I scramble for an excuse as to why I can't play. "I haven't played in a while; I've probably forgotten how to do it." I lie. I haven't forgotten. It's imprinted in my brain, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Come on, you'll remember." He's eager to hear me play which only causes my nerves to multiply.

"What about Natalie, won't she wake up?"

"I doubt it. That girl can sleep through anything." Why does he have to have an answer for everything? "Relax, Mads. It's only me." He squeezes my hand lightly and my racing heart instantly calms. All it takes is a reassuring touch from Archer and I feel like I can conquer the world. This is dangerous.

"Fine, where is it?"

He grins in triumph as he leads me to it. It's so pristine and shiny that I can see my own reflection. There's not one particle of dust on it. I take a seat and place my fingers on the keys. The only people I've ever played for are my dad and Sadie. They wanted me to play in front of my school, but I refused. Stage fright and crowds don't mix very well. I would have been a nervous wreck.

"You've got this." He assures me.

I give him a tight-lipped smile before starting to play. I only get ten seconds in before I press the wrong key, cringing inwardly at the sound. "Give me a second, I'm a little rusty." I excuse, a blush heating my cheeks.

I am rusty but I know that's not the reason for my mistake. The reason is the six-foot-two boy looking over my shoulder, his hot breath fanning my neck. He's distracting me but I can't bring myself to tell him to move away. Our proximity is comforting.

I try again and this time I manage to play it correctly. It's like my fingertips move on their own accord. I lose myself in the music. Each note feels like something ingrained in my memory, it's something that comes naturally to me after so many years of practice.

"Ta-da." I turn to face Archer and he claps. My face heats up as he does.

"That was amazing," he praises, and I beam. "You're amazing."

I stand up but, being the clumsy person I am, I trip over my own feet and stumble forward. He grips my forearms to keep me steady. When I look up, his eyes are already on mine. They flicker from my cocoa brown ones to my lips, and I find myself staring at his too.

"Am I still amazing if I'm clumsy as hell?" I joke.

He doesn't respond. His eyes continue to pour into mine. His face inches closer causing my eyes to flutter shut, preparing for his lips to crash onto mine. But they never do. Footsteps padding down the stairs causes them to shoot open. I jump away from Archer, noticing the girl from the photograph walking towards us.

She's wearing unicorn pyjamas and holding a glittery pink water bottle in her hand, her trousers pooling at her feet from the length. The only word to describe this girl is adorable.

"Archer?" She rubs her sleep-filled eyes groggily.

"Hey, Nat," he responds.

It seems her sleepiness has vanished as she runs over to him with a beaming smile on her face. She wraps her little arms around his leg, and he laughs, picking her up so she can hug him properly. My heart melts at the sight of them.

"Your brother had to go out for a little bit, so my friend and I are staying until he gets back," he runs his fingers through her blonde hair softly. "Is that okay?"

She nods her head as he raises his hand to high five her. She giggles and hits her hand against his.

"This is my friend, Madison." He introduces me.

I wave slightly, "hi."

Instead of responding, she buries her head into his chest. His apologetic eyes meet mine. "Come on, Nat, don't be shy. I know she might look scary but she's not."

I glare at him playfully. He chuckles deeply. She peaks her head out of his chest but once she notices me staring back at her she buries it back into the dark fabric again.

"I'm not scary, I promise." I try but she doesn't budge.

"Right, we best get you back to bed." He looks at her for approval and she nods, still clutching to his chest. He carries her up the stairs but turns back before he goes out of sight. "I'll be back in a minute." He tells me before taking her into her room.

I make my way back to the comfy sofa and wait for him to come back. "She's out," is the first thing he says when he does. He falls onto the sofa next to me and his leg touches mine. We don't try to move.

I clear my throat. "Seen as I answered your questions, I think it's only fair I get to ask you one."

"That's fair." He agrees.

I have to pluck up the courage to ask the question I want to ask. Whenever it feels like he's going to open up to me he closes himself off again. I don't want to do anything for his walls to come back up, but my curiosity gets the better of me. I ask the question and hope he doesn't refuse to answer.

"Why were you fighting with Levi that night?"

He sighs deeply, running his hands down his face. Is that a good sign or a bad sign?

"He knows how to get under my skin," he starts, and I try to make sense of his words. They must have a history that's a touchy subject for him. I wait for him to continue. I can see that he's battling with the part of himself that wants to protect this information at all costs and the part of him that wants to tell me everything. "As soon as he said it, I snapped. I was drunk and he took advantage of that. I knew he would say it sooner or later and what better chance than when I'm drunk, right?"

The pain is evident on his face. Whatever Levi said to him that night hit home. "So, you're saying he planned it?"

"Of course, he did. He saw I was learning how to live with it, and he couldn't have that. He had to remind me of what I did and, no doubt, he'll keep doing it until I can't take it anymore."

The tears building in his eyes hits me hard, leaving me feeling like I've been winded. I hate seeing people I care about sad or in pain. Archer's now one of those people whether I like it or not.

I rest my hand on his and squeeze lightly, just how he did to comfort me earlier.

"I can help you do something about it," he shakes his head, letting me know that my help would be no use. His quick dismay doesn't stop me from continuing though. "If you just tell me what he said."

Something shifts in him at my words and he rips his hand away from me. I watch as the walls build behind his eyes. I'm treading on thin ice here; I could fall into the cold water below at any moment. It's already splintering beneath my feet.

"No," I pull back slightly at the harshness behind his voice. "I don't need your help. This is what I deserve. Can you not see it? I'm not good for you, I'm not good for anyone. I have to live with what I did. I'm not going to drag you down with me. You're too good for that."

His walls are nearly up. I can't let him close himself off to me again, I can't.

I place my hand on his cheek and turn his head so he's looking at me. His eyes are red. I gulp at the sight. "You don't have to tell me what he said if you're not ready to. But you can't just push me away."

His face stays void of emotion, deceiving me into believing he doesn't care, but his eyes tell me otherwise. He's shocked I'm still sitting here with him. "You think I'm too good for you, but did you ever bother to ask me how I feel?" He doesn't respond. "I think I'm perfect for you, Archer. This thing you're doing may work on everyone else but it's not going to work on me. You've tried to push me away so many times and I'm still here, hasn't that convinced you already that I'm not going anywhere?"

His eyes flutter closed as he exhales deeply. I half expect him to leap up and leave me here but instead, he rests his head on my hand. "Why can't you see how bad I am?" His words falter.

My heart cracks just hearing him say those words. "I can see how bad you want people to think you are. But I can also see the person who goes out of his way to convince my teacher that they were sent by the principal just to talk to me and make things right. I can see the person who drops everything to help his friend out when he needs him. That person is the reason I'm still by your side. That person is you, Archer."

I can physically see him relax like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

"You're an idiot." He shakes his head in amusement but gives me a grateful smile, nonetheless. He cups my cheeks in his hands and pulls my face towards his, kissing me gently.

"If that's what I have to be for you to stop pushing me away then so be it."

He chuckles before pressing his lips to mine once again. This kiss isn't like the others, this one's filled with passion. It's filled with a need to be close to each other and to never let go. This kiss is different, but it still causes electricity to pulse through my body just like the first one did. I'm addicted.

I wiggle out of his grasp when we both pull away for air. "This idiot really needs to pee, where's the bathroom?"

"Second door to the left." I follow his directions.

Leaning my head against the door with a smile on my face, I touch my lips, remembering the feeling of his on mine only seconds ago. How is this my life? Only weeks ago, the people I spent my time with were my sister and my dad. I didn't go out with friends. Now, I have two of the best friends I could ever ask for and a boy who feels the same way as I do towards him. Even if he hates to admit it.

Once I've had time to calm my racing heart, I collect myself together and go back to Archer. A movie's starting on the TV as I sit back down. "What are we watching?" I ask.

"I'll tell you if you come here, you're so far away."

I grin and reposition myself next to him. The scent of his cologne wraps around me, making me feel safer than I ever have before. I rest my head on his shoulder as he does something unexpected; he intertwines our hands. The pad of his thumb brushes over mine.

The name of the movie appears on the screen and my eyes widen. I look at him through my lashes. "I thought you said that stuff wasn't important?"

"I lied." He states.

We get halfway through The Great Gatsby when my eyelids start to grow heavy. The last thing I see is Gatsby and Daisy and the last thing I hear is Archer whispering "goodnight, Madison," before I'm pulled into the darkness.