Pierce's words replayed over and over in my head. Moving in with each other was unexpected at this point, I mean most couples wait for sometimes years to move in with each other while some don't even take that step till they're married. My head turned as I watched my dad turn ghostly pale.

"Absolutely not." My dad spoke up, and I knew this was about to become a fight "Aspen you are too young, and you have not been together that long-do you seriously think I'll sit back and watch you do this? The deal was that'd I'd pay for college if it was in North Carolina, not New York."

It wasn't fair, my dad was trying to make me pick him by using paying for college against me. I didn't have the funds for college let alone to live in an apartment. I just couldn't believe he was making me pick between the two-staying in New York and being happy or being miserable in North Carolina and debt-free. I hadn't been able to get a job in New York due to being pulled into Crestmont which threw off all my plans.

I knew that I was put into a position where I had no choice to stay in New York, I had no money as far as tuition and rent. "Aspen don't worry about the money." Pierce spoke up, pulling me out of my thoughts "I could put the first month and last months rent down right now as well as a security deposit. But you need to go where you are happy."

My dad became aggravated with his expression, his own plan beginning to backfire against him. I looked over to my mom who sat directly across from me, clearing her throat before beginning to speak "Well you are 18, it is ultimately your decision-your father and I can't decide where you want to go to school." 

Our server walked back over, placing our drinks around us. I looked over to Pierce, sharing a look of defeat. If I moved to North Carolina, I'd crush Pierce. If I stayed in New York, I'd break my dad's heart. No matter what I had done, there was no way of making it out without hurting someone.

"Could I start you guys off with any appetizers?" Her voice rang through my ears, making me snap out of my gaze. Well isn't dinner going to be fantastic...so much for a happy family reunion.

* * * * * * 

One Day Later 

"Aspen! Aspen!" Two voices shouted, making my eyes flutter open. The light from my window hit my eyes directly, making me block it out with my hand. I looked over to Pierce who was still asleep next to me with the blanket hanging down by his waist, exposing his bare chest. Before I could even react the door had burst open to see Juniper and Triston.

"Oh my god!" June exclaimed, covering her eyes with her hands. "Relax." I rolled my eyes in response, "We didn't do anything." I knew what it looked like, walking into my bedroom only to see me laying in bed with a half-naked Pierce, but the thing was we hadn't done anything since I had gotten back from Washington.  The truth was I hadn't been ready to do anything after being raped three times, I wouldn't even let Pierce see me without any clothes. 

I was grateful Pierce had been so understanding since he had the same nightmare that haunted him. He wasn't going to say anything to me because he knew when I was ready I would tell him, although he was a teenage boy and I knew how they got after having to abstain for how long but he wouldn't show that to me. 

Pierce groaned, his eyes fluttering open only to see June and Triston standing in my bedroom. "What the fuck guys? It's like nine in the morning." Pierce snapped at them aggravated, his voice raspy from just waking up. I stood up from the bed, taking the envelope that Triston held out to me before handing one to Pierce as well. 

"They just came today, they're from Emerson. I figured we should all open them together." June said cheerfully, a smile plastered across her face. It was an unwritten rule that if you were part of Crestmont that you would attend Emerson University after High School. It was close enough that you could still be involved and generations of Crestmont members had graduated from there. 

The college itself wasn't extremely hard to get into, but in honesty, any college in the middle of the city was difficult to get into due to so many people wanting to live in NYC. To make sure we would all get in, we all put in early decision applications-so we'd be the first of the first that the college would review and hopefully guaranteed a spot. 

Pierce stood up from the bed, taking a stance next to me as the only thing he wore was a pair of grey sweatpants that hung low on his waist, exposing his v line. We all began to tear open our own envelopes, before pulling out the packet followed by the front piece of paper that would ultimately say where our next four years would be.

"I got in!" Triston shouted, her jaw-dropping response. June's head shot up from the packet looking up with a grin across her face "So did I!" My eyes scanned over the first few lines, seeing the following words only to lead to being accepted into Emerson University. I waited to react to see how Pierce would as well, looking up from the paper and over to him.

"Well?" June asked, waiting for both of our answers. I began to panic, worrying that Pierce hadn't been accepted. I didn't know what I'd do if he hadn't been, I didn't know what he was even going to do. The thing with Pierce was that he was super smart and attained A's in school easily but he stopped caring-which began to screw him over time. His problem wasn't that he didn't understand, he just hadn't applied himself. 

Looking over Pierce's shoulder, I looked down at the paper to see 'We are happy to announce you have been accepted to Emerson University for the upcoming fall semester!' Pierce looked over to me, narrowing his eyes to me as a smirk grew on his face "You thought I wasn't going to get in, didn't you?"

"What? No-" I lied, completely trying to cover up the fact that I had been worried if Pierce was going to get accepted or not. I looked back over to June and Triston, a smile tugging up at the corners of my lips "We both got in."

"Oh my fucking god!" Triston exclaimed excitedly, both of them pulling me into a tight hug for celebration. I let out a laugh at their enthusiasm, pulling away from both of them before looking over to Pierce. He pulled me closer to him, pulling me into a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. 

I pulled back slightly to look up at him, the smile not erasing from my face "We're really both going to go to Emerson." I had been stressing for weeks since we all had put our college applications in, purposely not having a backup school so I would avoid debating about where I wanted to go- making this my only shot. 

"What the hell is going on up here?" Aster came to the entrance of my bedroom, looking at all of us confused-probably waking up from June and Triston's screeches. "We need to celebrate, I mean this is huge that we all get to stick together-I say we go drinking," Triston announced cheerfully, using any type of situation as an excuse to go drinking.

"We all made it into Emerson," I responded to Aster, clearing up the confusion as to why we are in our bedroom followed by shouting. Aster's eyes snapped over to mine as he narrowed them to me "You made it into Emerson?"

I nodded slightly, Aster walking closer to me and pulling me into a tight hug. I let out a chuckle, responding back to the hug. Aster had been as relieved as me, knowing I was able to stay in New York. If I hadn't made it into Emerson I would have no choice but to move to North Carolina. Aster and I broke away from each other before he headed out down to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"I really need to get Reese a gift, Aspen do you want to come?" June asked but we soon all jumped when we heard a loud car horn. Rushing over to my window, I pushed back the curtain to my bedroom only to see what my worst nightmare was. I froze when I saw printed news articles followed by printed photos of polaroids hanging from the trees in the yard. 

There was an entire group of people outside my house, standing within the street-all seniors from Northeast. My eyes focused on Finn who was out there with everyone standing behind him, including his football friends as they poured gasoline in the yard. 

"This can't be happening-" I muttered under my breath as my stomach became twisted in knots. They were walking along the yard, looking as if they were spelling words out with the gas they were pouring everywhere. I pushed off my window ledge, heading out of my room and running down the staircase. 

"Aspen!" Pierce called after me, all three of them following after me. I pushed open the front door only to see Finn throw a lighter at the grass, which immediately caught on fire. The yard had lit up, bright orange flames separating me from the rest of the people who watched as I laughed. My eyes went from tree to tree, seeing news articles from me being kidnapped as well as articles from when I lost against my own rapist boyfriend in court. 

Pictures that were strung were all the photos that Cayde and his friends had taken of me from the night they tied me down and all took their turns with me before posting it all to social media while I was so drunk from all the drinks they shoved down my throat. My once happiness faded away within seconds  

Pierce, June, and Triston were seconds behind me as they entered outside. June and Triston rushed over to the side of the house, pulling out the hose and watering down the fire. Within a minute the fire was out completely, only to see the words of 'Rape Me Please!' burned into the grass. I swallowed a lump in my throat, becoming sick to my stomach as I told myself this couldn't be happening. 

Pierce pushed past me, beginning to tear down as many photos and news articles that were hung from the trees. I looked behind me when I heard the door open only to reveal Aster, Evangeline, my mom, and dad standing in complete shock. I was so humiliated I could barely move as everyone laughed at this sick joke that was all against me. 

"You think it's fucking funny Waters?!" Pierce shouted, his voice filled with rage, crumpling up the news articles and throwing them to the ground. I stood back as Pierce walked up to Finn who stood proudly next to his jeep wrangler. Finn's face was smug as if this was his best joke ever.

"Figured I'd go out with a bang," Finn announced proudly as Pierce opened his car door and looked through the glove box before slamming the passenger seat closed. 

"Oh, I'll show you a fucking bang." Pierce gritted, pointing the gun out as he aimed at each one of Finn's tired. His finger wrapped around the trigger, pulling it without any hesitation. Everyone who was with Finn jumped, scattering to the sides as they did anything to get out of the way of the bullet's aim. 

"I'm calling the police." My dad insisted as he headed inside, my mom standing next to me as she wrapped an arm around me to give me comfort. After shooting at each tire, they all became deflated to the point of no escape. Pierce lifted the gun, aiming at each of the windows that all shattered in seconds. Finn watched in shock, not being able to do anything in fear he'd be the next thing to get shot with a bullet. 

Pierce dropped the gun before heading over to Finn, focusing his full attention on him. Pierce's fist became clenched at his side, the veins through his arm beginning to poke through. He raised his fist, throwing the first punch into his face. His knuckles made contact with Finn's face, not giving him time to react. 

Finn stumbled back before gaining balance and throwing a punch back into Pierce. Pierce's head snapped to the side, the contact giving him a slightly busted lip. The punch made Pierce become enraged, even more, something I hadn't thought was possible but surely was after I watched it happen right in front of me.

"Should we stop him?" My mom asked, looking over to Aster as he stood on the other side of me. "No, let him beat the shit out of him. If he doesn't, I will." Aster answered, knowing damn well Pierce would kill him if he could. If murder wasn't illegal, I couldn't even begin to count what Pierce's kill count would be. 

Finn's clenched fist aimed for Pierce again but was quickly stopped when coming in contact with Pierce's hand. Pierce took the opportunity to take a hold of his fist, sending a kick into Finn's stomach. Finn quickly fell to the ground before Pierce sent punch after punch to his body. Finn stopped fighting after a few moments, learning his defeat was inescapable. 

Pierce didn't stop even when Finn became unconscious. I pulled away from my mother's grip, rushing over to the end of the yard where Pierce's body towered over Finn's that laid limp on the ground. "Pierce!" I shouted, knowing enough was enough, although he still didn't stop. He had become so angry that there was no going back at this point. 

I grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling him off of Finn's body. I looked in horror at Finn who was beaten to a bloody pulp. He was bleeding from every inch of his face, making me swallow a lump in my throat when I saw no rise and fall of his chest. I was glad Pierce had stuck up for me but I was fearful of the length he'd go to all to protect me from people's cruel intentions. 

I pushed Pierce further back, his gray eyes not snapping away from Finn as he was breathing heavily from the anger built up in his body. I looked around to see everyone completely silent, in shock that their cruel joke had quickly turned into a potential crime scene. "Well, what are you all looking at?!" I shouted at everyone who was frozen in shock "Go the fuck home!"

I grabbed Pierce's hand pulling him away from the crowd that had gathered and towards the house. Stepping past all the crumpled pieces of paper on the ground, I didn't dare look back at the burnt grass knowing how sick to my stomach it had made me feel. I led Pierce up to the bathroom, shutting the door behind the both of us. 

I grabbed the first aid cabinet from underneath the bathroom sink, before grabbing a washcloth and running it under cold water. Pierce's lip was busted in the top left corner and his nose had been bleeding, the blood dripping down his face. I dabbed the cloth to the spots covered in blood, knowing that this would partly be my fault.

"Pierce, you shouldn't have done that." I let out a sigh, knowing this wasn't going to be good. My dad would call the police and they would come only to find out Pierce had beaten yet another person to the point of unconsciousness- not to mention the charges Finn could technically press against Pierce. Pierce did a little more than just self-defense and I knew the courts weren't going to sympathize with his past juvenile records. 

Pierce had never been put in prison, only juvie since he had been under the age of 18 until December 7th. But this time if he were to be arrested, he would no longer get juvie and would deal with real prison. I didn't even want to think about Pierce getting arrested as it made my stomach turn to knots, but I knew this was a possibility.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Pierce asked in disbelief as I continued to clean the blood off of him "Aspen, he fucking burnt the words rape me please in your yard. He's lucky I didn't put the bullet through his head instead."

"What about the cops?" I asked bluntly, bringing up something Pierce obviously had not been thinking about "You're 18 now, you could get arrested for this." 

"If getting arrested means that prick will leave you alone now, I'll deal with getting arrested." Pierce let out a scoff, only focusing on Finn and not the future consequences of what would come. There was a knock at the door, June's voice shouting with eagerness at the other side of the door.

I opened the door to see a fearful June, her eyes wide and breath heavy. "The cops are here already." The words made my heart sink immediately, Pierce pushing past me and going to grab a shirt to put over his exposed chest. My heart began racing in my chest, in fear of what was going to happen next. 

Finn trespassed and committed vandalism- Pierce on the other hand would be charged with assault on multiple accounts which was 10x worse of a charge. "Oh no," I muttered, following Pierce as he heads downstairs to face the police to defend himself in the circumstances. 

As we all walked outside, there were EMTs attending to Finn as they placed his body on the stretcher. My mom, dad, and Aster had been talking to the two police officers that were on the scene. The cop's eyes shot from my parents over to Pierce, Pierce's lips tugging up into a smirk as he stared back at the cop "Officer Johnson, well isn't it nice to see you."

And of course, he knows the cop...

 The little hope I had left soon disappeared as Pierce was familiar with the cop based on his past arrest. Officer Johnson stood up straight, putting the pen and small notepad back in his pocket as he placed his hands on the bulletproof chest he was wearing. "Pierce Gunner..." He trailed off "Looks like you haven't been staying out of trouble. Is it true that you took it upon yourself to deal with Finn Waters?"

"I'm not answering anything without a lawyer," Pierce answered confidently, knowing the process of how this goes. "Officer, the boy showed up here to humiliate my daughter. Pierce did nothing but defend her." My mom tried to change the mood of the officer, not specifying whether Pierce defended me verbally or physically.

"Ma'am, I know Pierce Gunner so I know how this went down. Gunner, you're going down to the station." Officer Johnson walked up to Pierce, forcing his hands behind him as he slapped the handcuffs on him. 

"What? No-You can't do that, you have no proof-" I started, my heart pounding in my chest as I watched my boyfriend be put in handcuffs. "My proof is that Gunner here has a juvenile record longer than some murders. He's not one to stay out of trouble." The officer stated simply, starting to force Pierce towards the cop car.

"Wait, No!" I yelled after them, rushing over to Pierce as I looked up to his grey eyes that stared down at me. "No this can't happen, they can't take you." I was in shock, I didn't know what to do. Pierce was only defending me, and he may have taken it too far but he gave Finn exactly what he had deserved. 

"Aspen it's fine." Pierce's eyes bored into mine, not sharing the same worry as me as he had gone through this many times already "I'm going to be ok, just talk to Xander-he will know what to do."

Pierce leaned over, placing a kiss on my lips before being pulled away and shoved into the back of a cop car. I let out a sigh, feeling completely defeated as to what to do next. I thought back to the day where Pierce choked me outside of the cafeteria after spitting an apple in my face and how Xander flipped out on him after, saying he couldn't keep getting in trouble or he'd soon go to prison instead.

Suspended yesterday, and arrested today...what else could possibly go wrong right now?

* * * * * * 

Hello! Happy Early Update!

What did you guys think of this chapter? It was a little shorter but if you guys get the comments to 350, I'll update either tomorrow or Thursday! (So two updates in one week)

Do you think it's fair for her dad to put her in the position she's in? Choosing between being debt-free or being happy in New York?

How do you think Pierce and Aspen moving in together will go over? 

Why do you think Ashlynn is so onboard with Aspen and Pierce moving in together?

Do you think it's a good thing they're all going to Emerson together, or do you think they should all break up for a bit and experience different colleges?

Why do you think Finn is doing everything possible to humiliate and torture Aspen?

Do you think Finn or Pierce is going to get in trouble? Why?

What do you think Ashton is going to do after witnessing his daughter's boyfriend lose his shit on Finn?

What do you think will happen with Pierce getting arrested?

Guesses for the next chapter?

~Ash