"Go! Just... go okay?!" As she miserably forced me out and slammed the door before me, the gentle breeze the door made upon the faint collision, bracing my forehead. Tears began streaming from her eyes and she fought desperately to keep them back, like the last droplets of water to reluctantly seap from a tap. My heart sank, ripping apart as it did. I hated seeing her like this, hated whenever we fought, hated how I was always at fault...
How'd I get here? I promised myself I wouldn't fall, not again... not ever. What has become of that?
She's the first person since---well, my past---that has been able to break down the prison walls I had built, and force her way into the bunker I had buried my heart in. She's the first person to actually tolerate the desolate state in which she found my heart. First person not to run away at the sight of it's frozen, shattered, hurt core. She picked up the broken pieces and took her time to put them back together, no matter how sharp they were or how much they sliced and jabbed at her, no matter how much I try to destroy her...
I came to this university in seek of education, a better future for my family, it seems the pleasures of not having mother pouring down my neck and romances have distracted me from my goals.
I knew I didn't have another heated fight in me today, so I braced for the stairs... as my fingers graced the smooth, steel skin of the rails, I turned back. Hesistating to knock at her door again, I pushed it wide open and let myself in. She had been waiting for me, tears still running down her face, despite her rigorous attempts to stop them.
"What took you so long?" She said, as a cheeky smile tugged at her lips. I grabbed her by the waist, elevated her onto the kitchen island as she wrapped her legs around me, and we began the somewhat toxic cycle all over again---with the final stage... a passionate make up session.
She looks up at me, taking a step forward and smiling slightly, "How can I ever get hurt when I have you here to protect me?"
"But you could have gotten hurt," I murmur softly, hanging my head and feeling my shoulders drop, the tension seeping from my body.
"No. Stop," She cuts me off sternly but tenderly, "Don't talk like that, Reece. I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay," She speaks softly, reaching her hand up to gently brush her thumb over my cheek, just under the cut that's there.
"We're okay," I repeat, taking a small step closer to her.
She nods with a small smile, moving her hand down from my cheek and instead placing the palm of her hand on my chest, right over my heart. I know she can feel how fast my heart is beating. I just don't know why it's doing that.
~
Reece Carter is the bad boy of Northwood High. He smokes and he fights. He has countless tattoos covering his body. And he doesn't care about anything or anyone else.
Layla Stevens is your average seventeen year-old girl, just trying to get through high school, with the friends she loves and doing the things she loves.
When these two cross paths accidentally in an unusual way, they leave and never expect to speak to each other again.
But fate has other plans.
Layla finds her way into Reece's life and Reece doesn't know what to do about it. This ray of Sunshine suddenly meant something to him. She understood him when it seemed like no one else did.
And he protected her from everyone who tried to hurt His Sunshine.
Get ready for a story filled with bad pick-up lines, twin telepathy and a lot of fighting. Like, a LOT. Thanks for that one, Reece.