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-&-

Chapter 8

    Rex

       Trey was watching me. I could feel that fucking judgmental stare like knives on my back. But I didn't care. I had a lot more to fucking deal with now besides his issues with smoking. Like a tiny flower with eyes such a dark green I would happily drown in them.

       Fuck.

       "Since when did you start smoking again?" He all-but demanded as he leaned casually against the pillar of his back porch, there was no denying that unhappy sneer in his voice. I tapped the ash away from the tip of the cigarette before raising it to my lips again—just to piss him off.

       "None of your fucking business."

       He let out that sigh he always gave me, that long, drawn out, one that expressed his extreme disappointment. Fucking ignorant prick. He couldn't tell me to quick smoking any more than that fucking girl could.

       Even if I couldn't find it in myself to light one up around her.

       "You want to explain what happened today?"

       I shrugged, ignored the accusing tone in his voice, and took a long drag. "Jason was going after the girl, with those fucking morons, and I put an end to it."

       "They had to fly him to Boston Emergency."

       I tapped more ash away from the only thing keeping me calm. "Not my problem."

       "I can't keep bailing you out of these fucking messes!" He finally shouted, his mountain of a body storming down the porch to mine. The only guy who could ever actually take me in a fight. "There's only so much my dad will take, and you're pushing your luck-"

       "Then keep that fucking girl away from me, and there won't be any more problems." I dropped the cigarette to the grass, and smashed it into the hard ground with my boot—picturing it was Trey's head. Just because I would never hurt him didn't mean I wouldn't picture it.

       He let a long, silent, pause pass between us, those ever-watching eyes stared like pistols at my face. "Stop fucking acting like you weren't the one who wanted us to watch her."

       I could feel the anger start to swell, now that the cig' was gone I had nothing to distract me. "You're the one who wanted to be friends with her. Calling her fucking Princess and shit." I spit out the words like the poison they were. Why the fuck does he get off calling some girl, who can't even protect herself, some stupid shit-eating nickname?

       I was the one always saving her fucking ass!

       "And you're the one who threw the jealous tantrum over it." He snapped right back, those bright eyes of his nearly glowing in fury.

       "I did not throw a jealous tantrum-"

       "You slammed the chair against the table then fucking demanded none of us ever talk to her again later! That sounds like jealousy to me. Just fucking admit you like the girl and move on-"

       I punched him in the nose, and he stumbled back from the blow, even if it wasn't hard enough to cause any damage. His hand lifted to his face, and his green eyes only flashed in anger though there was no blood.

       "I just wanted Jason off her back, nothing else. We're not good for her, Trey. None of us are."

       I couldn't like Rose. I refused to. It would only sign the death certificate for both of us.

-&-

    Rose

       "Want to tell me why there's a car full of boys waiting outside for you?"

       My head snapped up at my sister's unexpected voice, one dark eyebrow raised as she stood leaning casually against my doorway, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. My hands froze mid shoe-lace tying, my own eyes widening past their compacity.

       "What?"

       Luce's gaze narrowed and her foot tapped impatiently against the hardwood floor. "Boys. Car. Outside. Why?"

       Completely forgetting my shoes, I jumped to my feet and ran to my bedroom window. There was a cute little sitting bench in front of it, one covered in a memory foam pillow and a bunch of fluffy blankets. I spent more time there than my actual bed. True enough, there was Trey's Escalade parked on the curb—directly in front of my house. My heart ran like a race horse in my chest.

       "I'm waiting for an answer, Rosalyn."

       "I-I have no idea." But I was beyond happy they were. I jumped away from the bench, grabbed my backpack and hurried pass a beyond impatient Luce.

       "Rose! Your shoe laces!"

       "Oh! Right!" I stopped half-way down the stairs, Trey's smiling face beaming through the window by the door. He waved when he saw me staring at him. I blushed, waved back and dropped to my feet to finish tying my shoes.

       "Rosalyn Marie, if you think I'm letting a bunch of strange boys drive you to school, you better think again-"

       "They're my friends! I'll tell you about it later!" I shouted up at her furious face before hurrying down the rest of the stairs. "Love you! Bye!" I ignored the daggered glare she shot me, secured my bag over my shoulders, and threw open the heavy wooden door.

       Trey's bright green eyes welcomed me to the early morning. I couldn't help the ginormous smile that pulled at my lips. "You ready to go, Princess?"

       "You're driving me to school?" I already figured they were, but it felt rude to just assume. He rolled his eyes, but his smile didn't waver.

       "Uh huh."

       I ignored the happy fluttery feeling surging through me and closed the door behind us. It wasn't until we were half way to his SUV that I noticed the lack of a third person through the lightly tinted windows. My happy smile faltered a few good notches.

       "Where's Rex?"

       Trey's eyes flickered to mine, but I pretended not to notice as he reached out and opened the passenger door for me. "Probably already at school. He doesn't like to carpool."

       It was hard to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach, even though the beaming Denton from the back seat seemed to help. "Buttercup! I've missed you!" He cheered as soon as I climbed into the car, Brett gave me a small smile.

       "Hey kid."

       "Hi-"

       "When that jerk said not to talk to you anymore I was so close to fighting him-"

       "Shut up, you fucking idiot." Brett snapped at his twin brother, who shot him a wounded look but closed his mouth anyway. I blinked over at them above my shoulder.

       I had already figured Rex told them not to bother with me, but Denton didn't seem like the fighting type. And despite that buff jock body of his, I saw Rex take down four of the biggest boys in our entire school. I doubted Denton would stand a chance.

       "Don't let Rex hear you say that. You know he will knock you on your ass just to prove a point."

       Denton's wounded look turned into a pout, but he didn't bother arguing as Trey climbed into the driver's seat with a chuckle. "Den couldn't hurt a fly." Trey added salt to the injury and Denton's pout turned his voice to a whine.

        "Could to."

       I saw Brett roll his eyes before I turned back around.

       The ride to school was short, but entertaining as the boys bickered constantly in the back. For being twins, they didn't seem to agree on anything, even sports. I had no idea how they made such a good team.

       "Are they-"

       "Always like this?" Trey finished my question with an amused smirk pulling at his lips. "Yes, always. It gets pretty annoying having to listen to it every day, but it's still entertaining." I couldn't keep my smile off my face for the rest of the ride.

       I didn't want to leave the car when Trey finally pulled us to a stop in the Big Four's designated space at the back of the school's parking lot. My eyes immediately swept the nearby cars, searching for one in particular. A wave of disappoint washed through my chest when that familiar convertible was nowhere in sight.

       I glanced over at Trey, the question dying on my lips when I found that bright gaze already watching me. I blushed at his narrowed look and dropped my stare to my old, tattered blue backpack. "He's probably just running a little late." He said on a soft shrug, though I still felt his gaze even after he turned to step out of the SUV.

       I didn't know whether to blush at the fact that he knew I was looking for his best friend, or if that I was that obvious. I jumped out of my thoughts when the door suddenly swung open and Denton was beaming down at me, his blue eyes bright in the morning sun.

       "Let's go Buttercup! This Hell-hole of a school awaits!"

       A small smile washed over my face as I let him help me out of the SUV and adjust my bag on my shoulders. "What's your first class?" He started happily, his large arm swinging over my shoulders as he stirred me between his brother and Trey.

       "Uh, Animal Science, but you don't have to-"

       "Oh! That's that blow off science class, right? It's all the way on the other side of the school though, so we better get going!" His voice was a happy cheer as he steered me into the school.

       "You really don't have to walk me there. I'm sure your classes are all over here."

       "Don't be silly, of course we're going to walk you. Rex would have our ass if we didn't." Denton snorted, only to receive a dark look from his brother. Trey's eyes narrowed and snapped to his.

       My heart stopped beating, and my breath turned into a hard rock in my throat. I turned to look up at Trey who was practically glowering at a now-pouting Denton. "Rex wants you guys to walk me to class?"

       Denton's arm fell slowly away from my shoulders, he and Brett sharing an uncertain look as Trey ran a heavy hand through his hair—his eyes glued to some spot down the hall. "None of us minded to begin with." Trey started softly, his large body gently bumping into mine. "But after yesterday... Well, we all just think its best if you stay pretty close for a while."

       That's basically what Rex had said the night before, but I thought he just meant sitting with them at lunch or something. I didn't realize he was actually going to have them stuck to my side whenever we weren't in class. Not that I was complaining or anything. It felt like we were friends. I liked it.

       "Do you need to go to your locker or anything?" Trey asked when we were half-way through the school. I shook my head and held on tighter to my backpack. Everything I needed for the first two periods were in it.

       Brett and Denton wandered down two different halls when we finally got to the science hall, waving goodbye and promising one of them would be there after class to walk me to the next one. Trey stayed with me the entire time.

       "I don't want you to be late." I mumbled for the hundredth time as the classroom's door came into view. He let out a heavy sigh, rolled his eyes, then turned to glare down at me.

       "Don't worry about me, Princess. Mr. Phell doesn't care if I'm a few minutes late."

       I still felt a worried frown pull at my lips even as he held his hand out encouragingly towards the door. "Okay, just don't be too late."

       "Yeah, yeah, I won't. Now go get to your seat before you're the late one."

-&-

       I blinked up at the sun shining through the branches above me, my back cradled against the thick trunk of the same tree from the day before. Despite the boys walking me to every class and keeping my mind occupied at lunch, the day was dragging on slowly. And I was almost positive it was because Rex hadn't shown up once.

       He wasn't in third period, he wasn't at lunch, he didn't walk me to any class, and I saw no sign of his familiar convertible in the parking lot I was staring at. I sighed and closed my eyes, my head falling back against the hard tree trunk. I couldn't help the worry in my chest at his absence, it was almost as strong as that horrible sinking feeling in my stomach.

       He was either gone because he was dealing with whatever happened yesterday, like Jason's or those other boy's parents trying to get him arrested—or he was avoiding me. I feared the first option as much as I dreaded the second.

       My Calculus textbook was open in my lap, my homework spread out on the notebook beside me. I hadn't even gotten halfway through the first problem, and the thirty-minute break during sixth period was almost over. I sighed and started packing the horrible math back into my backpack. I'll just have Tate do it for me later, he's good with numbers and awful stuff like that.

       I had just finished zipping my bag when a shadow fell over the one the tree cast above me. My heart immediately raced in my rib-cage. It was more of the football players, here to finish what their friends couldn't start-

       My eyes snapped up to the tall, intimidating figure above me, and my heart only pounded harder. "Come with me."

       "But school-"

       "Is almost over, and you only have P.E. and drawing left." Those dark eyes flickered out toward the parking lot, heavy hands resting in his jacket pockets.

       My eyes flickered out to the students starting to rise from the grass and head back for the school, before they glanced back at the beautiful dark-haired boy standing in front of me. My heart fluttered in answer.

       Rex helped me to my feet, his hand was a warm pressure around mine before he immediately let go when I gained my footing. I rolled my wrist. That had felt nice, too nice. I nearly asked for him to hold my hand just so I could feel it again.

       "Where are we going?" I asked softly as I followed him into the parking lot, completely avoiding the horrible section from yesterday. He shrugged, like he wasn't sure either, but kept walking towards his car hidden at the back of the lot. No wonder I hadn't seen it.

       "For a drive." Was his only answer, and I didn't bother pressing for more. He was here, and asking me to go on a drive with him. There was no way in h-e-double-hockey sticks I was going to pass that up.

       Butterflies erupted in my stomach when he unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for me, but we both stayed quiet as I slipped into the cool leather seat. I tried not to say anything as he climbed in a moment later, sunglasses now resting casually over his chestnut eyes, but the questions were just dying to slip past my lips.

       "Where were you today?" I tried to sound casual as the car's engine turned on with a soft hum, though I'm sure I only sounded as nosy as I felt.

       Another small shrug of his shoulders. "Had stuff to handle."

       "What stuff?"

       "Yesterday stuff."

       Oh...

       I watched, quietly, as he pulled the car out of the parking spot and drove onto the main street. There was no tension in his body, like I was used to, and I wasn't sure how to take it. He didn't seem mad at all, not even at me. I bit my lip and tugged at the end of my hair. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Rex was a loose cannon always ready to fire. I didn't want to do anything that would set him off.

       We drove in silence for a while, some random pop station playing music softly in the background. "Did you have any... problems today?" I was surprised as his voice filled the quiet of the car, his question sending flutters through my chest. I pushed my hair behind my ears nervously.

       "No, the others walked with me to all my classes and I ate lunch with them." I answered softly and let my eyes drop to my shoes. I could see him nod from the corner of my eyes before he turned off the main road and onto a side street that led to downtown.

       "Good."

       He was silent again after that, but I noticed how his hands tightened around the steering wheel—his bruised, scraped hands. I had watched the damage those knuckles could cause, seen the force behind his closed fist. But even after all that violence and blood, all I wanted to do was hold his hands in my own and brush the pain away. I didn't think he would be too keen on that.

       We drove further into downtown, large corporate buildings turning into smaller businesses as the city turned to suburbs. I clenched my hands together in my lap.

       "I don't want you to get in trouble." I finally spoke as he pulled off the street onto a smaller, back road. I could practically feel his eyes slant to mine behind his sunglasses.

       "I won't."

       "But their parents-"

       "Are none of your fucking business." His voice turned to a hard snap, and those huge hands clenched into fists around the steering wheel. Guess I finally pushed him over.

       I zipped my mouth shut, my heart in my throat, and pointed my gaze out the passenger window. He had wanted to willing spend time with me—I think that's what this was—and I couldn't keep my mouth shut long enough. I really needed to stop making him so mad all the time.

       There was a tense, strained, moment of silence before he suddenly let out a small sigh and his fists eased around the steering wheel. "Rose, I- I..." His voice trailed off, and I glanced over long enough to see him shake that beautiful head of his.

       "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I don't want to be such an ass hole to you. I'm just not used to... this."

       I had to stop myself from asking 'this what', but then his words actually dawned on me. Rex Turner, the Rex Turner, just apologized. And said he didn't want to be an A-hole to me. It took all my will power to keep the elated smile from my lips.

       I didn't bother saying anything as he finally pulled us to a stop outside of a rather busy two-story building, a bright neon sign flashing above the entrance door. I didn't know what to say, and with Rex it was better just to keep your mouth shut.

       He turned the engine off but didn't bother getting out of the car. I kept my eyes focused on the people piling in and out of the building, some in party clothes and some in jeans and t-shirts.

       "The guys and I come here all the time. Trey's brother owns the place." He spoke softly beside me, and pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. I felt those dark chestnut eyes on the side of my face, his gaze soft for once even though I refused to look over at him.

       The neon sign flashed the word Echo proudly to all who were piling in, and the fading afternoon sun only made the colors seem brighter. "Is it a club?" I asked softly a moment later, neither of us bothering to move.

       "A club and bar, I guess you can say. Charlie gives us free drinks and lets us hang out here-"

       "But that's illegal!" I turned horrified eyes onto the beautiful boy sitting beside me, one dark eyebrow raised at the outburst.

        "Uh huh. You gonna' go run off and snitch?" Rex's tone was teasing, actually teasing as that dark gazed flashed in the fading light of the sun. That familiar heat crept up my cheeks as I immediately shook my head.

       "N-No. I just don't want anyone to get in trouble..."

       Rex