Once the wind hit my face, I threw in my earbuds and walked in the direction of our spot. This was it, the end of everything.

I pressed my back against the brick of the gym and allowed myself to slide down, wrapping my arms around my knees which I held to my chest. I tried to breathe, but my heart told my body not to. My heart was holding onto the only thing I had control of anymore.

I waited in the cold for what felt like forever, hypnotized by the white breaths that escaped into the cold evening; breaths that escaped from my red lips. I had thrown on my mom's playlist of popular songs performed just on the piano. It was a playlist that comforted me at a moment when there was no other means. Maxence Cyrin's rendition of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind," came on and I thought about my mom sitting at the piano playing one of my favorite songs.

I thought about the way each elegant finger hit each key, her delicate foot pressing up and down on the pedal; the sound of the song echoing through our small home. I thought about her face when she would look at me and instantly know that I was lying. It was the same look that I believe the infamous Julian Reever had given me a short time ago.

As the music played on, I desired escape, but the time had come to own up to my deceit. I needed, regardless of the consequences, to tell the truth about who I was. I would deal with the ramifications later if needed. I couldn't lie to him anymore.

I saw him out of the corner of my eye and boy, he didn't look happy. I stood up and followed him as he walked past me and into the woods.

"Damian. Please stop."

His footsteps slowed and he finally stopped, leaning back against a large oak tree, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. He just stood there silent and I found the words slinking back into my throat like a snake afraid to leave its makeshift den.

"I need to be honest with you about some stuff and I'm pretty sure that you are going to hate me, but I deserve it. I kept something very important from you." I searched his face for some shred of emotion, but there was only coldness.

"Do you think that I'm a stupid guy, Grey?" His question came out of nowhere and I was immediately taken aback. My head nodded no violently in response. "Good... Let me start off by telling you that you are a horrible liar and I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult my intelligence in the future by ever attempting to keep things from me. Also, I knew you were a Wyndham the first day of classes when I saw you and Lizbeth standing next to each other. You have the same eyes and that's a little difficult for two random strangers, who just happen to get paired up as roommates to have in common."

My expression was pure shock. Paxton had let on that only he knew my secret all along. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it was more fun this way." He laughed like he was a kid who discovered he had the most hotels on Park Place Ave., during a game of Monopoly. He inched closer to me and placed his hand at the base of my chin, forcing my face to look at him.

"I don't understand, Damian."

"Because you never stopped to listen. I told you once that I desired to be free. You make me feel free. It doesn't matter what blood you have coursing through your veins, I want you. I told you once that I was vengeful but consumed with desire. You are my desire."

He glanced at his watch, a smile forming on his lips, "It's our hour, Talia. Come home with me?"

I looked into his eyes and I saw the real him for the first time. "Um, I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"Nothing has to happen. Just come home with me, be with the real me."

"Um." I hesitated for a second and Damian laughed again, his smile was beautiful and it clenched my heart.

"Come on Grey. I'm actually really cold and remember I don't like to be cold. I just want to hang out, with a Wyndham." He took my hand and wrapped his strong arm around my shoulder, pulling me in closer to him.

......................

"Talia. You've got to come look at this costume that they just pulled from the back." Lizbeth motioned for me to come and check out her findings. Halloween was in two days and much to Lizbeth's nagging, I had not taken the time to care about costumes or decorations. However, since the party would be my debut performance with my new band, I felt I should probably put in a little bit of effort.

The band had decided, much to my dismay that we should all coordinate costumes. That was the most dreaded two words in the English language when it came to Halloween, coordinated costumes.

For couples, it simply meant that the girl did all the work deciding on a theme and then provided the boy with a much-needed shopping list of items to buy. For a band, it was much worse. It was one thing to coordinate the costumes of two individuals, but another to have to successfully do it for four.

While we had argued and argued for what seemed like forever, ideas like Flintstones, zombies, down to a really off the wall suggestion from Tony, that we should all dress like cats, Toad was brewing an idea in his head.

All it took was three words and everyone was on board, My Chemical Romance. All the guys had run out and made sure they had the black suits and red ties, along with red makeup for across the eyes. I on the other hand, didn't get off so easily.

Setting up for Andrew McMillen's annual Halloween bash, I stood looking out across the forming crowd.

"Hey Talia, I love the costume. Are you that chick from that video?" A girl, who I thought was named Sally asked, as she offered me a red Solo cup full of some kind of blue punch concoction.

"Yeah, the Helena video."

I looked down at my black and red dress. It had a strapless corset top with black tulle at the top and under the skirt. It had a slit that came up uncomfortably high and for a second, I worried that when I slammed my black ballet slipper foot up on my amp, that I was going to give the crowd a whole different kind of show.

My red eye shadow complemented my dress and I had picked up a raven black wig that had cascading curls. It had been a pain to find a wig that fit over my monstrosity that was called hair. I also paired it with a small veil hat, which came down to just under my eyes.

Once I was done setting up my gear, I headed in the direction of the large kitchen, in order to grab a bottle of water. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paxton, beer in hand. He was dressed in a pair of black dress slacks, a white button-down dress shirt, which was tucked in, but unbuttoned almost the whole way, revealing a blue Superman shirt underneath. Over it, he had on a black suit jacket and black rimmed glasses. His hair was styled in a way which had it slightly combed over to the side and made him look undeniably sexy.

Standing next to him was Damian, who was wearing black jeans, black boots, a white button up shirt complete with a red tie and a khaki colored trench coat. His blonde hair looked wild and out of control the way it was styled and he had a fake cigarette which hung from his mouth.

I rustled around in the fridge, past the massive amounts of beer bottles, until I found the water hiding in the back.

"You look beautiful, Grey." I looked over my shoulder to where Damian was standing, acting like he was looking for a beer in one of the massive red tubs that littered the kitchen.

"You're looking handsome as well. Let me guess, bad boy accountant? No wait, hold on, bad boy tax attorney?"

"The name's Constantine, John Constantine." He smirked as he reached out to shake my hand, his fingers grazing over my skin.

The moment that we were sharing, was briefly interrupted by a cheerful Colin, who walked over with two bottles of Jäger tucked under his arms. "Hey D, I come bearing gifts!" Colin was dressed in a plain white t-shirt that was covered in mini cereal boxes. In the little boxes were fake knives sticking out of them. If we were having a costume contest for laziest costume, then Colin's Cereal Killer, would have taken the cake.

I had not interacted with Colin much since the incident at my locker. He had respected my request to not try and push anything. He would politely smile when he saw me, but he kept far away. Standing in his presence, I decided that it was probably time to rip off the Band-Aid and at least talk to him.

The truth was that I didn't see myself having a friendship with him, after what happened, but I wasn't going to treat him like he didn't exist. "Hey Colin, nice costume."

He looked over at me, and for a second, he searched his brain trying to figure out who the girl behind the raven black wig and fishnet veil was. "Oh, hey Talia, wow I didn't recognize you. I love the costume though." He handed off one of the bottles in his hand to Damian and then excused himself shortly afterwards.

"Well, that was awkward," I said as I looked over at Damian, who had come to stand slightly closer to me, his arm brushing mine.

"Well, then don't look now because it might just get a bit more awkward." Damian motioned with his eyes over to the corner of the room where Paxton stood, next to a guy who was dressed in all black, with an intricate black and white skeleton painted face. I recognized the hair and the ugly yellowish smile as he flirted with some girls who were standing around. You also couldn't miss the full-length arm cast on display. My skin crawled thinking about the last time that vile pig laid his hands on me and in that moment, a wave of nausea rushed over me slightly.

Before I knew what was happening, I was being pulled into a room off of the kitchen and Damian's lips were on mine, his tongue running over my bottom lip, bringing it into his mouth where he sucked slightly on it. His one hand was on the back of my neck, playing with the stray strands of red hair that had fallen out of the wig, while his other arm wrapped around the back of my waist and kept me pressed against him.

When he pulled away he just smiled. I looked into his eyes and said, "What was that for? Also, don't we have a strict no one can know we are... well, whatever we are."

"You mean, that you're my secret girlfriend?" He kissed me again softly.

"I'm not your girlfriend, Damian. Being someone's girlfriend means that they actually go on dates, meet parents eventually, hang out in groups. Hell, it means actually being seen in public together. All we are, are two people who make out in secret at this point." I pushed him away, out of frustration. I wanted to be Damian Reever's girlfriend more than anything, but the secrecy crap was pissing me off.

I saw the wave of disappointment in his face as I left the tiny kitchen pantry room which was lined with perfectly labelled containers of food. I stepped back into the kitchen area and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. I caught Paxton's eye and for a second, I wanted every boy in the world to feel exactly what I was feeling at that moment, so I flashed him a disgusted look and walked towards the expansive living room.

Damian reentered the kitchen a few seconds before I left and I heard him angrily throw an empty beer bottle across the room, in the direction of a few of his friends, before grabbing the bottle of dark brown liquor that Colin had gifted him. The bottle which would eventually drown his sorrows.

.........................

The rest of the night consisted of a few things: me owning that makeshift stage with my new-found band; the crowd going wild at our versions of some of the most popular songs of the moment; Paxton's eyes on me from the back of the room while he flirted with girls dressed like whores who were trying to be animals, superheroes, and other things; and Damian sulking with an almost empty bottle of Jägermeister in one hand and a permanent scowl on his face.

Towards the end of our set, Toad took over the mic and we played his punk version of Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble," and I could see Damian's demeanor shift suddenly. A few guys, who I had never seen before started inching closer to the stage, outwardly flirting and trying to get my attention. You could smell the jealousy dripping off Damian's fiery tongue.

When I spun my guitar strap around my neck, thrusting my guitar in a 360-degree angle, then grabbing it and bearing down, legs spread, playing it again, the boys in the crowd went absolutely wild. I heard a few I love you shouts from a few boys in the front of the crowd. I heard a smash of a bottle towards the back of the room and I looked up and saw Damian swaying away, towards the kitchen.

I couldn't deal with his crap right now. Sulking Damian was like babysitting a kid who wanted that one candy bar at the grocery store, but couldn't have it.

The last song we played for the night, was a punk version of Adele's "Hello," with me on the mic. I sang my heart out, the beat was upbeat and the crowd jumped up and down. I saw Damian watching me from the kitchen; he had apparently had more to drink while throwing his tantrum in the kitchen and now the doorframe was the only thing holding him upright.

When the set came to an end, I stated to pack up my gear, while some guys flocked around me asking me questions about the band and myself. I just shrugged them off, eager to get packed up and find out once and for all what Damian's problem was. I asked Tony if he'd load my gear and take it back to the music room on campus for me, telling him I needed to take care of a problem.

That problem was one semi-unconscious Damian Reever, who was so drunk that the only thing holding him up was the wall and his brother's strong arm.

"Do you need help, Pax?" I came over and took Damian's other arm, slinging it around my shoulder.

"Yeah, help me get his stupid ass out to my car." Paxton said something else under his breath, while Damian's feet all but dragged under him as we slowly made our way out to Paxton's sleek black Range Rover. It had darkly tinted windows, which made the whole car appear to be one black mass in the night.

Once we got Damian into the back seat, Paxton tossed me his keys. "What's this for?" I asked him as he made his way to the passenger side.

"I've been drinking, so you're driving."

"What would have happened, had I not been here?"

He smiled as he got into the passenger side, "I never think that far ahead."

Stupid boys.

Once we got back to the dorm, dropping Damian onto his bed face first, I got ready to leave when he grabbed me by my wrist. Paxton gave us a minute and headed out into the hallway. Damian looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol all but dripping like a leaky faucet from his pores.

"You're pretty... I know youuuu... You're in muh gym class. I think you're pretty, but I haf a girlfriend, she's more than pretty, soooo beautiful, but she doesn't want to be muh girlfriend. But, I thinkz I might lovvv her. Shuuuush, don't tell her though, she is so pretty when she's angry..." Immediately after his confession, he was face first on his pillow, blacked out.

His grip released off my wrist and I tilted his head on his pillow so he wouldn't suffocate in his sleep, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, "I think you've had way too much to drink, but luckily you won't remember this tomorrow."

I closed his door behind me and I could hear his snoring into the hall. I turned around and saw Paxton perched up against the doorframe of his room. "So, I guess he told you. I suppose I'll have to up my game a bit." He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his room, slamming the door shut behind him with his boot clad foot.

His mouth was on mine in seconds and I could taste the beer heavy on his lips. He was getting handsy, pulling off my wig, letting my hair spill down around me. He started to fumble with the zipper on my dress, but I pulled away from him before he could latch onto it. With my hands outstretched in front of me, he began to take his shirt off and move towards me.

I planted my hands on his chest and created some much-needed distance between us, "What the hell are you doing Paxton!"

His eyes shifted for a second, realizing what was happening. "What? You'll sleep with my brother but not me?" His demeanor was somewhat cold and for the first time since I had known him, I saw that other side that Damian warned me about.

"I'm not sleeping with anyone, Paxton, never have! So, get your head in check before I put it in check."

"Are you saying that I'm not good enough for you little Wyndham?" He started to approach me with fire in his eyes. This fire wasn't lust though, but anger. He slammed his lips onto mine, the kiss was angry and forceful. Had I not been afraid of him in that moment, then it would have been a real panty dropping kiss; but I could feel the rage course from his lips to mine.

I placed my hand up near his face and created a barrier between our lips, which allowed me to separate mine from his. He looked at me, the anger brewing in his eyes further. I had to defuse the situation immediately.

"Paxton, not like this please... I want our first time, my first time to be special." I lied through my teeth. Right now, he wasn't the person that I wanted to share myself with. "I don't want our first time, which will be amazing to be filled with alcohol driven anger and lust. I want it to be a forever kind of experience. I need it to be our experience." Talia keep repeating the word our, get him to soften, that was the only thought in my head as I lied to him. Self-preservation wasn't always a pretty thing.

I hated lying to him, because deep down I still cared for him.

His face immediately softened and he placed a gentle kiss on my lips before separating himself from me. He took my hand in his, like he was suddenly a whole different person entirely and the anger and forceful Paxton didn't even exist.

"You're right, my Talia. It will be special, but until then, I suggest you get the hell out of my room before I lose it again. I won't control myself around you any longer."

I immediately granted his wish. I couldn't get out of that room fast enough.

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A/N: Hey guys!

Woah, so Damian might love Talia??? WHAAAA?

Also, we get a sneak peak at the other side of Paxton, is it what he's hiding or just the alcohol talking?

On another note, how badass is Talia when she's on that stage? We might have to rethink Seth being the punk god and give the title to her.

Leave your comments and vote if you liked the chapter. I love to hear what you guys think.

<3 Amina

So someone I work with asked me what a guitar spin was. This is a spin! Keep watching the guitarist in black, he does an awesome 5spin towards the end.

https://youtu.be/YNVnOhAtP-I