"I'm sorry, what did you say? I thought I heard you say Anya's here in Northvale."

I rocked back on my heels and nodded slowly. "Yes. You heard me right."

Theo blinked. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Theo, come on. It's not impossible."

"It is," he said, face and voice carefully void of expression, as if in denial. "It is. Anya and her family would never—it's just not possible."

"They're already here," I countered with a raise of my eyebrows, pulling him further inside the empty classroom. "Faust has been seeing her."

My brother cocked his head to the side. "And you're okay with that? She's his ex-girlfriend."

Remembering what Faust had asked of me yesterday, I bit my lip and answered, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that someone else involved in the attack has been reaching out to me to find out who this monster is. We need to find him."

"No," Theo said immediately, shaking his head, "no. What I'm not going to do is drag you into this mess. It doesn't matter if Anya's back in Northvale for whatever reason, we're not going to do anything, okay?"

My jaw fell slack at his reaction. "B-but we can help her. We can help her by digging further into things, all we need to find is a person with a tattoo—"

"Thea." My brother took me by the shoulders firmly. The brown in his eyes held something fierce—something that told me no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to change his mind. "The police closed this case a year ago. I know you want to help Anya, but that isn't your call to make. This is dangerous territory. And what if the attacker's long gone? He's stupid if he's here in Northvale, unless he wants to be for the thrill of it. He may have gotten the tattoo removed—who knows? Not us. We stay out of it. You stay out of it."

"Theo—"

"Tell whoever's involving you in this shit to stop," he ordered sternly, a crease appearing in between his eyebrows. "Or tell me who he is and I'll make him stop myself. He's putting you in danger and I'm not fucking okay with that. Is it Carter?"

I shook my head, still feeling dejected. "No. I can promise you it's not him. He didn't tell me anything about Anya—I just found out."

Theo exhaled heavily and released me. "As much as we want to help Anya, it's too risky. I'm serious, Thea."

"I am, too."

"Stay out of it," he repeated, pulling open the door. "I may still care about Anya, but I love you. Involving yourself in this comes with danger and risk. Don't do this to me. Please."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Theo smiled at me. "Later, sis."

Bowing my head, I slumped against one of the desks and wrapped my arms around myself. What was I supposed to do now?

I sat there for a few more minutes, my mind racing with thoughts and possibilities even as I knew that lunch break was almost over. Nico and Faust were once again absent, and because things hadn't smoothed over between JJ and I, staying inside the staff room until I got a chance to talk with Theo seemed like my best option.

I knew that my brother was right. But Will was desperate—it felt wrong to refuse him a chance to help to catch the person who caused Anya much suffering.

But Theo was adamant on wanting nothing to do with the situation, and placing myself on his shoes, I understood where he was coming from. I just wished that it didn't feel as if the world rested on my shoulders.

With a dispirited sigh, I grabbed my bag and left the classroom.

"Yo, Thea!"

Looking back, my eyes were met with JJ hastily jogging over, blonde curls flopping messily over his forehead.

Of their own accord, my feet stopped moving. I turned around and faced the jock. "Hey. What's up?"

"You weren't at lunch," he said, slowing his steps as he stood in front of me. "I was worried that maybe you weren't eating again, and I didn't want it to be because of me."

Even if I wasn't on good terms with the boy, his heart was purely made out of good intentions. He cared about me as well. "It's okay," I assured him with a small smile, "my mother cooked extras. I had a lunchbox."

"Thea," he said, shifting from one foot to another, "are—are you still mad at me? I wanted to apologize to you yesterday but Faust spoke with you and then you were gone. I wasn't sure if you would've answered your phone either. I'm really sorry, Thea. Please. I mean this in the sincerest possible way—"

"I know you didn't mean to make me look and feel stupid," I interjected slowly while my fingers came up to play with the end of my braid. "I know that you were probably just trying to help your friend. I understand that, and I don't blame you for it."

JJ still looked nervous. He reached behind his head to rub the nape of his neck. "But...?"

"But," I continued, looking down, "give me some time to trust you again. You're my friend too, JJ. I don't want to lose you."

"Oh, thank God," he said, suddenly coming forward and leaning down to engulf my whole frame in a bone-crushing hug. "Thea, I'm sorry! I don't want to lose you, either. Thank you for giving me another chance!"

"Okay—yeah," I breathed, tapping his back, "JJ, I need air—shit—"

"Right, sorry!" the curly-haired boy yelped, pulling back to hold me by the forearms. I held a hand to my chest and inhaled deeply. "It slips my mind how small you are sometimes."

I coughed a little. "It's okay," I wheezed out. "Don't...worry about it. You got rock hard abs on your right side more than your left?"

"What?" JJ asked, eyes wide, "n-no! What are you saying?" He threw his head back and laughed loudly. "That would be weird, Thea, jeez."

"I was kidding."

He cleared his throat. "Right. Okay. As an apology, I am cordially inviting you to our pre-game tradition today after school in the gym. It's exclusive invite only, so consider yourself special to me."

I grinned. "Didn't you just say it was an apology?"

JJ waved his hand dismissively, all traces of panic and worry from his face earlier long gone. "You're welcome to invite Sutton Kirk and Paula Fernandez."

"I am not going to be your wingwoman. Forget about it, Ford."

JJ slung an arm over my shoulder and playfully nudged me as we walked past a few students. "Who said anything about you being a wingwoman? Like I said, this is for me to show you how sorry I am."

"Are...Nico and Faust coming?"

"Of course!" he answered, "they're teammates. Of course they'll be there, so you can thank me later."

"Thank you later for what?"

He dipped his head to look at me, the gleam in his eyes as cheerful as before. "It's a secret, sweetcheeks. Come on, you have history next, right?"

*

The biology classroom was still empty when I entered. It was the last period of the day, and I was just as exhausted as I was excited for classes to be over.

I leaned down to take out my notebook from my bag, but a familiar figure trudged by the doorway and I looked up. A gasp escaped my lips.

Nico walked inside, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world despite the fact that there was a dark red bruise painted over the golden skin of his jaw.

My hand covered my mouth in horror as I watched him. Nico carefully set his bag down and slipped in the seat beside me with a grunt.

"What happened to you?" I whispered, instinctively reaching out to skim my finger across his cheek.

His hand flew up and caught my wrist before I could. "Nothing," he gruffly answered, keeping his gaze away from mine and pushing my arm away.

I stared at the side of his face and shook my head. "That's not nothing, Nico. Tell me."

The hands on the desk tightened. His knuckles were bleeding red. "Let it go, Thea."

A sudden surge of worry and pain rushed through me. It was harder to breathe. "I can't. Not when you're hurt. Let me take you to the clinic—"

"Fuck that!" Nico snarled, voice ringing across the empty classroom as he twisted his head around to face me. I involuntarily flinched, and the sight of his green eyes blazing with anger made it so, so hard to breathe. Oh, Nico.

Nico exhaled heavily as he stared at me for long seconds, expression slowly softening the rough edges of his face. Strands of his hair fell across his forehead as he leaned forward and took my arms in his hands.

I pulled them away when I realized what he was doing. If I couldn't touch him, why should he?

Nico clicked his tongue in irritation. "Do they hurt?"

"Do yours?" I shot back.

"Don't be difficult," he grumbled, moving forward to take my arms again.

I yanked them away once more. "I'm being difficult? Here you are, bleeding and bruised, and when someone's actually worried over you, because God knows you aren't about yourself, you brush them off like they mean nothing. You are so—"

"Faust and I had a fight."

"—insufferable," I finished lamely. "You had a fight. With Faust."

"Happy now?"

"No, actually, I'm seething. Couldn't you have kept violence out of it? I can't even imagine how Faust looks right now."

"Fucking see him then," Nico snapped, jaw clenching as he turned away. "If you're that concerned about him."

In an act of boldness, I reached out and cupped his neck to make him look at me. His eyes widened a fraction in surprise. "I'm concerned about him as a friend," I clarified through gritted teeth. "That doesn't mean I'm not concerned about you too. Haven't you heard a word I've been saying the second you sat down?"

Nico blinked. "I—uh, yeah—"

"What did you fight about?"

The tips of his ears looked as red as the blood that smeared his skin. His pulse underneath my thumb grew faster; louder. "You," he said quietly, eyes locking me into place. "You don't need to worry about it anymore. We're good now. Sort of."

I pulled back. "Faust and I are fine. You didn't need to—"

"It was about what he was asking of you yesterday."

I stared up at him. "Oh."

The green-eyed boy scoffed. "Yeah. Oh."

"State championships are tomorrow. It's okay."

"It's not to me," he said. "It's selfish."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Let him be selfish one last time."

Nico stared at me. "I don't know how you can still be so forgiving to a person who screwed you over."

"I haven't forgiven him. Not yet, anyway. And as ridiculous as it sounds, I understand him."

He paused for a moment before asking, "You were really angry, weren't you?"

"I still am," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "At you. You haven't apologized to me yet."

Nico arched an eyebrow. "You wouldn't let me."

"Let your apology be this instead—never look at me again the way you did then. When you looked at me as if you didn't know who I was. It broke me. I was just...really pissed, okay? I'm still the Thea you know."

"I know," he murmured, eyes genuine, "then let this be your acceptance—don't ever look at me the way you did when I caught you outside. When you were scared of me."

"I'm never scared of you," I argued weakly.

"You said I scare you when I'm mad."

"That's...I was drunk."

"Yeah, you were," he said with a scoff and a slow shake of his head. "You were begging to touch me."

My mouth fell open. "Wh-what? No, I wasn't!"

His lips curved to a small smile. It was easier to breathe. "I'll let you do it if you come to the game after school. I'm assuming JJ already invited you."

"I don't understand what that means but can we just—go back to the topic, please?"

Nico paused to stare at me for a moment. "I'll try harder," he promised.

I bit my lip. "Okay."

"And you don't mean nothing to me. You know better than that by now."

I did. "I was just saying that because I was angry."

"Now, let me see," Nico demanded, holding out his palms as he pointedly nodded towards my arms.

Gingerly, I held them out. "They're gone."

Nonetheless, his fingers grazed my skin lightly, and he sighed in relief. They made a couple more passes before he finally pulled away.

"You need to ice that." I balled my hands into fists on my lap, the nails digging into my palms as I restrained myself from reaching out to touch his bruise.

"No necesito nada," he said abruptly, looking into my eyes. "Sólo te necesito."

Because the bell rang, I didn't get a chance to ask what he meant.

*

The tradition was a shirts and skins game.

Paula whistled lowly. "Well, then. Awesome."

Sutton laughed. "I'm pretty sure Thea didn't know."

I tried to ignore the heat that crept up my neck as the team gathered around the center of the court. "No, I didn't. JJ left this part out." And this was probably what Nico was teasing me about earlier.

Theo and Faust were automatically placed against each other—my brother being in the skins and Faust in the shirts. Compared to Nico's bruise, Faust looked a lot worse. Though I expected it, it didn't help the guilt that coursed through my veins.

"Faust looks awful," the blonde commented with a grimace. "What happened to him?"

I didn't answer. Paula shrugged and brushed her hands down her cheer uniform.

The guys hollered when Theo chose Nico first, and I wanted to choke on air.

Paula clapped my back. "Nice."

I shot her a glare.

Faust chose JJ, but the rest of the teammates disagreed loudly and pushed him towards skins.

"They shouldn't do that," I said with a frown. "JJ's laughing but he looks uncomfortable being forced onto the other team."

Paula scrunched her nose. "It's because JJ's always been in the shirts. He's the only one who hasn't switched teams ever, I think."

Huh. "Interesting."

"Why?" Sutton asked, leaning her elbows against the row behind us. "It's not as if he has something to be ashamed of. His physique looks amazing."

The curly-haired boy was once again pushed towards Theo, who caught him with ease. "Hey!" my brother barked. "Carter chose him—he's going in shirts. Stop acting like rabid dogs, you assholes. Move back."

While most of the guys agreed and listened to their co-captain, a teammate surged forward and snatched JJ's shirt up.

Panicked and filled with sudden rage, JJ turned around and swung his arm back. "Who the fuck touched me, you piece of—"

"Finley!" Faust yelled, grabbing JJ's wrist before he could land a punch, "you're suspended for the game. Tomorrow, you're benched. Get outta here."

Nico shoved Finley backwards when he stood his ground angrily. "Don't make him repeat that, dickhead," he warned lowly.

Finley stalked away and left the court.

The three of us had been watching the whole scene with wide eyes. "That was wild," Paula said first.

"Scary," Sutton agreed.

Weird. "D'you think JJ will be okay?"

"He'll be fine," the cheerleader assured me. Still, I watched JJ in worry as his face contorted to that of regret and shame. Faust patted his back soothingly while the team finished dividing their players into two. "He was just surprised. He rarely gets mad, so it was a little shocking. They'll be focusing on the game again in a few minutes."

True enough, the players got ready to begin their game with less tension in the air. JJ looked back to his normal self now—his smiles were always as bright as the sun. I watched as those in the skins team retreated towards the benches, and my eyes widened in realization. "Oh, shit, right. They're supposed to..."

"Take their shirts off, yes," the blonde said, amusement lacing her tone. On my other side, Paula laughed heartily. "Come on, Thea. You don't need to be so embarrassed, I doubt Faust will mind."

It wasn't Faust I was worried about as we weren't together anymore, though I'd forgotten nobody knew that yet. Still, with a deep breath, I crossed my legs together and cleared my throat while the boys, without a care, stripped.

"Your brother still has them," Paula whispered as she unwrapped a bubble gum. "And Nico's been working out. A lot."

With just one glance, it showed.

And if the way he searched the bleachers only to have his eyes land on me didn't tell me he knew it, I didn't know what did.

I raised an eyebrow as I stared back at him, keeping my gaze on his stupidly smug and still-bruised face.

Nico pulled his mouth onto that signature, lazy half-smile that made me weak to my knees. When he turned away to join his teammates, I gave myself a five-second chance to look—the lines of his body were sculpted perfectly and well-defined. Every move he made emphasized the strength of his muscles and the broadness of his shoulders, and the gold of his skin made it seem tempting to touch. Feeling the heat rise up to my cheeks, I cleared my throat and averted my gaze elsewhere as I fanned myself.

"Too hot?" Sutton teased with a grin, propping an elbow onto her knee.

"Shut up," I grumbled. "Let's just watch the game."

And so watch the game we did, and it was, to say the least, impossible to stop myself from turning into a tomato face.

When the short game ended in forty minutes, Nico grabbed his towel and jogged towards the bleachers.

"Oh, God, what is he doing?" I cried out, grabbing Sutton to use her as a human shield. "What the f—"

"Thea, that isn't going to do you any good—ow, let go of me—"

"Nico!" one of the few girls seated a few rows behind us chirped happily, standing up to skip down the stairs to meet him. The green-eyed boy, in all of his muscular and sweaty glory, stopped in his tracks and slowly dropped the smirk.

"This is for you," she said with a wide smile, thrusting a water bottle in his arms.

Nico reached out to accept it, a blank expression on his face. "Thanks, uh, you didn't need to—"

"Oh, I wanted to!" the girl countered happily, cheeks pink. My eyes narrowed as I loosened my grip on the back of Sutton's shirt. "You were great during the game."

I huffed and stood to grab my things. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Paula watched me with wide eyes. "Wait, Thea, where are you going—"

"Hey, princess," Nico called out from behind me. "You got a minute?"

"No, I don't got a minute," I snapped childishly, rolling my eyes as I took a big step down a row of bleachers. "Goodbye."

"Maybe you'd like to have a repeat of the last time you acted like this," he said loudly, and my legs stopped moving as if they had a mind of their own. When he reached me, this close, I could feel the warmth from his body. It sent chills up my spine. Nico leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I'll carry you with all these people watching and I won't give a fuck. Like I said, my hand's quite big and it'll leave a mark, so I'll ask you again. You got a minute?"

I clenched my jaw and grabbed his hand without thinking. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," he said, following me as I led him down the bleachers and back towards the empty hallways behind the gym. In his voice, I could tell he was smiling.

Ass.

His hand felt nice.

"Okay," I started, once we were alone, letting go of my hold on him and crossing my arms against my chest defensively. I swallowed hard and stared up at him nervously. "What?"

Nico spread his palms. "I promised you could touch."

I glared at him, keeping my eyes pointedly on his face only. "Stop joking around."

"Okay, then I have a serious question for you. The fuck was that about?"

"Nothing," I hissed through gritted teeth, looking away. "Forget it."

"Right," he said slowly, eyebrows furrowed.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "She does know that you have your own water jug, right?"

He looked surprised. I was surprised by my own boldness, what the hell is wrong with me? "Uh, yeah. I mean, she was being nice—"

"Nice," I repeated, my lips curling to a smile as my foot swung back and forth, as if kicking the air. "Right. Okay. When I was being nice to you, you were a total dickhead. Yeah, I completely understand."

"Thea, that was before."

"Maybe if she would give you something, maybe it should be, I don't know, just a suggestion—something useful? Considering that you do have your own, um, water jug, you know? And there's a water dispenser for the players. Haha."

Nico was smiling. "You want to give me something useful?"

"I wasn't talking about her, I was—wait, no, I was talking about her, not about me—"

"Give me a kiss, then."

I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Instead of answering me, Nico leaned down, further down, until his head was close and in level with mine. He shut his eyes and turned his face to the side where his bruise stood out amongst the color of his skin. "It hurts."

I had to laugh. "Are you seriously whining right now? How are you completely different from the guy who dragged his feet to biology today, looking all grumpy and angry..."

Nico kept his eyes closed, but the corner of his mouth lifted. My pulse jumped. "That was before I saw how red-faced you were. Clearly, it wasn't for Faust and I'm hoping it wasn't for any other guy on the team."

"So you're teasing me."

"I'm having fun, baby. Aren't you?"

My hands flew to my flaming cheeks. I turned around. "Good luck tomorrow! And put on a shirt!"

Nico's laugh resonated across the hallways, and even as I left quickly in embarrassment, a giddy smile found its way onto my lips.

Oh, God. I was so screwed.