❥𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 • 𝐌𝐉 || ➽─❥ 𝑀𝑂𝐷𝐸𝑅𝑁 𝐴𝑈 • /𝑶𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈/•

➽─Part Thirty─❥

A few moments had passed, and you were still standing there, floored by what had just happened. Things had changed so much in the matter of a moment, and a great deal of your emotions had also come into perspective. Though the time you had spent with Michael had been short, you were now sure that you cared more for him than you let on - and you had seen that he undoubtedly felt the same for you.

And in some strange way, the darker his inner self seemed, the more you were drawn to him. You thought back to the moment he had tasted your blood, recalling the subtle thrill you'd felt when you shared that moment with him. The image of how calm he turned, after the moment had transpired, was vivid still - and you could not forget it.

Now that you were finding yourself further drawn toward Michael, you slowly noticed your conscience slipping out of reach, a very faint voice in your mind justifying that perhaps you didn't need to feel too guilty about what was going on with Charles.

After all, whether your DNA traces had been tampered with or not - you hadn't committed the crime.

But I was witness to it.

"(Y/N)?"

You gasped and spun around at the sound of Mason's voice speaking up from behind you, showing up just as his name crossed your mind.

"Mason," your previous thoughts quickly dissipated as soon as your eyes landed on him.

He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers, and he was dressed in the sort of attire that implied he was a guest at the dance as well.

"I...didn't know you were attending as well," you broke into a small smile, a breath falling past your lips.

"Mrs. Fraiser asked me at the last minute," he raised his eyebrows, referring to his Econonics teacher. His eyes scanned your form briefly before he gave you a halfhearted smile. "You look beautiful,"

You took in a deep breath. "Mason, I just....I want to apologize for walking out like that, back at the library," you bit your lip, taking a step forward. "I can imagine the sort of impression you got, but you need to know that that isn't true. I do want to help you, and-"

"It's fine," he held his hand up, motioning for you to stop. "You don't need to help with anything. It may be better if help comes from people we can totally trust," he commented sadly.

"What?" your jaw fell open. "What are you...trying to say?" you frowned.

He sighed deeply, shaking his head as he did everything possible to avoid eye contact with you. "My brother was with me that night, so it's obvious that someone set him up to look as though he had done this," he began. "And he....he reckons that the only person that could have resentment toward him is you,"

Feeling a bit of anger rise up within you, you took another step forward. "So are you trying to tell me that he thinks I set him up, all because I might have had something against him? You think I killed Chelsea just to frame him? That's absurd!" you scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm not saying you killed anyone," he clarified. "But...it makes sense that you...could have used the situation to your advantage - to get back at him," he ran his fingers through his hair.

"You don't actually believe that I would want to do that, do you?" you asked, half of you already knowing the answer.

"I don't know what to believe," he countered quickly. "I don't know what to believe, or whom to trust right now. I don't want to believe that you could have something to do with it...but what I want doesn't matter," he finally brought himself to look at you. "I can't risk allowing the wrong people to get too close to the situation, even if they're people I want to believe I can trust,"

"The wrong people?" you let out a cynical laugh as tears began to form in your eyes.

At the end of the day, Mason had become somewhat of a good friend to you, and to see that he had easily chosen to isolate himself away from you was painful. It hurt to see him doubt you in such a manner, especially to see him think that you would harbour so much need for vengeance toward his brother.

"Charles is my only brother, and since our parents aren't with us anymore - he's all I have," he justified. "If I don't stand by him and listen to everything he has to say, no one else will. I...owe loyalty to him, even if my mind wants to acknowledge otherwise," he paused. "You are a wonderful friend, (Y/N), and-"

Losing your better sense of judgement, you took another step forward and struck him across the face, only to regret it as soon as you had done it.

What you hadn't realized, however, was that Michael was walking back toward the event hall when he spotted you and Mason, and right when he was approaching the pair of you, he'd seen you lunge forward.

"(Y/N)!" he exclaimed in shock, speeding up to you as you hit Mason.

Guilt had already taken over you again by the time Michael had grabbed your wrist, pushing you back so that you hadn't had the opportunity to strike him again.

As a teacher, Michael turned to assess Mason's appearance, noting that there was only a faint bruise at the corner of his lips - a faint mark that would soon darken, no doubt.

"Are you alright?" Michael questioned him firmly, clearly asking only because it was the proper thing to do.

"I'm fine," Mason responded curtly, his gaze fixed on yours for a moment too long. "Thank you," he completed, addressing the teacher, but looking straight at you.

"I'm sorry," you mumbled, shaken by how you had lost your control.

Mason said nothing, simply turning around to leave.

You watched him walk away, and after he was well out of sight, you shifted your attention to Michael, who was staring down at you with a concerned expression.

"You're hurt," he sighed.

That was when you became aware that you had sprained your wrist slightly, making you realize how much force had taken over your gesture without you even knowing it.

Then, the pain registered, making you wince, and subsequently making Michael worry all the more.

"Come on," he spoke quietly. "I'll help you,"

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