I had no idea how I had lost them but I found myself once again pounding on the steering wheel, cursing at myself for screwing up. Josh and his stupid cousin Scott left the house at nine thirty and I had been following them ever since. If he was going to do anything to Delanie, I had to stop it. My phone had been going off with text messages all day, asking if I'm going to this party or that party. The only party I was going to, was the one where I got to fuck Josh up, wherever that may be.

There was no doubt in my mind that if there was a party going on, Delanie would be there. Considering she had all of that alcohol I wouldn't be surprised if she was hosting a party and specifically said 'If you invite Jayden Breeze I will not allow you in'. My heart jumped as I saw the black SUV come flying out of a liquor store parking lot. I immediately started tailing them again. Whatever Josh had up his sleeve, I would stop it.

After following them for another ten minutes, I realized where they were heading to; Delanie's house. I grabbed my phone and checked through some of my last messages that I hadn't bothered to read. Bingo. One from Jason only an hour ago, asking if I was going to James and Delaine's for the party. My heart was racing as I realized what this could mean.

If Delanie was at home, she would have access to five crates of Vodka; she would be drunker than drunk. That meant that Josh planned on doing something bad, something that Delanie needed to be drunk for or else he would have done it sooner. Then it clicked. I started speeding down the road not bothering to keep a safe following distance between me and them. I just wanted to beat them there before anything would happen to Delanie.

Red and blue lights started flashing behind me, followed by a siren. Was I really about to get pulled over? The cop car was staying right behind me, yes I was getting pulled over. Just my luck, God I hope I get there in time to stop him.

I knew I should tell him to stop before he got the wrong idea but the way he was kissing my neck and gripping my hips made me feel so good. It had been a long time since I had sex with somebody and I wasn't sure if I was ready to sleep with Josh. Although with every second that passed it was getting harder and harder to resist him. His shirt had long since come off and his warm body was soft and muscular against me, muscles are such a weakness of mine.

"Delanie." he whispered into my ear "I have something to tell you." He brushed his lips against mine and it sent shivers down my spine. "I love you."

Did he really just say that to me? He hadn't even asked me to be his girlfriend but yet he was telling me that he loved me? I didn't know what to say; I thought maybe this was just his way of trying to get me to have sex with him. But he sounded sincere, I didn't have a response for him so instead I pulled his lips back down on mine and kissed him as hard as I could. His hands found the button on my shorts and I gulped as he undid them. Was this really about to happen? When there was twenty people downstairs.. shouldn't this be more... special?

"Josh... I don't think we should do that now." It killed me to be saying it because in all honesty I really wanted to but I knew I would regret it in the morning. If I slept with him now, then he may never ask me to be his girlfriend. Then I would just be a slut.

"Shh, I know you want to." He said, kissing my neck again.

I heard something smash followed by a lot of screaming and yelling. Without giving it a second thought I shoved Josh off of me with all of my might and bolted for the door. If somebody was fighting in my house, I would kill them. I grabbed the baseball bat that leaned against the wall in my brother's room and ran down the stairs. Before I hit the last set, I felt hands pulling me back.

"Josh fuck off!" I yelled loudly. He wasn't letting go, and I could feel him trying to slip his hand down my shorts. He just wasn't acting like himself tonight. So I had no choice. I elbowed him hard in the balls and ran downstairs. I was more than shocked to see everybody standing around quietly watching as Jayden held up a guy by his shirt against a wall. This was the guy that made me hate players, that made me so cautious and broke my heart. Scott Omega.

I approached him cautiously and slowly, hoping he saw the hate brewing in my eyes. There was nothing I would have loved more than to beat the living shit out of him in front of everybody. I hated him with everything I had. He told me he loved me, slept with me and dumped me not even five minutes after. To top it all off, I had been drunk and at one of Jason's parties. I hated him; Despised him and would forever have a wall around me for guys. He ruined my life.

Cali and Amanda came running from upstairs, Jason and Alec close behind. Who knew what took them so long to hear the commotion. Both of their jaws dropped and Jason looked like he was ready to kill Scott. Jason knew how much he hurt me, because he was the person I cried to right after it happened. Jayden was glaring at Scott and raised his fist to hit him in his already bleeding nose.

"I know you came here with him, now where did he take her? I won't let him hurt her!" He yelled, sending bits of spit flying in his face.

"Look behind you, idiot." Scott choked out. Jayden whipped around and saw me standing there. His face that was just full of rage and anger only moments ago, lightened to relief when he saw me standing there. His eyes dart down and I know he must see the button of my jeans undone, but I don't dare draw attention to it by reaching to do it up. I don't need these people judging me over it.

Then Josh came down the stairs, still limping from the blow he had received from me. I hated having to do that, because Josh was a really nice guy but he was just too drunk or something. At the sight of Josh, Jayden's face went cold and angry again. Then he was advancing on him.

"What did you do to her?" He boomed so loudly I have to cover my ears.

"He didn't do anything!" I yelled at him and pushed Jayden back from Josh. "If you want to help, get that asshole out of here!" I looked up angrily at Jayden; He shouldn't even be here. What was he doing in my house? He looked back at me, a confused look on his face and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"If you're not here to help me get this asshole out of my house, then you can go too." I crossed my arms and waited. Jayden looked between Josh and Scott, as if he was trying to decide if it really was Scott that I wanted out.

"Delanie..." Jayden began slowly. "They came here together."

"Jayden, enough!" I yelled at him. "Stop trying to convince me that Josh is a bad guy! I know he isn't okay?"

"Is that why he just tried to have sex with you upstairs?"

Scott's voice came from behind me; it was too close. I whipped around and there he was standing right behind me. I didn't even hesitate I just balled up my fist and whaled him as hard as I could in the jaw. The hit wasn't enough to knock him to the ground but I could tell I hurt him and that was all that mattered to me. How would he know that Josh wanted to sleep with me?

"Josh is my cousin. When I found out he was coming here this year, I told him about you. I told him how easy it was for me to sleep with you once I told you I loved you and he was into you from that moment on. He doesn't actually like you Delanie. All he wanted was to fuck you and then he was going to dump you, just like I did." His voice was cold and his smirk made him look like a heartless, cruel piece of shit that I wanted to beat to death.

"You're a target Delanie, you always will be as long as you wear your heart on your sleeve." Scott said coldly as he walked towards the door, grabbing Josh by the arm and dragging him out with him.

Everyone was silent. There was twenty or so people staring, watching the events unfold like it was a fucking television show. This isn't a show; It's just my life. My wonderful happy and normal life. I couldn't believe it. After everything I had said about Josh and how much I shared with him and liked him, he was just using me. Just like his asshole cousin did.

Jayden had been right all along. Josh really wasn't good for me; In fact, he was exactly the opposite. I hated him and I had no idea what I would do when I saw him at school. First thing, I was getting switched out of his Home Ec group, or maybe I should stay in it and poison him. My head was spinning, there was just too much going on and all I wanted to do was get drunk.

While everyone stood around and slowly started mumbling and whispering about what had happened, I held my hands up in the air and walked away. I opened the garage door and grabbed one case of Vodka. It was heavy, but I got it into the kitchen and on the counter. Everyone looked around at me and confused expressions on their faces. I lifted out a bottle and smiled.

"Drinks are on me."

An hour later, I was sitting outside on the deck alone. The party was back to its original state and everyone was enjoying themselves again. Except for me. I drank almost a full bottle of vodka to myself and I could not feel drunk enough to take away the pain of what happened. I had been so close to sleeping with Josh, so unbelievably close and then I would have been hurt all over again, and by Scott's cousin.

How can some guys be some cruel? One comes to my mind that wasn't so cruel tonight. Jayden. He came barging into my house, knowing that something was going to happen. He was trying to protect me and if I didn't have such a hate out for him things could have gone a lot better. I owed him my sanity, I really did. If he hadn't had come here, I would have been in a lot worse shape.

I took another big gulp of vodka and looked up at the stars. They were shining brighter than usual and I could make out the little dipper perfectly. When I was little, I loved searching for the different constellations. I would stare up at the sky for hours and hours with my mom and dad before they stopped caring about us. Maybe if they were around more, I would be more smart about boys and relationships...

"Delanie?" I heard somebody call my name. I knew it was him.

Instead of answering, I got up off the deck and flung myself at him. I hugged him as if my life depended on it and did not let go. He hugged me back, I could smell his cologne, and it was so comforting to me. Before I knew it, he picked me up in his arms and sat down on the deck so I was in his lap. When I began to cry, he rubbed my back and smoothed down my hair, carefully avoiding the area where my head was cut.

"I should have listened to you." I choked out the words. "You were just trying to protect me and I got mad at you for it." He said nothing back to me. He just continued rubbing my back and held me tight until I fell asleep in his arms.

I wish I could kill those two guys. I do a lot of bad things to girls, I can admit that but I would never do what they did to Delanie. She didn't deserve to be hurt, she was just too good of a person. That's why I wanted her. I could keep her safe and make sure that she doesn't get hurt ever again. I would rather kill myself than see her beautiful face cry. It killed me to hear her sobbing like she was only a few minutes ago.

When I peered down at her face, I could tell she was asleep. Her face was relaxed and hopefully she was far away in a dream, a dream where she could be happy. I carefully stood up with her still in my arms and carried her inside the house. Mostly everyone had left and now it was only our main group of friends and James. They all looked at me expectedly when I came in and I just nodded before carrying Delanie up to her bedroom. It killed me to know that only a few hours ago, Delanie was up here with Josh, almost having sex with him.

As carefully as I could, I laid her down and put a light blanket over her body. I stood for a moment, watching her sleep. I wanted to climb in the bed with her and just hold her for a little while. Hold her so I knew that she would be safe. I wouldn't put it past that asshole to come back and try to finish what he started. What if I only stayed for just a minute?

I moved around to the other side of the bed and carefully climbed in behind her. When I put my arm around her, she grabbed onto my hand and whispered something so softly that I could barely understand what she said. It sounded like 'stay'.