Hayden's words and Edward's moments had a conflicting battle in my head, while I tossed and turned in my bed, restlessly. My chest brimmed with feelings of confusion, indecisiveness, and hurt, and my mind couldn't register a coherent explanation for all that had happened and was happening.

So I pulled out my phone and begun typing away my thoughts, which begun as arbitrary vents, ending up as another silent weep. I named it, Haunted. It was particularly about Hayden, and how I had begun to feel about him.

And every funeral inside this heart is a buried emotion
Alone inside this dark cemetery, like a sadistic ghost
The grave of my love, you possess, is just your favourite hoax

Time passed as I read and reread between the words, over-analysing and overthinking every bit of the event alongside of my day. I felt helpless and couldn't come to a good conclusion, so I simply switched apps. I begun stalking Edward's account on Instagram and ended up landing on Hannah's instead.

Her account was the kind of influencer account that advertised life lessons and stuff like that, as captions for her quite beautiful pictures. It was highly unlikely of her personality though, but I couldn't help but compare myself. She had everything, the looks, the followers, great friends, a boyfriend might I add, and the 'fake it til you make it', personality. Maybe that's what people loved about others as well. A picture-perfect image and it would be loved by thousands. No one was ready or would even approve of seeing the vulnerable dark facets of the pictures out there. Everyone loved a good act of niceness and white lies.

I scrolled back up, careful not to like any of her old photos and checked out her public story. She had posted about this one Netflix film she had been watching, and how she was loving it. I frowned at the title itself, which sounded quite off-putting and somehow felt targeted to me.

Was she trying to hint to me that she had been watching me? Did she know everything about me and Edward? What was she trying to imply to me? All the questions begun pounding my head, while I stared at my blaring phone screen unseeingly.

The leftover bits of sleep in my eyes had vanished, and I sat up straight and attentively, clutching my phone tight and frowning deeper to analyse what was she trying to say. There were some disturbing events in the film, and I instantly recognised that it had to do something against me and Edward.

Hannah was definitely a stalker. And she was obsessed with Edward and with me, indirectly. She was just trying to pass me the message that if I didn't step out of Edward's way, she probably would go to psychotic lengths to execute the consequences. This paced my anxiety again.

I started putting two and two together as I thought hard about what exactly could she be plotting against us this time and how I needed to protect myself and especially Edward.

Without much thought, I opened Netflix and decided to watch whatever film Hannah was foreshadowing me. The first episodes were undoubtedly interesting, but by then the early morning rays begun to seep into my room, indicating the end of the night and I groaned tiredly as I shifted from my frozen position.

It was the weekend so I was glad, I could stay in and probably talk to Edward about Hannah's intentions and how we needed to steer clear of her evil ideas.

With vivid dreams of being followed and the events of the film, sleep took over me.

It was late afternoon when I was woken up by my phone ringing and I grumbled, trying to feel the device beside me through the sheets. I checked the screen with squinted eyes and found Edward's number flash, seemingly calling me continuously for the past hour. I quickly answered in a beat, concern washing over me.

"Michelle." He breathed, his voice caressing my name.

"Edward," I said back, rubbing my eyes quickly with my palms. I inched myself up, to check the time on the clock that read half past one in the afternoon. "What's up?"

"I've been outside your room, knocking on your door for the past hour," He explained calmly but I could sense the hint of worry in his tone. "And you weren't answering,"

"Why? What happened?" I frowned and I heard him sigh and quickly got up from bed to unlock the bedroom door. Twisting the knob unlock, the opening of the door revealed him standing in the doorway, looking as if he had just seen a ghost or something, and his pale skin indicated fearfulness. Mum stood right beside him, which only made the whole ordeal, all the more concerning. "It's the weekend. I was asleep," I explained quickly.

"What were you on, Michelle?" Mum gave me a scolding look. "I was terrified when you weren't opening the door for so long, I mean..." She trailed off, her expression turning more worried. "I thought something happened to you,"

I exhaled from my nose tiredly, trying to stifle a yawn. For some reason, I just felt so physically tired and my body, frail despite staying in bed all day. I slid my hand through my hair in exhaustion. "I'm fine. I slept late,"

"Please clean and fix yourself and I need to talk to you," Mum said in a serious tone before walking back to the kitchen, and the nervousness inside of me grew again. My eyes shifted back to Edward and he returned me a reassuring smile.

I huffed and went back to my room and cleaned my face and brushed my teeth. I combed the small mess of my hair and changed myself into small jean shorts and a plain white shirt. While Edward sat on my bed after clearing the small space for me and watched me fix myself, clearly appreciating my efforts through the small smirk on his face.

I turned around from the mirror to face him, slightly blushing at his heated gaze. After a long drag of a wistful sigh, Edward broke in. "Your mum is concerned about your well-being and wants to talk to you about getting help."

I tilted my head at him in slight dismay, placing my hand on my side waist. "And by help you mean therapy?"

His eyes looked away from me, focusing on his pale veiny hands, cladded with rings. "She just wants the best for you," He rasped and I gulped from the sadness brewing inside of me.

"I'm totally fine Edward. Why don't you tell her that?" My brows furrowed at the mere thought. "If anything, she should be helping me, protecting me from Hannah and her wicked plans,"

"Michelle, I took care of that." He sighed again, looking tired already.

"Edward." I walked towards him and placed my hands on his shoulders while I seated myself on the bed right beside him. He looked back in my eyes and I could see the tension evident in them. "I know what she's doing to you, and even if you can't tell me, then that's fine. I know it's not easy to experience someone abusive and an obsessed, threatening person. But I want to help you with that, okay?"

"What makes you say she's threatening me?" He asked, and then quickly rephrased it again. "I mean how do you know?"

"I know Hannah is one of those obsessive ex of yours," I begun. "And it's clear that she's been planning and doing things lately to separate us. I wish I could help you and protect us, but we'll figure it out." I placed my palm on his bony hand. "You have no idea what she said to me last night,"

"What?" He questioned, suddenly curious.

"She wants me to stay away from you and if I don't, then she wouldn't hesitate to... Well, execute her wicked plans," I stated as a matter of fact. "She just wants you to herself,"

"Did she really say that?" His frown deepened, the lines on his forehead evident, while he contemplated my words.

"Kind of," I said, with a small shrug. "She posted something like the words You, and she was clearly referring to me in that. It was actually a film series though, but it had some disturbing scenes and it instantly clicked me on what she was trying to say. She's obsessed with you Edward. I started watching the series and I have started connecting the dots now,"

His expression froze, his blue eyes analysing me for a minute, before composing himself. I knew all of it was beyond comprehension and unbelievable in the first place. But I was ready to do anything to fix this.

"That's... Concerning." Edward's eyes looked away from me and to the window in front. "But we'll figure something out... We always do right?"

I smiled a bit and nodded.

"Shelly!" I heard Mum call, and my head snapped towards the opened door.

He nodded towards me and we both followed ourselves out of my room. Mum was, as usual, sitting on the sofa, a purple apron tied around her waist. "I made lunch." She simply smiled at us.

She brought a steaming dish of roasted turkey and mashed potatoes, serving them on the plates. I smiled at her efforts of trying to be posh because of Edward's presence. I could tell she already approved of him and that was her way of telling it.

We seated down on the dining table and said grace, before starting to eat. But right after that, I just twisted my fork in my plate, bored and not having an appetite.

"Why aren't you eating?" Mum spoke, her voice full of concern and it made me even more uncomfortable, to have her full attention.

"I'm fine. I'll eat later," I dismissed her, pushing the plate away.

She instantly stopped as well and took a deep breath as if preparing herself for her important conversation. "That's why I think you need to seek professional help. You're not doing well honey,"

"I'm fine mum," I told her seriously. "I'm an adult and I can take care of myself,"

"It's not about taking care. You have been so stressed lately, and I thought that might help."

"Mum, I know you're so worried about me. But the only thing you should be worried about is someone out there who might try to hurt me," I explained, feeling a pang of sadness hit me again. I looked towards Edward who seemed to be silently watching our exchange of not-ending-anywhere banter.

"Rebecca," He spoke silently, before clearing his throat. "I'll deal with her, don't worry."

Mum's expression resembled that of hopelessness and hurt, and I just couldn't understand why it was so hard for her to understand my actual problem, and come to terms with my side of the story. She didn't even believe half of what I had told her that day, so now I had stopped bothering.

The rest of the lunch went uncomfortably silent, and after forcing some bites, I got up from my chair and gathered the plates and headed towards the kitchen. I quickly washed the. and went back into my room. I didn't know why the thought of getting therapy troubled me, but it did and nothing was going to persuade me. And worse, Mum forcing it on me, wasn't settling well with my expectations regarding her intentions.

I heard some light chatter outside of my bedroom, pretty much what felt like sympathising my state of being, and how I needed to be taken care of. It only heightened my bottled angriness. I had faced and resolved all my problems all alone, all this time, and as soon as I told Mum about them, she thought I was too naïve to deal with them.

I was the same girl who faced all my bullies in college, alone.

I was the same girl, who dealt with an emotionally, psychologically and verbally abusive boyfriend, alone.

I was the same girl who was victim-blamed and slut-shamed for getting her pictures leaked, without having anyone to console me.

And I was the same girl, who was now dealing with Hannah and her bullying friends, no different from my college ones, and all alone.

I sat in my bed, staring into the distance, frozen, with my chin resting in my palm. I heard some footsteps ascend towards my room and Edward cautiously entered, creaking open the door and making sure I was okay.

"I'm alright if that's what you're worried about." I scoffed and he sighed in response, taking a seat on the bed beside me.

"I know. You're stronger than what you seem to be," Edward said as if voicing my thoughts. "But you know being strong is one thing, and being physically strong is another. You don't look well physically, and you haven't been eating enough,"

I groaned in response, not wanting to talk about my weaknesses and vulnerabilities at all. "I did eat right now,"

"It's not that." He shook his head. "You might be suffering from an eating disorder, for all we know,"

"Isn't that a good thing?" I questioned before I could stop myself. "I mean I might as well lose some weight to be as pretty as some of the girls in my university,"

He instantly knew who exactly I was referring to and I could tell he was very displeased at my proposition, looking close to infuriated. "And you may also be suffering from body dysmorphia,"

"First of all, you can't diagnose me with all of these things without any proof." I scowled.

"That's why I was asking you to seek professional help but I can't force you now, can I?"

I groaned again, not replying, and leaned in my bed against the headboard. I picked up my phone to find You paused on Netflix and instantly remembered that I needed to watch the whole thing as soon as I could.

"Did Hannah tell you that I'm a crazy or a mentally sick person?" I asked before I could stop myself and Edward blinked. "Did she put you up to this or is she forcing you to do this?"

"Michelle..."

"Is she watching us? She must be spying on us right now." I took Edward's phone from his hand and hid it in the drawer. That was the only thing I could think of having a camera.

"You're not crazy." He took my hands in his, looking me in the eye, and not breaking the contact. "And I don't believe anything Hannah says. She can't destroy this relationship and I'll do whatever it takes to save it. To save us,"

The very thought of being protected eased my nerves and insides, and I exhaled a breath, nodding at him in gratefulness.

He spent the rest of the evening with me, talking about his passions and dreams and how he planned of moving out with me as soon as university ended. I also told him about my dream of becoming a poet and a writer both, and how I'd love to get signed to an actual publishing company.

The day went quite smoothly, and I forget about all my worries as long as Edward had me accompanied. In the middle of a random conversation, he picked a random topic, as he sat behind me, with me leaning over his chest, as he drew circles with his finger at the back of my palm, nuzzling into my hair.  "Your new friend Hayden, can I ask something about him?" He spoke with sheer curiosity.

"Ask away,"

"Does he look like the same guy from your college?" He questioned instantly.

"You're saying it's actually him?" I lightly chuckled to myself. "I know the names are the same and all but no it's not him. Although he does look strikingly similar to my ex,"

Edward shifted a little, turning his body towards me. "What if it's actually him?"

I smiled amusedly. "I talked to him about it. It's not him." I shook my head. "But I have to admit, the current Hayden is the kind of guy I always wanted my past Hayden to be. He was so toxic before but now, this new person, he's nice and protective, and the kind of friend I wanted before."

With that he remained silent, not asking further details about him. I secretly prayed Edward wasn't jealous or over-protective of me, which I wouldn't blame him for. But I was already planning on keeping Hayden at an arm's length from meddling in my relationships now.

It was finally nighttime and Edward had to leave, as per my mum's strict rules. He pecked me a small goodbye and hugged me tighter for what felt like an hour before he made his way out of the room. I walked him out, and he said farewell to Mum, who was ecstatic and grateful for his presence today. I smiled at them and with that, Edward drove off.

Sighing loudly Mum understandingly went to her room, probably to get some sleep and I went back to my lonely little cubicle to spend the rest of the night, to probably binge-watch Netflix.

I jumped onto my bed, grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it down. My heart felt happy and relaxed after spending time with him. Edward always seemed to have a way of bringing out the best in me and I couldn't be more thankful to him to help me throughout this whole situation. All my resentment and despise towards him evaporated into thin air.

I decided to smoke a little bit, so I slid the nightstand drawer open, which showcased some cigarettes scattered in them and a lighter, along with Edward's phone in there. My heart seemed to jump into my throat at the unexpected sight and my anxiety begun to stem out.

I stared keenly at the black device that sat there unmoving, and I let out a shuddering breath. I couldn't help but feel intrusion pick at my insides as I contemplated taking a quick peek at his phone. Edward had tried hacking my phone as well, so what if I tried peeking into his? It shouldn't be a big deal, should it?

With shaky hands, I picked the small device from the drawer, covering the front camera with one of my fingers. I pressed the side button to turn it on and it had a password, that I unlocked from mine and his name that I once did before. It was the same, and the phone quickly unlocked.

I gasped audibly, as I felt nervousness creep inside of me as to what I could find in the device. I checked the notification bar and found several texts from Hannah.

My stomach had begun aching at this point as I tapped the texts, revealing the conversation with Hannah.

Edward, she is crazy and dangerous for you and me. Please stop trying to fix her, she's a lost cause and you know it.

If she tried to pull something like what she did after complaining about me in uni, I will not tolerate it again. And it won't be good.