Killian doesn't follow me back into the dorm, instead muttering that he has to get something and then disappearing to wherever he needs to go.

I blow out a shaky breath and walk back up the stairs, taking them two at a time and then shutting and locking the door behind me.

My lips tingle, my limbs feeling heavier.

I ignore it and rush for my bathroom, slipping into the shower quickly to wash the dried blood from my body and lingering touch from my lips.

The shower is quick, my hands deftly scrubbing the shampoo into my scalp - twice followed by the conditioner until the strands are clean of any remnant of the fabric but.

I get out after using the soap, being careful to avoid the stab area and wrap a towel around me.

Just as I step out, I hear the knock on the door.

Clutching the towel around me tighter, I slowly make my way over.

"Noah?" Killian's voice penetrates through the heavy wood and I swing the door open, for a moment forgetting I'm only in a towel until Killian's eyes drop down my body.

I hold it tighter.

He lifts his hands, hammer and small tarp folded in his hand, duct tape and nails in the other.

"To ward off the chill and give you some semblance of privacy."

I open the door wider, letting him in.

He slips past, stalking straight for my room and the smashed window beyond.

I slip into the closet as he does what he wants, changing quickly before stepping out finding the tarp covering the open window, the duct tape sealing it around the edges so wind doesn't get through.

I blink, feeling warmth in my chest that I promptly squash but still, looking at the flimsy tarp, unease settles in me.

Killian turns to me, eyes jumping over my face and he must read something in my expression because he walks out.

I follow silently, balking when I see him rip one of the kitchen cabinet doors off its hinge.

"And for a bit more security." He mutters, taking the piece of panel to the window. "Can you hold it for me?" He asks, head turned over his shoulder to stare at me.

I blink with a start and walk over, clearing my throat. "You don't have to do all this."

He only grunts and I huff a breath before placing my hands on the corners of the panel for him.

He steps in behind me, his breath tingling along yhthe back of my head, racing down my neck and spine before a shiver wants to take over me.

I hold it back, still feeling the ghost of his lips on mine. Even if i had had a shower and it had been over half an hour since we'd kissed.

Kissed. As if that's all it was.

I shake off the thought and focus as Killian hammers in the nails, making sure the panel is secure.

His chest brushes my back one lingering moment before he steps back and clears his throat. "It should work for now but we can get it fixed soon."

I nod absently, my mind to preoccupied with thoughts of his eyes, his lips on mine.

I shake my head and clear my throat.

Killian moves around me, I follow with my eyes and then my body as he disperses out of my bedroom door and find him sitting on the lounge, arms thrown over the back and head turned over his shoulder, eyes on me.

Seems he's not moving anytime soon.

"I'm not leaving you here alone, now when you have people terrorising and harassing you."

I see the conviction in his blue gaze and nod my head, settling down beside him.

His eyes stay locked on me and for a second my lips tingle, remembering how his felt on mine but then he speaks and I'm forced to focus on something else.

"So, you're fighting?"

I tilt my head at him, breathing in slowly. "What about it?"

"How'd you learn?"

The questions shocks me. No not shocks me, but shocks something inside me c bringing forth memories I'd rather keep buried under rubble.

I blink away the memories and fidget in my seat, "the person who-" I pause, trying to find the right word for what Charles is to me. "The person who raised me." It's the only way I can describe him, the truth hitting hard.

"How'd you get started?" I ask to take the heat off myself, looking up at Killian.

The wind howls outside, a storm erupting from nowhere and I fling my head to the side, staring through the wall to my room like I can see the repaired window through it.

Killian's voice pulls my attention back to him, his hand moving to rest on my knee. He doesn't move it higher, just rests it there like he wants me to know he's here, that I can feel he's here.

"Malachi, Kade and I started around the same time, we were going through some stuff with our families and outside factors, new responsibilities and all that and we needed an outlet." Killian says, his thumb tracing circles on my thigh absentmindedly yet the words sound rehearsed. Like he'd said them a million times already.

"Benny offered to train us in the ring whenever we wanted and about two years later, Kade bought the place from him after his heart attack. He didn't want to run a business anymore and now he manages it part time and Kade took over the ins and outs."

"How old were you?"

Killian smiles ruefully, "Fifteen."

My brows raise, "that's quite young."

He can tell where I'm going with this.

"You'd understand if you were apart of our world." He mutter before adding, "And Kade has money."

"And you and Malachi don't?"

He blinks at the question, not expecting it. "Ours is tied up in. . . Investments."

"Is that a fancy way of saying your broke cause same."

He laughs, the sound rough. "I guess you could say that." He leans further back into the couch, and runs a hand through his hair, messing up the short strands even more than they already were. "Our grandfather got his hands on the money after our father died."

"Is he not Kades grandfather too?"

Killian's looks to me, "Kades father was better than ours," he says almost sadly, "smarter too." He adds with a wobbly laugh.

"You sound like you miss him."

"Him and Kades mother, ours too, were the only good people in our family." He shifts on the couch and I realise he's not going to talk anymore so I reach for the remote, flipping the television on.

It's on for not even a few seconds before thunder rattles along the academy grounds, and darkness descends.

My heart slams against my ribcage, pounding ruthlessly at the cage of my ribs and my shadows react, flinging out to spread across the floor. I reign them back in, eyes flinging to Killian and hoping he doesn't notice with the sudden darkness from the storm.

He doesn't seem to have taken any tonics, his head lifted to the sky.

I suck in a tightened breath, willing my mind to stay in the here and now and not tumble down the long dark hallway of memories it wants to trapeze down.

C'mon. I beg myself. It's been years since the dark scared you, why now?

How ironic, a girl can find comfort in the shadows but the measly darkness of night is too scary.

Killian's arm winds itself around my shoulder, pulling me into his body.

"Guess a movie is out of the equation."

Lighting flashing, followed by thunder answers his statement.

I laugh, despite the way my heart wants to curl into a ball and shrivel up, content to let us wallow in the past.

Closing my eyes, I breathe in and out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

I open my eyes, forcing myself to calm.

The dark no longer rules your fears, you are not locked in a small room as punishment. You escaped.

I escaped.

I conquered that fear. I won that fear.

The shadows pound at my ribs as if in agreement.

"You good, Noah?" Killian's voice is a soothing balm to my senses and I turn my head towards his side of the lounge.

"Yeah." I breathe out the word. "I'm good, just tired."

"Get some sleep." He commands, voice brooking no room for argument.

"Are you not leaving?"

"No." He says, the determination in his tone causing a shiver to slither down my spine.

"I'm staying here all night. I'm not leaving you alone with my half assed attempt at a repair, with a black out and the people who fucking threw a brick in your window possibly still out there."

"My knight in shining armour." I joke, but apart of me relaxes, knowing I won't be alone in the blackout, not when my mind wants to dive right into the deep end of my trauma and drown.

Killian shifts, laying down on the couch and pulling me back with him.

"Just go to sleep, and tomorrow you can tell me why the fuck you're fighting and why you need a disguise."

My heart thumps but I don't say anything, relaxing back into his embrace and forcing my eyes to close.

• • •

A pounding at my door wakes me up, grogginess still present in my movements, eyes stinging.

I push off the hard surface breath? The hard surface in question grunting at the force of my weight.

I flash my eyes open, staring down at Killian as he wakes fully, looking up  at my through squinty tired eyes.

It's a hit look on him.

More pounding on my foot had me pushing up and away from him, practically stumbling to the door and ripping it open.

"Have you seen Killian?" Malachi says quickly, "he hasn't come home after last night and-"

The topic of the conversation steps up behind me, his chest practically glueing itself to my back.

"Fuck, Kai," Killian brambles, voice low and full of remnants of his sleep.

I keep still, forcing the shiver from exposing my own neediness.

Fuck. I want to slam my head against a wall.

This was not part of the plan.

I look between Killian and Malac.

They were not part of the plan.

"Killian? What are you doing here?" Malacs gaze slides between Killian and I, eyes narrowing perceptively. "Have you been here all night?"

"Yes." Killian says, standing straighter.

"Why?" Malac asks but his eyes linger on me, something flashing through them that I can't decipher.

I glance away, heart racing.

Holy shit. I've kissed both of them.

I look back to Malachi, palms sweating. Done more than kiss him.

"I-"

"We-"

Killian and I speak at the same time but I can't think of an excuse.

"I was walking home yesterday when I saw Noah in the courtyard, someone threw a brick through her window." Killian shrugs, "I helped her fix it up, and then the blackout happened and we fell asleep."

"That's it?" Malac says, looking between us curiously, like he's searching for something.

"Yeah." I agree, "why, what else would've happened?"

Malachi shakes his head with a badly disguised smirk. "Nothing."

He pushes past me and walks through my dorm, pushing into my room.

His sweat is loud as he sees the damage and repair to the window. "Fucking assholes."

He slips back out, "who did it?"

I shrug, "I never saw who it was."

"Where's the brick." I nod my head to the brick that I'd put on the kitchen bench and Malachi walks over, narrowing his eyes at the word written on it.

Rage simmers through him but I see his tense muscles relax before he's turning for us.

"How was last night?" I ask, to avoid anymore questions. "Did red end up fighting?"

"She got stabbed." Malachi says and I feign shock.

"Surely that's illegal?"

"There was no proof, no weapon found and she ran off before Benny could see the wound. Kades pissed."

"At her?" My heart thumps away, desperate to know if he's figured it out. My eyes meet Killian's but he shakes his head subtlety.

"Yes." Malachi says and then shakes his head, "no. Fuck, I don't know:" he slumps on to the lounge Killian and I had just been occupying and he gives us another look, "thanks for making my spot nice and comfy bro." He says to Killian with a look.

I narrow my eyes, trying to decipher the hidden meaning but then he speaks and I'm too distracted again.

"All I know, is Killian's been out half the night searching the streets for Red, he's driving me crazy with his obsession."

"Why's he searching for her?"

"To make sure she's okay."

Oh, right. Of course.

If Kade knows he wouldn't be searching the streets he'd be breaking down my door.

My stitched wound aches in response to my own thoughts and Malachi pushes off the lounge, stalking for door and calling over his shoulder for Killian.

"C'mon, let go find the idiot before he knocks down every door between him and Red." He slips out my door, "see you in class, baby girl."

Killian follows behind, giving me a look before following his twin steps it and shutting the door.