"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. ― Edmund Burke

"To lie a little is not possible: he who lies, lies the whole lie." ― Victor Hugo

A healthy relationship will never require you to sacrifice your friends, your dreams or your dignity ― Mandy Hale

Chapter 27

I didn't get far before I bumped into the strongest moving wall I've ever seen. I let out a yelp due to the force of the blow and at the same time lost my balance. I would, undoubtedly, have collapsed on the floor if strong arms had not wrapped around my waist, preventing me from falling. I soon found myself pinned to someone's body, my head resting on the chest of the person who had saved me. The scent of a well-known perfume reached my nostrils, successfully calming my crazy heart. I immediately wrapped my arms around Mateo, because of the fear I had just suffered, but also because of the indescribable need to get lost in his touch.

"Where have you been, Tara?" He asked, moving my head from his chest so he could leave a gentle kiss on my forehead.

I shook my head, saying nothing, and buried my face in the crook of his neck. I had to stand on my tippy toes so I could at least have a shot at succeeding, and even then it was hard. Noticing my intentions, he lifted me and put his hands under my ass so he could hold me since I couldn't wrap my legs around his waist. The dress was way too tight for that.

We stood like that, embraced and in total silence, for a while. I didn't even notice that I could no longer hear music, coming from the hall, or any other sound for that matter. The difference between the deafening silence and the previous combination of screaming and a deadly boring song that, apparently, the local elite considered suitable for a party, was quite creepy, I was confused for a moment and stepped back a little to look at him.

"What happened in there?" I asked him quietly. My voice was still a little shaky and a bit hoarse. Of course, Mateo noticed and narrowed his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, we're going home," he replied in a harsh voice. I looked at him, feeling confused and started squirming in his arms, wanting him to put me down, which he did.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? I heard someone screaming," I attempted to go around him, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped my further progress. I tried to prevent the cry that had every intention of coming out of my mouth but I failed. Mateo's grip was not exactly strong, but he hit the place that Adam had previously held in a tight grip, thus making the pain worse.

Of course, he noticed that too. His gaze instantly shifted to where he was holding me. I tried to remove my hand from his, but that movement didn't bring me any good. I closed my eyes tightly when I realized that Mateo had seen redness around my wrist that would in no time surely turn into an ugly bruise. He didn't stop there. Gently and somewhat slowly, he took my other hand and brought it closer to him. I opened my eyes uncertainly, but he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was fixed on my wrists and as if some shadow passed over his face, it suddenly turned monstrous one. The chill ran through my body as if the room temperature had dropped below zero.

"Who did this to you?" He asked me coldly, still not taking his eyes off the bruises. I tried to remove my hands from his grip again and this time he allowed it. Frighteningly slow, he looked up and fixed his eyes directly on mine. His voice may have been ice cold, but his eyes... His eyes were fiery, with as much fervor as if they craved blood.

"Mateo, it doesn't-" I didn't even know what I was about to say. I was probably ready to do whatever it takes to distract him, however, a loud gasp coming from somewhere behind me prevented me from doing so. I turned around at the same time as Mateo shifted his sharp gaze to the unfortunate guest, which very quickly turned out to be the correct description of the person in question.

Adam.

Paul's father stood a few feet away from us in utter shock. His eyes were fixed on my furious boyfriend who was standing right next to me. His body was trembling, drops of sweat were quickly forming on his forehead, and his pupils were so dilated that it was only a matter of time before he collapsed to the ground and fainted. However, that was the least of his concerns. Mateo wasn't a fool, and he knew that perfectly well. It was not difficult to connect the sequence of events. First, I appeared from that direction, with bruises on my wrist, running as if I was not wearing an uncomfortably tight dress and heels that could very easily have caused my ankles to break in at least three places. Not long after, Adam appeared, coming from the same direction as I. Everyone knew he hated me from the bottom of his soul, and at the moment he looked like Judgment Day had come. Mateo's back stiffened even more, and his breathing became so hard that I could see the agonizing movements of his chest. I knew very well what that meant, and an even better hint was given by the fact that he did not run after Adam when he fled the scene, shortly after he realized that he had been noticed. I knew him well enough to know that when he didn't do something in an instant it meant he had something up his sleeve. There was no other option. It could be seen in his gaze that followed Adam's cowardly escape, in the movements of his hands that very quickly clenched into a fist, in the straight line of his lips that seemed to be waiting. Waiting for what? I couldn't be sure anymore, and yet, something told me that Adam's fate would be much worse than the one that would have awaited him if he had stayed here and endured Mateo's anger when he himself was completely consumed by it. Mateo is the least dangerous when he is irrational, when he sees no further than the bloodlust that burns in him. Only when he channels all his hatred and wrath into revenge, only then he is in his full glory, ready for complete and utter destruction.

It turned out that I was absolutely right when, with the grace of a prince, but at the same time with the danger of the most notorious general, he turned in my direction and looked me directly in the eye.

"He's a dead man."

-

"I brought tequila! I thought it might be better to bring red wine, but I didn't feel like crying tonight," I told Emma with a smile as soon as she opened the door of her apartment. For a second she shifted her dreamy gaze to the alcohol I was holding in my hand, but she quickly turned it back to me and hugged me tightly. Her usually gentle movements were now almost stronger than Mateo's. At one point, I thought she intended to kill me, but not long after, she released my body and allowed my lungs to finally start working again.

"I'm glad you're finally here," she said with a wide smile on her face and moved to the side so I could enter.

After a few days of tireless persuasion, Mateo finally relented and let me have a sleepover with Emma without an argument. At one point, he had almost convinced me not to go to a pajama party with my friends, but I had been quick to come back to my senses. His only argument had been the fact that he would miss me and that he didn't like sleeping alone. In fact it was a genuine question if that should even be put under the term argument. Of course, since in the end there had been nothing else for me to do, I had decided to use my most dangerous weapon, tears. It was amazing how he had fallen for the same trick once again, considering his high IQ. Yes, I really wanted to spend the evening with my friends and I missed our gossip parties terribly, but I wasn't that miserable to cry like a baby because of it. However, the only thing that mattered in the end was that I had succeeded and that he had finally agreed not to, quoting his words, lock me in a room without windows that can be opened. At what point the thought that I would go that far and jump from the top floor of a tall building had crossed his mind, I didn't know, nor was I too interested in finding out. He had a custom of making impossible and lunatic scenes in his head that would never happen, so I wasn't really that much surprised.

"You're late," Sarah's usually monotonous voice greeted me as soon as I stepped into the living room. What I came across when I entered was literally comical. She was sitting with her legs spread on a giant pink bean bag chair in her black, torn jeans and an oversized white T-shirt. She was holding a bowl of chips on her stomach that was almost empty. Lena sat across from her in an armchair and watched the scene with wide eyes and slight disgust.

"You know, it's not the point to come to a pajama party without pajamas," I told her in the same tone she used and went to hug Lena, who gave me an irresistible, cute smile. The blonde was in a good mood this time, which automatically improved my own.

"I don't see you wearing them either," Sara replied and tried to move when I approached her to kiss her on the cheek in greeting. Since she didn't want my affection, I did the next logical thing. I cupped her cheeks tightly and brought her closer to me and left there the sloppiest kiss in the world.

"Ew," She said in disgust and automatically brought her hand to her cheek in an attempt to wipe the stain of red lipstick that I left there.

"I really feel loved," I said sarcastically.

"And you should. As you can see, I'm hopelessly in love with you," she replied in the same way.

"Are you hitting on my wifey in front of my own eyes?" Emma's supposedly offended voice reached us, to which Sarah just rolled her eyes.

"All is fair in love and war," Sarah shrugged.

"Has Sarah-" I jumped when I heard Emma's voice right next to my ear, "dare I say, made a joke?" She whispered in surprise.

"I make jokes all the time!" Sara said angrily, to which I muttered softly "Mhm" and Emma snorted. "But I do!" The more she complained, the more she reminded me of a cute little girl whose mother didn't buy her what she asked for. Of course, beneath that look of a naive, innocent child laid a real demon. At times, she looked so intimidating that she could even match Mateo.

"Death threats don't count as jokes," Emma pointed out.

"I beg to differ," she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at us defiantly. Both Emma and I knew there was no point in continuing the argument so we just let her think that she won this one.

"Such heartwarming welcome, indeed," I murmured.

"You could have stayed with that boyfriend of yours," Sarah said through gritted teeth and turned her head to the other side. Emma and I immediately exchanged glances and I automatically smiled.

"Aww, so that's the problem?" I asked Sarah gently, bringing my hands to my chest. She looked at me confused and I returned her gaze with longing in my eyes.

"What are you-" She couldn't finish the sentence seeing as I had already jumped - literally - and threw myself into her arms. Sara didn't know what had happened to her, to put it mildly. The bowl of chips she had previously held in a tight grip fell to the floor and she let out a loud moan as I potentially knocked the air out of her lungs and possibly broke a few ribs with my elbow.

"You're angry because you miss me! That's so sweet!" Since she was quite short and I was sitting on her lap, it was not really difficult for me to grab her head and bring her closer to my chest. I patted her on the top of her head and began to ruffle her fiery, short red hair with a huge smile on my face.

"Let me go, you psychopath!" She shouted, but I completely ignored her and continued with my harassment.

"Children... They grow up so fast," Emma fake sniffled and commented in a voice full of nostalgia.

"Tara, if you don't let me go right-" I interrupted her again and started ruffling her hair even more. "You're sick!"

"You love me!" I continued to address her in a voice full of gentleness, to which she exhaled angrily and tried harder to push me away. Of course, she failed. A couple of weeks ago she would probably have succeeded, but I was trained well, considering that Mateo, for some reason, couldn't keep his hands to himself.

"We get it, T, let her go," Lena, as the only rational person in this room, approached me and tried to reason with me. For a moment I stopped destroying Sarah's hair and turned in Lena's direction.

"You always ruin my fun, L," I pouted.

"I know, but I don't feel like going to the funeral anytime soon."

"But I would never hurt her!" I pretended to be offended. I went as far as to put my hand on my heart and wipe the non-existent tear from my face. Lena didn't appreciate my dramatic act seeing as she just rolled her eyes.

"I know, but I'm not so sure that she won't hurt you," she pointed at Sarah and I finally turned my gaze to the mini-Mateo.

At some point in my desperate attempts at acting, I removed my hands from her and she got rid of my attacks. I swallowed. Sarah looked angrier than a raging bull. Her short hair was tousled, her clothes were crumpled, and her eyes were murderous. Noticing that I was still sitting on her lap, I jumped at the speed of light and ran in the direction of Emma, ​​hiding behind her back.

"Save me!" I screamed. Maybe our current situation would seem like a joke to other people, but I knew Sarah too well not to take her seriously. Her eyes only saw blood, mostly mine, and nothing else, not even my neon green leggings. In slow movements, she got up and headed for where Emma and I were standing.

Emma started pushing me back to make as much space as possible between us and Sarah. However, that didn't stop our enraged friend, seeing as she never stopped walking toward us like a predator. She followed us like an animal chasing its prey. Quite ironic considering that humans are animals and I absolutely felt like prey then and there. At one point on our escape route, my back hit a wall.

"We can't walk further back, can we?" Emma asked me after she collided with my chest, not daring to turn around and look me in the eyes because her gaze was fixed on the vicious girl in front of her as if the scary thing was ready to attack with her claws any second now.

"Mhm, but don't worry, I have a plan," I told her confidently. However, Emma was not convinced. Maybe the reason for that was because of the true insecurity behind the mask of my alleged self-confidence.

"Tara, your plans usually have a worse ending than facing Sarah's rage!" Or maybe that was the reason. Emma let out a hysterical, loud scream as Sara took one particularly big step.

"Can you believe in me just this once?!" I whispered-yelled in her ear feeling a bit offended. "Listen, you jump on her, start screaming in your usual high-pitched voice and give me enough time to escape through that big window next to that confusingly big portrait of you. It doesn't matter that the apartment is on the seventh floor, I'll gladly take a risk."

"And what will happen to me?!" Emma asked angrily. It was a real question why we had so much time to develop a plan. My guess was that Sarah loved her prey reeking of adrenaline and fear.

"Be a hero at least once in your life!"

"I bought you shoes for your birthday!"

"It was my birthday! I don't see a new pair of shoes on my feet now!" I told her and she turned around to look me straight in the eye. Completely forgetting the situation we were in, we both burst out laughing, unable to control ourselves. Of course I had a new pair on my feet. Unfortunately, our happiness did not last long.

"I'll kill you!" Sarah said through gritted teeth and ran toward us. Emma and I let out a squeaky scream that probably shattered half the glass objects in the apartment, and fled to opposite sides. Not really surprising, the crazy person followed me. I was so out of shape that I was already panting after probably running around the apartment for less than half a minute. Sarah caught up with me very quickly and jumped on me. As a result, we both ended up on the floor. I let out a groan because I hit my head when I fell. However, that wasn't even that bad considering who I was about to face.

Sarah sat on my back and was already preparing to start yelling at me and doing who knows what else, but she was interrupted by a loud noise coming from the door. Not long after, a deep, male voice reached our ears.

"What the hell?"

Sarah and I quickly turned around at the same time, due to which I almost broke my spine. Dopamine levels in my blood rose significantly when I saw who graced us with his presence. Luke, Victor and Stephan watched the probably compromising scene in front of them with shock in their eyes. I can certainly say that I've never been happier to see them.

"My hero!" I shouted and used Sarah's distraction to slip under her. I jumped to my feet and ran in Luke's direction so I could hide behind him, the same way I had done with Emma. The only difference was that this time I felt hope, no matter how minimal it was.

"You girls have serious problems," he said with a smile, shaking his head.

-

"Never have I ever had sex in a public place," Victor said and immediately drank his drink. I rolled my eyes but did the same anyway. I shuddered when I felt the familiar harsh taste of alcohol burning through my throat and only after a few seconds did I manage to open my eyes. However, I repented very quickly. The rest of my friends, especially Stephan and Lena, looked at me with shocked and somewhat judgmental eyes. I looked for a moment at Victor who just shrugged and brought my gaze back to the other participants in this not-so-entertaining game.

"What? Mateo likes to experiment," I simply said to what Sara rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure it was his idea," she murmured, and I almost shot her a dirty look. However, I remembered on time that she almost killed me less than an hour ago, which she certainly would have succeeded in had it not been for Luke.

"Never mind, it's my turn," Luke cleared his throat and raised his glass. "Never have I ever kissed someone way older than me."

"Define the way older than me," I said hurriedly and a bit nervously before he could drink. He looked at me in confusion and was about to answer me but Emma interrupted him. She turned in my direction and looked me straight in the eye. "Drink," she pointed to a now new glass of alcohol. I was not sure how many drinks I had to that moment, five, six? I felt a bit lightheaded and I was, figuratively speaking, aware that I was tipsy and on a way to be completely drunk. Nevertheless, that didn't stop me from drinking more.

"Never have I ever kissed a girl," This time, Stephan was the one who gave a statement to which Victor and Luke rolled their eyes but ended up drinking their shots regardless.

"Does my grandma count?" Emma asked annoyed.

"I feel attacked," I muttered, but replicated the boys' actions. When I looked back at them, I felt the déjà vu of just a few minutes ago. Everyone looked at me in bewilderment once again. "What? I was drunk, and the girl looked like Shakira, or at least I think so. Also, why do I even have to explain myself to you?" I said in annoyance and waved them off.

"Okay-" Stephan murmured. "I didn't know you were that wild. Anyway-" I interrupted him before he could finish.

"Of course you didn't. You were pretty much boring throughout our relationship," I shrugged again, to which he ignored me and continued with what he previously wanted to say.

"Well, we agreed that there would be no lying," he insinuated. He acted as if he was disappointed, and I looked at him in confusion.

"What are talking about?" Emma asked him.

"Well-" he curled his lips into a grin. "Lena and Sarah didn't drink and I saw them kissing-" he pointed his finger in their direction and almost lost his balance and fell backward, even though he was sitting on the floor.

Feeling confused, I shifted my gaze to Lena and Sarah, whose pupils were so dilated that I had the same impression as a few days before, like they were about to faint, only this time, it was ten times more intense. I frowned when I noticed their posture. Lena had only one shot since the beginning of the game seeing as she was not exactly someone who did crazy things like Emma and me, and Sarah didn't drink at all. They were both completely sober, but they looked like they were going to vomit at any moment. Sarah was shivering and Lena seemed like she was about to cry.

"Seriously, girls? Come on, I mean I get it that Tara did it, but you two? I never would've guessed! Tell me how it was, when?" Emma laughed and focused her eager gaze on the two of them, waiting for them to share the story with us.

Emma thought that they kissed in some club, drunk out of their minds. However, one look was enough to understand that that was not the case. This time, Lena actually shed a tear and Sarah shyly and, perhaps a bit embarrassed, lowered her head, looking down. That movement of hers was enough to make something click inside my head. Like an avalanche, all those situations when I couldn't explain their behavior came to my mind. Everything was perfectly clear. All those moments when Lena was angry with me for no apparent reason, like that time on the trip, when she argued with Sarah so fiercely like she was experiencing the greatest injustice in the world, and even when the two of them would disappear without a trace at the same time, they were all logical effects of a single fact. Mateo's words run through my head - Is it possible that you are that blind? I let out a gasp, unable to believe that I really was - completely, without a doubt, blind. We had spent so much time together and I had never noticed their love and devotion.

"Come on, don't be party poopers, tell us!" Emma continued bothering them, not seeing what was actually going on.

"E," I tried to reason with her, but my voice was too quiet for her to hear me. I turned my gaze to Luke, who was sitting next to me, and whose eyes were already on mine. I saw exactly what I needed in them, understanding. While everyone else was joking, he realized what the truth was, just like me, and he looked just as shocked. That little fact managed to erase at least a little bit of the guilt I felt. I had unknowingly hurt the people I cared for and I wasn't sure if I could ever forgive myself for that. Lena hadn't acted a snob when she had yelled at me all those times before, she had just been jealous. That knowledge made me feel worse than ever.

"Come on!" This time Emma almost got into Lena's face due to how close they were. She wanted to put pressure on her, to make her crack, and she was very close to succeed. Lena had never been someone who handled the pressure well and, unfortunately, Emma had every intention of using that against her.

"Emma," I tried louder this time. Lena mustered the strength to look at my eyes and, judging by the fact that another tear was running down her face, she realized I knew.

"Leave me alone, T, they'll crack."

"EMMA!" I shouted so loudly that this time the black-haired girl couldn't help but flinch and turn towards me. She looked at me with shock and a little hurt in her eyes because of the tone of my voice, but I didn't care. "Stop it, don't you see what you're doing?" I pointed at Lena, and it wasn't until then that she started to look at them in the right way. She recoiled when she finally saw Lena's face covered in tears and Sarah's head, which had not been in that position even in her sleep. As if her brain had started working at a speed it had never reached before, Emma finally began to understand what was going on and let out a deep breath as she connected all the dots in her head.

"Why?" I asked them quietly. A million questions merged into one. Why didn't they tell us? Why would they hide? Why are they reacting like this? Why don't they trust us? Why? Why? Why? Thousand times why? And again, did I have the right to ask that question at all? I maybe felt disappointed because they had never told me such an important part of their lives, as their best friend, but then I realized that I was a hypocrite. I really was. There were many things that I did not tell them myself, not because I didn't want to or because I didn't trust them, but because I couldn't.

"We thought you'd stop hanging out with us if you found out," Sara murmured. It was obvious she hoped we hadn't heard her, but we did. We had no choice but to hear. It was our obligation to hear much earlier. An obligation we failed to perform in such a horrible way.

"Stop hanging out with you? How could you think that?!" I wasn't able to hide the hurt in my voice that Sarah couldn't help but notice. She immediately raised her head and looked at me with some dose of haste and concern. She always posed as someone who is untouchable and who doesn't care about the world, but that was far from the truth. She was the most sensitive of us all. Many times it happened that she physically couldn't watch me cry. She would hug me and try to hide her own tears at the same time. We were her weakness, and now that was more obvious than ever.

"I don't know, T, I just-" her voice cracked. The cold, heartless girl was on the verge of tears. The girl, who had always had something to say, could not find the words to finish the sentence.

"What do you mean you don't know?! The two of us have always supported the right of people to love whoever they want, you know that! We even went to pride parades! You can't tell me you didn't know we were going to stand behind you S, and that considering there was nothing to stand behind! Do you love each other? Great, let me see the fucker who has something against it! You are not a different person because of what you have shared with us now, you are the same. You two are still our best friends! The fact that you love each other is amazing, love is fucking amazing!" Emma failed to stop herself and broke down in the end, letting her own tears streaming down her beautiful, tender face.

We probably looked like hysterical high-school girls to guys, and maybe they were right. This was not a topic to be discussed at all. They loved each other, they were obviously in a relationship, and there was nothing weird or strange about that. Hell, I was in a relationship myself. But in this situation that was not a problem. Whoever really knew Emma would know why she was hurt so much. She was always a bit insecure about our friendship, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. Although, that insecurity stemmed more from her own being because she felt she was not worthy to be part of our team. That was why she was always noisy and tried to stand out - so we wouldn't forget she was there with us. To tell the truth, we could never do that. She was one of us and she always had been, from the first moment when the four of us had met. However, she didn't understand that, especially not now. She was convinced that they were hiding the truth from her because they didn't feel the need to share it. The truth, as much as she couldn't see it, was far different.

"Emms, It's fine," I tried to calm her down a little, but I couldn't.

"It's one thing to support other people and it's another when it comes to someone close to you," Sarah muttered again.

"Do you really believe that?" I asked her with newfound certainty. I didn't yell at her – I had no right, nor did she deserve it. I just addressed her in a normal voice with a hint of a smile on my face. I wanted her to see in my eyes everything I might not be able to tell her. I wanted her to know how much I loved her, both Lena and her. I wanted her to know that I would be there for them till the end of time, even when they would choose not to tell me something. I wanted her to know that I would support them in everything for the rest of my life and. And, most importantly, I wanted her to know that I would be happy to start planning their wedding.

She understood. It was obvious. She lightly punched Lena with her elbow and pointed her finger in my direction. Lena looked at me with uncertainty and, after seeing me, her tears stopped falling. I winked at her as she let out a breath she seemed to hold for so long.

"Of course, now this changes the whole concept," I said thoughtfully to which everyone looked at me in confusion due to the sudden change of topic. Even Emma finally stopped her sobs and fixed her eyes on mine, though the tears continued to flow silently.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked me for the first time since the whole thing started going south.

"Well, I wanted to threaten Lena's future boyfriend that if he ever hurt her, I would cut his genitals into small pieces, make soup out of them and make him eat it. As for Sarah's boyfriend, I planned to advise him not to hurt her because she's going to do the same thing to him. However, now I have to think of something else," I shrugged.

"Is the reason for that the fact that they don't have a penis or because you are afraid of Sarah?" Luka asked me with a smile.

"Obviously because I'm afraid of Sarah," I shuddered, pretending that the shiver ran down my spine. However, there was a big possibility that wasn't an act. We all burst out laughing and Lena started crying again. This time, her tears did not look like those sad ones, full of pain and suffering. Rather than that, they seemed like tears of joy.

Luke took my hand and squeezed it lightly to give me some kind of support, but I wasn't the one who needed it, it was my friend who did. The friend who was currently shedding tears after tears. Was it due to happiness, relief, freedom, it didn't really matter. The only thing that did was that her beautiful face was covered with that horrible, salty liquid. I had an indescribable need to hug her, and I had every intention to do so. Just when I got up and headed in her direction, my hand still in Luke's, a loud bang prevented me from walking further and my legs paralyzed.

It was as if the atmosphere had completely changed within milliseconds. The tension was so agonizing I felt terrified. Everyone fell silent. There was an absolute silence that made my blood run cold. No one moved an inch. After what felt like an eternity I finally regained my strength and slowly turned toward the door. I held my breath when I saw the person who stood there.

Mateo,

The rage in his eyes was greater than ever.

A/N

The chapter wasn't supposed to be this long, but I couldn't find a good spot where I could break it up and split it in half, so shit happens.

There are probably a lot of mistakes and it's not exactly the best written, but I didn't sleep all night and I just knew I wouldn't publish in near futur if I didn't finish it now, so I apologize in advance (I mean It's not exactly in advance seeing as it's the end, but again, shit happens). I'll probably edit it at some point.