(Song of the chapter: 'Spaces' - One Direction)

RHYS

The three of us exchanged glances. I turned back to the assclown and raised a brow.

"And just what do you mean by that?"

A cocky smirk reappeared on the bastard's face. He crossed his arms, eyeing us speculatively.

"I don't think she's weaker than me."

His gave a dismissive shrug. "I think she acts whiny and pathetic and gets on my nerves, but I don't think she's weaker than me. You do see what she did to my face right?" He drawled.

The words were apparently sincere, but it was his eyes that betrayed him. I saw a flash of tyrannical anger, an obsessive need to control and dominate that made my skin crawl.

So he didn't believe Avalon was weaker than him... but he desperately wished she was.

Briefly, I let myself consider what the consequences of the hit she'd landed on him would've been if we weren't here.

I stopped the thought in its tracks before I let fully myself go down that road.

"In fact," the Joker was still talking, "I think it's you people who think she's weak, since you're all so gung-ho to protect her."

He clearly intended to sound hurtful and mocking, but the words fell way off their mark. For a moment, we all just stared at him in confusion.

"What?" Brandon asked, completely baffled.

"Ah. So you view yourself as a chivalrous misogynist?" Jasper adopted a clinically curious tone, like he would have liked to take the conversation further while sitting in a comfy armchair and writing down notes.

"What I'm hearing is," I said slowly, "you still think it's okay to hit girls."

He opened his mouth, and in a rare moment of intelligence, immediately closed it. His body language stated that whatever he'd been about to say was more likely an insult than a denial.

I laughed humorlessly. "You are gonna make this so much easier for me."

His eyes flashed. "Make it easier to what, beat me up?" He retorted hotly, edging away a few steps.

I calmly raised a brow.

"That's why you're here isn't it?" He barreled on, holding his pathetic self rather protectively. Despite the heated words, I detected more than a hint of barely restrained fear in his tone.

Pointedly, I swept a gaze across my friends.

"Three to one," I mused, tossing the basketball. I caught it and resumed spinning.

"That's not very fair, is it?"

My mind flickered back to another time, in another basketball court. We'd all met there and collectively decided to take her under our wing, even though she'd been screeching like a banshee and acting generally ungrateful.

It had been three to one then – and she'd been tied up.

I let the memory rise into my eyes, let him see it.

"Is it?" I repeated deliberately. The dangerous edge to my voice had him backing away.

His throat bobbed. "No," he said quietly.

I relaxed my jaw. "Good." I spoke to him like he'd just been a very good dog.

I dribbled the ball with one hand for a moment before I said, "I'm here to challenge you to a fight. It'll be fair – one-on-one, no interference, no weapons."

I watched his fear slowly morph into curiosity.

"A fight? Like, win or lose?"

I silently nodded.

"Can I refuse?"

"No." My voice turned cruel. "I told you what would happen if you came near her again, and you didn't listen. Now I have to keep my word. If you'd just done what I asked, you wouldn't need to get hurt."

He flinched. Good, he recognized these words – the same ones I'm told he used before beating Avalon to a pulp.

Not so fun having the tables turn, is it?

He clenched his jaw. "Fine. What's in it for the winner?"

I appraised him. "If you win," I said, my tone letting him know how unlikely that outcome was,

"I'll let you near Avalon again."

My friends' heads immediately swung over to me, their gazes practically screaming, "THIS WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN!" But I kept my attention solely on the circus clown.

The spark in his eyes confirmed what I'd already suspected. For some reason, he was very obsessed with Avalon.

I was gonna beat it out of him.

Eyeing his bruise, I drawled, "I'm sure she'd like to finish what she started."

His expression abruptly soured.

I smirked, resuming twirling the ball. "As for me, beating you would be its own reward," I said with relish, meaning every word.

He swallowed nervously.

"We'll livestream the fight and post it on our channel," I told him. "I think the fans would find it entertaining."

He gaped at me, worry slowly being replaced by wonder.

"You want to be famous, right?" My tone was dry. "Well, here's your chance."

"Does that mean I get to be one of you guys?"

I saw it then, the blossoming hope.

My hands stilled. Very succinctly, I said, "You are not one of us. And you never will be."

He winced, physically reeling back. I stared at him impassively.

Well, that was one way to hit him.

"Yet you're gonna fight me because of Avalon?" He sounded like it was the most ridiculous thing he'd every heard.

I let loose another smirk, one Lilith frequently told me was super-annoying.

"It's because of you actually. You've inspired me. It's just, you so enjoy beating up little girls, I thought I'd give it a go. See what all the fuss was about."

Brandon and Jasper's cheeks inflated, trying to restrain their laughter.

The dweeb flushed angrily, but said nothing.

"The fight will take place on Wednesday after school. That should give you enough time to prepare."

He looked confused. "Why would I need to prepare?"

I contemplated him for a moment. He was so incredibly dense, but made it so satisfying to explain things to him. It was a gift, really.

"You keep being taken out by one punch," I said, amused. "Isn't it embarrassing for you?"

His face reddened. "You also don't seem to be able to afford ice," I continued, watching him darken even further.

"As it pains me deeply to see comedians starve, I thought I'd give you some time to scrape together a few coins from your... hmm."

I thought for a moment. "People who don't completely detest you, I guess," I finished with a shrug.

His face was now a motley mix of red, purple, and a tinge of yellow. It was quite ghastly to look at.

Bright blue eyes burned into me with open hatred.

I stared back, lip twitching.

"We could've had something, you know," he spat, veins bulging at his temple. It really wasn't helping his looks.

"We would've fucking ruled. But you decided to go simp after the biggest loser in the school." The words practically dripped with derision.

I found it amusing that he thought he'd just insulted me.

I raised an eyebrow. "And why wouldn't I?"

He blinked.

Lifting a hand, I started ticking off my fingers. "She's way cooler than you for one. And she's got a killer right hook."

And she was funny, and smart, and brave... and a million other things I was still getting to know.

"Whereas you just don't... matter."

It wasn't exactly the same thing he'd said to her, but I'm sure he could put two and two together.

I'd expected him to look ready to combust. Instead, all the color drained from his face, leaving him as white as sheet.

I regarded at him for another moment, then dismissed him.

"We're done here."

Brandon and I turned to leave.

"Wait!" Jasper called frantically. We looked at him.

"You haven't challenged him properly!"

I haven't–

I tried for patience. "So just what have I been doing for the past ten minutes?" I said measuredly.

Jasper had the gall to roll his eyes. "Everyone knows you're supposed to do it with a glove!" He pompously told us.

"Now let's see, I should have one on me..."

He started turning out his pockets. A slight ache started to form in my forehead as I watched him.

"AHA!" He crowed a few seconds later, victoriously producing a glove.

A glove, mind you, not a pair of gloves. Just the one.

He offered it to me. I refused to touch it. If my hand came up then, it would not have been to take the glove from him.

He sighed heavily, like I was being difficult.

"Fine, I'll do it."

The doofus walked up to the other doofus and smartly smacked him in the face with the fabric. He nodded with satisfaction, then proudly strutted back over to us.

"We're all set!"

We all stared at him. Other Doofus's eyes narrowed as he silently rubbed his cheek, not taking his eyes off Jasper.

Jasper nervously toed at the ground.

"Can we go home now?"

_

AVALON

My eyes widened as I stepped into Lilith's room.

"Woah," I gasped, taking in all the color.

There were clothes everywhere, draped over every single surface – the bed, the chair, the mirror, the floor. I got a real eyeful of tulle... way more tulle than I thought had any business existing.

It was like Kendall Jenner's closet exploded in here.

Clothes covered the walls as well: posters of beautiful models wearing eye-catching designs, and sketches of outfits drawn by hand and colored in.

I circled the room, paying attention to those. Breezing past me, Lilith flounced onto her bed, nesting among all the fabrics.

I couldn't contain my awe. "Did you draw all these?" Each drawing looked exceptional.

Lilith hugged a golden bear to her chest, looking self-conscious. "Yeah," she mumbled.

I whirled around. "They're amazing!" I gushed, meaning it. "Have you made any?" A particularly sparkly orange design had caught my eye.

"Well, no." Lilith propped her chin in her palms. "You see, I don't know how to," she explained. "Sewing and embroidery classes are no longer compulsory for women, which is wonderful, but it appears I might've actually benefitted from them." She looked quite put-out.

I shot her an amused look. My eyes wandered up to the wall behind her bed, taking in the world map plastered across it.

I saw many different post-its stuck to it, and red tape connected spots she'd marked with push-pins all over the European continent.

"What's that about?" I asked, curious.

Lilith raised her eyes to the map. For a long moment she said nothing, just stroked her teddy quietly.

Then she spoke, "I'm trying to figure out my ancestry."

I don't think that's a sentence I've ever heard before.

Brow furrowing, I tilted my head. She scooted over an inch then patted the spot beside her. I dutifully scuttled over.

"So, I have no idea who my parents were," she told me. "I don't know where they were from, or what their names were. I do know they gave me my name, and that I was found swaddled in this."

She pulled out a drawer beside her bed and took out an adorably tiny pink blanket, perfect for a newborn. My heart twisted as I stared at it.

"There was also some note explaining how they were dying from some terminal disease and had no relatives to take care of me. So they left me at the steps of the Church of England and hoped for the best."

An amused expression crossed her face. "I'm sure they were well-meaning blokes, but who names a kid 'Lilith' then gives them to a church? Seems a bit backwards to me."

I couldn't help my snort.

She wrapped the blanket around her teddy bear then cradled it in her arms. "From there, I was put into a home run by nuns."

She let out an agonized sigh. "God, I hated it there. They were boring and dreadfully strict, and I had chores pouring out of my ears. But the truly terrible thing about them was they wore the same thing every day."

She shuddered. The horror, I smirked, watching her.

In this room, surrounded by all the color, Lilith looked completely in her element. I couldn't imagine her fitting into a convent.

"So how did you leave?" I wanted to know.

"I was kicked out," she cheerfully replied.

I blinked.

"It was after I came out," she explained. Being surrounded by females all the time eventually clued me in about my sexuality."

She chuckled. "You should've seen their faces. They're this sect of women who've secluded themselves from society to get away from the lewd desires of men, and then there's me. They looked at me like I was a fox in the chicken coop, like 'How did she get in here?' They quickly booted me out, before I could start sniffing their underwear... I guess, I was put into foster care."

The words seemed to bring her physical pain. She fell forward, burying her face into the pillow.

"I never thought I could miss the nuns," she whimpered. I reached over and gingerly patted her shoulder.

"It was a nightmare," she continued woefully. "I had four foster brothers and this man in charge, and it was just awful. I was practically their slave. They made me do all the washing and cooking and cleaning, while they never even lifted a finger."

I grimaced. Yikes. With the way she'd been treated, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd decided to go through life stomping on any men she came across with a bedazzled boot.

I was seriously wondering how she came to live with these guys, but she wasn't done talking.

"When I met Jordan, it got better." She sat up, her eyes looking bright. "She was the one that gave me my first camera, as a birthday present."

She picked up the camcorder lying on her bedside table. "She said something about capturing the beauty of life."

Lilith snorted. "She's ditzy like that. What I actually used it for was to record myself ranting about the devils I lived with and videoing some of their antics. I discovered YouTube and I started posting some of those online. A lot of people surprising found them interesting."

She shrugged. "At first, I was like, 'Glad someone's entertained by this'. But then I started getting a following and earning money, and I realized I hit the jackpot. But," she pouted, "female empowerment was apparently banned in my foster home. The man told me to hand over all the money I made, and when I refused, he locked me in the basement."

Anger flared in my chest.

Lilith's voice faltered. "It... wasn't a fun time to say the least." She's tried to sound light, but her eyes were haunted.

I couldn't hold back any longer. Reaching over with my arms, I wrapped them around her and squished her like a teddy bear. She leaned into the hug, resting her head against me.

Then she giggled. "But, in one of the biggest Uno reverse cards the universe ever handed me, I was saved by a man. Brandon, Rhys and Jasper showed up shortly after that."

She looked up at me. "Did you know Rhys's mom donates to a lot of Child Protective Services?"

I nodded. I'd read something about that.

She plucked at her sheets. "Usually, she'd visit to see how they're using the money and if they're putting it towards the children, but this time she couldn't come. So she sent Rhys and them. They found me in the basement."

Her lip twitched. "A lot of somebody's got fired by Rhys personally. This was two years ago, so he was only 15, but the way he had everyone in there shaking with fear is something I still think about to this day. Things got improved, and my life there would've been alright afterwards... but it still would've been too small, and I was tired of being told how to live it. So I begged the guys to take me with them. I promised all kinds of things - that I'd earn my own money and cook and even do the laundry."

She chuckled. "In hindsight, I can't believe I said that."

I know – I couldn't believe it either.

"Brandon looked so scared. Jasper was intrigued, though, at the prospect of not having to wash his own smelly underpants, but then Rhys gave him a look–" I could picture just the look she was talking about "–and said that I could come if I stopped talking immediately."

She threw up her hands. "And now I'm here! They do their own laundry, and I get to keep my YouTube money. They had no problem with me including them in my videos, and we make much more money that way." Her grin was warm. "They're like my family."

I bit my lip. I'm not crying, you are. And that was probably a lash caught in my eye.

Lilith stood. "But still... Britain felt like home, and living with them feels like home, but where is home exactly?"

She faced the map. "I still don't know. I took one of those ancestry DNA tests and it told me I was 14% Portuguese." Her expression was completely baffled.

"What does that even mean?"

I could relate to part of that, not knowing exactly what you were. I couldn't be a werewolf and I couldn't be a human. I could be something else, but I haven't yet figured out what exactly.

For now, I'd be satisfied with being a friend.

"I wouldn't mind being Swedish though," Lilith mused.

"You're probably not Swedish," I assured her.

"Why not?"

"Because..." I looked at her tiny form.

"Never mind."

She shrugged, flopping back to the bed.

"Someday, I'd like to travel around the world. Maybe then somewhere would click."

She suddenly started humming a few lyrics of 'Go the Distance' from Hercules. She had a great tone, a very rich tenor reminiscent of Adele.

I told her as much.

"I'm not the pop star in this room," she retorted with a wry grin.

"Oh, that reminds me!" She sprung off the bed. "We still need to shoot your video!"

She grabbed a tripod stand and started setting up the camera. How she'd found it in all this mess, I had no idea.

I faced the blinking light, suddenly nervous.

"Just act natural," Lilith whispered after joining me on the bed.

Act natural.

I scowled.
_

Pretty early on into the video, Lilith gave up on trying to get me to smile for the camera. Instead, she focused on introducing me, then revealed that I was 'Sunshine' from the viral video.

I gave her my death glare, stunned by her betrayal. She didn't even flinch.

Stupid friends, making me lose my touch.

I performed my rendition of 'Despacito', Lilith performed what she thought it sounded like, and at the end of the video she told people to subscribe to her cute face.

For the next couple of hours, we just hung out. Lilith showed me some of the videos she'd posted while in foster care, and I got an eyeful of her former siblings.

They all looked like Death Eaters, honestly.

My video was titled 'Our New Friend', which gave me more than a little bit of anxiety. I watched Lilith upload the thumbnail of both of us sitting on her bed, me holding the guitar and Lilith beaming at the camera.

Their signature outro was really cool. The video faded to black, then the faint noise of galloping horses filled the silence. Four different neon-colored outlines of horseback riders trotted into view, brightening up the darkness.

A banjo guitar started to twang.

I'm gonna ride till I can't no more
I got the horses in the back, a country singer crooned.

The song dissolved into a catchy beat accompanied by the horses' hooves as the four horsemen rode off side by side into the distance.

We did a bunch of other stuff, like braiding hair and painting each other's nails and the like.

I complained about how the To All The Boys I've Loved Before movie differed from the books when we watched Netflix.

Lilith had looked at me in amusement. "So you're one of those sods who tries to ruin the movies for everyone else just because you read the books?"

I was stung. "I have valid critiques!"

"Mhmm."

Now 'Raggaetón Lento' by Little Mix and CNCO was blaring from her Alexa, and we were bouncing on her bed, singing at the top of our lungs. None of us even tried to be on key, we were just having fun.

"It started when I looked in her eyes, I got close and I'm like", Lilith sang.

"Bailemos!" I hollered back.

So lost in the rhythm, we were completely caught off-guard by what happened next.

The clothes pile suddenly erupted from the ground, wriggling and swaying about like a bunch of demons were trapped inside it. What looked like the shape of arms protruded from its sides.

"RAWRRRRR!" It roared.

Lilith and I jumped into each other's arms and squealed.

"EEEEEKK!"

"It's the ghost of all the clothes I bought and never wore!" Lilith shrieked fearfully. "They've come back for revenge!"

The clothes-tentacle-monster abruptly doubled over, and what seemed to be human chuckles resonated from the heart of it. As it bent, some clothes slid off, exposing a quite familiar redhead.

We gasped.

"Jasper!"

"You moron!"

Puffed up with anger, we pelted him with pillows. He didn't even try to fight back or defend himself, he was still too busy laughing.

We ran out of pillows but settled for glaring at him.

"You could hide... and entire battalion in here... and you'd never notice," he managed to gasp out.

"What did you expect?"

I crossed my arms. "Just how long have you been there?"

He waggled his brows mischievously. "Wouldn't you like to know."

In the next second he leaped onto the bed, making us lose our balance. He wrapped an arm around our shoulders as we fell beside him.

"Hello friends!"

Pulling a face, I wriggled out of his hold.

Lilith was incensed. "What are you doing here, Drew?"

He slowly blinked at her. "It's 4pm, Lilith."

She raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"It's also Saturday."

"Your point?"

He suddenly broke into an evil grin. In one swift movement, he rolled out of bed and snatched up Lilith's laptop.

"I'm telling Jordan you forgot about her!" He yelled as he dashed at the door.

Lilith gasped. "Jordan!"

She shot up from the bed and barreled after him.

"Get back here, Drew! I will kill you!"

I stared impassively at the doorway they'd gone through. Perhaps it was time I sought out actually sane company.

I padded over to the kitchen, my stomach grumbling.

Ah, food. Food was always delightful company.

"Brandon?" I called, spotting the blond. He poked his head out of the fridge and turned.

Seeing me, he smiled. "Hey Avalon."

I nodded towards the pizza box in his hands. "You gonna warm that up?"

He frowned at the microwave. "I want to, but I hate the beeping sound it makes."

He shrugged. "I was just gonna eat it cold."

"Here, let me help," I offered.

I got out some paper plates, placed food on them, then put them in the microwave.

I carefully watched the seconds tick down. Brandon kept pulling a drawer open and closed while we waited. Maybe he liked the repetitive action, or just the sound of it.

Just before the timer reached zero, I flung open the door like Plankton opening the safe to the Krabby Patty formula.

"No beeping!" I grinned at Brandon. He gave me a high-five.

I settled down to eat while Brandon left the kitchen. Unbidden, my thoughts wandered over to Rhys.

He'd made himself scarce, just like I asked him to. I hadn't even heard his voice all day.

This is what I wanted, isn't it? Yet I stared at my pizza, suddenly losing my appetite.

"Avalon?"

I jumped, spinning around. Although I was alone, I could've sworn I'd just heard his voice.

Clearly, I was more hung up over him than I thought. Was I hallucinating?

"No, you're not," the voice came again.

"I'm outside, right beside the wall. Though if you're worried about mental illness, I'd say talking to yourself is also a factor."

That was definitely Rhys...and he was definitely amused.

I scowled in the direction of his voice, flushing a little.

When I didn't reply, his tone became noticeably more solemn.

"Is talking like this okay?" He hesitated. "I just wanted to clarify a few things."

I've never heard him sound unsure.

"It's fine," I reassured him, stepping closer. "Things like what?"

"Like how much space you'll need." There was a sound of keys jangling. I pictured him head bowed, leaning against the wall, playing with keys like a little kid.

"Does this mean I can't sit next to you in class? Or at lunch?"

I bit my lip, sharply sucking in a breath.

Then I shook my head. "Preferably not."

There was a pause.

"I can't drive you to school?"

At that, I balked. Morning rides with Rhys had become a routine, an exhilarating way to start my day. Taking that away physically tore at me. I badly wanted to cave and scream "NO DON'T GO!"

But I... couldn't. I couldn't stand that he'd seen me weak, that I'd cracked the façade I'd worked so hard at putting up around him and the others.

After just one blow, I'd crumbled like a house of cards. I needed time to build back up to what I once was, though I knew my foundations had always been shaky at best.

I missed being high... even if it was only ever the illusion of standing tall.

My feet stopped an inch away from the wall. I leaned forward, resting a hand and my head against it.

"No," I murmured.

My voice thankfully sounded level, and not like I was shattering all over again.

That was good – one step closer to erasing the girl who'd cried on this kitchen floor just the day before. If not from reality, at least from his memory.

I was donning yet another mask, another way to hide the cracks. But hopeless as I was, I needed the crutch.

Because I can deal with anyone else seeing me undone, but not you.

"Hmm."

His response was noncommittal. My heart twisted. Was he happy to be rid of me? Would he miss me even a fraction of how much I was missing him already?

We were just on opposite sides of a wall, but we could've been on two sides of the grand canyon for all the space that stretched between us. And I'd put it there.

Dejected, I slowly started to lower my hand.

My skin suddenly prickled.

I heard the faintest thud against the wall, and then my palm warmed.

As if he'd placed his own right on top of mine...

And we fit perfectly.

********************************************************************************

I'm embarrassing, I know 😞😞

This update is coming really late, and I'm really sorry 🥺 For some reason, whenever I try to make promises, I immediately end up putting my foot in my mouth, so I'll just focus on doing my best. You guys deserve better, honestly. 

Hope you guys liked this chapter! 💞

Love you so much,

Lulu.