• Trigger warning in this chapter •

Fiona had thought a lot about Adam's words yesterday.

How he had told her she worked better when she was angry or annoyed with him and that it made her forget her fears for a moment. If that was true, were the next two weeks going to be insanely difficult with him driving her up the wall with his personality?

She couldn't decide whether or not she should feel happy or if she should be dreading this. After all, Adam hadn't showed her he had any boundaries of his own yet.

Coming into the DanceDec after school, Fiona sighed and prepared for a hectic day. If Adam was bringing his fullest, she was going to need to be on her top game as well.

The weather in New York continued to be scalding hot, and even inside the air conditioned studios, Fiona felt the warmth preen on her skin. She looked around and wasn't surprised when she found Adam in the foyer, standing upside down on his hands with his legs in the air.

A couple of guys were standing around him, familiar faces that Fiona recognized from the dance circle yesterday. There was Dimitri, Kalo's dance partner, Twitch, the guy with the sick body moves, and then a last guy she hadn't caught the name of. The were all laughing and messing around while eating a few snacks.

It was then Fiona saw something. Adam's loose blue top had slid down to his chest and revealed most of his toned stomach. And there, right on his left side was a large, purple bruise, staining his light skin.

Fiona barely had time to process what she had seen before Adam noticed her. He shot her a big upside-down grin, his face red from the blood streaming to his head. "Hey, princess! One second, just having a tête-à-tête with gravity!"

With a last grunt, he then flipped down to the ground again and got up, earning a few claps on the shoulder and handshakes from his buddies. He then grabbed his bag and turned towards Fiona, coming up with his usual smile.

"Alright, so are you ready for another day? Christ, this heat is burning me up from the inside out," He shook his head as they started ascending the stairs together, heading for their studio. "I can't imagine what it's like for you guys. Black attracts more heat, you reckon that counts for skin as well?"

Fiona couldn't concentrate on his usual amount of verbal diarrhea. She couldn't stop glancing down at his stomach, thinking about the size and color of that bruise.

She didn't get many bruises herself, but if she did, she never noticed on account of her skin tone. Adam's light skin had vividly displayed the bluish, half-purple bruise on his stomach, though. It had practically glowed. There had been no doubt as to what it was, but how it had gotten there was the far more interesting question.

"That's quite a bruise you got there," Fiona spoke up, just as they entered the studio and dropped their bags. Adam turned around with a raised brow and looked at her confused. She nodded down at his stomach.

"What? Oh, this?" He lifted his shirt and shot a grin towards his injury. He then shrugged nonchalantly. "I was trying out a new move and got a bit too enthusiastic. Don't worry about it," He chuckled and smoothed his shirt down again. "I get plenty of those daily. I play wild." He finished with a cheeky wink.

He turned towards the stereo while Fiona pursed her lips and started her usual warmup routine. She didn't know why, because Adam was the most open person she knew and she should have no reason to, but for some reason she wanted to doubt his words. She couldn't think of a single dance move that could give a bruise like that, but then again, he was a lot more vested in dance than she was. Maybe he had tried to do some weird belly flop onto the ground and bruised his stomach.

Or maybe he was lying and he was hiding something.

"So, are we ready?" He asked, after a moment of silence wherein Fiona had contemplated his honesty. If he said it was a dance injury, maybe that was what it was and she was overthinking like usual... in any case, it wasn't any of her concern. Yet a part of her couldn't help but still feel it was.

"I'm ready," She said, pushing it all out of her mind and taking a deep breath. She focused on what was about to happen right now, which was that Adam was coming closer, rubbing his hands together with a little grin.

"I'm going to annoy the living crap out of you," He snickered and made Fiona already roll her eyes, annoyed. "You have no idea what you're in for, tutu."

And yet, just like with his bruise, she had an inkling she did.

~~~

A scream pierced through the DanceDec and had Fiona and Adam both jolting around in the middle of a close dance. They barely got the chance to turn around before someone suddenly burst through the door to their studio.

"I got it!"

Adam nearly lost his balance, but caught it as Kalo came barreling towards him and jumped into his arms. His eyes widened and immediately so did his grin. "You got it?!"

Kalo screamed again and Adam then proceeded to spin her around in the air while laughing crazily with her.

"You got it, I knew you'd fucking get it, tu pinche—"

"I start tomorrow!" Kalo grinned as Adam finally put her down. "He loved my piece! He said I would be perfect for his project!"

"Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Celebration tonight, 8 o' clock," Kalo announced with a big grin. "Rani's coming as well."

"8 o' clock? That's in 20 minutes," Adam said, after a quick glance at the round clock on the wall. He then turned toward Fiona who had quietly been standing on the sideline of their little moment. He shot her a hesitant glance. "That means I have to cut teaching short tonight... if that's okay?" He looked imploringly at her.

Was he seriously asking for her permission like they were an old married couple? "Of course," Fiona replied and shot Kalo a faint smile. "Congratulations on the gig." She assumed she had nailed the audition Adam had been helping her rehearse for.

"Thanks," She chirped and grinned back. "Do you wanna come? There's plenty of room for more."

Fiona immediately widened her eyes when Kalo looked expectantly at her. Go with them, as in... go out as a group? She wanted her to join? Or was she just being polite? "O-oh, no, that's okay. I, uh, I have dinner plans with my mom."

Kalo shrugged, but still shot her a friendly smile. "The offer stands if you change your mind. Anyway, see you later, chulo!"

Adam chuckled and then walked up to his bag and slung his towel over his shoulder, wiping off some sweat as Kalo walked out. Once alone again, he turned his eyes to Fiona who was packing up her things, now that their training was coming to an early end. "So now that Kalo's gone, what's the real reason you don't wanna come tonight?"

Fiona glanced at him and saw him giving her a no-nonsense glare. He had seen through her crap lie. He had his brow raised and was waiting for her actual excuse. "I just... I don't really know her that well and... it just doesn't seem like my thing."

"Fee, the way you make friends is by hanging out with strangers and getting to know them," Adam got up as Fiona stood up and pointedly took her time checking her bag that she had everything—avoiding his compelling gaze. "Come on! Kalo's nice, and it's literally right around the corner, this place we always come to. It's just food and bowling. You don't even have to participate, just come and watch me win. Get some fresh air."

Fiona paused and for some stupid reason actually considered it for a moment. She must've been dumb, or maybe the heat was finally getting to her. Going out with people like a normal teenager... having a night out...

With food.

"I'm sorry," She passed, quickly continuing her packing and then zipped up her bag. "I have to get home."

"If you go out with us tonight, I promise to never ever sing around you again, but if you don't..." Adam grinned as Fiona looked up slowly, already somehow knowing what he was going to do. "I will sing every word without even a tune or melodyyyy!"

Fiona rolled her eyes when he starting singing and vocalizing like a maniac, and even when she turned around to walk to the door she felt him following right behind her, singing annoyingly loud near her ear.

"Come on, Fee, you know you want too!" He sang, following her down the stairs, slinging his bag up on his shoulders. "I will keep singing every day unless you come out with us and just... enjoooooooy life! Lalalalaaaaa—"

"Oh my God, alright!" Fiona shouted and spun around, Adam abruptly halting up in his steps not to crash into her. He gave shit-eating grin when she irritatedly growled. "It is physically impossible to be as annoying as you are."

"And yet here I am," He chuckled. "Come on, it'll be great. Just one hour, then you can leave if you're not having fun. I'll even pay for your dinner."

Fiona kept her face as neutral as she could, but then sighed and bitterly turned and continued walking towards the bathroom to reluctantly change. She heard Adam snickering smugly behind her.

Tonight was going to be the longest hour of her life.

~~~

The bowling alley really was right around the corner and the place was exactly like Fiona had anticipated. Retro, loud, flashing neon lights on the wall and a pungent smell of foot spray and fried food. There weren't a lot of people on a Tuesday night, but a few bowlers had grabbed a couple of lanes and were laying pins with the heavy crashing of the bowling balls.

Fiona couldn't remember the last time she had been in a place like this.

"Alright, table!" Kalo said and eagerly led them towards the dining area where a couple of semi-dirty booths offered a seating area and plastic menus. "I am starving, so nobody better spend hours deciding what they want."

Fiona pressed her lips together. She had a good feeling that wouldn't be a problem.

Adam scored them a nice booth and they all got in. Fiona took the inner seat next to Adam who mushed himself next to her, while Rani and Kalo grabbed the opposite side. They all then grabbed the menu cards and started perusing the options.

Fiona looked into her own menu. Most of the food they offered was yunk food such as kebabs, pizzas, burgers, wraps or sandwiches. Almost all of them came with a side of potato fries and a selection of condiments. There was a small section for salads, but even they didn't offer any appetite for Fiona. They didn't look all that appealing on the plastic picture and there was no telling how old their produce was. She doubted a place like this prepared them fresh.

While Fiona contemplated her options, Kalo, Rani and Adam were all hungrily talking burgers and pizzas. Kalo wanted kebab on her pizza while Rani wanted two sides of fries to go with her wrap.

"I'm going with burgers," Adam announced and hummed to himself in what appeared to be starvation. "They better not be shy on cheese."

"Hey, Adam?" Kalo suddenly said. Adam lifted his head. She slowly smirked. "Are you horny?"

At that, Fiona blinked preposterously while Adam closed his eyes and laid a hand over his face. A grin then erupted from him and he shook his head. "Oh, man..."

Kalo started laughing as Adam groaned lowly, while Fiona sat on the sideline again, confused as hell. Why the hell did she just ask him that?

"Ahh, shit," Adam then suddenly said and looked up and around for some reason, his eyes landing on a waitress who was approaching their table. "Her? She looks so innocent."

"Do it," Kalo teased.

Still confused, Fiona could do nothing but wait and watch as whatever private thing between them played out. She looked at Adam, who with a last glance at the waitress then sighed and closed his eyes.

And the next thing she knew, he was moaning loudly.

Fiona's eyes widened into saucers as Adam tossed his head back and gripped the edges of the table with a loud moan. His body started jerking with small movements, his hips lifting off of the seat as his mouth opened with more moans. "Oh, fuck!"

The waitress stopped as she came to their table and blinked just as confused and as mortified as Fiona. She watched as Adam gyrated in the booth while moaning loudly, his face screwing up in pleasure.

What the actual hell was he doing? Fiona thought and watched him in disbelief. Kalo sat completely cool opposite to him, acting like he wasn't doing shit, just as Rani did. They both innocently looked into their menu cards, while Fiona was the only staring stupidly, except for the waitress.

"Ahh..." Adam then finally stopped his moaning and slumped back in the booth, like he just had the orgasm of his life. Nobody said anything, but Fiona noticed the waitress looked absolutely beet red.

"Uhm... c-can I help you with something, Sir?" She hesitantly asked when Adam kept breathing heavily, catching his breath from his little performance. Fiona was sure if she had had the waitress's complexion, she would've been the same color of red as her.

Immediately after her question, Adam then shot up and sat straight in his seat like nothing had happened and looked into his menu. "Uh, yeah, I'd like two cheeseburgers with a sprite on the side and a side of fries. Make that two cups of sprite, actually. I'm feeling a little thirsty. Who's next?"

He looked on to Kalo who instantly continued to name her orders, passing it on to Rani who finally gave the lead to Fiona. She shook her head and politely declined. "I'm good."

"Nothing for you?" Adam lowly whispered. Fiona just shook her head. "Alright, then I guess that's it," He gathered all the menu cards and handed them over to the waitress with a megawatt grin. "Go medium on the paddy-fat, but lay that cheese on thick on one of them." He turned and gave Fiona a wise, pointed stare. "Balance."

With that, the waitress—who with a flabbergasted expression had written their orders down—then hesitantly took the menu cards and left. She glanced over her shoulder, sending a last odd glance at Adam.

"What the hell was that?" Fiona finally asked. It was the exact same second she spoke, Rani and Kalo finally burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"The 'Are you horny?' challenge," Adam elaborated with a chuckle and shook his head. "It's this thing we do sometimes."

"Whoever you ask has to break into a sudden orgasm like they're coming on the spot," Kalo bid in through her laughter. "Adam always does the best ones."

Adam grinned back, but then sighed dramatically. "That's the closest you'll get to hearing me actually come. Kalo's dreams revolve around it."

Kalo shot a long manicured middle-finger at him, to which Adam responded with a dirty hand gesture in front of his crotch and some small horny noises. At that, both Kalo and Rani shot some choice Spanish words at him, all of them curses and swears, Fiona was certain. All of them were still laughing and goofing off, though.

They were the craziest bunch.

The evening went on, and while they waited for their food, Kalo filled them in fully on how the audition had went and who the guy who had hired her was.

"Some big hotshot commercial agent who works for a large company that does advertising for fit wear," She told while slurping on her soda. Their drinks had arrived and they were all sipping on them, except for Fiona who hadn't ordered anything. "I don't care what he does honestly, as long as he lets me do it, too."

"Amen to that," Rani proclaimed.

"Oh, fuck, please let that be ours," Adam suddenly said and drew all of their attention towards a waitress who came over with a large tray filled with food. When she steered towards them, they all cheered. "Fuck, yeah!"

The waitress served them their food and no sooner had the plates hit the table before all of them dug in. Fiona sat quietly in her corner and watched, feeling like a fourth wheel.

But it's not like you're trying to change that, her inner voice pointed out.

All night she hadn't said a word. She had listened and nodded once or twice, but hadn't really spoken anything or bid in with anything since Adam's little performance. Any time she had felt the slightest urge to comment or ask something, her anxiety immediately talked her out of it. It was probably stupid anyway and who even cared...

"Hey," Adam gentle nudged her when Kalo went into a long talk about something or other Fiona didn't catch as Adam spoke to her. He looked down at her and cocked a little brow. "You okay?"

Fiona simply nodded back and gave a weak smile. At least attempt not to look miserable. These people were so friendly and had let her pathetically tag along on their celebration, and there she was, sulking.

"Here," He said, shoving his second burger towards her. "Eat it. You have to eat something. You haven't eaten since lunch."

Fiona looked down at the mess that was the burger. It was the one with less cheese, but it still looked like a hot, greasy mess.

"It's okay, it's yours," She said and smiled quickly. "You paid for it."

"I told you I'd pay for you," He said and pushed the burger towards her again when she tried to shove it away. "It's okay, I've got my fries."

Fiona looked down at the burger again and gulped. So many calories... but maybe if she excused herself to the bathroom afterwards...

She slowly picked the burger up and tried her best at giving a grateful smile to Adam who grinned back. He then turned back to his own burger, popping in a few fries before sipping one of his large drinks.

Fiona took a deep breath and then carefully took a bite of the burger, like she was expecting it to explode in her mouth. And in a way, it did. The greasy flavor imploded in her mouth and the combination of condiments, salads and meat swirled around in her mouth. She could taste the fat in the burger, and her throat struggled to force it down.

For ten minutes, she completely zoned out all conversation and focused on eating the burger, well aware that Adam was glancing at her once in a while. Around halfway through, he slowly pushed his second cup of Sprite towards her.

And that's when Fiona realized.

He had ordered double on purpose.

Pausing mid-bite, she looked up at Adam who was currently grinning at something funny Rani apparently had said. He was chewing on a fry, but once he registered her staring, he flipped his eyes down at raised a slow brow.

You haven't eaten since lunch, he said.

A cold sensation spread inside Fiona.

Did he... know?

Turning her eyes down and looking at the burger that suddenly became tasteless in her mouth, she forced herself to swallow the half-chewed bite in her mouth.

He knew. He knew and he was testing her.

Was that was tonight had been about?

Fiona's sight suddenly became blurry and when she realized she was tearing up, she quickly blinked it away. She swallowed fast when she felt like throwing up at the sensation spreading inside her. Her stomach started turning.

"Excuse me," She said and nudged Adam who once again lifted a brow. Fiona put down what was left of her burger and wiped her hands off. "Bathroom."

Adam chewed off his bite and then got up, letting her get up and pass through. After getting free, she didn't hesitate to walk as normally as she could towards the bathrooms.

The second she was inside the women's bathroom, Fiona ran towards the back booth and locked herself in. The tears were spilling down her cheeks, pain wrenching in her guts. She fell to her knees and shook as she lifted the toilet seat up.

She didn't even need to stuff her fingers down her throat this time. The urge came all on its own and came out in the bowl, accompanied with a sob.

After two more retches, she hit the flusher and sat back against the wall, clutching herself. The pain in her stomach had stopped, but not the one in her heart. Her tears wouldn't stop falling.

He had known and he made her come here tonight to eat, knowing full and well what it would do to her. Why? Why would he do that to her?

After minutes of crying quietly in the her stall, Fiona finally dried her eyes. She knew she couldn't keep hiding in there. She contemplated just leaving without a word, but even though she was mad at Adam, Kalo and Rani had done her no harm. Unless they were somehow in on it. Nevertheless, she decided she would make an excuse when she got out, saying her stomach was upset and that she had to go home.

To get away from Adam.

Unlocking the booth, Fiona sniveled quietly, but then halted up when a person was leaning against the sink, hands in his pockets.

"How long?"

Fiona stared at Adam, tears in her eyes. He looked as serious as he had ever been. "Does it matter?" She sniped back. No point in trying to hide it.

Adam's face grew hard. He unfurled his hands from his pockets as Fiona went up to the sinks and started washing her hands and rinsing her mouth. "You know damn well it matters, Fee. I'm not letting you leave this bathroom until you talk to me."

'Not letting her leave until...?' Who the hell did he think he was?!

Angrily, Fiona stood upright after rinsing her mouth and glared at him. She then swiped some paper towels from dispenser and gritted her teeth, trying contain her temper. "Is that why you wanted me to come along tonight? So you could get me alone to prove some stupid shit and make me feel like complete crap about myself?"

"I'm not the one shoving my fingers down my throat and making myself feel this way," He barked and walked up to her. Fiona widened her eyes. "You are doing that to yourself, Fiona. I brought you here tonight because I had an inkling and I wanted to see it for myself. I've been around enough dancers to know the signs," He said and looked down at her petite and skinny body.

Fiona wrapped her arms around herself and turned around to shield herself from his probing eyes. He had no goddamn right to judge her. "Every dancer does it, stop sounding so conceited. It's the fastest way to keep the weight off," She lied, knowing full and well it wouldn't hold up.

"How about you stop treating me like a fool and tell me how long you've been doing it and the real reason why," He lowly said, sounding as offended as she would've expected. She knew he wasn't a fool and he knew it wasn't because of her weight. But she was too angry to care.

"Back off of me," Fiona snapped, new tears welling up in her eyes. Breathe, breathe. Everything was culminating inside her. "I don't know why you think you have the goddamn right to ask me why—"

"Stop trying to make me your enemy, Fee, it's not working," He roughly spoke, cutting through her bullshit. He even saw through her plan to push him away. "Instead, start talking to me. How long have you been doing this? Are you still having your periods?"

Fiona spun around and glared up at him. He did not just ask her that. "That's non of your damn business, you wannabe shrink! Why don't you just back the hell off and leave me be!" She finally screamed, the tears now streaming down her face. She could no longer hold it back. "I don't want your fucking help! I-I don't want y-your stupid—"

Adam lunged out, and Fiona broke down as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and embraced her. He hugged her to his chest and let her cry as the tears fell without restraint.

Fiona sobbed and held on to his shirt as she felt his hand caress her back, softly. She couldn't keep it together any longer. She was still mad, but inside, she knew it was never at him the anger had been aimed towards. The resentment came from within.

Adam let her cry for minutes until she ran out of air and tears. She kept clinging to his chest and he never once stopped holding tightly on to her, like he knew she would break apart if he did.

And that hurt even more than what he had done tonight.

"I don't support this," He then finally spoke when Fiona had calmed herself enough down to listen. She sniveled quietly, but kept her eyes closed. "I don't support this, Fee. I can't. If you want to keep working with me, and I know you do, you have to stop doing this, do you hear me? Bulimia is not something to joke with. If I catch you purging again, I'm out."

"A-Adam—"

"I'm not kidding, Fiona," He pulled back to look down at her with a warning face. This was as sober as she had ever seen him. "From now on, I'm not leaving your side. If you go pee, I go pee. I don't care if it's the ladies room, I will start identifying as a lady if I have to, just so I can make sure you don't do anything stupid. Got it?"

And just because of the sober and sincere look in his eyes did she nod. She didn't know why, but for some reason... she let him pull her into his arms again and hold her close.

Laying a hand on the back of her head and the other one just on her back, Adam sighed and held her tightly as Fiona once again let a few small leftover tears trickle down her chin. "We'll talk about this tomorrow. It'll all be okay, okay? I'm going to help you get through this, one cheeseburger at a time."

Fiona swallowed, but didn't say anything. He was so sweet and so caring, and there she was, so broken and messed up. He had wanted to help her right from the start and all she had wanted was to use him like a robot dance teacher.

And worst part was... she had a feeling he knew. And he just didn't care.

It made no sense.

"Thank you," She quietly whispered against his shoulder. With a deep breath, she then carefully locked her arms around his waist and let her hands rest on his lower back. "I don't get why you're so sweet all the time..." And why he still bothered with her.

"That's because I eat a shitload of candy," He told and smiled against the top of her head. Fiona let out a small, soundless chuckle. "Come on. Let's go out again. We've been away for 20 minutes. They must be thinking you're giving me a blow."

Fiona's eyes widened and she immediately pulled back, looking horrified up at him. "W-what?!"

Adam threw his head back and laughed loudly at her panicked expression. "Oh, Fee. I'm sorry, but your face, you have no idea. Come on, tutu. Let's go. Everything's going to be alright."

He grabbed her arm, but just then, Fiona felt something on the tip of her tongue.

"Hey, Adam?" She whispered as they walked up to the door, Adam keeping an arm wrapped around her.

"Yeah?" He looked down at her with a smile.

And that's when Fiona felt it; A tug in her heart and a tiny ball of nerves that filled her throat up.

Had she made a friend?

"I thought you said you needed longer than 20 minutes."

And with that, Adam broke into a loud laughter as they walked out together and joined the girls again.

• • •

– Laughter is the best medicine.

This chapter was a long one and kind of an emotionally triggering one, but the next one is probably going to be even more so. Just a heads up.

Also, in case you were wondering, the 'are you horny?' challenge is a real challenge that people do. Watch the video below to see what I mean.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Would you be game?