A/n: The previous chapter was getting too long so I had to split it up in two to prevent too much reveals at once.

~The Emptiness within~

The lock clicked twice and the door was shoved open. Dolores was floored when a sudden gust of wind blew through her hair. She rushed in quickly through the open doors, marveling at the large expanse of land spread out before her. "This is awesome. How did you find out that someplace like this exists in the school?"

He scratched his neck in nervousness. "I, uh... Actually, I'm an insomniac. On nights like those, I drive round or take long walks to tire myself out so I can fall asleep. That's when I discovered here. I found it over a year ago and ever since then, it's been my go-to whenever I need to release my pent up anger and frustrations."

"The school authorities must have some nerve keeping this playground away from the knowledge of the students." She muttered, taking another long look at her surrounding.

Simeon shrugged, walking over to where she stood. "They should have their reasons and until they finally decide to share this with everyone else, it'll continue to be my private spot. Welcome to it."

She smiled then crouched low to settle on the grass with legs folded. "These last days of highschool has really taken a huge toll on each and everyone of us. So much expectations, so much dreams attached to those expectations as well, it's a hectic period for us. For me, especially.

Simeon followed suit, resting on the seat of his denim. "Trust me, I can relate."

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm not sure you can." She returned her gaze right ahead. "I'm sure this would come as a surprise to you but I'm actually asthmatic."

"I know about it."

She sent him a look of surprise. "How long have you known?"

"Since I spotted it in your bag pack last year. I wasn't snooping around in your bag. You were a bit careless at concealing it."

"Oh." She said. "I wasn't born as one though. It happened when I learnt of my mother's death. The doctors called it something along the lines of post effects of a traumatic event. Coupled with that, the pressure in getting into a prestigious institution in the state."

"You mean the pressure from your dad right?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't pressure me into anything. He just wants me to be the best I can in whatever field I eventually venture into. I'm the one who has placed this pressure on myself in order to make him proud."

He gave a small nod of understanding, then sighed out. "It's not the same at my house. My parents literally threaten to disown me if I don't pick a course that befits the nature of their jobs. They want me to take over from them seeing as my brother has brought it upon himself to be the black sheep by studying music in Julliard."

"What do you want to do when you get to the university?" She quizzed, running her fingers through the soft blades of grass underneath her.

"So many things but importantly, I want to be a tech bro, game creations and all of those cool programming stuffs. I remember secretly taking a course and my father found out, he almost blew the roof of our house open about it." There was a sad chuckle from him as he finished.

"I'm sorry about that. Some parents can be really overbearing sometimes."

He scoffed. "You don't even know the half of it."

"Apart from school, there's the case of Nicolas who thinks ignoring me is the best way to ask for a break up." In anger, she yanked out a handful of grass from the ground.

Simeon grabbed her hands before she did more harm to mother nature. "Hey, hey, relax. Keep the yanking for his hair tomorrow. There'll be plenty of that after you discover his real motives."

"Real motives you say?" She pulled her hand out of his grip as well, standing up from the ground. "You both were in the same caucus with Carlos before the two of you tried to be friends with me at the same time. What was your real motive back then? What is your real motive now by trying to get close to me these past few days, acting like my knight in shining armor?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her words. He tried to make light of what she meant in order to comprehend fully and failed. "What are you talking about, Dolores? Let me take it that you're speaking out of your resentment for Nicolas."

"Think about it," She took a few steps away from him while trying to create a plausible reason for everything that was happening. She needed to make sense of it all. "I see Carlos in front of my car, he points out Nicolas' whereabouts and right after they both leave, you show up with comforting words. Doesn't that sound planned to you?"

Simeon laughed. "What point are you driving home, Dolores? Make it make sense. Since your fallout with the rest of the people you trusted, I've tried to be nothing but transparent to you for the sake of our friendship, for the sake of what I feel." He bit his tongue in regret at his last words, turning away from her direction.

Dolores slowly moved towards him. "What do you feel?" When he didn't reply, she stood directly in front of him staring defiantly. "I want to know what you feel, Simeon."

"Anger!" He barked out, stunning her. Instant regret flooded him as he watched her flinched at his reaction. "I feel nothing but anger towards myself for everything I've done. Especially ever trying to mingle with Nicolas and Carlos. I hate that part of my life." Regret was eating into him like termites ravaging a dead piece of wood.

She peered deeply into his face, catching sight of the lines of pain visibly etched in his features. Overwhelmed with so much pity, she threw her hands around him, shocking him with a tender hug. After stiffening in shock, he let go to reciprocate her innocent gesture.

"Don't worry about it, Simeon. It's not your fault it happened and remember it's all in the past." She pulled away to stare into his face once more.

He nodded, scratching his neck in embarassment at what had just happened. Nonetheless, he murmured his appreciation. "How do you feel?"

"Please, do not remind me of my own plight. I'm so frustrated right now and want to scream out my pain to the entire world, without caring if we would get caught or not." She kicked at something he couldn't see, tugging her hair out as she did so.

"Then do it."

Wide eyes pivoted in their sockets to study him. "Are you serious about that?"

"I'm certain about it. I wasn't joking when I said I have an elder brother who has no issues with bailing us out if we indeed get caught. Go on, go wild. Knock yourself out." He encouraged with a grin.

Taking in a deep breath, Dolores expelled the air through her parted lips. She channeled her consciousness to her thoughts, fueling her anger by the images her brain flashed before her. Pain hidden in every corner of her mind, amassed into one bottomless void of wrath and carried along with it years of bottled up anguish, now overfilling the brim.

Taking in another much needed gasp of air to open up her vocal chords, she let go and all of her frustrations rolled out in a long string of a well pitched scream. Anger rocked her being as she thought primarily of the incident that happened with Nicolas earlier today, and that alone intensified as well as strengthened the sound coming from within her beaten down soul.

When she fell quiet a while later, her frame swayed and Simeon rushed close to support her. Tears stained his arms as she leaned into him, bringing to his awareness the extent of her resilience. He pulled her into himself, slowly rocking her as she sobbed in his arms.

"I've got you. It's okay. Let it all out." He chanted over and over as more tears spilled out from her eyes. They both remained in that position; her cocooned close to him and his arms wrapped around her in silent reassurance of his unwavering support and care.

The tears were gone in a few minutes and in its replacement were sudden hiccups. That was his cue to take her back home.

"How do you feel now?"

She smiled warmly. "I feel like I can soar. Not literally though but there's this lightness I feel within. My chest doesn't weigh me down as it used to and I feel like I can take on the world."

"Take it easy, superwoman." He joked and instead of a laugh, a hiccup came from her instead. "I have a bottle of water back in my car. Let's head back so you can have it. Afterwards I'll take you home, or do you still wanna hang out here?"

She shook her head, rubbing her arms slightly. "I would have liked that very much but unfortunately, it's getting really chilly out here. Plus, I'm sure my dad is probably trying to reach me through my phone. I haven't brought it out of my purse since I placed it in there."

"That's our cue to leave then. Come along." He stretched a hand toward the door, in a kind gesture for her to go in first before he followed behind her.

~~~{•}~~~

Who's ready to partayyyy?
You guessed right... It's the prom in the next chapter.
I want to give spoilers but NEVER!

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~~Chignature~~