Nothing Like Us (Sequel to Boys Like You) *Not Mine*

Chapter 1

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND OTHER STRONG SUBJECTS, FROM THE ONSET AND THROUGHOUT.

In the eight months that had passed since Harry's heartbreaking departure, the people he had left behind had desperately tried to piece their shattered lives back together. Scarlet had stayed strong and finished school with better grades than she had expected. She had begun working in a small restaurant for the summer, trying to decide what move she was going to take next. She had made new friends as well as growing closer to her old ones, but the her biggest support came from her new work friend Avery, who was determined to make Scarlet smile more. She had also grown closer to Amber, who was quickly becoming her best friend. But really the only person she could speak openly with was Cooper, because he felt her pain almost as much as she did, and he was just as determined as her to get Harry back, no matter how bad or how dangerous things got.

Sitting at the end of his double bed with a beer in his hand, Cooper stared at Amber in amazement as she pulled on a pair of skin-tight black jeans. He licked his dry lips and couldn't help but notice how tanned her body was or how soft her skin looked or simply how beautiful she was. He still couldn't quite accept the fact that she was his. That she was his girlfriend and had been for the past eight months, and he couldn't help but think that he was greatly undeserving of her.

"Stop staring." She whispered, turning around to face him.

He smiled shyly at the way her cheeks flushed red and fixed his gaze on hers. He leaned down and placed the beer bottle down on the wooden floor and then stood to his feet. He stepped towards her, towering above her as he wrapped his arms around her small waist. Placing her hands on his upper arms her fingers curled around his tense muscles and she lowly gasped; he had gotten so much stronger than he used to be, and that thought scared her. She hadn't seen him fight much, but what she had seen had shocked her. She knew of Cooper's past and she knew that he could be violent if he needed to be, but now when he was angry it felt like she didn't even know who the person in front of her was. When he was angry, he was a stranger. And recently she couldn't help but think that trouble was something that he craved. Something that he looked for. For the past few months she had watched on as he fall into patterns of self destruction, and she didn't know how to help him. No one did.

Her small fingers reached up and slowly began to trace the bruising around his right eye. The feel of her fingers pressing down on his broken skin stung, yet he felt too numb to even flinch. Frowning, she dropped her hand to his chest.

"Please don't get into a fight tonight." She pleaded, her deep brown eyes wide and glazed.

Swallowing down hard, he nodded his head and smiled weakly.

"Don't do that, Cooper. Don't nod. Tell me that you won't. Promise me. Please." Amber struggled to breathe as she pushed herself away from him, desperate for him to stop putting her through hell.

About to take a step towards her, he froze. She looked so sad and it pained him to know he was the one that made her feel that way. Just because he was hurting didn't mean he wanted the people around him to hurt too.

"I promise." He whispered. "I do. I promise."

Amber gulped down heavily and felt her heat ache at the sound of his voice. He even sounds broken, she thought. He lowered his head and focused on the floor, too ashamed to look up at her.

"I can't sit back and watch you destroy yourself any more." Amber insisted, slowly walking over to where he stood. She took his face in her tiny hands, cupping his burning cheeks, leaving him with no other choice than to look at her. She could see the guilt in his crystal blue eyes that had lost their usual sparkle. "I care about you too much."