Listen to Graveyard by Halsey.

"Sofia?"
I mumbled immediately I saw her, her red lipstick was bright.

I moved to Tristan's back but not completely, I stayed where I could see her and at the same time cover myself.

"Hey, Tristy."
She said like a seductress, her black slingback heels had gold chains around the ankle, I could smell her perfume from here.
Her burgundy dress was too short but fitted her.

"You didn't tell me you were coming," Tristan said putting one arm around my waist and pulling me to his back.
Sofia took a glance at me before talking.

"Since you dumped me at the altar for a little girl and decided I don't exist anymore, I came to say Hi."
I rolled my eyes and stared at her red nails that weirdly stole my attention.

"We were friends before we started dating. I don't hate you for your stupid decision, I wasn't planning on getting pregnant anyway. I'm becoming a full-time model next year and I need this body, who has time to nurse a crying baby?"
She made a disgusted face at the end.

Tristan just stared at her not saying anything.

"Well, friends check on each other even if the other friend doesn't care."
She said and flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

"Thanks for caring but you should've called."
Tristan sounded annoyed.

"Sorry for ruining the moment."
She added air quotes with her long nails to the 'moment'

"Anyway, what was that scary thing on your back?"
She crossed her arm with a pose that made her right hip shoot out.

I was about to tell her it was none of her concern but Tristan beat me to it.

"It's none of your business," Tristan said.

"Whatever," she scoffed.

"Why are you here Sofia?"
He asked like he knew she was lying.

"To talk."
She looked serious now.

"In private," she added looking at me.

"Okay, I will meet you in the living room."

Tristan waited for her to leave before turning around to look at me. He brushed the wet baby hair that stuck to my face behind and looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked as if he expected me to be in tears.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Stay here, I will be right back."
He gave me a soft smile and came out of the pool.

I blew loud air out of my mouth and wore my bikini and shirt back.
I stayed in the water for a while, I got tired of waiting for him and came out. I drank more wine and dried my body, I squeezed the water out of my hair and dried it more with the towel.

I picked the two wine glass and the remaining wine and left. I didn't see them in the living room, I looked around but didn't find them.

I frowned and went to drop what I had in my hands in the kitchen.
I took a shower when I got to my room. I put on my favorite flannel pajamas shorts and a big sweater that almost covered the pajamas shorts.

I decided to do some school work, I threw everything on the bed and made myself comfortable.

My mind drifted to Tristan and Sofia, where were they? I thought they wanted to have their talk in the living room, were they...

I shook the thought out of my head, Tristan didn't like Sofia but I still had a feeling she was here to seduce him.

"Focus.Focus.Focus."
I hit my forehead with my pen.

I forced myself to finish one chapter, I was about starting the next chapter when someone knocked on my door.

"Cassie? Are you awake?"
There was an unknown flattered sensation through my stomach hearing his voice.

"Yeah."
I tried to sound normal but I could hear the excitement in my voice.

He opened the door and walked in only in his white sweats that hung low around his waist, his sculpted chest and abdomen snatched my eyes.

"Sorry for taking so long."
He sat close to where my books laid, his torso was directly in front of me. I bit on my inner lip and tried to distract myself.

"I didn't see you guys in the living room."
I said sitting up and keeping a safe distance between me and his solid torso.

"She said she wasn't comfortable with us inside, so we went to the Garden."
I nodded a bit relieved but I wanted to know what they talked about.

"She came to talk about what happened in the church, she won't stop crying and yelling. It took an hour to calm her down."
He said like he read my mind. I didn't know what to say but I noticed the atmosphere around us had changed. I returned to my book humming a response.

"What are you doing?" He asked leaning closer to the textbook in front of me.

"School research."

"You can do that tomorrow."
He packed everything and dropped them on my nightstand.

"What a bad influence," I frowned and he laughed.

"It's late, you spent the day with your best friend and went swimming. You should rest," he said.

"Yes, daddy," I said mockingly but the look on Tristan's face told me he took it the wrong way.

"My...my Dad always talks like that," I laughed trying to ease the tension settling in the air. He nodded with a smile, biting on his lips.

He walked to the other side of the bed and climbed, I folded my legs and faced him.
He rested his back on the headboard propping one leg up.

I didn't know if it was the alcohol but I was feeling confident right now and I wanted to open up about my horrible exes and who left the hideous scar on my back. I didn't trust him but I wanted him to open up to me about Nadia and Fiona.

Let's start with baby steps, I wanted him to trust me.

"Wanna hear tales of my horrible exes?"

"If you're willing to share, I'm all ears."

"Before I begin, don't judge me. I was a desperate idiot and I did dumb stuff."

"Then we are even, I won't judge."

"I grew up in a family where you are told what kind of clothes you wear, the kind of music you listen to, the kind of movies you watch and we were not allowed to leave the house to hang out with our friends, I hated it but I couldn't say that to my parents,"

"I wanted more, I wanted to experience more, I wanted to grow up fast and be free."
I took a glance at him, he was staring at me with keen interest.

"I had popular friends in high school, I envied them so much cause they got to do whatever they want. I always felt left out during some discussions cause I didn't know what they were talking about, we were rich but we never went on vacations, they were so many places I wanted to see especially Paris."
I paused and laughed softly with no humor

"It got worse when they started talking about boys and parties, their first kiss and the seniors they were dating, I wanted that."
I played with the hem of my sweater.

"I heard a senior was throwing a party, so that was my opportunity. I snuck out that night to go for the party, I met Jack who offered me a drink, my first alcohol."
I chuckled and Tristan smiled.

"He was nice, sweet and all that, he could pass out for an alcoholic. He was the first senior I dated."
I smiled smoothly.

"But he dumped me for a transfer student. My second boyfriend, Reign; was a douchebag he dated me because of a stupid bet which I was lucky to find out,"

"my third boyfriend, Daniel, was a bully, I thought I could change him but it was too much. I ended it because I almost got suspended when I got involve once. My fourth boyfriend..."
I stopped and took a deep breath, this was where it got terrifying.

"You don't have to tell me," Tristan said.

"I'm fine."
I smiled.

"His name was Luke, he did drugs a lot, he taught me how to smoke and other drugs I can't really remember, it was fun at first. I enjoyed getting high but he started acting strange, getting into fights with people that didn't supply his drugs on time. The day I tried to confront him, he pushed me on the floor and tried to strangle me, he became so aggressive."
I paused and gave him a sad smile.

"I got some beating when I tried to talk to him again and that was when I ended it."

"My fifth boyfriend, Milo, was nice and really sweet at first"
I stopped and laughed, a laugh that brought tears to my eyes.

"He used to tie me to a seat and make me watch him have sex with different girls."

"What? Why?"
Tristan made an expression that made him look funny.

"Because I refused to have sex with him."

"And you still stayed with him?"

"He threatened to tell my parents about my wildlife outside if I tried to leave him cause he knew everything about me but he got tired of me and let me go."
I laughed softly to myself.

"Dominiano "
I said with a smile, his warm grey eyes appeared in my head.

"He was the perfect definition of Bad, his beauty turned heads, people pay to see the tattoos on his body, his smile could light up...."

"Just get straight to the point you're boring me with that fangirl talk."

"I dated him," I reminded him.

"Then what happened? Don't tell me how you met or how he swept you off your feet, say it like the others."
I frowned.

"Dominiano was nice but everyone found him rude and mean, he treated me different though, he made me feel special and made everyone treat me like his Queen."

"Seriously?"
Tristan groaned getting frustrated at the cheesy talk.

"I just wanted you to know he was a nice guy at first, well, Dominiano had a secret and it didn't take me long to find out..."

"Cause you're very nosy."
Tristan cut in.

"It's part of me. I found out he was the son of a popular Mafia in Italy and he was also working for his dad."

"So you dumped him?"

"No, I loved him so I stayed, he allowed me to hang out with his gang who happened to work for his dad too, they were all nice except Grey."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah, he was friends with someone in Dominiano's gang but he wasn't involved in the business, he only hung out with us.
He didn't like me, he was always glaring at me, the feeling was mutual anyway."

"Why?" He asked with a laugh.

"He was always telling me how I didn't belong with them or how I was pretending to be someone else, he once called me a desperate bit**. Dominiano broke his nose that day so he stopped coming,"

"I got used to the gunfights and I happened to meet his dad once but he didn't like me. I snuck out every night to their hideout, there was a bloody fight with another gang one night I got there. I didn't know what happened but I was scared for my life and for the other guys so I called the cops."

"Wait, what?"
He broke into deep laughter, he gestured for me to keep talking while he tried to get a grip on himself.

"I was trying to help, I didn't stop to think of the consequences! I was scared! I was only 17, too young to die."
I tried to defend myself.

"Yeah, that was stupid."
I shot him a glare.

"I know, you don't have to remind me and you said you won't judge."
I said grabbing a pillow and hitting him on the leg.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. What happened after that?"

"Some of them got arrested but Dominiano and four others got away, he took me with them to a small apartment to hide till the search was over. He suspected someone from the other gang called the cops but I ratted myself out."

"Oh, God."
He groaned with a facepalm.

"I had to, if he found out later he'd kill me. Dominiano had anger issues and it gets very scary."

"And you told him?"
He stared at me incredulously.

"Will you just let me finish and stop making me feel like an idiot even though I was an idiot?"

"Go on."

"Thank you."
I said dramatically.

"Well, Dominiano went crazy when I told him, he threw harsh words at me in front of the guys.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me to the only bedroom in the apartment, he said he wanted to give me a punishment I will never forget, a punishment that will make me miserable."
I stopped as I recalled that day.

"What did he do?"

"He.....he forced himself on me. He told me he wasn't going to use any protection, he wanted to take my virginity and get me pregnant, that was his punishment. I cried and tried to fight him off but he was too strong, I begged him to stop and he surprisingly did."
I blinked the tears in my eyes away.

"But he was hell-bent on punishing me, he dragged me back to the living room and asked one of the guys for his knife. He put the knife over the gas cooker and let it burn for some minutes, I tried to run away when I saw what was coming but he told the guys to hold me down,"

"he zipped down the back of my dress and tried to draw a D with the hot knife, I screamed my lungs out from the pain. I made it worse when I tried to fight them, it only made the cut ugly.
I passed out from the pain, I woke up in a dark alley with a note in my hand,"

"he told me it was over between us and if I ratted him out to the cops he'd come back for me. I was too weak to find my way home but Grey came, his friend called him and told him where I was, he took me to the hospital and stayed with me."

"But I had to go home that night, the Doctor was against it, I didn't want my family to get worried and call the cops."

"No one in your family knew about your wild past?"

"My sister, she once caught me smoking weed in the bathroom and she warned me to stop but she never told my parents, I told her about all my boyfriends, she never liked Dominiano.
She wanted to tell my parents about the attempted rape but I begged her not to, to my parents I was a good girl."

"You didn't tell her about the mark on your back?"

"I only told Vina cause she saw it and now you."

"How did you end up dating Grey?"

"After he saved my ass I never saw him again till I got to college and we were taking the same course. We pretended not to know each other for some time but later we became friends and one day he asked me out, it was hard at first cause I thought he was going to be like the rest but he changed a lot in my life."

"You really have a bad taste in men or should I say you attract the worse men."

"Yeah, and you're one of them."

"Yeah, I am."
He whispered softly.

"I was expecting you to cry at some point."
Thank God he didn't see the ones forcing to come out.

"The fact you didn't shed a tear after telling those stories shows how strong you are, it's a rare superpower," he said and with a genuine smile.

"I'm glad I met Grey."
I whispered after some time.

"I'm glad I met you," he said more to himself but I was able to pick up the words.  I bit back my smile and tried not to overthink it.

 I took a glance at the wall clock and yawned.

"Come here."
He tapped a spot next to him, I moved to where he was and laid down turning my back to him.

"Goodnight."
I said with a yawn.

"Goodnight, Cassie."
He whispered close to my ear, the brush of his stubble on my cheek felt so good.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but he put one arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his naked chest.

"Are you sleeping here?"
He didn't answer, I looked back and saw his eyes closed.

I turned off the lamp and went to sleep. I was glad I told him about my horrible exes, it felt like a weight was lifted off my body.

"Are we on for our date?" he asked after a while, I didn't answer.

"Cassie?" he called and I pretended to snore, he laughed and said nothing.

Maybe he'd tell me about Nadia soon, I wanted to know who she was.

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