After leaving the classroom, I quickly walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and resting my back against it. It was the only place where I could be alone without everyone looking at me be upset, either judging or pitying me. I took a deep breath and slid down until I was sitting on the tiled floor. I hugged my knees to my chest as I closed my eyes, trying to get my emotions in check. I was feeling too many things at once and I could feel the tears ready to spill all over again. I tried to tell myself that it would be alright and that I was overreacting but nothing was working because soon I felt the tears start to fall from my eyes and pour onto my cheeks. I was taking shaky breaths as I pressed my forehead onto the top of my knees, feeling each tear splashing onto my thighs.

"Harmony!? Are you in there!? It's Ruby and Kylee!" I heard Ruby's worried voice shout from the other side of the door as she knocked frantically.

"Please talk to us, we heard what happened from Evelyn, we want to be there for you" Kylee pleaded. I kept quiet. I didn't want anyone. I wanted to be alone and suffer, that's all I wanted. I always fuck up somehow and bring chaos wherever I go. I deserved this, maybe it was my karma. I just wish I could handle this better.

"Where's Harmony!? I need to talk to her!" I heard another familiar voice yet I couldn't quite guess who it was.

"She's in there, what do you want Ivy?" Kylee snapped.

What's Ivy doing looking for me?

"I need her to come with me, Daniel is going to get himself injured" Ivy rushed out. That got me more focused on what they were saying. Many different scenarios were going through my head, which wasn't easing my worry.

"What do you mean get himself injured? What happened?" I asked from behind the closed door.

"He's trying to fight both Joseph and Shane but they've got back up, he's outnumbered, I'm worried he's going to get hurt but he insists that he can take them on, on his own, you need to talk to him, he'll only listen to you, please" Ivy begged. I didn't need to think about it. I instantly wiped my tears and stood up. I opened the door to see Ruby, Kylee and Ivy crowding around the entrance. They stepped back with wide eyes. I looked towards Ivy.

"Where is Daniel now Ivy?" I demanded.

"Come on, follow me" Ivy urged.

I followed her, running in the direction she was leading me to with Kylee and Ruby quick on my heels until we got to the school's front parking lot where probably half, maybe more, of the school crowded and cheered. We pushed through the large mass of people with a few of them glaring at us as we did. Usually, I would feel uncomfortable under their judging gaze but I couldn't care less at this moment. It was their fault. It was only when we got to the front of the crowd did I witness the seriousness of the situation and how true Ivy's words were because there Daniel was trying to fight Shane and Joseph who was accompanied by two other guys. 

The two other strangers tried to hold Daniel back so that Shane and Joseph could get a few punches in. He looked about ready to lunge at Joseph and beat him up when he got out of their grip. That was when I decided to intervene before Daniel gets hurt even further. I know what they can do and with help, it's not going to end well, even if he can beat them up. I rushed over to stand in front of him, placing my hand on his chest to stop him from taking a step further. Daniel paused, his hands still clenched into a fist by his sides as he stared down at me in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Daniel you need to stop this please, I don't want you getting even more hurt than you already are" I pleaded. 

"Yeah Martinez, listen to your little bitch" Joseph taunted from behind me. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as now I was getting annoyed with him and needed to calm down. He should shut up before I decide to punch him and give him a satisfying black eye. If I can break Sylvia's nose, I can do the same to him probably. I opened my eyes to see Daniel narrowing his eyes at Joseph from over my shoulder, the rage was evident in his iris'.

"Don't listen to him, just please walk away, be the better man" I continued in my efforts to get him to leave. I could tell he was hesitating. I grabbed his clenched hands and held them towards my chest. "Please Daniel, do this for me" I begged one last time. Daniel glanced at my hands holding his before looking up into my eyes again. He sighed, easing his tensed shoulders. He then smiled down at me and nodded as a response that he agreed. I smiled back. I felt proud that he was backing down and that he wasn't going to continue to face them. 

The moment between us was ruined when I was roughly pulled back making my back collide with the concrete. I winced at the pain that ran through my body at the impact. Joseph was standing over me with his nostrils flaring as if he were a wild animal and he was scowling at me in rage. How is this the second time that this has happened to me? Is this the go-to move for people? My back needs a break. My eyes widened in fear that he would hurt me like before. Just as Daniel was about to step in, a whistle was blown loudly from the far back of the crowd. Everyone parted to make a path to reveal Mr Miller. He had a disapproving expression. He walked towards us just as Daniel was quick to help me up to stand next to him. 

"What is going on here?" Mr Miller demanded. 

"He started it! He's the one that came up to us when we were minding our own business and decided to just randomly pick a fight, we were just trying to defend ourselves, sir!" Joseph exclaimed, pointing at Daniel. Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Pussy" he muttered to me. I bit the inside of my cheek. 

Do not laugh or smile, it's inappropriate

"And you, Harmony Wright, what are you doing in a fight?" Mr Miller asked. I flinched inwardly at the disappointed look he expressed towards me as if he expected more from me. I felt guilty even though I know I was innocent. My day wasn't going so well. I seemed to keep getting blamed for not living up to others expectations and for things that I didn't do. I went to reply but Daniel spoke before I could.

"She's innocent in all of this, she tried to break the fight up, she shouldn't be the one getting into any trouble so direct your anger at me, sir," he stated. I looked towards him with a frown. I didn't want Mr Miller to make his punishment worse for him. I don't want him to take the blame or be the one that gets the most in trouble. I wanted to defend him but again before I could speak, Mr Miller spoke up.

"Very well then, Joseph, Shane, Daniel, Francis, Peter, all of you come with me to the principal's office now to discuss your punishment" Mr Miller ordered. 

I watched as Daniel followed Mr Miller along with the other four. I thought about how I could help him try to get out of trouble because there was no way he was going to get out of this easy. I walked off to follow them to the principal office before Kylee and Ruby could talk to me. I didn't know what I was going to do but I guess I was just going to wing it and see if it works. I stopped near the reception. I could hear what they were saying slightly from the office inside. It didn't sound too good. I'm pretty sure I heard Mr Miller start raising his voice a bit. 

"How about you pull the fire alarm?" I jumped, almost screaming in surprise from Ivy appearing right next to me. I stared at her with wide eyes and my hands covering my mouth to stop myself from screaming. She raised a brow in amusement. "You done?" 

I uncovered my mouth and took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Helping Daniel like you are" Ivy answered with a shrug as if it were obvious.

"Ok, but wouldn't your idea get us in trouble?" I pointed out nervously.

"I mean yes BUT! That's only if they find out" she smirked. I nodded. I mean It would work but only if they don't find out we did it or else I'd be in trouble and that's just going to ruin any chance I have at any college whatsoever with my reputation. Ivy and I headed over to where the fire alarm was while looking around for any teachers who could be watching in the hallway. Lunch was almost over and teachers would be walking to their classrooms to prep their work. "You know, if you're worried about getting in trouble, I can do it or I can get Lukas or Ace to do it" Ivy suggested.

"No I think I can do it," I said before pulling on the fire alarm. 

Immediately the sprinklers went off and the alarm started blaring out, echoing throughout the hallway. Ivy and I high fived and started laughing as we watched teachers and students crowd out the front door of the school, coming out of the classroom and cafeteria. Everyone, even us, were getting drenched in cold water. It was funny because most of the girls were running out while trying to cover their perfectly styled hair from the water spraying down. I saw the principal walk out with Daniel and the others following, squinting since the water droplets were getting into his eyes and onto his glasses. 

"I'll distract Mr Davis while you get Daniel and get him out through the emergency exit," Ivy said. I nodded before we both parted. Ivy walked towards Mr Davis, the principal, cutting him off in his path and took him away from the others, towards the exit. I ran to Daniel to stop him before he could leave the school and tapped him on the shoulder while biting my bottom lip. He spun around, looking at me in surprise with wide eyes.

"Harmony? You shouldn't be here, you should be outside with the others" Daniel said worriedly with a frown. It brought a smile to my face to know that even after everything, he was still worried about me even though he's the one that's just been beaten up.

"I know but there is no fire, I pulled the alarm to get you out" I admitted.

"You pulled the alarm? Wow, I really am a bad influence on you" he joked. I rolled my eyes and lightly slapped his arm.

"We need to go before they start to notice we're the only ones still left in the school" I urged.

"Good idea" he nodded.

We ran towards the emergency exit, down the stairs, towards the door on the bottom level where the door to the side of the school was. We were quick to run around the crowd, past the teachers and Mr Davis, who was still talking to Ivy, until we got to Daniel's truck. We jumped in, despite both of us now completely drenched in water from the sprinklers, and pulled out of the parking lot to quickly drive away. I could see from my window Mr Davis running to catch up with the car, waving both his hands frantically as if it would stop the moving vehicle. I couldn't help the burst of laughter at seeing his antics at trying to stop us from leaving.

"Do you think he knows it was us?" I asked, turning my head towards him.

"Unless he knows the kind of car I drive and my license plate number but I doubt he does so we should be good, I don't think he knows it was us" Daniel shrugged. I nodded but still giggled at the memory of what just happened. My day went from good to bad to good again. It was thrilling to pull a stunt like that. I don't know why she didn't act the way that she does to Evelyn but I'm glad that she helped. "Thank you," he said, his lips quirking up slightly when he looked at me just as he stopped at a red stoplight.

"For what?" I asked, tilting my head.

"For getting me out of there when you did" he replied.

"Oh well it wasn't all me, Ivy came up with the idea, plus she helped distract Mr Davis from seeing us leave" I explained. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Ivy. I don't know what I would have come up with but at least this one worked better than anything I could have thought of. 

"You and Ivy?" Daniel questioned, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. 

"Yeah, we both wanted to help you, I mean she's pretty cool."

"You two friends now?"

I shrugged. I didn't know if we were friends or not, we only talked for a few minutes. That's probably the only time we've talked to each other properly. I do know we both care about Daniel, we have that in common. I want to get to know her, I mean if Evelyn can befriend someone she hates then I can befriend Ivy even though I don't hate her, I never did. I've only seen her interact with Evelyn once. I know that Daniel and Ivy are best friends and have been since they were little. Daniel has told me stories of when they first met and the times they've spent either together or with Lukas, Ace, and Thomas altogether. I find all of Daniel's friends to be amazing and caring even if Thomas and his band won't admit it.

I was brought out of my thoughts once I noticed that Daniel had parked in front of my house since we could be alone there. My mother should still be at work until 5 pm since she's still trying not to work long hours. She'll still occasionally work until the early morning but she makes sure to get enough sleep and eat properly so what happened before never happens again. The noise of the oven timer going off and the smell of freshly baked cookies greeted us upon entering. I don't remember my mother telling me she'd be home early, there weren't any messages or notice this morning before I left for school, it's only 1 pm.

"Hello!? Mum?! Are you home?!" I called out as Daniel closed the door behind us. I walked into the kitchen cautiously. I gasped when the person spun around, humming a familiar soft tune. "Grandma?" 

"Hello dear, someone's home early" she smiled, confirming that this wasn't a dream. I dropped my bag and immediately ran over to hug her. She chuckled, wrapping her arms around me back. "What's all this about?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just missed you" I admitted. 

"Aw I missed you too honey" she mumbled into my hair while brushing her hands over it. 

My grandmother barely visits back before we moved but there were reasons. She only visited whenever my mother needed her most and tried to help by protecting me. When Evelyn would come over, she'd visited my grandmother's house most of the times to avoid seeing my father. If he wasn't home than she'd be at my house. Whenever my mother needed an escape from my father, she would pack a weeks worth of clothes for us both and take us to stay at my grandma's place where we always felt safe and secure. She's the one that taught me how to draw and paint as a form of relaxation if I were to ever feel stressed or if I ever had a panic attack and I needed an escape from reality. It helped me through the tough times. I got my passion from her and I want to make her proud.

I remember when she would tell me stories of how she too was an artist, which is how she met her husband, my grandpa, while they were both doing an apprenticeship at an art gallery in Paris. But the day that my grandpa died, I was only three years old, it was the worse couple of months of mourning, especially for my grandmother. My mother was upset and would sometimes lose focus since she'd start to relive memories of her father. My grandmother would refuse to eat, she'd only eat one small thing for the whole day. 

She was barricaded in her house with only my mother and I visiting. At night, when we'd sleepover, I would hear her crying so I'd go and sleep in her room to keep her company. I became more close with her ever since then. It not only kept her mind off of the loss of her soulmate as she called him but it helped with all three of us from being pulled into the darkness within ourselves. Though for me it wasn't always the case, there was a time I did lose myself but it wasn't all too bad. I luckily had Maddie and my family to help me realise that it wasn't me and it wasn't someone I wanted to be so I changed. 

As for the reason we moved, my grandmother was the one to persuade and encourage my mother to leave my father for years, worried for me and my mother. My mother was always scared but more because she didn't want me to get hurt and I was worried about her getting hurt. However, it didn't take long until the fire that set ablaze our house happened and my father was sent to prison. From then it was half easy for us to move because my mother had been saving up as much as she could in a separate bank account. My mother and my grandmother have been the heroes in my life and I'm glad that they were both here now in my life. 

"Ok now let's not get all emotional, how about you let me know who this handsome young man is?" my grandmother asked, raising a brow expectantly while crossing her arms. I couldn't help the blush that must have been prominent on my cheeks.

"You see this is Daniel, he is my um...." I trailed off. That was when Daniel stepped forward to intertwine our hands together. 

"I'm her boyfriend" he stated. I was staring at our clasped hands. We never really said it out loud that we were dating but when he did, it felt real and great. 

"Boyfriend huh? Well, I already 'ship' this as the kids say nowadays" my grandmother joked, using air quotes. I rolled my eyes as she let out a chuckle. "I'm joking but let me be honest here, I'm happy for you both and that you found someone but if you young man hurt my granddaughter in any way shape or form, you will regret it, just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't hurt you" she threatened, narrowing her eyes at Daniel to intimidate him. 

Well, that's the third person to threaten Daniel when it comes to us dating. Now I'm just waiting for my mother, Ruby, and Kylee to do the same and if I ever decide to tell Evelyn one day, she'd probably do the same but much worse. Evelyn would probably go through with her threat if Daniel makes even the tiniest mistake knowing her. Evelyn is more protective but she also has more hate when it comes to Daniel and that's a dangerous combination. I know I can take care of myself but I can't really do anything about others expressing their thoughts aka how they would hurt him if he were to do anything to me. It's going to be embarrassing every time.

"I promise I won't hurt her, she means the world to me" Daniel vowed. He gave my hand a squeeze to I guess tell me that he meant his promise this time. My cheeks flushed once again. I looked down to hide the smile that spread across my lips. I finally got what I wanted and I trust that we can work it out together this time.

"Aw, keep ahold of this one, he's a keeper" my grandmother advised with a wink. 

"That's the plan" I giggled. 

"Ok well I'm going to start cooking soon for when your mother comes home, I hope you'll be joining us for dinner Daniel," she said, looking at Daniel. He looked towards me as if asking for permission since he looked hesitant. I just smiled up at him in response to reassure him that it was fine. 

"Um sure, I'll stay for dinner if that's alright" he replied. He sounded nervous. 

"Perfect! Now shoo you two, go have fun but not too much fun, don't forget the elderly is still in the house" my grandmother joked. I groaned in embarrassment. It just gave me flashbacks from when we got caught at Daniel's house by Mariah. I didn't need that happening again except with my own family members, that would end me forever. I dragged a laughing Daniel up the stairs, into my room and closed the door behind me. 

"Would you stop laughing" I demanded. I sat on my bed and crossed my arms.

"I'm sorry babe but your grandmother is the best" Daniel laughed. I rolled my eyes as he seized his laughter and sat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"This is all embarrassing" I mumbled, leaning my head against his body.

"Imagine dinner with your mother" he reminded. I groaned yet again, falling back onto my bed, making him let go of me. Daniel stared at me with an amused expression. Great, now I can be twice as embarrassed. They are bound to say something to make Daniel laugh or something. I'll never hear the end of it from him.

"I'm not prepared for dinner" I complained. 

"Oh come on, I'm sure it'll be great" Daniel tried to reassure me. He lied down next to me, his arm brushing against mine.

"I hope so" I muttered as I turned and rested my head against his chest while hugging his torso. Daniel wrapped his arm around me in return, pulling me closer and kissing my forehead. I closed my eyes, listening to his heartbeat, feeling at peace in this moment.