Andrew held onto my waist tightly, supporting his other hand on my spine, keeping me from falling. My head lolled to my side. I could barely keep my eyes open.

He look shocked, his brown irises expanded with worry. "Keighlah, what–what–wait." He came up short and I felt his fingers slowly loop around the edge of my dress near my neck. He shifted it slightly away and gasped out loud.

"What is this?"

Andrew touched the area where Felix had bit into and I jolted away, the sudden flashback hitting my mind painfully.

"Don't touch me!" My head swirled, making me trip over the mattress, falling down on a chair and thankfully, not on the floor. I pulled back the dress and quickly covered as much skin as I could. Andrew looked flabbergasted. He stood in the same spot, breathing heavily, and stared at me.

"Keighlah," he said, slowly, carefully. "Koko, it's just me."

Andrew took a step forward. When I didn't react, he came closer and kneeled down in front of me. He placed his hands on my lap and started rubbing my thighs in a soothing manner. I relaxed slightly, letting go of my collar that I had been tightly holding onto.

"Keighlah." He called out, softly, and placed a hand on my cheek, forcing me to look at him. He thumbed away a few teardrops from under my eye, and he asked, "What happened, Koko? Please, tell me."

I started shaking my head. In no way was I going to say anything. I couldn't tell him, it was too embarrassing. I couldn't tell him.

"No, no, look at me." He stood on his knees and rose to my eye level. He gently grabbed my face in his hands. "Please. Tell me, Koko. Please."

Please don't, stop.

My mind went back to Felix, and I shivered, feeling cold once again. I looked at Andrew. His face was fierce, but his eyes held a worry in them, a tenderness which showed he cared.

I couldn't take it anymore. I broke down again.

"Oh my God," Andrew yanked me towards him, hugging me tightly. I buried my face into his chest as I clung onto his shirt, whimpering as the force of the sobs almost rocked my heart out of my chest.

Pathetic. You're so pathetic, Keighlah.

"Fe–Felix." I pushed out of my throat. "He . . . he–"

I heard Andrew take in a sharp breath as his body grew stiff against mine, his hands on my back stilling. His breathing picked up and he spoke in a hard, emotionless voice. "Stop. I understood."

"No!" I moved away from his chest and looked into his eyes. "No, I didn't let him–"

"Good." Andrew said, smoothing my hair with his palm. He had paled, his face turning an ashen shade of brown. His eyes dropped to my neck, where the mark was. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly, as if in pain, and looked away.

He swore and hugged me once more, caressing my back. "You're so brave, Keighlah."

I shook my head. "I don't feel brave at all."

"You don't know how brave you are." He looked at me, and to my surprise, his eyes were turning watery. "If something happened to you, I'd . . ."

His face twisted into a painful expression and he dropped his head on my shoulder, taking in a shuddering breath. Then he balled his fists and stood up, his face stiff with rage.

"That fucking bastard . . ." He growled and turned towards the door, and I immediately knew what was going on in his head.

"Andrew, don't, please." I sprang up from my seat and reached his shoulder. "Andrew, please, just let it go, don't go to his house–AH!"

In the spur of the moment, I had forgotten about my injured leg. I caught Andrew's forearm as the pain once again ripped through my foot, travelling through the length of my body.

"Christ, my leg!" I groaned.

"What happened to your leg?" Andrew asked, holding me.

"While I was running away, I stepped on a few pieces of broken glass. One of them pierced through my shoe and cut my foot."

"Oh no." He made me sit back on the chair and quickly pulled the shoe off. And the sight that revealed was grotesque. My entire underfoot was bloody. I could clearly see the cut, and it looked deep. It wasn't just a scratch as I had predicted it to be. The white of the shoe was stained with deep red.

"Shit, that looks bad," Andrew flinched.

"It feels pretty bad too, yeah."

Without uttering a word, Andrew picked me up in his arms effortlessly and carried me to my room. He gently dropped me on the bed and rushed to the bathroom, probably to get the first aid box. After fetching it, he sat down on the bed, taking my injured foot in his lap. I was grateful that he didn't have a look of disgust on his face as he tended to my wound. With a wet cloth, Andrew rubbed away the blood and proceeded to pour some alcohol on a clean piece of cloth. He pressed it against my wound and I winced, gripping his shoulder.

He winced too, and murmured an apology. After disinfecting the cut, he put an ointment on it and started bandaging it. As he rolled the bandage over my foot, I thanked him.

"Don't thank me, please," Andrew said. His face darkened and he looked away from my eyes, and stared hard at my foot. After finishing up the bandaging, he let go of my leg, gently putting it down on the bed. He wrung his fingers together and stared at them. I cocked my head on one side.

"Where did he . . ." He began, and took in a deep breath, as if collecting himself. "Where–where did he . . . t-touch you?"

I trembled and looked away, picking at my t-shirt. "Um . . . he–"

"You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable," he added hastily. "Scratch that, you're obviously uncomfortable. I just–it's. . ." He shook his head. I placed a hand on his.

"I know. It's just a little hard for me to recall everything when it all happened just a few hours ago."

He was staring at me with hard eyes. His breathing was laboured, like he was trying to bring control upon himself.

"Can you tell me one thing, please, I need to know." He asked in a strained voice. I nodded hesitantly.

He licked his lips. "Did he . . . kiss you?"

I remained quiet, my mind racing back to Felix when he had slammed his lips on mine. It sent shards of ice through my blood. After a moment, I replied, "Yes."

Andrew's nostrils flared. "Where?"

"My neck," I looked at him. "My lips."

Andrew looked like he could punch a truck into a river. Unexpectedly, he darted towards me, sitting in front me.

"That–angers me–so much." He said between breaths and placed his hand on my cheek. I was surprised to find his touch so gentle when he looked like he could murder someone.

"Andrew?" I whispered.

He leaned towards me and placed his lips on mine. It was the softest of kisses, and instead of feeling panicked like I thought I'd feel, I felt relieved. Calm, even. I closed my eyes as Felix threatened to enter my brain, but I couldn't think of him, at all. Andrew was distracting me enough. He did nothing, no toe–curling–passion or anything of that sort. He simply kept his lips attached to mine, and for some reason, I felt grateful.

• • •

The ending is such a tender moment, don't you think? 🥺🥺

Next chapter - next Saturday at 10pm IST.

P.s.: GET ME AN ANDREW SOMEBODY