"I feel like death," Blair complains for the twentieth time today and I merely roll my eyes, pulling at the supposed pizza. How the school stuffs up pizza I don't know. "Quit rolling your eyes. They'll get stuck."

"Just be thankful I'm not making loud noises."

Blair pouts, slouching back down into her back pack. I look at Taylor who seems engrossed in her English textbook, studying for the test next period. The test isn't anything overly difficult, more to check progress of the topic than anything. For some reason I manage to pass English with ease, if I study that's when it goes downhill.

"Why was Hamlet so controversial?" Taylor asks, her nails tapping on the hardcover of her folder. "It was the time era, right?"

Nodding I pull off the still frozen pepperoni slice. "Because mental illness was selfish and considered the cowards way out. You would be stoned to the edge of town or buried alive in a nameless grave."

"Wait, are you serious?" Blair's head shoots up and she groans in pain from the quick movement. "I am so screwed next period if we're being tested as well."

"Well it's your fault," Taylor mumbles and exhales the breathe filled with stress. "Okay. I need to get food otherwise I'm going to fail this test."

"Stay clear of the pizza."

Taylor snorts, closing her things before sliding out of the picnic table. "I plan to. I'll bring you back chips or something."

"Thank you," She pats my shoulder while walking past with her wallet in hand. I turn my attention back to Blair and ask the question I've been wanting to know all day. "Last night you told me he's back.."

Her eyes close and she slips back into sleeping on her bag. "Yep. I wish he had stayed in Melbourne because I don't want to see him."

My eyes widen. "Derek? Since when has he been back?"

"You said I told you last night." She furrows her eyebrows as she looks up again. "He rocked up at my house that morning as I was leaving. We went for breakfast where he explained why and everything - it just messed with my head - especially when he said he wants me back."

I run my tongue over my teeth. "And I'm guessing you're not taking him back?"

"I haven't decided yet."

I bite the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from screaming out something stupid. Now Derek isn't my favorite person, he's actually one of the people I openly dislike just like Brian. He messed with Blair's head and she started going down the wrong path extremely fast.

She didn't used to be loud and wild. He came along and basically shook her world up with his own; partying, drinking, drugs, reckless behavior and destroyed what innocence she had in her. And she let him because he was her first everything which also means he's the one who got hospitalized by Rhys.

I guess that's the main reason why I'm not scared shittless of Rhys. Knowing her douche bag of an ex boyfriend - he probably deserved it - not that violence is ever the answer. I just don't like Derek because I don't want to lose my best friend.

"You're probably thinking how stupid I am right now for even thinking of giving him a chance," Blair bites her lip and shrugs. "It's not as simple as it seems. Your first love; you would still do anything for them and there's always going to be a connection no matter what."

I try to keep a calm exterior and nod once. "He let you to get arrested for underage drinking. Not that I'm not saying he's bad news but he is."

"I know he is. I don't believe that he says he's changed," Her eyes flicker from mine for a moment. "But I want to find a few things out and he's the best way for that."

"So you're going to use him for information?" I discard the pizza and lean on the table slightly. She nods, uncapping her water and drinking some. "What sort of information?"

She finishes the rest of the water at the question and I know instantly it isn't anything good. Blair's very resourceful for when it comes to finding things out. One of the tricks she picked up when she was dating Derek who seemed to be keeping secrets from her. Although she found them out, she kept them to herself because we wouldn't handle them.

Whatever that meant.

"It's nothing to worry about," Blair avoids answering with a slight smile. "I'll be careful. Don't you worry about it."

"Alright. I have chips for you, water for you and ham sandwich for myself," Taylor sits back down with a smile, it fades when she looks between us. "What's going on? I was gone five minutes, you couldn't have gotten into a fight. . ."

"No we were just talking about the party," Blair lies, taking the cold water from her. "I was wondering why she had forgiven Rhys for what he said at the art gallery."

"I didn't forgive him," I mumble and furrow my eyebrows. "I wasn't just going to let him get arrested for it plus I didn't tell you about the art gallery. Why would you tell her?"

Taylor's eyes widen out of guilt. "No secrets thing, remember? We tell each other everything to make sure nobody gets hurt. Besides what Rhys said was really rude, I personally didn't want to give him and his friend a ride home."

"I personally don't want to remember you sitting in his lap but it's engraved in my mind," Blair scrunches up her nose and I exhale. "He didn't try anything. . ."

"God no." I shake my head at her implications. "Besides it wasn't like I was going to sit in his best friends lap or that random guy. He won because I somewhat know him. . ."

"But you don't really know him though," I raise an eyebrow at her words. "I still don't think he's a good guy. I'm sorry but that's my opinion because bad boys like Rhys don't have weaknesses, they're selfish."

"I'm going to the bathroom," I grab my bag and chips, knowing that I could very easily get into a fight with Blair. "I'll see you in English."

What Blair doesn't understand is Derek is very much - if not worse - than Rhys. I just don't think she realizes that she's being a hypocrite. Then again so am I because what makes my situation any different.

Apart from the fact we aren't dating.

"Is everything okay?"

I inhale sharply when I come out of the bathroom. Rhys pushes off of the lockers beside the door and holds out a paper bag to me. I flicker my eyes down at the logo and try not to smile.

"You bought sushi?" He shakes the bag and takes a step closer.

"I bought sushi for you as a thank you and an apology," His eyes divert from mine and I notice the red tinting his cheeks. "I'm sorry for what I said, I kind of have a habit of saying the worse things possible to push others away. And you're probably the nicest person considering you could have very well left us behind so thank you."

His eyes finally meet mine and I can see the vulnerability in them. "I'm guessing you don't apologize or thank often?"

"That obvious, huh?" He sucks his cheeks in and shifts stances. "I'm an independent person and I'm not used to others putting up a fight when I push them away..."

I nod slowly. "That's because I'm the same and I know the difference between pushing someone away so they don't worry or because you don't like them. On some level you like me which kills you."

"Are you going to take the sushi?" Rhys changes the topic and I bite the inside of my cheek knowing not to push the boundaries.

"That depends on whether or not you want to be friends," I swallow, giving him a chance to cut off all connection. "If you don't then I won't. If you do then I'll take it."

He smiles slightly. "I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't, you know that I hate cat food."

"Have you even tried it?"

"Nope and I don't plan to," He hands me the bag and I open it to see what he got. "I got you a tuna and avocado as well as chicken, cucumber and mayo. I couldn't remember what you had so I guessed by look."

"Either californian or tuna and avocado," I smile. "Those are my favorite but I eat anything to do with sushi. So thank you for this."

"No problem," I pull one out and move to sit down on the floor. "Aren't you going back to your friends?"

I readjust myself on the floor, avoiding having a latch digging into my head. "Nope. I don't feel like getting into a fight with them today."

"What happened?" He sits down beside me with a groan when he bangs his head.

I bite back the laugh and focus in unscrewing the cap of the soy sauce bottle. Spitting the cap into the bag I squirt it onto the roll before taking a bite. Rhys rubs his head and scrunches up his nose.

"Sure you don't want some?" I move the roll closer to his face, watching him lean away from it.

"Yuck. No," He frowns and I grin before taking another bite as he sits up normally. "So what happened with your friends?"

I swallow and shrug. "Nothing worth talking about. At least, nothing you really want to hear."

"By those words I'm guessing Blair talked about last night," I narrow my eyes and he shrugs. "You seem to have a habit of defending me infront of them. Blair doesn't like me obviously and Taylor thinks I'm a monster."

"I shouldn't have to defend you," I state with a shrug. "You made a mistake by  beating him up."

"It wasn't a mistake though," His words almost make me choke on my sushi. "I don't regret it because he deserved it. Maybe I should have stopped sooner but I didn't kill him."

I swallow slowly and feel the tension forming around us. "What did he do to deserve that?"

Rhys shakes his head with a pitiful laugh."I don't think you really want to know why I did it."

"I do so maybe I could understand," He looks straight ahead and I lean forward in the slightest. "I know how much of a tool Derek is and it would be good to amplify that to Blair."

"Well it doesn't really matter because he's not around anymore," I slowly lean back while fiddling with the plastic wrap. "He isn't back, is he?"

"It's why Blair was at that party last night completely wasted," I exhale and finally look to Rhys. "He's back but hopefully not for long so he can leave Blair the hell alone. I don't want her going down that rabbit hole again."

I go back to eating my sushi roll as we sit in silence. Although it's silent I can feel the anger radiating from him, similarly to when Brian tried to have a go at me. Clearly he still has a grudge against him and I wonder what the hell was so bad that he won't tell me.

"He's not a nice person so if you see him I want you to get far away from him."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Wait, what? I know he isn't-"

"Don't ask questions. Just promise me you'll stay away from him even if Blair is with him," Rhys finally breaks from his stare and looks down at me. He bites his lip and exhales. "He doesn't like me for obvious reasons and it wouldn't surprise me if he got to you to annoy me. Lachlan can hold his own and so can Nate if he has to."

I look away and shove the rest of the roll into my mouth. How do I respond to that? I can't promise him when I would be around him to make sure Blair doesn't get hurt. She's my best friend - even if we fight every second day - I wouldn't want to lose her over a guy.

There's a reason why she's so selective with the guys in this school. I thought she would have learnt her lesson that some guys - like Derek - are bad news. But if she's willing to go back to him, the progress she's made is all for nothing.

"I don't know if I can promise you that," I finish chewing what's left in my mouth, avoiding looking at Rhys because I can feel his eyes burning into me. "Blair's my best friend even if you don't like her, I wouldn't leave her alone with him."

He scoffs. "He wouldn't hurt Blair but you on the other hand."

"I'm pretty sure you're over estimating Derek's capabilities," I finally look at him with a tight lipped smile. "Besides he wouldn't know that we're friends. It's been a few years and he doesn't even go to high school anymore."

Rhys runs his tongue over his teeth, jaw clenching before he speaks. "The same applies to Derek as it does to Brian."

"Why do you think you need to protect me?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

He clucks his tongue. "Because they're assholes and I don't think you deserve their shit. You're a good person."

"You aren't too bad yourself," He goes to speak but stops, tilting his head in question. "You aren't a bad person at least not to me."

He looks away with his cheeks tinting red. "That's because you're an exception. I don't want you to fear me, let alone hate."

"Well it's a good thing that I don't then."

"I guess it is," He smiles slightly until his eyes fall on something behind me. I turn as well only to see the person we both equally dislike. "What the hell do you want Brian?"

"I didn't realize you two were dating," He furrows his eyebrows. "I thought you would have better taste then someone like him. But if you want to-"

"What do you want?" I cut him off with a cluck of my tongue. "Seriously. Neither of us like you so why are you here?"

His eyes flicker to Rhys before falling back to me. "My mom wanted me to check if you were coming to the gala on the weekend."

"What gala?" Brian huffs and swings his bag around and pulls out a white invitation.

"You and your father were invited. It's to celebrate your father's promotion in the law firm," He holds it out and I stare at it. "I didn't realize that your relationship was so strained. Is that because mommy dearest isn't there to play referee?"

I glare at him and snatch the invite. "At least my parents were happy in their marriage. Is your father still hiring his secretaries based on age and physique?"

Brian's jaw clenches. "RSVP by Friday."

He storms off with the shits and I let out the breathe I was holding. Rhys is staring at me  with a grin, he nudges me and I give a half smile.

"That was a pretty good comeback," I nod and slip the invite into my bag. "What does your father do?"

"He's a lawyer that associates with Brian's father and his partnership law firm," I explain and swallow. "I'm not that close with my dad. . .at least not as much as I would like."

"Because he works all the time?"

Nodding he gives a slight smile. "It's the same with my mom. She works most of the time to support Nate and I. We don't see her often anymore, mostly for an hour after school before she goes to work. She's a bartender before you ask, not as glamorous as a lawyer."

"Hey! You still need skills to be a bartender or a good one at that," I mimic spinning a bottle in my hand. "You can get pretty good tips from that and knowing my luck I would probably shatter the glasses if I tried to do the fancy tricks and flips."

He doesn't respond but pushes himself up to his feet. "I'll see you in English, I need to see Nate to make sure he has his keys."

"Sure. See you then."

Double updating this week because *imaginary drum roll* it's my birthday this weekend. I'll be updating like normally whole posting a second chapter for my books on my actual birthday (3/9).

Question: why do you think Rhys beat up Derek all those years ago?

Thoughts? Feelings? Predictions?

-inspiredrlh 💕