Bang bang, two shots fired
Man down, one fool, one liar
Ring ring, trust gone missing
House on fire, house on fire

I was alone in the swimming area.

It was hours after the swim meet ended, hours after Logan said we needed to talk. I didn't really know what to say since I didn't want him confronting me in front of a large crowd, my family included. To my relief, he added that he wanted to talk later, when the whole thing was finished.

In between races, I tried calling Zoe and Jade for references or advices. But then Zoe had a game today and Jade had some nerdy thing going on, so I was all alone.

I could always call Zachary, but every time my finger hovered the call sign on his number, I'd think about how he practically spat in my face that we weren't friends.

I was going to have to deal with that later.

Logan disappeared a few hours back. I hoped that he lost the will to talk to me, but then he texted me to meet him here.

And there was no sign of him.

After a few minutes of solitude, I sighed impatiently and went over to the exit.

What a waste of time.

Suddenly, before I could even step a foot outside, a bunch of people started running inside, dragging me along with them. I recognized them as my batch mates, and some even my acquaintances and friends like Theodore, Natalie and many more. They were forming some kind of circle, running around as they showered rose petals everywhere. A jock pushed me to the center of the circle, leaving me baffled. Everyone was smiling giddily at me as they each handed me a rose before falling into a perfect circle surrounding me. Each of them were holding one book that I had read and loved.

I noticed Zoe (who, of course, was holding Fifty Shades of Gray even though I never even touched the book) and Jade somewhere in the circle, waving sheepishly at me. I shot them the deadliest glare, but they weren't paying attention to me. They were concentrated on something behind me and that something caused Zoe's eyes be as big as saucers and Jade's jaw to drop.

I turned around to see Logan Peters with his shaggy brown hair and cute dimpled smile in the middle of the circle with me, with two carts of romance novels beside him. In his hand he held one of my all time favorite books, Pride and Prejudice.

"Hi." Logan greeted nervously, causing the crowd to boo at him.

I raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say 'really?'

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, um, sorry. I just don't really know how to start."

"You know, I actually wrote a speech for what I'm about to say," he laughed nervously, pushing his glasses up. "That's how prepared I am. Then I just realized now, standing right in front of you, that you are everything but. You're unpredictable, full of life, never prepared, rarely ever responsible—just everything I'm not. When I'm with you though, it's like I'm more than what people expect of me. You make me feel like I'm more than just book smart and the local golden boy, that I can be so much more."

His eyes showed so much emotion that I couldn't bear staring into it. I was scared that if I did, I wouldn't be able to tear away, I wouldn't be able to do what I had to do. 

He opened a page from Pride and Prejudice, clearing his throat.

"'In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.'" Logan read out loud, and I literally heard Zoe's breath hitch.

He gently touched my face, bringing it closer to his.

"I love you, Katherine Solace," he confessed, his cheeks red and his eyes hopeful. "Will you be my girlfriend and read all of these books with me?"

I closed my eyes and instantly, the memories of all the girls that cried, all the women that got their heart broken by him came rushing to me. I remembered every pain, every sadness, every darkness those girls felt, including mine. It would be unfair if he got his happily ever after, even after everything he did. Sure, he had his own darkness, but he didn't have to drag others in it.

He didn't have to be a heartbreaker.

I opened my eyes and backed away from him. It was the last time I was going to have to face him, and so I took in all of his features: his shaggy, brown hair I always fixed, his glasses that he toyed with whenever he was bored or nervous, his green eyes that sparkled every time he read or answered some question, his red lips I kissed, and of course my favorite, his dimples I loved seeing.

"I'm sorry, Logan," I finally said in a small voice. The hope in his eyes vanished, replaced with confusion. "I just... don't feel the same way."

The people around us gasped and started whispering about what was happening. Logan paid no attention to them as he blinked in surprise, obviously not prepared to be rejected by me. I rubbed my arm sheepishly as Zoe and Jade started ushering people out, leaving Logan and I alone.

"I-I need to sit down..." Logan let out as he dropped the book, walking over to the highest seat on the bleachers and taking a seat. I followed him there after laying the roses on the floor gently as he ran a hand over his hair repeatedly, his whole face red from embarrassment and hurt.

"Logan?" I called softly as he covered his face with his hands.

He removed his hands and faced me, distress evident in his face. "Are you running away again? Every time I say something about my feelings, you just run away. You can't keep running away, Kath."

My heart was besting loudly against my chest.

"I can't help it," I retorted, looking at him as his jaw clenched. "How am I supposed to stay put when I'm not even supposed to trust you? When I'm scared of what you might do to me?"

"You're scared that of what I might do?" he accused, furrowing his eyebrows in disbelief. "I'm not the one who's been hanging out with three different boys!"

I shot him a glare. "Those three different boys are my friends, including you. Besides, I'm not the one known as a player—I'm not a heart breaker like you are. I never took advantage over boys, let alone use them."

He opened and closed his mouth, no argument coming out of it. In the end he sighed in defeat, looking at me with those puppy dog eyes.

"You're right, Kath. I am an asshole. I used girls for my own benefit and didn't think about what they would feel. I know I have no right to reason out, but I just felt like I needed something to control, you know? My dad literally handed me my life on a silver platter with everything planned out, and I just needed something I myself can control, and this was the only thing I could think of."

"Wow, so you just needed something—no wait, someone to control?" I scoffed."Bullshit."

"Look, I know how bad that sounds," he said desperately. "There shouldn't be a reason to hurt others, but I just wanted to explain to you, I wanted to be honest. Those girls made me feel like I had control—when in fact, those bad decisions made me spiral downward. You made me realize that, Kath. You made me realize that I could have so much more if I loosen up, if I didn't feel the need to control."

"Did that make you feel good?" I asked him quietly. "Did hurting them make you feel powerful?"

He was silent for a second.

"At first, yes," he answered truthfully, shame apparent in his eyes. "But then it sorta just became a routine, and routines give me a sense of control. I was in my comfort zone, and I wasn't the type to break out of it. The more I spent time with you though, the more I realized I was living my life wrong. I can actually control my life, and in the good way. You showed me it was okay to stand up for myself, that this is my life and I should do better."

"I can do better." He smiled at me, and all I wanted was to dive in those dimples of his.

But I can't.

I shook my head, biting my lip. "This is not gonna work out, Logan. I don't think I can ever deal with you and your exes, or that if I can fully trust you. You're a good guy, so I hope we can still be friends somehow."

"After everything?" he trembled. I could hear the heartbreak in his voice. "You just want to be friends?"

"Whatever went on between us wasn't some epic love story, Logan," I shrugged, standing up. "This is supposed to be nothing but a fun memory for you. Nothing more."

He stood up with me. "I don't understand. If this was nothing, why did you spend all those time with me? Why did you comfort me, hang out with me, laugh and joke with me, when it was all for nothing?"

I leaned towards him, my lips near his ear. "I was bored," I whispered before backing away.

My face was close enough to his, so I could clearly see the expression I knew so much. The eyes that were filled with pain and betrayal with tears threatening to spill out, the trembling lips that wanted to voice out what they felt but couldn't get any words out, the nose that was clogged up, trying to breathe but just couldn't because the lungs felt like it was being pressed together from all the baggage and hurt.

"Also, remember? The first time we talked this year, you were practically begging me to break your heart like you did with the others," I chuckled ironically as a tear escaped his eye. He quickly wiped it away, not wanting me to see it. "Now, I really did, how ironic."

I was just about to walk away seeing that my last line was the perfect way to dramatically strut away when I heard a low whistle.

"Damn, sis," Karl mused from under the bleachers. "Didn't know you had it in you."

Logan furrowed his eyebrows as I widened my eyes, desperately taking off to kill my brother for his stupid comment. I heard him laugh manically as I chased him towards the inside of my school. My little brother was fast, but I was much faster.

"Gotcha, you little rat," I growled, holding him by his shirt. His brown eyes were wide open, fear starting to seep in.

"Before you kill me, it's not my fault!" Karl quickly burst out, holding out his hands up in surrender. "I overheard you and Kaden talking about this whole thing over the phone and I also overheard that dude with glasses saying that he wanted to talk to you. Me being me, I just wanted to know what was happening."

"So you eavesdrop on us?" I scoffed.

He smiled sheepishly. "Yes? C'mon, you'd do the same thing!"

I pursed my lips, letting him go. "You're lucky we're alike, little bro."

He shook his head. "Oh, no. You're way more worse than I am. That guy was in love with you. I turn down girls that are only infatuated by me, it's not like they loved me. Also, it's not like I made them like me on purpose."

I couldn't help but feel that someone else was in the room, watching me. I glanced around the room to see if anybody was there, but there was no one. I shrugged the feeling off, focusing back on Karl.

"You, my sister, is the real heart breaker, the real sadist around here." Karl stated, crossing his arms.

I shrugged.

One down, three more to go.

*~*~*~*~*

Zoe and Jade were dancing together like lunatics on my bed.

Why?

Because apparently, they were happy for me. A sleepover at my house was their way of celebrating me breaking someone's heart for the first time, and now they were jamming out to party songs even though my house was far from a bar.

They had been trying to get me to dance—and normally I would, but I felt so drained. Was it this tiring, breaking someone? If it was, how did players find this fun?

"I'm tired," Zoe announced after a few songs, slumping down on my bed with Jade.

"Me too," Jade agreed breathlessly. "This is the most workout I've done in years."

"Nerd." Zoe coughed jokingly.

"At least I'm smart," Jade shrugged, making Zoe crinkle her nose at Jade.

"So," I began, standing up from my comfy position on my bean bag to turn on the television. "Who's ready for some Marvel movies?"

Because of Logan, I really did try to watch all of the Marvel movies. Given that I had school work and training, I didn't have much time. Aside from that, Zoe was a closet geek and Jade was a proud one, so they begged me to watch with them. They have been trying to get me in their lane and now that I was finally on the road to being a geek like them, they wanted to see my reactions and be with me in my transformation.

"Are you seriously asking me if I'm ready to see my hot babe Loki?" Zoe scoffed, plopping on my bed beside Jade. "Hell yeah."

"I prefer Peter Parker," Jade said unashamedly, adjusting her glasses. "But of course I'm ready."

I chuckled at my geeky friends as I played Thor: Ragnarok. I positioned myself beside Zoe, who was in the middle and who also had the bowl of popcorn I microwaved a while ago.

Halfway through the movie, we ran out of popcorn. Jade, being the sweetheart that she was, got up to get more.

When she opened my door to get out, she screamed.

Because Kaden Solace, my brother and her ex, was standing by my door.

Awkward.

*~*~*~*~*

Despite Kaden being an ass most of the time, he was still my older brother and I missed him so damn much.

So the moment I stepped out of my room for Zoe to calm Jade down, I hugged him as tight as I could.

"Woah," he laughed but hugged me as tight as I did. "Miss you too, little sis."

"What are you doing here?" I asked once I let go of him, taking in his 'messy' brown hair that he spent hours trying to perfect and hazelnut eyes that were always filled with mischief.

"Well, a little birdie told me you broke a heart today," he chirped. "Mercilessly, may I add."

I rolled my eyes. Karl. "What, so you decided to visit just because I did that?"

"We don't have classes next Monday and Tuesday, so I said, why not spend time with my lovely family?" he grinned just as Karl stepped out of his room.

"Kaden?" he gasped, wide-eyed.

"The one and only, little bro." Kaden smiled, opening his arms.

Karl grinned and ran towards him, giving him the biggest hug. Karl always looked up to Kaden, no matter how many times I reprimanded him not to be like our older brother. He styled his hair the way Kaden does, he had the same smirk, the same pick-up lines, the same everything.

And just like Kaden, he had the same tendency to annoy me as well.

"What are you doing here?" Karl asked once he let go of him.

Kaden slung an arm around my shoulders. "To congratulate our sissy for joining the heart breaker squad."

Karl's eyes lit up. "I know, right? I didn't think she could do it. I mean, she's the least attractive out of all of us."

"Hey! Just because I look different doesn't mean I'm the least attractive," I huffed.

But really, I looked so different from them. Sometimes, I don't even look like I was part of the family. They got Dad's looks and Mom's eye and hair color, while I only have Dad's hair color. Some people say I got Mom's looks, but I honestly don't see it.

"Kudos to you, Kath, but you still have three more to go," Kaden said, running a hand through his hair nonchalantly as if one heart was nothing. "To be fair, I'll not fu—" he glanced at Karl and cleared his throat. "hook up with a girl for a week."

"A week?" I screeched.

He put his hands up. "What? That's already a record."

Karl burst out laughing, high-fiving my jack-ass of my brother. Their laughing session was cut short when the doorbell rang, causing the three of us to furrow our eyebrows. Our parents were both home, so who could it be?

I trudged down the stairs with my brothers behind me. I heard my bedroom door open, so I assumed Zoe and Jade were trailing behind us.

When I opened the door, I let out a surprised shriek.

"Ivan?" I sputtered, eyeing the three guys beside him: Wyatt, Nico, and Jordan.

"Wyatt?" Jade spoke up, scrunching up her eyebrows.

"Nico!" Zoe exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

"Aye, Jordan, my man!" Kaden greeted. "What are you doing here?"

The three of them pointed at Wyatt.

"Hi," the redhead greeted, flashing us his charming smile. "I'm here to meet my girl."

All of our jaws dropped, including Jade's. He strode in and wrapped an arm around her, kissing her cheek. Jade immediately turned red as she buried her head shyly on his shoulder, shocking the rest of us.

Wyatt was eyeing Kaden, who barely spared them a glance. He asked Jordan and the others to come in, giving Jordan a solid bro hug. Nico smiled at Zoe and did their handshake that didn't make any sense to me. Ivan ruffled my hair, slinging an arm around me casually.

Ivan must've noticed Kaden and Karl eyeing his arm around me, causing him to clear his throat as he quickly dropped his arm away from me, stepping away.

"I'm confused," I spoke up, looking around my now crowded house. "Who invited you guys here?"

"Zoe," Nico answered, adjusting his beanie that said person messed up. Zoe smiled sheepishly, raising her arms up in surrender.

"Okay...?" I trailed off, still puzzled. I looked at Kaden and Jordan, who were talking as if they were best friends forever. "And you two, how do you guys know each other?"

"This here," Kaden clasped an arm on Jordan's broad shoulder, "is my roommate, and my college best friend, Jordan."

Kaden opened his mouth to introduced us, but Jordan held up a hand. "I already know them bro," he cut off, causing Kaden to tilt his head in confusion. Jordan turned to Zoe and I, his expression apologetic. "I must apologize for the way I acted the last time we met, my emotions got the best of me."

I waved him off. "No biggie."

"Yeah, it's not your fault you found out your girlfriend has been whoring around with some douche," Zoe said with a straight expression before crinkling her nose. "I'm hungry. Kath, do you have food?"

Without even waiting for my response, she walked to my kitchen with Nico trailing behind her.

"Sorry for that," I smiled sheepishly at Jordan, who's eyebrows were scrunched up. "She can be a little straightforward."

"Kath, there's no food!" Zoe yelled from the kitchen.

"Well, lucky for you," Ivan grinned, taking out his keys from his pocket. "We brought pizza."

He proceeded to step out of my house as I grabbed Jade's hand, smiling at Wyatt apologetically. I pulled her to the kitchen where Zoe was currently flirting with Nico. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when I stood in between them with my eyebrow quirked. He nodded slowly, backing away once he got the memo.

"Zoe," I began, putting a hand on my hips once Nico left. "Why did you invite that boy band in my house?"

"Well..." she drawled sheepishly as she picked on her nails. "Jade was obviously taken aback by your brother, and to prove to him that she wasn't affected by him, I kinda told Nico to bring Wyatt here."

"Okay," I nodded. "So why is the whole band here?"

She raised up her hands in surrender. "That's what I don't know. They probably wanted to tag along or something."

"Jade?" I turned to my brunette friend, who was silent the whole time. "Did you know anything about this?"

She shook her head no. "I mean, I was texting Wyatt the whole time, and  mentioned about Kaden being here out of nowhere, but I didn't know he was coming