It was Saturday night, and I was lounging around in my bedroom, having nothing else to do.
Maya was still busy with her dancing, and me being the social butterfly - cough, - that I was, didn't feel like going to any parties tonight.
So instead I laid on my bed, searching through countless pictures of dresses for the ball.
I couldn't find the right one. Man, this was worse than prom.
Mom had left to go to Milan for the week. She would come back to town for the ball and some events gala, but she would leave again soon after that.
Dad was busy with work, and I hardly saw him. My stepbrother Matt and his fiancè were staying in Washington until the baby arrived.
All in all, it was a pretty decent week. And now that it was almost over, I could finally relax in peace....
Until the doorbell rang, that is.
Stifling a groan, I brushed off the crumbs from the chips I had earlier from my pyjamas.
I ran down the stairs. Nobody important came at this time, so I didn't need to look presentable.
I peeped through the keyhole. It was Daniel.
"Hey." I greeted, opening the door.
"Hello." He grinned back. "Why aren't you at the party?"
"There's a party tonight?"
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend like you don't know."
"Right, Cassie's party." I tucked my bottom lip under my teeth. "Her parties always get a little too wild."
"And you're here instead?" He looked around. Realizing that the lights were still off, I flipped the switch, engulfing us in a warm halo.
"I could ask you the same thing."
He dug his hands in his pockets. "Came to check your laptop."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Your I.P. address is unhidden." He says. "I could hack into your laptop as fast as you could say cheese."
"Why cheese?"
"I like cheese." He said, all goofy. "Anyways, I just came to warn you."
I shook my head. "Wait, you tried to hack into my laptop?"
"Yeah."
I raised both eyebrows at him. "Wow, you're not even trying to deny it."
He laughed. "I never said I was a good person." He says.
"But you came to tell me to hide my I.P. address? What does that make you?"
"A decent person." He explained. "I just thought, if I could hack into your files as easily, anyone else could."
"But there's nothing important in them."
"You do happen to be a business tycoon's daughter." He said. "You don't know what people would do to get their hands on your laptop."
"Fine." I sighed. "How do I protect my laptop?"
"I could do it for you." When I pressed my lips together, he raised his hands in surrender. "Just trying to help, I swear. It's not like I'm gonna put a virus on the thing."
"With you, I'm not so sure." I retorted. "But come on, it's in my room."
I lead him up the stairs, where the light from my device was enough for the whole room. I handed it to him, but keep a careful eye out just in case.
He opened a minimized tab. "Funny cat videos?" he dead-panned.
I shrugged."They're cute."
Leaning over, I closed the tab. "There you go, tech-nerd." I joked. "Do your thing."
He started to work on my laptop, opening a bunch of stuff and typing in a code for a short program.
I guess when he said he wasn't going to install a virus, I shouldn't have trusted him that easily.
His phone suddenly rang, cutting through the silence.
His eyebrows tugged together when he saw the caller I.D.
He picked up. "Hello?"
There was so much commotion on the other end, I heard it even though the speaker wasn't on.
"Okay...Chase...I can't hear anything. Calm down!"
There were screams on the other hand. Loud, excited screams. Then more commotion.
Chase probably said something, then Daniel cursed. "You weren't supposed to do that!" He nearly yelled into his phone.
"Fine...fine, I'll be there." He cursed again before he ended the call.
Then he realised where he was, and he shook his head. "Sorry, I gotta go."
"What?" I got up. "Was that Chase?"
"Yeah, nothing to worry about."
"He sounded like he was in trouble." I said.
"When is Chase not in trouble?" Daniel retorted. He put his phone back in his pocket and proceeded to leave.
"Wait! I wanna come too." I said, before I could even think of what I was doing.
"What?! No!"
"But Chase is--"
"It's none of your concern. Trust me, you don't want to be involved."
I crossed my arms stubbornly. "Take me with you, or I'll go to the police instead and tell them everything I know."
I wasn't going to, ofcourse. Either way. I just hoped I seemed stubborn enough.
Daniel cursed. "Why are you so adamant?!" He yelled. "Fine! God, hurry up!"
I ran to my closet and took out the first thing I saw. Daniel left my room, and I quickly changed and put on my jacket.
Shoving my phone down my pocket, I ran down the stairs. Daniel was waiting by the entrance.
"Trust me," he tried one last time. "You don't want to come."
But curiosity and sheer will had driven me this far. Now I had to come.
I shook my head. Opening the door, I followed him out.
We both got into his car, and he immediately started the ignition. Backing it up, he stepped on the accelerator.
He was fast, but he still kept under the speed limit.
"Where is he?" I asked.
He didn't reply, instead choosing to step on the gas even faster. He led us through the outskirts of town until we came up to a large warehouse.
A lot of cars were parked outside.
"This...?" I asked. He nodded. He got out of the car and I followed, nearly running to the entrance.
It was an old abandoned warehouse, with two miles of empty ground on either side.
And judging by the loud music and the smell of booze, something was going down here tonight.
Was this some party? Were drugs involved?
But stepping in, with a shock I realized I was horribly, horribly wrong.
This wasn't just some party.
People gathered around a centre, with beer bottles in their hands. Some of them were smoking.
As Daniel and I made our way through the ground, we saw what the fuss was about.
There was a fight going on.
And nobody was just throwing punches.
A guy in a white shirt had a whistle in his hand. Blowing through it, he tried to separate the two guys.
"The final round." Daniel whispered. I could make out the words on his lips even though I couldn't hear him.
A guy moved out of the way, just enough for me to see who was fighting who.
One of them was Chase. My eyes widened. He was in the centre of the ring, throwing a punch.
The other guy who was beefy with close cropped hair, stepped out of the way just in time.
Blood trickled out of Chase's nose and he was breathing hard. With gritted teeth, he kicked the guy right on the leg. The guy fell to the ground, and Chase kicked him again.
And then it was over.
People were cheering and clapping, but all I could do was stand frozen where I was.
The guy with the whistle declared Chase as the winner, and then stepped out of the ring.
Daniel pushed through the crowd and made his way to Chase.
"What is wrong with you?!" He hissed. Taking one arm, he led him far away from the crowd into another, smaller room.
Chase was about to say something, but then his eyes fell on me.
"Fuck. What is she doing here?!"
Daniel shook his head. I made my way towards him, ducking underneath a rusted pipe.
"Watching you get nearly killed." I replied sarcastically.
Chase cursed. The man with the whistle came to him with a small red bag. "You okay, kid?"
Chase nodded, and the man said, "Come get your cash from Sten when you're ready." His beady eyes turned from Chase to Daniel, and then he turned around and left.
"You did this for money?!" I nearly screamed.
Chase glared at me. "Shut up."
Daniel shook his head. "You know what," he said, opening the bag and getting some tissues out. He pressed them to Chase's nose, and Chase winced. "I'll get the cash so we can leave."
Chase lifted his arm to hold up the tissue, but he groaned instead. A bruise was already beginning to form on his shoulder.
Without thinking, I walked towards him and crouched down, taking the damned tissue and pressing it underneath his nose.
Chase shook his head after a while. "I think the bleeding's stopped now." He muttered.
I pulled back the tissue. He was right.
His skin was incredibly warm, and his hair was matted with sweat. He was still breathing hard.
"Are you okay?"
"And you suddenly care?" He scoffed.
I scowled at him. "Are you fucking okay, Chase?"
"Peachy." He gritted his teeth.
I let my back rest against the wall. Now that my heartbeat had slowed down, I could assess the situation rationally.
It wasn't one I wanted to be in.
But I guess I had made my own bed by forcing Daniel to take me here.
"If you want money that badly..."I started. "Have you ever thought of getting a job?"
"It wasn't just the money." He replied. "That guy..."
"Personal issues?"
"Think what you want to."
Daniel came back with a small bag in his hand. This one was plastic, sealed. In his other hand was a familiar jacket.
"Look what I found." He said, throwing it at Chase.
"Let's go." He said.
He knelt down to help Chase, but Chase shook him off. "I'm fine." He said.
He managed to get up and put on his jacket.
A few people came to pat his back and tell him they were bettin' on him the entire time. Chase made conversation with a few of them that apparently, he knew, and ignored the rest of them.
Outside, Daniel led him to the car, where he took the passenger's seat.
"I told you not to go against him." Daniel argued. "Why don't you ever listen?"
Chase shrugged. He was in no mood to say anything.
Daniel began a slower drive back home. He took the main route this time, through the city.
"I'm hungry." Chase suddenly said.
"I don't care."
"-- and I don't feel like eating leftovers either."
"Again, I don't--"
"I'll pay." Chase said. "It's on me."
Daniel looked back at me with a slight smile. "What do you say, Brien?" He asked me. "Want Chase to take you out to dinner?"
"Actually I just want to go home."
Chase scoffed. "What girl says no to hamburgers?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Fine. But I'll prefer a double cheeseburger. With large fries."
Daniel stopped at the first restaurant he saw. It wasn't exactly a McDonald's, more like a diner with the whole 80s them to it.
I got out of the car, watching Chase open the door and slide out. If anything, he seemed to be walking fine.
Inside the diner, we sat at a booth in the corner, not that it mattered. Most of the place was empty.
I stared at his nose. It looked a little crooked.
"What?" Chase noticed me staring.
"Your nose might be broken. Does it hurt?"
"No," he said. "And if it was broken, it would bleed a whole lot more than it did."
Daniel watched us, his eyes going from me to Chase and back to me.
Before he could say anything, a waitress came to take our order
"Hamburger, medium. Fries, and coke." Chase told her.
"Same." Daniel said.
She turned to me. "Double cheeseburger, large fries and a chocolate milkshake. Oh, and a brownie, please." She jotted it all down and left.
"With all that food, let's just pretend you won a major fight." Daniel chuckled.
I shrugged. "I'm hungry."
Daniel took out his phone and began to surf through it. With the way his fingers moved, I doubted he was checking his Instagram.
Chase, meanwhile, was looking out the window. His knuckles were bruised and cut, but besides that, there was no evidence he had been through what he just had.
Chase's gaze turned to me. "Can you stop?"
"Stop what?" I blinked.
"Looking at me like I'm some wounded animal."
"You're a wounded pig." I said, referring to our conversation from earlier at school.
"Delightful." He said, making a face.
The food arrived, and I bit into my burger eagerly. Wow, I needed that. It tasted so good.
I took a sip of my chocolate milkshake. It was cold, and way too sweet.
Not that that was a problem.
I finished my burger, then simultaneously munched on the fries whilst I stared out the window. Being a Saturday night, most people were out, even though the forecast said it would rain later.
"Hey, look at the little baby in the--" I turned to the two boys at the table.
I did a double-take, when I noticed Chase's nose was bleeding again.
I leaned forward and handed him some tissues. "Here." I said.
"Shit, not again!" He groaned. He took the tissues and pressed them against his face.
"You'll need to see a doctor."
Chase shook his head.
Daniel's phone rang. He ignored it the first time, but when it rang again, he picked up.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end made him sigh. He listened to it for a couple of seconds, and finally muttered an inaudible 'yes.'
Cursing, he put his phone down. His eyes widened a little when he turned to Chase to find a blob of red tissues against his face.
"You...need to see a doctor." He repeated my words. He took out his car keys and threw them at me. I caught them in my right hand.
"Where are you going?" Chase asked. Daniel was already getting up.
"I'm going to clear up the shit you stirred." He said to him. Then he looked at me. "Kylie, I'm hoping you can drive like a sane person and take my poor friend to the hospital?"
"Sure." I said. "But I don't..." Before I could even finish, Daniel was gone.
I turned my attention to Chase. "Let's get you out of here." I whispered.
I took out my wallet from the back pocket of my jeans and placed a twenty on the table, not even bothering with change. Chase said he would pay, but he was in no state to do so right now.
He managed to walk just fine back to the car, and I got behind the driver's wheel. He grabbed some more tissues from underneath the dashboard and threw the used ones out of the window. I noticed how he only used one arm, like the other one was still hurt.
It took me a while to get the hang of the car, but when I did, I drove us as quickly as I could to the nearest hopital.
Parking like a maniac, I got out.
A nurse waiting outside for an ambulance, fortunately, spotted us.
"Nose bleed?" She asked. She made Chase pull the tissues so she could assess his face.
She shook her head. "Let's get him to the ER." She said.
"Wait, ER?" Chase scowled. "I'm fine! I just need--"
A male nurse got a wheelchair, and they made him sit in it so he wouldn't feel as dizzy. They began wheeling him inside. "You could have a concussion. Or internal brain damage. Could you tell us what happened?"
"I fell." He shrugged.
The other nurse looked like she didn't believe him. "Sure. Only, that kind of impact would require a direct blow to the head. Or your nose. Were you in some sort of fight?"
Chase didn't answer, which apparently gave the nurse her answer.
"We'll get you a CT and an X-ray." She said, turning to the male nurse. "Page Dr. Roberts." The male nurse nodded.
She looked at me. "Would you like to wait out here?"
I looked around. Chase was still grumbling over all the fuss they were making.
"Sure." I told her.
She nodded, and then they wheeled Chase to the elevator.
I took a seat in the waiting area. Quite a few people were there, including a bunch of nurses that had just changed shifts.
A man with a bandaged head walked by.
A pregnant lady smiled at her husband. For a minute, I imagined my brother Matt and his fiancè Thea, and if that's how happy they were.
Then Chelsea came to mind. And Noah, who still hadn't found a job.
Sitting back, I huffed. I closed my eyes and tried to forget everything that led me to being here.
But hard as I might have tried, I couldn't. Forget, I mean. I had no idea what was going on, and surfing through the latest headlines, the police still had no idea who Freya's killer was.
I was tempted to give them an anonymous tip and lead them in the right direction, but what good would that do? We had already come to the conclusion that Freya's murder was pre-planned, and one with motive.
I shuddered. It was sick to even think about.
An hour passed, and it began to rain outside. It was thirty more minutes before Chase came down that elevator again.
This time, he walked. In his right hand, I noticed, was a bag of ice.
He took a seat besides me.
"So what did the doctor say?"
He shook his head. "Just took a bunch of tests. The results will come back in fifteen minutes, so I'll have to wait. Oh, and they stopped the bleeding for now."
"For now?"
He motioned to the bag of ice. His nose had begun to swell a little, and was red.
"You look like Santa Claus."
"Do not."
"Do too."
I took out my phone and flipped to the front camera so he could see.
He scowled at me. He raised his arm, but the movement was too sudden, and he hissed in pain.
"Your shoulder still hurt?" I asked. "Maybe you should tell the doctor--"
"No." He said. "It'll be fine. I've been through worse."
The elevator tinged, and the male nurse from before called us over. "Your results are with the doctor." He said. I helped Chase get up - again, he declined it - and we followed the nurse to where the patient section was.
He made Chase sit on a bed, and closed the curtain around us for privacy.
"I just want to go home." Chase groaned. "This place smells like shit."
True, the antiseptic smell was strong.
Before long the doctor arrived. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered with a stethoscope round his neck.
"Ah, you must be Chase." He said. He opened the file in his hand. "Now, your scans are normal so that hit you received didn't damage anything vital
Your nose isn't broken either--"
"Great, so I can go home--"
Chase lept off the bed, but the doctor held him back.
"A small bone in your nose, however, is bent. And you damaged a lot of tissue. It'll heal, but you did lose blood, so you'll feel exhaustion and slight nausea tonight. Just drink plenty of water and take some painkillers if you need them, okay?"
"Got it, doc."
"And kid? Try to stay out of fights."
Once the doctor was gone, the nurse came back with a form in his hand. "I'm going to need you to fill this in." He said.
Chase sighed.
He got a pen, and began scrawling in details.
When he was done, the nurse said, "Is there any one I can call? A guardian?"
"Technically, I'm eighteen."
The nurse crossed his arms. "You can't drive tonight. And you'll need someone to take care of you, just in case." He glanced at me. "Are you his girlfriend?"
"Friend." I shook my head at such an overstatement. "But yeah, I'll drive."
"Great." The nurse took the form and left.
Chase walked out of the hall like nothings wrong. Outside, the slight rain that was anticipated had turned into a storm, and people scrambled everywhere to avoid it.
I got behind the wheel again. "What's your address?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Just drive us to your place. It's a lot closer."
"Fine." I huffed.
"And drive carefully."
I backed the car out of the parking lot and began to drive as smoothly as I could. The windshield wipers were on full swing.
"You're so crabby." I told him.
"Is that even a word?"
"Seriously. Even when you're injured, you have this attitude--"
"I don't see your problem." He argued back. "It's my attitude, my problem."
"I pretty much just saved your life! The least you could do is say is thank you."
"I doubt I would have died from a nosebleed."
"That's not the point."
"Okay, whatever." His voice became slower. "Thank you. "
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard me."
Despite everything, I couldn't help letting out a small laugh.
Once we arrived at my house, I unlocked the door and led us in.
"Where is everybody?" He asked curiously, letting out a whistle when I switched on the lights.
"Mom's in Milan, Dad is... God knows where. The maid doesn't work on weekends."
"So it's just you and me."
"Great." I replied dryly.
He followed me up to my room, where I let my damp hair loose from its ponytail and brushed my fingers through it.
I took off my shoes and my socks, and he did the same.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I made sure the windows were shut tight.
He took a seat on my bed.
"The doctor said you would feel exhausted." I said, sitting next to him. "Do you?" I poked his arm accidently, and he let out a small groan.
"Is it really that bad?" I said. "Let me have a look at it."
I pulled gently on his jacket, and hesitantly, he gave me permission to take it off.
"Ouch." I observed his shoulder. There was a giant bruise on it and it was bluish-purple already.
"You want some more ice, or..."
I touched his arm. His skin was searingly hot.
"You have a fever." I realized.
"I'll live." He grunted.
Wordlessly, I went to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of mild painkillers and also got him a glass of water.
By the time I came back, his back rested against my bed's headboard.
"Here." I said. He put the pill in his mouth and took a sip of water.
"As much as I can pretend to hate you, I'm actually aroused by you playing all nurse right now."
I took the glass from him.
"It's the pain talking." I told him. I watched as his eyes closed when exhaustion takes over him. His breathing turned deeper.
I pulled the blankets over him, so they were covering half of my body and all of his. "Go to sleep, you need it."
"Right here?" His mouth formed a lazy smile.
"Or I could set up my brother's old room for you."
"I think I'll like yours a lot better."
"Then I'll just go sleep there." I chuckled.
He shook his head. I rested the back of my hand on his cheek. His skin was even hotter. He looked at me through his long eyelashes, his eyes glazing over.
With his lips so close to mine, all I wanted, I realized, was to kiss him.
So badly.
I shook my head. What was I thinking?
His eyes closed again, and his hand wrapped around mine.
In a matter of seconds, he was asleep.
Too tired to go and set another bed - or even crash on the couch, I laid my head down on the other pillow. I made sure there was considerable distance between us before I let my eyes close.
And then, I fell asleep too.