“Absolutely not,” Gideon said flatly.

                “Gideon, we’re going to do it whether you agree or not. So you might as well help us out,” I said.

                “Greyson, it’s too risky!” he snapped. “I want Jude out of hair too, but there has to be some other way to do it. A way that doesn’t use you and Ethan as bait.”

                “Gideon, do you trust me?” I asked, taking his hand in mine.

                “Of course I trust you. But this isn’t about trust. This about keeping you safe,” he said, pulling me close and hugging me. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

                “But you’re hurt, Gideon. This whole situation with Jude is hurting you,” I said, pulling my head away from his chest and looking into his eyes. “Please, help us do this. We’re doing it with or without you. You’re not going to talk any of us out of it, so don’t even try. Just save your breath and help us. Please.”

                He grit his teeth. “Fine,” he growled. “I’ll help you.”

                “Thank you,” I said, kissing him.

                “But if you get hurt doing this…you or Ethan…” He bit his lip and hugged me tighter.

                “Gideon,” I said gently. “You’re hugging me too tight. I can’t breathe.”

                He loosened his grip on me slightly. “Sorry.”

                I rested my head on his chest, putting my arms around him. We rocked together in silence, my mind racing.

                If things went wrong tomorrow, Gideon would think it was his fault. I had to make sure everything went right, otherwise Gideon would never forgive himself for something that wasn’t even his fault.

                After a while, Gideon headed home. I went to my bedroom and laid down on my bed, my hands folded under my head as I stared up at my ceiling.

                I was doing this for Gideon and Ethan. Because I loved both of them, even if it was in different ways. I didn’t want to see either of them hurt anymore.

                I rolled over and let out a sigh. Was I really doing the right thing? Would this really get rid of Jude?

                I had already gone over my plan with everyone else, and they had all readily agreed. But still…what if Ethan got hurt?

                “Everything will work. Everything has to work,” I mumbled to myself, praying for the best tomorrow.

                                                                                                ***

                The final bell rang and I got up, gathering my stuff and heading out to my locker. Gideon was leaning against it, and he straightened up when he saw me.

                “Last chance to back out,” he mumbled as I neared him.

                “Not happening. Just play along,” I said, casually glancing around the hallway.

                I spotted Jude walking towards us with his friends. His eyes were locked on the two of us, and hate was potent in those black eyes of his.

                I shot my gaze back to Gideon and slightly nodded at him. He pulled me into his arms and pressed his mouth against mine.

                We deepened the kiss, my arms locked around his neck, his hands around my waist, drawing me even closer to his body. Our lips worked together with honest passion along with the hidden motive of pissing of Jude.

                We broke away from each other, smiling. I peeked out of the corner of my eye, and saw that Jude had frozen, staring at us. There was agony and pure loathing in his dark gaze. If looks could kill, I would have been obliterated right where I stood.

                “I love you Greyson. Only you,” Gideon said, his voice loud enough that I knew Jude could hear it. And judging by the way he tensed up, clenching his fists, he had certainly heard it.

                “I love you too Gideon,” I said, my voice completely honest. Gideon might not actually love me, but I knew I loved him.

                Jude stormed away, disappearing out of the hallway. His friends stared after him in confusion before Nate said something to them and took off after him.

                “Gideon, what exactly is between Jude and Nate? Does Nate like him?” I asked in confusion.

                Gideon shook his head, running a hand through my hair and kissing me. “No. Nate’s straight. But he and Jude have been best friends for a long time. Nate might be a terrible person, but he’s a good friend to Jude. Now, let’s go find Ethan and Sonnet and get this over with already.”

                I nodded and held his hand as we walked down the hallway. Spotting Sonnet and Ethan together, we went over to them.

                “Ready to get this show on the road?” I asked.

                “Jeez, are you 80?” Sonnet said, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, let’s get going before you say any other cliché old men lines.”

                “Come one Ethan,” I said, releasing Gideon’s hand.

                “We’ll be waiting outside for him to attack you two. Don’t leave the school until the parking lot is clear, or else Jude won’t do anything,” Gideon said before taking off with Sonnet.

                Ethan and I waited for about 15 minutes before texting Gideon and Sonnet. We cautiously made our way out of the school and started down the hill towards the parking lot.

                “I feel like a dumb blond in a horror movie. We’re offering ourselves,” he said with a sigh. “Is it too late to cancel this plan?”

                “Way too late,” I said. “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

                “My hero since I’ve met you,” he said. “My hero who also happens to get his ass kicked while I’m being restrained by hypocritical bullies. We’re a dream team, Benji.”

                “Ethan, I don’t like you,” I grumbled.

                “You’re right. You don’t like me. You LOVE me,” he said, grinning.

                “Benji. Ethan.”

                We froze and slowly turned to face Jude, Nate, and Landon. Jude was glaring at us in pure fury, his fists clenched tightly. He stormed up to me, gripping my shirt tightly.

                “You took him from me,” he snarled. “Gideon was mine, and you took him from me. I loved him. All I wanted to do was make him happy. But you ruined that for me. He’s made it quite clear that he and I are through, so I guess I don’t give a shit anymore. I guess I can take revenge on you without fearing him. You ruined everything Benji!”

                He pulled back his fist to strike me. I tried to pry his fist off of my shirt, but he wasn’t letting go of me.

                “Judeikas! Stop!” Ethan said, shoving him off of me. Jude staggered to the side and Ethan blinked in surprise. “Wow, that actually worked.”

                I looked around wildly. Where the hell were our friends? They were supposed to be keeping an eye out for us!

                “Both of you. I’m sick of both of you,” Jude snapped. “Ethan, we’ll rip your damn ear open again and shove peanuts down your throat until you’re fucking dead!”

                “Well,” Ethan said mildly. “Someone has some issues he needs to work out.”

                 Nate stepped forward and gripped Ethan, holding him in place. Jude smirked as Landon grabbed me tightly.

                “Hey Benji, this isn’t going well,” Ethan said and groaned as Jude punched him in the stomach.

                “Ethan! Leave him alone!” I said furiously, struggling against Landon.

                “No! I told you I could hurt you without touching you!” Jude said angrily, punching Ethan again. Ethan’s head snapped to the side and he whimpered.

                “You punch like a sissy,” Ethan said and whimpered again as Jude struck him even harder.

                Not knowing what else to do, I turned my head and sunk my teeth into Landon’s arm. Landon let out a yell and released me, stumbling back and rubbing his arm.

                I launched forward and tackled Jude to the ground. Jude rolled us over so that he was sitting on top of me.

                “Nice try,” he said, his usual smug smirk back on his face. “But I was actually hoping you’d do that.”

                He punched me in the face, hard. My head smacked against the pavement and I groaned as my vision blurred.

                “GET OFF HIM!”

                Jude looked up in surprise, and then he was being tackled off of me. Someone pulled me to my feet and I leaned against them heavily.

                “Benji? Are you alright?” Ethan asked in concern. He was usually so sarcastic. I had never seen him look honestly concerned before.

                “Fine,” I managed, forcing myself to stand up straight.

                Jude was on the ground, and Gideon was hovering over him, pinning Jude’s body to the ground. Gideon was glaring at Jude in disgust.

                “You know, not that long ago I was on top of you for fun. Not because I wanted to kill you,” he snarled, standing up.

                “Wow, I really could’ve done without hearing that,” Ethan said, apparently back to his sarcastic self.

                “Gideon,” Jude said weakly.

                “Are you Judeikas Tibbits?”

                Will and Sonnet stepped forward. Will looked from Jude to Sonnet.

                “That’s him,” Sonnet said with a nod.

                Will shrugged and went over to Jude, gripping his shirt and pulling him off of the ground. He got right in Jude’s face, glaring.

                “I heard you punched my little sister yesterday,” he growled dangerously. “Is that true?”

                “She’s a damn bitch!” Jude snapped, trying to get away from Will.

                “You’re a spoiled little brat. I don’t like kids like you. I also hear you’ve been giving Benji some problems. You really piss me off,” Will said before proceeding to punch Jude viciously.

                “Get off him!” Nate cried, jumping in front of Jude protectively.

                “You’re Nate. I know you. I work with your brother,” Will said. “I bet your parents would love to hear about all of this.”

                Nate suddenly paled. “Fuck you.”

                Will smirked. “18 years old and still afraid of mommy and daddy. Nice.”

                “Hey Will, can you hand me that trash?” Sonnet stepped forward and Will shoved Nate out of the way, pulling Jude forward.

                Sonnet smiled at him pleasantly. “This is for punching me in the face yesterday, asshole.” She brought her foot up between his legs with enough force that even Ethan and I flinched.

                “She is heartless,” Ethan said with a shudder as we watched Jude drop to the ground, clutching himself and moaning.

                “Will the three of you leave us alone, or do you need more convincing?” Gideon asked, glaring at them.

                “We’ll leave you all alone! We promise!” Nate said bitterly, helping Jude up.

                “And if you don’t, we’ll all come after you. And we won’t take it easy on you,” Will threatened.

                “Bastards,” Nate growled before turning and helping Jude away. Landon glared at us, still rubbing his arm. He turned and followed his friends until they were out of sight.

                “Ben!” Gideon turned and ran to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay?!”         

                “I’m fine,” I assured him.

                “Wow, your plan actually worked, Benji. Having Will, Sonnet, and Gideon kick their asses and scare them away,” Ethan said with a nod.

                “You still shouldn’t have used yourselves to draw them out for us to get them. You both got hurt,” Gideon said, pain in his voice.

                “Oh please. Those guys have ripped my ear open before, Gideon. A few punches are nothing,” Ethan said with a shrug. “But Benji hit his head pretty hard when Jude punched him.”

                “I think it’s safe to say Jude won’t be reproducing,” Sonnet said.

                “You’re the devil. I still hate you, by the way. I only did that because Benji asked me too,” Will said.

                “I hate you too fatass,” Sonnet said, slinging an arm around Will’s shoulders.

                “Sorry we didn’t stop them earlier. They came to meet me, and I was running late because I got out of work late,” Will said apologetically. “It’s my fault they hurt you guys.”

                “Nah, it’s not your fault Will. Besides, we’re fine,” I said.

                “That is the last time I ever let you do something so risky!” Gideon cried angrily.

                “Jeez are you my boyfriend or my mother?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

                Gideon cupped my face in his hands and crashed his lips against mine. I shut my eyes and kissed him back, gripping his shirt and pulling him closer to myself.

                Okay, so he was boyfriend, not my mother.

                Either that, or I had the strangest Oedipus complex.

                We broke away from each other and I gently stroked his cheek. He looked at me, gently touching the back of my head. I winced, and he got a horribly guilty look in his eyes.

                “Hey, it’s not your fault. I promise. This was my idea, remember?” I kissed the tip of his nose. “If you keep looking guilty, it’s going to drive me insane.”

                He hugged me and I sighed, hugging him back. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but he still felt bad about it.

                “If you guys need more help with them, just call me,” Will said.

                “Thank you Will,” I said gratefully.

                “If you want a reward, you can have my body,” Ethan said.

                “William, ignore Ethan. You are a heterosexual male,” Sonnet said sternly, covering her brother’s ears.

                Will pulled her hands away. “I realize that I am a heterosexual male. Now, let’s go home before I regret not suffocating you when you were a toddler.”

                “Bye guys,” I said, waving as they left.

                “Come on Gid. Let’s get Ethan home, and head back to my house,” I said, taking Gideon’s hand in mine.

                “Yay, I get to third wheel on the way home!” Ethan said in fake excitement.

                “I hate you,” I reminded him.

                He grinned. “I know.”

                We got in the car and I dropped Ethan off at his house. I drove back to my house and we went inside and to my bedroom.

                “Gideon, you haven’t said a word. Stop blaming yourself,” I said, laying down with him in my arms.

                “I just…I saw him hit you like that. I was too late, and you got hurt,” he said quietly.

                “But I’m fine. Everything worked out in the end. So don’t worry,” I said, kissing him.

                “Hey Greyson?” He looked up at me shyly. “I know that saying I loved you today was just to make Jude mad enough to go after you guys so we could lure him but…I think it’s becoming true. I really think I’m falling in love with you.”

                My heart just about stopped. “Really?”

                “Really,” he said, smiling. “And I’m sorry I was too stupid to see it before. I never should have dated Jude.”

                “I love you Gideon,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder. He kept his arm around me, kissing me.

                Jude and his friends were finally out of the picture. Gideon was almost in love with me. Things were working out perfectly!

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A.N.- This is NOT the end! Mehhh I'm sorry this story sucks. I hope you guys are enjoying it :/