pull over." I hear Trinity say. I do and she hugs me. "Hey, what's wrong?" She says and looks at me. 

"My grandparents won't be able to come to my graduation," I say and feel a tear go down my cheek. 

"Hey, but your friends will be there, your siblings and your mom will come." She says trying to lighten my mood. That is true but out of the three people, I want to go all of them can't. "Hey I'll drive the rest of the way." She says and opens her door. I slid into the passenger side and focus on the music playing. Before I know it I'm singing with Evanescence. "These wounds won't seem to heal. This pain is just too real. There's just too much that I can not erase." I sing and Trinity smiles at me. She and my family are the only people I'm comfortable singing in front of. I'm not horrible, but I'm not anything like great. Trinity pulls into the parking lot and we bring everything to our rooms. We start walking down the stairs and a woman comes up to us.

"Come with me." She says and starts walking back down the stairs.

"Excuse me. Why?" I ask confused and see Taylor and Zack walk up the stairs. They look like they've been through hell. What happened, I wonder.

"It's regular things." She says and turns around.

"Than I'm not coming if I don't know why," I say and fold my arms the boys look at me wide-eyed and moving their hands as if saying I shouldn't do that. I look at them confused.

"Do you know who I am?" The women asks.

"No." I say still with my arms crossed.

"I'm Miss. Helen." She says and looks at me like I should recognize her.

"Good to know. I'm Alaina." I say and Miss. Helen looks a little mad. Then Greg comes walking up the stairs. What is it today with everyone?

"Um, Alaina this is Miss.Helen." He says and looks over at Helen.

"We met. Why does she want me to come with  her?" I ask annoyed. 

"She is one who goes through physical training and decides if you are healthy enough to stay here." He says. Oh, ya Taylor was telling me about a woman that did that. He said she was a bitch and always finds something she doesn't like about you. Great and I just ticked her off. This isn't going to be fun.

"Oh, ok." Trinity and I follow Helen down to the training room. The boys join us and watch.

"I'll test both of you. Now 100 pushes ups." She says and looks at us. Yup this is going to suck. Trinity can only do 80 before she falls to the floor tired. Lucky for me I make it through all 100 with a little energy left. Helen writes things down on her clipboard and looks at both of us. "K same for sit-ups but the real way." She says and does an example. You can't come all the way to your knees because it gives your abdomen a break. This sucks. Trinity makes about 70 this time. I get to the 90 and am ready to give up, when I hear my dad in my head telling me to keep going. He always said once you feel like you can't do anymore do one more. I finish all 100 flipping crunches and feel like my stomach is going to burst. She does this with a ton of different things. She makes you do the obstacle course, parkour, fighting, and almost everything I've been training for. When she says where done Trinity and I stay on the floor. We just got done with the flexibility part. "Here is what you need to work on and personal comments." She says and hands us both a piece of paper. I don't even look at it. I just lay on the ground.

"I'm not a fan of her." I hear Trinity say and the boys walk over to us. They hand us another water bottle. I think it's like the eighth one for me.

"Ya no one is." Zack says looking at both of us.

"I'm so going to feel this in the morning." I say and sit up to drink the water.

"So what'd she put on your paper?" Taylor says and looks at me. I pick up my paper.

One- Need to practice with aiming guns and other weaponry. I knew that already, but that doesn't count as physical, but apparently she does checkups on how where doing in training. I look down. There was only one thing she wants me to work on, but she has something in the comments part.

Get that attitude checked and learn some respect for people older than you. I read. I want to kill her. My dad taught me my manners and how to treat people with respect. I treated her nicer than she treated me, so she can just shut it. "I think I'm going to shove this in her face," I say and hand the paper to him. He reads it and looks up surprised. "What?" I ask confused. 

"She only gave you ONE thing to work on." He says handing me the paper. I go to say something, but Zack starts talking.

"Only one thing? Let me see that. That can't be right." He says reaching for my paper.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," I say a little offended. 

"No she never only has one thing, it's always like five at the least." He says and grabs the paper from my hand. He looks over it and laughs. "Ya more respect." He says still laughing. Jerk. "Only weapons, you've got to be kidding me, that's not even in the physical aspect." He says shaking his head. 

"What does yours say." I ask and look at Taylors.

"One, need more training in parkour. Two, being more balanced. Three, go over hitting pressure points. Four, learn more coding for when need to use computers, which isn't physical. Five-" He laughs before continuing. "learn more than one fighting method. And six, learn to be more focused when training. I have no comments." He says and puts his paper down. I turn to Zack.

"Almost the same as Taylor, but need more work with my breathing instead of parkour and she wants me to practice strategies instead of being more focused like Taylor." He says and we all look at Trinity.

"I have eight." She says and groans. "More balanced, better upper body strength, breathing, weapons like Alaina, start doing coding, being more flexible. Ha, good luck. Doing better in random situations and being better at fighting." She says and looks up from the paper. 

"That's not that bad," I say and she glares at me. "Hey what'd I do?" I say and she laughs a little.

"One thing short stacks." She says using my old nickname. 

"Shortstacks?" Zack says questioningly trying not to laugh. 

"Old, old nickname and so help me if either of you even think about calling me that I pull punch you." I say pointing to Taylor and Zack. They laugh. 

"K she will be bringing us back for partner training soon," Zack says once he stops laughing. 

"What?" Trinity says before I can.

"She trains you with your partner this week and another time in about two weeks." He says. Great, because I so want to do more things that are going to make me hurt tomorrow morning, I think sarcastically.

"What if you don't have a partner?" I ask mainly out of curiosity.

"Then you don't get trained. That's why it will be new to all three of you." He says. Wait, he used to have a partner?

"You had another partner?" Taylor asks before me. What is it today with people speaking before me?

"Ya, Bryce, but I couldn't work with him so I got Trinity as my partner." He says bumping her shoulder.

"That would have sucked to work with him." I think, but I end up saying it out loud. 

"Ya, but know Will and he are partners so." He says shrugging his shoulders. 

"What do you have to do?" I ask hoping it's not too hard because I'm dead tired from before.  

"Fighting and trusting your partner." He says and we see others coming down the stairs.

"When you say fighting. Does that mean against other groups?" I ask as people come into the workout room.

"Yup." He says and stands. We all stand up and follow him.

"K most of you know how this works and if you don't you'll find out." I hear Miss.Helen say. She has her clipboard again, great more stupid comments. She starts calling peoples names and they step forward. There all men and they look around the same age. She says go and they start fighting. It's easy to tell who is partners with who. I watch and sometimes people get pretty banged up. You're not supposed to harm them to the point will you will break anything, but some people get really close. Zack and Trinity are called up. I give them a thumbs up. There against two men that look like there in there late 20. When the fight begins it's hard not to step in and help. When they get done Trinity comes up to me smiling. I laugh because I know she got hit more than a few times and yet she seems happy. 

"I got the taller one in the gut a few times." She says and smiles.

"Nice job, I saw," I say and she high fives me. 

"Can once you fight you have to go upstairs," Zack says and drags Trinity up the stairs. Two more groups are called before we are. When we get up to the mats I hear the next group called.

"Bryce and Will." She says. Of course, it had to be him. I think to myself and shake my head. Once all four of us are in the group she says go. Bryce comes at me, of course. I start blocking his punches. It hurts because my hands are bruised, but I fight through it. He misses my head by like a centimeter. When I duck I elbow him in the stomach which makes him grunt, but he stands back up again. I feel Taylor behind me and we which places. Will throws wild so he's not hard to hit, but when he got me on the shoulder I won't say that it didn't hurt. 

Taylor and I end up with the first person we were with. We are back to back fighting our first opponents. Bryce comes at me again and I block his kick, but he hits me in the throat. That's against the rules. I fall to the floor breathing hard. Taylor starts fighting both of them. I hear a few people saying that it was against the rules, but my throat hurts too much to pay attention. Why hasn't Helen called this off? I wonder but look back at Bryce. He has his knee close to me and he has it straight, bad mistake. I stand up and kick his knee. He falls to the floor with a yell. 

"Enough," Greg says. When did he get here? He walks up to us and so does Helen. She glances at me, but looks back at Will and Taylor. Taylor ignores her and walks down to me.

"Can you walk?" He asks concerned. I nod my head. Taylor looks over at Bryce and shoots him a deathly glare. I stand and Taylor puts an arm around me, to steady me. Helen leans down to me. I want to punch her, but I resist. "I want to talk to you later." She says and stands back up. All four of us walk upstairs.

"What the hell, you could have killed her," Zack asks to a hobbling Bryce.

"She deserved it." He says and smiles at me. If I wasn't light headed right know I kick his ass. Trinity steps in for me and slaps him.

"You know you're a dick right." She says and I smile at my best friend. He goes to hurt her, but Zack and I turn before he can touch her.

"I wouldn't start anything right now if I were you," Taylor says his arms still at my waist which is good because if he didn't I would have probably fallen.

"Fine, but I won't forget this and I'm not the only one who broke the rules remember." He says and looks at me and then his knee. He hobbles off and I really wish I could pound him to the ground.

"Thanks for slapping him," I say to Trinity and she smiles at me.

"That's what best friends are for." She says and smiles.

"What I'm not your best friend?" Zack says and acts like it hurts.

"Now you're Taylor's best friend remember," I say and he smiles.

"Your right." He says and pats Taylor's shoulder. We turn around to watch the rest of the fights, but someone taps me on the shoulder. Both Taylor and I turn and we see Will.

"Sorry about Bryce. He's a jerk and thanks for hitting him in the knee, maybe he'll learn a lesson." Will says and chuckles a little. "Like he'll learn, but we can hope right." He says and looks at Taylor.

"Not your fault and thanks. He'll learn one day." I say and Will nods his head.

"See you guys around, you're pretty good." He says and walks off.

"How did a nice person like him end up with the worst guy?" I ask more to myself than anyone.

"No clue. Hey, Sky's fighting." He says and I start watching. She's not bad, but she blocks more than hits her opponent. Once her fights done she walks up the stairs and smiles at me.

"Not bad." I say and she bows a little. Her partner John I think that's his name walks up behind her.

"He helped out a little." She says and hits his arm. He smiles and walks over to some people. "Hey hows the throat. I saw what happened and I wanted to kill him, but can't against the rules to step in." She says and looks at Taylor's arm around me.

"I'll be good in a while thanks." I say and blush because she gives me that look that means you're cute with him. Taylor doesn't see it because he's talking with Zack. She laughs a little, probably because of my blushing. She leans into my ear. "You're lucky, he's a keeper." She says and walks away. Strange that's what that girl is. I turn around and look at the next fight. There are only a few more fights before everyone is done. Everyone scatters, but Helen stops Taylor and I. She pulls us into an office.

"What do you want?" I ask not in the mode to deal with her.

"Attitude." She says and raises her eyebrows.

"Well, you did let the fight continue when he slammed his fist in my throat," I say and give her a glare.

"I know, but you too have a lot of trust and I wanted to see how you played it out. Taylor to took on both of them and made sure you didn't have to do anything until you recovered."

"Ya, well I don't want her to be hurt." He says and doesn't sound too happy.

"Yes I know and Alaina you knew he would back you up until he couldn't anymore. Even when you were on the ground you still helped out." She says and sounds surprised.

"What else was I supposed to do? If it was more people I would have stood up, but I knew he could handle them and it wasn't a like a real fight." I say and lean on Taylor. My balance is still off.

"That's my point. Most people wouldn't see it that way. If Greg wouldn't have called it off I know you would have won." She says and sounds like she has emotion.

"Well what he did was uncalled for and he will be punished for it," Greg says and walks in. He just keeps popping in.

"True." Helen says.

"You guys will have a mission in about three weeks. Here is the paperwork, we will talk later." He says. I guess that's his way of telling us to leave. We nod our heads and walk out. I start reading the papers. It's about drug dealers and they give them to kids and they have prisoners that are forced to work for them. This one is going to be fun. I figure out the rest a different time, but right now I want to go to sleep. Taylor and I walk to our room, he still holding me up. I smile a little. I can finally trust someone with everything and it's nice. Taylor is still reading the paper and turns into the door.

"Nice one smart one." I say laughing. He rubs his forehead and glares at me. "Hey, you ran into the door, can't blame it on me." I say and open the door. We put our papers down and I go to change in the bathroom. I'm in a tight tank top and short shorts because it's really warm. I walk out and Taylor is looking at his phone. He glances at me, but he looks sad. "Hey, what's up? You've been acting weird." I say and sit on my bed. He is sitting on the ladder next to me. 

"Just college stuff and a certain person is driving me crazy." He says and throws his phone on his bed. 

"Oh, well I'll get better," I say and he gives me a small smile. 

"K, lets go to bed." He says and gets off the ladder. He changes into shorts and doesn't put a shirt on. Why do guys not like sleeping with a shirt on? He walks over to the light and turns it off. Once he climbs on the top I try to get to sleep, but I can't because first I think I'm dating Taylor, second he is having problems and won't let me help, and third too many memories are coming about my dad and grandparents. I hear Taylor start tossing and turning like me.

"Alaina?" He asks.

"Ya?" I ask back curious about what he wants to ask. 

"Can I sleep with you for tonight?" He asks and sounds a little embarrassed. 

"Ya, I wanted to ask you the same thing." I say and smile. It's nice knowing that he's comfortable sleeping next to me because I don't think that I would have gone to sleep tonight if he didn't. I hear him go down the ladder. I move so he can have room and he goes under the covers. We are facing each other and he still looks a little sad. He grabs my waist with brings those butterflies and pulls me close to him. I lay on his chest and go to sleep.

Taylor's P.O.V. 

She looks at me concerned. I hold her gaze but then pull her into me. Her shirt is really tight and doesn't go all the way down to her shorts so I feel her skin. It makes me feel really warm and it's hard not to kiss her. She snuggles into me and lays her head on my chest. I play with her hair and when I know she's asleep I slowly get up hoping she won't wake up. She stirs a little, but doesn't wake up. Thank gosh. I grab my phone and walk out of the room. I call Sebastian and he picks up right way.

"Hi, Taylor. How is the plan going?" He asks and I can tell that he is smiling.

"Fine." I say. He said I had to call him tonight so I waited for Alaina to go to sleep.

"How is Alaina? After all, she is the main part of the plan." He says and sounds cocky. I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

"She's good." I say hoping he will end the call.

"Is she your girlfriend yet? Does she trust you yet?" He says and I hear noises in the background. It sounds like someone is getting beat up. 

"Ya, she trusts me," I say and feel a pain of guilt in my chest.

"Good. Well, this bastard thought he could get out of a deal so I need to take care of that." He says and I hear a guy yell in pain. Sebastian ends the call and I'm glad. I walk back into the room and put my phone on the desk. I crawl back into the bed and Alaina is still asleep. I pull her close and still have this huge guilt in me. I don't go to sleep for a long time, but I finally pass out at 1:26am.