It didn't take Chase and I long to come to the obvious conclusion that joining Nick in the rink was going to be our safest bet.

Chase kept his hand around my wrist, a few steps ahead of me, blocking me from Nick's view. Once we had stepped into the rink, he looked between the two chairs pressed against the wall of the rink. "Stay behind me."

"I don't think so." Nick sat down in the empty chair in front of us. "Ronnie sit down."

I waved Chase away, knowing any little thing could trigger Nick. We had no certainty that the gun was loaded, but we also didn't have any indication that it wasn't.

Once we were seated, Nick leaned back, smiling.

"So, Puck, my man, you weren't originally in the plan to be here. I thought you'd suffer more knowing the girl you loved was dead and there was nothing you could do about it. But having you here to watch it, man, that's so much better."

Chase opened his mouth, but I shot him a look, warning him to do otherwise.

"What's wrong, Ronnie? No bitchy comments?" He eyed me, not even hiding the fact he was checking me out. "Such a shame such a bitch was put into a hot girls body."

"Let us go, Nick." I snapped. "I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing, but we don't want any part of it."

He sat upright, cocking his head to the side. "Yeah? You're not going anywhere, sweetheart. I hope you said your goodbyes to everyone tonight."

"You're not touching her." Chase snapped.

Nick sighed, rolling his eyes as he stood. He grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me up, pressing his body against mine. I tried to turn my head in the opposite direction, but he slapped my cheek hard, forcing me to stare at him.

"I think Chase needs to learn a little lesson, Ronnie. Don't you?"

Chase stood, gripping the wall to steady himself. "Let her go, Rollins."

Nick snickered and unzipped the back of my dress in such a quick movement, I hardly had enough time to grasp the front of it to keep it from falling.

"Come on." Nick stepped forward again, knocking my right hand off my chest so my dress slid, revealing the top of my bra. "It's coming off one way or another. You decide how."

When I only stood in front of him, blinking tears from my eyes, he sighed and reached for the bottom of the dress, pulling it hard. Not only did it tear the dress, but I slipped and fell so hard on my butt that a sharp pain shot through my tail bone and knocked the wind out of me.

"You act all tough." Nick taunted, "But deep down, you're just a scared little girl."

I hugged the fragments of my dress against me. "Okay, Nick. I get it. Please stop."

"Like all of you assholes stopped treating me like shit?" He ripped the last of my dress and walked away, going on with his rant. "You were the worst of them all, Ronnie. Pretending you cared for me for years, but in reality you just pitied me."

Chase crouched beside me, biting his lip hard to keep from crying out in pain from the movement. He draped his tux of my shoulders, helping me to my feet. He kept me in his arms, eyeing the doors across the building, then looking back at Nick.

"Try to leave and I'll shoot her." Nick's threat scared Chase enough that he scooted us back toward the middle of the rink. "Good choice."

"Crazy thing is, Puck, I still envy you. Even with all that you've done, you have someone that refuses to give up on you. All everyone has ever done is give up on me."

I heard a loud pounding on the door outside the arena, but Nick only smiled sadistically. "Ah, the game has officially begun."

Neither of us got a chance to ask what he meant. He brought the gun up and shot Chase in the stomach before either of us could get a word out. I screamed, collapsing on the ground beside him.

"Stop! What the fuck is wrong with you?" I cried.

"I'm going to die tonight regardless." Nick said, unphased by my hysteria. "And I'm taking you both with me."

"I'm okay." Chase grunted, but the blood seeping through his white tux and all over the ice said otherwise.

Nick yawned, making a gesture toward the blood pooling in between Chase and me. "I feel bad for whoever has to clean that up."

"Let us go! Let me get him to a hospital!" I pleaded through my tears. "Please Nick!"

"Did you forget who this is, Ronnie? He wanted to die so bad he almost killed you three fucking times. Now he'll get his wish."

I shook my head. "Nick please."

My begging only added to his fuel and he lowered himself down to our level.

"No."

I tried raking my brain for anything first aid I'd learned but I was shaking so bad and in so much fear that my mind was a mess of emotions.

"Veronica." Chase rested his head against the wall, breathing labored. "I'm going to try and tackle him. I need you to run for the doors to try and help the police get in."

"No." I tried to stand but the butt of the gun came in contact with my face before I could look up.

When I glanced up, Nick was staring down at us, but he was no longer the annoying class clown everyone had spent years just putting up with and pushing aside. There was no emotion in his dilated eyes, they were a dark void of nothingness. His lips were bruised and cut as if he'd been in a fight recently, eyes sunken deep in his cheeks. Even his body language was nothing like the boy I'd spent detention with months ago.

"I wish it didn't have to be like this, Veronica. I wanted so desperately just to be accepted by someone, for someone to understand me. But I didn't have the luxury of someone actually giving a shit about me. Ever. I've never been accepted, I've always been pushed into the ground and kicked around the same way Puck has been the last few months. But nobody cared. Not even my best friend."

"Nick, put the gun down." I stood shakily, touching the blood trinkling from my nose on to my lips. "We can talk about this like adults."

"There's no point, Ronnie. Not anymore. Not after all everything that you've done, that he's done, that everyone's done."

Nick grabbed Chase and threw him on to the chair, pushing him back.

"He sits here with his poor me bullshit, but if anyone had a reason to kill themselves it was me. I never had parents, I had foster parents who beat the living shit out of me, but kept me around for money. I never had a home, but slept out in the backyard with the dog because he was the only one that actually accepted me." Nick's eyes were glistening with tears. "I didn't have real friends, not even one, or a girlfriend. Nobody liked me, nobody wanted me around. I was in the shadows, I was a shadow."

Chase breathed out heavily, staring at me with a helpless expression. I started forward again, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"I hate both of you far more than you can fathom. You had great lives and threw it all away. And now your family, Veronica, has to suffer."

It took me a few seconds to realize what his words meant and what the actions that followed them would be. What happened next so was fast that I hardly had a chance to comprehend it. Nick pulled the gun back up and cocked it, pulling the trigger just as Chase pushed up from his chair and tackled me back against the wall. I felt the bullet penetrate his body, and him collapse into me further.

"Keep your eyes on me. No matter what you hear, you keep your eyes on me." Chase said shakily. "Cover your ears."

I didn't understand why until another gun shot sounded, rattling the building, and me to the core. I screamed into Chase's chest, afraid to even lift my head. I couldn't even bring myself to try and imagine the ground behind Chase.

"W. . .we need to get to the door." Chase's breathing was staggering, tears shining in his eyes. "Close your eyes and turn, and whatever you do, do not look back."

I did as told, my entire body ravaging with shakes. Somehow, the fear of Chase dying overpowered my shock and fear and I was able to get him to the concession stand a few feet from the door before he collapsed against it. I could hear pounding at the door, but my attention was on the boy in front of me.

"Why'd you do that? You were already shot!" I snapped, collapsing on to the ground in front of me.

"Exactly." He mumbled. "You never had a death wish, Veronica. I did. You don't deserve to die. It was my turn to save your life."

I moved closer, turning his head toward me. "You better not die on me. I did not save your life three times for you to die on me this way."

He pulled me closer, lips brushing against mine. "Go to the man that loves you so much he'd take a bullet for you."

He stared at me for a few seconds after the words broke passed his lips before he completely faded out, his breaths growing ragged. I stood and ran for the door a few feet away, slamming my hands against the knob. Turning it, I felt the door open and I fell forward, slamming right into the bullet proof vest of a officer.

"Put your hands up!" I wanted to tell them I wasn't the shooter, but couldn't find the words. Instead I pointed toward Chase against the concession stand. A few more officers ran in, one jogging toward the rink I refused to look at.

"Need backup." The officer in front of me stated. "Got three victims. One with minor injuries. One with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and back. And one with a fatal gunshot wound to the head."

A female officer finally entered the building and patted me down to ensure I wasn't the dangerous one before looking toward the other two set of officers and EMT's around Chase and Nick.

"What happened?" She questioned, touching my hand gently. "Sweetheart, I need you to tell me what happened."

I opened my mouth to say something but all that left was a choked sob. As if she'd been through it a million times before, the officer caught me before I fully collapsed and held me against her as my body finally succumbed to the reality of everything that had just happened.

**

It felt like the second I was in my hospital room my parents and Vic busted through the door. My mom immediately touched my cheeks, her own stained with tears, eyes bloodshot.

"Oh, my baby, you're ok!" She cried, pulling me into a bone crushing hug that made my heart monitor go crazy. My dad followed her actions, tears in his own eyes as he kissed the top of my head. Vic was quiet but was still crying as I hugged him, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"Vera!" Jordan gasped, brushing passed a nurse and rushing into the room. He touched the bruise under my left eye, then checked the rest of my body, not even questioning where my dress was and why I was wrapped in Chase's tux. "Mi vida, I'm so sorry. I should have been there with you. I'm so fucking sorry."

I looked toward my mom. "Chase? Is he ok?"

She didn't respond, eyes falling on my little brother. Vic shifted on his feet, avoiding my eyes.

"He's in surgery right now. They told his dad's girlfriend that the first bullet missed any major arteries, but the second pierced one."

Jordan kissed the top of my head, pressing me into his chest. "What is it? Why do you look guilty? What happened?"

I gave them the same response I'd given to the police officers and detectives that had been in and out of the room for the last hour.

"I got a text from Vic's phone saying he was at the rink and needed us. You were too drunk so I took your keys and Chase with me. Obviously Vic wasn't there, but Nick Rollins was and he had a gun. He shot Chase, but when he tried to shoot me, Chase blocked it. Then he. . . he. . ."

"Shot himself." Jordan finished. "Jesus, Vera, I didn't think he was that dangerous."

"I could have helped him. If I had paid attention to him the same way I had Chase, I could have saved his life. Chase proved that you can get better, even if it's not fully or all at once, you can."

My family and Jordan all started talking at once, but I couldn't hear a word any of them said. The rhythm of the heart monitor beeping beside me drown them, as did my thoughts.

I could have helped Nick if I'd acted on my emotions that day in detention, after he'd confessed his feelings aloud. I should have stopped him, or even approached him the next day, and offered a hand, offered to be there. But I'd done nothing but push him aside like everyone else had. Even if I didn't bully him as everyone did, I did nothing to stop it, only added fuel to the fire.

"I should have been there." Jordan repeated once again, squeezing me tighter. "I should have just went with you."

"But you didn't." I whispered. "And Chase saved my life, knowing very well it could end his own."

My mom cupped my face in her hands, tears in her own eyes. "He's going to be ok, sweetheart. He's a survivor and a fighter."

I touched the top of her hand with my own, resting my forehead against her as Jordan rubbed my shoulder's comfortingly.

She had to be right. Chase had to get through this. He wasn't going to die, not like this, not after everything we'd been through.

I had once told him he was stronger than his demons, and I still stood by that. I just had to pray that he hadn't given up, and still had that fight left in him.