IF someone had told me a month ago that I would be sitting in Tyler's passenger seat, mocking Mr. Tyver and laughing along as if it was the most natural thing in the world, I would've called them a bold-face liar. They clearly had to go get their head checked.

     And yet, there I was, giggling to myself and listening to Tyler's monotone Mr. Tyver impression, which was strangely on-point, as if it was just any other Saturday. My muscles had relaxed somewhere along the way, and the usual weight of anxiety had evaporated into the soft beat of the radio. The trees raced passed as I sunk into the leather, and I felt perfectly in place.

     "You're weirdly really good at that!" I admitted, as intrigued as I was confused, but unable to keep the smile from digging into my cheek.

     Tyler shrugged, casually, as if it wasn't the first time he'd heard that. "I have a natural talent, what can I say? Although Wyatt's is even better, you should see it."

     I grinned. "I will! He owes me for eating like all of my cookies when we were studying. Although I think the weirdest part is that Mr. Tyver mentioned he had a kid once. Which meant that at one point, he had sex with someone. Can you imagine it? I literally can't." 

     Tyler cocked a brow. "Didn't you said you had a super big crush on him?"

     As soon as his words touched the air, I somehow ended up choking on my own spit, face burning and heart breaking. I was forcefully reminded of the after-lunch fiasco, and shook my head vigorously, a frown twisted on my face.

     "That was very short-lived, believe me," I insisted, feeling the creep of mortification burn up my neck.

     Sometimes I wondered why people even let me talk. I was a hazard to myself. At least my socks were clean.  

     Tyler chuckled, shaking his head with a heart-warming smile toying on his mouth. "No worries, there's no judgement here. I had a weird dream about one of the lunch ladies once. Our minds go to strange places sometimes."

     I snorted, unable to keep the betraying giggles from escaping my lips. "Rhonda?" I grinned, too Cheshire-like to be earnest. "Was it the hair net? Hairnets are pretty sexy, I won't fault you on that one."

     Tyler chuckled, nodding shamefully and meeting my eye. "That's a secret, though. So you better keep that safe."

      A warmth blossomed within me at the mention of insider information, and I nodded eagerly, feeling a little closer with him than I did before. The smile that touched my face was broad and easy, and it was only spurred further as the rhythm of a familiar song began playing from the speakers, the same one that Reese and I had sang (belted) so enthusiastically before.

     "Oh my god, this song again!" I gasped, my fingers darting for the volume button to turn it louder. "I am so impressed with the radio lately! They are really killing it."

     Tyler eyed me with amusement as I started singing along with the first few lyrics, low enough that my voice was easily drowned out by the artist's, admittedly a little on purpose. I noticed that his lips were not moving along. "C'mon, don't you know this song?"

     The brunette shook his head, shrugging as he turned onto my street. "Never heard of it, but please, don't let that stop you."

     I smiled, but still stopped singing nonetheless, allowing the beat to flood in the spaces were my voice had been before. My hands were clasped tightly around the bags, my dress and a necklace we'd gotten afterward, and as I saw my house in sight, my eyes shifted to the one next to it. Involuntarily Reese's face looking a little sharper than usual flickered in my mind, but I shook it off, turning back to Tyler.

     "Thanks for coming out with me. I'm a little worried about Reese and Savannah, so really, it means a lot to me." 

     He met my gaze, wearing that easy smile of his. "No problem, really, it was fun. And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Reese. Also, hey, Reese left his wallet, it's in the glove box. Could you give it back to him?"

     We pulled up in front of my house and I nodded, clicking the glove box open and finding Reese's worn, leather wallet. "Yep, no problem, weird that he left it. Must've been in a rush," I mused, more to myself than anything.

     "Awesome, thanks, anyway, I'll see you in Geography on Monday, yeah?" Tyler beamed, and I felt my face mirror his own as I gave him a thumbs up and bid him goodbye.

     As he drove away, leaving me with wallet in hand, I took a moment to think of how surreal that entire exchange was. We'd traded weird crushes as if we were regular, normal, everyday friends. And even though mine was a very desperate cover-up of a more potent crush, it was the sentiment that counted. And Tyler and I had undoubtedly shared that.

     I still wasn't thanking Reese if my life depended on it, though. 

     The dimming sun was just peaking above the roof, spilling the last of its warm-toned rays along the pavement as the sky was growing darker. A cool breeze sailed by, and I pulled my jacket tighter, wondering when October had snuck up on me, as all the weeks seemed to rush together at lightening speeds.

     Taking a deep breath, I trekked my way over to Reese's front door, my interest admittedly piqued. Although I was probably looking too far into it, and I shouldn't have been the least bit concerned with what he did in his spare time, I was a little curious as to where Reese had jetted off to so quickly. I hoped that it wasn't some girl, because I was very okay with not giving the wallet back and having myself a little shopping spree if that was the case.

     When I knocked, for a moment, there was only silence. I shifted my weight, waiting, hoping that it wasn't a bad time. Then there was some muffled yelling, low and booming and masculine, seemingly fueled with rage. I stepped back, confused, and just in time for the door to be ripped open.

     With a face of bewilderment, I absorbed Reese in front of me, breathing haggard and eyes wild. I blinked, unsure of what to do, and moved to the side as he only faintly registered my presence with a fleeting glance and then stalked down the porch steps, completely ignoring me. Or maybe more distinctly the other voice that had continued yelling out the door, abundant with enough colourful language that I wondered if I'd been blushing.

     "I, um- Reese, I-"

     "Get the fuck back here if you want to talk to me like that, you little fucking shit. Try me! Fucking try me!"

     "Fuck off Trey!"

     I blinked again, watching with shocked eyes as another guy stormed out of the house. He had dark hair and dark eyes, his face rugged and with echoes of Reese in it, strangely familiar. I recognized him from the other day when we'd been studying, as the strange presence who had brought a cold ambiance and then disappeared. Although this time his aura was a little more homicidal

     "Oh man," I murmured to myself, watching as this Trey character lunged for Reese, taking him down on the front lawn, and testing all of the problem-solving skills I most definitely did not have. "Oh man, oh man, oh man."

     I was usually on the other side, and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Savannah and Eva. Angry people sucked to deal with.

     Clearing my throat, I hopped down the steps and crossed over to where they'd decided on attempting to kill each other, currently wrestling and spitting curses with clearly no regard for the outside world, including myself, which meant my rather lukewarm pleas for them to calm down went entirely ignored.

     "Uh, hey guys, if you could, I don't know, not try and kill each other? That would be, uh, awesome?"

     They did not care.

     Reese did not look to be winning, judging by the way that he was getting not-very-lightly smashed in the face, and while a small part of me felt maybe I could've just done nothing, unconcern myself with it all, a more convincing part of me realized that I should've at least put forth an effort to help.

     So, heaving a sigh, I quickly darted over to the side of the house, silently hoping that Reese could handle himself for a minute or two. When I had finally unwrapped the hose, they were still wrestling each other with abandon, and I felt a little sympathy for the neighborhood. Between Reese and I and now this, we definitely weren't the happy-go-lucky neighbourhood of quintessential suburbia. 

     Clearing my throat, I gave one more unheard suggestion of stopping, and realized that it was out of my hands now. And so I positioned the hose, pulled back the handle and sprayed them down Girls Gone Wild style.

     Trey paused, cursing again and then finally rolled off of Reese, glaring daggers at me. I was now the single recipient to his hatred. "Who the fuck are you?" he sneered, breath hoarse. 

     I was still soaking Reese, who was also trying to catch his breath with a broken lip and bruising eye, and so I moved the hose over, keeping it on just in case. With my free hand, I saluted Trey. "Howdy neighbour."

     "Trey if you touch her I swear to G-"

     I shot Reese a look. "I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it, but let's be real. I think I'm in a better position to defend myself more than you. No offense. "

     Reese did not return my good-natured quip, and instead tried to sit up with a wince. Trey was still very unimpressed with my entire existence.

     "And why the fuck did you do that?" he spat, mouth twisted in a frown.

     "If there's a murder in the middle of the street, the property value of the entire neighbourhood goes down. When I'm selling my house, I want full value. Also, I know this may come as a surprise, but I kind of need Reese right now, so I kind of need you not to kill him," I admitted, giving my best convincing smile as I shot a look over to Reese, who still hadn't moved.

     Trey merely spat on the grass, quite classy, and jumped to his feet without a response. I watched him warily, ready to take him down with a torrent of water if he went for Reese again, but Trey turned his heel and stalked toward the car, jumping in and driving off before anyone else could say a word.

     After his car had disappeared from sight, I shut the water off and turned to Reese,  sucking through my teeth quite supportively when we locked eyes. His face did not look the greatest, to say the least. Quite honestly the very opposite of that.

     He'd finally sat up, but there was blood dribbling down his chin and the purpling of his eye did not look that reassuring.

     "Christ, you look rough. Now I know why you're so scared to pick a fight," I chided, allowing the hose to fall from my grasp as I dropped down next to him. "You definitely did not win that one."

     I bumped my shoulder against his, but he did not seem to be in the joking mood. His face was hard, betraying no other sign of emotion other than general pissed off-ness, and his jaw was clenched so hard I thought he might break his teeth.

     It was definitely a side of Reese I'd never seen before, and it was disconcerting to me. I didn't know how to handle this Reese. I was the pissed off one most of the time. I was not equipped with the skills to calm down myself, let alone anyone else.

     "But you looked like you got a good hit in, and that's all that really matters, right? Hey, c'mon, why don't we wash you up?" I suggested, my voice tense and unsure, and swallowed.

     Reese took a moment to respond, and then slowly nodded his head, still not speaking a word. I realized that while I was a very verbal in my rages, Reese wasn't, and understood that perfectly. I mirrored his nod and lifted to my feet, offering a hand to bring him up too.

     He accepted, pulling himself up but still remaining entirely silent. I followed him puppy-like through the open door to his house, peeking around to see if his parents were home, and if they were at all concerned with the fact that their two sons almost murdered each other on the lawn.

     It was empty, though, and I continued following him into the bathroom. I was half-expecting for him to tell me to scram, that he wanted to be alone, but he said nothing. I took nothing as a somewhat acceptance of my presence.

     "Ah, okay, first-aid kit. I remember you have one. Point me in the general direction, and prepare for Dr. Sandavol to fix you up," I beamed, an awkward smile touching my face as I tried not to wince when he met my gaze. 

     Reese bent down, opening the cupboard doors to rummage through, before slamming the first aid kit against the counter. I nodded, taking a deep breath and forcing myself not to crumble underneath the awkward silence that was weighing on both of our shoulders.

     Of all the things that I thought of Reese, silent was not one of them.

     "All right, sit down on the counter. I can do this," I reassured him, pulling my sleeves up. "I can totally do this."

     He obeyed quietly, hopping up on the counter and staring me down. I ignored his burning eyes and assessed the first aid kit with an almost palpable confusion, filing through my memories to mimic what Reese had done before.

     "I can do it," Reese finally spoke, face still infuriatingly unreadable.

     "No, no, I got this. First we start with hydrogen peroxide, right? That's a thing?" It came out more of a question than I wanted it too.

     Reese nodded, and I sighed of relief. "Right, yes, I know what I'm doing. All right, okay," I murmured, grabbing a cotton ball, dousing it with liquid and then nestling myself in between his legs.

     When I gently touched his face, Reese winced. His lip had been broken, the cut dragged down significantly, and there was a cut slashed across the bridge of his nose. Silence flooded the room again as I carefully dabbed the wounds, holding my breath and very aware of Reese's amber eyes watching my every move.

     "My brother is such a fucking dick."

     I paused, shocked by the break in quiet, and took a moment to absorb what he'd said. I didn't know how to respond, finding myself at a loss, trying to summon the right words and finding all the vowels evaporating on my tongue.

     As I opened my mouth, Reese cut me off. "He came in, and I'm always cleaning up his stupid mess of a face, and he comes in looking wrecked as usual. And he has the fucking audacity to be a dick to my mom for asking what happened. Like maybe you shouldn't be a shitty twenty-three year old shit-for-brains that comes home looking like that!" 

     His white-washed knuckled were gripping the counter edge, and  I could feel the tenseness in his shoulders, his brows knitting in frustration.

      I nodded, indicating that I was listening to what he was saying, and rummaged through the box for some plasters. In the back of my mind, I was reminded of how skillfully he had cleaned me up before, and made some connections with his words. 

     Reese wasn't finished, as he continued unhindered. "He's such a fucking shitty person. All he does is stress everyone out, like shit, for once he couldn't think about anyone but himself and his goddamn coke."

     Reese sighed, a little forcefully, as a frown found his face. I paused for a moment, drinking him in, and gave a little sigh of my own.

     "That was a really big dick move on his part," I agreed, reaching to place the plaster on his nose.

     "Thanks for, uh, listening. And fixing me up. You didn't have to do that." His face was uncharacteristically earnest.

     I nodded again, giving him a half-smile and dismissing his worries with a wave of my hand. Receiving a thanks from Reese was on new levels of weird, and I wanted nothing to do with it. "No issue, just returning the favour. All cleaned up now, look at you. You look kind of bad ass now. Although you're definitely walking out of this with a black eye."

     For the first time since the mall, I saw a ghost of a smirk cross his face. "I still look pretty hot, though?"

     I snorted, feeling my muscles relax. "I wouldn't go that far, Powers. Let's take it down a notch."

     Reese didn't answer, just continued to smile at me, and I was suddenly very aware of how close we both were, and how particularly close his face was, and took a step back. I didn't need to cross any more boundaries today, thank you very much.

     "Remind me to never cross you when there's a hose around. You really looked like you knew what you were doing with that," Reese mused, rising his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to roll my eyes.

     "That should be shortened down to a never cross me ever. Anyway, I dropped your wallet on your porch, you forgot it. I'm going to go home and relax because I deserve it. See you later, Powers," I bid him off, turning on my heel and heading toward the door.

     "Hey, Stella, I meant what I said. Thanks. I mean it."

    I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, before throwing my hand up in goodbye, not even bothering to say goodbye.

     "I know, Powers, I'm pretty great. Now stop saying stuff like that or I'm really gonna start to think you've fallen for my charms."

     I didn't wait for a response.

***

Exams are finished! Which means I'm a free-bird and ready to do some serious writing! I told myself that I need to finish this before July, and I already planned the rest out so there's still about 10-15 chapters left which means UPDATE UPDATES UPDATES.

Also my apology for the wait is this long ass update. PLEASE TAKE IT AND HATE ME SLIGHTLY LESS.

If you get the p!ink reference in there, let me love you. 

You guys are the bestest, I can't believe it, thank you so much! Thanks for sticking by my awful updating schedule, and I hope this chapter was satisfying at least a little. c: