Paul is leaning up against the dorm building and judging by the look on Warner's face he knows exactly who Paul is.

Paul makes a point to look at my body before speaking "Hey Warner, your dad told me you were into girls that looked like little boys." He spits at my feet. "Anorexic whore."

Warner lunges so fast that I blink and he has Paul on the ground and blood is pouring from his nose as Warner throws himself onto him, his blows merciless as they find their mark again and again like a beast unleashed.

"You will not speak to her that way." Warner spits at him and a strangled noise comes from Paul's mouth as Warner draws his other hand back, ready to deliver a final blow.

"Stop" I hiss. Warner's arm stills instantly. I press a hand to his arm. "You're going to kill him if you don't stop."

Warner has a future ahead of him, a bright future at that. I will not let him throw that all away defending me. I have heard worse. These comments are nothing new to me.

Warner's shoulders tense, and then in a moment, they slump as he lets Paul go. "Let this be a warning. Tell my Father that I am done and sending his followers after Juliet won't bring me back. It will only make me angrier."

Paul stays laying on the ground, clutching his bloody nose.

I can see the anger vibrating off of Warner as Adam and Max pull him into the dorm building. Thankfully no one saw or heard the commotion outside thanks to the late-night darkness.

I can tell that Max and Adam have many questions. They just witnessed their teammate almost kill a guy outside and have no idea about Warner's dad and the betting. I'm sure at this point Adam is putting it together but Max looks very lost.

"I need to talk to Juliet." Warner pulls me alone with him and I follow Warner into his room who sits down at his desk and starts frantically writing something down.

He stands then, those green eyes flicker up in my direction,

"He said nice to see you again. When did he see you?" Warner asks flatly. Frustration shines in his eyes.

"He was just outside earlier," I rush out. "He said you weren't answering your phone and told me to tell you to throw the game. And then—"

Warner's entire body tightens, strains, and shifts in ripples of muscle and stress. It is the fact he keeps his face down that worries me.

"And then what?" he asks calmly but I know he is anything but calm.

"He said if I got down on my knees that they would leave you alone. I told him no obviously." I blab out.

Oh boy.

Warner pushes his chair back roughly, smacking the wall with the back of it. With a growl, he rounds the desk and points at the now empty chair. "Wait," he demands and storms out the door.

I should listen to him and wait, but I don't. I am out the door and going after him a split second later. I never was a good listener. If Paul was dumb enough to still be outside, he was a dead man.

Warner is stalking out the door, a phone held up to his ear, and I could hear him barking something ugly and low into the end.

Shit

I gather up my guts and follow after him catching bits and pieces but I stop him at the outside door and slide my finger through the belt loops at the back of his jeans and tug. "Warner."

Miraculously, he pauses.

"Hey, he's gone," I tell him in the most soothing voice I can come up with. My free hand settles on the small of his back. "We can't do anything right now. Please calm down."

Warner turns to look at me over his shoulder before gradually turning around. His mouth is pulled back in a tight snarl. His eyes narrow.

Yeah, he is pissed.

I smile at him, hoping it will calm him down, and I tug at his belt loop again. "It's okay. Nothing happened, I got away, and you got scouted so yay!"

"Juliet," he grits out. "He came here. To our dorm. And threatened you. That's not fucking nothing."

"You have given up so much for everyone else, I didn't want you to give tonight up too. I love you and I want you to get away from all of this—from all of them."

He stares at me for a long moment, his gaze hard. Then his hands are cupping my face. He tips my head back to nip at my upper lip, sucking it between his.

Warner moves to do the same to my bottom one before I react. Before I try to kiss him back the same way he was kissing me, he tilts my head even further back, arching me against him as he wraps an arm around my waist.

His hot tongue slips into my mouth the first chance he gets, brushing against mine with more force, more possession than I know what to do with. He pulls me tighter against him, gripping my waist more strongly than he needs to as if I might disappear.

"Jules." He gently bites the soft place between my jaw and throat column.

Just when I think I am going to get away with not telling him he pulls back and gives me an angry look "You should've come to me. Anyone comes to you with any threat at all and you come to me. I don't give a shit who it is. You tell me everything! That's what trust is about. And it's not nothing. You wouldn't have been hiding it from me if it wasn't a big deal. Someone threatening you will never be nothing to me."

Leaning forward, I grab his shoulder and press my forehead to his nose. "I'm sorry for not telling you before I won't do it again."

The tip of his nose draws a line from my forehead to my temple. "Don't do this shit to me again," he pleads. "Swear to me, Jules. Tell me you won't drop some shit like that on me again."

His tone. Christ. The tremble in his voice pulled at the threads of tissues in my spine.

"I swear."

I lift one of his trembling hands. He stares at it for a moment, then threads our fingers together. I lean forward, pressing my lips to his. It's a slow, gentle kiss unlike the one from before. A kiss that lets him know I am here and I'm not going anywhere.

"I'm sorry," I whisper just a millimetre from those firm, full lips that grace his beautiful mouth. "I don't want to keep things from you," I kiss his top lip for just a moment.

Two large hands cupped my cheeks. "Forgiven" he purrs in that silky voice that makes me lose my breath.

_______

I wake up in Warner's room and notice that Warner's side of the bed is empty when I glance around his room there are papers and boxes of files strewn everywhere, piles of books laid out all over the room.

I carefully make my way over to the desk where Warner is sleeping, his head slumped down on the flat surface.

I move aside some of the papers on the desk and then slowly ease myself up onto it, careful not to disturb Warner until I can wrap myself around him a little more securely. I stroke my hands down his back, feeling the tension in his muscles that aren't just from holding this position. He doesn't immediately wake, but he leans into me, breathing in deeply as he slowly awakens.

"You should be sleeping, Jules" he murmurs, his voice a little broken and dry. When he lifts his head, his eyes are bloodshot with exhaustion and probably a little bit of a hangover too.

I scowl at him and mumble back quietly, "No more drinking."

I don't mention that it breaks my heart to see him this way and he groans as his forehead hits my thigh. He is slumped over once more and looking miserable. The words that tumble out of his mouth sound as though they're being torn directly from the darkest depths of his heart. "Hearing my dad's men are threatening you to your face hurts me more than you know. I brought you into this. I have been making progress with the police and my mom but I hate that you are in danger because of me. You have enough on your plate to deal with and I'm adding this I just can't—"

It's hard for him to talk like this, he's refusing to meet my eye, so I bury both of my hands into the silky locks of his hair, massaging his skull until he groans again, this time in a sort of pleasure.

He's done so much for me, he deserves better than this.

"I'm not letting your dad ruin your chances at a future. He has taken enough from you Warner; I won't let him take this too. We are a team, and we will get through this together."

He doesn't answer me, his head still resting on my knees as I scratch up his scalp and attempt to calm him down wordlessly.

I lean forward to speak softly to him. "You have been the strong one for all of us from the beginning. You have fought for me all year, it's time I started fighting for you."

He's silent for a moment and then he lifts his head, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I love you, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

I press my hands onto either side of his face, leaning down to murmur to him. "I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. We are going to figure this out."

He takes one last steadying breath and then cups my face in both of his hands, tilting my head until I'm looking into his eyes and I'm trying not to cry at the devasted look in his eyes.

"I cannot live without you, Juliet. I won't. Something happens like this again; you pick up the phone and call me. Because if something happens and you get hurt, I will go out of my fucking mind." He smooths his finger down the curve of my ear. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, you know that?"

He runs his fingertip around my ear again, pulling goose bumps onto my arms. He repeats the motion a few times, his breath heavy on my neck. "You make me want to kill every fucking guy that looks at you wrong. Do you know what that's like?"

He slips a hand over my neck, palming it with the full length of his big palm. "When you told me he threatened you I almost lost my damn mind." Warner runs a finger over the corner of my mouth, drawing me into a deep daze that has nothing to do with sleep.

"It's okay, I am here now...safe"

Warner lets out another sigh, settling in closer to me. "I have been dealing with my dad and his betting for years but I have never wanted to get away from it more than I do now. Now that I got my mom away I will do everything I can to make sure he can't hurt us. I will work with the police to shut the whole thing down. I've never had anyone else to fight for and now that I do, I know I won't stop till he is gone."

"We will do everything We can. We are a team." I correct him and he just pulls me closer, still curled into him on the chair.

"That's what I like to hear."

__

We pull up in front of Warner's parents' house for hopefully the last time. I guess it is just his dad's house now. It looks empty compared to the last time I saw it.

Warner needed to grab the last of the evidence he had against his dad while he was at a business meeting and even though he begged me to stay at the dorms I was not letting him do this alone, I was going to hold his hand through the whole thing.

Once we were inside, Warner grabbed all the documents he needed and quickly went back outside to shove them in his trunk in case his dad came home while we were still here. He was a man on a mission and didn't spend a single second loitering around the house besides grabbing the rest of his clothes and a few boxes from his room. The giant house seemed quite sad and lonely without Tracy's fun colourful décor. I guess she had taken most of her stuff with her.

We were locking up the front door when a car pulled into the driveway. I tensed seeing Matt step out of the car and walk towards Warner and me. He has a big smile on his face and clasps Warner on the shoulder in a greeting, "I see you came back like I knew you would." He smiles at us like he didn't just send a man after me to threaten Warner.

"No. I came to move out the rest of my stuff." Warner gestures to the box at his feet and Matt's entire expression changes.

"That's funny. Do you think you can just leave like this? After all these years?" He crossed his arms and gives us a challenging stare.

"Yes. I told you I was done, and you didn't listen. You lost. Your wife is gone and now I'm leaving too. I'm leaving dad and I'm not coming back. You sent men after me, threatening me and my girlfriend. What kind of father does that to his kid?"

Matt scoffs "Did you come here to critique my parenting skills? Or to whine about how little you were loved? You have what most kids dream of. Look around boy. This house. You have everything a son could want."

"Except a father" Warner's voice has a strain to it and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Seeing my beautiful brave Warner choke up in front of his father hurts more than anything else could. I was the angry one for once. I may not have a backbone when it comes to defending myself but for the people I love? I would do anything.

I grip his hand tighter and the action brings Matt's attention to me.

"This is all your fault. He never fought against this before he met you. You've poisoned his head with pretty lies" Matt spits at me.

"I have been trying to rid myself of you for years, Juliet just gave me the courage to do it for good." Warner pulls me down the path to his car and away from his fuming father. We got to the car but as Warner opens the passenger door for me, I hear Matt try to get the last word "Such a disappointment" he scoffs.

I spin on my heel and walk right up to Matt. I don't care that this man is double the size of me and could squish me like a bug. I will not let anyone talk to Warner like this.

"Warner is not a disappointment. You have a wonderful, talented, kind son and you treat him like shit. You don't deserve a son like Warner. You don't deserve a wife like Tracy. You deserve to be alone." I spit at him getting brave enough to point a finger right in his chest.

"So tonight, when you are sitting in this house that you think is so great maybe take a look around and realize you are all alone. You are a bitter cruel old man who lost out on the only two good things in his life simply because you are greedy and miserable. The only disappointment here is you. You are pathetic."

I don't wait for him to respond. I get into the passenger seat and Warner closes it without another word, getting into the driver's seat and leaving Matt stunned on the driveway.

It's silent for a few moments and I worry that I crossed a line. "I'm sorry I just couldn't let him talk to you like that—"

"Juliet" His words falter as he turns to me, eyes too bright, emotion flushing up the planes of his face, "Thank you."

_________________

I stretch my arms above my head, faintly hearing a voice growing louder in my ear. My eyes blink open as two realities smack me in the face.

The first is that Warner is a foot away from me, sitting on the bed smiling, and the second is the smell of the coffee from the mug he's holding.

Ever since we left Warner's dad's house things have been oddly normal. No threats from strange men. No visits on gameday to tell Warner to control the score of the game. Maybe I had trust issues, but I didn't believe for a second that leaving would be this easy.

Warner was still working with the police but with our exams coming up as well as soccer playoffs he had a lot on his plate already.

I yawn out the words. "How long did we sleep."

"Not long. A few hours but I wanna show you something. So get up."

He presses the warm coffee mug into my hands before pushing off the bed to stand. It's then that I notice he is fully dressed – donning a black hoodie and gray sweatpants.

"Why are you dressed?" my head shifts to the window, realizing the sun is only just rising, "And why am I drinking coffee when it's barely light outside?"

He winks. "Because I need you to wake up quickly. Throw something warm on, and let's go."

I stare back at him, holding my coffee with both hands as I take another sip, contemplating whether or not to challenge him even more. It's like he knows because he smirks as he walks back toward me, and his lips land on mine,

"Be a good listener, Jules and you will be rewarded." He winks before pushing back off the bed, leaving me flushed thinking about my reward last night—when Warner had stripped my clothes off, laid down flat on his back and pulled me over to straddle his face. That was probably the greatest twenty minutes of my life.

"Sold" I answer, trying not to smile.

I set my coffee down and after taking a big swig I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I throw my hair on top of my head and dress in matching comfy sweats since clearly, it is not a formal occasion.

When he comes back into the room, he is holding two fresh muffins from my favourite café. Inside I am panicking at the thought of eating so early on in the day. I had been doing a good job of hiding how little progress I was making. If Warner gave me food I would eat it but I always made sure I burned it off or ate less later on in the day. But the idea of eating a muffin which probably had 500 calories at 6 am made my palms sweat.

I try not to think of the calories when I take it from his hand. Instead, I think about how my caring boyfriend got up early to go to my favourite café and get me a muffin. I had to stop letting this eating disorder ruin every single moment and memory I had.

I had been journaling like my therapist told me to and I know that I don't want to be like this. Every memory I have for the past 9 or 10 years is tainted. Every birthday party, every event. The number of times I didn't leave the house because I didn't like the way I looked. The outfits I told myself I wouldn't wear until I was skinny enough.

It was exhausting.

But I would get better.

Not now though.

 I would get better later. 

After all of this stuff with Warner's dad was dealt with. There were real issues going on, bigger than me worrying about a 500-calorie muffin.

I smile at him, taking a few more mouthfuls of food. I glance up again only to see him still looking at me, smiling.

"Is there muffin on my face?" I ask.

He shakes his head no and takes a sip of coffee.

I let it go until I catch his eyes one more time. "I'm not kidding, what's on my face?"

"Nothing."

I narrow my eyes in his direction but keep watching him. Until he does it again.

I put my hand over the middle of my face. "There's a booger in my nose, isn't there?"

"I just love when you smile at me."

"Oh." I blush and I hate that he still makes me so nervous even after all this time together. After finishing my coffee and muffin I grab my black puffer jacket and put it over my sweater because I feel the cold more than most people. To top it off I also pull on a knit hat and matching woollen mittens.

I prop a hand on my waist and pop out my hip. "Hey, you think I'll be warm enough?"

Warner takes a step forward and boops me on the nose. "You look adorable and warm."

Without warning, he takes hold of my face with both of his giant man hands and presses a kiss to my lips. But before I am able to react, and by react, I mean shove my tongue down his throat, he is stepping away and asks if I'm ready to leave.

Nodding, I take his hand and let him lead me out of the dorm and to his car.

"So where are we going?" I ask wondering what could be so important that he woke me up this early.

He doesn't answer and we have only been driving a few minutes when he stops the car on a nice street full of pretty houses. The one we are in front of is beautiful. It has a wraparound front porch with a porch swing and a second-floor balcony. Not to mention a huge backyard with a giant willow tree I could picture myself reading under.