Thank you make_a_wish071 for the gorgeous cover !

Ivy's P.O.V

"Oh... my god..." the words meekly  escape from my mouth, eyes widening with horror.
I can't believe this is actually happening in front of me. "Babe... I ... I can explain," he says with equal shock, getting off the couch, hurriedly walking towards me.

I take a few steps back, blinking twice to see if this is all just another bad dream. A really bad dream. Swallowing with difficulty, bile rising up my throat, I raise a hand to stop him from uttering that dreadful sentence, which no girl would want to hear.

"How long..?" I croak, tears ready to fall. My eyes are burning, vision starting to get blurry. "How... Long ..?" I repeat, struggling not to stutter, clenching my fists as my fingernails dig deep into the depths of my palms. His dark-blue almost black eyes glint at the corners, fixing me with a hurtful expression, face crumpling with guilt.

"Answer me!" I yell, stomping my feet.

"Last week !"

The words forcibly roll out, raking a hand through his long, shoulder length brown hair. My heart suddenly stops beating, feeling a slight compression. I can't breathe. It's as if the entire oxeygen has been sucked out of me, leaving me with nothing but an invisible bullet penetrating through my lifeless soul.

"Is this what you meant?" I ask. "Is this what you meant when you said you were going through "Something sooo difficult?!"

Ethan turns his head to the side, unable to meet my gaze.

"Is it ?! Tell me!" I shout, pushing him behind. He tightly shuts his eyes, sniffing a bit. "You don't have the right to be crying in front of me! How dare you?!"

One year. For one goddamned year, I was made to believe that everything was my fault. For one goddamned year, I was the one who took full responsibility for all the stupid hardships that Ethan was facing. I was there when he needed me. And I was there when he not only manipulated, but had the audacity to threaten me into thinking that he would actually smash his face with a glass piece if I ever left him.

"Ivy... babe, I"-  he starts, taking a step back I cover my mouth feeling nothing, but pure and utter disgust.

"Don't you fucking touch me." I warn through gritted teeth, as he tries to come closer.

"Ivy please ... please don't do this to me! It was a fucking mistake and I ... it ... she meant nothing to me!" Ethan says, voice full of desperation.

"Please don't hate me! You are not allowed to hate me and I don't want you to leave! I am nothing without you....You and I"-

I laugh, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands, grabbing my handbag and slinging it on my shoulder.

"I'm not allowed to hate you? You disgust me! And don't even think... of pinning this on me when you never bothered to clean up the shit that I was not supposed to be  held accountable for! How the hell am I supposed to forgive you!?"

More tears pour down from my face.

I wake up with a sudden jolt, panting heftily, clothes drenched with sweat.

"Hurricane?"

I jump as Chace's hand settles on my arm. I look around, ensuring that my eyes are no longer deceiving me. Despite the air conditioning and the fan being on, I'm still finding it abnormally hot. I run my palms through my face, cheeks damp with dry tears.

"Hurricane, relax. It's me."

Chace softly calls again, resting his hand on my back, giving it a gentle rub.

"Here, drink this." He says, handing me a glass of warm water. Taking a sip, I tightly clasp my fingers around the glass like my life depends on it, allowing the warmth to spread through my entire body, hopefully giving me some sort of a relief factor from the horrible dream I'm currently recuperating from.

Chace's P.O.V

I awoke to the sound of Hurricane screaming, uncomfortably shifting positions. Swinging my legs off the bed, I get up and run towards the side of her bed, gently shaking her awake. The look she gave me was that of a terrified deer, who knew it was being hunted down by a wild animal on the prowl.

She looks down in embarrassment, refusing to meet my eyes as she moves a little away from where I'm seated.

"You don't have to do this," she sighs, focusing her attention at the window. "It's not your concern."

I want to know what was it she dreamt about. Judging by her silence, I decide to let it slide. Besides I'm not the type to prod people into telling me things they don't feel like talking about, not like I give so much of a shit .

But in Hurricane's case, it's different. I will make it a point that she will never have to experience anything so traumatic, ever again.

"It is."

I say, taking her hands and placing it in between mine. "I'm not leaving until I'm damn sure that your ok."

She smirks, laughing a bit. It may be dark, I can still make out the dimples that appear on both her cheeks, winking when she's smiling, accompanied by an adorable yet enticing blush.

"Do you still want me to move out?"

I tease.

"When you have someone like me who brings nothing but joy?"

"With that level cockiness? Then yes, I want you to move out."

Hurricane teases back, hitting me lightly with a cushion. She sighs, breathing in and exhaling through her gut. She always seems to do that when under the harmful influences of unwanted stress.

"You must be thinking what is the matter with me, or maybe I'm more than a freak."

"I can never think of you that way. Even if you were one , you'd be the kind of freak that I would want to hang out with."

A freak that I have the leverage to call 'mine'. I pull her close and lie back down, caressing my thumb over her eyes, wiping away the tears that were about to fall. She rests her head on top of my chest , encircling her arms around my neck.

"Stay?"

Hurricane whispers, looking at me with those big electric blue eyes of hers. Without saying a word, I kiss her forehead as we both stare at the brightness of the moon and slowly drift off to sleep.

I wonder what would've happened if I wasn't here. She's gone when I wake up the next day.

                                   
*****

Hey guys ! Apologies for the late update since my exams just got over last week ! Here's an early update and I'm sorry if this might trigger any of you .

This chapter is very close to my heart, and partially it is based on some real life experiences. But I hope you guys enjoy it and I'll get back to editing it later since  I'm aware there are typos here and there ❤️