I had no words for what I saw.
He stood in the doorway of my hotel room and offered me a weak smile. His body was covered in bruises and he was bleeding from multiple places. The worst thing about the whole situation was that his eyes were missing their usual glow. Whatever happened obviously took a mental toll on him as well.
I just stood there in shock, tears cascading down my face. He pulled me into a hug, whispering reassuring things in my ears.
I knew that I should be the one comforting him. You could see the pain in his eyes. But I couldn't move. What kind of sick person would beat someone this badly? I pulled away from him and gingerly touched his jaw, where a new bruise was blossoming. Talk about hating seeing someone you love getting hurt.
"Who did this to you?" I finally managed to get out.
He just shook his head, tears now falling from his eyes too.
"Who did this to you?" I repeated, this time with a sense of authority.
He just stood there for a few seconds, shaking.
"Ma..." he started, but I already knew what he was going to say.
I pushed past him, and started down the hall. I was ready to cut a bitch. I was pretty sure that you could feel the anger radiating off of me.
He hobbled down the hall after me, going as fast as he could. I still had a head start though, so I kept going.
"Derek," he called after me, "don't."
I turned on my heel to face him. He looked very sad. He obviously didn't want Malia getting hurt.
"And why shouldn't I?" I almost screamed.
Hurt flashed across his face for a split second, but he hid it behind a pleading voice.
"You don't need to punish her for being an ignorant bitch. You can't fight fire with fire."
"But she needs to learn that doing this," I said while motioning to his body, "is not okay under any circumstance."
"I agree. She does. But this is not the time or way to do it. Anyway, why do you care so much? If I were you I would just stay out of it and let me handle it."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Why do I care? Are you serious or just delusional?" I shot back.
This time he didn't do anything to hide the hurt on his face.
"I know you think that I hate you for what you said," I continued, "but I don't. In fact, I'm relieved that you said that because I was over here thinking that my love for you was unrequited. And what was that line that you said to me earlier? Oh yeah, 'I hate seeing people I love get hurt'? Well guess what? I hate it too. What this bitch did to you is not okay in any way."
I stopped ranting and just watched him. He obviously wasn't expecting that.
"Y.. you... you love me?" he stammered.
"Yes, you dork, I love you. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a bitch ass traitor of a 'best friend' to punish."
I continued storming down the hallway. I was going to make this bitch pay for what she did. I got into the elevator and rapidly pressed the shut door button after seeing that Collin had almost caught up to me.
But to no avail.
He stopped the door with his foot and got in with me. I shot a glare at him.
"Derek," he almost whispered. "Don't make it worse. Please."
I looked up at him only to see the sadness in his eyes. It broke my heart.
"There's nothing you can do. She will only do the same thing to you."
He grabbed my arm.
"Please," he pleaded with me.
I sighed and surrendered to his gaze.
***
We sat without speaking a word.
The beds creaked under us as we shifted our weight.
"Collin, I have something I need to say. Or maybe do, but I'm not sure yet."
He looked in my direction with a questioning gaze.
"I've been hiding something from you and I think it's best that I say it now."
His questioning gaze got even stronger.
"So," I started, "you know me. Derek Lincoln. Loser, nobody, worthless. And I know you. Collin Crowe. Popular, respected, loved. I want you to tell me why you stayed with me. Why did you still want to be friends even though you knew who I am and where I came from?"
My gaze met his, and his eyes never left mine.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or how you were brought up. When I look at you, I see a genuine person. Someone who really cares. Do you know how hard it is for me to find someone like that? I really truly care about you because you really truly care about other people."
He stammered like he was going to say something more, but didn't.
I took a deep breath and spoke up.
"I love you, you know this."
He maintained our gaze, and you could see the feelings rushing across his eyes.
"And not like the gushy 'I'm so in love with you' bullshit, but like I truly appreciate you for who you are and how you act, and mainly how you are so down to earth."
I stopped to catch my breath.
"But mainly I love you because you gave me a chance. You saw something in me and you didn't leave me behind. And I just wanted to say thank y..."
His lips pressed against mine, firmly cutting me off.
We held the kiss for what seemed like eternity. Our lips moved in harmony, and the butterflies in my stomach went wild.
It was in that moment that I knew that I needed him.
Collin's POV
The only sound I could hear was our breathing and the creaking of the beds.
Derek's voice came out of the blue.
"Collin, I have something I need to say. Or maybe do, but I'm not sure yet."
I looked at him, confused.
"I've been hiding something from you and I think it's best that I say it now."
I started to get genuinely worried.
"So," he started, "you know me. Derek Lincoln. Loser, nobody, worthless. And I know you. Collin Crowe. Popular, respected, loved. I want you to tell me why you stayed with me. Why did you still want to be friends even though you knew who I am and where I came from?"
His gaze met mine, and my eyes never left his.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or how you were brought up. When I look at you, I see a genuine person. Someone who really cares. Do you know how hard it is for me to find someone like that? I really truly care about you because you really truly care about other people."
I tripped over my words, hoping he wouldn't notice, even though I know he did.
He suddenly blurted out, "I love you, you know this."
I kept our eye contact, even though I was blushing so hard and I wanted to look away.
"And not like the gushy 'I'm so in love with you' bullshit, but like I truly appreciate you for who you are and how you act, and mainly how you are so down to earth."
He stopped to consider his words.
"But mainly I love you because you gave me a chance. You saw something in me and you didn't leave me behind. And I just wanted to say thank y..."
I decided to take a chance. What was there to lose?
I rushed forward and connected our lips.
Nothing could describe it better than 'it couldn't have been more perfect.'
The moment our lips touched, I knew that I needed this boy in my life.
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A/N -- And this is the end. I'm really sad this book is ending tbfh. I'm gonna miss my characters so much :(
So, goodbye my lovely readers. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did while writing it.
Love you guys
-nathan