When Monday came around, my heart was beating terribly fast.

After sneaking out of Dean's cabin in the early morning, I made a beeline to my own. I waited there until whomever I was giving a ride to show up. Then, like a coward, I made my escape back home without even talking about it.

Pathetic, truly.

And I had avidly avoided him until lunch rolled around. I was standing at my locker, debating whether to skip or not. I had put myself in a much worse situation than I'd anticipated and now I had to bear the consequences. I wish I hadn't opened my stupid mouth.

A hand wrapped around my wrist and I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth to scold Dean about the concept of personal space. I'm not sure whether it was sheer luck or something else, but I shut my mouth before any words could come out.

And thank god I did.

"Why?" Ben asked as soon as he got my attention. His gray eyes hardened, making his face look stone cold.

I put on my most innocent face and secretly prayed Dean wasn't planning on stopping by. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if he saw us together. "Why what?"

His grip tightened on my wrist. It was sure to leave a mark. From what I gathered, he had a bad habit of squeezing too tight. "You know what," he said. Then, he leaned in and whispered like he didn't want anyone else to hear. "Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?"

"So you liked the cigars then?" I innocently bat my lashes to add to the dramatics.

Ben Stark had no idea that I had him right where I wanted. This aspect of the plan was going smoothly.

"Yes, but that's not–" He stopped and frustratedly pulled at his hair. My wrist dropped to my side and I instinctively rubbed the sore spot. Man, this guy had a firm grip.

I turned away from him and faced my locker to hide my satisfied grin. "Look, I don't know why you're making it a big deal. I did some shitty stuff so it's my apology."

He scoffed as if he didn't believe a word I said. "I've done some shitty stuff too. That doesn't mean I have to go around and apologize for every slip up I have."

My brows raised at his cockiness. But the mask in his gray eyes proved this was a front. He used ego as a defense mechanism to prevent being vulnerable. Deep down, I could tell his mind was reeling with guilt. 

At least I hoped I was right.

"Look, I felt guilty and now I've apologized. My job here is done." I gave him a small smile and shut my locker.

As I walked to the cafeteria, I began to freak out. Maybe my words didn't affect him like I wanted. I might've just screwed everything up.

"Wait!"

My lips curled into a triumphant smile. His footsteps sounded against the tile until he was directly behind me.

"What if I haven't forgiven you?"

Exactly where I wanted him to be.

Turning around, I gave him a shy smile – internally cringing as I did. "Guess I'll have to try harder then." I turned on my heel, closing the distance between me and the door, my escape route.

"Can't wait to see you try!" he called one last time.

Me too, Ben.

As soon as I walked through the cafeteria doors, the real panic set in. Did I say the right thing? Was I supposed to act clingy or hard to get? Saying that sounded way out of character for me. Ugh. After this weekend, I hadn't had time to prepare my next steps and this was totally sprung on me.

Well, at least one thing was for sure. If he confronted me about it again, I could always play it off as sarcasm. Something told me that Ben Stark's world didn't consist of that.

As I made my way to our table, I texted Reece about the events that just took place. He was pretty strict on letting me know every single thing that happened and I think it was more being protective over me.

~~~

Unsurprisingly, Dean skipped school today. He wasn't at lunch or fourth period. I was starting to think he was more of a coward than I was.

When study hall came around, I texted my friends to let them know I wouldn't be able to hang. After, I made my way down the silent hallway until the locker rooms came in sight. The door slightly opened and I was yanked into the empty locker room.

"There's no one in here," I observed, looking at the space supposed to be occupied by sweaty teenage boys. Instead, it was empty.

"Come on," Reece grunted, pulling me into his office. He sat on his desk and frustratedly ran his hands down his face. "They're having a health day so they aren't changing."

I leaned against the wall across from him. "Oh." He looked distressed. His brows had a furrow between them and his once bright eyes seemed nothing but dull now. "What's wrong?"

His eyes snapped to me and the furrow deepened. "What?"

"You look stressed."

He let out a breath and let his shoulder slump. "I am. It's just gang stuff." He recomposed himself into a neutral state and pursed his lips. "How're things going with you and Ben?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I might've approached him the wrong way. I was going to 'kill him with kindness'," I made air quotes, "but he might be the type to appreciate the chase and being hard to get."

He had a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe."

"But I still might be able to act uninterested. We'll just have to see. Do you have any more info that might help?"

"Sorry Bella, Sky's the one in charge of Ben. I'm merely here for execution."

"Great," I grumbled, crossing my arms in annoyance. If he thought I was gonna talk to her about it, he was dead wrong.

For a minute, amusement twinkled in those dead eyes. "How was the lake trip?"

I grimaced. One of the best trips was now tainted for me. Based on the look on his face, he knew exactly what happened.

"You know, I never pegged you as the type to sneak out the morning after."

Ah, so he did know. "And I didn't peg you as the type to intervene in other people's business." That sounded much sassier than I intended.

He defensively threw his hands up. "Relax. He was just ranting to me about it."

"Mhm," I replied sarcastically. "Whatever, let's focus on Ben."

Talking to Reece about my boyfriend issues felt too weird. There was always the fact that he also had a crush on me, but he was obviously closer to Dean and I didn't wanna put him in an awkward place.

Man, when did life become so complicated?

"Okay, from what I've gathered, he's a very hard person to get close to. I can't tell exactly how much he has on Dean, but we might wanna speed up the process a little."

I gave him a hard look. "I'm trying. Trust me, baby steps are the only way to go."

"Okay, well maybe take bigger steps," he replied, slightly annoyed.

I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, telling him I'm doing everything I can, but I stopped myself. His attitude was clearly because he was stressed about other things. I didn't want to add to annoyance. "Okay, I'll try."

"Thank you," he gratefully sighed. "But look, if he tries something with you, you stop right away, okay?"

His wary tone made me a little anxious. "Do I have something I need to be worried about?"

To ease the tension, he let loose a soft chuckle. "I didn't mean to scare you." Then he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just that if you ended up falling in love with Ben, Dean would probably skin me alive."

Right. Dean didn't know. Well, I'm sure he had a slight clue, but I hadn't outright told him yet.

"You really think that would happen?" My voice had a hint of humor but I was genuinely curious if he thought of me like that.

"Well, both of them are dark and brooding and act like they have a stick up their ass... so yeah."

Instead of defending my boyfriend, I laughed. He had a slight point, even though Dean didn't act like that around me anymore... usually. There were uncanny resemblances between both boys. Dean was once mysterious in his own ways, but he was less aggressive than Ben. Nonetheless, I think I could handle both.

"I'll try harder, okay? If he doesn't approach me tomorrow then I'll try another method," I reassured him as our laughter died down. He appreciatively nodded and led me out of the office. My mind was reeling with ways I could get closer to Ben. Time was limited so I had to act faster. I needed to come up with a legitimate plan.

Instead of heading to study hall, I ditched and went straight home. There were only twenty minutes of school left anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal.

When I got home to my parent-less house, I sighed with relief. Ryder was the first, and only, one to greet me with unmatched enthusiasm. I cooed in his face and gave him well-deserved pets.

Then I went upstairs to pass time.

~~~

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I groaned and flipped on my other side.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Go away," I mumbled into my pillows.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sitting up, I wiped the sleep away from my eyes. The time on my neon alarm clock read it was around two in the morning. Ryder stirred at the foot of my bed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The golden's head popped up and began growling at the window. What I thought was a figment of my imagination was actually real. There's no way Ryder would've caught on to a noise in my head.

"What is it, boy?" I whispered, looking at the window. He jumped off the bed and began growling, stalking toward it. My eyes widened in worry.

There's definitely someone there.

But wait, there's no ladder there. No one can climb up.

With cautious feet and a very alert Ryder following me, I slowly walked up to the window and sighed from relief when I saw the intruder. Without making too much noise, I slide open the window and loudly whisper, "You idiot, you scared the shit outta me!"

"I'm sorry, I–" He paused, thinking of the right words. "Let me up."

"Grab the ladder," I replied, pointing in the general direction of where I saw it last.

He nodded and went off to get it. I slumped down on the floor, petting Ryder. My heart was beating entirely too fast. "He's an idiot," I whispered to my dog, who whimpered in agreement. I smiled and stroked the soft patch between his ears.

Minutes later, said boyfriend stumbled through the window. You'd think he'd be used to it after doing it for months on end, but I guess he's out of practice.

"Dean." I put my hand on my hip to seem more intimidating.

From the wary look he was giving, it was definitely working. "Look, I'm sorry. I needed to come see you."

"And you had to ruin my perfect sleep for this?" It was true. Even with all the stress running through my mind, I was having an amazing sleep. Maybe it had to do with the fact that a certain Harry Styles popped up in my dreams.

He dusted off his dark jeans and looked at me, scanning my face to see if I was truly angry. "I'm sorry."

"For?"

He narrowed his eyes at me before sighing. "Everything. Being a dick, not giving you context, not being there." He took a step closer as he listed the reasons. Soon enough, he was directly in front of me. His hands itched to grab mine, but he controlled himself. "I've been taking your forgiveness for granted."

"Yeah, you do have to apologize a lot," I pointed out. He winced like my words had a physical effect on him. I didn't mean to hurt him, just state the truth.

This time he grabbed my hand. "I do. I know I fucked up and even more so by coming here. I just–"

Using his hands, I pulled myself off the floor. "Why weren't you at school?" Then I let go, watching a flicker of disappointment run through his face.

"I didn't know how to face you," he said softly, making my heart rate increase. Was there a reason for him to be worried? His reaction was definitely telling me there was.

"I–"

He headed toward my bed and sat down, patting the spot next to it. I warily approached and sat next to him.

This was not good. This was more than some jealousy issues. Something was going on.

"I want to start off by saying that Skylar was wearing my shirt because she got drenched and had nothing appropriate to wear. I swear I didn't cheat on you."

I wanted to release a breath of relief but his pained expression made me stop.

He dragged his hands down his face in a frustrated manner before setting them in his lap. He twiddled his thumbs before looking back at my face. His evergreen eyes were closed off, a look I knew too well.

"I've been doing some thinking." Uh oh. "I just think... Do you think we rushed into everything?"

My heart stopped. "W-what do you mean?"

He looked away from my face, but I studied his tight jaw and guilty eyes. "I mean, after six months, did we really expect things to stay the same? I feel like either I'm avoiding you or you're avoiding me."

He had a point. Ever since he came back, it felt like a cat and mouse chase. I just didn't realize his avoiding was intentional as well.

"I guess," I whispered, bracing myself for the pain to ensue. "So what're you saying?"

"I think we should take a break."

There. Did you hear that? It's the sound of my heart breaking.

When he climbed up here only minutes ago, I was hoping for an explanation about this weekend. I never in a million years thought we'd break up.

"Is that what you want?" My voice was so soft, I wasn't even sure if he heard.

His eyes flicked back up to me. I was sure I was terrible at hiding my emotions. His face was stone cold, letting me know he was absolutely serious about this.

"I think it's for the best."

I nodded and looked away before he could see how much I was shattering inside. My heart felt like it broke into a million pieces, and Dean was holding the hammer.

"Okay," I finally whispered, unable to meet his eyes again.

"I just, I have so much to sort out–"

I put my hand up and mustered a small smile, even though I felt like dying. "You don't have to explain."

"Arabella, just let me–"

I snapped and met his eyes again. The hardness on his face faltered for a split second and I'd like to think it was because he was sad about how hurt I felt. "Seriously. It won't make me feel better if you explain. I think you need to go."

He opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he realized it would get him nowhere. Even though I told him to, my heart still panged when the weight of the bed shifted as he got off.

"I'm sorry, Arabella," he said one last time before climbing through the window and out of my life.

He wanted to break up. No, he wanted a break. But I knew better. That never ended well. We were over. He wasn't gonna fight for me or ever give me a corny apology again.

We were done and it hurt like hell.

~

Bet y'all didn't see that coming. Mwahahahaah! I'll have a new chapter up soon.