College is now dreamy. Clara and Kia soon become new additions to our lunch table and I'm delighted to find that Michael approves, finding Clara charming and Kia...well I don't want to know what he thinks of Kia. Every day I find myself stronger, more willing to push myself and try bigger and better things. She makes me feel brave and it's amazing.

As my free period rolls around I slip into my usual music room, texting Clara to meet me here. I sit at the piano, trying out a few new things but not really invested in any particular melody, simply passing the time until my girl shows up.

I hear footsteps outside and grin when I hear the door open.

I slide around on the chair, my wide smile slipping from my face immediately as I find myself faced with Caroline.

My eyebrows knit together, my mouth turning downwards as I watch her. She looks sneaky and smug.

"What are you doing, Caroline?" I ask, watching as she moves towards me.

She laughs gently, her fingers running down the piano keys lightly. I frown, not even liking her touching my piano, let alone her proximity to me.

"Just looking for some alone time, it seems like this is the place to come to catch you alone." She says.

"Alone being the key word." I mutter but she ignores me.

"Why don't you play something for me?" She asks suggestively and I sigh.

I need beautiful inspiration to make beautiful music, but I choose to keep that thought to myself.

"I don't play on demand." I say curtly and she shrugs, stepping even closer to me. What am I, some performing monkey?

I find her looming proximity extremely uncomfortable and almost feel trapped by her presence. I take a shaky breath, turning away from her.

"Maybe I could convince you." She says, sliding onto my lap as her hands fly towards my face. Her face is just centimetres from mine, everything happening so suddenly that I can hardly breathe.

I stand up instantly, Caroline slipping from my lap with a yelp as she falls to the floor.

I try to inhale sharply, but it feels like nothing's coming in. I groan, my hands clawing at the collar of my t-shirt as I stagger away from Caroline.

I grasp the door handle and fling it open, coming face to face with Clara. She looks confused and hurt, but it all instantly goes away when she notices my face.

She grabs my hand and leads me into an adjacent music room, shutting the blind on the window of the door. I stagger to the floor, my head lowering between my knees as I try and relax, to get precious oxygen into my lungs.

I choke on a sob, my hands pulling on my hair as I focus on anything else.

I glance up, trying to focus on Clara. She has her back against the door, her expression almost torn and my shoulders crumple. I can only imagine what's going through her head and the thought makes me wheeze even more.

"I...I didn't...she..." I gasp, trying desperately to explain. I choke up, another sob wracking through my chest.

Clara appears, her expression pained as she kneels close to me looking utterly unsure.

She sits by me, her hand brushing through my hair as she tries to soothe me. I flinch from her touch, finding everything too overwhelming. I try and focus on her presence alone but it's not enough.

"Play. Can you...play?" I gasp, my eyes on her violin and she comprehends what I want almost immediately.

She grapples with her case, fumbling with her violin and nearly dropping it in her haste.

"Care...ful." I joke, trying to smile and she glares at me.

She lifts the instrument to her chin and dives into something unfamiliar. The tune is almost solemn and she seems to find a great deal of comfort in it. I slump against the wall, closing my eyes and imaging the accompaniment that I would play on the piano.

After a few minutes I feel my breaths slow, become more even and controlled as I continue to focus. My fingers twitch, composing quietly as my brain works overtime to try and organise something beautiful to go with her song.

I open my eyes, watching as Clara's clever fingers fly across the fingerboard, creating such sweet art. She's watching me too, her expression pinched and worried and not at all what I've become accustom to seeing.

She stops, her hands hesitating before lowering her instrument.

My hand rakes through my hair and I lean into it. I feel embarrassed and ashamed and so dirty all at once. I hate Caroline for making me feel that way, but I hate myself even more for making Clara look like this.

"I'm so sorry." I murmur, my voice weak and tormented.

"Why?" She asks, sinking to the ground in front of me but not quite meeting my eyes.

"I didn't invite her there, she came in and asked me to play for her. When I refused, she...she was so close so suddenly and she touched me and I..." I trail off, my eyes unfocused as I try and recall what happened.

"She touched you." Clara repeats gently, her expression thunderous. I quickly come back to reality.

"Face. She touched my face." I clarify but that doesn't seem to appease Clara any.

I twist my fingers anxiously, watching her face and wondering just how angry she is with me, how much grovelling I have to do. What if she doesn't forgive me? The thought makes me inhale sharply.

Her eyes come back to settle on my face, her expression smoothing into despair as she looks at me. She reaches out tentatively and I accept happily, guiding her hand to my face, my eyes closing as I take comfort from her touch.

"I hate her," She says softly. I open my eyes, watching as she pushes my hair from my eyes, her gaze showing nothing but affection and concern.

"I hate her for doing this to you, and for what? To make me unhappy? To have a few moments with you?" She continues.

"You aren't mad at me?" I ask and she smiles, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Should I be?"

"No! No, well I hope not. I didn't tell her to get out when I wanted to, but I didn't want to be cruel if I didn't have to be." I say quickly and she smiles even wider.

"You have such a good heart." Clara says fondly and I pull her towards me. She curls into my chest, my arms winding round her as I keep her close.

"Don't forget my devilish charm and heart-stopping good looks." I mumble, laughing when she turns to look at me with a dry, unamused expression. I sigh, sobering up slightly.

"Thank you, for helping me. I was hoping that you wouldn't ever have to see that." I say, even quieter and she exhales softly.

"It was horrible," She breathes, her voice breaking as she nudges her face deeper into my chest.

"I didn't know how to help you, when I touched you..." She adds and I sigh unhappily.

"I'm so sorry about that. It's not personal, it's just when I'm like that, every sense is overstimulated and a touch can be too much. Kia's method is to squeeze me like a cow. It suppresses the sympathetic nervous system and at first it's awful, but usually it can help ease me out of it. Music though, that seemed to help." I explain and Clara laughs.

"I'll keep that in mind," She says and I roll my eyes.

"It almost looked like you were playing." She adds and I nod.

"Composing, trying to focus on what I'd play to accompany you." I say.

She turns in my arms, looking at me curiously. She smiles and shakes her head almost disbelievingly, but doesn't say anything further.

We sit there for the rest of our hour, neither of us saying much but simply relishing in the company of the other. I hold Clara close, half of my mind unbelievably grateful to have her in my life, to know that she is so understanding and so unwaveringly good. The other half of my mind dwells darkly.

I won't allow Caroline to ruin this, not when I've worked so hard and come so far.