The day that Chord felt well enough to go back to school, he could feel the eyes on him through the halls. He heard the half-assed whispers of the other students as he walked by them, not even caring if he heard them. He wanted to run and hide from it all, but if he spent one more extra second at home, he was going to lose his goddamn mind.

Just ignore them. Not like this is the first time you've had them talk about you like you're some sort of freak. Chord wasn't sure what was going around, but it didn't take much of a genius to know it was because of Xander or one of his friends; or maybe all of them at once.

Walking across the concourse, his head perked up instantly when he saw a familiar flash of red hair. He stopped where he stood, causing the natural movement of the traffic to be interrupted, earning him several rude remarks. But he didn't hear them.

All Chord saw was Scarlett.

She was walking alongside Dakota, gesturing with her hand. After the people separating them thinned enough, Scarlett froze upon seeing him. The smile that was on her face fell and the light in her eyes died. Seeing that felt like a stab to the heart.

Scarlett pushed past him without another word, like she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Why wouldn't she? He'd said such horrible things to her, if the roles were reversed, he'd do the same thing.

Dakota stared at him with a blank look but gave the subtlest movement of his head. As if to give him some sort of acknowledgement or encouragement, but it did little to dispel his guilt. He walked past as well, quickly catching up to Scarlett. Chord watched her leave, wanting to run after her and apologize.

The following three days happened in a similar fashion. Every time one saw the other, they avoided them like the plague. Each time felt like a stab to the heart. Why couldn't he just stop running away and apologize? Why was he so afraid?

---------

Chord felt a hard knock to the top of his head, waking him up from his nap at a table in the library. "What the fu-" As he looked up to the intimidating face of Dakota, he choked on the rest of his words. "She didn't send you to kill me, did she?"

"Did you do something for Scarlett to want to send me?"

". . ."

"No, she didn't send me." He dropped in the seat across from him like dead weight. "How long are you going to pout like a fucking child?"

He narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm not pouting."

"Fine, you're sulking then."

"Why do you care if I sulk?" Chord was still nervous around him. Or, rather, how there was that irrational fear that now that Chord was avoiding her, she would start getting closer to him. After all, wasn't Dakota more the type girls went for?

"Because Scarlett is annoying enough on her own when she's cheerful and snarky, but her depressive mood pisses me off more. I need you two to patch things up."

"What happened between us isn't really any of your business."

Dakota's eyes hardened. "I'm making it my business since you two are being stupid. You obviously want to fix things with her. So why don't you?"

Chord looked off to the side. "I said some bad things to her."

"So? Get on your knees and apologize. Scarlett won't hate you."

"Yeah, well she should. I've caused enough damage. Besides. . . I wouldn't even know where to start."

Dakota sighed. "Jesus, you two are so alike, it's fucking creepy. Look, you're a nice guy. I can see why she's got her little crush on you, but right now you're self-sabotaging yourself. Stop being a coward." He leaned forward. "Scarlett is only avoiding you because she is also self-sabotaging. With all her trauma from the fire and her shitty birth family, she thinks she doesn't deserve to be happy with you again."

Chord stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean again?"

Dakota cursed. "Damn it, that slipped out." He ran a hand down his face. "Look, I'm not gonna spill her trauma out to you. It's Scarlett's story, so if you want to know then you're gonna have to ask her. But I can tell you one thing," reaching into his pocket, he took out a folded scrap of paper, "Scarlett could never hate you. Go talk to her. Either patch things up or cut it cleanly and not give her hope. Just stop the damn puppy eyes."

Dakota stood up. "I'm going to smoke before lunch ends. This is too much for me." Chord stared at the piece of paper he left on the tablet, suddenly feeling Dakota stand behind him. "Also, you don't need to worry about me stealing her from you. So, when you go talk to her, you can do whatever." He gives him a smirk. "I prefer dicks to chicks." With that, he left without another word.

Opening the slip of paper, it read: This is her address. Don't waste it or I'm gonna kick your ass.

------

Chord nearly drove himself back home at least three different times. He hated confrontation, especially ones that he was responsible for. But he didn't want to let this between Scarlett and him keep festering until it was dead. Scarlett hadn't deserved the ghosting and frustration he threw at her.

Finally gathering up his courage, he got out of the car and walked the porch. Just as he raised his hand to knock, the door opened and Miss Charlotte, Diego, and one of the other boys stood at the doorway.

"Oh, shit!" Miss Charlotte exclaimed, jumping back a step. When she realized it was him, she let out a breath. Oh, it's you, Chord. You scared the bejesus out of me." She chuckled to herself. "You're here to see Scarlett?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am. Is she home?" One look in her eyes told him she knew what had happened between them, but she wasn't looking at him with anger like he'd expected.

"She's in her room. Up the stairs, last one on the left. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some boys that need to go get new sports equipment." Ushering Diego and the second boy, followed by the rest of the siblings Scarlett had mentioned, she gave him a wave.

As he went up the stairs, he heard loud metal music coming from the room indicated as hers. The door was ajar and Scarlett sat with her back to the open door, folding laundry he assumed was for the whole family by the size of the pile in front of her. Five laundry baskets were scattered around her, each one with a name written on the side.

While he stood there like an idiot, trying to figure out how to start to groveling, Scarlett turned to set some shirts into one basket, just enough he was in her peripheral vision and she let out a scream just as a song ended, filling the room with it as she fell off the bed and onto a hamper. Her leg caught onto some of the pile, and it tumbled on top of her.

Chord let out a noise, covering his mouth to hide his laugh as she struggled for a moment to get to her feet. Unfortunately, the way she felt had her stuck in the basket.

"A little help here?" she shouted. He hurried to her, pulling the hamper off. She turned the music off, standing a bit from him as she asked, "Did Charlotte let you in?"

"Y-Yeah, she did." She fidgeted at her sweater, biting her lip. He could see there was a tension in her shoulders. "Is it okay if I'm here? I mean, it isn't. . .I can leave."

"N-No, it's okay." She smiled, relaxing her shoulders. "I assume you wanted to talk so." Her gaze suddenly caught something on the bed, and she shot forward, letting out a noise. He saw a lace red bra on top of the pile for a second before it and the rest of the clothes were shoved from his sight over the side of the bed. "You can sit." She stood awkwardly, as if retreating to the wall would protect her.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?" As he looked up, he saw the surprise in her eyes. "Why would you apologize?"

"Because I was an asshole to you at the hospital." He looked down at his injured arm. "You were just trying to be there for me, and I took out my pain and frustration on you. Even if I had a right to be mad, I shouldn't have snapped at you. And I ghosted you by not texting you. I needed to clear my head."

"It's alright. You were in pain. People do and say things." She finally decided to sit on the bed, just enough to where their legs were barely not touching.

"No, it's not. When Xander. . . he said some things that freaked me out and I got scared that they were true." I still do think that, but that isn't important right now.

"What did he say?"

". . . That I was why you were sent into the foster care system and. . he mentioned why you were in there."

Scarlett's body tensed again. "What the fuck does that dickhead know about it? My file is sealed."

"His aunt is a social worker."

"Who's his aunt?"

"April Baker."

"Fuck. She helped get me with Charlotte and Derrian. I'm going to have to tell them about her allowing strangers seeing my files." Turning towards him, Scarlett added, "But that's not important now. Xander doesn't know shit why I was sent anywhere. The reason is. . ."

He waited for her to answer, but it was also okay if she didn't. But he needed to know. Either he had to live with this poisonous guilt or learn the truth. What if it was worse than what that idiot said?

"He said your mom got drugs from my parents and I remember that they-" Her hand covered his mouth, and he froze when she drew closer to him.

"You. Aren't. Why. Okay?" she said each word softly, but firmly. "I'm in the system because of me." He raised an eyebrow in question, and she removed her hand. "Yes, my mom was a druggie, but. . . " She paused, looking at him. "Did he mention. . .anything else?"

"Your mom tried killing you."

"No, I mean about. . .me."

"Like what?"

She suddenly rose, going to her closet. Using a step stool, she grabbed an old shoe box from the top shelf. She stared at it for a few moments before coming back to him. She pulled out a folded photo, handing it to him. He opened it carefully, afraid to tear it seeing its frayed edges.

His heart nearly stopped as he laid eyes on the photo. In the photo was him around six or seven, laying on the grass next to the girl who was his first friend he never said goodbye to. He remembered that day. Aaliyah had found one of those cheap dollars store camera you had to wind up at the park and after she had taken it, it had smacked her in her face. She had taken it with her, saying she'd get it developed.

"Aaliyah? But that means . . ." Confusion and hope mixed together in his chest, making a very confusing combination. Is the girl standing before him really her?

Scarlett-- Aaliyah-- sat down next to him, smiling to herself. "Do you remember that day I stopped showing up at the park? It was because I was in the hospital. . ." She cleared her throat.

He furrowed his brows. "Why?"

Scarlett shifted how she sat, becoming increasingly nervous. "Uh, can you turn away for a second?"

"Uh, w-why?"

"Just do it, please."

Chord turned away, closing his eyes. He heard rustling and then a moment later, "Y-You can turn around now."

As he did, he froze. Scarlett was in a tank top, which wasn't unusual, but his eyes were currently on the left side of her arm, which was covered in burn scars from her upper arm to wrist. His mouth was open as he searched for words, but whatever question he had died when she saw the raw vulnerability in her eyes.

"W-What happened? Is that from the-?"

"From the fire? Yes." She nodded. "A piece of the ceiling fell on my left side." She lifted the bottom of her shirt, where more scars were. "They did the best they could, but the burns were really bad. The scars won't ever go away. I don't have full motor control and I still get phantom pains." She lowered shirt back. "On the day of the fire, while my mom and her boyfriend were getting high, I snuck in and stole my mom's phone to call the cops. I was abused pretty much daily in that house by both of them and I just. . .couldn't take it anymore. I hated them and I wanted the cops to take them away."

"What sort of abuse was it? If it's okay that I ask?"

"The whole trifecta. Thankfully, being the age that I was, I don't remember it too well." She took his hand in hers, running her thumb along the back of it; as if to keep herself calm. "Your parents sold to my mom, but who did the selling is irrelevant. My mom had woken up before I could sneak the phone back and she went completely nuts. She hit me a few times and I blacked out for a moment. When I came to, the house was on fire, and I was locked in the room."

"She locked you in?"

"She used it as a form of punishment at times. Locked me in and wouldn't let me eat since I didn't deserve it. I was born out of a rape, so she never liked me. Anyway, the house was in the worst part of town, so the material used to make it caught really fast. Eventually that beam fell on me, I was in excruciating pain. I faintly remember a firefighter above me and the next thing I knew I was in the burn unit of some hospital."

Tension grew behind his eyes and the tears started to form in his eyes. Seeing his distress grow, Scarlett took his head in her hands, not allowing him to look away. "You aren't to blame for all that, Chord. Do you hear me? I would've called the cops eventually or I would've ended up dead. You were the one and only good thing in that life of mine. Being with you was what got me through every pain even if it was just for a short while. You were my happiness." She smiled, as if surprised at the words that followed. "Even now, you make me so happy that I don't know what to even do with all of it."

Her touch felt so familiar and so warm, Chord leaned his head into it.

Chord blushed. "I-I am?"

"Yes, and I'm sure it was the same way for you, right?" She smiled.

"Y-Yeah." He laughed. "But how the hell can you admit that so easily?" He hid his family in her shoulder. "The idea of admitting that makes me feel like my heart's gonna burst." As he said this, he could hear the rapid heartbeat of Scarlett's heart and he couldn't help but smile. "Maybe I'll eventually be more confident like you."

"You don't need to change yourself for me. I care about you just as you are. I've known my feelings for a while, so you can take all the time you need. But, of course, if you want to express your undying loyalty and devotion to me here and now, I'll definitely accept it."

Chord hugged her, pulling her into his lap. "Oh, shut up."

"Make me."

He lifted his head, pretend glaring at her and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Staring at her, he took in all the parts of her he had grown so fond of over the past few months. He knew without a doubt that he cared about her, more than anyone else, but he wasn't quite ready to admit he loved her. He appreciated Scarlett was alright with that. For now, it was acceptable that he likes everything about her.

Her cute freckles across her face that looked like constellations in the sky; her blue eyes that looked so endless and depthless; her interchangeable laugh that had at least four variations depending on how funny she found something; how marvelous she was in her imperfections and how perfect at the same time.

How could he not care about her?

Chord pulled her face to his, kissing her in a way that he wanted all of his emotions to be felt. She was taken by slight surprise, but quickly reciprocated, letting out a low moan that stirred him to deepen the kiss further. Holding her waist firmly with one arm, is other threaded through her ginger curls. His mouth opened as her tongue entangled with his, her chest pressed against his. His head swam with overloaded emotions and every moment of it felt so natural.

He only paused when he felt Scarlett's hand cover the one around her waist, which had started to go under the back of her sweater.

Her face was flushed with emotion as her voice came out heavy. "As much as I love you touching me, I need. . .a little more time before you do it under my clothes." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, letting him know that it wasn't a denial. "I'm definitely interested in that chapter."

Just a delay until she was more comfortable with it herself.

"That's fine, but do remember, you're beautiful even with the scars. My feelings. . . haven't changed."

This smile she gave was different than all the others before. "Alright. Now, less talking, more kissing please."

Chord didn't need to be told twice.