I take a deep breath as my mom's car pulls up in our driveway. It's evening.

If she wasn't with me right now I'd be jumping up and down because of how happy I am to be home. After two months.

We get out of the car and I carry my suitcase to the entrance door.

When she opens the door I become ecstatic. Finally. I just want to lay in my bed forever.

"I'll keep a close eye on you, sweetheart," she warns me and I nod while carrying my baggage inside.

I walk upstairs and I get a wave of melancholy when I see my room is just like I left it the day before my trip.

I throw the baggage on the floor and I immediately get on the bed, I stare at the window I used to smoke weed and I smile.

First genuine smile this month. It's early May and sadly I still have to study for school despite being homeschooled, my mom said I can go back to school next year.

I haven't heard of Nicole in months, I don't know if she is still with James after that kiss with Louis. Honestly, I didn't think about them at all.

I had only one person on my mind.

I grab my phone. They finally gave it back to me once I left and my mom told me she would control it sometimes.

She also allows me to meet Nicole, Louis, and Dominic after I blamed it all on James.

I immediately dial Dominic and I can't stop my smile.

I wait for a couple of seconds and he doesn't pick up, so I call again.

No answer.

I get up, not even bothering to rearrange the stuff in my baggage and I go downstairs.

My mom should go to work soon.

She is sitting on the couch watching the television and I sit next to her impatiently.

"I am staying home today, you need me here," she says and I wish I could say no. I don't need her here. I need to talk to Derek or I'll go insane. I need to know.

After I watched a movie with my mom, the doorbell rings.

"I'll go," I say and she pauses the movie.

I quickly open the door handle and I almost want to scream.

"Dominic!" I say, running up to him, hugging him as tightly as I can.

Two months of that prison changed me more than I want to admit.

My mom probably heard us but I had two months to explain to her that Dominic is a good guy and he is Nicole's cousin, she pointed out I lied that it was a girl months ago. I admitted to it.

"I almost fell off my bike when I saw your call," she says and I laugh.

"You bike?" I raise my eyebrow.

"No," he replies and I laugh again. His humor is unmatched. Only now I realize how much I missed it.

"Please tell me what happened to Derek? He didn't show up... I got caught and I got one more month in rehab," I quickly explain and he changes his expression. All the previous amusement fades.

"Let's sit somewhere," he says and I nod. We sit on the steps outside the house.

"I haven't heard about him since then," he says and I frown.

"What do you mean?!" I ask concerned and he seems just as concerned as I am.

"He was supposed to go to you but he never called me again since then, it's been a month and you also didn't call me. I was so worried. I thought you two escaped together," he says and I smile at the last phrase. I wish that was the case.

But I can't help but feel my chest tightening at the news. Is Derek ok? Where is he? What is he doing?!

"Have you tried asking Shanice?" I say and he shakes his head.

"Let's go to her."

~

I told my mom I'm going to see my friends and that I'll come home fast. I only have time to ask Shanice about Derek.

Dominic pulls up to Shanice's house and I run to the door, ringing the bell several times.

It opens when I'm about to ring it again.

"Veronica? You are alive?" She seems worried.

"Where is Derek?"

"He moved out," she says and Dominic finally comes to the door. He is too slow.

She sees Dominic's expression changing and she continues, "he called me to tell me he won't come home anymore, then I went to check his room, and his stuff was already gone," she says and I put my hand on my forehead, annoyed.

"How long ago?"

"A month or something," she says and I look at Dominic, he does the same.

What happened to Derek when he was coming to see me?!

We sprint back to his car and we sit in silence for a while.

"I don't understand, Derek isn't like this-" He stops whatever he was about to say and he seems lost in his thoughts.

"What?" I ask noticing his mood changing when he cuts himself short.

"He did the exact same thing two years ago," he says and I frown.

"Let's talk to Felix," he says and I wince hearing that name. Felix is one of the last people I want to see fresh out of rehabilitation.

I told my mom I'd go home but I can't let Derek in trouble, I can't, no matter the consequences.

Dominic drives off and after a thirty minutes drive, he parks in front of Felix's house which gives me horrible flashbacks of when he didn't want to let me leave.

"Wait here," he says and I nod, knowing damn well I won't wait and leave him alone. I know they are dangerous.

He doesn't even bother to knock on the door and he straight up touches the door handle.

He forces the door a few more times but it's locked. Then he looks around the house and he comes back to the car.

"He isn't home. His car isn't here too," he says and I take a cigarette out of his map holder.

I lit it up and I finally take my first puff after two months.

"Are you supposed to do that?" he asks pointing to the cigarette and I shrug.

"I know where to go," he says and I wait for him to explain but he doesn't and drives off faster than usual.

When he parks in the garage where I was almost choked by Felix I get chills down my spine. If Derek wasn't there to save me-

I never thanked him enough, I was always a bitch to him and I'm terrified of never seeing him again.

"Why here?" I ask and Dominic doesn't seem to hear me.

We leave the parking lot and we stand in front of the bar where I met Felix and did horrible stuff...

"I can't enter, I don't have a fake ID," I say and he shrugs.

"Just don't buy anything, if you are with me, they won't check," he says pulling out his fake ID and only now I remember he is barely 20 years old.

I enter and I sit at the bar, just ordering a glass of water because I'm dying and I can't calm myself down if I don't talk to Derek.

This bar is a bit bigger than I remembered, Dominic looks through the crowd for Felix or Derek and I sip from my water.

"You!" Someone sits next to me and I flinch, turning to face the person who called my attention.

I look at him, he seems in his mid-twenties, short blonde hair and brown eyes but I can't remember where I know him from.

He is wearing a white shirt, a tie, and black pants, probably too formal for this bar.

He orders a drink for me and I refuse him but he ignores me.

"It's been so long, I thought I'd never see you again," he says smirking as he places the drink closer to my face.

"I don't drink," I say surprising myself, I went into rehab for drugs, not alcohol so I still drink, just not if a stranger offers me.

"You are a good girl now?" he mocks me in a heavier British accent-

Oh my God...

"Come on, we had fun last time!" he flirts a bit too close to my face and his stinky breath of vodka hits my face, I look away.

It's the blonde guy I met at this bar and slept with him in a hotel room almost a year ago.

"I get it, you like playing hard to get. But it seemed pretty easy to get you last time," he says coming closer to my face and I stand up.

"Leave me alone," I firmly say and he laughs.

"Now you want money? Five hundred-" He gets cut off short by someone punching him right in the face.

I turn around to see who hit him and I almost faint when I recognize Derek.

He looks... different.

I get in front of him when I notice he doesn't want to beat up the guy, but only punch him once.

"Derek!" I exclaim and I cup his face with my hands, his facial hair is grown out more than how he usually keeps it, he has dark circles and he looks so disoriented.

He seems surprised by my action but he doesn't push me away until he takes a step backward and leaves the bar.

I follow him into the underground garage.

"Please, talk to me!" I yell at him while he is walking to a car I don't recognize but he takes out his keys.

Whose car is this?

I walk closer to him and he doesn't turn to me.

"I missed you so much, Derek, please," I say and it almost comes out as if I'm begging him to talk to me, it's crazy how he makes me act now.

He finally looks at me and his empty blue eyes are penetrating through my soul. I missed him so much.

I take his hand into mine and he keeps looking at me, unsure of what to do.

"Now you care, huh?" His warm breath hits my face, he takes me by surprise because I didn't expect his voice to be so aggressive.

I don't let go of his hand but I relax my hold.

"I always cared about you," I say and he laughs bitterly.

"Sure you did, he says snatching his hand out of my hold and I look at him confused.

"Why are you acting like this?!" I ask and he comes closer to me, which makes me step backward.

"Are you scared of me?" he asks and I shake my head, confused. Why is he asking me this?

"Then why did you step backward?" he whispers in my ear and I look away, as his breath is so close to my neck.

"I- I am not scared of you, Derek." I sigh. His presence is making me so nervous but yet it's the best feeling I have ever felt.

"Did you sleep with Alexander?" he asks, leaving me confused and I frown while he looks at me deeply.

"I passed out. He said he would never do that," I speak sincerely.

"Of course..." He looks away and I wait for him to say something else, anything.

"You don't believe me?" I ask and he laughs.

"Do I have to? You are never honest with me, yet you expect it from me," he says annoyed.

"Where have you been?!" I ask ignoring his statement and my back is already against the cold wall from how close he is to me.

"This is what I was talking about. No, I won't tell you. You never tell me anything, it's fair if I stop being stupid and do the same," he says slightly raising his tone and he puts a hand on the wall near me.

"Weren't you the one calling me pathetic several times? Should I quote you?" He says as he laughs and I shake my head.

I was horrible to him. He is right.

"Why are you b- bringing it up now?" I ask as my lower lip starts shaking.

"I had two months to think about this. It's over. Whatever there was between us-" He stops to think about what he is saying and he takes a step back.

"You don't mean this. Please, don't say this," I beg him, pulling his arm towards me. He laughs bitterly.

"I was at the hospital. I saw you almost dying too," Derek mutters, and my mouth's agape.

"We took you to the hospital then your mother told me to never go near you again, so I'm going to do that," he says and I sigh.

"You found me when I- I...?" I ask struggling to remind myself that I was about to die.

"Shanice did, and then she called me. It was like reliving my parents' death, but it was you," he says and my heart sinks to my stomach.

"Did you do it on purpose?" he asks closing the distance between us and I shake my head.

"No! It was a mistake. I didn't want to overdose," I exclaim and he sighs.

"You stole it from Alex, he wasn't going to give it to you for two reasons. I told him to stop and second, the cocaine he had that day was a higher purity one," he explains as we are a few inches away from each other. I try to focus on his words but it's hard.

"Do you realize what you are doing to yourself?" he asks.

I nod embarrassed that he saw me at my worst.

"I'm not doing drugs anymore."

"Why didn't- why didn't you come to the rehab center?" I ask and he looks away.

"I was about to, but as I said, I won't explain anything to you anymore, just like you do with me," he says annoyed and I look away.

"I don't know what you are trying to do, Ronnie, but I don't want to be part of this. I don't want you to keep playing games with me. You either want to be with me or you don't," he explains and I nod. He is right, I know he is. I just don't know how to deal with it.

We stare at each other for a few seconds and I finally gather the courage to tell him the truth.

"I want to be with you," I say surprised by my statement.

"It's making me go crazy... I never wanted to be with someone this badly before. It's killing me."

He finally smiles. The first genuine smile.