I gawked at the written words glowing on the screen right in front of me.

Blinking several times to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and to no avail, the words just glared back at me, crystal clear. The sinking feeling inside my stomach begun settling down, and I somehow managed to unlock my eyes from the phone. Deciding to brush off the nagging thoughts, I pretended to be unfazed by Edward's persistent intrusion into my phone.

It wasn't the first time he was doing it anyways.

Or it also could've been Hannah's wrongdoing and she was messing with my head, trying to toss all the blame on Edward.

So, I decided to stick with the latter thought.

And I blocked him again.

It was late at night, me, alone with my occupying thoughts until I drifted off to sleep. The next day was a typical day at university and I knew I had to go if I didn't have to drop out. I couldn't dread more to go there, since there was nothing to look forward to, except rewinds of my past.

I walked through the university entrance, constantly checking my phone for any sign of Hayden but there wasn't. I could tell he was deeply hurt by my pushing him away, and the guilt had just started to eat me from the inside, at rejecting him for no reason. I contemplated apologising to him but couldn't land on a firm decision.

Paranoid just as the same during my journey to class, I sensed some of the students, gossiping and snickering behind my back. Sighing in relief, after finally reaching the partially crowded room, I took a seat at the far end as usual. Several classes passed by with me unseeingly staring at the whiteboard, yet my mind was far away. I had kept quiet the entire time, keeping my thoughts to myself, and waiting for the day to end so I could cuddle up inside my bed again.

I eyed Marilyn from the corner of my eye, who seemed to have moved on from my psychopathic company. The whole time she appeared to be uncomfortable, right after noticing my presence and uncertain in reaching out to me, so she didn't bother, and neither did I.

After the last class ticked to an end, I felt someone sit beside me. Half expecting it would be Edward, I looked up to find a friendly pair of dark brown eyes smiling at me.

"Hey, it's been a while." He smiled sincerely, perching himself in the empty chair.

"Hi Drake," I forced out the words, not quite in the mood to deal with him.

"How have you been?"

I didn't know who sent him to ask me this, this time, because the phrase sounded unlike anyone who'd use it for me. I didn't let my thoughts dictate my clouds so I spoke, "I don't know,"

"I don't know what's going on with you..." His eyes held a concerning expression. "Are we on good terms?" He asked again, quite hopefully and even though I wanted to say no, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"I don't know Drake,"

"How's Edward been?" He questioned again and that right away, quirked my attention. Edward might've sent him to inquire about my opinions of him.

"Why do you ask?" I asked back, dodging the question.

"I don't know. It seemed like he might be the only reason why you've been ignoring me lately," He answered nonchalantly, giving me a blank wide-eyed stare.

I scoffed hard. "Perhaps you should ask him why."

"Edward talks about you all the time, saying how much he's in love." He let out a sly chuckle. "Seems like he's completely infatuated,"

"Did he send you for all this?" I waved my hands, trying to indicate the conversation.

Drake's frown resembled that of confusion, silently contemplating my words.

Before he could answer and before I could explain to him how Edward might be pretending to be the good guy and how he was not a good person in general and all the bad adjectives my mind could muster, my eyes landed on his tall figure entering the class.

His electric blue eyes met mine for a moment and then back towards Drake, who apparently pretended that he didn't see Edward. I shifted my gaze from him, trying hard not to get frozen by his icy stare. The preceding footsteps indicated he was walking towards us in the back corner and I sighed a shuddering breath.

Edward's presence didn't seem to phase Drake at all as he continued the conversation as if he wasn't there. "If anything, me and Edward don't even talk much. So I wouldn't see how I'd be doing anything, he would tell me to,"

I huffed in annoyance, not buying his words at all.

"Good afternoon Michelle," Edward greeted me, his face carrying a serious but subtle expression as he leaned across the desks in front of me, not really sitting, and also completely disregarding Drake's presence. He radiated an aura of needing personal space with me, to Drake.

"Well, your boyfriend's here. I should get going," Drake simply added, only addressing me.

"He's not my boyfriend Drake," I courageously yet weakly replied, too scared to bring myself up to look at Edward's reaction.

Drake paused for a bit, not getting up and staying rooted in his seat instead. He looked towards me and then to Edward.

"Why? Did Drake write another confession letter for his feelings towards you again?" Edward's calm voice interrupted the ever-growing silence between us.

Drake shot a piercing glare at his filter-less choice of words and then he looked back at me, disappointment reeking in his features.

"Did he get you another gift?" Edward questioned looking surprised back at me and then at Drake who had so tightly clenched his bag at that point to control his anger.

For some reason, I couldn't manage any words out of my mouth and stared at their encounter. Drake tersely stood up from his seat, looking quite angry but instead of responding to Edward, he looked me in the eye.

"I should've known you were going to tell Edward everything. I don't know why I'm even surprised," He growled, before brushing past Edward in fury.

I sat paralysed in my seat in bewilderment, trying to absorb the words and the rapid change of events.

Silence lingered between me and Edward while I contemplated a coherent response to let him know how rude it was of him to blatantly call Drake out.

Before I couldn't take the loud silence between us anymore, I spoke in a menacing tone. "That was so unnecessary you know?"

His expression didn't waver. "It was necessary for me though,"

Either this whole ordeal was yet another play between them to test me, or Drake was not a part of this, and there was something off between them, I just wasn't sure anymore.

"He has been nothing but nice to me," I muttered bitterly and Edward noticed.

"That's quite a deceived definition of nice." He pushed himself off the chair behind and took a seat right where Drake sat.

"I could say the same for you,"

"You blocked me again," He remarked, shifting the topic.

"I very well did and I don't want to talk to you anymore, so please let me be," I mumbled quietly. I knew I was lying to him, and especially to myself. A part of me wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay and that he was going to be better again.

"Are you sure?" Edward's features became a little off, the sight itself shattering my heart into bits and giving me second thoughts.

"I... Yes..." I trailed off, trying not to stumble on my words.

His blue eyes widened slightly but were soft nonetheless. "Is it because of Hayden again?" And that was the final blow that guilted me, washing away all my resentment and replacing it with remorse.

Oh God, how was I going to tell Edward that I let Hayden inside my room again, without reason? It was so uncalled for but I had no other explanation to give Edward anymore. This was all my fault, and to think of even having the audacity to block Edward was so selfish of me. It was me who was guilt-tripping him, while I did wrong behind his back.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." He pursed his lips in disappointment, looking resigned and leaning back in the chair.

"No," I instantly stopped him. "I mean, I don't know," I whispered.

"You said his name again while you were asleep last night," He pointed out, looking back at me and I instantly felt my stomach tie into knots.

"I... I don't know how that happened," I lied, shrugging at the thought and looking away.

"Come outside of class," He ordered, standing up and I followed, making our way out.

Edward walked for a few minutes with me tagging quietly behind. I knew I should just leave him be and not listen to him, but it felt like I couldn't help my decisions since regret overdid my thoughts. We finally reached outside of the university and in the parking lot, and he led me towards his car. Unlocking the door with one swift motion and getting inside, he opened the door from the inside, waiting for me to get in. I climbed inside the passenger side, not knowing what I was getting myself into.

He looked at me as if waiting for an explanation. I parted my lips, to begin speaking but no words came out. I didn't even know where to begin and how he was going to react, so instead I just resorted to nervously fidgeting with my hands in my lap. And so he started. "You called him again yesterday to come over to your house," He calmly stated, more in a stating way than questioning.

"You know that as well..." I muttered under my breath to myself.

"Is it true, that you did?" He inquired again.

"Yes, Edward I did." I sighed heavily, knowing there was no going back now. And maybe it was for the best that I told him everything and then there would finally be a great excuse for him leaving me instead of me having to take the painful initiative.

"What did he do when he got there?" He asked again, with the same curiosity.

The sense of self-condemnation brewed inside of me, as I looked away from him. I was ashamed of my actions at that point, but the realisation of it finally dawned upon me. I couldn't bring myself to have to admit it and face the judgemental look of not being pleasing enough. The one thing that killed me more than being hurt by others was hurting others, and this was the very thing I had done. "It was nothing, we were just talking," I finally admitted, looking away in front of me, watching the cars and people pass by. "But... He left after," Those were my last two cents to defend myself.

"Oh... So you're seeing him again," He noted, emphasising the words a little too much, while his ring-clad thumb lightly caressed the steering wheel, yet his grip getting tighter. "What else did you do?"

"Nothing," I answered truthfully.

"Hmm," He hummed, turning away and starting the engine but not speaking much to me. He slowly reversed the car from the parking area. I gulped nervously, eyeing him from the corner of my eye, unsure of what to say. "So you two are together now," He stated more than asked.

"No," I quickly blurted. "He's not even speaking to me anyways,"

"And for how long will that be?"

"I... It won't happen again," I promised. "You hacked my phone again, you'll know anyways," I muttered, and for the first time, since class, Edward's blue eyes met mine.

"Yes... Yes, I did," He admitted quite seriously. "I had no other choice but to know what was keeping you from me this time, and it's him again,"

The rest of the drive was awkwardly silent, and I decided to break it, the growing anxiety inside of me picking at me again. "Look I'm sorry." I sighed mournfully. "I didn't mean anything of this to happen,"

Edward didn't respond, making me feel all the more nauseous. I didn't know what I was expecting, but I just wanted him back and felt like apologising. He was right on his behalf, and I was behaving unlike myself.

Not knowing what to do, I checked my phone again to find Edward's phone number and accounts being unblocked again and I slightly peeked at him and then back at my phone. He had hacked my phone, to pry into my privacy and maybe he even saw my encounter with Hayden through the phone's camera. The feeling itself was unsettling and I didn't know what was worse, him hacking my phone or me cheating on him. It was most probably the latter, I made his worst fears true.

The car stopped right in front of a small juice bar, and he got out of the car, quite to my surprise. I didn't even know what I was anticipating, but I let it slide. After what felt like fifteen minutes, Edward came back with some stuff that was parcelled in paper bags along with two drinks, one for me and him.

Maybe it was his way of accepting my apology, I couldn't quite tell through his bleak face.

"Sorry, I had to run a few errands," He stated quite casually, fastening his seatbelt.

He gave me the plastic juice container, that by the looks of it, looked like apple juice. I gave him a small smile at him, indecisive of my behaviour, taking the cup from him.

Edward took a sip of his drink, and turned towards me, giving me his full attention. I busied myself on instinct, not having it in me to glance back at him, and instead, took a sip of my juice again.

"So that's it?" He begun, followed by a defeated sigh. "You're going to leave me now?"

I exhaled a deep breath, feeling the taste of the juice warm my insides. "Edward, I'm not leaving you," I reassured, much to my surprise, feeling suddenly grateful for his concerned response.

"Are you sure? Because I'm sure you're going to pull off something or find an excuse to leave me, as soon as Hayden returns," He responded, looking at me intently.

"I won't talk to him, I promise," I said without thinking much.

"You promised me you wouldn't hide anything from me," He recalled. "And then you expected me to change, and to be better,"

"I know and I'm so sorry about whatever I said, and whatever I did," I confessed tiredly, just wanting this conversation to end.

Edward sighed and quietly pulled my frail body into a small hug, and I wrapped my arms around him, feeling my eyes sting with tears. I didn't even know why I was overwhelmed with emotions but I was thankful Edward let me be. I sniffed back, not wanting to cry, and steadied my pacing breathing.

"I love you too much to let go." He nuzzled in between the hug. His coarse hands found my hair as he pulled and kissed it.

"I love you more than that," I whispered back during the hug, feeling warm and relaxed suddenly.

"I'll drop you home, and we can spend time together," He added right after pulling away, and that elevated my mood. I nodded back slightly and quickly finished my drink.

The rest of the ride was uncomfortably silent, so Edward filled the car with some music. We finally reached my place and quickly got out of the car.

Unlocking the door, I got in along with Edward, for what felt like the hundredth time after breaking and reconciling. We were hand in hand and followed towards my room. Entering inside, I stumbled onto my bed, feeling tired and laid back, while Edward smiled, joining me along,  still keeping a watchful eye around the room.

He climbed on the bed, looking at my laptop screen blaring with the paused series I had been watching because of Hannah. "You've been watching You?" He asked quite amusedly, and I shook my head in disdain.

"I was just watching because of Hannah," I answered, and he didn't answer, squinting his eyes trying to take in the picture of the paused video.

I had been keeping an eye on her posts on Instagram and her intentions seemed obvious, and that's why I had to cut off from everyone in university. Maybe, Drake had the same intentions and that's why he was being extra nice and close to me lately. But I wasn't in the mood to think about any of that now, I was too tired trying to make sense of things.

"If she does anything to hurt you, or worse, destroy us." He intertwined his fingers into mine. "I'll do the same with her," His promising attitude eased me again and I placed a small kiss on his lips, looking in his beautiful eyes. "Or anyone for that matter,"