I felt like the obvious choice was to go after Rolan. He was the one that actually wanted me there and I think he was trying to defend me, no matter how oddly he tried to show it. 

I looked down at Eli on the floor and noticed that the only people left in the room were Eli, me and Kellen. The other two boys had left after Rolan. This wasn't a big shock to me though because it's pretty common knowledge that Kellen and Eli were ride or dies for each other.

Eli looked up at me and we locked eyes. It was the first time I ever saw him like that. His lip was gushing blood and he was pressing, his shirt to his wound. I looked beside me to Kellen. He tilted his head to the door as if he was giving me the "ok" to go after Rolan. Eli noticed and dropped his head, again, disappointed.

I shook my head and tilted my head the same way, urging him to go. He nodded quickly and left seconds later. I don't know what I was planning to say or do because I feel like I was missing information. Friends don't just punch each other in the face because of little arguments. I sat down next to Eli.

Selfishly, I felt like maybe if I played this right, we could be civil, maybe even friends.

"Let me see," I said, as I slowly steered Eli's hand pressed to his shirt away from his face. His white shirt was covered in blood.

"I think it's stopped bleeding," I said.

He nodded, slowly. A minute passed of eerie silence. We sat side by side, with our knees touching but we weren't talking.

Until he finally said "Why don't you go after your little 'boyfriend'?" And Eli was back.

"He's not my boyfriend and you know that?" I said, in a confused matter. "Why are you acting like this?"

His gaze fixed on the floor and he blinked rapidly. The veins in his eyes made his green eyes even brighter.

His tone shifted back into more of a normal tone. "Why did you stay here, you were fine making out with him yesterday,"

I felt a bit of anger rise within me but I bit my lip to calm myself down."Eli I want to be friends, why can't we be friends?" I asked.

He broke his gaze and he looked at me. We were looking in each other's eyes now and I felt a pit in my stomach.

I knew that Eli had been through things in the past. I knew that his mom had died when he was younger and that he never really got along with his dad. This was all common knowledge to the public but looking at him made it seemed like there was so much more to the story.

I felt like I was talking to a wall.

"Why did he hit you?" I asked softly.

He was still looking at me.

His eyes glazed over for a second and he parted his mouth open as if he was going to start talking but he pressed his lips together, looked away and blinked rapidly. He was about to be vulnerable but he chose not to.

"We can be friends," he said softly, like a whisper.

"What?" I asked, forgetting, I asked that. "Okay," I said softly.

After seconds of silence and looking around the room aimlessly, I finally decided to speak again.

"I should probably check on Rolan," I admitted.

"Maybe I'm an easy punching bag," Eli spat. 

"What?" I asked softly. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It had been rumored that things with his dad escalated to a physical level. Did he just confirm it? Or was he talking about his friends or something?

"Check up on Rolan," he said, sinking his face into arms.

As I straightened up, about to get up, Eli said "Merry," in his deep voice.

"Yeah," I said, turning my body to him.

He cupped my face with one hand on my cheek and leaned it. He planted his lips on mine, kissing me. Deeper and deeper. I didn't know what to do. I found myself fighting the urge to kiss him back, I knew this was going to end bad, don't do it, Merry! I said to myself. Fighting every thought in my head I placed my hands on his cheek and mirrored his moves. I cut it off immediately after I noticed I had given in. The kiss lasted about five or six seconds but it felt like hours.

I wiped my lips away quickly, as if it could wipe the kiss away and got up in less than a second. Eli looked guilty and got up quickly, as well.

"I'm going to go," I said as I bolted out of the room, not even listening to Eli's anwser.

I hated myself for the fact that we kissed. I hated myself for the fact that I was unprofessional. I hated myself for giving in and mostly I hated myself for liking it. He was the worst kind of human. I felt bad about his life and everything but he wasn't right for me and I knew it.

I ran out of the studio for fresh air and the heavy winds hit me immediately. It felt like fresh air burning out the fire in my soul. I was also a sweaty mess from practice so it felt kind of good. I lifted my arms seizing the moment and it kind of felt like everything was limitless for a moment and that everything was okay. I heard a small chuckle behind me. I looked behind me and it was Rolan standing by the wall of the building I was in front of. He sat with his back to the wall and was now wearing his signature leather jacket that was probably handed to him by one of the other boys.

"There you are," I said, walking over to him.

"I'm sorry I left," he said, fastly.

"It's-its okay," I said. I forgotten how talking to Rolan was completely different from talking to Eli because there was respect here.

He stood up after he noticed I was standing.

"It's freezing out here, you should be inside," he said. rubbing his hands together.

Now I was starting to feel it too, the liberating feeling had now turned into numbness in the freezing weather.

"Yeah, let's go," I said, ushering him to the door. He didn't move.

"You should go," he asserted.

I pressed my lips together. Why are all the Warflowers so stubborn? I'm so sick of this. I'm going to be stubborn now.

"No, I'm not not leaving here," I asserted as I sat down, quickly.

He chuckled and sat down next to me. "You're a stubborn one," he joked.

I smiled, did he just read my mind?

I felt a jolt of coldness run through my body and I think he noticed. He quickly unbuttoned his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. I literally felt like I was in a movie. This all seemed surreal. This stuff doesn't happen to people like me, hell it doesn't happen at all, other than in movies. Especially in the span of a couple minutes.

I smiled, but slowly inched away from him, trying not to let him notice. I didn't want a repeat of what happened inside. 

"I won't bite," he joked. He totally noticed.

"I know," I played it off, smiling.

He inched closer to me, "I'm sorry, are you uncomfortable?" he asked.

What am I supposed to say? I can't be acting like this with the Warflowers but with Rolan I felt a spark and I don't know what the hell happened with Eli, today.

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, I left practice and I'm sorry I punched him." Rolan said, looing at me.

I griped my knees with my arms, burning my head down.

"It's okay," I said nonchalantly.

"No, it's not. It's not okay," he said sternly.

I never noticed how much I had really said "it's okay" until he called me out.

"Eli putting you and those girls together and disrespecting all of you, me ruining your practice, none of it is okay," he said.

It felt like my feelings were being validated for once, I sighed out of relief.

"Don't let people treat you like that," he said.

I closed my eyes and felt a pit in my stomach. What he said hit me hard. I had never really realized it but why do I accept all these things so nonchalantly.

"You deserve everything you want. You decide what's okay," he said.

I looked up at him. He was right, I do decide what I want and it wasn't the stupid Eli who disrespected me, it was the boy right in front of me. If Eli hadn't kissed me, I wouldn't hesitate to make the first move here. He's the one who I wish I went to first. He's the one I wish I kissed. I placed my head on his large shoulder and he placed his head on top of mine. We both looked up at the same time and froze. 

The butterflies in my stomach were unreal and swarming all over the place. We were inches away but I wanted this but stupid Eli made everything so much more difficult. I wanted him but I couldn't just be kissing different boys in the span of minutes.  This wasn't me at all, I don't know who I was.

His words echoed in my mind ""You deserve everything you want. You decide what's okay," he said.

I wanted him.

 I leaned in and kissed him. This time it felt real.  I let myself let go. This is what I wanted. I wasn't going to let stupid Eli's decision ruin what I want. It felt like it was perfect and it was meant to happen. I felt rain starting to pour down but I didn't care. I felt his smile against my lips and instantly I felt warm and safe.

Although, he still had no idea what had just happened a little while prior.

I broke away from the kiss and noticed his huge grin. I couldn't help but smiles well. I looked past him and noticed a familiar face, Kellen glaring at me harshly. Then, him running into the dance studio. 

I froze. I did nothing wrong. I'm not dating Eli but why I did I feel like scum? What is Kellen going to do? How is Eli going to react? No, How is Rolan going to act. I swallowed hard. What did I just do? 

Nothing in the near future felt certain and I felt my world shake. 

 All I knew was that the Warflowers and their first dance practice had just become a lot more complicated.