Billie Eilish, Khalid- Lovely

Madison Beer- Dear Society

Shawn Mendes- Act Like You Love Me (I got emotional remembering this song idk why someone help)

A/N: WOW THANKS FOR 3k READS ILY GUYS!!! 4k maybe??? ;))

Damien's POV

"Jane. Wassup," I say, my mouth dry at the sight of her.

Jane stands in the doorway with anger written on her face. Although the hallway is dark, the light in her apartment highlights her long smooth legs. She's wearing a material that could've been easily mistaken for a bra, and booty shorts. She looks fucking amazing.

"What?" She snaps. "The fuck you doing here?"

"Jane, no need to be so mad!" I let out a thin laugh.

"Really?" She shrills before slamming the door. My feet catches it in time.

"Look. I know you're mad about the other night. My bad."

"My bad? You better fuck out my face before I throw some shit at you." Her voice rises with each word and I hear a string of curses from the next door.

She's pissed off, which I don't blame her, but I know she'd do anything to let me stay. She's just playing her games.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Please let me in?" She eyes the bag in my hand but doesn't comment on it.

She swallows. "Don't you have a girlfriend to fuck? I'm sure Hope is waiting."

I flinch at the mention of her name, but I slip on a grin to ignore the burning ache slowly rising in my chest. "I don't have one. Not anymore."

"So what am I then? A second thought? The one you run to after she's done with your pathetic ass?"

"Shut the fuck up!" I hear, what sounded like an old lady, from the other door.

"Of course not. I was bored with her. You know you're the one I always want." I easily lie despite my heart breaking to talk about her that way. I step closer to her to speed up the process. "Let me in, please?"

She inhales and stares at me for a moment. She doesn't say anything as she backs up and lets the door close behind me. I place the bag by the door and walk towards her.

"I've missed you," I grin at her.

She licks her lips. "Prove it." Her voice is almost a whisper.

She doesn't need to tell me twice. Maybe she's the perfect distraction I need to get my mind off a certain dark skinned girl with hazel eyes.

I grab her, a bit roughly, and slam her against the wall just the way she likes. I grab her chin and tilt it upwards. My mouth easily finds her and I let my tongue glide against hers. I hear a ragged moan and then she's tugging at my hair, hard. Fuck.

My mouth still on hers, I remove my sweater and break only to toss my shirt before continuing. My hands move down to her body, rubbing and teasing just below the waistline of her shorts.

She can no longer contain herself. She grabs my hand and shoves it into the front of her shorts, eventually backing me to the couch. I drop on it and wait for her next move, breathing heavily in anticipation. She removes and tosses her shorts and grabs my hands again, shoving it against her breasts. I squeeze it, reveling the sounds of her moans.

As we fuck on her couch, I can't stop my mind from wandering to her. Nor can I stop the unbearable pain of being with someone that isn't her.

But it had to be done.

Hope's POV

I shrink into my black jacket, trying to keep warm against the cold air. I focus on the soft crunch under my boots as I step on the light snow that has frozen over the pavement.

I look over to my cousin beside me, who seems unfazed.

"Remind me why I let you drag me to that horrible movie again," I whine for the umpteenth time.

"Because it's the best movie you've ever seen!" She says exasperated. "You just have horrible tastes."

I roll my eyes at her. "I can say the same about you." I squeeze my jacket tighter in a failing attempt to keep myself warm. "It's too cold. Let's take a shortcut."

We cut through a dark and dirty alley. A group of guys are huddled on the other end, sitting on an apartment stairs.

One of them walk towards us as we pass them. "Hey where you out to? Come chill with us." He licks his lips as he regards Isabelle. The stench of weed quickly fills the night and I wince.

She glares at him. "No thanks."

"Come on. It's all good, Ma." He's grinning at her despite the rejection. He grabs her arms and she tries to pull back. When that fails, she kicks him in the groin.

"Fuck!" He doubles over in pain. His friends join him at his side and we start to run.

My feet halts as I feel it lift slightly into the air. Someone has grabbed us by the back of our jackets. "Where you think you going, huh? You better come with us if you know what's good for you!"

"Fuck off!" Isabelle yells while I keep my mouth shut. I am too frightened and my heart is hammering against my chest. I can't think. I can't speak.

He threatens her before she stomps on his feet and tells him to go to hell. "I'd rather die."

He snarls. "Oh yeah? You sure about that?" A gun appears in his hand. I don't know how it got there. I don't know anything right now. I'm shaking and unable to move. A loud and unkeen sound rings in my ears.

His friend yells something at him before he yells back. The ringing in my ear prevents me from hearing anything. What is going on? And why is it so hot?

A second or a minute pass before a loud popping sound breaks through the noise in my head.

The next thing I know I am on the ground, gasping for air. My chest hurts. Why does it hurt? Why is it so hot? What the hell is going on? Isabelle hovers in front of me, staring at me blankly.

Help me! I try to yell at her but nothing comes out. What the hell?

A dark figure comes to stand above me, blocking my view of my cousin. He lifts his hoodie and the streetlight illuminates a handsome guy with hazel eyes, speckled with green.

He smiles at me. "Hope."

My chest eases and I can finally breathe again. "Damien?" I return the smile.

"Take my hand." He says, a grin still plastered on his face. I nod and reach for him. At the same time, he reaches in his pocket and I'm face to face with a black object, the small ominous hole at the front glaring at me. At my head.

A gun.

He pulls the trigger.

***

I wake up, choking and gasping for air. My hands scratch at my face and neck without my consent, my body feeling as if it's on fire. The air won't fill my lungs, however, and I fall off my bed trying to breathe.

The door opens then. "Hope! Hope, breathe." I hear my mother's voice filled with panic. I try to obey her command but my lungs won't fill with air. I shake my head, trying to convey the message.

"Look at me. Look. At. Me. I want you to breathe, okay sweetie? Look at me and breathe. It's okay. Take a deep breath." She tries to calm me down. I finally look at her. Her voice is steady and calm albeit the tears streaming down her face.

"Breathe. It's okay, I got you. I got you. Just breathe, okay?"

My lungs slowly fill with air and when I am able to breathe normally again, I choke again on a sob. I close my mouth trying to fight back the tears.

She wraps her arms around me, gently laying her head on mine. "Hope, it's okay to cry. Let it out." As soon as she says it, I'm unable to stop the wail that escapes my throat. I cling tighter to her body.

Minutes later, my wails come down to a small whimper. My heart is still pounding loudly in my ears, but I focus on my mother's soothing words.

"You want to talk about it?" She asks softly after several minutes of complete silence.

I shake my head and she nods. She strokes my hair on her lap and it occasionally distracts me from the horrible dream I was forced to experience. I refuse to shut my eyes, however, because the images will continue to vividly play.

***

After several hours, I'm still on the floor. My mother had told me funny childhood stories in an attempt to lighten my mood before she had to leave for a meeting.

After another hour of staring at the pink ceiling, I decide to get up. I check the alarm clock on my dresser. It is 10.

Crap.

I am terribly late for school. I don't even remember the alarm going off.

Mom must've been the one to turn off the alarm. I realize with a small jolt of surprise that she allowed me to miss school. She's very strict on me about that, but I must've seemed distraught or something.

I turn to my bed. Throne of Glass lays open on my pillow. I must've slept reading since the light was on when I woke up.

I shiver, the events in my dream playing before my eyes. I crawl under my sheets and tried to continue my book but even that isn't enough to stop the images.

I replace my pajamas with sweatpants and a tank top, and tread up the plush red stairs to the gym room.

"Take my hand."

I take in a sharp breath as I pause. I clench my teeth and pick up my pace until I'm shoving the door open.

Despite the fact that I haven't been in here for weeks, the place is polished clean thanks to Mellie.

I don't bother prepping my hands with tape first. I allow the images to play before my eyes while I punch and kick at the bag. My anger and despair unfurls as I use the bag as an outlet.

When that doesn't feel enough, I scream in frustration. It helps a little and I don't stop until the door opens suddenly and Mellie, the cleaner, rushes in.

"Miss Hope, what is it?" She rushes to me. My body is shaking with anger and I don't realize I'm on the floor until she's towering over me.

"Miss Hope, get up. What is it?" I hear Mellie say. I don't want to hear her. I don't want to hear anything. I thought I told her to just call me Hope?

"Miss Hope, stand up." Her hand brushes my shoulder. "Come on. Take my hand." I flinch and scramble back.

I'm going crazy. I'm going mad. It's confirmed when I look into her eyes.

"What-" She begins, taking a step towards me.

"Fuck off! Just... go!" I yell in frustration. I don't know why. I should be nice to her. By trying not to think, it's doing more damage.

She scampers off wearing a frightened expression. I lay back against the wall, trying to calm myself.

Take my hand.

I squeeze my eyes shut to get the image out of my head to no avail. My chest is heaving rapidly and I play my mother's words as she helped calm me down earlier.

I don't know how long I sat there, but a soft knock pulls me from my thoughts.

"Hope?" My dad says from the other side of the door.

"Come in." My voice sounds hoarse and weak.

"Hey, gumdrop." He comes and sit next to me on the floor, despite him being dressed in a crisp tuxedo.

"You know. I hate it when you call me that."

"Exactly." He wraps an arm around me and pulls me in. I lean into his embrace. "Your mother told me what happened. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I was in a meeting about the nuclear arms reduction deal."

"How did it go?" I ask nosily.

"You know I can't tell you that," He laughs. "But let's just say I'm a convincing guy and Armeen can't resist for long." He winks at me and I return with a smile.

Another knock comes from the other side of the door. "Come in." My dad calls.

Patricia, the new assistant secretary, pops her head inside. "Uh, Mr. President? In two minutes you're scheduled to have a video call with the Prime-"

"Cancel it."

"But Mr. President. It's urgent. It's about the o-"

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," She says quickly. "You also have a meeting in the Cabinet Room in 43 minutes with David Stokes, Mark Nolan, Toby Turner, Lindsay Rhee-"

"Clear my schedule today, will you?"

"But... I'll make the call," She says, her ears getting more red by the second. She closes the door very slowly, as if hoping he'd change his mind.

I look up at him in confusion and surprise. "Dad, you didn't need to do that."

"As the President of the United States, it's my job to deal with problems based on priority. You, of course, are my first priority." He casually shrugs. "So I'll sit here with you until you're feeling better."

I lay my head on his lap and look at him. I can't help the smile on my face. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, huh?" I say sarcastically.

"Only my favorite one." Then he lowers his voice. "Don't tell your mother."

I let out a laugh. "I know something to make me feel better."

"What's that?"

"Black Ops. And you can't let me win, you have to promise."

"Promise. I'll smoke you in two seconds, then," He grins.

I roll my eyes, the ache in my chest ebbing slightly. "We'll see about that."

Damien's POV

"Jane," I whisper in her ears. She turns onto her back, exposing her breasts to me.

"Yes?" She whispers back with a smile. We've had sex all night, eventually ending up in her bed. I won't lie to myself, it was a much needed release after waiting for so damn long. I tried to tell myself it's because I need something from her but my subconscious knew better.

"I need you to do something for me," I answer as I trace my fingers along her stomach.

"Anything." She swallows as I trace my fingers under her belly button.

"I need you to be an alibi."

"What?" She sits up, interrupting my finger movements. She doesn't bother hiding herself with the sheets. What's the point? I'm very familiar with her body anyways.

"I need you to be an alibi," I patiently repeat even though I know she heard me.

"For what? Why? Why me?" She squints her eyes in suspicion.

"Because I trust you, of course. I wouldn't have come to you otherwise."

"Really?" She snaps.

"That's not what I meant. I mean to say... I wouldn't ask anyone else. I have a friend. His name is Bryce Ackley. I'm going to need you to remember that. You've actually met before at one of my parties. The dude that stole your blunt the same night the cops came because of noise complaints? You can see this as owing him back for getting in trouble for you." In reality, Bryce bribed the cops $300 to let him go, but that didn't need to be said.

"You're going to say you've met him at Cellie's party." I felt bad for dragging Cellie into this but it had to be believable. Jane was always getting invited to her parties so it would be an easy lie. "On Friday night, something is going to happen and you need to be his alibi, just in case. Cellie's having her party that night. You're gonna be there anyway, so say you were with him the entire night and that you both came back to your apartment. You both came home around 8 pm, you're not too sure. You hung out, you had sex. Around 10 pm, he left for his job. You barely know the guy except his name. He left his sweater and you still have it. I brought it here in a bag by your door. And he put money in there as a little thank you. You got it? " I say everything slowly for it to sink.

She eyes me for a moment, blinking rapidly as if she's trying to process everything I just said. "What's going to happen?"

"I can't tell you. If the police tells you and you look like you already knew, then it's over."

"You didn't come here for me, did you?" The hurt look she gives me is evident before she gets off the bed and starts putting her clothes on.

"Does it matter?" I retort.

She pauses and glares at me before pulling her shorts up and running a hand through her hair.

"I'm not doing it."

"You owe him and you know it." I hesitate before adding in a low voice, "You owe me too." I'm as shocked as the expression on her face right now. She knows I'm talking about the night I saved her from her boyfriend. I'm a dick, but I have to try to get her to agree at all cost.

She marches over to me and slaps me. I welcome the stinging pain. "How dare you? You're just using me! You always have! You know how I feel about you and even though you don't feel the same way, I'm stupid enough to keep coming back to you and you just take advantage." Her voice gets louder until it starts to crack. "I thought we were good together and I was just waiting for you to see it. I keep pretending that you actually care and love me so that I can be happy. But you've proven to me just how blind I am. You're nothing past your looks and ego!"

"Jane, I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to say it like that. I care for you, I swear it. I've just been a shitty person lately and I'm sorry." I feel a tinge of regret.

"Funny how the only time I've ever seen you apologize is when you need something." She turns her back to me but I stand up and wrap my arms around her.

"I'm sorry." She doesn't move or say anything. "Jane, say something."

She turns, her face wet. "Fine. I'll do it. But I don't want to ever see your face again. Ever. If you see me at a party, you leave. If I'm walking down the block and you see me, you go the other way."

"Jane-"

"Don't fucking 'Jane' me! You always know how to talk to me to do what you want. You're just as bad as Derek." It takes a second to realize she's referring to her abusive ex.

I flinch. "I'm nothing like that dick. I know I've hurt you but none of it was intentional. I'll be better this time. I really am sorry." I mean it. I lost my love and I don't want to lose her too. Even if I don't want her the same way she wants me. I may not care about her as much as I should but I never cared about anyone except for Zach before I met Hope.

"Just go. Don't hurt me more than you already have. Please." Her eyes are silently pleading when she turns to me. I nod, unable to say anything. I'm also afraid that she would change her mind and not help me. I quickly put my clothes on and she doesn't look at me while she walks me to the door.

"I hope one day you change. I really do," She tells me as I step out of the door and into the hallway. "If not, you'll never truly be happy. You'll never see that there's women out there who deserves to be treated better and not be ruined by people like you." As the words hit my chest and punctures, she slams the door in my face.

*****

A/N: Currently taking a break from the story I'm writing (Hush). Working on a short story called Fatal Flaw that may or may not be ready by the time this book is finished. Please look out for it and thanks for the support!

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