Kai arrived quite early to school the next morning, given that he had made it to his flat at around two. Laura and Casey paced up and down in the lobby, both busy on their phones. He usually didn't hang out with Laura when she was with her friends, especially considering what happened between him and Casey yesterday, but this looked serious. 

It was Casey who spoke up. She didn't seem to remember anything she had blurted out yesterday. "There had been an onslaught of ambushes on a number of people from the party yesterday. Jude had been found lying in a alleyway today morning. They had injected a sedative and robbed him. Liam had been hit in the head, when they couldn't sedate him. He's fine, but needs to stay at the hospital for a few days. I still can't get a hold of Theo, not sure whether his mobile is just dead or something worse. I called the City Central Hospital and they confirmed that three teens were admitted there yesterday at around one and one of them had slipped into a coma." She shuddered. 

Laura cut-in "They say a police investigation will be launched soon, but we need to gather all the details before then. I've already called for a taxi, we'll be leaving in five minutes. We've been trying to get a hold of everyone who was there at the party yesterday. Do you know of anyone?" Kai was about to shake his head-off when he was reminded of his encounter with Mariah. He'd seen her at around eleven, hadn't he? Leaving with three more friends. He knew Elisabeth wasn't with them for long, since she sneaked into the amusement park, but surely, Mariah would have reached home by one, wouldn't she? 

"Which hospital did you say that was, where they admitted three people?" He asked, halfway through dialing Ray. No answer. He tried the floral shop, but the line was dead. He knew for a fact that the place opened at around five every morning, but it was nearly eight by then. Something was very wrong, be could almost feel it in his bones. He thought of calling Max, but he didn't want to start a panic before he was certain. 

Laura shook him out of his thoughts, literally. "Kai, what's the matter? Who do you think it is?" She asked, hands on his shoulder. She didn't have the playgirl look on her now. She seemed genuinely concerned for him, or whoever he was thinking of. But he wasn't going to let her too close to him. Sure, a few genuine emotions might surface up every now and then, but she was still a nothing more than a convenience to him, and he was sure that he wasn't anything more to her either. And anyway, there were other things to think of, which were far more important. 

"There are two main hospitals in that area, isn't it. One way or the other, most of them would be there. I'll check on The City Central Hospital. You two could go to the other one. I'll call you once I have more info." He said, not waiting for a reply, already out of the school gate. 

******

Going to a posh school came with its drama, thought Hillary as she hurriedly went through her locker. With sixty percent of the students being celebrities already, everyone was stuck in their own bubble of close friends.

One of its only advantages was its hybrid atmosphere of both Japanese and American schools. 

Her first class of the week, AP Chemistry went quietly, mostly because a good deal of the class was absent, including Kai. She couldn't exactly say she missed him, but she did miss Casey and Laura glowering at her every time Kai talked with her. They were missing too. Their professor assigned them to come up with a topic with their lab partners by tomorrow for their mid-sem project. She groaned inwardly, hands on her face, now she had to go in search of Kai to get her work done. 

It wasn't until lunch break that she started hearing the rumors. There had been a huge party. A good deal of them hadn't reached home. A few of them were ambushed and robbed. Few teens were found lying in an alley, injected with sedatives. There had been guns involved. Two of them seemed to be in a critical condition. There were rumors that one of them had died... 

The atmosphere in the cafeteria was indeed very sober. The only talk at their table was of the rumors, which seemed to be spreading like wildfire. The claims got more and more terrifying with every minute, with no one there to tell them the truth. The twins kept an eye on the live news, but even they didn't seem to have much information, especially names of those who were attacked. Luke and Noah discussed who all were missing that day and Aubury finally decided to call Casey. She seemed to get along with everyone except her, she thought ruefully, all thanks to her best friend, Laura.

Hillary kept glancing at the table by the window, which was usually occupied by the Blade-Breakers. It was empty today. Well, she was sure something would have been on the news by then if anything serious had happened to the Blade-Breakers, but she worried nonetheless. But she didn't dwell on the thought for too long. 

She'd promised to meet with Elizabeth near the auditorium after lunch to finalize the new structure for the amity club, and didn't want to be late. 

******

Elizabeth was stricken with worry when Hillary arrived at the auditorium. She was so worried that she didn't even notice her coming until she was beside her. "Lizzie" She called, making her jump in surprise. "Oh.. Hillary. I completely forgot about you. Can we please take this up some other time? I just got to know about the aftermath of the party where I was there with my boyfriend. Now, I'm trying to reach out to him, but he isn't receiving it. What if-" She started, but her voice broke. "Don't know what you do!" She said her, burying her face in her hands. 

Hillary sank down beside her, trying to comfort her. "Shh.. It'll be okay... Have you tried reaching anyone else? His home maybe? " "Yeah... His sister. She isn't receiving either. We were all together yesterday. I don't have his home number though, and the school won't give it either, since it's confidential. "What about his friends, did you try contacting any of his friends? Or others at the party?" She tried suggesting. 

"That's the thing! None of them are of any help! Casey politely says she'll look for him, it's been an hour now, and there's no response. Aubury wasn't there at the party. Nate doesn't even know him! Mariah's mobile is dead and I don't have Ray's number!" She screams, breaking into sobs this time. Hillary hugs her tight, not sure of what to say next. "I can't even leave school halfway without prior information or a medical emergency." She mumbled between sobs. It took a few minutes for Lizzie to collect herself.

 Only then did Hillary tentatively start "I could call Ray, you know...But there's a high chance of him not receiving his calls as he rarely keeps his mobile on him and hardly charges it." She quickly added. A beat of silence passed before Lizzie asked. "I thought Ray didn't give his number to anyone outside his close circle of friends and family." "No, he doesn't," Hillary admitted, not quite meeting her eyes. "It's a long story," she added, taking out her phone. Thankfully, Lizzie dropped the matter there.

 Both of them sat with bated breath as Ray's phone rang. He wouldn't pick it up. They tried a few more times, all in vain. Lizzie bristled with anger. "I swear, I'll just permanently glue his mobile to his hair!" She muttered. Hillary tried hard not to smile, pretending to have not heard her. "We could try calling Max... Since none of them have come to school and must be together, wherever they are..." "You have Max's number too? How do you know all of them? Could you call Kai then? I'm pretty sure that he will definitely pick up a call." "Oh.. Hold on Lizzie. I'm—I'm definitely not calling Kai for hell's sake. And anyway, Max's the tech addict in the team. Is online almost always." She tried placating her. Not waiting for an answer, she dialed him. Max picked up her call by the third ring.

 He sounded both surprised and worried by her out-of-the-blue call. "Hil! You alright?" "I'm fine. Is there any chance of Ray being anywhere near you? Could you bring him online? A friend of his wants to talk to him.""Hil, this is no time for fan-call..." But Lizzie took over. "Hello mister, my name's Elizabeth and not everyone is a simpering fan of you or your team for God's sake. Get Ray on call, now!" She panted, and after a moment, added "Please!" Hillary could almost picture Max swallowing audibly before agreeing, "Sure, just a second."

******

Ray was not ready for the onslaught of emotions when Mariah woke up. Sure, he was exhausted, but couldn't bring himself to sleep the whole night. So, he finally went to get himself a cup of coffee when the cafe opened at seven. And in the span of ten minutes he had left her alone, she had gained consciousness and was on her feet, tears straining down her eyes, trying to get to the door. Ray caught her just as her legs buckled, mindful of her wrist. "What the—" Ray started but Mariah was crying heavily. "I'm so so sorry Ray! I shouldn't have been so stubborn and dragged this for so long! I thought it was a silly prank, but I hurt you and Lee badly. I didn't mean to do so, really! I didn't even think that it might trigger your past. I just thought you were overreacting. I've been a really bad friend and sister. If I could, I would take it all back. If you don't want anything with me, I— I understand, but please, do know, I'm really really sorry!!" 

"Hey, hey! Mer, what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'not wanting anything to do with you'? It's not your fault. You were with Aunt Rosa at that time, and too young to understand anything anyway. I should have realized you didn't know what you were doing. But— it's just, it's a very painful string of memories that you triggered and I just needed time to process it. I'm sorry too, I should have made things clear sooner. When I got to know what had happened, I— I thought I'd lost you too, and then realized I couldn't really live without you." He whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. He shook his head to his side, trying to bite back on the tears, but Mariah was having none of it. 

She plowed ahead. "When those goons had me surrounded, they looked angry enough that they might kill me. And all I could think of was, I wish I'd gotten to say goodbye to all of you and my brother and everyone else, but mostly, I wished to have sorted out this misunderstanding with you. To have given you a tight hug, one last kiss. "And then everything seemed to come to a standstill as Ray leaned in for a kiss. 

Usually, it was Mariah who initiated such things since she was the bolder one when it came to their relationship, but it had a different feel when her conservative traditional boyfriend initiated it. The kiss was rough and demanding and everything Ray usually wasn't, clearly conveying everything he couldn't bring himself to say out loud. Mariah tilted her head up, reaching for his hair, the pain in her wrist and the general weakness of being sedated forgotten. Ray held on to her waist, easily lifted her off the floor, reducing the height gap between them. If there was one thing they realized after one month of not talking to each other and all the ups and downs before, it was that they really couldn't live without the other. That no matter what came their way, there was no way they were ever going to give up on the other. That they were nothing but each other's endgame.

"Sorry to interrupt you Ray, but Mariah is turning a bit blue. From what I've just heard, I'm sure she is your 'oxygen,' but she definitely needs oxygen to breathe." Said a sarcastic voice they knew all too well... 

******

Words: 2121

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A/N: so..,. What do you think of this patch up? Do you think I did justice to Ray and Mariah's relationship? Was the kiss scene alright? It's my first time writing something like this. What do you want to see next? (I'll be making no promises though. And you know, a bit of appreciation, a bit of engagement in the story never hurt anyone. I'm pretty sure the updates would come faster due to the motivation that would bring in. 

Anyway, happy reading!