"I could always beat the answers out of him," Mikayla offered as walked back towards the dorm building.

"I could help," Pete offered.

"I've got my yo-yo," Beckett said.

"I'll hold his arms so you guys can get a good shot," Leo offered.

"You're all animals," Kaz said. "We do this without fists. Besides, I'd rather not declare war on the Siggeir brothers. Rogan has a tendency to take fights too far, and that would be a pain in the ass on my end."

"I'll stand by and look cute," I said.

"Very helpful, Malley, thank you," Kaz said.

"Always doing my best for my friends," I said, saluting him.

We entered the dorm building and Kaz led us upstairs and down the hall towards Siggy's room. I watched Kaz carefully, searching for those subtle signs that he was still distressed over this whole thing.

He walked a little slower than usual, and his hands toyed with the pockets of his slacks. Other than that, he gave away no signs that anything had upset him today. He kept his façade strong for the rest of us, determined to keep it up so our spirits wouldn't hurt alongside his trust.

We reached Siggy's room and Kaz knocked without hesitation, setting the others at ease. They'd been nervous that Constance had cut him deep, but Kaz would hide the wound at all costs.

Siggy opened the door. "I knew you'd come around sooner or later. Don't bother, Kaz. Constance didn't force me to do anything."

"I can force you to lick the inside of your own ass if you don't start explaining," Mikayla said with a shrug.

"There's nothing to explain. Besides, I'm not afraid of any of you," Siggy said.

"Rogan thinks you struck a deal with Constance," I said. "You hurt Kaz, you get to stay with your brother."

Siggy lazily flicked his gaze to me. "Constance doesn't have that power."

"Yes he does," Kaz said. "He could convince your parents to let you stay. You did strike a deal, didn't you, Joseph?"

"Out with it," I said, impatient for this whole situation to be cleared up.

"Fuck you. I'll teach you a lesson," Siggy said, voice getting louder. He grabbed my shirt and yanked me into his room, slamming the door and locking it. He jammed a chair up under it so that Leo couldn't get them in.

"Oh dear, oh goodness, I am so sorry I rushed your confession. Take all the time you need," I said, backing up cautiously. "Please don't hurt me. I'm small and cute and my face is my only valuable asset. Well, I also give an amazing blowjob. Not that I want you to find that out for yourself. Okay, I'm going to stop talking."

"Cam was watching." Siggy had lowered his voice again. "I had to make a show of it. He's been keeping an eye on me."

"For Constance," I said, and Siggy nodded.

"I did choose to do it. Constance gave me a choice, and I chose to betray Kaz," Siggy said. "I know he doesn't deserve it. I know that. But I had to do it. I couldn't let them separate me from Rogan. You don't understand how hard we fought to stay together after we met each other. We were orphans, and we had no one else in the world."

"Why are you telling me this? Kaz is right out that," I said, gesturing to the door.

"If I tell Kaz, the deal is off. You're the loophole to it," he said. "I need you to tell Kaz. Tell him Constance told me he'd make sure I didn't get separated from Rogan as long as I hurt Kaz. Constance told me Kaz's weak spot was his family, you, and Aaron Kizziar. So I took his phone, I got those pictures, I got Aaron's number, and I texted Aaron to get that video. I heard you and Kaz talking about how you had texted Aaron, so I took your phone and texted Aaron and took a screenshot."

"How did you know Aaron would have that video?" I asked in confusion.

Siggy shook his head. "I didn't know. I just texted him and told him I'd help him break Kaz. He didn't say anything, just sent that video."

I clenched my fists. "If I was strong enough to break his damn nose, I'd break his damn nose."

"Look, just tell Kaz for me." Siggy yanked me close and sighed. "Sorry, Killian. But I have to make this convincing."

"Sweet mother of god," I whispered in horror.

Siggy punched me in the lip and I yelped. He released me and yanked the door open, throwing me at Kaz so hard that I nearly knocked him over. Kaz caught me and stumbled, steadied as Leo and Mikayla reached out and grabbed his shoulders.

"Siggy," Kaz said, passing me off to Leo. "I am a rational man. Really, I am a very rational man. But I have limits."

Without any warning, Kaz's arm swung around and cracked down against Siggy's shoulder, dangerously close to his neck. Siggy sucked in a breath and tried to stumble away, but Kaz caught him by the front of the vest, yanking him forward and digging his elbow into Siggy's gut.

He grabbed the back of Siggy's neck in a rough hold. "You lay a hand on anyone who runs with me again, and I will hospitalize you."

He released Siggy and walked away without a glance back. Siggy leaned heavily against the doorframe, trying to rub his gut and his shoulder at the same time.

Mikayla, Leo, Beckett, Pete, and I hurried to catch up to Kaz. He let himself into his and Pete's room, kicking the door shut once we were all in.

"You said we were doing this without fists!" Mikayla said angrily. "I feel so cheated."

"We did do it without fists. Did you see me throw a single punch?" Kaz asked, raising an eyebrow.

But I noticed that his hands were hidden away in his pockets, meaning they were probably shaking. I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the door.

"I'm stealing this," I announced to the others.

I dragged Kaz down into my room, locking the door and spinning him to face me. I yanked his hands out of his pockets and, sure enough, they were lightly trembling.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyeing my lips, completely pushing his own emotional state off to the side.

"Kaz," I said, grabbing his arm and holding his hand up so he could see it. "Your hands are trembling. I am fine. You are not. Get talking."

"I just lost my composure after everything today. Between what Constance did and Siggy hitting you..." Kaz stared at his own hand. "Aaron used to do that. Grab my neck, I mean. He did it to make sure I was listening to him. I shouldn't have done it to Siggy."

I reached out and pulled Kaz into my arms, because even he didn't realize just how deep the trauma of Aaron's abuse went. I was going to help him. As long as it took, I would help him. I would teach him what a healthy relationship was like. I would do whatever I had to, to make Kaz love himself.

"Constance bribed Siggy," I said, and repeated everything Siggy had told me.

Kaz nodded. "I figured as much."

But that didn't mean he hadn't been betrayed. He had been hurt, but I knew he would push his way through it. He'd let it kill him more and more inside, like a soldier jumping on top of a grenade to protect the people around him.

"Hey," I said, lightly punching his arm. "Let's fight back. Let's bring this fight to Constance and end everything. Constance had his last move. Now it's time for ours."

"I've really trained you well," Kaz said, grinning. He lightly ran his finger on my injured lip. "I'm sorry you had to get hurt for this happen."

"You can apologize by sucking my dick later. For now, focus," I said, despite the fact that I'd just lost my own focus.

"Malley." Kaz snapped in my face. "Think about something other than me sucking your dick right now. We have work to do."

He moved to leave the room but stopped, turning to me. He gently kissed me, making sure not to hurt my lip.

"Thanks," he mumbled against my mouth. "I've got a grip again. I promise."

"Just call me your anchor," I said. "But not really. That's an ugly pet name."

"I'll just stick to Malley," he said, holding his hand out to me.

I took it and we left the room together, heading back to Kaz's room. He released my hand as he stepped inside.

"Constance played his last hand. Now we play ours," Kaz announced.

Their faces lit up, shining with hope and trust. Kaz would always hold them up and help them fight back.

But it went both ways, and Kaz looked at them with an expression that said he was starting to understand that, just a little. I hid my smile, hating that I was such a sappy dork.

"What's the plan?" Beckett asked, snapping his yo-yo into his hand.

"We're going to need a few things," Kaz said. "Leo, we need your lighter. Mikayla, I have some pictures I need you to make nice work of. Pete, I'll give you the lowest dosage I can. You're going to want to remember tonight."

"What about me?" Beckett asked, frowning.

"You, I need with me. We have plotting to go over," Kaz said.

"And me?" I asked.

"You've played your part for now. Go with Leo back to your room. We can't let them know we're up to anything," Kaz said.

Leo and I nodded and left the room. We went back to our room and locked the door. Leo dug a lighter out of his backpack and slipped it into his pocket.

"Is Kaz sure Constance doesn't have anything left against us?" I asked nervously.

Leo nodded. "Positive. Manipulating Siggy to get things from Aaron...Constance won't be able to pull that off again. That was his biggest play."

"I'm not sure I want to know what our biggest play is," I groaned.

"Kaz will make sure it's a spectacle. That overdramatic asshole," Leo said fondly.

"He's not okay. Constance and Siggy shook him up," I said. "Siggy was bribed into it. But it still hurt Kaz."

Leo nodded. "We know. But while you and Kaz were talking after class, we grabbed Beckett and talked about it. Kaz doesn't want us to think of him as weak, so we agreed to play it off like we didn't notice how shaken he was, but offer silent support for him. He'd know, but he wouldn't have to feel weak."

Shit, these delinquents were the fucking cutest kids ever, I swear. Okay, Kil, don't tear up. Just nod and act cool.

"Fuck, that's adorable." Good job mouth, way to keep it together.

Leo rolled his eyes, jumping onto his bed and pulling his lighter out. He began to play with it, flicking the flame in and out of life. "He'd do the same for us."

"By the way, you're sleeping in Mikayla's room tonight. Or Kaz's room. I don't care. Just get out. A thirsty hoe need a drink," I said.

"Deal. But you owe me breakfast next time we spend a weekend in town," Leo said.

"I can live with that if it means Kaz fucks me up in all the right ways," I said.

"Killian, I really think you should consider a filter," Leo said.

"Listen, I don't make fun of your lisp, so don't you go making fun of my filterless mouth," I said sternly.

"Okay, but my lisp is a speech impediment, not a sign of stupidity," he said.

"I am not stupid," I said.

"Debatable."

"I'm so glad the word lisp has an s in it, you little shit."

"Guess I'll sleep in here tonight."

"Good, I'll moan extra loud just for you."

"I'll bring someone back and we'll see who out-moans who."

"I can't believe this a real conversation that we are actually having."

"You started it!"

"Well you should've finished it!"

Leo sighed and shook his head, but he offered me a little grin. "And I was worried you were going to be a boring roommate."

"Never a boring moment when my big mouth is involved," I said miserably.

"Let's kill time until they're ready." Leo hopped off his bed, the lighter back in his pocket.

We grabbed a deck of cards and played spit and war for a while. When we tired of that, Leo set up his PlayStation and we proceeded to yell at each other as we died to zombies over and over again in Resident Evil (Mikayla put Chris's muscles to shame).

As it grew darker, the two of us dressed in dark clothes and climbed into bed. Once the nightly inspection was over, we sat on our beds, phones in our laps, waiting for any signal from Kaz. We hadn't heard from him since we'd come back to the room.

Leo's phone lit up and he nodded at me. We jumped off our beds and went over to the door, sneaking out and down the hallway.

We made it outside and hurried over to the others in the usual gathering spot. Kaz and Mikayla were both wearing backpacks, which meant this was probably going to get us all killed by abusive teachers. Why, oh why, had I encouraged Kaz to plan this?

We snuck our way through the woods, and I expected us to go to the academic building. But Kaz twisted off the usual path and my heart sank as he led us towards the building Constance's office was in. Oh no. Oh, no, you suicidal little thief. No.

"Kaz, this is a bad idea," I said, grabbing his arm before he could go any farther.

"If you're worried, you can stay out here." He didn't say it to be mean. In fact, he looked out over me at everyone as he spoke it.

But no one protested the plan, even though my heart was racing. Kaz took my hand and pressed it against my chest, my heart beating away rapidly under it.

"You're alive," he said quietly, kissing me. "Whatever happens next, you were so, so alive in this moment. And so am I. Thank you Malley."

I nodded slowly. This was Kaz's glory. This was everything he'd been searching for. He had a place to fight back against and friends that would march into hell with him and for him. He was happy doing these dangerous things with these cherished people. I wouldn't take that away from him, not when he was willing to face the consequences as long as he got that moment of joy out of all of this.

Wow, okay Killian, calm down there with the deep thinking. You were about to piss off a very powerful man. Don't sit there and think about how incredible Kaz is.

Kaz gestured to Leo. Leo ran forward and checked the locks on the front door. It took him a few tense minutes, but he finally motioned us forward.

We all entered the building and started up towards Constance's office. Kaz seemed relaxed as he looked around the dark hallways of the building.

"I can't believe we're doing this," I groaned. "My parents sent me here to make me want to fuck girls, not to make me a criminal."

"Well, sometimes plans don't work," Kaz said with a shrug.

"This one better work or I'm going to smack the damn soap out of your hands in prison," I said, glaring at him.

"Oh, please, you'd protect my ass at all costs," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Can you two stop? I don't want to hear this!" Beckett said, glaring.

"Someday you'll want to do more than just hear it," I said.

"He's 11," Kaz said. "Calm down, Malley."

We reached Constance's office and Leo got to work on the lock, which took him an exceptionally long time to pick. It took so long that I was starting to get worried he wouldn't be able to break us in.

But Leo had a knack for lock picking, and he finally pushed the door open, looking pleased with himself. He grew even more pleased as Kaz slapped him on the shoulder and grinned at him.

We all went into the office and Kaz flicked the lights on. Mikayla dropped her back to the floor and unzipped it as Kaz went over to the desk and began digging through the drawers. Leo went over to help Kaz with the drawers that were locked.

Beckett grabbed a chair and dragged it to the middle of the room, pulling a yo-yo out of his pocket and climbing onto the chair. He struggled to reach up high enough to fling the yo-yo over a light fixture. He tugged it hard to make sure it would hold and jumped off the chair.

Mikayla handed something to Beckett and he climbed back on the chair, tying it to the string of the yo-yo dangling in the air. He jumped down and I stared at the paper figure they'd made with Constance's face on it. Beckett had tied the string around his neck, and the body of the paper figure read "Love, all the students you've abused over the years".

Mikayla handed a few things to Pete and the two got to work hanging them up. I drifted to the door, knowing I was the lookout. I watched between the door and the classroom as Kaz stuffed files, some thicker than others, into his bag. Once he'd gone through every drawer in Constance's room, he seemed satisfied.

Mikayla and Pete had hung up pictures of Maroon students around the room, all of them students I assumed Constance had hurt. There were way too many pictures for comfort.

Kaz came over to me and opened a file, showing it to me. In it were pictures of Constance and information about all the kids he'd hurt through the years, all the teachers he'd allowed to abuse students, and all the money Constance Academy had paid to keep it all quiet. He shut the file and set it neatly on the center of Constance's desk.

Kaz pulled his phone out of his pocket and gestured everyone over. I stared at him in disbelief as he held it up.

"Are we really taking a selfie right now? Kaz, now is not the time for this," I said in disbelief.

"Just trust me," Kaz said, pulling me closer to him.

Everyone grinned mischievously at the camera. I mentally sighed as I stared at it like I was on The Office.

"This is one night we are going to remember," Kaz said, grinning at them, drunk off the excitement of finally striking Constance.

We snuck back out of the building after surveying the work. We made it back into the dorm, and Leo followed Mikayla down to her room, the good roommate he was.

Kaz came into my room and locked the door, stripping out of his dark clothes until he was in just his boxers. We climbed onto my bed together, Kaz putting his arms around me.

"Thank you for not letting me fall apart," he said.

"Thank you for taking off most of your clothes," I said, kicking the covers back so that Kaz's chest was exposed.

He rolled his eyes and kissed me. I put my arms around his waist, holding our bodies together. Something told me that tomorrow would be the end of this, and we could finally go back to the mini student versus teacher war we'd had when I first showed up.

I wanted that. I wanted the simplicity of it all back. I wanted to be able to relax without constantly worrying about what our evil Headmaster would do next. I just wanted to have a relationship with Kaz.

Kaz ran a hand through my hair. "I'm glad I met you, Malley."

"I'm glad my oblivious nature didn't put you off," I said, leaning in and kissing him.

We kissed. And kissed. And kissed. Tonight was a night of victory and giddy excitement for Constance's loss when he saw his office tomorrow. Tonight was the night the Maroons won and Kaz Warrick started walking a long road towards self-love.

"Kaz," I said, his body warm against mine. "I'm happy."

"Me too." He smiled.

So we kept each other warm through the night, and we didn't worry about tomorrow. No matter what happened tomorrow, it would end this and set us on a path for a normal time at the Academy.