"So," Lucas said, keeping his hands on his hips, "My role over here is done. You guys are leaving, right?"

Lucas was now wearing a red T-shirt and black jeans along with a red baseball cap that was kept slightly tilted on his head unlike the bunny costume he'd been wearing in the morning. I was suddenly reminded of Klaus from the way Lucas looked from my side, especially the tilted cap. Not that they look alike in anyway, but they act pretty similar and Lucas behaves to me in the same way Klaus behaves to Karly. I really liked to look upto Lucas as an older brother, but I didn't know if Lucas thought I was close enough to him to be considered as a 'sister'.

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Thank you for coming, Lucas. I didn't expect you here, and your presence really delighted me."

"Aw, thank you," Lucas cooed, pinching my cheeks and chuckling, "You're pretty adorable, y'know? I wish I had you as my sister."

Oh wow, did he just read my mind? I thought, overjoyed at that. Is it just me or am I getting every wishes of mine fulfilled today because it's my birthday? Not to mention the fact that Lucas already has a sister. It might have been fun, I guess, to live with such a big family with everyone in it - the parents, the siblings, maybe even the grandparents. Lucas lives in such a joint family and though he describes them as being 'not so fun', it sounds pretty fun to a person like me who lives with a single parent.

A thunder sounded a little far from where we were and I realised that it's better we leave right now, or else we might get caught up in another rainy patter. "Alright, it's time to go now, June," Jasper said to me, smiling at Lucas before we left the place with wide smiles plastered on both of our faces. Though I faced a slight heartbreak before, I'd started to believe by now that Klaus might have a reason for it. Maybe some teacher recklessly paired him up with Ava or Sally for some program? That's possible, but that still doesn't justify him being with them in a park happily right on my birthday and ignoring us completely. Besides, Klaus should've told us then.

Alright, I admit that I'm jealous, but not in that way. Come on, guys, I don't think anyone would be happy when their best friend is happily walking around with their worst rival - and in this case, rivals. That's just the worst thing anyone can ever face on their birthday.

"Hello, anybody home?" Jasper's voice snapped me out of my depressing thoughts.

"Yeah, just got lost in thoughts for a second."

"You've been experiencing that for quite a few days," he said suspiciously, "So it's not just the issue with Klaus. What else is it, June?"

Uh-oh.

The issue he's referring to right now, is my issue with him itself. Klaus' issue, when compared to this one, is practically nothing.

"School. Study. Exams," I lied perfectly, somehow not stuttering or feeling stupid like I usually do, "You do know that already."

"Yeah, and I know how you are when you're stressed about exams. But this isn't just that, and I'm not dumb enough to believe that either," He said, and I gulped . He was serious about trying to find out what my problem was, and all I wanted for him to do right now was stop that before he actually found out through his intense investigation. Honestly, I'm glad he couldn't take a hint about my 'problem' just yet. If he did, though, I don't know what to expect because his reaction is a bit hard to imagine.

"Uh, well, I won't force you to believe me," I shrugged in sarcasm, getting behind him on the bike, "Can we go now, please? You don't want me to die of pneumonia, do you?"

Ha, smooth. That's got to change the topic.

"You weren't thinking of dying of pneumonia until now, especially when you wanted to go out into the rain?"

"That's different."

"Different, yes, because then you were interested in the topic but now you're trying to change the topic."

"Fine, ugh," I rolled my eyes, "Can we actually leave now?"

And there he went, speeding off suddenly with such a force that I hugged him with a jerk yet again.

************

We reached home by evening.

Fortunately, I didn't fall asleep on Jasper's back on our way home because I wasn't sleepy this time; I had tons of thoughts rushing through my mind. Obviously, they were about Klaus and the sight we saw, the way he talked to me when he finally came to meet me and how he just rushed back to them. I also thought about Jasper's words, if he doubted something about me. Considering his senses, he could easily find out about my feelings soon enough.

As we entered, I walked inside my room and closed the door, locking it with a sigh. Immediately, I took out my phone. First things first.

First of all, I checked Klaus out everywhere - in my messages, Instagram, and any more sites where he has an account. He was offline, his last seen wasn't available anymore and his profile photo had been removed. It kind of looked like he'd blocked me or something, but I was sure he didn't - he would never. The last message Klaus had put in our friends group was yesterday morning, and he had no reply to mine and others' replies to it though he'd seen it. Because of this, a part of hope that had risen up in me when I talked with Jasper began to die down.

Seeing that my stalking wasn't doing any good to my conscience, I gathered my courage and called Karly, hoping that Klaus might've reached home and told her something about this by now. She immediately took the call, "Hey June, you reached home?"

"Yeah, did you?"

"Dorian dropped me and left just moments ago."

"What about Klaus? Did he reach home yet?" I asked, hoping that he did and that they didn't get into a whole damn war about what we saw.

"No," Karly answered with a smug voice, "he's still there, with them."

So he's still at the park with Sally and Ava, I thought, my lips trembling and tears welling up in my eyes. I knew that I wouldn't be able to force it in for much longer, so I said a disappointed 'okay, bye then' and cut the call quickly. I couldn't afford to cry on the call with Karly and make her rush here. Immediately, I slumped into my bed and buried my head into the warm cushion, weeping uncontrollably as I remembered and replayed the scene of Klaus happily spending his time at the park with Ava and Sally, knowing well how they treated the four of us, especially Klaus' own sister. During the time when she was almost dying of her sickness, Sally treated her the worst of all by physically harassing her and mentally torturing her, telling her that she's useless and weak, that no one would mourn if she dies. How could Klaus even think of befriending such a person? If it was my sister that Sally had treated like that, I would've kicked her fucking ass like I did to Ava, already. I mean, yes, Karly is indeed a sister to me, but I've no actual rights over her as her family member or anything.

Slowly, the weeps and sobs began turning themselves into angry scowls that made me end up punching the pillows, groaning and murmuring something that even I myself couldn't recognize. I could feel the anger fuming up inside me over and over again, and the worry that grew along with it. The anger was directed at my best friend, at Sally, and at Ava, but I knew how my anger could end up if I didn't control it.

Calm the fuck down, June!

I couldn't, I really couldn't. I felt so overwhelmed that I punched the pillow once again before getting off the bed and pacing around, not knowing what to do - Yes, I was supposed to be changing my outfit, but I needed some time to relax first. Maybe I should talk to Jasper again? Or not. I've already lost all my hope in the fact that Klaus might've had a reason, and besides, I can't keep making Jasper my therapist and disregard the fact that he has his own problems too. If I keep burdening him with my silly teenage problems, he might start to focus on me more than himself and that can harm his life in a lot of ways; no, I can't let that happen. This is an issue that I should be solving by myself and not with his help. He needs some rest.

Right then, however, there was a knock on my door. My eyes grew wide as I realised that Jasper was probably wondering why I'm taking so much time in here; it's been almost half an hour.

"June, you awake?"

"Y-yeah?" I stammered, rushing near to the door, "I wasn't sleeping, just changing."

"Well, just checked to make sure that you didn't die of pneumonia," He said, "And what kind of a person takes half an hour to change?"

"Uh - well - I need to shower too."

Well, that was half-truth. I was about to shower, but until now I had been wasting my time punching my pillow and crying. Fortunately, he didn't hear any of that because if he did, he would've asked me that immediately.

"Oh, okay," he said, and when I was about to walk away with a relieved sigh, he continued, "And stop crying, June, it isn't going to change anything - y'know that. Just calm down."

Of course, he knows. What an idiot I am to think that he didn't.

I tensed up and then groaned. He knows, but how come? I was being as silent as possible, even while punching the pillows and weeping my guts out.  "How did you hear that?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Didn't hear it. I just guessed it since you'd been in there for an hour, doing absolutely nothing."

Great, so I just confirmed that to him though all he had was a simple guess. I sighed, leaning my head onto the door, "I can't stop it, Jasper. I called Karly and asked, he's not home yet. Even worse, I can't see him anywhere online, it looks like he's either completely inactive or...blocked me everywhere."

Klaus is not the type to be completely inactive for more than an hour, so of course this was weird.

"Do you think he'll block you?"

"No, not really."

"Then trust yourself; he didn't block you, June, and neither is he going to leave your friendship."

"I'm-I'm not sure-"

"A true friend would never leave you to your own. But if Klaus did do it, then that means he was never a real friend to you. You don't have to be stressed about a fake person leaving you, do you?"

"But he was my first best friend, my best friend for five years. Even if he'd been a fake friend all along, I wasn't, and I can't imagine never walking alongside him again."

Subconsciously, I was using past tense whenever I mentioned our friendship. Did you already confirm that he's gone, June? I asked myself, hurting inside yet again. I was glad that Jasper couldn't see me right now. If he did, he would ask me and I'd burst out sobbing into his arms yet again.

"You're young, it might take you time to get over such a loss - but you gradually will. That's life, you lose and you gain."

Just as I was about to think of some response to that, to force the words out of my dry throat, Jasper continued, "Look, how about we talk about this on a coffee after you're done? I feel quite uncomfortable talking to a door."

I chuckled at that, "Okay, sure."

I listened closely when I heard his footsteps move away from the door. Finally gaining a bit more confidence than before, I got in the shower. Standing still under the water, I felt the warmth of it throughout my body. Usually, I would be singing and dancing like a crazy person in the shower, vibing to all my favourite songs and references and pretending to be in some sort of concert. It's awkward, I know, but I'm sure that almost half of the people in the world do it in the bathroom, and some even get too crazy about it and end up falling on their butt.

However, I wasn't in the crazy mood right now. I just wanted to stay like this for some time, let the warmth enter my mind as much as it entered my body and let Jasper's words sink in. After I was done, I put on my bathrobe. Just as I was about to wrap a towel over my hair, a noise from right outside the bathroom ventilator made me jump in shock and my heart skipped a beat.

I looked up and saw the most terrifying sight ever.

Someone's shadow appeared through the bathroom ventilation window. It was obviously a guy's figure, and it seemed like he was...recording me? It was clearly a phone in his hand. His face wasn't clear through the translucent window.

Before I knew it, I was screaming with my eyes wide in fear and my breath rising rapidly. I had no time to think of anything as I pulled open the door, hugging the bathrobe close to my body, stepped outside with wet feet - and instantly slipped on the floor, landing right on my hip.

"Ow!" I screamed, shutting my eyes tightly as a hard sting of pain shot throughout my back and to my spine, making it numb everywhere. I couldn't move afterwards; both my legs and back had went limp by then. Totally forgetting about the person outside my bathroom in between the pain, I tried to force myself to stand up again and ended up falling on my hip again.

"Please help m - ugh!"

My groans paused when the bedroom door was suddenly kicked open by Jasper. He looked concerned as he ran upto me, immediately lifting me up by wrapping his arms around me. I quickly wrapped an arm around his neck for a better grip. "Ow, ow, slow there -," I muttered when he helped me straighten up and placed me on my bed carefully, "Jasper, someone's outside!"

"Oh, I'll get the door then. How did you see that from the shower?"

This idiot.

"No! Someone was outside the shower, watching me!"

"Wait, what? Is that why you screamed?"

"Why else would I scream like that?"

"I thought it was a cockroach or something."

"No, Jasper! Someone was freaking recording me and I hadn't realised that until a while later."

Jasper was out of my room in a second and I took this little moment in between to slowly realise that all this while, I'd been half naked underneath - yes, I did have my bathrobe on, but it's still awkward.

Who the fuck cares if you're in a bathrobe right now? You just had a massive fall and someone recording you bathing, dumbass! I told myself, shaking my head at myself. A little while later, he was back, slightly panting for breath and sitting down on the chair beside me. I smirked, "Caught him, Sherlock?"

He glanced up at me, frowning, "You can't seriously be insulting me right now."

"I am. The moment I screamed, he ran away like lightning. And you came in only minutes later, what makes you think you would have caught him even if you were flash?"

"My intention wasn't to catch him, I just wanted to get a glance at his face, or even his figure might be enough."

"I saw his shadow, and I think I might have a clue," I said, slowly thinking back to all the guys I've ever met in life and realising that only one guy I've seen has such a figure with that unruly, dirty hair. Jasper nodded thoughtfully, "I saw him run away...and I think I've seen someone run like that before."

We both looked at each other at once. We were thinking of the same person indeed.

"Trent."

My mind suddenly whirred in worry. If it was him, could he have seen me naked? Not that he hasn't tried to do that multiple times and failed, but he was recording me too. If he had been there the entire time I was showering, then that means that he could've recorded it completely and might even post it somewhere. If I managed to escape in time - well, that's good news.

"You are okay, right? Are you hurt?" Jasper asked, and I shrugged with a forced smile, "No, I feel better."
I quickly added, "And thanks for helping me in time. I might've broken my leg if I'd tried to stand up by myself again."

He smiled, "That's fine. It's just my job."

His words suddenly gave me a sense of deja vu and I was brought back to the first day of his stay here, when we had those big arguments at every single second.

"Sorry, but I have to keep an eye on you anywhere you go."

"Even in the restroom?" I scowled angrily.

He shrugged, "Maybe, if I feel that you're not safe."

I grinned to myself in amusement. It was just my luck that I'd rushed out of the bathroom in time, or else, Jasper might have actually done what he said he would - kick open the bathroom door to rescue me from whatever 'danger' I'm in, whether it's a cockroach or a murderer. He raised an eyebrow at me, "Why are you smiling?"

"I was just remembering that time when you said that you'd keep a guard on me even in the restroom if you feel that I'm not safe in there," I chuckled, "You kept your word."

He laughed, "See? This is what I meant when I said that you might not be safe even in the restroom sometimes."

"What do we do now? Could he have gotten my video or something?"

"It's possible. But we don't have any clear evidence about who it could be, so we can't just go interrogate Trent. I'll find out through some other way."

I raised an eye at him, "What way? File a complaint or something?"

"That won't do much good. What if he posts the video when he comes to know that he's about to be caught? I think investigating privately is a better option."

"Won't it take time?"

"Yes, but I prefer your safety and privacy over finding out the person quickly."

I smiled, "I trust you with it, Jasper."

He smiled back.

But his smile slowly faded as he seemed to realise something, "Except...just one problem."

"What?"

He pointed to the door and shrugged. "I broke the doorknob while breaking in," he blurted, rubbing his head awkwardly, "I'm sorry."

Frowning, I turned my gaze to the door and saw that it was damaged pretty badly. It had happened when he kicked open the door in an attempt to see what had happened to me. Then I turned back to him and rolled my eyes, "What? You thought someone would kidnap me from inside there?"

"Not impossible."

"I can't believe you."

"I know. I'm unbelievable," he grinned dramatically, then turned serious again, "But you're not mad at me for breaking the knob?"

"It's alright, it can be fixed," I answered, pretending to scan the damaged part though I had no freaking idea about how it worked, "Besides, I don't see a problem except the repair charges, as far as I'm concerned. Earlier, I would've been distressed about the lack of privacy, but now that's a mute point because you stay in my bedroom. And more importantly - you were just doing your job."

I finally acknowledged that, yes.

"Wait, that's true," he grinned again, "I take it back. Why would I apologise for doing my job? Stupid me."

I immediately changed my stand and shook my head, "But don't ever repeat that. First up, I don't want to keep wasting money because someone here is overly cautious and likes to destroy stuff like a cat. Secondly, what if I'd been naked here? I was showering, after all."

"What then? I really don't care - it's not like I'll stare at you or anything."

"You wouldn't, okay, but I'm sure you wouldn't be jumping happily if someone saw you completely naked, would you?"

"Of course not. But I wouldn't die of embarrassment either - it was an accident, they didn't do it on purpose, and no sane person would keep staring afterwards. And - you weren't even naked."

"My point is, what if I had been?"

"Absolutely nothing. As I've said before, your protection matters to me over your privacy."

This idiot, how does he never stop having some or the other argument to throw me off? He should've been a lawyer instead of a bodyguard. He'll get millions of dollars then.

"You seriously can't spend even a millisecond without bickering with me," I sighed, folding my arms, "Am I that fun to argue with?"

"Pretty much," he answered, leaning slightly towards me, "But mainly, it's just that you turn as red as a tomato when you're angry or flustered."

I blushed at that, clearly flustered again, and I couldn't stop holding back a smile, "I don't."

"You clearly do, you know you do," he said, chuckling, "Just look at the mirror right now and you'll see."

"But I'm not angry -"

"Who said you're angry? You're flustered. If you keep blushing like that you'll probably get mistaken for an actual tomato."

"Stop that, Jasper," I groaned and shoved him playfully - but it turned out very unexpected when we accidentally got entangled in the ensuing mess and ended up staggering over together. It was so sudden that we both lost our balances and I fell on my back on the bed behind, with Jasper right over me and pinning my hands by my sides in the process.

"Oof -"

"Shit!"

We yelled in unison.

Our faces were so close to each other's, with our noses almost touching. Jasper's eyes were wide in surprise, the icy blue of its iris showing, while I was less surprised but more flushed at what just happened. I could feel that my head had completely sunken into the soft mattress due to the impact of the fall - if I leaned up even a bit, I would be kissing him.

Should I?

No, shut the fuck up and don't move.

Probably realizing this, Jasper leaned back up quickly, blinking his eyes in puzzlement. His hands were still on top of mine, and we were still just a few inches away now though he had moved up quite a bit.

"You could be a bit more careful, y'know," he said to me, slightly embarrassed. He was clearly flushed; I could see that as his face became clearer to me.

Oh my god, this is revolutionary. Jasper Gray being embarrassed because of June Jacobs? No way!

"What did I do?" I asked innocently, "It's you who'd provoked me."

"Yeah, and you pushed me - that's fine, but only if you can handle the impact of falling like that. What if you'd fallen on the floor? You would be in the hospital by now."

And he could've crushed me had he not caught my hands in time. Not that he's heavy, of course not, but because I'm skinny and underweight.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -" I stopped, turning my head to my side and gesturing to my hands with a groan, "Before you start scolding me, I would like to inform you that my hands hurt."

He directed his glance towards where I was looking, instantly took his hands off mine and got up, embarrassed yet again, "Sorry, I didn't notice."

"It's o -"

"And don't you ever do that again. You can push me as much as you like, but be careful while doing so because I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I didn't -"

"You could've. You fell on the bed this time, but what if it'd been on the floor instead? That could've even killed you instantly."

Isn't that a bit... Exaggerated?

"Yeah, okay, but that's a 'what if' possibility. That doesn't matter here."

"Really? But I saw that it did matter when you asked me earlier what would have happened if you had been naked when I entered," he smirked in triumph.

He was waiting for this one moment all along, wasn't he?

"You know what? Nevermind," I rolled my eyes, "I accept my mistake."

Because there's no other way than to do that when it's Jasper I'm debating with.

"That's a first, but good job," he said, "I'll leave now, you can change."

He left the room and I started to close it before remembering that it's knob is damaged. Since there's no way to close it now, I turned to the bathroom uncertainly and bit my lip; should I enter? But I was too scared to use it now. What if that guy returned? What if he started recording me again? And, like Jasper says, what if he kidnaps me from inside there? Not impossible, right?

"Geez," I muttered to myself at my overreaction. Finally, I took the decision to use dad's bedroom instead of mine. Taking my white top and a black overall to go over it, I went to dad's room and locked it. I glanced at the open windows and closed it, covering it completely with the curtains so that no one will try to sneak a peak at me changing. This is what happens when your dad is a businessman and you invite dangers all around you - you start to be paranoid all the time.

But it has a clear reason, and that reason will probably remain for a long time before it slowly fades away. I'm already a big scaredy cat, and I'm honestly more scared of humans than insects, mythical creatures and ghosts - because though the latter can hurt you, only humans have the ability to kill you while still making you think that they're helping you. They can manipulate you unlike any of the other creatures in the world. The incident back at the mall and then this one - these two will definitely remain with me forever, at least in the depth of my mind, and will haunt me in my dreams.

Could it have really been Trent? Did he really record me? Or did he just see it and I escaped right before he started recording? If that's case, I would've been a bit more relieved. But I'm just exploding in worry right now and hoping with my fingers crossed that he didn't get a single footage of it. There's nothing else I can do - both Jasper and I know that it's Trent, but there's no other proof than the figure we saw and Trent can easily just tell everyone that we're assuming that it's him because we hate him. In case he has the video, I can't get Trent to delete it either; he'd never listen to me, and though Jasper might be able to throw a punch and forcefully make him delete it, who knows if Trent has kept a copy of it? He's a dumbass who isn't intelligent enough to keep such a backup, but if he has any help from outside - like from any of his friends - he could have gotten a copy. So many possibilities.

After putting on the black overalls which stretched till my knees and fluttered freely at the ends, I wore Jasper's jacket that I had been wearing since the rain started. I know, it seems like a stupid combination, but I just liked that jacket so much, just as much as the person who owned it. It had his scent, it gave me the comfort that he did whenever he hugged me or even talked to me, and I needed that right now.

I went out of dad's bedroom towards my room, remembering that I'd kept my phone there after calling Karly. In case she called back when Klaus reached home or someone else called, I had to answer it. Talking about that - I've been in the shower for almost an hour, and another fifteen minutes went with all the drama, and Klaus hasn't returned even now? If he did, Karly would've called right then itself, but she didn't.

In the midst of my very busy mind which was filled with worrying thoughts about Trent having recorded me naked, and about Klaus, I didn't notice that my bedroom door was kept a little ajar and not entirely open unlike how I left it before. Not even looking up, I pushed open the door slowly and just as I stepped inside -

Oh shit.