***
"Still taste the metal,
it lingers on my lips.
I let it haunt me,
so I don't ever forget all the battles.
This ain't over yet,
still got demons in my head.
It's too late to save me.
Don't you come my way,
don't pray for me...
'Cause I've already saved myself.
I found beauty in this pain...
it gave me strength to break these invisible chains."

***

Jade's POV

Memories grew darker and darker with every second until my mind was somewhere else entirely. My body must've been shutting down because I couldn't really see, hear or feel anything.

That dreadful night started playing over and over again inside my head. It was as if though I was reliving it - as if I had gone back in time.

I remembered the exact moment I woke up in my bed, dazzled by the sound of a heated argument between my parents. I could practically smell the expensive perfume filling my nostrils from when I was crouched down, hidden behind the stairs.

I was overwhelmed by the same feeling of confusion I experienced when I saw the look of betrayal on my mother's face, even though I couldn't understand it at the time.

Everything felt so real, I could even see my young self glancing back at my father for the last time, who had the nerve to look me straight in the eye right before he walked out that door...

My mind was suddenly pitch black. There was a brief pause before my eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of vacuous, hazel irises that lacked any sort of human sentiment.

My heart became steady and my muscles relaxed. I felt emotionless - as if my body was moving on its own.

I moved my arm again, this time firmly grabbing on to Sawyer's as he tried to stop me. I trailed a path with the tip of my fingers up his toned arm, making my way to the prickly stubble that started at the top of his neck.

This made him lift his head up from mine to look directly into my eyes, eyes that appeared to be filled with darkness and lust. His eyes widened in realization, a wolfish grin soon formed on his face.

Careful, Curly.

Your foot just got tangled in one of my silky webs.

I opened up my hand, placing it on the side of his neck before sliding it all the way to the back of his head as I pushed it towards me, crashing my red lips into his.

A moan escaped from his mouth as I tugged on his hair with my fingers, deepening the kiss.

Both feet.

Now one of his hands was firmly grabbing my ass, while the other one rested on my hip. But the only thing I could think of was the fact that he no longer had me pinned up against that tree.

He pulled his lips away from mine for a quick second as he said in a deep, husky voice, "There she is. I knew you'd come around."

I held in an arrogant smirk. Really? Giving in so soon? I looked up at him through my lashes and smirked devilishly before biting my lower lip, which made him lick his own.

He resumed our make out session by sliding his hand beneath my shirt and coming into contact with the toned stomach I liked to consider my pride and joy. I grinned inside of his kiss and I bit down on his lip, tugging on it for a good second.

He was in deep.

And that's when I went full Black Widow on him.

Both my hands snaked down from his hair onto his neck and then to his chest, into which I dug my nails, scratching my way down to his abs. I could tell by the slight pressure of his manhood against my thigh that he liked it rough.

So that's what I'm about to give him.

I took hold of his t-shirt with my left hand and slowly started lifting it up as I placed my right hand on his chiseled abs, subtly but effectively hinting exactly what I wanted him to do.

His eyes, dark with desire, scanned my naughty expression. He wasted no time and fumbled to take his shirt off with both his hands. As soon as he raised it high enough that it covered his eyes for a split second, I took advantage of the opportunity to throw a hard kick to the balls.

The bastard dropped to his knees and groaned out in pain.

Breathing heavily, I took a step back and sneered at Sawyer. With the back of my hand, I harshly wiped my red lips to rid myself of his horrid kiss.

I crouched down to his level and placed my hand under his chin to force him to look into my eyes. "And this is how I like it." I spat.

My lips curled into a cruel smirk. Dropping my hand, I stood up and walked away without another glance. My mind was blank and my eyes could barely lift up from the ground as I paced back towards the house.

I-I just need to get out of here.

***

Jesse's POV

I breathed in deep as I watched Millie get in her Uber.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I did have a tendency to put Jade before her, and I hated myself for that. But that doesn't mean I could help it.

It's ironic.

I've finally made a decision but I still feel conflicted. I remembered everything Jade told me about her being genuine whenever he hung out. I really wanted to believe her, too. But with her you just never know which Jade you're going to get, and I don't think I can live like that.

I was really confused but all I knew for sure is I had to find her. I couldn't risk history repeating itself. I refused to stand by and do nothing like I did back then. I was done being the good guy.

I wasted no more time and headed back toward the back of the house, maybe Jade had gone outside to get some fresh air. I kept reassuring myself that nothing was wrong as I accelerated my pace.

There's nothing to worry about, she's fine. Everything's fine. I'm sure tomorrow we'll look back and laugh abo-

Someone violently collided against me, breaking me from my internal monologue.

What the hell?

I looked down at Jade's wide-eyed, extremely flushed face before placing both my hands on her shoulders. She was breathlessly trembling and her pupils were dilated.

"Jesse," she whispered my actual name, still not fully processing the fact that I was standing right there in front of her.

I was panicking. "Jade, what's wrong?"

When she didn't reply, I started looking around in confusion until my eyes landed on a guy who was crouching down on the grass. My throat tightened and my stomach gave a little jump. I looked back at her with a stern frown, praying to the gods this was not what I thought it was.

I lifted my right hand from her shoulder to remove the strand of black hair that covered her eyes. She had followed my gaze and was still looking at the guy before her eyes newly met mine. I gave the guy one last glance before fixing my eyes on Jade.

My voice grew dark and firm. "What did he do to you?" I questioned.

She shook her head. "Jess, I'm okay," she said, her voice still shaken up. "Let it go."

Seeing her like this made my insides twist and turn.

Jade noticed how I'd dazed off and placed a finger below my chin. "Jesse, look at me." She clenched her jaw and cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound fuller. "Seriously, let's just go."

My eyes inspected her for a brief moment. Her hair was disheveled, her red lipstick was visibly smudged and her belt was unfastened, hanging loose around her hips.

My nose twitched without my permission and, just a few moments later, I was marching towards this guy. He watched me as I approached him, with a conspicuously disoriented expression.

I'm done being the good guy.

I heard Jade's footsteps behind me. "Jesse stop!"

That didn't stop me.

The guy only had time to smirk at me for like a second before my fist tore through his face.

Then everything went black.

***

A/N

👀...

On a more serious note, I wanted this scene where Sawyer tried to force Jade to be in the book because I'm tired of books featuring this cliché. These types of scenes where the guy always sweeps in to beat the abuser up and stop the girl from being taken advantage of are overused and inaccurate.

In real life, girls can't expect a guy to just appear out of thin air and save them. It just doesn't happen. Jade needed to get herself out of that one because in the real world no one is coming to save you. One needs to be strong, smart, resourceful, because otherwise (and this is the sad truth) these types of situations won't ever end well.

It sucks, but it's true.

Anywaysss, I hope y'all are liking this so far and I'll catch you guys in the next chapter.🖤😌🥰