Chapter Six (Devin's POV)

A/N: Yup, you know what author's note means, right? That's right. Naughty stuff not meant for the kiddies! Of course, it's not as graphic as I would have liked, but come on. It's only the sixth chapter. There's plenty more time to get the lovers together ;D)

So the next day wasn't all that peachy either. The only good part was that my mom gave me twenty bucks and told me to leave the house for a while to let my dad cool off. It irritated me that she would side with him and when I brought it up, she scowled at me, wagging a finger.

"I bet your pardon? I'm trying to get Danny back home, honey. Your dad's been sleeping on the couch for the past three days."

"You're joking."

"Nope. I won't sleep with a man who hurts my babies. Now, go on and have some fun. And stay away from Damien," She paused after kissing my cheek, making a face, "He's a creep." God, I loved her to death. I smiled and kissed her cheek back.

"Will do, ma, will do. So, does this mean I can borrow your car?"

"You crash it, I'll make you wish you had chores today."

"I promise! I'm just gonna drive into town for something."

"All righty, but you be careful."

"Got it." I took the keys off the counter and headed outside, slidding into her small little Ford, starting the engine and heading back to the guitar store. Rick said he was writing a song last night, so maybe he'd want the right paper to write it all down on? And some new picks. His old ones were chipping.

Oh, but don't think I was just doing this to be nice... Not entirely anyway. I was just trying to kill time and make sure he wasn't so sort about losing our bet in the next few days. I smirked to myself as I pulled into the parking lot and got out, heading inside. It wasn't too crowded, only the clerk from yesterday who was talking to a tall, muscular blonde customer. The clerk saw me and beamed over the customer's shoulder.

"Hey, kid! How's your friend enjoying his new babe?" He asked. I smirked.

"Can't get him to stop playing it," I partially lied, approaching him, "Say, do you have any blank music sheets and some picks? All his picks are crap and I don't want him fucking up a new guitar like his last one." The clerk nodded and called to one of his employees to fetch me a box of picks before he looked at me with a cocked brow.

"What happened to the last one?"

"He's got a temper."

"Figures. Most of the Pattersons are like that." The clerk sighed. I blinked.

"You know the Pattersons?"

"Sure do. Vic came in here a while back to have Rick's guitar tuned."

"Rick?" Both the customer and I blurted it at the same time. We looked at each other and the clerk blushed.

"Oh... Ohhh, you both know him?" He asked. The blonde customer frowned, his hazel-green eyes narrowing a little as he folded his arms over his chest, scratchng the side of his head as if the topic irritated him.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't." He answered. I snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Now guys, don't start something in my shop," The clerk complained, but there was a crash from one of the back rooms and he groaned, "Ellie! What the hell are you doin' back there, girl?! Hang on, be right back... Ellie!" The clerk ran off to one of the rooms, leaving the mystery guy and I together. Only, I wasn't so much as mad as insanely curious.

"How do you know Rick?" I asked eagerly. The guy blinked and dropped his eyes to look at me curiously. To be honest, he looked about Rick's age. His dirty blonde hair was cut short and spiked lazily while his cheeks were scattered with a light layer of freckles. He looked like an average American guy, if he wasn't wearing black jeans with etched in anarachy symbols and a gray wife beater tanktop.

"I went to school with him." He answered flatly. My eyes widened. Could he know why Rick was so fucked up?

"Seriously? Uh, what do you know about him? Because he- Uhh, neglected to tell me anything when we first met and-"

"You're not dating him, are you?" The guy asked immediately and his eyes grew dark with obvious hatred. I blinked, then bleghed.

"No way. I hate him." I grumbled. The guy's eyes flickered with obvious relief, which sort of annoyed me.

"Good, because I do too." He said after a while. I stared at him and waited for him to continue, but the clerk came back and handed me some sheets with a few glittery picks wrapped in bubble wrap. I thanked him and paid before looking at the guy.

"Who are you?" I asked. The guy flashed me a wickedly scary smile that actually, by far, scared the hell out of me more than Rick's did.

"Alexander Tate. Tell Ricky I said hi and I'm back in town." He said with a wink, then departed, but left me feeling cold. Who the hell was that and why did he hate Rick? Sure, there were plenty of reasons and a lot of people strongly disliked Rick, but I had never seen so much hate in someone's eyes before. It was scary.

I headed out to the car and got in, starting up and heading straight to Rick's. I had to find out what was going on, once and for all. The curiosity of it all was driivng me freaking insane. At the first red light, I texted Rick that I was on my way and on my way I definitely was. I think I broke several driving laws before I finally whipped into Rick's driveway, heading up to his house and knocking.

Almost right away, Rick opened the door and stared at me, perplexed.

"You act like you saw a ghost."

"I think I did. Can we talk? Like, upstairs?"

"I guess," Rick stepped aside and let me in, then eyed the bag curiously, "What's that for?" I blinked, then felt my face flush as I shoved it at his chest, taking a couple awkward steps away.

"Uh, well, you said you were writing a song last night, ya know? So, I sorta just stopped and grabbed you some stuff you might need." I explained, trying my best not to pout because without a doubt, he'd smirk. Damn it all to hell, he was smirking at me anyway.

"You don't have to buy me anything." He said as we headed up the stairs and I shrugged, hurrying a little faster than him because I was anxious. He seemed to notice and his smirk was melting into a frown as I walked into the room, waiting for him to come in before I shut the door. He dropped the bag on his bed and turned to face me with a cocked brow, his arms folded over his chest.

"Are you that eager to get laid? I still have like a week and a half left to-"

"Who's Alexander Tate?" I demanded. Rick's face immediately drained of color and his arms dropped to his sides. I blinked in surprise as I watched him take a big step away from me, even though there was at least half the room between us. I had never seen Rick look like this before.

He looked... terrified.

"What did you say?" He managed.

"Alexander Tate. Tall blonde guy, hazel eyes, dresses like a no-bullshit sorta guy. When I went to the store to get your stuff, he was there and when I mentioned your name, he told me to tell you that he's back in town? Rick, who the hell is-"

"You didn't tell him where I lived did you?!" Rick demanded harshly and took a step toward me, sudden rage filling his expression enough so that I backed up against the door stiffly.

"No! I didn't know who the hell he was! Maybe if I knew, then I wouldn't have to-"

"You don't have to know," Rick spat and started pacing the room like a caged tiger, "You swear you didn't say anything about where I lived? Did the clerk say where I lived? Did he say why he was there?"

"Rick, what the hell is going on?!" I cried in exasperation. Rick ran his hands through his hair in frustration before he stopped at the foot of his bed and slid down the post until he was sitting with his knees to his chest.

"Goddamn it.... Shit," He slammed his fist against the bed frame before he brought his knuckles to his mouth, nibbling on them for a second before he took a deep breath, "All right. So long as he doesn't know where I live, it's fine." I glared at him, locking the door before I pushed off it and walked over to Rick, getting down on my knees in front of him.

"Rick, tell me what's going on. Who's Alexander Tate? Why does he hate you so much? Why do you hate him so much?" I demanded.

"It's none of your damned business!"

"If you tell me, you win the bet!" I snapped. Rick stared at me in disbelief. I glared at him firmly, clenching my fists as I didn't really bother to stop and think about what I saying. The curiosity was eating me from the inside out.

"Tell me what happened to you, Rick. I want to understand, all right? But it's kind of fucking hard when you're hiding things from me. If you really loved me like you keep saying you do, then you'll trust me with this. I swear on my grave that I will never, ever tell anyone. I promise." I spoke seriously, watching as his emotions seemed to conflict in his head before he closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the bedpost.

"It was so stupid. I mean, I was only thirteen," He took a long pause, as if he was having second thoughts before continuing, "I had this friend. His name was Alexander Tate. We were almost as close as you and Danny. We were always hanging out and doing stupid things together. Well, it was around that time that I sort of realized that I liked Alex more than a friend..."

He stopped again.

"It's okay." I said quietly. Rick looked at me for a while and he suddenly looked exhausted, worn out, and it was like he was giving up as he sat there, slumped against his bed.

"I decided to tell Alex  that I liked him," He sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair and resting his cheek against his hand, "So I told Alex to meet me somewhere and I told him. He didn't say anything. Or so I thought. Next day at school, come to find out, he had told everyone at school and that's how my big secret got out. Probably one of the worst days of my life. After that, I just sort of didn't want to be around people anymore. I stayed away from everyone, which was pretty fucking hard with everyone trying to play pranks on me and trying to catch me alone so they could, as people call it nowadays, 'bullying'. I asked uncle Vic if he could get someone to give me lessons on self-defense and all that garbage."

"After that, it was all I did. I came home, worked out, ate, went to back. Work out, eat, bed. Same thing, every day until high school started and I was different and everyone else was too..." His voice drifted and I frowned.

"Rick?"

"Look, the rest isn't important-"

"Uh, duh, yea, it kind of is," I huffed, then tilted my head and watched him practically squirm under my gaze, "Come on, Rick. I won't hate you or anything."

"You already." He snorted.

"I didn't say that."

"You were thinking it."

"No, I wasn't." I replied quietly. Rick watched me for a long time and bit into his lower lip, then sighed again. He rested his head in his hands, elbows on his knees as he sat cross-legged.

"I did what I did best, stayed silent, stayed out of the picture. No one noticed me, just how I wanted it. It went on like that for a while until Alex came up to me at school and I was waiting for him to throw a punch or something, anything, but instead, he apologized for what he did. Spewing shit about how terrible he felt and that he shouldn't of done it, how he was more mature now. Oh, silly me," He spat with acidic sarcasm, "I fell for it because I hated being alone more than I hated him for betraying me, so we hung out for a while and everything seemed to go back to normal until someone had a party and invited Alex and I over. We weren't wasted or anything, but I thought Alex had too much to drink because he was climbing all over me and..."

I waited patiently while he looked one way, then the other, then back at me, then down at the floor as if he was afraid to look at me.

"Yea, so then I let him do what he wanted and there ya go. We ended up doing it all freaking night through the party and because I was so freaking out of it, everyone else saw it too and Alex tried to accuse me of molesting him. Yea, bet you can guess who got the brunt of it all. Poor Alex Tate, everyone's best friend and lover, was raped by his faggot friend. When I was finally proven innocent from the whole thing, they still didn't let up. Oh yea, it was so thrilling to get our house broken into, our things stolen, my locker destroyed, my clothes, my dignity. My favorite part? The death threats. I love how creative people can get."

"If you ever step foot in this school again, we'll feed you to the convicts, someone told me. If you don't confess to raping Alex, we'll rip your throat out. Yea, most of those people had actually been my friends at one point. People I hung out with, people I trusted with stuff I didn't even tell Vic about. Yea, my favorite death threat? From Alex himself. And he came so close to actually fulfilling it, but instead, he decided tormenting me was so much more fun than just killing me."

"So that's why they drugged my lunch and I ended up like some kind of bitch on rufies. Lots of fun that was to have everyone taking pictures and sending it around school. Did you know I even made the yearbook? Too bad most of them are gone now, otherwise you'd get to see the picture of it all. I got so fed up with it after a while that I just decided, screw it. I was gonna get Alex back for it. So, I hunted him down a year after we graduated and beat the living shit out of that backstabbing asshole. He used to call me a coward, a little girl afraid to stand up to a real man. Yea, well, says the guy who squealed like a pig when I kicked him so hard in the sac, he was choking on them."

"So big fucking whoop. He went to prison because I managed to sue him for assault. Obviously they didn't keep him too long. I wouldn't either. The guy was full of shit." Rick spat, then shot to his feet and got as far from me as he could to the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. I sat on the floor, staring at him.

I didn't know what to say. All of it hit me so hard in the chest that I swore I forgot how to breath, how to breath. Why would someone ever do that to someone else? The thought of having someone so close to you turn around and stab you in the back... It made a lump form in my throat.

That explained why Rick was the way he was.

He was betrayed, used, chewed up, spat out and stomped on. He was so sick of people hurting him that he just hurt everyone else around him. He'd built up this huge stone wall around him with all kinds of weaponry. Sarcasm, wit, insults. You name it. He would catapault it at you whether you were friend or foe.

My heart clenched and I bit my lower lip uneasily as Rick averted his eyes away from me.

"There's your story." He grumbled. I got to my feet slowly and still watched him. Part of me just wanted to go over there and- Hell, I'll just say it. Part of me just wanted to go over there and kiss him and let him know that I wouldn't do that. I'd kill anyone who'd even take one step against him. Although, there was a small voice in my head that squeaked for me to stop.

"Rick... You're not scared of Alex, are you?" I asked after a while. Rick's eyes flashed like lightening and his expression darkened.

"No." He was lying.

"Do you think he's back to find you?"

"I framed him for a crime he didn't committ. Wouldn't you be back for retribution?"

"Can't you call the cops?"

"And tell them what? Tch, no. And I don't need their help anyway. It's been at least five or four years since I last saw Alex. This time when he finds me, there won't be any of him left to go to prison." Rick spat harshly. My eyes widened.

"Dude, you can't kill him!"

"I'm not that merciful. If there's one thing my trainer taught me, it was have no mercy on your enemy."

"Rick! Don't do that shit," I snapped, stepping toward him, "If you do that, you'll get caught and go to prison! Do you have any idea what they do to good looking guys in prison? Seriously! Forget the asshole, he's not worth thinking about!"

"Would you be able to forget someone who ruined your life?" Rick asked. I frowned, going silent watching as Rick laughed bitterly, waving me off.

"Exactly. Look, thanks for letting me know. I know I was supposed to take you on a date today, but now I have something else to do." He started for the door and I felt my anger boiling back again.

"Excuse me?! You're ditching me to go after someone you hate?!" I snarled. Rick blinked, then whirled to glare at me.

"Look, if I don't hit him before he hits me-"

"Then I'll make him wish he was never born because right now, you just won the bet, you asshole. Focus on me. Not Alex. Me. If you love me, look at me. Not at him. Because if you walk out that door and go after Alex, you can damn well bet your ass that you will never, ever see me again." I snapped, clenching my fists tightly. Rick was rooted in place, glaring at me heatedly as his body tensed. I could just see his muscles growing taut under his clothes.

"Devin. I hate him. I can't let him walk around freely knowing what he's done to me."

"So what? You hate him more than you love me?" I demanded. I felt a lump forming in my throat at the thought. Right when I thought I was starting to really like him, he goes off and ditches me? No, no way. It's not happening.

I walked across the room quickly, reached up and grabbed Rick's face, jerking it down so I could smash our lips together. It wasn't one of Ricks sly seductive kisses. It was one of my 'holy shit I want more' kisses. I held him in place as I parted my lips against his, my teeth scraping his lip as I slid my tongue over the roof of his mouth and he shivered. I let him suck all my breath away as he kissed me back now, melting around me like chocolate as his hands moved to my ass, grabbing me firmly and making me gasp against his lips.

He pulled me up against him, the feel of him through his pants sending jolts of pleasure up my spine as he ground his hips against mine. Moans poured from my mouth as I still held onto his face, afraid that if I let go, he'd leave.

"Haah, jeez, you're addicting."  Rick breathed softly, his eyelids heavy with lust.

"You too," I managed before he lifted me up and dropped me on the bed so I fell on my back, "I swear to God, if Danny hears-"

"He won't. I'll play music, just make sure I can still hear you." Rick smirked and he hit the power button on his stereo. Saving Abel's Addicted vibrated the speakers, in turn vibrating the bed. Rick hovered over me and lunged down, capturing my lips again. I moaned as he ran his fingers through my hair, holding me close as he ducked his head and sucked on my throat. I felt little whimpers break past my lips as he nibbled on my throat and moved to my ear, sucking on the lobe.

My head was spinning now. I wanted more. Jesus Christ, I had never felt this needy before. It was amazing and the music was vibrating the bed, which did not help. Rick slid his hands up my shirt, slowly pushing it up so he could see my chest. I felt my face flush red as he leaned down, dragging his tongue from my navel up to my collarbone before he pulled my shirt off entirely.

"If I end up the only one naked, I'll be pissed." I managed as he wrapped his arms around my torso, practically devouring me as his lips descended on my nipple, his tongue rolling around against my hot skin. I panted for air, arching my back and running my hands over his back now.

"Good," Rick murmured against my skin, nuzzling me, "Angry sex is fun."

"Oh, you're such an asshole." I snapped, then pushed him back so he was on his knees in front of me. He smirked at me, but this time, it wasn't one of those creepy wicked ones. In fact, the more I looked at him, the more I realized he wasn't smirking, he was smiling! And he had a dimple in his left cheek.

"Or really attractive. There's that too." I muttered. He smiled some more and reached out, pulling me against him for a hug. I was caught off guard because I was expecting him to be as rough as he was before. Instead, he held me to his chest, his arms wrapped around me tightly as he nuzzled my hair, kissing me gently every so often.

"Are you gonna go soft on me?" I asked, glancing down between his legs. Yea, it didn't look like he'd go soft any time soon. Rick laughed, then pushed me back down on the bed, leaning over me and staring at me hungrily.

"Bullshit. In all honesty, I wanna see you with whipped cream. All the way from here," He licked a path down my chest and over my navel, making me arch my back and gasp, "to here. And I want to lick it off and watch you writhe. And I still need to know.... Ropes or scarves?"

"Scarves." I answered at last. Rick smiled and I found myself so happy that he forgot about Alex, at least for now. Part of me was still raging angry that someone would do this to him. I wanted to find Alex myself and rip his freaking head off, but seriously? I wasn't gonna let that jerk distract me from the best night of my life.

Rick was right.

It was the best night of my life. I swear, he must have read the kama sutra and lived by it. My body ached, but the fact that it was Rick made it okay... So long as it was Rick, I was happy because- and I seriously hated admitting this after my boosting from before- I loved him.

I loved Rick Patterson.