IAN
"What the fuck just happened?" Miles gasped as he shoved his leg into his pants backward. "Did he just, like, talk to you? Without killing you?"

I was still standing in the same place where Draven left me. The dented bar of soap laying in my hands and the feel of his own lingered on my skin.

"Ian?"

I was still frozen in place.

"Damn. You've got a fat ass."

I snapped back to reality at Miles's comment, the bar of soap clattering onto the ground again as I whipped around and covered my dick again. "I hate you," I murmured.

Miles ignored my comment and dramatically pointed at the fallen bar. "You're really just asking for it at this point. I'm not picking that shit up."

I shook my head wordlessly, walking into the shower and taking my sweet time as Miles complained about me needing to hurry up. When he started asking questions I began to finish as quickly as possible.

"Did he touch your dick?" he asked curiously, "and did he seriously say 'don't drop the soap' to you? I didn't think he had a sense of humor- unless he was hinting at something else."

Miles started giggling and I rolled my eyes. "He was probably just trying to assert his dominance since I'm the new kid or whatever now."

All the guys I've seen so far have acted like wild dogs, causing a new commotion every five minutes.

Dogs always mark their territory. He wanted me to know my place.

Miles appeared behind me with an annoyed expression, "shut the hell up! He was flirting with you."

"Implying that I'll get raped if I ever bend over to pick up a bar of soap again is flirting to you?"

"Well, no," he paused. "Maybe you're right."

For some reason, I felt disappointed by his remark, but I didn't understand why.

I felt a hand slap my right ass cheek and I yelped, spinning around to give a death glare to a smirking Miles. "You do have a fat ass though."

I raised my fist. "I won't hesitate to punch you in the throat."

He raised his hands in the air as a sign of defeat, "okay, okay. Just hurry the hell up. I'm tired."

I had purposely stayed in the shower longer so that Draven would be in bed before me. I wasn't thrilled with having to face him again so soon. Just because he didn't kill me during our first interaction, didn't mean that he wouldn't during our next.

After I dried myself off and got dressed, Miles and I quietly walked down the hallway to where all the bedrooms are. At least I was quiet. Miles seemed to be a lot more social than I originally thought. I was paranoid about every little thing. The floorboards squeaking, loud snoring, Miles's mindless chatter.

When we got to the door to my room, I just stopped in front of it. I couldn't bring myself to go in.

"You'll be fine," Miles spoke softly all of a sudden as he noticed my hesitation. "I'll see you in the morning, you just have to make it for a few hours. Don't do anything to piss him off and it'll be alright."

"What pisses him off?" I asked.

"What doesn't?"

Helpful.

We said our goodbyes and he went into his room, leaving me alone in the dark hallway. My hand shakily grasped the doorknob, my breathing uneven as I pushed it open.

Draven was asleep on his bed, actually looking peaceful, to my surprise. His dark hair was dipping down into his closed eyes, the thick lashes laying upon his smooth skin. His jawline looked even more defined from the angle he was sleeping in and his full lips were parted just slightly. He had to be the most attractive man I've ever seen.

I silently sat on my bed and laid down, willing myself to go to sleep but I couldn't. I moved around in the bed, trying to find a comfortable position but it was hard since it was stiff and the single blanket was paper-thin. It didn't help that my thoughts always went back to what happened a few days ago whenever I didn't have any distractions.

I felt eyes on me all of a sudden and I shakily met Draven's cold eyes. He was glaring at me.

"S-Sorry," I stuttered, struggling to breathe properly.

His hair was even messier from sleeping and he looked so goddamn handsome. His thick eyebrows were drawn together in a pissed expression but he didn't say a word as his gaze consumed mine again.

Though this time it was a look of hatred he was giving me, like he was disgusted by just my presence. My cheeks weren't blushing as they had before. Now my heart was going haywire in my chest, terrified that he was going to spontaneously murder me if I so much as breathed.

This time I broke eye contact. I turned in the opposite direction as him and pretended to sleep. I didn't dare make a peep for the rest of the night, forcing myself to stay so still that my muscles were aching.

He scared the fuck out of me. I couldn't do anything that would anger him and it was already clear that the guy would be unpredictable.

Oddly enough, my thoughts weren't consumed by my family this time. Even if it wasn't necessarily in a good way, they were consumed by something else instead. Someone else.

Draven.

-

"Hey honey, " the nice cafeteria lady greeted me for breakfast the night morning. "Are you okay? Has Chris done anything to you since yesterday?"

I shook my head, offering a passive smile. "I haven't seen him since."

She grinned, "thank the lord. They must've taken his sorry down ass to solitary again."

I forced out a laugh and went to move down the line so that there wasn't a repeat of last time, but she stopped me. "Watch out for him when he comes back, okay? He's known for... holding grudges."

If he was known for holding grudges, why would she do that then?! I was just trying to keep my head down but that plan was ruined before it even started.

My adam's apple bobbed in my throat nervously. "Thanks for the heads up." I tried to smile again to be polite but it came across as some sort of grimace.

I finally went down the line, quickly getting my food and sitting beside Miles. Today he was sitting with two other people.

"Uh, hey," I greeted awkwardly, looking between Miles and the two strangers.

"Ian!" he smiled happily at me. "Good morning, how did you sleep?"

Of course, he has to be a morning person. I hate morning people. There's no reason to be this happy.

I scratched the back of my head. "Not so great. I tried not to move the entire night because I didn't want to wake up Draven."

"You're rooming with Draven?" one of Miles's friends gasped. He had short, white-blonde hair with pale blue eyes that were staring at me in shock.

I nodded.

"And you're still alive?" the other guy asked. This one had silky, brown hair flowing down his neck and a thick beard that he should be way too young to be able to grow.

I forced a laugh, trying to be friendly. "For now, at least."

The three of them laughed and it made me genuinely smile for the first time since I've been in here.

I wasn't sure why Draven seemed to hate me so much all of a sudden, I just knew that he did. I couldn't understand what I did to him. He was nice to me in the showers. Well, maybe nice isn't the right word, but he sure treated me differently after I went into our room.

When I saw him in the halls either he ignored me or I was met with a mean glare on the odd occasion I found him looking in my direction at all.

"After what happened last time, I didn't think they'd let that guy get a new roomie." The blonde poked around at what was supposed to be food, "but that'd kinda be a reward for him."

The bearded guy snorted, "they never even put Draven in solitary for that shit." He murmured, "crazy."

I gulped and peeked over at Miles who averted his eyes from mine. I could tell something was off and he was scared to tell me.

"What exactly happened to his old roommate?" I cleared my throat, Miles subtly cringing at my question.

"Dead."

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes widened, slapping Miles on the arm, "you told me everything would be fine last night!" I cried.

"But it was fine! You're still in one piece, aren't you? And it's complicated."

I grumbled, crossing my arms and zoning out of their conversation. Did they room me with a fucking murderer?

Surprisingly, it made me a little more curious than afraid. I was already terrified of the guy anyway. Based on his cold demeanor it wasn't that much of a shock. I just wanted to know what had happened. I wanted to know why.

I wasn't listening until I heard Jake say my name. "Ian, you got a crush on Draven or something?"

My face burned red and I anxiously searched the room to make sure he wasn't close enough to hear us. "What?!" I spluttered, "I don't even know the guy! No, I don't!"

"Well, I was just teasing, but I guess it wasn't such a joke after all," Jake chuckled, taking a bite of his disgusting food.

I struggled to find words to say but I was at least thankful that Draven was nowhere to be found. It made me a little bit worried as I wondered if he was alright.

The bearded guy cut in, "stop embarrassing the poor kid before he has an aneurysm."

Jake pouted at him. "I'm just joking around. And Ian doesn't mind, right?" he looked toward me for help but I scoffed in return.

I most definitely do mind.

The blonde reached out to pat my shoulder. "I can find a wheelchair for you later if you want," he offered in a sweet voice.

My eyebrows furrowed. "A wheelchair? For what?"

His innocent demeanor turned into a sly smirk, "how else will you be able to walk after he's done with you?"

He and Miles broke out into obnoxious laughter, the other guy bit his lip and tried not to laugh, not wanting to encourage them, but he couldn't help but let out a chuckle too.

I felt my pride shrivel up as they all laughed, my embarrassment at its peak. "I'm not gay!" I squeaked out, refraining from facepalming after I heard my voice echo around in my head.

That just caused the three boys to roar into another fit of laughter even harder as I glared at them. Being surrounded by such positive energy made me crack a little smile, though. The two of them seemed pretty normal too.

At least for now, they did.

I felt eyes on me and I immediately saw Draven in the doorway, glaring at me with tight lips and a scowl.

What the hell did I do to him?