Uncharted Territory

Chapter Eighteen

Adrian's POV
"Come on, come on, come on! We have to go to Rue21!" Alice squealed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the store, Marcus and Luke following slowly behind.
"Alice, chill out!" I exclaimed as I almost tripped over my own feet.
I heard Marcus laughing behind me, so I turned around and sent him a glare.
As soon as Alice entered the store, she was piling things on her arm to try on.
"Alice," I said as I followed her around the store. "It's not just the two of us this time so you can't start trying on clothes for hours."
Alice pouted in response, "Dang, I forgot! Well, they can give me their opinion for what I have so far."
Glancing at her arm I noticed that she already had at least ten items. I sighed and went to find Marcus and Luke as she went to the fitting rooms.
"Alice wants us to give our opinion about the clothes she's picked out," I explained once I had found them, they had been standing around by the entrance. 
"Alright," Marcus nodded and followed me to the fitting rooms, I could slightly hear him whispering with Luke behind me. 
When we got to the dressing rooms, Alice was already waiting for us in her first outfit. She was wearing a simple, yet elegant, red dress. I heard a noise from behind me and I turned around just in time to see Luke trip, but catch himself, and that he was staring at Alice with his mouth open. The poor boy was practically drooling. 
"So?" Asked Alice, as oblivious as always, "What do you guys think?" She spun in a quick circle with a small smile on her face.
"I like it! It totally fits you perfectly..." I gushed as I started to walk around her and examine the dress, like I usually would. I tapped my nose as I was thinking, "I think, to complete the look-" I then ran of and came back with a light, black sweater and some black heels. "Here!" 
As she was putting them on I stood back and tapped my nose again, "Then we could give you some light beach waves, and light makeup. With this dress you wouldn't need to go too heavy on your face."
I was so focused on what I was doing with Alice that I completely forgot about Luke and Marcus, until Luke cleared his throat and said, "Alice, you look amazing."
"Thank you, Luke." Alice said quietly. 
Now what kind of (G)BFF would I be if I didn't notice the way that Luke was looking at Alice, and the way that Alice's face got really red when he said that she looked amazing. 
I ship it, I thought as I looked back and forth between the two.
Glancing at Marcus, I noticed that he wasn't looking at Alice or Luke, he was staring at me. I awkwardly coughed and looked away from him and back to Alice. "Put on the next outfit," I ordered, shooing her into the changing room. 
"I'm going, I'm going," She scowled at me and tightly closed the door. 
"Damn!" Said Luke once she was in the changing room, "She looked so good!"
I turned so I was facing them, "Dude, it was extremely obvious that you thought she looked amazing. Extremely obvious."
Marcus nodded, no longer looking at me, "You were practically drooling."

"I was not!" Luke whisper yelled.
"Yes, you were," I nodded with a laugh. 
Just as Luke was about to argue back, Alice opened the dressing. She was wearing black skinny jeans, a maroon crop top, and a black and maroon flannel. She also had the black heels on that I picked out for the dress.
"So?" She asked as did another little spin.
"I like it! It's really your style. I think you could add some kind of black, pearl type necklace; and if you put your hair in a sideways french braid that would look good too."
"Oooh, you're right!" Alice clapped her hands together, "That's all I had to try on, and I think I'm going to buy all of it too."
"ALL of it!" Luke blanched. "That's pretty expensive."
Alice shrugged, "I can handle it." Making her way back into the dressing room, Luke looked at me for an explanation. 
"Alice, we'll meet you at the front," Marcus called as he started to walk away.
"Alice's family is very wealthy. Rich, actually." I explained as we headed to the doors to wait for Alice. 
"Wow, really?" Luke exclaimed, "I didn't peg her as someone who was rich."
I wrinkled my nose, "She doesn't really like it, she doesn't like how people treat her differently because of her family's wealth."
"Makes sense," Luke said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Luke..." Marcus warned, "What are you thinking."
"Nothing bad!" He held up his hands, "I promise! I was just thinking about how I'll prank Alice the next time we hang out." He smiled wickedly, "I'm not going to treat her any differently."
I glanced at Marcus and rolled my eyes, he did the same.
"Y'all ready to go to the next store?" Alice asked as she draped her arm over my shoulder.
I nodded and made my way out, not knowing what store I was headed to. "Where do you guys want to go?" I asked.
"How about Hot Topic?" Suggested Luke, "I could always use a new band T!"
Luke marched into the store with Alice at his heels, only for Alice to grab his arm and spin around, making her way back out of the store. "Wait! Where are you going?" Luke said loudly.
"Yeah, Alice, where are you going?" I asked as I stopped her in the entrance of the store.
"The guy at the counter, it's Keith." Alice explained.
I looked behind her and scowled, "Well, he's sure as hell not stopping me from shopping here."
"Me neither...Who's Keith?" Luke asked.
"He's my ex boyfriends new boyfriend," I explained as I gently pushed past Alice and made my way deeper into the store. As I was walking past the counter, Keith called out to me.
"Hey, Adrian, is that you?" I heard him call out.
I plastered a fake smile in my face and turned to face him, "Keith?" I said, "I didn't know you worked here!"
I watched him as he nodded and scratched the back of his neck, "Do you have a second?" He asked.
I slowly nodded and made my way around the racks of shirts and to the counter, I casually leaned against it. "What's up?"
"It's about Blake-and before you say anything, I know you're not in a good place with him, but please, just hear me out." He pleaded.
I sighed, "Alright, go ahead."
Keith took a deep breath and started talking, "Blake has been acting different. When I'm at home he's usually really clingy, he calls me every half hour when I'm at work, and he basically tackles me when I come home. Now though, now he's more distant, he doesn't seem to actually care anymore."
I stood up and put both my hands on the counter, leaning towards Keith, "You need to break up with him, you need to get out of that house."
"What? Why??"
Looking him right in the eye, I started to explain, "When I was with Blake he started the same way, he was really clingy and affectionate. Then he started to grow distant, which in turn led to him being-." I cut myself off and looked down.
"What? Led to him being what?"
"Led to him being abusive." I looked back up and locked eyes with Keith.
"A-abusive?" He stuttered.
I nodded, "That's the whole reason I broke up with him, I stayed with him for a whole year after he started hitting me. I had thought about leaving before, but I had nowhere else to go. I officially left him when he put me in the hospital with life threatening injuries."
Keith gasped, "He did that to you? He's been telling me that he still loves you, that he loves both of us."
I shook my head, "He says that, but I highly doubt it."
"ADRIAN," Alice shouted from somewhere in the store, "ARE YOU DONE TALKING TO THAT ASSHOLE? CAN WE LEAVE YET?"
"NO." I yelled as I turned back to Keith, "Don't listen to her . She's just bitter about Blake, she was the one who got me out of the hospital and gave me a place to stay that was away from him."
I looked at Keith, like really looked. His eyes held immense sadness and fear, he was really scared.
"Do you have somewhere that you can go?" I asked softly. Just because he's dating Blake doesn't mean he's a bad guy, he seems really innocent. Not yet corrupted by Blake. I thought. 
He shook his head, "I just moved hear a few months ago, Blake was the first person I met, and he never let me get too close with anyone. I can see why, he wants me to be helpless." Keith looked up at me, "He wants to hurt me like he hurt you, doesn't he?" 
I let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, I think he does. I know that there was another boy before you, and he almost ended up in the hospital, but I got to the house just in time to fight back against Blake and get the other boy out. He has a safe place to live now, and a loving girlfriend too."
"I need to leave him," Keith whispered, "But I don't know where to go."
I was silent for a few seconds, "You can come and stay with Marcus and I, just until you get your own place."
he jerked his head up and covered his mouth, "Really? You'll let me stay with you?" 
"Yeah," I smiled, "I know Marcus won't mind, Alice might be a little bitter, but she'll have to get used to it."
After giving Keith my number and telling him to cut all ties with Blake, making sure to mention that he should pack at night or when Blake was at work, I headed out of the store. Not even buying anything. 

"What was that all about?" Alice asked as we wondered out of the store and aimlessly around the mall, "That was a really long chat."
"It was," I agreed. Then I turned to Marcus, "I have something to ask you."
"Alright, shoot." Marcus shrugged.
"Blake has started to hit Keith, who wants to leave Blake, but like I did he doesn't have anywhere to go..." I started, watching his face. Nothing changed, he just kept staring at me, "So I said that he could stay with us until he gets his own place. I hope that's okay?"
Marcus was silent for about a minute, "I'm glad you offered him a place to stay, I would have suggested the same thing." 
I let out the breath that I didn't know I had been holding, "Thank you so much!"
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "You're such a genuinely kind person, I think thats amazing."