We wake the next day later than expected in a tangle of limbs. My head is throbbing from the drinks, but when I look next to me it fades into the background as I see Phelan watching me with a smile on his face.

"Hi." He speaks.

"Hi back" I answer.

"How are you feeling?"

"Great." I smile and give him a what was supposed to be a quick kiss that quickly escalates.

We are lost in each other, our kissed getting heavy, our hands wandering each other's body when we are interrupted by a knock at the door. We stop looking at each other. Phelan reaches for his phone and swears.

"it's later then I realised. That will be John." He tells me.

"What?!" I ask in a panic. I fly out on the bed, grab my bag, and run into the bathroom. "I'm going to have a quick shower, okay?" I close the door not waiting for an answer, hearing Phelan laughing.

When I exit the bathroom, freshly showered, and dressed, I see John sitting at the table with a series of pastries in front of him.

"Got you coffee." He says holding up the cup." I run to him grabbing the cup.

"Oh my god! You are the best!" I say as I take a sip, groaning as the caffeine hits my system. I look to Phelan seeing an amused smirk on his face.

"We've got about half an hour until we have to check out." He informs me. I nod. "We can take our time going home, maybe stop at a few places if you want."

"Cool," I say as I take a bite of an apricot Danish.

"Here, babe. I got some aspirin for you too. I'm sure you have a headache. I know I do." He adds, chuckling.

"Oh my god, yes!" I say reaching out with 'gimme' hands making John laugh.

"I'll put the bags in the car if you like." John offers getting up.

"Yeah, thanks man." Phelan says as he throws him the keys before grabbing another pastry. I finish another coffee as I put the remaining snacks in a bag. As I am double checking everything, I feel arms encircle me before lips run up my neck lightly kissing.

"Mmmm, babe." I moan as I turn around in his arms and welcome more of his kisses. We reluctantly break apart as we know we have no time. I grab the snacks and my phone asking, "you got the keys to return?"

"Yeah, you go to the car, and I'll return these." He replies giving me a quick kiss before ambling out the door. I smile as I watch him before walking to join John at the car.

"So, you excited for college?" John asks, making small talk.

"Yes and no. I mean I am excited but worried too. I suppose it is just the whole unknown thing. The campus looks awesome though."

"It is a great campus. It has a lot of hidden extras too. I will show you some when we start. Growing up near here has some advantages." He said with a wink. "So, are you going to live on campus?"

"Yeah, I don't think I have a choice unfortunately. Unless I can find a job, I will have to live in the dorms." John nods in understanding. "What about you? Are you going to stay with your family?"

"I haven't really decided yet. I mean financially it makes sense, but I would like a little more independence."

"I get that. I suppose we still have time to finalize everything though. I mean we still haven't officially finished high school yet." I add with a chuckle.

Phelan walks up to us with a broad smile "what are you two talking about?" he asks putting an arm around me.

"Just talking about what's happening next year and living arrangements." I say, leaning in slightly. "It's all a little more real now that I've seen the campus."

"Yeah, it is. You ready to go?" he asks John.

"Yeah, sure." John answers opening the back door before getting in. Phelan pulls me in a bit before kissing my forehead.

"Let's get going then." He adds before letting me go so I can get into the car.

The next few days were what the teachers called 'person project' days. This is just a fancy way to say, do what you want – we don't care. Basically, as long as we weren't disruptive to the rest of the school, we could do whatever we wanted. Most guys used the time to use the sporting facilities of the school. Where most of the girls spent the time either watching the guys or planning what they will wear to the ball or other things girls like that obsess over. I never quite fitted in with that crowd. I was tolerated before as I was Skye's friend, but since she has been gone, I have slipped into obscurity. There are still the odd rumour still floating around, but since some information about her death has been released, they have severely lessened. It still upsets me to think about the pain and terror she experienced before she died. Her case remains unsolved with little clues. The killer didn't leave any DNA and as she was undiscovered for over a week any evidence that was there was long gone before the cops got there. I don't walk home that way anymore, although since I met Phelan, he usually drives me home.

I was sitting in the small inner courtyard flicking through my college information to see if I needed to get a Head Start on anything when I felt hands enclose my eyes.

"Guess who?" I heard whispered in my ear. I felt a smile appear on my face.

"Phelan, you know you can't scare me." I turned toward him. "What have you been doing today? I've not seen you."

"Just making use of the schools' facilities, I was tinkering on the GTX."

"Ah, cool." I smiled imagining him leant over his engine bay working on the engine smelling of grease mixed with his cologne. He looks at me with a knowing smirk.

"I brought you some lunch." He says as he gets two focaccias out of his bag.

"Oh, yum. Have I mentioned how you are the best?"

"Hmmm, not today I think." He winks. Suddenly, we hear a crowd chatting loudly. I send Phelan a questioning look and get up to see what's going on.

I walk to the hall and call out to a girl from my class.

"Hey, Kristy, what's going on?" she runs over to me excited to gossip.

"Oh my god, have you not heard? There was a murder. Over the weekend some college guy was beaten to death and then hung from a tree in the centre of the campus!"

"What?! But the open day was on that weekend."

"I KNOW!" Kristy says with exaggeration. "you'd think someone would have seen something! I'll send you the link to the article." She types on her phone, and I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. She then gives me a cheery goodbye and flounces off.

"What was all that?" Phelan asks when I return. I gulp and look at him.

"There was a murder." I say softly "at the campus. This weekend."

"What?!" Phelan says in disbelief, reaching for me.

"Kristy sent me a link to the article" I say, opening the link on my phone.

Phelan came and stood behind me to see the article. When it opened, I almost dropped my phone.

"Phelan," I whisper, hands shaking, "it's the guy who attacked me. He's dead."

I can feel my body start to tremble. Phelan wraps his arms around me and takes my phone. He scrolls through the article as I bury myself in his arms.

"They believe he was attacked late at night. He was hit from behind and then they believe he was beaten on the ground before being hung from the tree in the centre of the courtyard as if on display. They don't know who done it, but it may have been more than one." He scrolled a bit more, "huh, seems he was part of the football team, typical frat boy type." I tremble in his arms. He tightens his hold and kisses my head "it's okay babe, I will protect you." I nod.

"After Skye, I can't help but think I am the reason."

"No babe, no" he kisses me, "it is just a horrible coincidence."

I sniffle having trouble believing that completely, but I nod. "Now, tell me, have you gotten your dress for the ball yet?" I laugh at the awkward change in conversation.

"Maybe, I don't know."

"How can you not know?" he asked totally confused.

"Well, I don't know what your favourite colour is do I?" I smile cheekily.

"Babe, you'd look good in any colour, but I would love to see you in red."

"Lucky. The front runner in the dress department happened to be red."

"It is fate!"

"Must be." I giggled.

The rest of the day past without incident. The next day was a half day for the whole year as the graduation ball was that night. More than half of the class was missing, and most of the ones there were either really excited or stressed beyond their limit. There were even a few that were panicking about not having a dress yet. It was a weird mix. Of course, Phelan and John were there. John was there as his parents worked so he said he came in because he would be bored. Phelan was there purely because I was. As sappy as that is, it made me secretly happy.

"You excited for the ball John?" I asked.

"Nah, dances aren't really my thing." He answered flatly.

"Surely your date is excited though?" Phelan asked.

"Don't have one. I'm going solo." He answered. "No one here really caught my eye enough to spend 2 hours of awkward dancing and drinking spiked punch together, present company excluded." I laughed at that.

"Fair enough." I said in amusement. "But you'll still be coming, yeah?"

"Oh, I wouldn't miss it." He smirked. "One last chance to observe the natives in their mating dance." We all broke out in laughter.

"Do you need a lift there? I can pick you up after I pick up Kasey." Phelan offered.

"Nah, dude, I'm cool. I got a few things to wrap up before I grace you all with my presence."

Phelan chuckles "Fair enough." He turns to me, "just us two then, love. I'll pick you up at six and we can do dinner before the ball."

"Sounds good." I answer with a kiss. Without meaning to our kiss goes on a bit long earning a groan and an eye roll from John.

"You two are sickening." He joked earning a playful slap on the arm from Phelan.

That night I could barely contain my excitement. My mom was helping with my hair, putting it half up with a soft curl. She was chatting happily while she did it, reminiscing about her high school days. I kept my makeup light with a small amount of eyeshadow to bring out my eye colour a bit, a light blush on my cheek and some lip gloss which I know wouldn't last long anyway around Phelan.

I had just finished putting my shoes on when I heard to doorbell. Mom looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes before she went to open the door. I followed slowly. When I came around the corner and saw Phelan standing there in his tux my breath caught. We both stared at each other for a few moments. Mom was off to the side, her eyes misty.

" I've gotta take a picture!" she exclaims before rushing to her room.

"You look... wow." I breath quietly.

"You are gorgeous." Phelan says, taking steps towards me. He holds my in his arms, taking me in from my hair to my red, figure-hugging dress. "You stopped my heart for a second there." He quietly admitted.

I smiled up at him "you literally took my breath away."

My mom bursts back in the room. "Ok kids, photo time!" we do the obligatory photos before I give my mom a hug. "Now you have fun, okay? I have a shift tonight, so I won't see you until the morning. I picked up a shift so I could take tomorrow off for the ceremony. God, you look so beautiful. I am not going to tear up. I put some leftovers and snacks in the fridge if you get peckish. Oh god, I'm babbling. Go, have a wonderful time."

"I love you mom." I pull her into a hug. I give her a kiss on the cheek and say bye and we walk to the door.

Phelan walks me to the car, opening the door like a real gentleman earning him a heartfelt smile. We have dinner at a restaurant enjoying the atmosphere. It is our first time eating anywhere besides the diner. It is super romantic, and I enjoy every second as we talk and joke and laugh over a light dinner. We then head to the school.

I let out a gasp as I walk into the gym. It is like I have been transported to another place. There are streamers and decorations everywhere. The walls are covered with fake ivy, making the whole place look like an enchanted garden. I have always loved the book The Secret Garden and it feels like I have been transported into the very pages.

"Wow, it looks like the secret garden." Phelan whispers to me.

"I was just thinking the same!" I beam back.

The moment is interrupted when we are led to the photo booth to have our picture taken. I lean into Phelan as the photo is taken, fully immersed in the romantic magic of the night. We walk over to the side and look around.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked me. I beam at him nodding my head. He gives me a quick kiss before wandering over to the drinks table.

I look around the gym, seeing the people I grew up with. I feel nostalgic already, even though the ceremony isn't until tomorrow. I then start feeling a little sad when I think how quickly they had turned on me, spreading the photo of me in the changerooms and then blaming me for Skyes death. It really makes me wonder if I really had any friends at all. But then I think about Phelan and how close we are. And John, who I have become friends with. I start to look around for him to see if he is here yet when Rachel approaches me with a couple of her friends.

"Oh my god, Kasey, look at you! You look great. I love you dress!"

"Hi Rachel. I like your dress too." I reply while wondering if these people were always this fake.

"Did you hear about Troy, you know, the guy who got beaten and hung from a tree. Oh my god! So brutal." She faux whispers to me before her eyes go wide. "Oh, you're going there, aren't you? Does that mean you were there that weekend?"

I look at her frowning at her fake enthusiasm. "Yeah, I was there for the open day."

"Wow. That is so scary." She smirks with a malicious look in her eyes. "what's the chances."

"What do you mean?" I ask, dread growing in my stomach.

"Well, you know, first Skye gets murdered just after parting ways with you, and then Troy gets murdered the same day you are visiting the campus. It's like you're cursed or something! Quick," she says turning to her friends, "we better get away from her before we are next." The three of them laugh as they walk away.

"What was that about?" I hear behind me. I turn to see John, looking suave in his suit.

"That's what I was going to ask." Phelan adds as he slides up beside me before handing me a cup.

I take a sip, collecting my thoughts. "Just some dumb high school mean girl shit." I mumble, still rocked by the conversation.

"Tell me babe, what did she say?"

"Nothing much. It started as general small talk, but then she brought up Skye and the guy from the campus and how I was there for both. She suggested I was cursed and then that she had to get away from me before she became the next victim." I hang my head to hide my face. I don't want either to know how much it affected me.

"Oh babe." Phelan pulls me into a hug.

"What a bitch." John mutters glaring at Rachel.

"It's okay. I'm fine." I smile at them both.

"Come on." Phelan says grabbing my hand.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I am dragged through the crowd.

"To dance. We are not letting any of these insecure little bitches ruin our night." I giggle as we make our way onto the floor. He pulls me into him as we start dancing. "Have I mentioned how gorgeous you are tonight?"

"You might have once or twice," I say smiling while moving closer.

"Well, it needs to be said again." He leans in, kissing me on the dancefloor swaying softly to the beat.

The moment is interrupted by the piercing squeal of microphone feedback. Everyone looks to the stage to see Kristy on the stage, looking slightly bashful.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" she says shyly. I briefly wonder how she ended up being the one up there. I have never known Kristy to be much of a public speaker. "I thought we could all take a moment to remember a very lovely, important member of our class, Skye. The cheer squad has created a short memorial they wish to play in honour of our fallen classmate."

She hits a button on a remote and the screen lowers, and a slideshow video combination begins to play as the light as dimmed.

The crowd is silent as the cheer squad starts to go through all the achievements, charity work, and other things Skye did for the school and community. Right in the middle of Tommy recalling how Skye helped the team it cuts out, the screen going blank for a few seconds, before a video starts of Skye and her friends in the library talking shit about people. A murmur of unease travels through the gym as the video continues. I look around. It appears no one knows what is happening. I turn back to the screen when I hear my name. Skye is now talking to Tommy on the side of the field talking.

"I thought you were friends with her?" Tommy says.

"Please. Friends? With her? Come on Tommy. I only play nice because of our parents. They expect us to be friends because they are. But seriously she is so annoying. Always hanging around with her big doe eyed innocent stare. No one is that good." Skye says vehemently.

"But isn't this taking it too far?"

"Relax. All you need to do is help spread it. I will do the hard work. You just need to create a fake email address and post it to the schools' social media. From there it will just continue organically."

My stomach feels sick as I realise what they are talking about. The photo. Skye was behind it? I want to look away, but I can't.

"I'll take the pic, send it to you, then you do your thing. Just make sure to delete everything after. And for god's sake don't send it from your computer, go to an internet café or library."

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"Babe," Skye runs her hand down his chest, "Don't worry about the why."

The video then cuts to another video. This time Tommy is visibly upset.

"It's on the internet, even outside our school." Tommy says to Skye.

"Yeah, I know, it's great." She answers smiling.

"NO, ITS NOT!" he yells back. "Someone told me it is even on the Dark Web! This is serious Skye!"

"Oh, come on. It's just a pic!"

"Yeah, of an underage high school student on a place where human trafficking is normal! I don't want anything more to do with this. Or you." He turns and walks away.

"TOMMY!" Skye yells after him. "Come on, it's not that bad!"

The video fades to black. The entire gym is deathly quiet. I feel a shiver run down my spine.

"Is that true? Is my photo on the dark web?" I whisper, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. Phelan pulls me closer as I start trembling. He shoots a look over my head to John.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He says kissing the top of my head.

"I thought she was my friend. Why did she hate me?" I can feel the tears start to escape.

"I don't know babe." He whispers.

"Um, well," the principal stutters running on stage and grabbing the mike from a stunned Kristy, "let's get back to the music." He nods to the DJ and a new track plays.

Phelan grabs my hand and leads me out of the gym into a small classroom. John follows but remains at the door as if standing guard. I am in shock. It isn't until I am sitting, and Phelan has my hands in his squeezing that I look up.

"Babe, talk to me." He says. The concern in his eyes evident.

"Phelan," I choke out with a sob.

He pulls me into his arms, rocking me slightly. "Shh, it's okay, I've got you."

"What does this mean? A naked photo of me is on the dark web. What will happen now? Am I in danger? I don't know what to do." I start crying.

"Babe, it's okay, I won't let anyone hurt you. If your photo is out there like the video said, I will make sure you are always safe. If we ever are separated, I will always come for you and always find you." He kisses my forehead, "I love you. I will always love you and protect you." He kisses my tears, holding my head tenderly. His kisses make their way down to my lips where the kisses start light and feather soft, before growing more and more desperate like both of you need the connection. "Kasey," he whispers against my lips, hands wandering.

"Phelan, I love you" I whisper back, running my hands up through his hair, pulling him closer. "Please I need you." I say desperately.

He lets out a groan. "You're going to be the death of me." He says as his hands wander. I see John out of the corner of my eye leave the room after closing the blinds. I send him a silent thank you, but I am quickly distracted but Phelan's talented hands.

His kisses move down to my neck, licking and sucking, as his hands roam over my body to cup my breasts. He thumbs my nipples through my clothes, making them hard as diamonds earning a moan from me. His hands wandered back down finding the bottom dress, finding their way underneath. He let out a groan when his hands felt the wetness of my panties.

"Babe, you're so wet." He whispered into my ear before licking the shell.

"Only you can make me wet." I whispered back.

"Fuck." He groaned, slipping his hands under my panties.

I shuddered when he grazed over my slit before settling on my clit rubbing in small circles. The contact made my back arch and eyes roll. This is what I needed. The release of all the emotions and worries. The mind-numbing pleasure only Phelan can give me. His free hand made its way to my zipper, slowly lowering it, freeing my breasts. While his finger continued its torturous pleasure his mouth found my breast, tongue flicking my nipple before suckling it. I had trouble keeping my moans quiet as the pleasure rose slowly making my core spasm.

"Please, Phelan." I beg.

"Oh, babe, don't worry, I'll take care of you." He whispered before moving to the other breast.

He gave it the same attention before kneeling in front of me. His hands lightly moved over my legs, sending tingles through them, up to my panties before sliding them down and pocketing them. I leaned back on my hands and watched him, unconcerned my breasts were exposed, and I was now panty-less. I watched as he gathered up the skirt of my dress and then he just sat back and looked as me fully exposed. I don't know what it was, perhaps it was the awe in his eyes, but watching him appreciate my most intimate part was a massive turn on. Then he leaned in, giving me a lick from back of front making my eyes roll back. He then went to town alternating between spearing me with his tongue and sweetly torturing my clit. I moaned, grabbing his hair, and holding him on my clit. He focused on the area, sucking, licking, and lightly biting. Then he added his fingers, thrusting in and out. He then curled them hitting that special spot making my involuntarily jerk. I felt him smile against me and then hum, sending vibrations through my clit. He started working the spot while his tongue worked my clit. I was in bliss. It felt like he was stroking me from both the inside and out. My mind was blessedly blank. All I could focus on was the rising wave I felt, getting bigger and bigger.

"Oh my god, Phelan." I moaned. "don't stop."

He hummed against me as he felt my core clench. He knew I was close. He gave me a few hard licks, a nibble and then a hard suck on the clit and I exploded. I covered my mouth but even then, I couldn't control how loud I was. I was swept up in the moment, experiencing wave after wave of pure pleasure. Once the wave started to subside, I heard the tear of a condom wrapper. Next thing I knew Phelan was pulling me up, turning me around and bending me over the table. He lifted my skirt and gave my round butt a slap, earning a moan from me.

"Oh," he said, "you like that huh?" I could hear the smirk in his voice as he gave me another slap, earning a gasp and another moan.

He pushed me down, so my bare breasts were pressed to the table. I gasp at the cold surface against my hot, hard nipples. I felt him press the head of his cock to my opening, pressing in slightly.

"Oh, baby, you are perfect. You feel so good." He groaned as he entered.

This was the first time in this position. On the downside I couldn't see him. But on the plus side he was so deep. It felt like every thrust he got deeper. He was hitting all the right spots inside me, and I was having too much trouble keeping my voice down. Phelan reached forward, grabbing a handful of hair, and pulling me up. The feel of the pull and the pressure of it had me moaning. He pulled me almost upright.

"Unless you want an audience, sweetheart, we need to quiet you." He growled in my ear, never slowing his punishing pace. He moved his hand from my hair around the front of my neck and then pushed his fingers into my mouth, holding my mouth open, tongue down, and effectively silencing me. He continued his thrusts, never slowing down, but increasing in both speed and depth. My body started trembling at the impending orgasm.

He leaned forward and whispered in my ear "I can feel your close love. Don't hold back."

"Phelan, you feel so good." I groaned, earning a groan back. I felt like a string pulled so tight, ready to snap at any second. Then it happens. The string snaps. My whole-body shakes, and I lose control of everything as I writhe in pleasure. I hear a groan and a 'fuck' through my orgasm haze. I open my eyes and watch Phelan come half lidded over my shoulder. He is magnificent. I am lost in a haze of afterglow as he turns me around and gives me a scorching kiss.

"I love you." He whispers again, with his forehead against mine.

"I love you," I answer before adding, "forever."

We stay in our bliss-bubble for a few more minutes before righting our clothes and rejoining the ball. But after the bombshell being dropped the magic was lost for me. After a few dances and drinks Phelan turned to me and asked, "you want to go for a walk?"

"Yeah" I answered before he led me outside. We walked down around the quad before we sat on a bench under a tree.

"How are you feeling? I know that was a shock. I knew I didn't like Skye, but I would never have believed she could do something like that." He pulled me towards him as if to protect me from all the hurt.

"I think I am in shock. I don't know how or why she would do this. I thought we were best friends. Was I so blind and naive? How could I not know what kind of person she was?" I try to stop the sob escaping my throat but fail. Phelan pulls me in tighter, kissing the top of my head.

"You see the good in everyone, that's one of the reasons I love you. You have a kind heart. I'm sorry she did this to you, and that I wasn't there at the time to stop it. I will protect your beautiful heart. I will always protect you, and if anyone ever hurts you, I will hunt them down and make them suffer." He vows into my hair, holding my tightly. I burrow into his warmth.

"I love you." I whisper to him feeling his protective warmth spread through me.

"I get the feeling you are done with prom and aren't feeling it anymore. Do you want to leave?" he asks me. All I can do is nod. I can't get the images of Skye laughing at my torment out of my head. "Ok, we can go. Let's go tell John and maybe, if you want, we can get some late-night ice cream."

"How are you so perfect?" I tease him as we get up.

He laughs as we walk back into the dance to find John. We let him know we are leaving. He understands, but ultimately stays saying we will need someone to fill us in on all the gossip tomorrow. We share a laugh and tell him goodbye.

After eating way too much mint-choc ice-cream, we end up back in my bedroom cuddling on my bed. We talk about everything and nothing until the early morning, finally succumbing to sleep.