"We can't continue on like this," I practically squawked, blocking Aiden's path to the door of the meeting room so he couldn't escape. "We're settling this right here and now!"

I looked at my friends that stood around me, knowing they would help me restrain him if he continued to try to leave. There we all were, with Lena instead of Kristie, in the meeting room, giving Aiden the intervention he much needed.

It'd been a week since the iceskating rink incident, and Aiden wouldn't talk to either Dex or Kristie. Granted, Kristie hadn't made a move to talk to him either, and it was the weirdest experience. I never thought I'd see Dex try to make up with Aiden before Kristie did.

"You need to get over what happened with Dex," I ordered, still blocking his path.

Unsurprisingly, Aiden didn't listen to a single word I said, snapping, "I'm never talking to him again."

Anthony rolled his eyes at our team leader. "It's not like it's his fault," he defended, even though we all knew it was a useless battle. "It's not like he wanted to kiss you. It was Lena's fault for running into you guys."

Aiden turned his nose up in the air. "Then I'll never talk to her again either."

"Well, it's about time—"

"Lena," I spat, elbowing her in the side. She was not making this any better with her comments.

I understood why Aiden felt so embarrassed; Dex had felt the same exact way. However, after a long time, and a lot of kisses, I was finally able to convince him that it was no big deal. Unfortunately, Aiden was going to be the difficult one, like always.

"This is the most humiliating thing that's ever happened to me, and you want me to just forget about it?" our leader hissed, his glare focused on Dex as he pointed at him. "That's just not possible!"

"It was a mistake," I clarified slowly. "It was an accident. No one even thinks it's funny anymore!"

Lena glanced to the side. "I mean..."

I elbowed her in the side, harder this time.

When the door to the meeting room slid open, we turned in horror, afraid that Kristie would be the one standing there. We could not have both of them confronting Aiden at the same time. We'd never get anywhere with him if that was the case.

Instead of Kristie, Hank and Nay stood there instead, giving us all the most confused looks I had ever seen. Throughout the week, neither of them had asked why Dex and Aiden weren't talking, but instead enjoyed the silence that there lack of fighting brought. They were so happy that they didn't even realize Kristie and Aiden weren't talking as well.

"What are you arguing about?" Hank asked, the door sliding shut once he and Nay made their way inside. "We can hear your guys bickering all the way from our rooms."

"That's impossible," Anthony pointed out, like he always did. "The meeting room's soundproof."

"We thought it'd be better to say that than to say we kind of just assumed your guys were fighting." Hank rolled his eyes at us as he spoke, but I didn't blame him. "Since, you know. It's you guys."

"Dex and Aiden kissed yesterday," I explained without even hesitating, and this caused both boys to look at me in horror for even repeating the story. "And that caused Aiden to admit he loved Kristie in a panicked rage. And then Dex—"

"Did Dex? Did Dex confess, too?" Hank interrupted, taking a step forward, a little more excited than I expected him to be.

That panicked look crossed Dex's face once again as I asked Hank, "Confessed what?"

Hank went silent, looking over at Dex as if he would give him some kind of answer to say. Dex only glared at him.

"So... Dex and Aiden kissed?" Nay questioned, only asking to change the subject, but she didn't sound very surprised.

Again, the two boys looked mortified to have it brought up again, but none of us were laughing any longer. We had time to get over it, and now Aiden's behavior was much more annoying than anything else.

Lena then went on to explain the full story to our mentors, how it was her fault that they had accidentally kissed and how now Aiden was completely overreacting because of it.

"There's nothing wrong with two boys kissing," Lena concluded with a shrug.

I couldn't help but squint at her, suspicious. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"How dare you assume I could do such a horrible thing!" she gasped, mock offense plastered over her whole demeanor. She then rolled her eyes, waving the idea away. "Nah, it really was an accident. I wish I'd thought it up, though."

Anthony rolled his eyes, bumping his hip against her. "Just stick to your fan-fictions."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Maybe I will."

Nay's phone beeped in her pocket, and she turned away as she fished it out and looked at it. Hank immediately picked up on this and asked, "What's up, Nay?"

She let out a tired sigh. "It seems our friends from Redrum have decided to have a little fun," she explained, turning back toward us as she shoved her phone back into her pocket.

Anthony was the one to ask, "Where at?"

"A water park," our female mentor answered.

"A water park?" I inquired, remembering the fact that it was snowing outside. "It's February."

"It's closed," Nay shrugged, as if that explained the weirdness of it all. "But that wouldn't really matter because it's an indoor one."

"Those are the worst kind," Aiden grumbled.

"Not really the point right now," I snapped, and he shut his mouth.

"You know all they ever do is cause havoc somewhere secluded just to lure you out for a fight," Nay continued, pulling her phone out of her pocket once again and scrolling through it.

"Which means they have ulterior motives," Dex deduced, looking right at me.

Not ignoring what Dex was thinking, Nay nodded. "Most likely, yes."

At this point, Lena decided to leave and Anthony went to go find Kristie. The rest of us filed into the RV, Aiden punching in the coordinates so RV would know where to go. We only had to wait for a few minutes before Anthony and Kristie made their way into the RV, Kristie avoiding eye contact with Aiden the entire time.

Our first intervention with Aiden hadn't gone very well, and I could only assume that the second one wouldn't go very well either. They had managed to talk and make up after one argument before, but this one was different. What Aiden had blurted out changed their relationship forever.

"So let me get this straight," RV began as he drove us to our destination. "Violet has kissed both Dex and Anthony, Dex has kissed both Aiden and Violet, and Aiden has kissed only Dex?"

I had no idea how he had gotten any of this information, but at the reminder that I had kissed Anthony, I felt my whole face burn. I'd almost completely forgotten that had happened, and I wished it couldn't stayed that way.

I could tell Aiden wanted to make a comment about how Anthony's kiss had only been an accident, but then remembered what circumstances his kiss had been under. That sure shut him up.

"I'm sure the girls just felt so betrayed," RV continued, as if things couldn't get any worse. "To have their boys kiss right in front of them!"

RV had always had a big mouth. But now, he was crossing into very dangerous territory. Aiden's face was so red it looked like he could have burst at any moment. Dex had basically given up and was now just sitting there, a hand covering his face in defeat.

"I thought Aiden and Kristie would be the ones to get together first, but it was actually Dex and Violet!" RV was on a roll. "Color me surprised!"

I didn't even try to deny the fact that Dex and I were together, since it wouldn't make the situation any better. It was already headed downhill fast.

I hadn't even looked over at Kristie once during this whole exchange, since seeing Aiden uncomfortable was bad enough. But now I couldn't help but notice her as she stood up from her seat, quickly making her way toward the bathroom to escape this awkward conversation.

"Nice going, RV," I could hear Dex reprimand the vehicle, who began to defend himself by saying something I was no longer listening to. Instead, I followed right after Kristie into the bathroom, knowing she wasn't going inside to use it.

With the door shut firmly behind us, I leaned up against it, my arms crossed over my chest. Kristie sat on the edge of the bathtub, her head in her hands.

"So... you don't like Aiden, then?" was the only thing I could think of to ask.

"I don't know how I feel," she whispered, and I remembered having a similar conversation with her beforehand. "That's why I'm finding it so difficult to talk to him now. I don't know how I feel."

I guess I couldn't blame her. There were plenty of times I felt uncomfortable around Dex because I had no idea what I was doing. It was a completely natural, normal way to feel. I just wished it didn't make it so awkward for the rest of their teammates.

"Aiden's a really great guy," Kristie continued, and I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from disagreeing with her. "I know he can be... kind of rude sometimes. And self-centered. But I think he just needs to learn how to treat other people better, and then he'll be..."

"Your ideal man?" I guessed, though it was more sarcastic than anything else.

But still, she nodded, a sad smile on her face. "I guess."

I didn't know what else I was supposed to say to her. Though she seemed so dense all the time, Kristie clearly paid more attention than I thought she did. She could see how cruel Aiden could be, and she didn't like it. I was happy that she wasn't just going to allow him to act that way without any repercussions.

"When I'm ready, I'll talk to him about it," Kristie sighed, standing up from the bathtub's edge and dusting off her jeans. "I just need a little more time. I've... never had anyone in love with me before."

The knock on the bathroom door stopped us from continuing the conversation any farther. "Hey," I heard the familiar voice of Dex call out from the other side of the door. "We're here. Let's go."

At first, we spent a few moments trying to figure out just how we would get inside. We knew that just busting the door down would be a mistake, but we also knew that once we were done with Carmine and Striker, a busted down door was going to be the least of the owner of this place's worries.

So we were shocked to see that the front door was unlocked and open, revealing the dark and foreboding atmosphere inside. I would never admit it, but I was a little frightened to go inside when that was our entrance.

With absolutely no artificial lighting inside, it was like a scene from a horror movie just waiting to happen. It wasn't completely pitch black, since the light from the moon peeked through the windows on the ceiling. But this did everything but calm my nerves, since it just engulfed the entire place in shadows.

The water was still, unmoving. Nothing flowed down the slides, or through the pools. It was completely still and silent.

"Aren't these places supposed to be... fun? And happy?" Kristie asked once we entered, her hand clutched to her chest as she glanced around, nervous.

"When they're open, yeah," Dex nodded, looking around along with her. "But right now, this place is just... sad."

As soon as he was done talking, the whole place was engulfed with light. It was such a sudden shock that I needed to close my eyes, unable to adjust to the light right away.

As I reopened my eyes, I looked ahead, focusing on people that we had been looking for. There stood Carmine and Striker, just like we had expected. However, we were all surprised to see the third person standing right between them, smiling brightly at the five of us.

Tom used to always smile at me. He always seemed so happy and bright. And now that I knew what was really behind that smile, I never wanted to see it again.

"VAKAD!" our old classmate greeted, waving wildly at the five of us. "How wonderful of you to drop in!"

My friends and I didn't move, shocked to see the third addition of this Redrum team. Aiden, Anthony, and Kristie hadn't seen Tom since we'd gone to school, but Dex and I hadn't seen him since...

My eyes were on Dex. I had no idea how he'd react to seeing Tom again for the first time after what had happened to his mother. He was still healing from the shock and pain that situation brought on him.

"It's so great to see you!" Tom continued, the sickly sweet tone in his voice making me sick to my stomach. He then turned toward me and Dex. "Especially the mama's boy and my little kitten."

Tom knew exactly who he was riling up with that comment, and the growl that escaped Dex's throat gave him the response he was looking for. Clutching onto Dex's arm, I stopped him from moving any closer. We all would have loved it if he beat Tom to a pulp again, but we knew that it would not have been a good idea. I may have stopped him from killing him once before, but there was no guarantee I'd be able to do it a second time.

"You," I started, making sure he was looking at me as I spoke so he knew how serious I was, "don't get anywhere near him, you hear me?"

"That's right!" Raising his hands above his head, Tom stretched, as if this was just a simple warmup. "This fight is between me and my girl."

Dex had had enough. Ripping his arm from my grasp, Dex wasted no time in charging toward Tom. The two things he hated hearing Tom talk about the most was his mother, and me.

Carmine wasn't about to let the two go at it, however. She quickly dashed forward, knocking Dex away from her teammates and right into a nearby pool. It almost would have been funny if not for the current circumstances.

He was up out of the water in a matter of seconds, suddenly disappearing from sight. Kristie immediately sprung into action to help him, while Anthony and Aiden went after the suspiciously silent Striker who decided to make his move now that Carmine had.

So that left me with Tom.

"Just like old times, huh?" he laughed, that twisted smile adorning his face. "Just you and me, all alone together."

I didn't think I would ever be able to believe that the sweet human boy I'd grown to like could've been the same man I was talking too right then. So callous, so cold. It was like he had two completely different personalities. He was just a really, really good actor.

An actor that didn't know when to shut up.

"Just come back to me, baby," he grinned, reaching out and twirling my hair with his fingers. "Leave that sad little mama's boy for me."

And just like Dex, the things I hated hearing the most come from Tom was anything about him or his mother. I lunged forward, my hands at his throat as we both went tumbling to the ground.

Mentally kicking myself for this sudden reaction, I couldn't believe my automatic response in every situation was to physically attack instead of using my powers. Though I had been trained to do that my whole life because of karate, my powers would be the more handy one of the two. And yet, here I was, tackling someone.

"You just couldn't wait to pounce on me, huh?" he laughed, his hands moving to my hips. "Nothing's changed since high school!"

Unsurprisingly, his comment angered me. Scrambling to get up as quickly as possible, Tom was up on his feet before I even was, at the ready.

"Your poor boyfriend, all alone without his mommy," he smirked, inching closer to me once again. "And soon, all alone without you."

I punched him right across the face with no hesitation. And just like he had when Dex had beaten him, all he did was grin at me, as if he enjoyed the pain.

"Less talking," I spat, my fists at the ready. "More hitting."

"You wanna dance?" Tom waved his hand to beckon me closer. "Then let's dance."

And surprisingly, the talking stopped, the conversation continuing with our bodies. Tom was able to block nearly every blow I threw, only a few every so often actually making contact the way I had wanted it to. He, however, never even tried to throw a punch. He just continued to block, but even I could tell that that was beginning to tire him out.

I moved to hit him again, but Tom was ready. He grabbed my wrist, spinning me around so that he was now behind me. He yanked me back, pressing his body up against mine, my back to his front.

And we stood there, out of breath and tired, pressed tightly up against one another. With my head turned toward him, out of the corner of my eye, I could hardly see him through my messy, sweaty hair.

"Let's not fight, kitten," he whispered, nuzzling into my hair. "Why can't we just get along?"

I tried to rip away from him, but found myself unable to. With only one hand pressed against my lower abdomen, he had me locked there. I didn't know if it was because I was so exhausted from our fight, or if he really was just that strong.

"Don't you remember when you had a crush on me?" he continued, never moving away from me. "Can't we just go back to those times?"

"Go to hell," I spat, getting ready to make my escape somehow.

Tom smirked against my hair. "You'll come with me though, right?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but soon realized that that had been a mistake when he suddenly spun me around, wrapping his arm around my waist once again and pressing me up against him while he placed his lips on mine.

I immediately regretted having my mouth open to speak as he snaked his tongue inside. It was as if my entire body was paralyzed. I was unable to move, no matter how much my brain was screaming at me to react.

"Hey!" I could hear Dex shout, clearly now looking away from his fight with Carmine to see what was unfolding across the room from him. He moved to make his way toward us, but Carmine wasn't about to let him get any closer and quickly dashed out in front of him, knocking him to the ground.

I'd never kissed Tom before, even when I thought that he was human and I thought we could actually have a relationship together. But now, here we were, mouth to mouth, and he was no longer the innocent human boy I once thought he was. He was a psychotic, evil murderer, and with this kiss, it was like I could taste the blood he'd spilled of the boy I loved's mother just weeks before.

But then I realized, that wasn't blood I was tasting. It was the bitter, irony taste of something—something that Tom was shoving into my mouth with his tongue. I was in such a shock that I couldn't even react, and the small capsule I could only assume was a pill was down my throat in a matter of seconds.

I had no time to respond, no time to react. It felt like everything was happening in a matter of seconds. I had no idea how long he had been kissing me for, no idea how long it took him push the tiny capsule down my throat. All I knew was that, no matter what the time was, it was too long.

Finally, he let go of me, and I went stumbling backwards as I pushed away from him. My hands clenched into fists, I was ready to spring back into action and attack Tom once again. Before I could, however, I began to see double. Then triple. Then quadruple.

All I could see were multiple Toms smirking back at me as I collapsed onto my knees, my vision going blurry and my head spinning. I could hear my friends call out to me, but their voices sounded distant and slow. The last thing I can remember seeing through my hazy vision was Dex racing toward me, but soon after I was surrounded by the black of unconsciousness.

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Defenders came out five years ago today. How.

It's just so strange to me. It's been five years since I started writing about these characters that I honestly love so much. They've grown with me so I always forget they're still seventeen.

I've been waiting to put this picture on the side for over a year now and I still can't stop laughing at it. But I needed to wait for him to actually kill Dex's mom and then I just... forgot. Because I'm a mess.

I'm not even joking when I say that this chapter feels like the worst chapter I've ever written. I was just so all over the place all day as I was writing it and now it's four in the morning and I just. Ugh.

At least this chapter is the beginning of fun times... for me.

Really though never look forward to when I look forward to things in my stories it never ends well

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3