_-_-_Travis' POV_-_-_

Seeing Katelyn in so much pain, felt like a knife to my gut.

I hated seeing her so upset, so weak, so vulnerable.

So he needed to pay.

That next day at school, I waited in the garden. I had told him to meet me, and he stupidly accepted.

Gene walked out and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked bored of me.

"What do you want?" He sighed. I grabbed his shirt collar and a scowl pulled on my features.

"I told you not to hurt her," I growled.

"Oh, that's what this is about?" He groaned, rolling his eyes, "if anything I did you favour. Now you can finally be with your crush," he started laughing, making my grip harder and I punched him across the face, stopping his laughter. He looked at me and blinked.

"You'll regret everything."

Gene tried to punch me, but I grabbed his fist and twisted it quickly, hearing a very nice snap. He fell onto his knees, cradling his wrist. I kicked him in the chest, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He was now leaning against the wall, wheezing and sweat started to fall down his forehead. I knelt down and punched him in his right eye, and his nose.

Before I could continue, there was a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and gasped a little to see Garroth's darkened features. My fist fell limp by my side as I was gently pushed out of the way. Garroth grabbed Gene by the collar and pulled him to his feet. His entire aura was dark and deadly, sending chills throughout me. He looked ready to kill. Slowly, Garroth lifted his head and leaned in close to Gene, a psychotic smile pulling at his lips.

"Gene, you know me. And man, let me tell you, I have waited three years to kill you for what you did to Katelyn. Now, I'm not gonna get blood on these clothes, because I can only imagine what a pain it would be to try and wash it out. So I'm gonna stick with beating you to a pulp, and hurting you. A lot."

His tone was deep and threatening, making me tremble in my spot.

Garroth quickly stabbed his fingers into several joints, causing Gene to go limp onto the ground, his left eye twitching.

"What...?" I mumbled out loud.

"He's paralysed," Garroth turned around and shot me an innocent grin. I blinked a couple of times and looked down at the twitching body of Gene.

"How did you know how to do that?"

"Tumblr," he shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets and started to walk away. I turned and caught up to him, walking beside him.

"You were pretty scary," I mentioned.

"Yeah, well I had been waiting three years to hurt him like he hurt Katelyn."

"I don't think emotional pain is as painful as physical pain," I chuckled.

"It isn't," Garroth stopped and turned to me, his expression blank, "Gene caused her both."

My eyes widened.

He hit her?!

Instinctively, my fists clenched and my breathing became ragged.

"Recently?"

"No, back at our old school..." Garroth scratched the back of his head, "but he had always been protected so I could never hit him."

"Why would she go back to someone who abused her so much?"

"He had her fooled, making her think she always deserved it."

Suddenly so much made sense. Every time I had touched her, she would flinch or tense up. She rarely was the one to make any moves towards a person. Aphmau was always the one to hug her, not the other way around. She always slapped me instinctively if I touched her when she wasn't expecting it. She always kept distance. She tensed under anyone's touch.

She's afraid to get hurt...

The only time she didn't hesitate or flinch, was when she was trying to get me to sleep with her. Because that time, she was running on emotional pain. Everything made so much sense.

I didn't know what to say.

"She isn't used to being cared for. After all, in her life, she was never really cared about by anyone. I care about her, but sometimes one person just doesn't cut it. She had other friends at our old school, but none she really considered close. She never let people get close to her. That's why she's kind of awkward about everything here. Aphmau is so caring and kind, she isn't used to it. Then there's you, who obviously cares, and tries to get close. Sometimes she seems like she's giving in. Like she's finally letting a wall down, but then she panics and pushes people away. I try not to touch her too much. I try to keep my distance and I try to be gentle with her. When we get in an argument, I always apologise first. Because I don't want to cause more trouble."

"It's not fair...no one should go through that kind of stuff..." I held the necklace in my pocket, pulling it out and glancing at the black flame in my palm.

"It only gets worse," he sighed, as if telling me this was wrong and pained him, "when she was seven her parents practically abandoned her and her brothers to the strictest boarding school possible. Barely visited. Didn't think about her at all."

"She has brothers?"

"Three of them....where'd you get that?" Garroth glanced at my open palm, looking a little sceptical.

"Katelyn gave it to me, so I would always have a piece of her."

"That was her mothers..."

My eyes widened, and I immediately started to hand it to Garroth.

"Give it back to her, I can't take something like that from her."

"No, she gave it to you for a reason. Besides, from what she's told me, her mother was the worse of her parents."

"How can I keep this?"

"Maybe she wanted to get rid of it, or give it a new meaning."

"Meaning?"

Garroth shrugged and pushed the necklace to me.

"Either way, keep it."

I never realised Katelyn's past...

On the surface she just seems like someone who is distant. But there's so much more to her.

"So, what's your story?" I asked, curious to the girl who seemed different. How she was different, I had no clue.

"My story?" She rose a sceptical brow.

"What are you doing here, how'd you get here?"

"A plane. I came here because I wanted to go to school here."

"Our school isn't that special."

"Yeah, but traveling halfway across the country is an adventure," she pointed out.

"Were you trying to escape something?"

"I...I'm not sure really."

"So you were."

"I don't know, you could say I was. What about you, what's your story?"

"A dashingly handsome young man who has no secrets, and nothing to hide," I joked, causing her to role her eyes and take another lick of her ice cream.

"Oh really?"

"Yup," I grinned.

"I think there's more to it," she accused.

"You'll just have to find out if you're right, won't you?" I winked. "You're not telling me everything either..."

I was right.

She wasn't telling me everything.

A/N SO now we know a little more about Katelyn's past! Hooray! So if any of you are curious as to if Garroth was lying about it, he wasn't. I thought there needed to be a bigger reason as to why Garroth wanted Gene in so much pain. But yeah, a nice Travis chapter. I love you all devils, byeeeeeee.
Song: Dark Horse/E.T. By Katy Perry