"So, this is it." Ashley said, looking in utter awe at the site in front of her.

Eros nodded, but she didn't catch it. He let go of her hand then, and stuffed them in his pockets, his eyes on her instead of at the pool resting in front of her. The pool stood there, as still and as un-moving as ice, and yet, as lively as a market.

The swirls of the neon coloured paint mixed together and displayed this beautiful, artistic pattern that made it almost impossible for eyes to look away. It had a soft glow to it, neither too harmful nor bright to the eyes. Ashley looked at Eros, instantly meeting his gaze. The familiar effect he had on her rose to the surface once again.

Her heart jumped to her throat and beat in her ears as loudly as ever; so loud, she could have sworn he could hear it too. He looked so out of character as he stood there, the glow from the pool shining on him; the various colours contradicting his dark clothes and his dark self, making him seem almost like a demon standing in the midst of angels.

He was like a black rose, standing in the middle of a field full of white ones. These colours and Eros should never mix, but at the same time, they should. They mixed so perfectly together, it was magical. She nibbled on her lip.

"Why here?" She asked, seriously falling for him then more than ever before. A spark glistered in her eyes as she gazed up at him.

Eros gulped and looked away first, at the pool, with a frown his face. Ashley found herself stepping closer to him, standing only a hair's breath away from his towering build. The look in his eyes intensified and he gave her an answer,

"This is—" he paused, and looked back at her, "—how I see you." He finished.

Ashley's lips parted, wanting to say something, but nothing came; her heart beat even wilder in her chest, so wildly, it almost hurt. Her knees felt like they were about to give in and they would have, if he hadn't closed up the rest of the tiny distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her flush against him.

Suddenly, before Ashley could comprehend it, they were both falling. Before she knew it, there was a loud splash and she felt wrapped into something cold, wet and slightly sticky. She surfaced and glared at a blank faced Eros, who had streaks of purple, green, blue and red all over his hair and parts of his face.

Her glare soon faded and she laughed at how out of character he looked, the paint all over him too much to not laugh at. He swam closer towards her and Ashley backed up subconsciously, a grin on her paint covered face. Eros' lips parted.

"Come here." He ordered, looking like a predator about to pounce on its prey.

Ashley shook her head, afraid that if she said something, it would probably be contradicting what she wanted; which was to get away from him. She, out of nervous habit, licked her lips, tasting the paint and cringed. Her mind now on looking for something to wipe the paint off her tongue and lips with.

Eros took the chance and was in front of her in an instant. Ashley let out a playful scream and attempted to swim away but his arms came around her waist. He pushed the both of them back until her back touched the wall of the pool. Ashley was giggling through it all, thrashing about in a fiddle attempt to get away from his grip.

Eros hoisted her up and had her seated on the edge of the pool with him standing in it, between her legs. He grabbed her shirt, lifted it slightly, stuffed his head in, and wiped his face clean with the inside of it.

"Eros!" Ashley exclaimed, embarrassed.

His arms then went around her as he pulled his head from beneath her once white shirt and looked up at her.

Ashley smiled and gripped her collar. Tucking her head in, she too wiped her face with the inside of her shirt and grinned down at Eros.

Although his face was as expressive less as ever, his eyes had a spark to them Ashley has never seen before and a ghost of a smile hovered on his lips. She could tell that he was happy, even if it was just little. He suddenly looked away with a somewhat shaky sigh.

"Eros?" She paused, waiting for him to look back at her, "—whatever happened to you that's made you so closed off, it doesn't define you. I may not act like it, but you can depend on me to have your back. If there's anything I can do to help you, don't even hesitate to ask. We're roommates after all, if not friends." She said out of the blue and meaning every word of it.

Eros held her gaze for a while longer before his lips parting, "Blondie." He said, and, without giving Ashley the time to process anything—like how he called her that twice tonight—leaned up and crushed his lips onto her soft, tempting ones.

Ashley recovered from the shock of it and kissed him back with just as much burning passion and want as he. She brought her hands to his hair and ran them through it, exploring its silky, wetness, feeling like she was floating when he stepped closer and placed his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer.

Her heart pounded even harder in her chest, her lips moving in sync with his, following his lead as he deepened the kiss. She gave in to him, letting him explore her just as she explored him. He pulled her impossibly to her, seeming to get even more desperate as he did. The hot, burning moment however, came to a standstill as Eros pulled away so they could catch their breath.

With their foreheads resting on each other's, Ashley couldn't help but let the grin slip from her lips. She pulled her head back completely and looked at him, expecting to meet him gaze, but it wasn't there. He swallowed and stepped back then got out of the pool.

"You are shivering." He said, looking back at her.

Ashley searched his eyes for that spark from before, but it was gone.

Does he regret it?

She frowned but nodded and made to stand up when his hand came into view. She didn't take it and rose to her feet; although too fast.

Her clothes were damp and heavier than she expected, so she lost her footing and ended up back in the pool. Once she resurfaced—with a massive scowl as she tried to conceal her embarrassment—Eros offered his hand again, and this time, she took it.

She looked up at him and saw the spark back in his eyes for a mere second, before vanishing right before her. She looked away, feeling a heavy lump form in her throat but decieded to push it back down in disregard.

"Eros—?"

"I will drive you back." He said, dismissively.

She snapped her gaze back to his, her eyes widened, "Sorry, drive?" She asked in disbelief.

Eros nodded and let go of her hand.

Ashley's eye twitched when they reached his car. It was a gorgeous matte black Maserati, with a brown interior and chrome coated rims. It was so luxurious looking that Ashley began having second thoughts about getting in. It was the kind of car a person spots while on a walk, jogging or drunk with friends at night on their way home. Never in her life had she imagined that she would get a chance to ride in it so soon. Of course, it was her life goal to be so financially stable that she could buy a whole garage parked with every and any vehicle she would like, but she was only twenty; she was supposed to wait another five to ten years.

She looked up at him as he walked towards it with his left hand reaching for the keys in his pockets. She wondered how hard he must have worked to reach to this point when he was only a year older than her. Could it have been his parent's? She wondered, but she'd seen the tension between him and the director, it was highly unlikely that he would buy him such an expensive car. Then there was what Eros does for him. She wondered if buying him such things was his leverage, whether he was bribing him in order to have him help get his way. Eros however, didn't strike Ashley as the type to fall for such a trivial trick. 

Could it have been his mothers?

"Are you coming?"

She blinked blankly at him then nodded at him in answer before she approached him and the gorgeous beast, ducked her head down and set herself on the passenger seat. Eros shut the door after her and walked to his side. She sighed as she took in as much as she could, not wanting to forget this, so she can relive it on her own one day.

What have I been doing with my life?

🔱🔱🔱

"Caseeeey! I said I was sorry!" Ashley pulled, following her best friend who had smoke puffing out of her ears and was shoving bodies out of her way.

"Bitch, stop following me." was Casey's snaky reply as she increased her pace.

"Oh, come on, it's been days."

"Three actually. But like, who's counting?" she snapped then grumpily punched in her locker combination, trying her best not to look at her.

Ashley stopped beside her and gave her the best puppy—dog face she could ever maker and waited,

"I mean—how could you, Crowther. I thought we had something special, I thought you loved—?"

Casey cut off, before she frowned, "—what the—what's wrong with your face?" She asked, overwhelmed, and looking concerned.

Ashley's face dropped and she frowned,

"What do you mean 'what's wrong with my face'  I was doing my best puppy face impression." Ashley said, pouting.

"That was it? Jesus, you looked constipated." Casey said, tugging her grey, off white bucket hat tighter around her head and short dark tresses.

Ashley huffed, "Fine, be that way. I guess you don't want to hear what happened with Eros."

Casey froze from grabbing a book from her locker and slowly turned her head to Ashley, a malicious grin winding its way across her lips,

"You are forgiven. Now, what happened? Did you guys finally get down and dirty with each other?"

Ashley told her everything, spearing only the part about Eros being the owner of the event. Seeing as Casey knew so much about it, there was no doubt that she already knew.

"I knew he likes you. It was actually quite obvious."

"No, you didn't." Ashley retorted, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, I did. He's always staring at you with this—intense look in his eyes, almost as if wants to eat you up and just—I don't know how describe it. But look," Casey paused, shutting her locker gentle then facing Ashley.

"I know you like him—."

"I didn't say that!" Ashley butted in.

Casey merely shot her a deadpan look before she continued, "—but there's a reason why everyone fears him. He's not someone to get involved with, Ash. He has scary anger outbursts, he's violent and—he's still dealing with a lot of shit," she paused,

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be with him, just that you should be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt, you know?" She finished, not really looking at Ashley who grinned and placed her arm around her shoulder.

"Aww, don't worry Case, I won't be. I know what I'm getting myself into."

"You better. Because I won't go to the store five times because you 'didn't like the flavour' of the ice—creams I brought with me like last time."

"And just like that, you're back to being yourself." Ashley remarked, chuckling.

Just then, she felt a presence behind her, the person was so close, she could feel the warmth of their body radiating from them. It was then that she noticed how quiet the filled hallway was and judging by Casey's face, she could tell who was behind her. She fought the urge to lean back and just stay there forever. She blinked numerously, wondering where her sudden thoughts and the tension came from.

"Blondie." he called, his deep voice sending shock waves down her spine. She nearly shuddered.

Ever since the Zilch three days ago, Eros has been calling her 'Blondie' and it was slowly becoming natural to her. Now that she thought about it, she made a mental note to ask him why he calls her that, with it being on his arm and all. She had tried coming up with a possible explanation on her own, but it wasn't like he was an ex of hers and had gotten attached. She's only had three boyfriends all her life.

Ashley turned around to face him, the usual effect he has on her resurfacing every time she sees him or hears his deep, alluring voice.

He held her gaze for a few seconds before he clenched his jaw and looked around the hallway with annoyed, narrowed grey eyes. Eyes snapped away from the two and the chatter from before he spoke to her immediately erupted back to life. It was almost as if he flicked an invisible button in their heads.

He turned back to Ashley with his jaw ticking. She held his gaze. Wow, she thought, wishing she had that kind of effect on people,

"Err... Hi," she greeted, not knowing what else he wanted from her.

"I need you." he begun, "But—."

"Sure."

He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at her; as if he was in an internal battle with his mind concerning her. She met his stare head on, her big brown eyes shining with life and thrill, contradicting his grey, blank, piercing ones.

He let out a breath through his nose and locked his jaw, having expected this to be hard. He needed a favour, but he expected it to come at a price.

Ashley nodded, flashing him a cute grin that resulted in him lowering his gaze to her lips. His eyes darkened and stayed there for a lingering minute before he straightened up and looked back into her eyes.

Oh damn, Ashley thought, Casey was right about the look in his eyes.

He walked past her, saying nothing more and made sure to brush his arm lightly against hers as he did. Whether that small action was intentional or not, it had Ashley grinning and feeling all giddy inside. It wasn't a big step, but slowly, Eros was beginning to approach her and gradually saying more to her. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was still one altogether.

"The sexual tension was so thick in the air, I swear I could have cut it with a blunt knife." Casey commented, a smirk on her face.

Ashley immediately flushed, "Shut up." She retorted, refusing to look at her.

Dammit, she thought, I might like him.

🔱🔱🔱

"It's official. I hate you guys so much." Casey said, frustratingly running her hand through her hair.

"Need I remind you that this was your idea?" Blake said, crossing his arms and glaring at her, "—next time someone comes up with a dumb idea, I won't take part. Christ, what were we thinking?"

"I was joking!" Casey exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustrating, "I didn't think you'd actually agree."

"Joking or not, we're still lost. We need to figure out a way out of here. It's getting dark." Ashley said, letting out a breath as she wrapped her arms around herself to minimize the cold she was feeling. Not that it helped much.

"Most sensible thing I've heard all day." Ally said, pulling her elbow off of Jason's shoulder who had a frown on his face with his head bowed before he looked up at Ally,

"Hey Al, didn't you tell me use to—," he begun but cut himself off with his own hiss of pain when Ally not so stubbly jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow, "—n—never mind." he stuttered through a hoarse voice.

Ashley raised a brow at Ally who simply shrugged and looked away with a blank face. Casey suddenly let out a gasp and narrowed her eyes at Ally,

"I remember! You used to walk around these woods when you were a kid; with Eros and Seb. I remember you telling me about it. You would follow them because they would never let you go with them and this one time, you lost them, and then—," Casey said, her eyebrows scrunched.

"—I don't remember the rest."

Ally shut her eyes, feeling a lump forming in her throat. She didn't want to remember that day. But yet she couldn't stop the memory from resurfacing. She remembered how scared she was, and how she really convinced herself that she was going to be the next Mowgli or Tarzan. Even when she heard footsteps a while after she lost Eros and Seb she expected to see a wolf or a gorilla coming her way.

She lifted her head however, and saw him. The bastard! She remembered the concern on his face and how he held her in his arms and told her she was going to be okay. How she cried and held on to him, shaking, as if her life depended on it.

He held her, tight and protectively as if he could feel her fear as his own. His heart was just as loud and rapid as hers. Ally clenched her fists and closed her eyes tighter.

Damn him, damn him for being there, for always saving her when she needed to be saved.

She wasn't weak, she'll never be, because he's the one that that needs someone, someone strong. He's the one in trouble, not her for gods' sake! Why doesn't he let anyone in; let her in. He's always saving other people but who will save him. She gritted her teeth, fighting off the tears. I'm not weak anymore, she opened her eyes and looked up, let me help me dammit.

"Ally?" Ashley called, placing her hand on her shoulder, "—you okay?"

Ally looked at her and nodded, falling into step with her, the other being a reasonable distance ahead; bickering as usual.

"I never came back to this place after that." Ally said out loud before she realized herself.

"After what?"

She looked her then back at the others and figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her, so she did:

--------

She was lost. With shaky knees, she sat down beneath a tree and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging her knees with her arms. She let the tears fall. She couldn't help it. Where had they gone? How could she have possibly lost them? This hasn't happened before, she was always so careful. She sniffled. What if—what if a wild animal finds her?

Seb's told her about him and her brother coming across a few out her, especially when their guards were down. Will she end up like Mowgli or—or Tarzan? She couldn't survive on eating fruits and raw meat every day! She would never eat that. She hates fruits.

Then she heard it; the sound of rushed footsteps followed by a familiar voice calling out for her. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, she tried again, her voice a small, barely there whisper,

"I'm here..."

The voice called out again, sounding scared and shaky, "Allison! Ally, where are you!"

She parted her lips again, her voice still too small for him to hear, "I'm here..."

"Ally! Where are you!"

His voice was getting louder and more desperate, but his footsteps were shrinking further and further away from her. No, Ally's eyes widened.

"Here... I'm here! Eros! I—." she choked back a sob, "I'm here..."

There was silence before she heard him running towards her direction. She sniffed and trembled, wanting to get on her feet and meet him half way, but her body wouldn't move. He knelt in front of her and hesitantly ran his right knuckles across her forehead, an action he used to do when she would cry in front of him. For some reason, that used to get her to stop and calm down when she was small.

"Are you alright?"

She shook her head and mustered up all the strength she had to surge forward and wrap her arms around him, hugging him. She sobbed on his shoulder and her let her, rubbing her back and saying nothing. Holding her like he would like to be held when he needed to be; which was every day. But, he had no one to do that. That was the worst kind of pain he's ever felt, still is.

So he wasn't going to let Ally experience it, he never will. Because she wasn't alone, she never will be for as long as he was there, as long as he was alive. He won't allow it. He'll always be there for her. He pulled them both to their feet, supporting Ally as she somewhat wobbled on her feet.

"Come on, I will take you back." He said once she could hold her own weight.

She nodded, suddenly feeling the cold and hugging herself. Eros said nothing as he took off his hoodie and gave it to her. She hesitantly took it, skeptical because he was only in a vest and black jeans without the hoodie, but he insisted,

"You need it more than I."

He then grabbed her hand once she was done pulling it on and lead her out of the woods were Seb was waiting, looking anxious and scared. Immediately he saw Ally, she speed walked towards her and embraced her, having been worried sick about her. She sub-consciously let go of her older brother's hand and hugged him back, bewildered at first. Eros stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried his best to ignore the painful pressure in his chest. That same pain he wouldn't want Ally to feel. She noticed the sudden sad look he had on her face and reached for his hand,

"Let's go home."

He didn't even look at her as pain flashed in his eyes. I have no home, he thought, then gently squeezed her hand and let go, walking ahead of them. She turned to Seb-who was staring after him with a sunken look in his eyes-and frowned,

"Did I say something wrong?"

He looked down at her and smiled, though it never reached his eyes, "No. He... almost lost you too," he paused, stepped back and stuffing his hands in his pockets, "—and I think he blames himself for it."

She looked back at Eros' retreating back in time to see him swipe the back of his hand over his face and put it back into his pockets. She also noticed how his hand was glistering with tears.

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