1.

It was just another party. Like any other party I had been to before. There was drinking, smoking, vandalism, sexual relations, you name it. It was everywhere I looked. And two years ago, I would've been one of these high school fools burning out their braincells with that conceited grin on my face too. But I'm not anymore. I don't want anything to do with it. It doesn't make me feel anything. Not since-

I shook the image from my mind. It wasn't worth the pain right now. I was over it. She was gone, and that's all that was left to my story with her. I looked down at the fading floorboard, how the wood was chipping in places or rotting from age of excessive parties I wasn't sure. I could see how every grain of wood fit together so perfectly, so effortlessly that it was unfair. Life was never that simple when it came to any of this. How do you find that right person? Your other half? Everyone in my family has theirs. They have their own life to look after and experience everything with. Claire has Jason, Jonathan has Amber, and even Josie has Collin. I had someone, but she didn't want anything to do with…with me.

The heat was rushing to my face rapidly, and I blinked my eyes to hold the tears back. I swallowed the knot in my throat and proceeded to walk. I needed to get my mind off of her. She made her choice, and now I would have to make mine. I couldn't spend the rest of my life in misery of her. I already wasted two years while she was off in college and meeting the man that fits her dream that I couldn't. I pushed past all the swarming bodies moving in rhythm to the music. I brushed against too much bare skin for my taste, but girls felt the need to show off every crevice of their body for men to love them. As I wove through them, I glanced at some of their eyes, and for a moment I didn't feel so alone in this room. They all had the same lost glaze in their eyes, a same yearning for something greater to happen here tonight, something greater than getting laid and drunk. That's where the similarities ended for us. While they were willing to stay and be a part of any of this, I knew that I had to get out of here, that nothing was going to help me. I would find no sanctuary in alcohol or sex. Amber told me that once.

Leaving the party was a lot harder than expected. So many people crowding the entrance like they weren't ready to let me leave yet, that I wasn't allowed to go. With grace I was able to make my way through another ten people before I finally felt the knob on the door. It was a little bit more wet than I remembered, but I pushed that out of my mind because I didn't want to think of all the possibilities it would be soaked in. The cold air hit my skin with a sharp sting, a reprimanding slap that I shouldn't have gone in their to begin with. And I knew that it was right.

People lingered on the lawn of the abadonned house as if they were unsure to leave. Some were still drinking while a certain couple had the urge to openly express their love for each other by the tree without wearing clothes. Another group of four guys and one girl were mingling over by the porch, but maybe mingling was too light of a word. By the looks of it, I was positive that a fight would break out sooner or later, but seeing as passing them meant a quicker escape to my car, I was hoping later. But, as usual, I was wrong, and that moment would change my life forever.

One of the boys, the tallest of them with brown, shaggy hair shoved the brunette into the side of the porch. She cried out in pain as he pinned her to the wood and pressed his face into her neck. She tried pushing him away, but he just held her down. The other guys were cheering him on. As his fingers fumbled with trying to rip her shirt off, my mind numbly registered what was happening, and before I knew it, my feet were moving towards them. Blind fury directed my fist, and soon enough the poor boy was on the ground, rolling in pain.

"What the hell, man?" He spat out blood, but surprisingly no teeth came with the fluid. His feet were shaky, but he manager to stand. He impatiently glared at his friends and waved his hands. "Well? Are you idiots just going to stand there?"

Now for any human boy in this situation, it would seem to be a bad time. Four against one. To any other guy, this would seem like such a sad moment where he would know that death was probably the only option he had. A human boy would probably get his ass kicked. Good thing I was no human boy. I was barely human at all.

I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders, getting in my stance for a fight. I flashed them a grin that would give them nightmares for weeks. My chest rumbled, giving the low, audible sound of a menacing growl. Their faces twisted in confusion and fear, but they all seemed to realize at once that this was not a person they wanted to pick a fight with. As they ran away with the tails between their legs, I noticed a strange tattoo on the back of the taller boy's neck: three small circles looped together on the inside of a large triangle. I rolled my eyes at the picture. Probably some white boy pretending to be in a bit shot cult.

The grass moved behind me, and I turned to see the girl had sunk to the ground, her legs finally collapsing on her. He breaths were short and ragged, but for the most part she seemed fine. At least physically. The mental distress of almost being raped would be hard for her to forget, but just by looking at her I could tell she was strong. She hid her face in her hands while she tried to catch her breath, and her body trembled from the tears that I was sure were falling down her cheeks. I pressed my hand gently against her shoulder, and she jumped in fright. Her wide eyes looking at me in a frenzy, and in that moment, everything melted away. Never in my life had I seen such beautiful, round, gray eyes that were dipped in the richest of silver on this planet. Despite her fright, they were so warm, so welcoming that I had a hard time looking away. And for the first time in a long time, I felt something.

She was more beautiful than I expected. Actually, there was nothing really flashy about her. She was exiqsite in her normalcy. Her face was sharp and angular, but she had a porcelain complection Her hair was dark brown and long, her eyes covered by thick, black eyelashes. She had a tiny mole on the left side of her nose. Her jaw was set and strong, almost as if in her fear, she had a reflex to fight back. Her neck was tight and her shoulders flexed. This was no girl who was going to roll over in the dirt and give up. There was something so graceful, so beautiful about how she looked. Never in my life had I seen someone who looked like this, and suddenly, I wanted everything to do with her.

I pulled my hand from her. "Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared." She snapped defensively, "Just surprised."

I chuckled softly. "Of course. No fear around these parts."

She breathed out of her nose loudly in some sort of a laugh, but I liked it. It was genuine. Her shoulder relaxed slightly, and she looked around the yard. No one was around anymore. She rubbed her hands on her jeans and made a move to stand up. Faster than I should have in front of a human, I stood up and held out my hand for her to take. She gasped slightly and blinked a few times before she gave me her hand. It was warm. I pulled her to her feet and she brushed the rest of the dirt from her pants. Now seeing her standing up, she was more muscular than I originally thought. Her body was built for speed and agility. Her arms were toned and defined, and through her jeans I could see just how defined her thigh were. Just by looking at her and how she was standing, I could tell that she could defend herself. She didn't need anyone doing it for her.

"Thanks," she finally said after a moment of awkward silence. "That couldn't of ended well." She gave me a small grin.

There was tension between us, but I couldn't figure out why. Neither of us could barely get out one sentence to each other.

"No problem. Guys are jerks." My voice was shaky, nervous.

She nodded in aggreance. "Ain't that the truth." She paused slightly. "Some of them at least. Not many jerk men would come help a girl out of that kind of situation with three other guys as back up." She raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Guess I'm not like most jerk men."

She held out her hand again. "Katherine, but most people just call me Kat."

I shook her hand. "Joshua. Not Josh."

She smiled. "Well, Joshua, thanks for your help, but I better be getting home. My mom might get worried." She faultered at the end of her sentence just barely it wouldn't be noticeable to the human ear, but to me she might as well have yelled it.

I jumped at my chance. "Would you like a ride home?"

She vacillicated, looking at me warily. She rocked back on her heels. She started to protest, but I stopped her.

"Look, I'm not some psycho. If I was, I would have just left you to whatever his name was. Plus, you're drunk, and I don't want to be responsible for you walking out into the middle of the street and getting hit by a truck.

"Fair enough." Kat finally answered, pushing her long, brown hair over her shoulder.

We walked in painful silence to my car just across the street. She let out a low whistle when she saw it.

"This is your car?" her eyes opened wide in disbelief.

I cracked a smile. "Yeah. A gift from my dad on my eighteenth birthday last year." I stared proudly at the Audi R8 Jonathan bought for me last year. I could have bought one on my own, but he wanted to have the pride of buying his son a car. Must be a dad thing.

"Some birthday present." She mumbled until something else grabbed her attention. "Wait. Last year? You're only nineteen?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just…" she shook her head slightly. "You just looked so much older."

"I get that a lot. Now are we going to discuss my car and age all night, or am I going to take you home sometime soon?" she stuck out her tongue at my pushy tone, but she slid into my car with ease, reveling in the feel of the leather seats.

I slid in after her, shutting the door quietly. I started the car, and I saw her visibly relax as the engine roared to life. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment, and I let her relax. From the look of discomfort on her face, I could tell that this night had been hard for her. We sat like that for a few minutes until she finally caught me staring at her.

"What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, just waiting for you to go into shock."

"Shock?"

"Yeah. That would techinically count as a traumatic experience. I'm waiting for you to go itno shock or break down or something. You're just being so calm about all of this."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm not some spineless little girl. I can take care of myself. He caught me off guard, that was all. I'm stronger than I seem." She clenched her jaw, and her gray eyes flashed with sharp steel. She was offended that I would think her weak to go into shock. But I saw something else in her defense of my words. I saw a wall cast high over her. She was guarded which would explain how defensive she got over everything. And I didn't know why, but for some reason I wanted to be the one who got over that wall, who took it down and saw the inside of her soul. I wanted to get to know her so bad, to know why she would put up a wall in the first place.

"I don't think you're spineless" was all I said before putting the car in gear and hitting the gas. The car lurched forward and quickly accelerated.

She grabbed the handle at the top of car. She clenched her teeth. "Do you always drive this fast?" Kat asked warily as she watched me pass cars quicker than human reflexes could react.

"Basically."

"And if you crash?"

"I won't." I switched the subject to distract her. "Where do you live?"

She was silent for a moment. "Just past east main street by the old hospital." Again, her voice wavered just ever so slightly.

But I nodded and pretended to listen. I turned left.

"I said-" Kat began.

"I know what you said, but you don't live over there."

Her eyes narrowed again. "And what makes you say that, Mr. know-it-all?"

"Because I know when I'm being lied to." I glared right back at her. He gaze didn't waver. I pulled over on the side of the road and put the car in park. "Look, I'll take you wherever you want me to take you. If you want to lie about having a home, fine. I'll drop you off in some filthy neighborhood where other men are just waiting to take advantage of young girls like you if that's what you want. I'll leave you there without a second thought and be on my way. Or you can get off your high horse and quit pretending that you're better than everybody else and tell me the truth, and I can see what I can do to help you. How about that?" Something about this girl brought out the fire in me, and part of me resented it, but the other part of me was curious to find out why Kat was like this.

Kat's face finally softened as she looked down at her hands which she placed firmly in her lap.

"I can't help you if you don't let me."

Her wall came right back up. "I don't need anyone's help."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine! Which drug lord's house should I drop you off at? Name any one because that's where you'll end up at unless you stop being so damn stubborn and let me help you."

"Why do you want to help me?"

I sighed, giving up. "I don't know. Never mind. Just get out. If this is how you're going to be, I don't want to play this game."

And for the first time all night, she had no witty comeback and snide remark. She just sat there. "I don't have anywhere to go. I haven't had a home in a long time."

My eyes looked over at her, seeing how her body slumped in the chair. She looked hurt, defeated, her ego bruised.

Without another word, I put the car in drive and left the curb in the dust.

Hey guys! It's definitely been a while since I've written on here, and I've missed it so much. I've been tossing this story around my brain for a while now and just decided to start writing it out of the blue, so if this chapter is a little snippy, I apologize, but it's supposed to be like that for a reason. This is another book off the Burning Desire series with a point of view from Joshua, Amber's son. Feel free to leave any reviews. I promise the best is yet to come. -Kaitlyn