Chapter 1: Fresh Beginnings

My orbs begin to open slowly and painfully, taking time to adjust to the bright morning atmosphere. I bring my right hand up to my face and rub my eyes in an attempt to wake up, a yawn quickly forming on my mouth. Looking over to my nightstand, my alarm clock comes into view, and I see that it was almost nearly 8 A.M. 

I was really looking forward to today. In around two short hours, I would be sitting in my car on my way to Harvard University.

I, along with hundreds of others, had finally graduated from high school last week. Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged, but I really didn't feel anything.

I was glad to leave. That place held too many memories.

When I received my acception letter, I was quite surprised to say the least, but then again, I always have lacked in the self confidence department.

My parents were very excited. In fact, they were ecstatic. You'd think that they would be sad that their only son will be attending College miles away from home, and that they would only see him every so often. But no, not my parents. They're incredibly supportive, and I couldn't ask for  better carers.

"Brody, sweetie, it's time to get up!" The familiar voice of my mother takes me back to reality.

"I'm up!" I shout back as I remove the covers away from my body, and carefully throw them aside. Stretching my body slightly, I begin to stand up off of my bed, and start to make my way over to the bathroom.

As I step inside, the wooden door slowly shuts behind me. I don't take much time in there. I have a quick shower, making sure that I'm clean, and I then proceed to step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my body. I quickly brush my teeth before I unlock the door and step back inside my bedroom.

Strolling over to my wardrobe, I hurriedly open it and grab my favourite Hollister shirt, which was hanging from the clothing rack. I also grab my blue jeans, and toss them both onto my bed.

I had packed all of my clothes in my suitcase last night, and only left one shirt and one pair of jeans in my wardrobe. Not wanting to run late, I had also taken my suitcases downstairs beforehand.

It takes me less than a few minutes to get ready, and before I know it I'm all dressed and ready to go.

Tying my watch onto my wrist, I take one last glance around my whole bedroom, mentally taking a picture in my mind.

I was really going to miss this place.

After all, there's no place like home.

Sighing heavily, I begin to walk out of my bedroom and shut my door behind me. I don't take even a few minutes to walk downstairs, and into my living room.

"Mom, mo-

"Brody, sweetheart. You're down, good."

"Why good?"

"Because you have a visitor."

Before I have the chance to reply to my Mom, a very familiar figure comes out from behind her and into my line of sight. Eyes sunken into their sockets, shoulders slumped, hair disheveled, and creases in her forehead. You can tell that this woman hasn't had any peace over the past year, and I don't blame her.

"Mrs Pearson? Hi......I......erm.......Hi?"

She chuckles lightly at my nervous state, but I can tell that she's not the slightest bit amused. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes, in which a slight dimness permanently resides.

I take this moment to notice her properly. Her eyes no longer hold that glint in them. There's no life in them. Her face had undergone a drastic change since the last time I had seen her. She wasn't happy. But I don't blame her. Who would be after losing their daughter?

"Hello Brody. It's lovely to see you again. It's been a while."

I smile anxiously. "It's great to see you too Mrs Pearson. It has been long, hasn't it?"

"Don't look so petrified, dear. I'm not here to eat you."

Suddenly, a pang of guilt hits me, and my expression falters a little, an apologetic look on my face.

What was I doing? After all that's happened over the past year, I could atleast show her some respect.

"No, it's no-

"Its ok, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I understand." She tells me warmly.

"I heard you got into Harvard. Congratulations Brody, you deserve it." She continues.

My anxiousness begins to fade a little at this, a smile forming on my lips. She was the exact same as she had always been, kind, caring and loving. That would never change.

Before I can even open my mouth to reply, Mrs Pearson's voice cuts me short.

"I'm here to give you this." She lifts up her closed fist, her eyes holding hope.

A familiar article comes into view as she opens up her fist. I knew exactly what this was.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing you know what this is."

I nod feebly.

"Natasha would want you to have this." Mrs Pearson clamps my wrist with her hand, and places the beautiful piece of silver into my palm.

I couldn't take this. This was the only thing left of Natashas. Atleast the only meaningful thing. I didn't deserve this.

"Mrs Pearson, I can't take this." I begin to return the precious piece back to her, but she stops me before I even get the chance.

"Yes you can. And you will." She insists.

"Bu-

"I'll take your leave now. It was lovely to see you again, goodbye."

The air is left surrounded in tension and the mother of the woman I love walks out of the living room door and leaves my house.

I knew it wasn't right for Mrs Pearson to be living alone after everything that had happened in the past year, but she was a persistent woman. I had asked her - many times, may I add - to stay in our guestroom, or at least with a close relative. But she had always denied me. She said that it made her feel closer to her daughter.

It was no secret that Natasha was missing. She had been since the past year. Since she had revealed her true identity to me. She told me she was a ruthless bitch. But I didn't care. Despite everything, I still loved her and I always would. I was never going to give up on her. There's alot more to the story than I had been told, and I was determined to find out what.

I was determined to find out what would cause a high school senior to go about killing innocent people.

I was going to find out.

Her story wasnt taken lightly, the news spread like wildfire, and before I knew it, the whole town knew. The press had plastered her disappearance all over the news, all spewing different kinds of bullshit.

TEENAGE GIRL MISSING. KIDNAP OR ILLEGAL AFFAIR?

18 YEAR OLD GIRL MISSING AFTER FIGHT WITH BOYFRIEND.

WESTBROOK TEENAGER DISSAPEARANCE AFTER SLEEPING WITH MUCH OLDER MAN.

All kinds of bullshit.

But they didn't know the real story. In fact, nobody did. Not even me. They were only assuming.

But I would find out soon.

I need to.

Sure, my love is toxic and dangerous. But me without my love is even worse.

It was a mess of all sorts of proportions when it was time for me to leave later on, a wide range of different emotions going round.

"Oh, my baby's all grown up now, look at him, off to college." My grandmother coos as she squeezes my cheeks as if I were a little kid, tears building up in her eyes.

My grandma was an absolutely emotional woman. Ever since I was little, I've known her to cry at every little thing. She was a bawling mess when I was about to start Junior Year of high school, and I wasn't even going anywhere. So just imagine how she would be now.

I try to be as kind and gentle as possible when I remove her hands from my face, a wry smile on my features. "It's ok Gran, You'll still be seeing lots of me," I wipe a stray year off of her face, "you can't get rid of me that easy," I add, a teasing smirk on my face.

She was about to speak again, and I could just sense that she would be in tears in no time, so before she even had the chance to do anything, I lean down and capture her in an embrace.

"I love you, and I'll miss you so much," she pulls away to look at me, "now who's going hog my chocolate chip cookies?" She questions nischeviously, brightening up the atmosphere a little.

"Still me, now stop crying," I wipe the last remaining tears from her face.

I give her one last kiss on the cheek, before walking over to my parents who were situated on the farside of the living room.

Upon approaching them, I grab the both of them and pull them in for a hug. "I'm going to miss you guys so much," I whisper gently.

It was true, if there was one thing that I would actually miss when I left Westbrook, then it would be my parents. I mean, who wouldn't? I would definitely miss my mom's cooking, and my dad's endless rants about how teenagers these days were going absolutely bonkers. I would miss it all.

"We're going to miss you so much too," my mom mutters as she and my dad both pull away from my embrace.

"But we know that this is what's best. This is your dream and you're happy so we're happy and we're going to support you in this one hundred percent." My dad adds quickly, a warm smile encasing his lips.

"Go get em, kiddo. You're going to do great," my mom pats my head as she places a kiss to my forehead.

"Bye son," my dad's voice reaches my ears as I begin to grab my bags off of the floor, and turn around.

"Bye Mom, Bye Dad. Don't miss me too much," I shout playfully over my shoulder as I leave the living room, and step out of the main door. It takes me only a few seconds to go over to my car, and adjust my bags in the boot. And it takes me only a few seconds more to adjust myself in the driver's seat.

Starting the car, I turn around to take a look at my house, only to spot my parents and my grandmother stood outside on the porch, all waving at me synchronized.

Sending one last shrill wave in their direction, I begin to back my car out of the driveway. Nearing the main street, I begin to descend on the 7 hour long journey to Harvard.

However, I had a secret. A secret that nobody knew of. Education and fulfilling my dreams isn't the sole purpose of my stay at Harvard, no. For the past year, I had gone out of my way in unsuccessful attempts to locate Natasha, all gone in vain. No, I wasn't sure that I would find her at Harvard. But I was sure of one thing, there's a high chance that I might. Because this widens my search area.

I bring my closed fist containing Natasha's article upwards and hold it against my chest, closing my eyes as I relish in the warmth of our memories.

So as I start my first year at Harvard, I begin with the intent to educate myself, but also to find the love I never had.

I wasn't going to give up on Natasha. And I wasn't going to stop until I found her. 

Because after all, I didn't care that she was my dangerous love.

A/N

So here's the update you've all been waiting for ( I think.) I hope you liked it! Its quite short, but it's only the first chapter and I wanted to just get into the flow of the book. So high school finally ended last week, and I'm actually quite sad about it. And this also means that my exams have ended too, so I'm officially free for the summer! Prom is this Friday and I'm so excited, because I'm going to go all traditional pakistani, lol. I'm also going to have alot of free time in my hands so expect alot of updates!

Lots of love, always!

Ari ❤