Lola jumped into the familiar black jeep that belonged to Damien. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest and it wasn't just from the sprint out of Tyler's creepy house. She couldn't understand how things had gone from zero to hundred in a matter of minutes. 

The normally harmless, smiling Tyler had morphed into someone she barely knew. And then there was the picture of his brother, hidden under his bed. It was as if it had been thrown across the room and then shoved under the bed only to be forgotten. 

But now Mr Lennox's face was swimming in her thoughts. There was no mistaking the resemblance between the brothers even though it had never once crossed her mind the whole time he had been in school. 

"Lola! Are you okay? Did he do something?" Nalini's voice was so shrill it made her ears hurt. She was sitting in the front, next to Damien who was looking at her in alarm as well. 

Hanna grabbed her hand and Lola turned to her. 

"Did he hurt you?" Unlike Nalini, Hanna's tone was low, almost deadly. She looked ready to hurt someone.

"No, he didn't. But I did find something," Lola answered excitedly, brushing away the fear that consumed her while she had been in the same room as Tyler. Now that she was safe she couldn't wait to tell her friends about her discovery. 

"Lola, you are one of the bravest girls I've ever met," Damien exclaimed as he threw a fist in the air. The girls echoed in agreement and then she noticed Edward sitting next to Hanna.

He was busy watching the news on his tablet, his handiwork with the leaked tapes and the newly reopened investigation still dominated the news feed. Their small town in Wisconsin has probably never had this much drama in forever and it has left everyone enthralled. 

Lola's parents talked about it incessantly over dinner every night. Sometimes she contributed with little snipets she'd heard from school but most of the time she sat back and smiled. She wondered what they would think if they realised the group of kids in this very car had been the ones to discover the tapes and shift the tide in Julian's favour. 

No one would probably believe it. 

"Hey Lola, good to see you alive. Those serial killer documentaries almost never end well," Edward finally greeted her and she smiled at his unconventional greeting while Hanna hit his arm. 

"Tyler's not a serial killer," Hanna admonished and then she turned to Lola. "He isn't, right? Is that was you discovered?"

"No," Lola laughed. The comfort of being with this familiar group of friends washed over like a nice warm bath. She felt completely at ease but then her heart sunk when she realised Julian wasn't here. The person who had brought the group together.

"Damien, why did Julian ignore us this morning?" Lola asked and the car turned quiet as the girls and Edward waited for Damien's answer. 

Damien avoided her gaze by looking into the rearview mirror even though there was no car behind them. "I have no idea. We kind of fought about it this afternoon after he brushed you off." 

"Did he just use us and now he wants nothing to do with us?" Nalini asked angrily. 

"No, he didn't. I don't understand either. Every time I ask him he brushes me off and makes me swear I would never tell anyone about us." Damien's eyebrows furrowed as he answered and he gripped the steering wheel tightly. 

"Where is he now?" Lola really wanted to ask why wasn't he here with them, but she didn't want to seem too obvious or desperate. Although it was clear that she liked a guy who didn't want anything to do with her anymore. 

Damien hesitated before answering in a small voice. "Natalie offered to drop him home. The last I saw him was before they drove off together." 

Lola slumped against her seat. She couldn't help it. Her chest caved in and a feeling of emptiness settled inside, replacing her heart that had just fallen to her feet. She could stamp on it with her shoes but Julian had already done that for her.

"Wow, he really is a douchebag," Edward replied in a shocked voice. "Shall I admit that I doctored the tapes, that Julian is indeed a guilty cow." 

"No, that's not right," Lola finally said. She had been scared out of her wits with Tyler, then excited to see her friends but now all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and watch some sappy kdrama. 

Even that reminded her of Julian and how they had watched some side by side in her bed. He had been right behind her, just a hair's breadth away, she could almost remember his warmth and the feeling of his arms around her when they had hugged. 

Now the memory felt like a punch to her gut because he was currently out with his ex-girlfriend. The one who had been with him for years. Everyone knew about them but no one knew about her. All Lola had was a hug and hidden encounters no one knew about. 

It was as good as her imagination. 

"Don't worry Lola, we're here for you," Hanna said and everyone agreed. 

"Yeah, screw that no hoper. We're going to heaven for helping him and we'll all be laughing down at him from up there," Nalini said. She turned around to look at Lola, her slim body twisting under the seatbelt. "Now tell us what you found girl!"

"Oh yeah." Lola had almost forgotten her biggest discovery of the day. "Do you remember Mr. Lennox, the substitute teacher who disappeared after the mid terms?" 

Everyone drew a blank look for a few seconds until Nalini refreshed their memories. "The handsome guy who used to take history and Spanish sometimes." 

"Oh yeah, he was dreamy," Hanna admitted earning a look from Edward. 

"I found a picture of him in Tyler's room. Hidden under his bed." The car had fallen silent, the suspense growing with each word coming out of  Lola's mouth. "Guys I think he is Tyler's brother." 

This revelation brought on a series of questions and doubts but they had already reached Lola's house and the lights were on, indicating that her parents were already home, most likely preparing dinner. 

"Why did he disappear right after the leak?" Nalini pondered for the hundredth time. "Guys this can't be a coincidence. This guy disappearing, Tyler, Eva and Fiona together. We have something here, I just don't know what."

"We need to meet again," Damien concluded. 

"With or without Julian?" Edward asked the question that had been on Lola's mind. 

"Shouldn't he be there since we are technically doing this FOR him," Nalini added crossly.

Damien sighed, looking helpless. "I'll talk some sense into him, okay." 

"I should get going," Lola said, swinging her bag over her shoulder and getting out of the car. "Thanks for saving my butt back there. See you guys." 

"Bye Lola," Everyone chimed before she shut the door and walked into her house. 

Lola washed up and had dinner with her parents who were talking about the murder investigation again. Her mother was the most excited about the whole thing. She kept mentioning Julian's name, going on about what a poor thing he was for being framed like that. 

All talk about him reminded her of Natalie and put her mood off. She almost wanted to tell her mother that up until a week ago, her mother had warned her every night to lock her windows in case Julian broke in to murder her.

Once dinner was done she quickly excused herself and rushed to her room. Lola tried to do some homework but she felt so down, she had only finished about a quarter before giving up and settling on "200 pound beauty" one of her favourite movies.

She didn't realise she had dozed off until she heard something hit her window. She woke up with a jolt and realised it was raining softly outside and the trees were dancing in that creepy way they usually did when the wind was strong. 

Something tapped her window again and she nearly screamed when she saw someone crouched on her roof, next to her window pane. She clasped her hand to her mouth, ready to dash to her parents bedroom but then she recognised Julian. 

His hair and dark shirt was soaked. His dark blue eyes caught the moonlight and he smiled making her feel dizzy. 

She rushed to the window and opened it silently. "What the hell are you doing?" She hissed. 

Julian pushed past her and jumped into her room with an ease that alarmed her. He walked to her bathroom and washed his face, then took a towel from the drawer where she usually kept them. 

"Julian." Lola crossed her arms over each other and planted her feet firmly on the floor because this felt a lot like a dream and it made her shaky. "Get out. And give me back my towel."

Julian wiped his face and stared at her making her want to melt into the floor like butter. Why did he have to look so handsome tonight and why was he staring at her like that? 

"I needed to see you. I want to explain why I've been acting like a dick." 

"At least you're self aware," Lola muttered making Julian smile. 

"I've missed you," He said, moving closer. "These past few days have been madness and I've had no one to share it with." 

Lola sat down on her bed while he sat across from her, on a chair. "You must have had time to share it with Natalie on your drive back today." She said automatically and then wished she hadn't.

Julian's smile widened. "You're jealous. She just gave me a ride home, Lola. Most probably out of guilt."

"No, I'm not jealous. I don't care. You can do whatever you want." Lola shook her head, her long hair brushing her shoulders. 

"I can do whatever I want?" Julian mimicked her words as a question and shifted his chair closer to her. 

She nodded stiffly and he took her hands in his making Lola shiver. He was freezing. 

She jumped up instinctively. "You need a warm change of clothes. I think I still have some of my dad's from when you were here." She moved to look for them but Julian grabbed her wrist. 

"I'm sorry I ignored you today. It killed me to do so but the killer is still out there and someone was watching your house that night. I've already gotten you involved I didn't want anyone to get suspicious of our sudden friendship." 

Lola considered his words which she hated to admit made some sense. 

"Everyone already knows you guys have been hanging out with Damien but not me. I'll ease into it slowly, Lola. This whole thing, us," Julian mumbled, his voice low. 

Lola nodded softly and slipped her hand out of his to look for some dry clothes. She didn't want to think about the word 'us' and what it meant to him. 

"Here," She dumped a fresh pair of pants and a shirt on her bed and he grabbed it. 

"Just like old times." Julian murmured, picking them up and heading to the bathroom to change. 

Lola's stomach was in knots, she didn't know why she felt so nervous but it only got worse when Julian came out and sat on the bed with her. He was sitting at the edge, far away from her and she was torn between wanting to send him out the window and wanting to hug him again. 

"So is that all you wanted to say?" She asked. 

"I wanted to see you. To make sure you were fine. I heard you went to Tyler's house. Lola, you know how much I hate that guy--"

"I know." Lola waved her hand cutting him off. "And you were right."

Lola told him about how creepy Tyler's house had been, how his dad was never there and his brother Mr. Lennox and his timely disappearance after the leaked paper incident. 

"It has to be him." Julian murmured, stroking her hair. 

She didn't realise that they had settled into bed during the conversation and her head was now against Julian's chest while he played with her hair. 

"Mmmm," She mumbled feeling too comfortable and sleepy. "Julian, you're not embarrassed to been seen with me, are you?" 

The words were a whisper, she thought he wouldn't hear them but he sighed loudly. "No, not ever. I can't wait for all of this to be over and for the real killer to be caught so I can stop worrying about you. Please promise me you'll stop going anywhere alone with Tyler. Please."

"Yeah. Yeah." Lola answered between yawns. 

Julian chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "Go to sleep, sleepy head. I'll sneak out before sunrise." 

Lola fell asleep to the sound of his beating heart, the two of them too wrapped up in each other to notice the headlights of an idling car light up. Neither of them heard the low thrumming of engines as that car pulled out from across the street and drove off into the night. 

Guysss sorry for the delay and thanks for waiting. Hope you guys enjoyed esp the last part hehe :)