It all seemed to happen in an instant. First there was Warren, who had gone down in all the bigger they are the harder they fall fashion, stumbling backward and slamming like a ton of bricks against the concrete. Bewilderment was scrawled all over his face, eyes wide and blinking dumbly as he cupped his nose in his hands. I probably would have laughed if I hadn't been wearing the exact same dumb look, blindly trying to piece together the situation of what the hell just happened.

"You just punched him in the face," I said, mouth gaping.

Reese was staring at his hands, his eyes the size of saucers and looking just about as shocked as everyone else did, as if his body had moved on its own accord. "I just punched him in the face."

Unconsciously, a grin broke out across my face. "That was awesome."

Reese's gaze borrowed mine, and the edge of his mouth quirked upward as he slowly nodded his head, lips pressed together in thought. "Yeah... that was kind of awesome," he admitted, chuckling as he flexed his hand.

Warren was cradling his nose, which had met Reese's fist with a sickening crack, and the shock on the large boy's face was quickly melding into an intensifying rage. The eyes that were once wide with confusion were now narrowed and shooting daggers, but just as Warren was clambering to his feet, Mr. Patel, one of the gym teachers, came hurling through the crowd of over-excited students with cries of immediate dispersion.

And then Reese was getting hauled away, threats of suspension hot on Mr. Patel's tongue, and the crowd dissolved in an uproar of excited murmurs. Britta, who shot me a frost-bitten look, was helping Warren to his feet, and Wyatt was tugging on my wrist to get out of there. It felt as if the world was moving too quickly for me to keep up, and then suddenly I was being pushed into the backseat of Savannah's car with Eva, who was recounting everything that had just happened with stars in her eyes.

But I couldn't stop thinking about one thing.

"He smiled at me," I said, chewing on my bottom lip. "Does that mean, it worked?"

Savannah met my eyes in the rear-view mirror, a smile touching her face. "What do you mean? Of course it worked, did you think after everything it wouldn't?"

Eva snorted next to me, dropping her arm around my shoulders and giving them a tight squeeze. "You're so cute when you're dumb."

I shot her a look, but couldn't keep the heat from rising to my cheeks. "I didn't- I don't know, I just wasn't expecting it, the smile, was all," I murmured, fidgeting with my sleeves, averting my gaze. "I'm just happy."

"We get it, we get it, go kiss him blah blah whatever, moving on to what's important: Eva needs to get some lovin', and quick. I have been having way too many dreams about cake icing lately and mama needs some sugar, okay?" Eva grinned over at me, cherry lips devilish and a glint in her eye.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, but it was true, I was happy. There was a blossom of warmth that radiated from the pit of my stomach through all of my veins, a heat that dissipated into my muscles and caused a smile to touch my lips. Meeting Savannah's crystalline eyes in the mirror, I sunk into Eva's embrace and grinned.

And then I was absently picking away at the wood of Reese's porch, as I had been for the past fifteen minutes, waiting for Reese to finally come home. I'd rehearsed the words over and over in my head, but they never seemed just right, and my stomach was performing the most exhausting of acrobatics as I waited. Just as I was about to send a strongly-worded text to Wyatt about what exactly five minutes meant, I heard my name being called.

I blinked up, my reverie broken as I saw Reese walking up his driveway, hand in the air.

A grin broke out across my face as I lifted to my feet and gave him a slow clap. "Remind me to come to your upcoming MMA championship."

Reese snorted, rolling his eyes at me, but with a betraying smile on his lips. "I think it's time for me to retire, my hand really hurts and I was suspended. Why did I think that was a good idea again?"

"Protecting my honour?"

He scrunched his nose. "No, I just really hate Warren. I've been wanting to do that since forever. You were just a good opening. Although I really felt like I wanted to throw up after. I don't know how you do it all the time."

A mock-gasp fell from my lips, palms thudding against my chest. "How chivalrous! My knight in shining armour."

Reese barked out a laugh, carving dimples into his cheeks as he threw his head back. "My mom's gonna kill me, you know. I'm going to die over this. There's your chivalry."

I arched a brow. "Golden boy isn't so golden anymore?"

"That doesn't sound like an apology to me."

Head shooting back, I scoffed, shooting him a skeptic look. "What do you mean?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, a cocky look on his face. "Did you think you were done apologizing?"

I blinked. "What? Yes. Yes I am. Were you not there? There were muffins, and announcements, and I also got suspended. That was the apology."

Reese shook his head, a smirk digging into his cheek. "Nope. You're gonna have to get on your knees for this."

I shot him a dry look. "I am not sucking your dick right now."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm saying I want you to beg for forgiveness. On your knees. C'mon. Let's go. Chop chop."

I stared at him, incredulous, mouth gaping. "That's even worse."

"Do it."

"No."

"Yes."

"I have knee problems."

"I have a broken heart."

Reese only appeared delighted by my deadpan look, a cheeky grin splitting across his face as he pointedly looked down to the ground, as if to usher me quicker to my utter humiliation. I felt my jaw clench, every muscle in my body protesting, my dignity wilting at the thought. My eyes bounced around the few people that were outside, Mrs. Flores watering her petunias, and old man hobbling along the sidewalk with his dog, the old Portuguese lady staring at us from her bay window as she always did.

"Let's go, you should be lucky that I'm not recording this," he mused, smirking.

"Are you serious? I jumped over a desk."

Reese didn't budge. "As a heart attack."

My eyes narrowed, and as I drew a deep breath, I restrained the ever-growing urge to punch Reese square in the face. As I swallowed, I could see Reese eyeing me with interest, and slowly and awkwardly lowered myself down.

Lips pursed and eyes turned to hateful slits, I stared up at Reese. "You are actually the worst person that I know. And I hate you. And that's all I have to say."

He grinned down at me, all teeth and mischief, and offered a hand. "I figured that's the best I'd get, but I'll take it. You're forgiven. C'mon. You look pathetic."

Grumbling curses under my breath, I begrudgingly took his hand and pulled myself up, still a little happy that it was all over. That I no longer felt like the wind was knocked out of me every time that we locked eyes. Even if I still wanted to punch him in the face, it was nice that there was a stupid grin to punch off.

"Well, this was fun and all, but I have to go get my ass grounded forever, so be good while I'm gone, okay?" he said with that signature Powers grin, giving me a condescending pat on the head. I swatted him away with a grumble and a glare.

As he side-stepped by me and started up the stairs, I felt all the words I'd rehearsed jumble on my tongue too quick, muscles freezing, mouth parching, eyes squinting shut.

"Wait."

He turned, eyebrows raised in question. "Hmm?"

"I..."

I drew a deep breath, settling the nerves that were vibrating underneath my skin, the air feeling too thick around me.

"C'mon Stella, what's up? You look so pale. Are you okay? Did you kill someone? Are you asking me to help you bury the body? Because I'm too pretty to go to jail, okay? I can put you in connection with some people, if need be."

I sighed. "You're the worst, I don't even know why I'm saying this."

He tilted his head to the side, amber eyes glimmering with curiosity. "Say what?"

"Well, as much as it pains me to say this, I, well. The thing is. You see. What I'm trying to get at is-"

"English, please."

I shot him a dry look. "What I'm trying to get at is, even though you are the worst, there are times where your Lucifer black magic has given you the illusion of not being totally the worst," I mumbled, unable to keep my hands to my side, gesturing wildly with my words. "And well, basically, I don't hate you. And, oh god, I'm actually going to say it, aren't I?"

Reese was watching me intently, and feeling his gaze rolling over my face, I shot my eyes to the ground. A furious blush was crawling up my neck, ravaging my cheeks, heating to the temperature of the sun and then some.

"And I don't, like, hate having you around. And it's been kind of weird having you not around the last couple of weeks. It would be, like, nice or whatever if you continued being around. And that whole, uh, kissing thing? That we did? I would maybe like to do that again sometime. If that would be, I don't know, okay with you. Because that was... okay. With me."

I swallowed.

"So if that could be like, arranged? Sometime soon? That would be nice. So yeah. And also you not doing it with anyone else. The kissing. Or else I will chop off your balls. And I will feed them to you. Kebab-style."

With my face burning and my tongue feeling too big for my mouth, I forced myself to look up, only to see that Reese had now averted his eyes. There was a hand covering his mouth, but through the cracks of his fingers I could see a furious red, and I pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You're blushing!"

"Shut up! You're blushing even more than me!"

I snorted, a giddy sensation bubbling up inside, seeing Reese so ruffled by my words, even though my face was probably burning just as brightly as his.

"You're so blushing," I mused, grinning to myself, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction.

His gaze shifted, a hand still gripping onto the lower-half of his face. "I can't help it, I wasn't expecting it, and that was really cute."

As his words touched the air, I felt a whole new wave of mortification crash into me, and instantly dropped into a crouching position to hide. My face felt as if it was reaching record-breaking temperatures, and my heart was tripping over itself, stuttering behind my ribcage. I buried my burning face in my arms.

"Look at us, blushing like a couple of idiots," Reese mused, sounding closer than expected.

I peered up from my makeshift hiding place to see that he was crouched in front of me, smirking despite the redness still tinting his cheeks.

"I know. I really never should have fraternized with the enemy. Look at where it's gotten us."

He chuckled, tilting his head. "Really? 'Cause the view from my end isn't that bad."

I moaned, digging my face back into my arms. "Stop. I can't believe you said that with a straight face. This is the worst."

"And what was that you were saying? The kissing thing? Soon, preferably, was it?"

I groaned. "Stop, I hate you, this never happened."

My arms were being pulled away from my face, and with no where left to hide, I was forced to look up at Reese. His amber eyes were drifting down to my mouth, and his cheeks were dusted a light pink.

He grinned. "Because I think that could be arranged."

Before I could say anything, Reese had leaned forward and was pressing his lips against mine, just as he had that night. This time, though, it was less hesitant, and when I reached up to slide my hand around his neck, I could feel him smile against my mouth. Without the drunken haze dulling all of my senses, I was hyper aware of his fingertips brushing against my cheeks, the way his lips melded against mine, and the warmth that burned in the pit of my stomach, all crashing over me in the best way.

When Reese pulled away, the warmth disappearing, I felt a frown settle on my face, causing Reese to laugh.

"If we go any further we're going to give Mrs. Flores a show, you know."

I pouted, eyebrows pinched and a blush dusting my cheeks. "I wasn't thinking that," I mumbled, gaze averted.

Reese grinned. "But I was."

When he lifted to his feet, pulling me up with him, there was a lightheaded quality to everything. I couldn't stop the edges of my lips from turning upward, and when he looked me in the eye, I was pointedly aware that he hadn't let go of my hand.

"We're doing this, then? We're gonna make this happen?" I asked, looking up at him.

Reese nodded with a dimpled grin. "Well now I'm not letting you go, so yeah, there's no way this isn't happening. I think I've grown addicted to the muffins; I don't know what I'll do when they run out."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "So you want to date me because of my muffins?"

He grinned and bowed down to capture my lips once again, surprising me. "Also because I like doing that," he breathed out, face dangerously close to mine. "So fuck yeah, we're doing this."

A shiver crawled down my spine, but I knew it wasn't due to the cold. I looked up into his amber eyes, glinting with the afternoon sunlight, and those bushy brows, and that crooked nose, and that cute little mole on his face. Reese Powers. The single destructive force that upturned everything I thought I knew in my life. The disruptive hurricane that embodied everything but the calm, low-key life that I had been trying to live. The grin that seemed to irritate me and awaken soft butterfly wings at the same time, who I couldn't have one single conversation with that didn't turn into some sort of argument, and those lips that were either mouthing off or kissing me and either way, I think I kind of liked them.

Despite everything, I couldn't stop the grin from breaking out across my face.

I nodded. "We're doing this."

***

TA.
DA.

THIS IS THE END.

HOW ARE YOU GUYS FEELING? OMG. I NEVER THOUGHT I'D REACH THIS STAGE. THE END. THIS IS OVER 100K. CHRIST.

also awesome trailer that i forgot to post from writingcrazed above!! isn't it so lovely!! ahh!!

now before you guys click away- there will be an epilogue + rambly-ass author's note + SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT posted TOMORROW so don't take this out of your libraries just yet!

the epilogue will answer some questions like was it all just a giant ploy from reese all along (which i know you guys wanna know so YOU BEST READ ON)? and others, so if you have any lingering questions about this story or me or anything else, leave it down below and they will be answered in the epilogue or author's note!

SEE YOU TOMORROW~