Calling the police had been the right choice. More than a week had passed since then. No letters. No packages either. Maybe it was the patrol car I had seen pass by several times. Or maybe whoever did it had somehow found out I'd called the cops. Either way, the issue seemed to be solved.
"And I didn't have to burden Killian with it," I murmured.
No need to kick off a fuss over something like this. Or that was what I kept telling myself. There was this small stupid part that wanted to run to Killian anyways, to hear some sort of reassurance. How would he react if I told him about the letters? Would he be worried? Nonchalant? Or angry because I hadn't told him sooner?
Maybe I just had to talk to someone. Sofia was at her parents' house dealing with whatever it was she was dealing with. She'd promised to tell me when they would return. Suz was in Atlanta looking after her mom who'd fallen down the stairs. And me... The last time I'd talked to my parents had been around Christmas. It was a short visit. Completely planned from the moment my feet touched the ground in their house, we'd visited everyone and barely exchanged more than a greeting. They weren't exactly the affectionate type.
I sighed and picked up my study notes. The next lab was on Monday. That meant two more days to memorize the function and setup of an AFM or atomic force microscope.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call. It was Suz.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked, still staring at my notes. "How's your mom?"
"Much better," she replied and then added on a careful note, "But that's not why I called. Did you hear what happened at school?"
"No?" The cantilever of an AFM measures the attractive and repulsive forces between the sample and tip.
"There's been a fight. They're saying that they've found drugs. They're all hush about who got arrested, so everyone's at campus, the police and ambulance are swarming the place."
There were three operating modes. What were they called again? "How do you even know that?" I asked, distracted. "Aren't you in Atlanta?"
I remembered. Tapping mode, contact mode, and non-contact mode.
"Of course, I'm very well informed, wherever I am. But, Tay..."
The hesitation in her voice made me put down my notes. "What?"
"Apparently, someone got stabbed and...I heard Killian was involved. I don't know any details, but it sounded bad. I—"
The surge of blood rushing through my ears drowned out the rest of her sentence. I jumped to my feet, papers flying everywhere, but I didn't care. The room spun. In my head, I saw him on the ground again, his side covered in blood.
"I'll call you back," I interrupted her and hung up. My fingers flew across the screen until I found who I was looking for. The phone didn't even ring. His voicemail picked up right away. Before I could consciously think about it, I was out the door and in my car.
I tried Cody's phone next, but he didn't pick up either. Then I called Jules. He hadn't heard about the incident but promised to meet me there.
My stomach twisted into knots. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and accelerated. He was fine. It was Killian. He had to be.
Flashing red and blue lights illuminated the main campus. I counted more than five police cars and several ambulances blocking the street.
I parked the car and pushed my way through the huddled groups of people, scanning their faces for Killian's. Blaring sirens added to the chaotic scene, drowning out the hushed murmurs of the students. The tightness in my throat grew, and a sharp pain shot through my chest. He had to be okay.
Yet, fifteen minutes later I still hadn't found him. The crowd was growing thicker, and I struggled to move around. More than once I nearly stumbled as somebody jostled me from behind. Where the hell was he?
I braked to a halt. Two guys lounged on the fire escape. One of them was sitting down, slightly hunched, the hood of a black sweatshirt hiding his face. The other stood tall with his arms crossed, surveying the chaos around him. He turned his head and my heart leaped. Cody. Then the one sitting down had to be...
Killian.
Cody saw me first, showing surprise, but Killian didn't react. His gaze remained fixed on the ground, hands pressed against his neck.
Is he okay? I mouthed towards Cody, but he shrugged and then shook his head looking troubled.
Without a second thought, I pushed Killian's hood back. Quicker than I could react, his hand shot up, catching my wrist. A scowl slid over his features, but his eyes widened when he saw it was me. The grip on my arm loosened.
His face was clear. No bruises, nothing. I reached for his hoodie and pulled it up revealing perfectly fine skin stretching over tight muscles. No injuries. No stab wounds. The bastard was perfectly fine.
Cody coughed loudly and turned away his shoulders shaking. Killian still stared at me stunned.
Biting on my trembling lip, I fought to keep my composure. I bent forward and hugged him, or tried to. With his wide shoulders, it felt more like I was clinging to him.
He flinched at the contact but after a second, his rigid posture melted. His arms circled behind my back and then he drew me in, pulling me onto his lap. Now it was more him hugging me. I buried my nose in the crook of his neck, inhaling the familiar scent. It was more addicting than usual.
Killian remained quiet, his hands moving up and down my back in slow, comforting strokes.
"Killian?" a high-pitched voice yelled and the fingers on my back stilled.
I pushed away and slid down on the step next to him. Coldness seeped into my butt and legs, and I instantly regretted leaving the seat that was his legs. Footsteps drew closer but I couldn't see who it was. Cody had parked himself in front of the steps, effectively blocking us from view.
"Cody? I heard about what happened, where—"
I felt a twinge in my side as a girl with long blond hair and a pretty face came into view. Alicia. I should have known.
"Alicia, what are you doing here?" Cody's tone indicated that he wasn't too happy to see her either.
Before Cody could stop her, she had stepped around him, her eyes flickering to me for a brief second before settling on Killian. "Killian, shit. I was so scared."
"I see you've heard," Killian remarked with a blank face.
"Of course, I did. You should have told it was hap—" With a sidelong glance in my direction she fell silent, waiting. Then she waited. Moments crawled by. Her brows pinched when it apparently dawned on her that I wasn't getting up. "Did you get hurt?" she asked, facing Killian again.
"I'm good."
That reminded me. "I heard someone got stabbed," I said into the resounding silence. "I—"
Alicia finished my sentence as if I wasn't there. "I thought they were talking about you. Everyone said so!"
Killian's eyes slid over me and down to my feet, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I followed his gaze. My feet sported my comfy house slippers. At least I'd had the brains to grab a jacket on the way out.
Evidently annoyed at being ignored, Alicia stepped in front of him and reached for his face. The smirk vanished as he pushed her off and stood.
That was when I saw his hand. His knuckles were slightly cracked and swollen. He noticed my gaze and his eyes darkened under furrowed brows.
"Killian," I started.
"I'm so glad I found you!" Alicia interjected. I had to clench my fists. What the hell was her problem? "I heard they found"—she peered at me, and continued in a whisper—"the drugs. Did you already talk to the police?"
He hesitated. "Yes."
She didn't sound surprised that they'd found drugs.
Her phone rang and she pulled it out just to hand it over to him. "Your sister. She tried to reach you before but couldn't get through. You should talk to her," she added with another quick look in my direction.
Yeah. I got it. She knew more about this whole thing, and she knew his sister. Way to rub it in.
Killian accepted the call and moved a few steps away. He spoke quietly into the phone until his head whipped around and he regarded Alicia with a frown. He ended the call shortly after.
"She said some stranger has been hanging around your apartment?" he asked, handing back her phone.
Alicia tugged her hair behind her ear and shrugged, lowering her gaze. "I don't know. I'd just mentioned it with all that talk about that psycho running around. It's probably nothing, but it's a little weird."
I had to consciously stop my teeth from grinding. I had been getting strange letters for over a month now. Someone actually followed me. But if I voiced it now, I would just sound like I was fighting for his attention.
Fucking hell. I tuned out her annoying voice until the last bit of her sentence made me tense up. "...I would feel a little safer staying with someone I know."
He wasn't going to agree, right? Wait. Why did I even care? I stood up abruptly, startling everyone. My cheeks flushed but thankfully it was probably too dark to see. "Sorry," I said quickly. "I forgot I need to check on Jules, he's waiting for me. I'll see you guys later."
With a quick look at Killian who was watching me with raised eyebrows, I waved, pivoted on my heel, and walked off. What had gotten into me? I was acting as if I was jealous.
"Which I'm not," I mumbled determinedly. My phone buzzed. Jules made it. Perfect timing.
"Taylor, wait!"
Surprised, I turned around to find Alicia coming after me.
"Hey," she said with a bright smile.
I was stupefied. "Uh. Hi."
"I don't think we properly talked yet."
"Uh-huh." I eyed her warily.
"As I thought. You know, right?"
She really dug this cryptic shit, huh? Well, two could play that game. "Know what?"
Her smile widened. "Our history. I could tell right away. By the way you looked at me."
Guess I hadn't been as poker-faced as I thought. And here I thought Killian was rubbing off on me.
"So, you heard about my ex-best friend, right? Cody's ex?"
I lifted my shoulder in a one-sided shrug.
"Do you also know the reason Cody's ex did what she did?"
I finally caved. "Wasn't it because of you?"
She chuckled. "That's what I thought at first. But no." Her expression turned solemn, and I had an inkling I wouldn't like what she was about to say. And I was right. "She liked him, Killian I mean. I think it started when she saw the way he behaved around me. He always talked straight to me. He didn't try to catch my attention or hers for that matter and it irked her that he wouldn't fall over his feet.
"You might not have seen her, but she was perfect. Works as a model now actually. She came up with these ideas. She made me ask him for clothes and then I couldn't return them because I couldn't find them anymore. I found them later, stuck between her things. When I realized the extent of her obsession, it was too late. He had already broken any contact with me."
I squinted at her through narrowed eyes. "Why doesn't Cody know about this?"
"Do you really think she told him?" Alicia laughed humorlessly. "No. And why would I tell him? You don't know how much he liked her back then. He would have done anything for her. He and Killian nearly broke their friendship because of her. What do you think would happen if he knew that she liked him on top of that?"
My heart sank and I was reminded of the look on Cody's face. He would be devastated. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I know he might have approached you with some ulterior motive, but Killian is a good guy. Really. Not one of these idiots—" She nodded at some of the football jocks close by—"and he doesn't have it easy. I'm very determined to repair our relationship. I can tell he likes you to some extent at least. I'm just saying. I don't want him to get hurt again."
What the hell was she talking about? What ulterior motive?
"I don't get what you mean," I said slowly.
She regarded me with a calm look. "You were close with Chris, right?"
"So?"
"Ah, you don't know."
Something clawed at my insides. Surprise, surprise. There was a human who annoyed me more than Killian.
She obviously wanted me to ask so I said something else. "I still don't get why you're telling me all this."
"To be honest, I thought you had a right to know because you seem to care about him as well. I can tell you're holding back. He deserves better than that. Do yourself and him a favor, if that's all there is, let him go. I won't just stand by and watch him getting used again."
My insides hardened. "Is this a warning?"
She gave me another smile and I was momentarily blinded by her appearance. A flawless complexion with only a touch of makeup. Long white-blond hair surrounded her small face like a halo.
"Take it as you want," she said, full of confidence. "I didn't appreciate his friendship before, that's on me, but it's different now. I will get him back one way or another." And with those lovely words, she turned around and disappeared back into the crowd.