"Wait wait wait, Emmett approached you like nothing happened? After all he did to you?" Arin asks in disbelief, rage flashing in his eyes. Once Dan and I had arrived back at my place, Dan decided to call Arin and ask him to come over, since I was still a bit shaken up at my run-in with Emmett. The more people are around me when I'm nervous, the better I feel, and Dan knew that. Now I'm reciting my tale to Arin.

I nod, snuggling further into Dan, who has his arm wrapped around me on the couch. "I don't know what crack this dude was on if he thought that I'd wanna talk to him. And even though Dan knew where we knew each other, he asked anyway, wanting to know what Emmett's answer would be. And Emmett said that we were friends back in high school, even though we most certainly were not.

   "Dan then questioned if friends was what we really were, and began to remind Emmett of all the times he harassed me. I cut him off and said we had to leave. But Emmett insisted that I let Dan finish his thought. But Dan realized that he probably shouldn't say anything, so he attempted to pull me away from the situation.

   "However, Emmett grabbed Dan's shoulder and spun him around, demanding that he told him what he was about to say. Dan then said to leave us alone, and he pulled me away. Emmett started mumbling to himself at that time, which made me even more nervous. And that was it, really..."

   Arin grits his teeth once I finish my tale. "I really wanna find this guy and pound his face in. If he ever bothers you again, you call me, okay?"

   I smile a bit, liking how much Arin cares about me. "I'd be happy to, Arin."

   "Some people are just insane," Arin mumbles to himself. He then looks at me and smiles. "More insane than Dan and I already are, anyway."

   I chuckle at that, Dan doing the same.

   "But Dan and I will always be here to protect you from those types of people," Arin says with a soft smile. "Whether you like it or not, we don't care."

   I smile. "Trust me, I like it very much. Thank you, Arin." I then gently move Dan's arm out of the way so I can embrace Arin, which I do.

   Arin hugs me back tightly. "No need to thank me. It's my duty as your friend." The smile in his voice is audible, and that alone makes me smile as well.

   "And it's my duty as your boyfriend," Dan chimes in, making me pull apart from the hug with Arin. "I'll never let anything happen to you, (Y/N). I promise." He opens his arms, wanting a hug as well.

   I happily oblige, falling into Dan's arms. The feeling of them around me makes joy flutter around in my chest. Sure, I've had boyfriends before, but I've never felt this sense of happiness and comfort with them. Dan's different. And I plan to keep that uniqueness around for a long time.

   I take note of every part of Dan when I hug him. Yeah, that sounds weird, but I can't help myself. I notice how thin but strong his arms are, I notice how sturdy his chest is as it rises and falls in a rhythmic pattern, I notice how his hair is sprawled all about. I notice everything. And those small details are what make Dan, well, Dan. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

   My hug session is interrupted by my phone going off from in my back pocket. I pull apart from the hug, reaching in my pocket to pull it out. It's an unknown number that texted me. It reads,

   Unknown number: Hey!

   Dan peers over my shoulder at the text, either because of protectiveness or curiosity. Actually, it's probably both. "Unknown number, huh?" he asks. Arin then looks over my other shoulder, probably for reasons similar to Dan's.

   "Mhm," I respond, typing up a response and hitting send.

   Me: Who is this?

   I get a response a few seconds later, and what I see makes my heart drop.

   Unknown number: Emmett!

   I desperately look up at Dan, hoping he could help me decide on what to do. His eyes are cold and dark. "How did he—?" he gets out, grabbing my phone from me. He then realizes what he did and looks at me. "Do you mind if I respond for you?"

   I shake my head as Arin's eyebrows furrow in frustration. "Not at all..."

   Dan's fingers dance across my phone's screen. He presses send, and I read the text he typed out.

   Me: How did you get my number?

   Unknown number: Oh, Theo gave it to me! I wanted to keep in touch with you!

   "Theo..?" Arin asks in disbelief as my heart drops even further. "Why would he—?"

   Without saying anything, Dan exits out of my and Emmett's conversation and opens Theo's contact. He then sends him a text that reads:

   Me: What the hell dude??? Why would you give Emmett my number??? Are you crazy???

   Dan then silently stares at the text he sent, waiting for Theo to respond with a scowl on his lips.

   Then this message appears under Dan's text.

   Read at 3:37 PM.

   "Oh, if this guy doesn't respond, I'm actually gonna lose it," Dan mumbles, waiting for the little dots to show up that signal Theo's responding.

   But they never come.

   Dan grits his teeth after a while, going back to my and Emmett's conversation. He then sends him this response:

   Me: Hey. It's Dan. Leave (Y/N) alone. She's not interested in keeping touch with you, and I'm not either. If you choose to ignore this message and associate yourself with (Y/N), we're gonna have some problems. Don't bother responding, as this matter is not up for discussion.

   Pride is in Dan's eyes as he reads over the text that he sent. He's about to exit out of the conversation and hand my phone back to me when the three little dots appear, meaning that Emmett's typing. Dan sighs with indignation but waits for Emmett to send the text he's typing out.

   Unknown number: Dan, I know you said not to respond, but I feel that I need to tell you that when I say that I want to keep in touch with (Y/N), I want to keep in touch as friends. That's it. No ulterior motives here.

   Me: I don't care.

   Unknown number: I know you don't. But please, please give me a chance. I promise that I won't disappoint.

   Me: Go to hell. That's not happening.

   Unknown number: Fine, fine. But if you change your mind, be sure to let me know, okay, Danny boy?

   Me: I won't change my mind, and don't call me that.

   Dan then proceeds to block Emmett's number. He hands his phone back to me, his face flushed a little from anger. "This guy needs to take a damn hint."

   I grab my phone, nodding. "He sure does..."

   "Seriously..," Arin agrees. "Like, no means no, dude."

   Emmett has never been a big fan of the word "no". When he was about three (and when Theo and I were in kindergarten), his mom would tell him not to eat the cookies, but he would do it anyway. When he was eight, his teachers told him not to bully the other kids, but he did it anyway. When he was fourteen, everyone said not to try weed, but he did it anyway. Fifteen, people were telling him not to do heroin. Did it anyway. He became an addict to every drug possible and a complete weirdo, all because of his inability to accept no for an answer.

   When he was sixteen, he tried to touch me.

   I said no.

   But he did it anyway.

   Over and over again.

   And he is definitely not gonna take no for an answer with Dan. He's gonna come waltzing back into my life like he owns it.

   And every time I think he's gone, he's gonna come back.

   Over. And over. Again.