A good way to not think about horrible things is to distract yourself.

And that's what I was doing.

Apparently, Aubree insisted I go to school the next morning, throwing me baggy clothes as if wanting me to look homeless. I shrugged, not caring about what I entirely looked now as I got changed without protesting. Looking in the mirror and thinking I didn't need to brush my hair, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, walking to the fridge without saying good morning to my dad or Anastasia.

Turning around with my orange juice in my hand, my dad stared at me before dropping his fork whereas Anastasia looked horrified as she dropped her french toast. I arched an eyebrow at the both of them whilst Aubree made her way to the stool next to my dad, her eyes plastered to her phone. I watched my dad nudge Aubree once and then twice, finally getting her attention and when her eyes scanned my whole figure, she let out a an ear piercing scream.

"No, no no!" Aubree shouted after gasping as she quickly rushed to my side and used her fingers to comb my hair as if thinking it would magically tame them.

"You gave me these clothes," I said with an eye roll.

"Yes, so you can style it," Aubree replied with a groan as she bit her lip. "Oh for goodness sake."

"What's happening to Thea, Aubree?" my dad asked, his eyebrows furrowing as if that would make Aubree talk.

"She's on her periods," Aubree answered innocently.

"I am not-" I was suddenly interrupted when a small hand flew to my mouth, shutting me right up.

"Let me help her," Aubree whispered as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me all the back to my room which consisted of climbing those stairs.

Once Aubree made me sit down on my bed, she rushed out of my room then returned within seconds later with a pair of handcuffs. She handcuffed my ankle to the leg of my nightstand, placing the key on my windowsill before running into my walk-in closet then started going through my clothes.

"Girl, you need to keep your shit together," Aubree said, taking out a black crop top with a white Adidas print. "You are better than this. You are a Pearson." Aubree looked through my bottoms, taking out a pair of denim shorts then made her way deeper inside my closet to my shoe collection, taking out my Adidas black and white Superstars before throwing all of those things at me. "Get changed, woman."

"How am I supposed to when I'm attached to my night stand?" I questioned through the pile of clothes that was hanging off on my head, my voice sounding muffled.

Not being able to see anything, after a few seconds, I felt the metal handcuff erase itself from my ankle as I lazily stood up and walked towards my bathroom with the clothes still on top of my head. Before I could take another small step, I felt two small but strong hands push me into the direction of the bathroom, hearing it click shut before I stomped my feet a thousand times on the tiles.

"Get change!" Aubree shouted in annoyance behind the door.

I did what I was told to do.

After getting changed, Aubree straightened my hair quickly as she used one of those hair brush straighteners before she and I grabbed our custom made pink leather small backpacks that were sitting patiently on the stools, rushing towards her beautiful Porsche. It took us no longer than five minutes to reach school due to her speeding, mentally hoping she received a speeding ticket as we both rushed to our first class of the day which was, sadly, Maths.

Anastasia was waiting for us in front of the school as she quickly led us towards the class, using herself as an excuse.

"Sorry, Miss Moore but please excuse my girls for being late," Anastasia apologised with an innocent smile on her face. "Aubree's car broke down so my husband had to take them to school and we all know my husband drives really slow."

Miss Moore flipped her blonde hair behind and raised her glasses before shaking her head. "It's alright. Come on in, girls."

And with that, Anastasia just left us in a subject I call hell. All throughout class, I concentrated on the works that were given to me whilst Aubree was talking to her Math partner about something that was totally irrelevant to the topic we were doing. I was surprised I was able to do all of my Math questions without even having to think of Xavier.

Now, Aubree, Marco and I were sitting under an oak tree eating our lunch, silently. It was awkward because I felt like I was third-wheeling but it was even more awkward when the two of them weren't even talking to each other. I sighed heavily, putting down my half eaten sandwich and looked at the both of them as if demanding an answer or a word out of their mouth.

"Why are you both quiet?" I asked, making both of their heads snap upwards as their eyes darted around. "I'm being serious."

"You don't have anything to ask us about Xavier?" Aubree hesitated before questioning me, looking at Marco nervously then back at me as if thinking I would break down into a puddle of tears or something.

"Umm...nope," I answered casually as an ache suddenly appeared in my chest before disappearing. I looked around the basketball court, realising I hadn't seen Xavier at all today. Even Carl and Luke. "Say, what happened to Carl and Luke?"

Marco looked relieved as he suddenly relaxed, leaning against the oak tree as he scoffed. "They went to give Xavier a beating."

I gasped then he added, "I'm joking."

I nodded, biting my lip. "So, where are they?"

"They have family problems to deal with," Marco answered with a shrug as his eyes moved towards Aubree who was staring at the tomato in the sandwich with a disgusted look on her face. "Babe, just eat it."

A smile crept on my face as I watched Aubree throw her sandwich at Marco who looked stunned. "It has Marco germs on it."

"We're not in forth grade anymore, Aubree," Marco said in a serious tone before his face cracked into a smile which had Aubree swooning for a second.

"I feel like I'm in forth grade."

They suddenly stopped then looked at me but I only shook my head with a genuine smile on my face. "Wow, you two really are a perfect fit."

"What can I say," Aubree started, flipping her blonde hair. "I make us look cute."

"Hating on her right now," Marco replied with an eye roll as he moved towards Aubree's face who was now as still as a statue. Marco licked her cheekbone as Aubree gasped in shock before stumbling back.

"My highlight!" she shouted, horrified as she reached into her Chanel backpack quickly and produced a compact mirror in her hands as Marco sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"She loves her highlight more than her boyfriend."

By now, I was laughing really hard I thought a snort might release itself. I watched Aubree and Marco look at each other before looking at me, their eyes significantly softening and their grins were from ear to ear.

"May I join?" a deep, familiar, masculine voice asked as I stopped laughing.

My heart beat increased as I slowly stood up then turned around. My eyes met the familiar dark black hair that was combed to the back as he wore a leather brown jacket with black jeans. My smile instantly widened again as I threw my arms around his neck, feeling a pair of strong arms encircled my small waist.

"Nice to see you too, Thea," Derek whispered into my hair as he inhaled softly.

We broke apart as I took a step back and crossed my arms, arching an eyebrow. "You didn't even text me."

"Says the one who was busy with Xavier," Derek pointed out with a knowing smirk as a blush crept towards my cheeks in embarrassment.

"Right, sorry about that," I said, scratching my head.

Forgetting we had an audience, I turned around to see Aubree and Marco looking directly at Derek with scowls on their faces. I sighed, forgetting that they hated each other as I gave them a weak smile.

"You guys can go if you want," I suggested, shrugging.

Aubree made eye contact with me, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Will you be okay with him?"

"If I need anything at all, you're only one call away," I answered with a smile as they both looked each other then nodded, hesitantly leaving.

I watched Marco drape an arm around Aubree's shoulders as they walked away and when they were out of ear shot, I turned right back around to face Derek who held a blank expression.

"How are you here when you don't even go to this school?" I questioned suspiciously.

"Imagine me as The Flash," he answered, talking about that tv show as I let out a light laugh.

"Where are we going, Barry Allen?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Saving you from this hell by going to one of my grandparent's store to repaint one of their rooms," Derek answered with a smirk.

My smile dissolved. "What about school?"

"You only have one period left of whatever class you have next and I'm sure Aubree can catch you up," Derek answered.

I sighed in defeat as my smile crept back onto my face again, nodding. "Okay."

Being with Derek was way different than being with Xavier. When I was with Derek, I sometimes worried about what would happen to me, caring about Xavier's thoughts on this but at the same time, I was able to be free. Whereas when I was with Xavier, I felt like I could be myself and actually enjoy the time as if not having any care in the world. But I couldn't compare the two.

We reached Derek's grandparent's store within twenty minutes as he told me it was closer to his school. We both got out of his sleek, grey BMW as we both headed inside his grandparent's bakery. The bell chimed as we walked in, the sweet smell of cupcakes filling my nostrils as I sighed in content, knowing that this place would be my next favourite. There were so many people cuddled up together in corners, either reading, doing their homework on their laptops or chatting loudly to each other with at least with a cupcake or cookie on their plates.

"My dear grandson!" someone exclaimed from the side as I turned my head to the side to see an elderly woman with grey hair in a small bun. She was wearing a black apron and when she smiled, wrinkles were visible.

"Hi, grandma Kelly," Derek greeted her with a kiss on each side of her cheeks.

His grandma's eyes slid next to Derek as her eyes widened then softened as she took my small hand into hers. "You brought a friend."

"Grandma, this is Thea," Derek introduced. "Thea, this is my beautiful grandma, Kelly."

"You don't need to flatter me son when you have a beautiful girl right next to you," Kelly complimented as I blushed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you and this store is just so beautiful," I whispered in response as my eyes glazed over the whole store.

The store walls were pink and white strips with little pink bows on the white chairs. There was a vase on each table with only one red rose inside as if trying to make this bakery look like a romantic place. It gave off this kind of feeling, no bad vibes but actually good ones because everybody here was so happy.

"Thank you dear," Kelly said with a wide smile on her face. "So, are you both going to be repainting?"

Derek and I both looked at each other then nodded as Kelly quickly disappeared behind the cash register to only approach us once more but with transparent aprons in her hands. I tied my hair up and rubbed both of my hands together as Derek only shook his head in amusement and led me further inside the bakery, past the  kitchen set where delicious treats were being made. Derek placed a hand on the door knob and turned it, revealing an empty room with blank white walls and a beautiful white carpet.

"We're going to be repainting this room a deep red," Derek informed as he ushered me inside and quickly closed the door behind me whereas I kept my eyes trained on a medium-sized window that had a view of the back of the bakery where cars zoomed past and people walking by.

"Let's get started," I said with excitement.

After what felt like hours of painting, Derek and I were both still painting the second wall only because we were messing around. I had red paint on both of my cheeks and splattered paint on my apron whereas Derek had paint in his black hair, which you couldn't really see it well, and paint on the back of his white t-shirt.

"I'm so tired," I whined as I continued painting a small part of the corner.

"You already had a break," Derek said, shaking his head with a small smile whilst keeping his eyes trained on the rolling thing.

"Why did you come and pick me up today?" I asked curiously.

"I heard you were back in town and wanted to take you out to do something fun," Derek answered truthfully.

I nodded.

I watched Derek bend down and pour the bucket of red paint into a smaller container and as he stood up, I used my roller and rolled paint on his shirt with a light laugh as he quickly turned around and shot me a smirk before approaching me. I laughed and backed away as he lightly lunged at me with his roller, attempting to have paint on my apron but I stopped, my smile dissolving.

My eyes went directly to the window, a very familiar figure standing outside as he looked at me with a blank expression. Derek looked at me, confused before he whipped around to see Xavier give him an icy cold glare. I gulped, my heart increasing its rate as my hands began to shake. Derek cleared his throat and turned around, bending down to the bucket of paint as Xavier gave me a sad look. I pushed down the urge to run out of the bakery and run into his arms. I gave him a small smile before turning around, disconnecting our eyes as I began painting the walls again, guilt settling in the pits of my stomach.

I could feel a pair of eyes linger on my back for a while before I no longer felt that feeling.

"I think I should go," I said with a weak smile as Derek turned to face me. "Thanks for today, I'll call Aubree for a ride home."

Derek only nodded, giving me a short hug that only lasted a second before escorting me outside.

"Leaving, already?" Kelly asked sadly.

"I'll be back soon," I answered with a small smile. "I would love to try some of your treats soon."

"Come by anytime."

I grinned. "Of course."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!

-A xo