Love Me - TWO

        By Monday the swelling on my cheek had gone down which saved me from having to explain it to my friends at school. It was still a faint purple, but that could be easily covered by a hint of make-up. I stood in the mirror to my bathroom, applying light powder to the bruise when there was a honking sound from outside.

My stomach already churned, nauseated. I didn't even have to pull back the window shades to see the red tint of his car. There sat Mason; prompt and ready to go.

I grabbed my bag in a hurry and shouted a quick goodbye to my family, before heading out the door.

When he arrived he expected me to be out there right on time. No exceptions. I learned that the hard way.

"Morning." I said subtly as I opened the door to the passenger side, even though I'd have much rather sat in the back. There was a less chance of getting hit back there.

"Good morning." he replied, easily backing out of the driveway. He rested his hand on my seat.

"You doing anything later?" he asked after we were a few minutes down the road.

"I've got work."

"You're riding with me, then."

"Mason, I'm perfectly capable getting there on my own."

He clenched his jaw and shot his head around to face me. "You're riding with me." His answer was final. I nodded, and looked away from him. He released his grip on my seat as he turned into our school's parking lot. I caught my friends Aly and Rachel raise their hands to wave as he pulled into his usual parking space. Mason turned off the ignition, and I climbed out, eager to be out of his reach. He glared in my direction as I jogged up to the front doors. I knew I'd suffer for it later. Mason always walked me in, but after what happened the previous day, I couldn't bear being in his presence any longer than necessary.

"Hey," Aly greeted me as we made our way down the hall.

"Rough morning?" Rachel asked, slightly grimacing at my appearance. I frowned, hoping the bruises weren't too evident on my face.

"Um, not really. Just tired." Rachel didn't question me further, but Aly went on.

"So where's Mason?" she asked.

"He's parking. We don't have to be with each other every second," I added a joking smile for emphasis.

"Of course not," Rachel said with a giggle, "it's just that, you guys seem insepareble. You're always together."

I looked down, refusing to meet their gaze as a lie formed on my lips.

"Well...we love each other. Maybe you guys will understand someday." Aly playfully rolled her hazel eyes.

"Gee thanks. Just rub it in our forever-alone faces."

"You know I didn't mean it like that."

"We know, I'll catch you guys in Pre-Cal." Rachel said hurrying off once we reached our lockers. She's assigned at the end of the hall while Aly and I, both surname's beginning with F, were only four spaces away.

"Catch ya later." I said opening my locker. Just as I reached in and grabbed my Physics textbook, it was taken right out of my hands before I could even open my bag.

"Hey!" I turned around meet with Chase's face inches above mine. He smirked down at me.

"Morning Kay."

"Give it back!" I went for my book, but he held it high above my reach. "No fair." He was amused at my misfortune.

"Chase Ryan McCaugh....you've got five seconds to give it back. Five, four, three..."

He continued to smirk without moving an inch. I stepped forwards, reaching with open hands, only for him to pull it back.

"Two..." I narrowed my eyes, voice dropping to a whisper . "Don't make me say it."

"Or what..." he challenged.

"Two and a half..."

He fake yawned, in boredom.

"Alright that's it-" but before I could finish my sentence, another arm reached in, pulling me back from Chase.

Mason's body now stood between us.

"Enough dude, give it back." he cut in.

Chase shot a questioning look between the two of us. I crossed my arms. "Mason-"

"Stay out of this." he warned. "Give her the damn book back."

By now he'd caught the attention of the lingering students around us. He always had to make a scene.

"Um, okay..." Chase held the book out to me. "We were just goofing around. Chill out."

"Yeah because making her late to class is goofing around. She could get in trouble for that." Mason argued getting into his face.

"What the hell is your problem, man?" Chase shot back at him. "You need to calm the f**k down it's not that serious."

"I'll show you what's my problem!!" Mason swung at him, but I jumped in before he could hit him, barely missing the blow to my head. Chase's eyes widened.

"Kay-" he yelled.

"Enough!!" I shouted, stepping between the two. I looked away from Chase so that I wouldn't see his confused and concerned face, and instead met the furious expression of Mason.

"Chase, just go to class, and Mason...please." I pleaded. "Don't do this. Just like Chase said, we were just messing around. Seriously." Mason's infuriation suddenly diminished and formed into a smile.

"Of course." he looked at Chase who was glaring at him. "Sorry about that man."

Chase didn't reply. Instead he looked to me and said, "I'll catch you after class Kay. We need to talk." With that, he brushed past us and headed down the hall. The inspecting group went their separate ways, leaving me alone with Mason. I was almost too afraid to even look at him. I grabbed my book off the floor, and started down the hall, only to be yanked back by my right arm. Wimpering, I attempted to turn away, but Mason pulled me full force towards him.

"Don't try to f*****g run away from me Kay." he tightened his grip on me.

"Mason you're hurting me!"

"Listen!" he spat in my face. "Don't you ever f*****g walk away from me again. And if I catch you with that b*****d after class, I swear I'll rip your damn arm out of your socket, you understand me?! You thought you could avoid me huh?" he dug his nails into my skin.

"No..." I replied refusing to meet his eyes.

"Look at me!" he forced my chin up. "Do.You.Understand.Me?"

"I-I understand."

"Good." he pushed me away from him. All of a sudden his expression softened. "I love you." he rasped.

"I-I love you too."

I shook as I gathered up my things for class, and grabbed his hand. He tightened his grip and pulled me down the hall. The bell rung. So much for not making me late to class..

.

He stayed behind me until I reached my first period class which thankfully didn't include him. He stood by the door, out of eyesight from the rest of the class as I twisted the nob open and went inside.

"Miss Fischer, you're tardy." Mr. Beaker said without raising his head when I stepped into the room.

"Sorry," I responded quietly as I took my seat in the back next to Aly. Her head was turned to face me and I knew she'd be asking questions about this later, but I kept my gaze focused on my desk. For now I was safe and away from him. Even though I was late, at least he wasn't here.

That's all that mattered.

Author's Note

This along with the first few chapters are pretty old and haven't undergone editing yet. Therefore, they contain plenty of errors which I'm aware of. However, I'm still open to constructive criticism.