Dedicated to @fuzzycuddles because she always wants me to update. :P ❤

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Chapter 11 Startling Revelation

"But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking."

-Mitch Albom, For one more day

• • •

"Let him look at me like that one more time..." Mallory muttered, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt. "I swear, I will break his face."

"Sometimes, you make me wonder, did god make you a girl by accident?" Ben said lazily, nibbling at the pathetic French fries their school cafeteria had to offer. "You probably have more testosterone than all the guys in this school put together!"

She gave him an annoyed look. "And what makes you think that?"

"Your fascination with breaking people's faces?" He smirked, pointing at her rolled sleeves.

"Oh, just look at him! It's been a whole week. He won't talk to me. And then he gives me these weird looks!"

"Yeah, break people's nose on first date, and then wonder why they don't talk to you." Ben scoffed.

"It wasn't a date!" She narrowed her eyes. Somehow the idea of her and Andrew together seemed repulsive. If only she knew...

"Whatever you say, princess." He patted her cheek.

Mallory shuddered. "Don't call me that." She said slapping away his sticky hand off her face.

"Eww...gross! You got oil on my cheek." She scrunched her nose.

"Sorry." He hurriedly wiped his hand on the napkin while she glared at him.

"So, you all set for your party?" She tried to change the topic, peeling her eyes away from Andrew, who sat alone on the farthest table.

"Oh, yeah. I already got this nice formal suit..."

"Formal suit?" She quirked her eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah! That's the dress code."

"The party has a dress code?" She asked surprised. "Aren't college parties supposed to be wild with girls in skimpy clothes and guys with jeans dropped to butt crack?"

"Common misconception." Ben said solemnly. This made his friend giggle.

"Yeah, like you have been too hundreds of parties." She scoffed.

"And do you know, the guy who is hosting the party has a swimming pool in his backyard and a basketball court too. I mean how cool is that?" He said beaming with excitement.

"Ben, you own like a million holiday houses, and still you are fascinated by backyard swimming pool?" She laughed in disbelief.

"Correction. My dad owns them, not me." Ben said slumping back in his chair. How difficult is it to understand? He isn't rich, his dad is.

"Same thing." She pointed out.

"Your dad is a freaking millionaire, a business tycoon! Does that make you rich?" Ben blurted out paying no attention to his words.

"That's different..." She said sharply.

"Melly, I didn't mean to..." He placed his hand on Mallory's shoulder.

"No, it's okay." She shrugged trying to fight back tears.

"Wow, you laugh it out when a bunch of guys corner you in an alley. But, at the mention of your father..."

"Ben, he is not my father. Hell, I don't have a father!" She banged her hands on the table and finally stormed out leaving a bewildered Ben looking at her back.

Andrew looked at the brunette who just left. Was she crying? He shrugged. He had a strong urge to follow her but thought against it as a voice echoed inside his head.

If you want to help her, stay away from her...

Sean had said. And Andrew had taken his word. Maybe, it was true.

Though he really wanted answers, but then, he couldn't put anyone else in danger. Not again. He would have find some other way. He thought to himself as he dumped his tray.

He would find some other way to satiate his curiosity and get help. Because Mallory Millington was out of question.

• • •

"Do I look good?" Ben said spraying cologne on his coat.

"I don't know how you look. But you sure smell heavenly." She said mesmerized.

"It's nice. Isn't it?" He winked at the girl who was sprawled on his bed.

"Oh, yeah! You smell like grass and beach and summer all put together." Mallory replied rather dreamily.

"My dad bought this from Paris. One of the only good things he did." Ben said smirking.

"I guess, I need to get myself one of these babies too." She pointed at the glass bottle in his hand.

"Wait a second." Ben said turning around violently, away from the mirror. "Does this cologne smell like a girl's perfume?" He said horrified.

"Maybe." His best friend winked.

"Mallory Millington, this is no time for jokes." Ben looked at her right in her eyes. "Please tell me I do not smell like a girl." He said agitating his hands desperately.

"Okay, Ben. You do not smell like a girl." She said laughing.

"Now say it like you mean it." Ben pouted.

"I mean it. I was just pulling you leg." She said smugly.

"Oh, for god's sake, pull my leg as much as you want when I come back. Hell, pull it out of the sockets if you want." He said admiring himself in the mirror. "But, now, for one last time, tell me, do I look and smell, okay."

"Yes, Ben. You do. I bet girls would swoon over your looks and perfume. Now go rush downstairs before I change my mind." She said getting up.

"After you madam." Ben said with a dramatic sweep of hands.

"Sure Mr. Jones." She curtsied.

• • •

"Benjamin Jones, do you realise I have been waiting for twenty minutes? You took like two hours to get ready. What are you, girl?" Luke chided Ben as soon as he set foot outside his house.

"That is a sexist thing to say." Mallory piped in.

"It's true though!" Luke said.

"Let's go, shall we?" Ben said glaring at Luke.

"Still, don't wanna go?" Luke asked Mallory.

"Nope." She replied. "Drunken fools, unnecessary fights, badly catered food. Not my thing."

"You make it sound like a prison." Luke giggled.

"That's just my sense of humor, baby." She winked and smirked.

"Ahem ahem." Ben coughed over dramatically.

"Fine." Mallory rolled her eyes. "I will let you kids go. But first ground rules."

Ben groaned.

"No smoking." She said glaring. "No one night stands and definitely no drugs."

"Why don't I jump into my PJs and watch Spongebob Squarepants with you." Ben said sarcastically.

"Oh, sure! I will run upstairs and get you your night wear." She suggested smirking.

"Luke, let's drop her to her house, before she actually does that!" Ben said in mock panic as he pushed her on the back seat of Luke's Ford.

As the car started with a jolt, the atmosphere was filled with some loud song.

As the two boys on the the front seat sang the song lyrics, Mallory couldn't help but roll her eyes. Keeping her head against the cool window glass she thought. I am stuck with idiots!

"Dude, why the hell are you wearing a bracelet?" Luke shouted in disbelief interrupting her thoughts.

"What bracelet?" Ben twisted his wrist. "Oh, that. Emily gave it to me." He said the corners of his mouth drooping.

Mallory's head shot up at the mention of her best friend as her eyes fell upon the silver band that glittered on Ben's wrist. As if by a reflex, her hand caught his wrist and pulled it through the gap between front seats. She immediately unlocked it and started twisting it, till her fingers found an engraving.

"Oh, god!" She muttered to herself as she looked up in Ben's puzzled eyes. "Now I know why it felt familiar!"

Ben immediately realised that something was wrong and so did Luke, because he pulled over and turned around. "What is it, Melly?" He muttered.

But she paid no attention to his words. Her eyes were fixated upon the engraving.

E ♡ B

So, they weren't Emily's initials, like she thought. The bracelet she found belonged to someone else, someone Emily loved, a lot!

As Ben stared at his best friend who sat dumbfounded, his mind tried to process. And immediately his eyes widened as the realization hit him. "The band you found..." He muttered as he received a curt nod.

Luke sat with his head inclined at a weird angle looking back and forth between Ben and Mallory.

"You people are driving me insane!"

"Oh, no!" Suddenly Ben muttered. "That could mean only one thing..."

"You mean...B-But that's not possible, why would he come here? Especially, now?" Mallory said, nervously tracing the back of her neck.

"I don't know..." Ben looked at the silver band as the same question haunted him, Why would he come here?

Finally, Mallory closed her hand clutching the bracelet as she muttered to herself, "I will find you, Cole. Soon, very soon."

• • •

He shuddered, as he heard loud music blaring from the living room. His stepfather like always wasn't home. And her mom had thrown another party.

As he opened his door to take a peak in the hallway, the stench of alcohol hit his nose. As his twelve year old self stepped out of the room timidly, he could hear people slurring the lyrics of some vulgar songs.

Ironically, the atmosphere was rich with smell of weed, cigarettes and alcohol, all the things a child is supposed to stay away from. As he trotted down the hallway, he heard weird noises coming from a room. The door was slightly ajar, and his twelve year old mind couldn't contain the curiosity.

He peaked in the room from the crack and immediately his eyes met a sight, no twelve year old should ever witness.

On the King sized bed lay her mother, barely clothed with an unknown man. Their bodies twisting at a weird angle. He receded backwards closing his eyes trying to forget the images that rushed in his mind.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" A husky voice said looking down at the terror stricken eyes of the boy. He turned around as he came face to face with a tall man who had a huge smirk on his face.

"Uh, I-I was t-thirsty." The little boy replied, nervously taking a step backwards.

"Oh, should I get some water for you?" The man said.

The little boy shook his head violently and ran to his room, slamming the door shut. He broke down into sobs as he heard repeated knocks on his door. But, he was too afraid to open the door.

He must have fallen asleep because the next time, his sister's screams jolted him awake. He immediately ran towards the door, to meet with the tear stricken face of his little sister.

"Can I come in?" The nine year old muttered, clutching her teddy bear in her hand.

"Yeah sure, sweetie." He pulled her inside and locked the door behind her. "What happened?" He turned towards her. "Did you have a bad dream?"

She shook her head. "I was sleeping and um..." She bit her lip.

The boy, sat down next to the girl and pulled her in his embrace. "You can talk to me, sweetie." He whispered stroking her hair.

"So...I was sleeping and suddenly I w-woke up, a-and this m-man with a c-creepy grin he w-was standing right next to m-my bed." She said and her lower lip quivered. "And h-he flashed a k-knife a-and told m-me to s-shut up as he sat next to me and h-he touched me, it was w-weird. And then, suddenly mom came and he j-just left." Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now. "I-I was so s-scared..." She trailed off, sobbing into her brother's shoulder.

"Shh...it's okay, baby girl. I am here now." He whispered, patting her head as his jaw clenched. "I will always protect you, I promise." He whispered more to himself than her. "I will protect you..."

• • •

Andrew woke as the loud music from downstairs penetrated his ears. For a moment, he was twelve again. He felt like he was stuck in his nightmare. He felt that any moment, he would hear her banging.

But, deep down he knew it wouldn't happen. Not now, anyway. Not when she was far far away from him. She was out of his reach.

He vividly remembered, how his little sister snored in his lap that day. He could almost see the dried tears on her cheek glistening in moonlight as he swore vengeance. He swore revenge for every single tear her little sister shed that night, for every single nightmare she had thereafter.

And he did it, he found that man and made him pay for what he did. But, now years later he was helpless!

He couldn't do anything to avenge his sister, not anymore. He broke his promise. He couldn't protect her from those demons. Those demons who clawed at her, captured her and killed her. The demons who were partying downstairs, laughing after they destroyed her. He punched the walls as his mind wandered to her beautiful face, his lower lip quivered as he whispered, "I am sorry..." to the empty room.

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VOTE? And I would give you Ben's number, maybe..;)

Hi there,

So welcome to a new phase of TTBYAM (That Thing Between You And Me). Yep, now is the time you can start playing Sherlock Holmes. So go ahead, dig in to find your glasses and coats and let the guess work begin!

Who is this Cole? How is he related to Emily? What about Andrew? Does it give you a more clear picture of his struggle? Why does he hate them all so much?

Well, go make some popcorn (preferably butter :P) And tuck yourself in for a really bumpy ride. Because who knows what the next chapter might reveal because things are going to get steamy...or complicated? ;)

Love you all❤

Until next time♡

-Ridhima☺