⁺◟ DAMAGED ! ⋆·˚ ❪ ✦♥ ❫
❛ chapter five ❜

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ AFTER A LONG VISIT WITH HER mum, she received a text from Steph, letting her know she and Tessa were at the tattoo parlour that Jace worked at and that she should head over. As she walked in, however, all that was heard was Steph complaining about the tattoo she was getting done. "It actually does hurt."

"Don't be such a pussy," Stella laughed, the door closing behind her. "You should both get one too!" Steph grinned as Stella took a seat.

The black-haired girl looked down at her arms with a chuckle. "I think I'm running out of space." Steph looked her up and down with a smirk. "I'm sure there are hidden places," she smirked while Stella rolled her eyes and turned to Tessa. "You should get one though."

"My mom would literally kill me," Tessa also shook her head. Jace passed her a book of designs, pointing at a specific one he thought she should get. "I feel like my mom has everything planned out for me," the girl confessed. "Like I think she's been planning my wedding to Noah since we were... five."

"Wait, is Noah the only dude you've gone out with?" Steph teased, but her face dropped when she saw the expression on Tessa's face. Jace however looked up from his friend's leg with a smirk on his face. "That's sad," he joked.

"Not everyone is a slag like you," Stella flicked Jace's ear, turning to Tessa. "If you want one I'll do it for you," she said, surprising Tessa slightly. "But it has to be nicer than those dice that Jace picked out because my reputation won't get ruined for bad designs," she joked.

After a little moment of self-doubt, and attempting to talk herself out of it Tessa finally agreed. "Fuck it," the blonde said, making her friends laugh. Together Tess and Stella decided on three small butterflies on Tessa's rib cage. Butterflies symbolised transformation, rebirth and freedom, all of which Tessa felt as she finally decided for herself.

"You know," Tessa spoke up as Stella began her work. "This isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Steph laughed "That's because Stella's a pro," she joked earning a scoff from Jace who removed the tattoo gun from her skin and looked at her. "Do you want me to continue?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm better off getting Stella to finish," said Steph making Stella and Tess laugh.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

It was late the next morning when Stella woke up back in her dorm, she slapped her hand acrose her bedside table, knocking over a few things in the process as she searched for her phone, finally having it in her grasp she opened her eyes, wincing at the sensitivity from the light she focused on her the time, it took a moment for it to focus but eventually she was able to read the time: 10:06 am.

She squinted her eyes from her phone, noticing Tessa's bed was empty and made, Steph's was also empty, however the covers were half on the matress and half on the bed, and a variety of makeup products, along with a handheld mirror was spread all over the remaining cover.

Eventually, she forced herself up, grabbed her shower shoes and bag and headed for the communal showers. Once she was done she got dressed, deciding she was going to go for a walk around campus, hoping a little fresh air would help wake her up since the shower redeemed useless.

It was warm outside, the sun was beaming through the windows and a hot breeze hit her now and again from the open window so she decided on a black summer dress that she had brought with her, along with a pair of plain black trainers.

After five minutes of struggling to tie the lace at the back of her dress, she finally grabbed her bag and walked out of the dorm, putting her headphones on in the process before shuffling her playlist and listening to The Weeknd as she walked around.

Eventually, she found herself back at her go-to coffee shop. "Can I just get a black coffee to go, please?" she asked as she stepped up to the till. "Sure, will that be all?" the waitress questioned. "Yes, thank you," replied Stella.

The woman scribbled the order down on a little Post-it note and stuck it to the wall behind her before going back to the person behind her. Stella looked around the cafe for a seat when she spotted none other than Hardin Scott sitting at a table alone, in a pair of black ripped jeans and his signature leather jacket, reading a book with an empty plate in front of him. She walked over to the nearest table quickly, sitting her bag on her lap as she took her headphones off, placing them in the bag along with her purse, hoping not to be seen.

"Hi," a voice came from behind her, making the girl internally groan. She glanced behind her to see Hardin standing, his hands in his pocket and a smirk on his face. "Hi?" Stella replied.

"I can't stay away from you," Hardin said casually.

"And why's that?" Stella replied, watching as he walked around to stand in front of her.

"Well, we're going to see each other, aren't we?" he only took his eyes off her to glance at the waitress who was walking over with Stella's coffee, The black-haired girl thanked her before turning her attention back to Hardin who continued. "I'm friends with Steph, you're roommates. You're also friends with Jace, Olivia and Kingston... Stella, can we just start over? Just be-"

"Be what?" Stella questioned, looking up at him as he stood, It was taking everything in him not to just grab her there and then and smash his lips against hers. "Friends? Really?" Stella almost laughed.

"Well, why not?" Hardin questioned curiously. Stella stayed quiet for a moment, almost as if she was searching for a reason in her head. "I want to show you something?"

"What?"

"It's a, it's a place," he replied.

"I'm not sure if this is some sort of game. Not even twenty-four hours ago I was snapping at you and now you want to show me places?" Stella said confused. "I don't hold grudges,"   Hardin lied his ass off, knowing damn well that wasn't true, but for some reason, it didn't matter with Stella.

Another moment passed and Hardin was beginning to think she was going to tell him no. That was until he saw her shoulder relax and her eyes roll. "Fuck it," she mumbled. "Only because I have a curious personality and, I want to pick the music in the car."

"Deal," Hardin smirked, picking up Stella's bag and passing it to her. They walked to the car in a comfortable silence, Hardin holding the cafe door opening for her but when he tried to open the car she sent him a look and he raised his hands, walking to the driver's end.

Once in the car, Hardin turned his phone on, passing it to her without hesitation, his phone opened on Spotify. She scrolled through his playlist as he began driving from the cafe to God knows where. She had to admit, his music taste wasn't all bad but she quickly typed in her username and shuffle played her playlist, the first song being Rosemary by Deftones began playing making her grin.

She looked out the window as Hardin continued driving for about fifteen minutes, her fingers tapping along with the beat against her leg, humming along with the tune and occasionally mumbling along with the words. She hadn't even realised what she had been doing until she felt Hardin's eyes on her. "What?" She spoke loudly over the music, laughing slightly.

He shook his head, his lips curved up into a smile. "Nothing," he yelled back. "You just look really pretty right now."

Stella's cheeks burned slightly but still she shook her head with a smirk. "Friends remember," she teased.

After about another ten minutes had passed, Hardin finally came to a stop, literally in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by nothing but trees. "This is it, isn't it? she said, Hardin turned with a confused look on his face. "This is where I die?"Hardin shook his head with a laugh as Stella continued. "Just so you know I've watched Criminal Minds too many true crime documentaries and I know that you'll be found. So you might wanna rethink your decision."

"It's this way," he ignored her jokes, though the smile on his face was unhideable. "Come on."

It only took them around a minute to find the clearing, and Stella was met with the view of a beautiful lake. It was gorgeous and peaceful, the afternoon sun was blazing on the waters. "Welcome to my favourite place," Hardin spoke, looking out onto the view.

"It's beautiful," Stella replied, following him onto the dock. "In a 'Friday the 13th' kind of way."

"How about a swim?" Hardin questioned, looking back at Stella as he unbuttoned his pants and pulled off his shirt. "What are you doing?" Stella laughed at him. "I'm going swimming," Hardin shrugged, taking his shoes off and diving into the water.

Stella laughed as she jogged further down the dock, just in time to see him come up from beneath the water. "Come in, you can wear my T-shirt," he nodded to his clothes that were hung over the docks fence.

"Oh I was coming," Stella replied. "But you pretty boy just missed your chance to see me in nothing but my underwear," she smirked.

"Well, you're going to change aren't you?" he replied, his smile matching Stella's.

"Nuhu, Mr," Stella laughed. "Opportunity is gone, turn around." Hardin did what as he was told but as Stella slid her trainers off she felt eyes on her, She slowly pulled the lace of her dress undone, sliding it down her body, and as she looked over her shoulder she saw Hardin's head quickly turn.

Leaving Hardin's T-shirt behind, she walked over to the end, sat on the edge of the dock and dropped herself in. Hardin turned as he felt her behind her, his eyes slightly widening in surprise. "I thought I wasn't going to see this?" he smirked, putting his hands on her waist.

"Not anything you haven't seen before right," Stella teased, her grin widening as Hardin's smirk fell. "What? You aren't as discreet as you may think."

"I'm Sor-"

"It's fine, Hardin... I'm just teasing," she smiled before ducking her head under the water. "Consider me teased," Hardin mumbled, swimming closer so when Stella resurfaced their faces were only inches apart.

"You know," Stella hummed, wrapping her arms around Hardin's neck to keep her balanced as she spoke. "I actually really like this. Totally think Jason is going to drown me, but totally not bothered by that."

"Can I ask you a question?" Hardin spoke. "You just did," teased Stella. "Yeah."

"Why were you so defensive last night?" Stella seemed to tense at the question but it faded as Hardin grabbed her legs, pulling her closer. She wrapped them around his waist, still keeping her arms around him too as she sighed. "As I said, we all have different coping mechanisms. Unfortunately, most of mine's haven't been healthy ones. A lot happened back home, things I want to forget. I smoke because it numbs me, it blocks everything out and sometimes that's the closest thing I can get to forgetting."

"What about drawing?"

"I love drawing, I've drawn ever since I was younger, but there's a lot of bad memories that revolve around it, which is why I only like doing it when I'm high," she replied, letting go of Hardin's neck and leaning back against the water, her legs still around his waist and his hands still on hers.

"Can I show you something?" he questioned as she let go of his waist. "Something else?" she questioned,

He swims closer once again, holding her hand now. "Hold your breathe," he says. She takes a deep breathe before pinching her nose and letting Hardin guide her under water. They stayed under for about fifteen seconds before they both resurfaced for a breath. "I like the silence, it's peaceful," Hardin admitted. "Do you think that's weird."

"I don't think anything that makes you happy is weird," replied Stella. He pulled her closer once again, one hand on her waist and the other against her jaw. "I thought we agreed we'd be friends?" Stella questioned, feeling the anxious feeling flutter in her stomach.

"Fuck friends," said Hardin, glancing down at her lips. "I don't think I could ever just be your friend." As Stella was about to reply she felt Hardin's lips on hers, but it was different from the first time. This time it was slow, not rushed, neither of them had an ounce of alcohol in their systems to blame it on.

And the anxious feeling in Stella's stomach was gone.