"You are NOT CAPABLE!!" My Dad's words echo through my ears as he repeats it for the third time.

I fight hard to hold back my tears, my screams, my protests, my anger... I know it's useless. However, locking it all inside makes me feel suddenly claustrophobic. It becomes hard to breathe between the four walls of this wide room getting too confined for the three people inside, and the cries are resonating too loudly in this space.

My Mom starts to fight back, defending me like the lioness Mama she is, yet her words are blurring with the buzzing in my ears and the echoes inside my head.

"Let go, it's useless..." I tell her quietly, my voice hoarse from screaming.

"I do everything to please you and that's how you both thank me?! Lashing out on me for no reason?!" my Dad adds, his voice calmer as he regains composure with a sardonic glint shining in his eyes – one of his famous expressions that can drive you insane – and my Mom's shouting resumes.

And to think that the evening has started well... After a quite nice day at school, which I've finished earlier, and after training and working on the physics project with Alex, I've come back home in an especially good mood. I've helped my Mom prepare dinner, and we've been about to start eating peacefully, me, my Mom and my Dad, when it has all blown up.

I don't even remember why exactly; it's all a blur of screams, spites, and inconsistencies.

At this point, I don't even hear what they're saying anymore. I need to get out of here; I need to breathe. So I look at my Mom, making her understand that I need to get some fresh air without a word, and I immediately head for the front door. It wrenches my heart to leave her like this as her soft features are tensed in deep stressed lines. Yet my lungs are crushing here, and my legs are already rushing with the survival instinct to run away from this house, these screams, this insanity, even though I'm sure we can hear the scene all over the neighborhood.

I escape through the door as tears start to escape through my eyes. But I don't get to go far; I'm stopped dead in my tracks when I see a silhouette waiting by the door. Through my blurry eyes, I still recognize it instantly.

"A-Alex?!" I stutter.

Alex is standing there, in front of me. He doesn't say a word, his eyes just staring deep into my soul, and I feel more exposed than ever, as if all my walls had crumbled down; in a way, they have actually. I can almost feel them in shreds at my feet, and I don't even know how I remain standing on my legs, drained of all my strengths.

I squeeze my eyes shut as we hear another burst of shouts, and Alex takes my hand, leading me further away without a word. I show no resistance, and maybe this little gesture is all I need.

Once we're far enough so we can't hear the screams anymore, I manage to find back my breath and my cracking voice. So I glance up at Alex to ask what I'm dreading, "Did... did you hear e-everything?"

Although I can guess the answer by the look in his eyes: a gaze between pity and something dark like anger.

"Most of it..." he replies low.

I bite my lip hard, yet I barely notice the sting on my lips as I feel the walls I've just got away from closing around my chest and my throat. I can't pronounce a word, and I would not know what to say anyway.

"I didn't mean to... I came to bring you back your locker's keys. I thought you'd need them," His voice is hoarse and quiet as if I would shatter at any loud sound, and it is such a contrast to the screams I still hear echoing inside my head. He hands me the keys as softly. "I found them on my bedroom floor, you must have dropped them, Miss Clumsy..." He offers me a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes, but at least it makes me lighten just a little bit.

A silence sets in between us, a little awkward, yet comforting at the same time. We keep walking around the empty streets. I don't know where we are exactly. The rows of houses are quite familiar, yet I hardly notice all the concrete surrounding us. My head is empty, or maybe too full – I don't know – and all my body's attention is focused on Alex's hand still holding mine. His calloused thumb is stroking lightly my skin, drawing little circles on the smooth part of my hand, and this light touch is opening the space between my ribcages and settling my heartbeat in a steady, yet restless pace.

"I refuse to go to college because it costs a lot..." Alex breaks the silence, my heart skipping a beat to listen attentively. "If I start to work next year, I'll earn money that we really need... because we have a lot of debts." I feel him squeeze my hand tighter.

I look up to see him with the same look he's had this afternoon talking about his Dad: lost somewhere in memories, but this time darker, more grave.

"When my Dad was still there, we never were rolling in money, but we were fine... until he lost his job, and a few months later he fell ill... we spent all our small remaining savings to pay for the treatments, but it wasn't enough, so we got into a lot of debts..."

I don't know what to say; I'm speechless again, yet not for the same reason. When I see his jaw clenched and his dark faraway gaze, I want to comfort him, to help him, but I don't know what to do, so I just hold his hand tight.

"To this day, we're still paying for some of those debts."

"That's why you're dealing drugs and other illegal stuff?" I ask quietly, the tight pressure in my throat slowly melting under a growing burn inside my chest, and it's a fire of pain and revolt rising in front of Alex and his family's situation.

He glances back at me. "Kinda... After my Dad's death, we lost our house. We had to move out to the house where we live now, and this area is quite rough..." His gaze gets lost again, going back in memories, though he's still staring at me, and I feel like I can see it all through his eyes.

"We were just my Mom, my bro and I, and the neighbors were not really welcoming..." He half-smiles. "We got bullied, at 11 and 13, we were little and vulnerable... So, my brother and I started to work for a gang to be protected. As a side benefit, we earned money to help the family... We told our Mom it was money from small jobs and services." He chuckles under his breath.

"At the time, she worked a lot, so she believed us... She never asked much. Though with time, we worked our way up and made more money. We also spent more time at the police station... So, now she knows." He shrugs, yet I can see he isn't indifferent to it.

"Yet she doesn't know everything we do... And she doesn't know we're repaying some sketchy debts our Dad got to some bookmakers to provide for the family before and at the beginning of his illness... He thought he could repay them, but he didn't know his illness was stronger than him and his love for his family..." He averts his gaze away, yet I still catch the sorrow in the tenebrous shades for a second

Seeing him vulnerable for the first time, my arms are aching to wrap around him; my fingers are itching to soothe him. Though it's only in his eyes that I can catch glimpse of a weakness because his posture is still strong. The angles of his jaw are tense, chiseled like carved rock, and his bad boy's look is still on with his washed-out denim jacket and ripped jeans. However, I'm not bold enough to hug him, afraid he takes it the wrong way, so I brush lightly his strong hand with my fingers.

"My Mom doesn't like what we do with our gang, but now that we're adults, well almost adult for me, she can't do much about it... That's why she wants so much that I go to college," he explains with a sigh.

"Why don't you apply for a scholarship?" I search for his dark eyes.

For a moment, I forget about my situation and what has just happened. I don't know if he's done it on purpose or not, yet his confession has distracted me from my problems and the embarrassment I've felt when he's witnessed it. It's like he's put down his walls when he's seen mine crumbled at my feet.

He gives me a half-smile. "They don't grant scholarships to students like me..."

"They don't know what they're missing." The words leave my lips before I can catch them, yet I don't regret them, staring straight back into his intense eyes.

He sighs. "I know I haven't always made the best choices..."

"But you did it for good reasons!" I argue. "You just want to help your family."

"My Mom has done so much for us. She had to raise us alone and she did everything she could, she still does."

I can't explain it, but through the quiet tone of his voice, I can hear his heart, and this encourages mine to speak up. "I know what you feel..." I bit my lip, locking the words that try to escape with each loud thud of my heart.

Should I trust him? He's confessed something very personal, can I do the same?

But I've already said too much... And when I look in his penetrating eyes, I realize he already sees all of me and I can trust him.

"You should really stop biting your lip." He gives me a smile, but it's only half of it because of the tensions in his jaw.

I return a weak smile that must resemble a lot to his. I want to tell him; the words are on the tip of my tongue louder and louder, yet they don't seem to come out through my parted lips.

A cool breeze pulls me out of my dilemma in a shiver, and I realize I haven't taken a jacket in my rush to escape.

However, I'm immediately warmed up by a denim cocoon, and not any denim; my heart recognizes it immediately as I glance up at Alex who has taken out his denim jacket and put it around my shoulders.

"Thank you..." I whisper. "But–"

"No 'but'!" He smiles, adjusting the jacket around my shoulders.

The fabric is rough against my skin, yet it is so warm and cozy at the same time.

I'm engulfed in Alex's hypnotizing perfume, which comforts me and gives me strength, so I take a deep breath and say, "The scene you've heard earlier..." I look down. "It's kinda usual with my Dad...." My fingers trace the small snag near one of the pockets of his jacket. "He can be very nice and then out of nowhere, he becomes a monster... He tells us horrible things and knows how to push our buttons to drive us crazy." I breathe. "He's a manipulator, a malignant narcissist, I think..."

"Does... does he hurt you?" he asks, two creases appearing on his forehead as his piercing eyes are fixed on mine, observing me carefully.

"No! No... not physically..." I clarify. "It's psychological, mental..." The words are just a whisper as I translate what is screaming inside. "He can destroy us with just a few right words, aiming at our weaknesses, and then switching the blame, making it like it's our fault, that we didn't understand what he meant... It's always wooly, implied, and lies... While he keeps his calm, making it looks like we're the bad ones... Making us doubt ourselves... It's wearying..."  I let out a big breath, feeling a weight off my chest, releasing what I've never told anyone.

I would have never thought I could let it out this easily. I can barely explain it to myself, and I don't know if it's really clear as I've just let the words that have been locked inside for too long fly out. Yet I have a feeling that Alex doesn't need words to understand me.

"I don't even know if he's really a malignant narcissist... It's what we've concluded with my Mom after all these years... But it's complicated to make it understand to other people, especially because he's really sociable in public, and you have to live it to understand."

A serious frown shadows his gaze as he dives it into mine. "I don't know if he's a malignant narcissist, but he's a jerk from what I've heard!"

I smile weakly, and I don't think he realizes how his words comfort me when sometimes I just think I'm going crazy.

"What I can't stand it's how he destroys my Mom... Often I try to defend her, that's what has happened today, and then he picks on me too."

"Why doesn't your Mom ask for a divorce?" he asks, his eyebrows furrowing more.

"They're not married, that's the problem... The house is only his, and if she leaves, she'll have nothing, we'll have nothing... She doesn't have enough money with her meager salary."

"It's always all about money." The sigh he lets out could not convey more this truth.

"Yeah. She's sacrificed herself all these years to insure me a decent life, and now I want to help her too..." I close my eyes before focusing them back on him. "That's why I'm not in a literary path. My Dad won't pay my studies if it's not what he wants me to do. For him, a literary path is not a serious career path. So, I'll study engineering to be able to have a stable job and earn enough money to help my Mom."

He stops, and that's only when he tugs at my hand, making me halt my steps too, that I realize we've been walking all this time. It's like my weak legs have floated all the way to here, and I don't even know where we are, but I don't get to take in the surroundings as Alex pulls my attention again.

"I don't want you to listen to your Dad."

He lifts up my chin slowly with his fingers, and he dives his intense eyes into mine with a seriousness that catches my breath. "You ARE capable of anything."

My heart soars, and the loud shouts echoing inside, I don't hear them anymore. There is only Alex's voice that makes my chest expand with each beat of my heart.

"You may be silent..." he goes on with a twinkle in the eyes that would usually make me look down, but not this time.

I hold his gaze, attracted, as if by a magnet, to these eyes that make me feel like they see all of me.

"But you have a way with words..." His gaze becomes even more intense, if that's possible. "... And with everything actually," he adds in a whisper.

I don't know what to reply, yet he doesn't need me to as he continues propelling my heart higher.

"Hey! You're a badass!" He smirks, yet it's so soft and smooth at the same time. "You're multi-talented..."

The way his penetrating eyes look at me makes my legs weak, but at the same time, keeps me standing, making me believe I can do anything.

I bite my lip, speechless and breathless. No one has ever told me so many compliments, and even if they would, it could never equal the way Alex's dark eyes are shining just for me.

"You're the most amazing girl I've ever met..." he finishes in a whisper, apparently as breathless as I am.

I want to tell him so many things, the thoughts are rushing in my mind, but I'm hypnotized, dazzled by the light of his tenebrous gaze, and my mind goes blank when he moves lightly his fingers under my chin, sparking a wave of electricity all around my neck. I haven't realized he's still been holding my chin, yet now his touch is all I can focus on. My nerve-endings follow the trail of his hand to grab the side of my cheek, and as his fingertips entangle in my hair with a gentle firm grip, the electric sparks expand to my chest.

I know what is going to happen with the fluttering in my stomach and his magnetizing eyes inching closer. I want it; I need it.

The irresistible pull towards his touch, his plump lips, all of him... is almost too much. The closer we get, the more my breath is caught in my throat under the Law of Attraction, and the pressure is crashing on my skin until his lips finally collide slowly with mine.

All the tensions instantly release to give way to a delicious, enchanting sensation like we're flying in zero gravity.

He kisses me gently, and it's surprising how his lips are both smooth like the touch of a feather and intense like a fire. They are soothing and building. In fact, they are turning my walls that have crumbled down at my feet into a swarm of butterflies that fly away with each brush and caress.

All the words that I've been trying to say are on my lips in another form, but I know he understands them as little sparks are echoing from the touch of our lips. This delightful thrill intensifies when the kiss gets more heated, and his tongue meets mine briefly for the final note in an exhilarating sensation that makes me crave more.

He pulls away, and I immediately feel the pressure on every inch of my body as if we're going against the Law of Attraction. The silence is sharpening this impression as we only hear our heavy breathings, and when I slowly open my eyes, I get drawn in the intensity of his eyes, slightly darker than usual and already staring back in mine. My mind is still too dazed to process anything, and we just stay in this delicate balance of close but not enough.

It doesn't last long though; the balance and the silence get broken by my phone ringing.

Like pulled out of a trance, I glance around, disoriented, before realizing I have my bag with me.

My hands search frantically in it, while the thoughts are running back as fast and messily in my head, and with the ringing of the phone, it's a cacophony.

My hands and the deafening sound of the phone stop at the same time as I finally find it.

"It's my Mom... She's probably wondering where I am," I breathe out, only realizing now that I'm out of breath as I stare at her name appearing on the screen, afraid to meet Alex's gaze again. "I should... er... maybe... head back..." I stutter.

"Yeah... I'll walk you home." He glances around, and I can only catch a glimpse of his unreadable expression before we start walking back in silence.

Actually, I don't dare to look up at him; I don't dare to ask anything. I don't know what to say...

I'm just trying to draw conclusions out of the silence. Is he already regretting it? Has he felt what I've felt?

I don't have time to ponder any longer; the imposing facade of my house come to our view. Once again, the walk has past too fast for my liking, but standing in this silence, the seconds are ticking deafeningly.

Alex's intense eyes are studying me, piercing and reading through me, while I'm unable to make out any of his emotions.

I open my mouth to say something, but words don't form, so I close it again. I do this a few times, and it's my phone ringing again that pulls out the words out my lips. "I should... er... see you tomorrow..." The words are just a stammer, and clearly not those resonating inside, but I don't wait for more to come out, neither for a reply. I give him a shy smile before entering the house, escaping this nerve-racking awkwardness and making sure my parents don't see who I've been with.

So here it is! The little Elena and Alex's surprise I promised!

I hope you like this chapter where they both opened up and of course the final in butterflies ;)

It's one of my favorite chapters, yet it was one of the hardest to write.

Let me know what you think in the comments, vote, add to your library...

Your help and feedbacks are more than welcome! :)