PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING:

So I've been experimenting with my writing, and I thought I would test out the third person. I understand that many of you aren't used to the third person type of writing, however with the direction that the story is going in, I believe it might be more suitable, as I want to portray the story from multiple perspectives, not just through Flo's. 

Of course though, this is only an experiment, so comment your feelings about it (pros and cons, do you like it? do you think I should continue writing in the third person?). 

Other than that, I really hope you enjoy this. I've put my heart and soul into this story, I really hope you like it as much as I loved writing it.  

Part One

Jake and Flo sat on the little plot of grass by the bridge for a contempt ten minutes, mainly admiring the sunrise that shot rays of orange and yellow onto the rippling water of the stream beside them.

"How is your dad?" Jake's calm voice added to the tranquillity.

"He's okay, tired though," Flo replied.

He opened his mouth to ask about whether her father had moved on like her mother, but he bit his tongue instantly. He didn't want to remind Flo of her parent's separation nor of her mother's unfaithfulness. It still irked him that Flo hadn't been the one to tell him what happened between her parents, rather it was the gossip of the town that had enlightened him. Flo, at the time, was too drowned in booze to even communicate with him. Now, though, Jake wished he had made more of an effort to be there for her. He realised that the alcohol was just a means for Flo to try and get away from her problems, in the same way he became addicted to boxing to get away from his.

"How are yourparents?" Flo asked, turning to him, just missing the flicker of a wince on Jake's face.

Recomposing his features, Jake forces a smile. Part of him screamed to let her in, to tell her what had been bothering him for months, but the other part bit his tongue.

"They're okay," he answered, not so convincingly.

Jake sensed that Flo knew something was up, as she always used to when he wasn't being completely honest. However, the sound of a roaring engine travelling closer to them made both of their heads turn up to the bridge above them. The rattling of the screws that held the iron-clad structure together synced with the screeching halt of the tires. Although he and Flo both couldn't see who it was from where they stood beneath the bridge, Jake's gut feeling knew all too well who had interrupted them.

Confused, Flo turned to him, pushing the brunette strands of her long fringe behind her ear. Before she even had to ask anything, Jake opened his mouth to allay her curiosity.

"I'm sorry about this," he forced an irritated breath through his nose as he subconsciously took a few steps closer to her until she was slightly behind him.

They both listened as whoever it was stepped out of the car, not bothering to shut the door behind them. A few hurried footsteps later, an abnormally tall figure towered over the fence that Jake and Flo hopped over not long before.

"You're an idiot," Jake's tattooed bodyguard said as he hopped over the fence with no difficulty whatsoever.

The guy was big enough to be labelled Hulk's big brother, only he was much easier on the eyes. His dark skin tone turned warm under the harsh streetlamp light shining down from beside him, highlighting his prominent muscular arms even more. They tensed further as ran his hand over his short-cut afro hair on the side of his head.

"You tell me that a lot, Kev," Jake replied, shaking his head, annoyed. He turned to Flo, who kept her gaze focussed on the man, as if to solve a puzzle – she'd seen him before but couldn't quite remember when. "Flo, this is my bodyguard, Kevin."

That's when it clicked; "oh," she nodded, her lips pursed. "I remember, from the party."

He was the scary-looking guy on the intercom just before she entered Jake's flat the night of his party, and the night of one of her frequent nervous break-downs. The memory of it, most specifically the scene between Jake and a girl she didn't recognise, and her following argument with him, resurfaced in her mind.

Kevin made his way over to the duo, stopping just a few steps before them. Intimidating was an understatement. Stood at six foot and eight inches and sporting arms the size of Jake's face, Flo and Jake looked like elves in comparison.

"Lovely to meet you"—Kevin's eyes moved from Flo's to Jake's as he spoke—"Miss Brine." The emphasis on her name made Jake cringe, although he did not outwardly show it.

Creasing her brows, Flo looks confused between Jake and Kevin. "How do you know my name?"

Kevin continued to stare Jake down, not bothering to look back at her as he quickly responded with, "it's part of my job."

"If you don't mind," Jake attempted to diverge the topic of the conversation and avoid any more conflict with his bodyguard, "we're going." He gestured for Flo to walk forward, however, she didn't get far before Kevin confused her even further with his next sentence.

"How did you get out of your place?" He asked, raising his chin which had a shadow of stubble.

"Not now," Jake responded through partially gritted teeth.

A small nod lowered Kevin's chin, but his intense stare remained fixated on Jake. "As you please," Kevin said after a moment, his eyes sliding to meet with Flo's just as an unwelcome smile tugged at his otherwise straight lips. He stepped aside, allowing room for Flo to pass. The expression on her face was, for lack of a better word, puzzled. She didn't question it though, and for that, Jake was grateful.

Placing his hand on the small of Flo's back, Jake guided her away from the bank and towards the fence. Sensing the presence of Kevin behind him, he tried not to let it affect his cool as he helped Flo climb back over the fence and to the bridge. Before doing the same himself, he turned towards his bodyguard.

"You're not going to follow us back are you?" He talked lowly so that only Kevin could hear him.

"Of course I am," Kevin responded, as if Jake's question was the dumbest ever asked.

Jake hit a hard wall. He couldn't fight against that, all he did was grit his teeth and say, "don't make it obvious."

With that, he hopped over the fence to meet with an even more curious Flo.

"Let's go," he told her.

"Where to?" She tilted her head, as if to read him. Unfortunately for her, he was very hard to read.

"Back to yours, I wanna make sure you get home safe."

Getting into the passenger seat of the old Volkswagon, he eyed the side mirror to see Kevin pace towards the sleek BMW parked behind them. Kevin placed his hand on the edge of the open driver's door that he never shut, pausing to look back at Flo as she climbed into the driver's seat of her less expensive vehicle.

"Is he gonna follow us?" Flo asked as she strapped herself in, reminding Jake to do the same.

"I told him not to, but it's kind of part of his job." Jake says, imitating Kevin's response earlier. "He won't make it obvious, so just don't worry about it." Jake explained, diverting his gaze from Kevin, who was now securely inside his car, to Flo. The way their eyes locked in that brief moment made something inside of him knot uncomfortably, yet comfortably.

"He seemed mad at you, I get you're famous but is there someone out to kill you or something? Why so protective?" Flo joked.

Jake chuckled, "punch me, maybe. Not kill."

Part 2

Driving through the glow of sunrise was something Jake was accustomed to, but the view never ceased to amaze him. What amazed him even more in that specific moment was the person driving him – Flo. He never quite believed he would see her again, let alone be sat in such proximity that all it took for her hand, which rested on the gearbox, to touch the edge of his thigh was a slight bump in the road. And it happened multiple times on the journey to the bridge and back, but neither one of the them moved. Flo's hand remained on the gearbox more than it was on the wheel, and Jake's leg, not fit for the small capacity of the front seat, remained lent towards the gearbox.

The drive back to Flo's apartment was quiet, peaceful. They both needed to think. However, Jake couldn't help catching the distant car driving in the background of the side mirror. Kevin was his best bodyguard, yet seeing him fail at hiding when the streets weren't busy was funny to Jake.

"Well, this is me," Flo's voice recaptured Jake's attention, louder now that the engine had died and they were parked up outside Flo's block of flats.

Turning to her, Jake took a moment to take her in. She was different, yes. Whether it was good or bad wasn't the question to be asked, it was just unfamiliar to him. The Flo two years back was as beautiful as the Flo sat beside him now. Though, sitting here beside her now, he still felt as far away from her as when she was in Australia. Admiring the rich hazel irises of her eyes, he couldn't quite forget the image of her crying not too long ago in his flat. The memory caused him to subconsciously clench his teeth. It irritated him that he didn't know why she cried, but as he took her in, the curiosity pulled at his tongue to speak.

Unfortunately, the black slither in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Kevin's car quickly parked up at the far end of the long road, making Jake roll his eyes.

"Way to not make it obvious, Kev," Jake muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Flo hummed.

He turned back to her, deciding to push Kevin to the back of his head and focus on her. It wasn't hard to do with those eyes in front of his. In the orange light seeping into the car from outside, Flo's hair reflected the subtle burgundy colour that it was once was coloured, reminding him of the old Flo.

"How come you dyed your hair back to brown? What happened to red?" As he said this, his hand lifted to one of the stray strands dangling off her shoulder. He wasn't quite thinking when he did it, his hand had a mind of its own, but he didn't drop it. Instead he caressed the strands between his fingers. Flo, on the other hand, froze. Her lips parted as she looked down at Jake's hand. It made blood sprint to her cheeks.

"Change of style, I-I guess," she stuttered.

Following her words, the silence became deafening, overwhelming them both. So, Jake lowered his hand, clearing his throat, and blurted, "I need the toilet."

His sudden burst for needing to use the bathroom (pun most definitely intended) was met with a delicate laugh from Flo. After realising what he just said, his eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment as he shook his head, "I mean...I...I..."

I just want to spend more time with you, he wanted to say. I just want to know what happened to you, he wanted to say that as well...but couldn't. He thought that maybe going up to her apartment to use her bathroom would buy him extra time to say those things, yet it was highly doubtful that he ever would, at least not right now.

I need the toilet? Who is she? Your teacher?Jake kicked himself internally at his stupid blurt.

"Sorry," he stopped himself for blubbering further. "I meant, may I use your bathroom." Idiot, idiot, idiot, he repeated over to himself in his head.

Still upholding her amused smile, Flo nods. "Of course."

Part three

Flo never really had people over, apart from Aiden, and he never struck her as the picky type. Though now, she had her first love in the bathroom and didn't know what to serve him. She was a shit hostess.

Looking through her cabinets and fridge, all she had to serve was hot chocolate, milk, and chocolate biscuits. Quickly grabbing a plate, she emptied the packet of biscuits onto the ceramic, and reached for two glasses at the ready. Placing herself and the plate of biscuits at the table, she waited patiently – or rather not so patiently – for Jake to come out of the bathroom. It felt like an eternity.

But when he did, the sight of him stood almost as tall at the bathroom door when he opened it towards him made Flo's heart crumble like one of the damn biscuits mounting on the plate in the middle of the table. Pausing for a split second in the doorway, he offered a delicate smile that might as well have ripped her heart out of its place, before joining her at the table.

"This place is nice," he said once comfortably sat in the chair opposite her. "Small, but nice."

"It's the best I can afford right now." She didn't intend for the words to come out as abruptly as they did. "Biscuit?" She pushed the plate a centimetre closer to him, causing his smile to tug a bit more.

"Thanks," he reached for one and took a bite. "I'm supposed to be on a low carb, low fat, high protein diet, but I'll make this an exception."

"Ew, why?" She asked, only to answer the question herself. "Oh right, boxing."

Jake laughed as he popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth, finishing it off before speaking. "I'm in the best shape of my life, that's better than having a cookie."

"You have your priorities messed up," Flo said jokingly. "What would you like to drink?"

"Water is fine, thanks," Jake responded as he crossed his arms over his chest and reclined in the seat.

Flo could feel his eyes on her back at she made her way to the sink, grabbing the glass on the counter and filling it up.

"Are you on this diet for boxing?"

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "Otherwise I would happily eat another biscuit."

Flo smiled as she passed him the glass of water, which he took with a polite nod and chugged half of it down in a single swig before placing it down beside the plate.

"How come you got into boxing?" Flo asked as she reposition herself at the table.

"As opposed to...?"

"Sleeping in until noon." Flo's words were said through a cheeky smirk, the creases of which Jake couldn't help but follow with his gaze.

"I still do that, only sometimes though," Jake laughed. "I needed a balance in my life, things weren't..."

Flo waited for him to continue speaking just as Jake's watch on her side-tracked to the half empty cup of water at the table.

"Weren't?" She prompted.

"I-I needed a distraction," he explained, unravelling the curiosity in Flo.

"From what?"

You, he thought, but didn't dare say it.

"Things," he replied, and that's when Flo realised she was delving too deep into territory that she wasn't granted permission to enter. She wished she could, though.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"Do you remember that party, in year ten. We were like what? Fifteen?" Jake interjects, glancing up to meet Flo's eyes just as the last word escapes him. "The one where you got drunk for the very first time."

Flo smiles at the memory, cringing partly from what she could remember.

"Ugh, you remember that?"

"You took your top off and pranced around on the dining table, of course I'd remember that," Jake laughed, making Flo's hand rush to cover the embarrassment clouding her face. "And then you started crying because some girls were making fun of your bra."

"Stooooop!" Flo giggled, pushing her hands up into her hair, mortified from the memory. "Why would you remind me of that?"

"Would you still do that now?"

"Are you asking me if I would take my top off? So, you're still a man-whore Jake?" Flo's brows raised in surprise as she felt a warmth surface on her cheeks.

Jake let out another laugh, leaning his head back to face the ceiling, "no, salty. I mean, would you still cry if someone made fun of you like that?"

The smile that was strong on Flo's lips just a second ago faded slightly as she heard his question.

"Not in front of them," she responded with the most honest answer she'd given Jake since her comeback.

"But in front of me?" Jake asked.

That night some few years back, Flo remember how much of an anchor Jake was for her as she felt stranded in the middle of an ocean of problems. It wasn't the girls' teasing that made her cry at the time; she in fact had been holding in her tears for much of that night for a reason no other than the torment of her mother. The mother who was breaking up her family, the mother who was forcing blame and guilt upon her daughter, the mother who Flo didn't feel deserved the label of mother. Jake didn't know though.

"Everything seems easier in front of you, I can depend on you." Flo let the words out without giving them much thought.

They held each other's gaze in a firm hold, both scared that if one looked away, it would break the moment and they would find difficulty in retrieving it.

"That's why I started boxing," Jake was the first to break the silence. "Because I can depend on you too, so when you left, I had to find something else to depend on."

Jake's words were like knives that pierced holes in what was left of Flo's chest. The pang of pain was tinted with an odd happiness from the fact that he admitted he could depend on her as well.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing she could say.

"You don't owe me an apology, but I would like an explanation. I've been caught up on it for the past two years."

Suddenly Flo became weary of the notepad resting on the bedside table. Tilting her head in its direction, her eyes only glanced at it for a split second before turning back to her hands. Within that notebook is the letter to Jake that she wrote not long before, explaining the cruelness that had engulfed her life. She didn't exactly know why she wrote that letter; it's not as if she intended for it to be seen by Jake.

"An explanation in a situation like this is supposed to make you feel better," Flo said, after all she'd been waiting for an explanation from Jason Bold, but it wouldn't change what happened to her, or make her nightmares go away. "But in some cases, it doesn't."

"I don't want to feel better, that's not the point," Jake argues. 

"What do you want then?" 

"To help," he says with urgency, just as soon as the question escapes Flo's lips. It makes Flo's parted lips seal together, unsure what words to speak next. 

"You cried to me the other day, I didn't push to find out why. But now, I'm asking you," he leaned forward, resting both elbows on the table and closer the distance between them. "You left without anything, no warning, no farewell, nothing. Do I not at least deserve to know why?" 

I'm sorry, she repeated in her head. If it was as hard for you as it was for me, she thought, I'm truly sorry. 

After sitting deadly still for a few moments, Flo finally yet reluctantly pushed herself up from the chair and walked towards the notebook with difficulty, as if it repelled her.

He'll tell your father, she thought. He'll tell the police, she thought again. Everyone will know, you won't be able to hide it anymore.

She reached for the notepad, opening it and ripping out the three pieces of paper she wrote on. They weighed down in her hands. 

"Promise me something," she said.

"What?"

She turned to look at him, armed with the very story that destroyed her.

"You don't read this here, go home or somewhere. I can't have you read it here."

Her instructions made his brows furrow at the paper clutched to her abdomen.

"And, if you tell anyone, I won't forgive you." 

***

Oh my golly gosh. 

Okay, so I'm like, SUPER EXCITED. I just can't wait for you to see what happens next really. 

As in the authors note above, if you have any comments/suggestions regarding the third person POV, please let me know, I really want your opinion on this! 

Thank you so much for reading!

Stay beautiful,

Indie xoxo