"Hey, " Heather said, her voice hard.

"Hey?"

"Can we talk?" she asked and looked around our group who were all mostly busy in their own conversations.

"If I say no, will you go away?" I questioned and Ash let out a loud dramatic sigh, beside me.

"No." Heather's face remained impassive as she stared at me.

"Fine. Talk."

"Alone."

"What? Why?" Ash exclaimed.

"It won't take a lot of time, " Heather said, still looking at me. "Please."

It was the please that got me. Slowly, I  nodded, wide-eyed, and shocked. What could she possibly want from me?

"Let's step out for a while, " I said and finished my beer. She nodded and started walking away.

Before I could follow her, Ash clutched my hand to stop me. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it looks like it's important to her." I shrugged. "I'll be fine."

She nodded, letting go of me and I turned around, before following Heather out.

"Why can't you leave him alone?" she blurted out, once we were out.

"Huh? Leave who alone?"

"Max. Why can't you just stay away from him?"

Is she serious right now?

"Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?" I asked her.

"You spoke to his father today." She crossed her arms against her chest and looked at me.

"Yes. Because he wanted to speak to me, not the other way around," I clarified, surprised that I even had to do it.

"I always knew that he hated you and Tyler to a point of obsession and now you just go and make it worse." She ran her hand through her hair, the action made her sleeve roll down and exposed her wrist.

"What the fuck!" I gasped.

"What?" She looked at me, confused.

I grabbed her hand and shoved her sleeve up. The sleeve that covered the bruises around her wrist. "What the hell is this?"

She yanked her hand away from my hold and pulled her sleeves over her wrist, self consciously. "It's none of your business."

"He...he hurt you, " I mumbled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, her voice hard and final.

"How'd that happen then?"

"I can be clumsy. It's nothing." She shook her head.

"It's not nothing! I just saw it with my own eyes. He did that to you didn't he?"

"You don't know that. You hardly saw it for a second, you're overreacting," she insisted, looking away.

"I know how you got that bruise because I . . . I had them too. For days!" I said, desperately trying to stop my voice from shaking. "And I tried to hide them too."

She looked at me, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears, as she took in a shaky breath, but didn't say a word.

"I always knew you believed in his version of the story of what happened that night between him and me, but now you know what he is capable of." I pointed to her wrists. "The proof is right in front of your eyes! Then...why? Why are you with him? Is he forcing you somehow?"

"No." She sniffled and shook her head.  "Stop this. Stop acting like you care."

"I might hate you, but nobody deserves this." I took a step towards her. "You need to tell someone about this, you have to get away from him."

She stepped away from me like my words just burnt her.

"I love him." She finally looked at me. "But you wouldn't understand that."

Her confession took me by surprise. How could someone love him?

"You're right, I don't understand. I mean he's a. . . monster!"

"You don't know what he's been through. You don't know the hell his life is like, " she said. "You don't know him."

"Do you honestly think he loves you?" I questioned.

"Yes, he does. In his own way." She nodded, and I was surprised because it sounded like she really meant it.

"I know he has done some really horrible things but . . . he'll get better." She nodded to herself.  "You won't believe me and I don't blame you, but you never got to see the guy I knew and fell in love with."

I ran a hand over my face, completely disturbed by the words this girl who was standing in front of me had just said. This girl, who was once my best friend, someone I shared my early childhood with.

"Don't let who you believe he is 'deep down', excuse the reality of how he is treating you right now." I tried to reason with her.

She was quiet for a long time, and I hoped what I said made sense to her. I hoped she would be able to see just how toxic her relationship is. 

"Just...let it go, alright? My life is none of your business. Just stay away from both me and him." She gave me a pointed look, her dark circles doing nothing to hide the animosity in them.

"You know I can't. Not after what I saw." I shook my head.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Veronica. Just for once learn to let go of something, before its too late," she mumbled, almost seeming like she cared about me for a second.

Before I could say another word, she turned around and walked away from me, down the driveway leading to the streets.

I sighed, staring at her retreating form for a few seconds, before I turned around and made my way back to the house, for the third time today.

The spot near the minibar where my friends were standing when I left them was now empty. I looked around and found Neil waving at me, to catch my attention, from the makeshift dancefloor in the middle of the room. I waved back to him and took a seat next to the bar counter. I was able to spot everyone except Tyler and Avi.

Ash was dancing with Ryan, and it made me smile. At least someone was having a good time.

I tried to focus on something else to divert my mind, but no matter how much I tried I could not shake off the conversation I had just had with Heather.

How could you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? Especially if that someone hated your guts.

I let out a groan and buried my head in my hands. This night really sucked so far.

The dance floor was getting crowded pretty fast and it was hard for me to spot anyone, now. I took out my cellphone and shot off a text to Tyler.

*Where are you?*

His reply came in within seconds. *Upstairs with Julian, Avi, and Eric.*

*Can I join too? It's getting really crowded and wild here.*

*I'm in the middle of something. I'll come and get you in a while. Stay close to the bar counter.*

I sighed and turned towards the counter, before getting myself another beer, to help me survive the rest of the night.

"You think that's a good idea?" Someone spoke behind me.

The voice sent a chill down my spine and I spun around my heartbeat racing.

Max.

I looked up at his towering form standing right in front of me. He was wearing a dark blue button-down, with its sleeves rolled up, along with a pair of dark pants. His brown hair was perfectly styled.

He gave me a smile and took a seat next to me. "It's your second one tonight."

I swallowed the panic that had crawled up my throat and tried to school my expression. "What do you want?"

His dark blue eyes took me in, head to toe before he flashed me a lazy grin of appreciation, that made my skin crawl.

"You looked pretty lonely here, sitting all alone so I thought I'd give you some company." He smiled at me, that might look charming to an outsider, but to me, it was downright repulsive.

A distorted memory of the last time he kept me company in a similar party flashed through my mind, and I shook my head to get rid of it.

"That's really kind of you. But I don't really need your company." I looked away.

"Too bad we don't always get what we want, do we?" When I didn't answer, he continued, "It's been too long since I last saw you. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

I scoffed and took a long swig from my bottle. "Just get to the point. Why are you here?"

He let out a deep chuckle and stared ahead of him. "I thought it was quite obvious. I'm here to see you of course."

I knew that. And I knew why.

"Because of the conversation I had  with daddy dearest today?" I said, carefully studying his face.

He clenched his jaw and slowly nodded. "Smart girl."

I went to grab my bottle again and noticed a slight shiver in my hand. I quickly laid both of my palms flat out on the surface of the counter and took a deep breath.

"Spit it out. Whatever you want to say," I spoke through gritted teeth.

I wanted to get away from him, away from this place. Hopefully, a few choices of words, a few threats, and this would all be over.

"Rude. I thought you'd be in a better mood today." He looked at me, a small smile playing on his lips. "You know, with your dad coming home and all that. It's been what? Two days? I expected you to be happier."

My eyes widen at his words. How the hell does he know that?

Judging from the satisfied smile on his face, my surprise must have shone through.

"How do you know about that?" I worked to keep my voice steady.

He cocked his head to the side. "Just because we don't see each other much, did you think I have no other way to keep myself updated with your life?"

When I just stared at him blankly he shook his head, like he was disappointed in me, and grabbed my bottle of beer. "You're one of my favorite people after all." He winked, before taking a long swig.

"How?" I demanded.

He just shrugged in response, trailing his finger over the condensation formed on the bottle. He was enjoying this.

"Do you realize how disturbingly creepy that is?" I spat, my voice taking on a hard edge

Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to back away from this situation. Back away from him. 

He chuckled and looked at me with a thoughtful expression. "Tell me something, how much do you trust your friends?"

The question took me by surprise, but the answer was out of my mouth in a second. Like a reflex. "With my life."

"Well, I think it's time you reconsider somethings in your life."

Back away.

He gently placed his hand on top of mine, and I barely held myself back from flinching. "You crossed a line today. Something you really shouldn't have done."

Back away. Back away. Just back away.

I could feel my breathing getting heavy. The pain from my leg where I was digging my fingers into, was getting stronger, but I forced myself to look into his eyes.

"Don't try to intimidate me. I'm not scared of you," I muttered, pulling my hand away from his.

He'll never see me crumble.

He chuckled and took another long drink from my bottle and set it in front of me. "Maybe that will be your biggest mistake."

I clenched my jaw and for a brief moment, the bottle of beer felt disturbingly close to a deadly weapon.

A weapon I had once used.

"Ah! Here he comes." Max's voice, cut through my dark thoughts and I looked up at him. His eyes were fixed at something behind me, and he had an amused expression on his face.

I turned around to follow his gaze and my eyes landed on Tyler, shouldering his way through the crowd. A thunderous expression on his face, his eyes locked on Max.

I got off the stool I was sitting on, my legs wobbly and my palms sweaty. The relief from seeing Tyler was quickly overshadowed by the sudden bout of anxiety that hit me when the reality of everything that had happened tonight, set in.

The music got unbearable and I was suddenly finding it hard to breathe. I gripped the edge of the counter and closed my eyes. My breaths were coming out as harsh pants.

"Get the fuck away from her!" I heard Tyler snarl, before slamming Max against the counter.

The bottle of beer sitting on the counter tumbled down and exploded beside my feet, making me jump.

This was too much.

Everything suddenly seemed too overwhelming and I wanted to hide away. Just disappear from here.

I took a slow step back before I turned around and ran away.

I blindly ran up to the other side of the room, pushing through people, desperate to get out of this place.

I went up the huge spiral staircase at the furthest corner of the room, taking two steps at a time, then down some hallway, ignoring the people shooting curious glances my way.

"Hey! Veronica!" I heard someone call and I turned around to find Courtney walking towards me. "Are you looking for Tyler?"

I shook my head. Not trusting my voice to speak.

"Are you okay?" She frowned "You look pale."

"Yes." My voice was weak and scratchy. I cleared my throat, and asked, "Can you tell me where the rooftop is?"

"Just go up the small staircase down this hallway, " she said.

I nodded and turned towards the direction she pointed before she could question me any further.

A/n:- Thoughts?