L: Hey baby

Me: Hi

L: My chocolate cupcake

Me: Hi?

L:My personal treat

Me: ...

L: Baby

Me: What is it?

Me: You're acting weird

L: What? Can't I just explore cliché nicknames with my girlfriend?

Me: Yeah but u only do that when u want something

L: Wuut rn

Me: Studying why?

L: Party tonight, Wanna come?

Me: Um...it's a school night

L: Baby come on, I'll be bored

Me: Liam I can't

L: L

L: Don't you love me?

Me: Fine what time?

L: I'll pick you up

Me: My mom

L: Window

Me: Okay

L: Look out your window

I nearly scream when I see his smirk in front of me.

He waves and points to the lock.

I open the window and watch as his materialized self steps into my bedroom.

He pecks on my lips then takes a short glimpse our eyes caught shortly then he deepens the kiss biting my lip gently pulling it.

"Hi."

I get chills.

This effect he has on me is inexplicable.

Every touch burns me and I like it.

I can taste the nicotine in his breath like I'm the one who's smoking.

"Won't you reply?" He asks his hand on my wrist tightening.

Ow, that's new.

"Hi."

"Let's go."

He says his hand releasing mine slowly.

"But, I need to change."

I'm just in black jeans and his black hoodie from the day we met.

I love the smell of cigarettes on it, it's just so cosy.

"I like my hoodie on you."

My legs feel like jelly but I'm somehow climbing out of my window now.

Ah, the things I've been up to lately in the past three weeks.

Thirty minutes later

His arm wrapped around my waist hasn't left since we arrived even when we're sitting on the couch all it does is just wrap itself around my shoulders more protectively.

The stares I'm getting from the guys in here are just plain creepy.

I'm just so uncomfortable here, it's not fun.

The music is loud and all the rooms are dimmed to either red, green, blue or purple.

Everybody here is either smoking weed, sniffing coke or drinking beer.

I swore to not do any of those things, living with a person that does all these teaches lessons.

Do they not pay attention to all those ads on TV about people dying from substance abuse?

Seriously people, they're all school kids most of which are kids from our school.

"I'm gonna grab us a few beers." Liam says getting up, "No, I don't-"

But he's already gone.

Now I'm alone with giggling strangers and one dude with his gaze fixated on me.

Suddenly I want to pee.

Trying to look inconspicuous I get up quickly in the direction of the bathrooms.

There's a neon sign right above the doorway telling me the place I'm trying to go.

I wade through a dense crowd and step into probably the filthiest room in this house.

My bladder is really pissing me off right now.

I didn't drink anything tonight.

Well at least the stalls are empty.

Of course!

The hand dryer's dead.

The mirror is so filthy, the grime on it is probably three centimeters thick and some weirdo kissed it multiple times, red lipstick and all.

Nasty.

I turn sharply and collide into somebody's chest.

I bounce right of and look up a bit confused.

"Sorry I-"

I'm cut off by my hands being locked above my head my back planted firmly against the sink in an odd position.

"I've been watching you for a while. You're with Liam right?"

It's the creep from earlier.

He followed me.

His breath wreaks of alcohol and coffee, just the worst blend.

Egh.

"Why don't we have a little fun huh?"

I'm about to answer but I'm cut off again this time by Liam's body tackling this guy's.

He lands hard punches all over him, he doesn't fight back.

I walk up to the scene and see Liam's angriest expression, the poor guy on the floor is starting to look deformed.

Painful crunches follow his brutal beating as he bleeds from multiple sutures his skull looking like it's actually caving in.

He is going to kill him.

"Liam stop!"

He is so full of rage but he doesn't hear me.

The guy's stopped moving, "Liam you'll kill him!" I scream.

Nothing.

I try grabbing his arm to pull him toward me, he's so strong.

I manage to force him up but he keeps kicking, sweat building.

"Liam!"

His breathing is heavy and he stops looking at the severely injured limp body in front of him.

His knuckles bloodied but he wipes them off with the end of his shirt.

He turns to look at me quickly his breathing slowing and his anger subsiding.

For the first time I'm terrified, the fire burning in his eyes it's unnatural.

It's the same fire I see when we're at school and another guy looks at me, the same violence when a rival says my name the same possessive behavior whenever I just want to be away from him for just a day.

I look away but his hand touches my cheek lifting it up to his, "Are you okay?"

His eyes look deeply into mine boring into my soul.

I remove his hand from my cheek and say

"I can't do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"You and me. It's not healthy, I didn't even want to come here. Your violence, you're possessive and jealous all the time...you take me to places I don't want to go-"

His hand grabs my waist squeezing tightly the other holding my chin up forcefully, "But I'm just protecting you."

"But I could have handled it-"

"Handled what?! His dick in your pants?"

I fixate my gaze on the floor but he lifts it assertively his hold on me tightening.

"Liam you're hurting me."

My sides are burning his nails digging into my skin painfully.

"Lena I'm infatuated with you. You can't say no to me. When you're gone I can't think straight. I'm up at night with you on my mind."

I try so hard to push him away but he's like a wall.

"Don't you get it? We're meant to be together forever."

I'm horrified and petrified by the calm in his voice as he says these things.

"Liam this is a toxic relationship let me go!"

"Don't you understand? I love you Lena. You intoxicate me, your name, your voice, your body. Everything about you. My dreams are full of you."

Tears well in my eyes as the pain intensifies.

"If you were to leave me then everybody would know about your mother, you...the bodies."

I can't believe what he's saying, he promised to keep the secret now he's blackmailing me.

Those secrets are fragile...it's social suicide on a platter.

"You'll learn to love me."

He loosens his grip and kisses my cheeks till they dry up.

My whimpers are quiet now and I have to force myself to stop.

Will they ever stop?

"Shh sh sh...don't cry. You'll see very soon. I love you Lena and you will too. I love you."

I don't recognize him, he's a stranger in my eyes. A psychopath I never realized existed yet he's right here in front of me.

Months after this, the abuse got worse.

I became his object always on a pedestal at parties, sold drugs for him, he insisted on picking me up every morning and taking me home.

He'd hit me, strangle me any time he felt I was being disobedient.

All this my peers at school refused to see.

I'd cover up the black eyes he'd give me with makeup but often after the beating, he'd pull me out of school and out for dinner at some place to make it up to me.

If he was out of town anytime, he'd make sure someone gave me a cupcake with a twisted message handwritten by him.

Every single day I was haunted by him, the words "I won't stop until I make you mine."

He'd never leave, the terror doesn't leave, he's always watching.

I faced this at home, now at school.

I was his accomplice for all of his killing sprees, I knew how to get rid of the bodies.

As long as I behaved and kept his secret, he'd keep mine...that's the only reason why I stayed for so long. I stayed in hell hoping it'd get better telling my self that it's love.

With time all of this got worse.

So I mustered up all the courage I had left and got him arrested.

Tipped the police off about the drugs and his place was full of them.

I'm going to regret it one day.

Not today.

Nor tomorrow.

Some day.

And today is that day...