"Megan?" The man questioned wearily, lowering his hand from her face as he quirked an eyebrow. Megan smirked kinda sheepishly.

"Hey, Rafe. Fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class right now? I mean I'm only saying that because Sadie is right now and--" He paused when seeing her face fall, watching as she bit her lip to stop it from quivering. That was enough evidence for him to know something was wrong, and he'd bet money it had something to do with his sister.

"Sir?"

The two of them glanced upwards to see the male employee from before holding a green case "We might want to move her to a table now, so she isn't in the way of the other customers."

Tch. Rude...

Rafe nodded and addressed Megan again "I'm going to pick you up, okay?"

"I can walk you know." She huffed.

"I know but it's best not to, you may still be in shock." He placed his arms under her, gently lifting her up while being careful not to knock her head "When we get you to a chair, why don't you tell me what happened."

"You want to know?"

"Of course," He smirked down at her "I am your therapist, aren't I?"

---

"And now I'm here talking to you, with a bandaged forehead..." Megan finished unenthusiastically with a sigh. She had to be careful how she worded everything, as it was a touchy subject and anything could trigger the waterworks again. Rafe just sat there opposite her, wide ebony eyes staring down at his expresso he had ordered a few minutes ago.

"You're certain they were kissing." He muttered, obviously not liking what he had heard. Megan nodded.

"I wish I wasn't, but their mouths were pressed together..."

"Dear God..." The ravenette breathed and ran a hand through his hair, taking his lip ring between his teeth and only letting go when he spoke "I knew Sadie was mad for Gladion, but I didn't think she'd go that far..."

Megan laughed bitterly "It didn't seem like he was complaining, either..."

"I'm sorry..."

"What?" She glanced up "Why are you apologizing?"

"I know how my sister gets... I should've stopped her from transferring, maybe then this wouldn't have happened."

"This is their sin, Rafe, not yours. You don't have to feel guilty about something that wasn't in your control... I just wish, that I didn't let myself get too close..."

Rafe glanced upwards as he heard the girl hiccup. Trembling hands held the mug of hot chocolate in front of her as she clenched her teeth so hard they might've cracked.

"...Then I wouldn't be hurting as much as I am now. Heh... I'm such a fool."

"You aren't a fool."

"How am I not?!" She choked out, gripping the strand of hair covering her eye "I pushed people away for a reason, I kept my friends limited for a reason! But when he came along I tossed all of that aside, all because he was crying in the rain! I didn't give it a second thought when I let him in, when I kissed him, when I accepted his confession... I went back on everything that stopped me from getting hurt again and look where that got me!" She gripped the fabric of her shirt "Hurt! Broken! Deceived! Mocked! Agonising over my own dumb choices! Tell me how that's not foolish, Rafe!"

Rafe didn't say anything. He didn't know what sort of things would make her cry more. So he did the first thing he could think of. He stood up and walked around the table, scooping her up in his arms.

"W-What are you--"

"Shh," the man hushed her, his arms tightening around her frail body "Just let it all out, it's okay..."

"But I told you, I don't--"

"Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on, sometimes... Even you." His hand came up to run through her hair "You don't have to get through this alone, like you think you do..."

It was a strange feeling, being hugged by more or less a stranger in such a caring way. But Megan didn't really think of him as a stranger at this point. Because when she stood right there, her arms limply at her sides and face buried in Rafe's shoulder as he hugged her tightly, she felt cared for for the first time today. She didn't get it from her friends, or her brother, or her sister, and definitely not from Gladion.

She got it from her therapist. And she was content with that.

Her arms came around his waist, hands gripping the back of his hoodie as she dug her face into his hood. Everyone in the coffee shop could hear her whimpers and cries, but after the mug incident they already knew she was having a bad enough day as it was, so they opted to just leave her alone. Rafe's hand glided up and down her back, even patting down her hair as he allowed her to cry into him.

This seemed familiar to the girl... Ah yes, she had done the exact same thing just a few months ago for Gladion; Comfort him when he had been cheated on. And now she was in his position, because of him...

...

No, this is different. Because Gladion held no actual feelings towards Natalie. Whereas Megan... She ever so foolishly let herself fall for him. And what did she get in return?

Another unhealable crack in her already damaged heart.

And all she could do, was ask one question

Why...?

---

Sun walked down the corridor of floor 4. Ein was at his side, but opted to remain silent from the obvious bad mood the younger male was in. He didn't know exactly what happened, but Sun did explain briefly that something really bad happened with Megan, Gladion and the new girl. It was probably the reason he hadn't seen any of them the whole day. His forest green eyes travelled down to Sun's hand, which was slightly flexed and was shaking from the tense muscles.

Should he?

They weren't exactly dating, yet, but Ein knew for a fact holding Sun's hand would help him calm down...

He pursed his lips together and reached his hand out slightly, his fingers close to brushing against Sun's skin--

"Wait,"

He retracted his hand instantly and stuffed it in his pocket, cheeks tinted pink as he tried to pretend he didn't try to hold his crush's hand "Y-Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?" The boy asked, glancing around the area. Ein listened for a minute, before shaking his head.

"Hear what, exactly?"

"I can hear somebody talking."

The taller boy raised an eyebrow "Are you okay, Sun?"

Sun scowled at his his concerned expression "Don't give me that, somebody's definitely talking..." He glanced around "There!"

He grabbed Ein's hand and ran towards a turn in the corridor. Ein was both shocked and extremely flustered by this action, and tried his best not to just reduce to a puddle. Sure, on the outside he looked all calm and collected with Elios, but on the inside he was in a gay panic if they so much as glanced in each other's direction. It happened more often than not. Sun stopped, causing Ein to yelp and crash into his back.

"What the- Sun why'd you--"

"Shh." Sun hissed, pulling both of them behind the corner and peeping around it. He growled "Just as I thought..."

Ein raised an eyebrow "What is it?"

"Fucking Leven."

"Who's... Leven?"

"My ex."

"You mean the one that cheated on you and caused you days of grief?"

"That's him."

Ein frowned at the confirmation, placing a hand on Sun's shoulder.

"Shove over, I wanna see."

Sun rolled his eyes and crouched slightly, allowing Ein to lean over him and take a peak around the corner. A blue haired male was standing there, talking on the phone as he slowly paced the corridor. The green eyed male recognised him from class, but he looked different....

"So everything went according to plan?" He asked the person on the other line, his lips quirking upwards. He looked kinda like a villain right now- not that he wasn't a bad person already... Said boy ran a hand through his hair "Well, she wasn't in class today. Not surprised, though. It'll just mean I'll have to pick at her brain tomorrow."

Wait, what?

"Oh don't worry, she'll stay away. That bitch is emotionally unstable as it is, so seeing her man 'kiss' you would send her tumbling down the steps of breaking down." Leven chuckled, tweaking his glasses slightly "After what we have in store for her, I'll be surprised if she stayed in this college."

Ein felt Sun shaking in front of him, but then again he wasn't letting anything Leven said slide either. He already had a guess on who he was talking about, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"We both win here, Miss García. I get rid of that damn Artemus, and you get your man."

Turns out he wasn't jumping to conclusions.

Sun suddenly slipped out of Ein's grasp, causing his eyes to widen as the younger ravenette bolted towards his ex.

"You!" He screamed, grabbing fistfuls of Leven's blue hoodie and slamming him against the wall "You sick bastard!!!"

The bluette blinked slightly in surprise, not bothering to fix his crooked glasses as he held Sun's wrists. He didn't try to peel him away... he just stood there.

But then he smirked, eyes half lidded as his hands dropped to his sides "Sun, don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop on others?"

"Cut the small talk, Mist! Tell me why, why the fuck are you doing this to me - to my friends! Why are you working with Sadie to rip us all apart?!" He paused, voice softening as his hands began to tremble "Why do you hate Megan so much...?"

It had been something that bothered Sun for awhile. As far as he could remember, even when he was dating Leven, the blue haired male had always despised his closest friend. It didn't even have to be visible, the distaste was clear in his presence or sometimes even laced in his voice. He wanted to ask, but was too shy at first. And then, he never wanted to talk to his cheating ex again. But not anymore, he wasn't going to let Leven leave until he told him why Megan was such a curse to him.

Turns out it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.

"Why..." Leven muttered, his hair shadowing his eyes as he stared down at the floor. His voice shook slightly, but picked up drastically when he snapped his head up and continued "You want to know why?!"

He grabbed Sun's wrists again, tearing him off his hoodie "I'll tell you why! The Artemus family is evil, they took everything from me! My family's company and fortune, gone in an instant! All because that brute, Benjamin Artemus decided to sue us! Everything we had was gone from our grasp by the snap of his big greedy fingers! He's a curse... they're all a curse! And I will do everything in my power to make sure they know - make sure they all know they don't belong!"

Benjamin Artemus...

That name, the one Sun had heard so many times before. The name that brought fear and heartbreak to Megan's family. The name that caused so many people misery...

The name that made Leven Mist lose it all. Including his sanity...

"Leven, what Megan's father did has nothing to do with her. She wants to stay as far away from what he is as possible. She's not him." Sun tried to reason, but it was in vain.

"Maybe not, but she's an Artemus. Like him or not, she will pay. I will have my revenge on them!"

"Leven--"

The boy was cut off as Leven switched positions, slamming Sun against the wall with such force it knocked the air out of him.

"How pitiful... you actually thought I could be reasoned with." The bluette jeered "I know my path, Elios and I must walk it! If your path is to protect that disgusting family then so be it. You'll be trapped under the rubble of doom just like them! Make no mistake of it--"

He paused as a hand grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Sun and towards a body with angry green eyes. He hadn't noticed them, were they always here.

"Leave him alone..." The person demanded in a low growl "You don't have the right to touch him."

"Ein..." Sun breathed, in both relief and worry. Ein glanced over at the mentally drained boy, face softening for a moment. However his gaze fell back on Leven and hardened into a hateful scowl.

"Stay away from Sun, and all of his friends." He snarled, backing the other into a wall "And tell 'Miss Garcia' to keep her hands off Megan's man. If I see you or her near any of them you won't have a tongue to spout a single piece of bullshit, you hear me?"

Leven blinked. He knew Ein; they were in the same class. But the ravenette was always so quiet, and he always looked half asleep. So seeing him like this was a surprise.

It was so incredibly...

...Delicious...

"Loud and clear..." he responded with a hint of innocence, making both Ein and Sun want to throw up. The grip on his arm tightened, and he had to bite back a wince to avoid looking the tiniest bit vurnerable. He wouldn't allow it.

"Ein..." Sun call out, still sounding slightly shell shocked from being pinned "That's enough, he's not worth it..."

Ein grunted as he reluctantly let the short sighted male go, allowing him to slip past. Leven turned to the pair with an evil smirk.

"You'll have to catch me first, though. I look forward to our little game of chase..." he pivoted around, striding down the hallway "Later Elios, Irving. These next couple of days are gonna be a blast..."

And with that he was gone, and the force keeping Sun on his feet disappeared.

Ein gasped as the younger male slid down the wall into a sitting position, looking absolutely exhausted when he approached him. The older man noticed his crush's eyes had dulled, only worrying him further.

"Are you okay?" He asked, placing his hands on his shoulders. Sun let out a breath.

"He meant what he said, Ein... he doesn't mess around. And if we don't play our cards right..."

"Then what?"

They made eye contact, allowing Ein to see the fear in the younger's eyes

"Then he will make our lives a living hell."