NPOV

Will didn't know how much danger he was in.

I watched him smile as more and more people would come up to say congratulations. Can you believe it? People were actually congratulating us on our relationship, like it was a good thing. And Will held my hand like he was proud to call us a couple.

It was actually kind of heartbreaking for me. The rest of the day I had to resist the urge to slip my hand out of his and stick them both in my pockets.

Because Will was so happy that everyone knew, and yet I could feel myself crumbling under my smile for the exact same reason.

I don't know who the guy is that Octavian put in my classes to watch me. But it doesn't matter at this point; everyone in the school knows - which means Octavian's thug knows.

Which means Octavian knows.

I knew this would happen. But I knew from the beginning.... I break everything I touch, and I guess Will doesn't get to be an exception.
It's almost funny, just when I thought I could be happy everything starts to fall apart. It doesn't feel real. It feels like I could close my eyes and pretend I'm not constantly lying to Will.

But even now, as I laid next to him under the clouds and away from the prying eyes of our classmates, I knew at some point I would have to kiss him goodbye.... only to face Octavian alone.

You'd think I'd be used to it, pretending shouldn't take so much out of me anymore. And pretending didn't always. I've had to deal with Octavian's wrath since I was eight, and at some point I became numb. I was practically a corpse with a heartbeat - just going through the motions, really.

But then Will came into the picture.

Will seemed to change everything. He was everything I could ever want, everything I could ever need. He reminded me of what it feels like to live.

I stared at our hands, at our intertwined fingers, and let a small, sad smile overtake my features. "I don't want to go home."

Will laughed, probably not realizing just how serious I actually was. "We can stay here forever, if you want."

"No we can't." I mumbled. "I wish we could, but we can't."

Silence filled the air around us.

I felt myself on the verge of shattering again, but there was no way I was going to let Will know that. I was tired of falling apart and watching him pick up my pieces.

Will spoke, his voice filled with calm and contentment. "Can you believe everyone took the news about us so well?"

"What else did you expect, Solace? People to chase us out of the school with pitchforks?" I said, letting my sarcasm bleed through and trying to distract myself.

"I don't know, maybe." He laughed again, softly. Then he became more serious. "How do you think my parents will take it?"

"What? You being gay?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know.... I'm sure they'll understand. Are you going to tell them anytime soon?"

"Probably not." Will admitted with a sigh. "Then I'll have to tell all my siblings - they're impossible."

"I thought you were an only child." It was always an assumption I had about him.

Will didn't seem to mind, though. He smiled at me. "All of them went off to college. I'm the youngest, so I'm the only one at home."

"Oh."

We were laying so close, he hardly had to move before our lips were together. But Octavian was still on my mind, and so was the thought of going to the trailer and listening to his taunts, the ways he'll threaten Will. I must've been doing a horrible job of hiding my nervousness.

Will pulled away, his look all concern and confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said. But the word slipped out of my mouth too quickly. I stumbled over what I said next, trying to convince him it was true. "It really is nothing - I mean, it's just weird everyone knows about us...."

"In a good way, though. Right?"

I nodded, because I didn't trust myself enough to speak.

Will kissed my temple. Even though I had my gaze fixated at the sky, I knew he was wearing a lazy, oblivious grin.

I held Will's hand a little tighter. I really didn't want to leave.

But I took a shaky breath and pushed myself to my feet anyway. "I have to start heading home...."

"Do you want me to walk you there?" Will asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I don't think today's a good day for that - I have crazy relatives visiting at my house for the week." I said, making up the lie as I went along. "They'd be all over you, I doubt you'd be able to escape the front porch. Trust me, I'm protecting you."

The truth was that I couldn't afford to take a detour to Juniper's and keep Octavian waiting, especially if he already knows about Will. He has more ammunition, so he's probably excited to use it against me. I've learned through unfortunate experience that leaving Octavian waiting too long is a dangerous thing for me to do.

Will stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He gave me a quick peck on the lips, but he remained so close to me that only inches kept us apart.

"I love you." I smiled up at him, and I said it softly, as if it was a secret only the two of us should ever know.

"I love you, too."

~

I stood in front of the door and took several deep breaths, trying to prepare myself for what was going to happen to me on the other side.

Octavian's thug probably already told him about Will. I forced myself to take more air into my lungs.

I hadn't seen Octavian all day, but I was already on the verge of panic. The possibility of Will becoming another pawn in his games was starting to break me. It just wasn't fair. Will didn't deserve that.

I pushed the front door open, it snarling in protest as I passed through. The floors creaked under my feet as I moved down the hall, only a short distance to the storage closet. I opened the door and peeled up a piece of floorboard, putting the chain from around my neck in the hole that had appeared. I covered my hiding spot back up and put my bag down.

Then I sought out Octavian. It was better for me to go to him, instead of him yelling and screaming - which usually ends in blood and bruises on my end.

He was sitting in his recliner when I found him, using a knife to cut out a teddy bear's eyes. Octavian looked up from his task when he saw me, the corners of his mouth moving into a grin. "It's about time you showed up, tutoring's such a waste. Are you sure it's mandatory?"

"Yes. Otherwise Mrs. Aphrodite wants to have a parent-teacher conference."

Turning his attention back to the bear, Octavian rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. "Whatever."

I was waiting for him to say something about Will. I had expected it to be the first thing he'd say when I walked in, to be honest. Octavian was like that - he enjoyed watching my reaction to those sorts of things, watching my breakdowns because he found them entertaining.

But classes had been finished for over an hour, surely that would be enough time for his informer to update him about Will and I.

I came to two conclusions.

Either Octavian already knew about Will, and he's just waiting for a better time to say so. Or he hasn't been told yet.

"Get me a beer." Octavian barked. "Then shut yourself in the closet. I'm expecting Rachel over soon, the last thing I need is for you to fuck things up."

I did as I was told.

A/N ~ HAPPY THURSDAY (kind of? I mean its almost midnight soooo)