When I open my eyes, Michael is no longer sitting at his desk.  I have no clue how much time has passed, but it must've been a while.

I suddenly become aware of the weight next to me, and I quickly roll over to find Michael laying beside me.  Instinctively, I shoot back away from him, and I soon realize that I backed up too far when I roll off the side of the bed.

"Shit," I inhale sharply as I hit the floor.  

I hear Michael stir in bed, and before I can do anything, he is on his feet beside me.  "Are you okay?" he asks.

I scoff.  "I just threw myself off your bed out of shock.  Not to be overdramatic, but I almost had a heart attack."

"Should I be offended that you had such an adverse reaction to waking up beside me?" he asks amusedly.

I roll my eyes.  "Maybe you should.  And a little warning next time would be appreciated."

He chuckles.  "You were out cold, so I didn't feel like waking you and having to deal with your wrath."

I send him an unamused glare as I stand up.  "What time even is it?" I ask.

He shrugs as he looks over to a clock that is sitting on his nightstand.  How the hell he has a clock, I'm not sure.  "6 AM."

I sigh as I go to run a hand through my hair, but I quickly realize that there is dried blood in it.  I withdraw my hand and send a disgusted glance at it before transmutating to the bathroom and flicking the light on.

"Oh shit," I mutter.  I am an absolute mess.  My face is covered in blood and what seems like bruises that are almost done healing (assumedly thanks to Michael's magic) and my dress is splattered in what I can assume is my blood.  I'm not sure how long Mead was taking out her anger on me yesterday, but it must've been for a while after I passed out.

"I'm sorry, you seemed too tired to take a shower last night, so I didn't want to tell you about your appearance," Michael states from the doorway.

"I could've made time for a shower," I roll my eyes.  "I can only imagine what your bed looks like."

He chuckles.  "Don't worry about it.  You can use my shower since it's larger," he offers.

I turn to check it out; his shower is certainly much better than mine, but I don't want to admit that.  "Mine will be fine," I state as I walk toward the door.

He remains in the doorway, refusing to move.  "Don't be stubborn, Valentina, just use my damn shower."

"Why's it matter to you?" I question suspectingly.

He rolls his eyes.  "Curfew is 11 PM to 7 AM.  Ms. Mead does hourly checks on the hallways, and I'm sure that she has finished reprogramming by now.  I would not like to risk your running into her in the hallway."

I raise a brow, considering his offer.

"I have the most expensive conditioner in the outpost; use it while you have the chance," he states, attempting to give me one final push.

I sigh.  "Fine," I cave.  "But if you're up to something, let me assure you that I will make you regret it."

"I am not up to anything."

"Yeah sure, and Ms. Venable isn't a raging feminist lesbian," I say sarcastically.

He chuckles as he steps back out of the doorway.  "I'll let you shower."

......

I sigh as I run my hand through my freshly washed hair.  This is much better.  Now that my face is clean, I can see that the only remaining bruising is only my left cheekbone, but even that is minor and barely noticeable.  It'll be easy to cover up with makeup.

I look down at my dress on the floor and sigh.  That thing is absolutely disgusting; there's no way I'm putting it back on.  I'll just slip out of Michael's room and hope that nobody sees me since the only thing covering me is a towel.

I slip out of the bathroom but stop upon seeing Michael entering the room with one of my dresses in hand.  "Where the hell did you get that?" I question.

He smirks as he turns toward me.  "From your dresser."

"Why the hell were you in my room?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I figured you wouldn't want to put that dress back on," he shrugs.  "What, are you scared of what I might find in there?" he asks mockingly.

I roll my eyes.  "Just give me the dress."  I walk over to take it from his hands, but he quickly holds it above his head.

I cross my arms, unamused.  "Michael, give it to me."

He smirks, completely amused by the situation.  "You're being quite rude considering that I was kind enough to get your dress for you."

I quickly jump up and snatch the dress; since I'm only an inch shorter than Michael, it's not much of a reach.  I pull the dress into me, but Michael refuses to let go, causing us to be pulled together. 

"Michael, I swear to god, I will-"

"God?" he mocks.  "You see, I don't take God as a serious threat."

"Why are you being such an asshole?" I question.  "You're much more insufferable than usual."

"Offending me isn't going to get you anywhere."

"And being childish isn't going to get you anywhere," I counter as I turn and attempt to pull the dress with me; however, he refuses to budge.  

I quickly stop as his hand grabs my towel.  "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I seethe as I turn back to him.

He smirks.  "Getting a rise out of you."

I inch towards him, an idea forming in my mind.  I stop when our faces are inches apart, and his smug look falls from his face as he feels my hand hovering over his pants.  Almost immediately, he releases my dress in shock.

As soon as my dress is out of his grasp, I back away before he can grab it again.  The shocked look on his face is priceless, but he quickly composes himself.  "Well played."

I smirk.  "Thank you."

He continues to stare at me as I back into the bathroom.  The mixture of shock and desire on his face is something that I wouldn't trade the world for; it sure as hell makes me satisfied to know that I was the cause of it.

......

"Valentina!" Coco yells from down the hallway.  As I turn to face her, she crushes me with a hug.  "God, are you okay?" she asks as she pulls away to look me up and down.

"Are you okay?" I ask, noticing the sheer amount of makeup covering her face; she must be trying to cover up the bruises that Mead left her with.

"Mead only took a few swings at me; she was down there with you for at least 30 minutes.  I was sure that you were dead."  She quickly hugs me again.  "God, I never would've forgiven myself if she killed you.  I shouldn't have gone running my mouth like that."

"Coco, it's fine," I assure her.  I look up and down the hallway.  "Where even is Mead?"

Coco shrugs.  "She's been in her room all day.  Mallory saw Langdon go in her room an hour ago.  If I were you, I'd stay out of the hallways.  Nobody knows when she's coming back."

I nod.  "Thanks, Coco."

She nods.  "Don't worry, I'll go tell everyone that you're alive."

I chuckle.  "I appreciate it."

She hurries out of the hallway, and I am about to walk back towards my room when I see Venable.  She stops upon seeing me, seemingly shocked.  "Ms. Callistra," she states, her usual cold demeanor not as cold as usual.  She seems... relieved to see me.  "Are you okay?"  There is some genuine concern in her voice.

I nod.  "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry.  I tried to stop Mead, but-"

"Ms. Venable, don't worry about it.  I know that you tried."

She looks down.  The fact that she's showing this much emotion proves that she's truly sorry.  "Tell me if you need anything," she offers, her voice returning to its normal tone.

"I appreciate it," I nod.  

She nods and turns away, satisfied with her show of emotion.  I continue to walk towards my room, but I pause upon hearing footsteps behind me.  I turn on my heel to see Michael approaching me.  "Back for more?" I mock.

He rolls his eyes.  "Not everything is about you.  I'm just trying to get to my room."  He begins walking to his room next to mine, but I cut him off.

"Why are you being such an asshole today?" I ask, not hesitating to call him out.  "You were being semi-caring last night; why the sudden mood change?"

"Excuse me?" he questions as he walks past me to open his bedroom door.

I follow him.  "The whole stunt you pulled with my dress this morning, then your snapping at me just now."

"You snap at me all the time," he counters.  "What, is it only okay when you're the one being mean?"

"Yes," I answer as I walk into his room, my tone completely serious.  

He scoffs as he closes the door behind him.  "You're so self-absorbed."

"What is your issue?" I shout.  He turns to me, not expecting my quick mood escalation.  "You were being so kind last night, and now you're returning to calling me self-absorbed!  Every time that I think you may be starting to like me, my thoughts are quickly extinguished."

I look to him for a response, but he is just glaring angrily, attempting to control himself.  It seems that I'm going to need to do a bit more to provoke him.

"Why do you act like you hate me?"

He quickly snaps his head to look at me, bewildered by my statement.  "Because I love you!" he shouts.  "How do you not understand?  I'm the Antichrist; I'm not supposed to be capable of love!  Every time that I begin to feel slight feelings for you, I sabotage them to turn them into hate.  I thought that if I made you hate me that it would make me hate you, but look where that got me!"

I quickly shake my head, closing my mouth that I just realized was agape.  "You mean that you've been an asshole this whole time because you love me?" 

"That's exactly what I'm saying!  I don't think you understand; as soon as I saw you in the hallway when I first arrived, I was immediately pulled into you.  My curiosity only increased when I realized that I couldn't read your mind.  Your fucking intolerable attitude - I thought that it would make me hate you, but it only drew me in."

He walks towards me as he continues.  "I tried everything I could to make myself hate you, but nothing worked.  Every time that you fought back against me only turned me on more, and I could not hate myself more for that."  He stops in front of me.  "You made it impossible to hate you."

I look down, taking a minute to process his words.  I scoff quietly to myself before looking back up at him.  "You know, once a friend told me that people who can't process love combat it with hate," I state, referencing my earlier conversation with Coco.  "We just both happen to be that type of person.  Every single bone in my body is telling me to hate you, yet some silly, stupid part of me loves you."

"You love me?" he questions.

"Don't make me say it again."

He smirks, taking my chin in his hands.  "I will."

I open my mouth to argue, but he presses his lips to mine to silence me.  I resist the urge to roll my eyes before accepting the kiss.  He attacks my lips hungrily, and I realize just how much he must've wanted this.  Within seconds, he's undone my hair.

Michael begins untying my dress, and I quickly realize where he wants to take this.  Am I really about to let this happen?  I've sworn myself to hate him, yet here I am letting this get out of hand.  Everything in me is telling me this is so wrong, but the selfish part of me wants Michael.

Michael quickly pauses.  "Do you want to do this?" he asks, breaking from me for just long enough to be able to study my face.

My thoughts are flowing through my mind at a million miles an hour, the logical side of me telling me to leave right now and the impulsive side of me telling me to do this.

When I look back at Michael, an expectant look is on his face.  Shit, it looks like I've got to decide now. "Yes."  The word comes from my mouth without my even thinking about it.  Fuck, I never do this.  I always think things through, yet with Michael I am doing things without a second thought.

I quickly look back at Michael and realize that my hands have undone his shirt.  Shit, what am I doing?  This is not like me at all.  Michael locks lips with me again, and I gladly accept.  This feels so wrong, yet so... right.

He hooks his fingers under the straps of my dress and lifts them off my shoulders.  "Are you sure?" he asks.

I push down my doubts and look into his angelic eyes.  Ironic.  I nod, fully giving in to the poor decision-making side of myself.  "More than sure."

This is all the confirmation he needs.  He releases the straps and my dress drops to the floor.  There is no going back now.