I gasped as soon as I saw who it was and hastily slammed the door shut.

Closing my eyes, I leaned against the cool wooden door. When my brown eyes had met Skye's intense gray ones, I could tell from one look that he was oozing out stressful energy but I didn't care about any of that.

No but what the hell? How on Earth does he even know my address?! And the biggest question of them all is, what is he doing here? Was the public humiliation not enough?

"Open the door, Valerie. I need to talk to you," Skye said and his voice sounded melancholic. I had almost opened the door but that scene flashed before my eyes and how hostile his words were.

"Stop - stop acting like I need you. 'Cause I clearly don't!" Those exact same words brought a pang in my chest. "Talk to me? Talk to me?!" I laughed incredulously and punched the door to show him my anger by transferring it through the door to him. "But I don't wanna talk to you. So leave," I told him off rudely.

"Look, Val. I know that-"

"Valerie. It's Valerie for you or even better Ms. Jones." I glared at the door, pretending for a second that it was Skye himself. "And I don't wanna look at anything so just leave, Mr. Williams!" I shouted, quoting back his own words to him.

I winced when I felt a sharp pain in my head. Too much wine and some portion of scaly sleep would be a delicious recipe to have the worst headache ever. Welcome to Valerie's sad life.

I held my head between my hands and closed my eyes shut. Guess, shouting was out of the equation because I couldn't go through another shot searing through my skull.

I was about to turn around, not bothering to let Skye in when I heard a loud thud from behind the closed door.

"Shit, Val. Are you okay?" The tickling feeling in my chest came rushing back to me like snow pellets but I ignored it.

"Don't call me that!" Another pain shot through me and I had to hold back a hiss. My eyes fluttered closed for a second but I was startled by a loud bang against my poor door.

"Open the damn door because I am not leaving, got it? I really need to talk to you." I could hear a hint of desperation in his voice and I contemplated whether to let him in or not. "Please," he whispered this time in his smooth, soft voice.

I so badly wanted to punch him, to tell him that it was the same emotion I'd felt when he pushed me away yesterday. But there was this one thing that was stopping me. I wanted answers. Answers about why he would want to talk to me after clearly not "needing me."

Heaving a heavy and angry sigh, I opened the door with a force and glared at him. He almost tripped because he was holding onto it but caught himself on time. "Thanks," he mumbled.

He was wearing his work clothes and I was surprised to see him wearing his suit jacket as well. Skye's teeth chattered slightly and realization dawned on me that it was absolutely cold outside. His jaw was forming a bruise and I smiled proudly when I saw his painful mark.

I closed the door behind him with a slam and he winced slightly. Good. I smirked and crossed my arms across my chest. "I am sorry, Valerie," he apologized, not an ounce of fakeness in his voice.

I was gobsmacked because an apology from him was the last thing I had expected. I thought that he would be here to tell me to stay away from him or congratulate me on getting fired or anything resonating "mean". "What for?" I asked him finally.

"Huh?" He seemed to be caught off guard by my question but if I needed the answers, I'd first make him confess as well.

"What for?" I repeated, leaning back against the doorframe. I felt a bit guilty to just let him stand there instead of leading him toward my living room. 

He exhaled a deep breath and looked me in the eyes for the first time. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He chuckled in amusement.

I frowned at him with confused anger. How could he just barge in here and take things lightly?! "Damn right I am," I said flatly, void of any expression. I was raging with madness but I tried to keep my surface calm.

"I'm sorry about how I acted in front of the paparazzi. I know it's wrong but I had no choice-"

"No choice?! Seriously? You're going with that?!" I yelled out flippantly and I could already imagine my eyes going all wild.

"I know that it doesn't account for what I've done but really, I am sorry, Valerie. I know it was the worst thing to do but…" He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

I scoffed, looking away. "Okay."

"Okay?" His eyes widened and his lips curved up incredulously. He seemed exalted but it blew away as soon as he saw my impassive face.

"Yes, okay. I'll take your apology and I'll understand for a minute that you really didn't have a choice," I paused and he was staring at me closely and cautiously as if sensing a but in the form of an explosion. And he could be right as well. "But you'll have to give me an explanation for your actions."

"What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes sassily. "About why you did what you did in front of those damn reporters which, might I add, were too many to count," I told him impertinently. I took a sharp intake of breath once I was done speaking.

Skye didn't say anything and walked toward me. I raised an eyebrow at him but I was freaking out internally. "I am sorry again." He shook his head.

My teeth grounded against each other and my heart rate spiked up. Both due to my patience wearing thin and my anger rising to an immeasurable level. "Right. Then how do you expect me to accept your apology?" I asked him in a low voice, laced with a tamed fire. Gosh, was I resembling a bull today.

"You'll have to understand me, Valerie. I can't tell you anything until I find the person who did this. Not until I sue them," he explained to me in a pleading tone.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Williams," I retorted sarcastically. "Or was it because you didn't wanna be seen with me again?" 

I didn't even look at him to see his expression and pushed past him. But before I could take another step forward, he took ahold of my wrist gently. Tilting my head to look at him, I snatched my arm out of his grasp in irritation.

"You know what?" I turned around fully. "I'll give you my piece of mind. You might think that I am overreacting but I am not. When I was fired, I thought that I lost everything and had left the place without looking back. I felt dispirited but when I saw you, I felt so much better. I thought that there's a friend who could empathize with my feelings. You know why?" I took a deep breath before I could scream my feelings out and look like an utter mess.

"Because we were both in those pictures. I thought that we could be each other's comfort. And that I couldn't talk about it to anyone but you because no one would understand my mortification!" Tears were flowing down my cheeks and I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. "For a moment, you were. You were my comfort." I nodded my head, my lips pressed in a thin line.

"I don't know what happened all of sudden but you just… you just pulled away and retreated back when the paps cornered us! It was at that moment, I felt like someone had shoved me so hard that my feet couldn't even meet the ground. I truly lost everything."

"Valerie, I-"

"No, don't Valerie me! Hear me out here." I showed him my palms. My emotions were all over the place and I couldn't tell if I was angry, heartbroken or indifferent. "So excuse me if I don't take your apology when you can't even tell me the reason behind it. The reason for your "choice"! Okay? I have every reason to be mad at you. And," I stopped, taking huge gulps of air to calm myself down. "And if you can't tell me then you should leave." I gestured toward the door behind him.

Skye looked like he was about to burst as well but he closed his eyes, massaging his temples. I felt bad for going off like that but what he did couldn't be categorized as right either.

"Close the door on your way out," I said indignantly and walked away, leaving him stranded on his spot.

As I slumped back on my couch, I noted about how strong I had come off and how impudent my behavior was. I've never been so callous to anyone before but I had somehow managed to unleash my anger out on Skye. The guy I couldn't stop thinking about. The guy who is kind and gentle except for what he did yesterday. But I couldn't ignore the fact that he was genuinely apologizing for it.

No matter what, there was a voice inside my head coming up with various theories. The theories as to why he did it when he was clearly guilty about it. When he completely expressed his regret.

I was mulling over everything when suddenly a thought struck me. Yes, I was mad when he had insulted me yesterday but it subsided when he apologized. Although my rage came back with twice as much force when he couldn't tell me his reasons.

I continued staring at my empty hands because now I felt guilty. I had to go and be rash toward a guy like Skye. It didn't mean though that I would accept his apology and be on good terms with him anytime soon. I would take my guilt with me until he'd decide to speak about his reasons.

"Valerie," a soft voice spoke. I gasped, startled and looked up to see Skye standing on my living room doorway.

I quickly schooled my features into a scowl. Even if I was guilty, what he did wasn't approving either. What if he doesn't even have any reason to begin with? What if he's just playing games? It explains a lot about his silence. "What?" I snapped on impulse.

His eyes roamed around my living room with a soft twinkle in them. "Just… just take care, okay?"

If it were any other day, I would have melted and squealed in delight at his caring words but the twist is, it wasn't any other day.

I stood up from my position on the couch and looked at him warily, standing a few feet away from him. I understood what he meant. 

I glanced at the trash lying around on the floor. Wine bottles, sweet goodies and chips were strewn about carelessly. That in itself gave away the idea of me going through some serious hard rock phase. "You don't have to tell me."

For some reason, I felt better at expressing my real feelings to someone. Rudeness was my leeway to self satisfaction.

His jaw ticked and he passed me a forced smile. He seemed to be thinking something through with the way he was tapping his feet. For the first time since I've known Skye, I was seeing him sporting a conflicted look.

"Good."

"Yeah." The awkwardness in the air was dangerously tangible. I jutted my thumbs in the pockets of my pajama pants and gave him a curious glance.

He was still rooted in his place. Just when I thought that he was going to imitate a statue, he strode toward me. Before I knew it, he was in front of me and there was not much space left between us.

"Wh-what-" I stopped abruptly because my voice croaked in the middle itself. "What are yo-"

He cut me off by wounding his arms around my waist. A stumped gasp escaped my lips and I looked at him with wide eyes while my jaw was busy touching the floor.

In my own twisted way, I was anticipating his next move. I could feel my heart clogging up my throat because of his intense stare. His lustrous eyes fell on my lips and I did my every best to breathe again but I couldn't find it in me to do so.

"Valerie?"

"Yeah?"

He beamed at my entranced expression. "I didn't think that you would be so mean to me." He chuckled softly, his minty breath blowing on my face. Cupping my cheeks in his hands, he brought my face closer to his and I panicked.

He must have sensed my hesitance because he took his hands off of my face. I had to think of every hard barricade in my head to restrain myself from putting his hands back there because of how good it felt.

I thought that the moment was broken but boy, was I wrong. Before I could go back to thinking straight, his lips met mine. Instead of closing my eyes, they widened in stupefaction.

Skye's hands were back on my cheeks, his thumbs caressing them softly. My body instantly relaxed and my eyes closed on their own accord. We didn't take it any further but just stood there and relished in each other's presence. There was nothing too detailed about that simple peck. It was just that - a peck but I wasn't complaining at all.

The kiss was chaste and it lasted more than a few seconds, good enough to send my entire body into an overdrive. My legs felt like Jell-O, my heart was going insane while the butterflies in my stomach went berserk and created haywire.

Shyly, I looked up to see Skye almost having the same reaction. It was as if he couldn't believe it himself. Nor could I. My cheeks and neck felt way too hot and I looked down at my sock clad feet.

I wanted more than a simple peck. I wanted a real kiss but that peck already made me putty in his hands. I was a goner. It was beautiful to say the least.

I was too tongue tied even in my head to describe what I was feeling. However I was sure about one thing and it was that I felt everything good.

I was brought out of my dazed thoughts when I heard him clearing his throat. Quickly masking my diffidence, I glanced at him. "I-I… um, I didn't mean to…" He tried to explain himself, shoving his hands in his pockets. There was an imperceptible pink tint coating his cheeks. He's never looked more handsome and I just wanted to fist his cheeks.

I bit my lip to restrain the upcoming laughter. Just when I was about to say something, his phone started ringing.

Taking it out from his pocket, he glanced at the screen once and gave me an apologetic look. "I gotta go," he mumbled, turning around and leaving just like that. He didn't even wait for my response or anything.

Disappointment washed over me at that instant and that same anger was back. No smile, no goodbye. Just some stupid, emotionless words. This time I really did fist my hands but with different feelings.

Who does that after a kiss? A peck, I mean but a kiss nonetheless.

Fuming, I jumped on my couch and kicked my feet in the air. Absent-mindedly I gave a feather touch to my lips with a giddy sensation. 

I could still feel the electric sparks on my body but then the sane side of my mind woke up. No matter if he kissed me, he still ditched me. Even that didn't bother me as much as his curt reply did. I was taken back to the bridge day when he had left me and met Ms. Maxwell just across from it.

All my previous guilt went down the drain and I seethed in silence. The amount of rage I was feeling in just a day couldn't even come close to what I've almost never felt in my whole life.

A lone tear escaped my eye and the only plausible explanation for my behavior was that I must be PMSing.

Damn you, freaking Skye. Damn. You!