"Hey there Hermione" Eddie sauntered over to Mara, slinging his arm over her shoulders.

Seeing Mara walking through the school halls towards their next class on her own, Eddie decided to join her and maybe put a smile back onto her face. Eddie had heard from Patricia who'd been told by a distraught Mara what had happened when she'd gone up to bed the previous night and hadn't seen a smile from her since.

"Hermione? Isn't that what you call Patricia?" Mara mused, slightly uplifted by the company of Eddie and his impenetrable, cheeky schoolboy good mood. It was funny to her how he'd decided to use the same nick name that he used for his girlfriend on her, imagining what Patricia would have to say about it if she heard. Or rather, hit than say; they had an odd relationship.

"Meh, it suits you better. With the whole nerd thing you've got going on" he smirked at her, enjoying the defiant smile she sent back at him. As a way of response, she bumped her hip with his, causing her to stumble slightly, surprised at the strength he held. Reaching out to steady her, Eddie chuckled at her confounded expression.

"Shouldn't you be the one to fall after I bumped into you?" she frowned playfully, which just made him laugh more.

"What can I say, I'm just incredibly strong?" he retorted, popping his collar and beginning to strut down the corridor in mock attitude.

"Wow, you got swag, my friend" Mara began to wheeze out between hordes of laughter.

It was nice, being able to mess around with Eddie and he liked the fact that he'd been the one to elicit the smile from her. However, their playful conversation was interrupted by an exceptionally loud slam of a locker. Turning to the direction of the sound, Eddie and Mara found a jealous Jerome glaring at where their hands brushed gently at their sides.

Smirking ever so slightly, Eddie ever so casually leaned in and began to whisper in Mara's ear "may as well give him something real to be jealous about seen as he's clearly not over you" Eddie pulled back, flirtatiously tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. A slight blush coloured her carved cheeks at this, which was exactly the type of reaction he was hoping for. Though it was all very cliché of them, Eddie wanted to do everything he could to rile Jerome up. Mara was a great catch and quite honestly, he had no clue how Jerome had the brains to let that go. Especially as he had always seen, and could still see, how much she meant to him. Whether he fancied Willow or not, he loved Mara and that much was plain to see. Boys could be such idiots at times, especially when it came to their feelings, Eddie wasn't afraid to admit. And so he felt that a small part of this was his responsibility to help push Jerome back to what he loved- Mara.

Reaching in for a slightly longer than applicable for friends hug, Eddie winked over Mara's shoulder at Patricia who stood arms folded in the doorway with a none too impressed expression plastered onto her face. With an explanatory glance towards Jerome, a look of understanding passed across Patricia's face on seeing the spark of jealousy enrage Jerome's features. Instead, a wide smirk now spread across her face as Eddie retreated from his embrace with Mara and headed over to where Patricia stood and gave her quick kiss on the cheek, exclaiming "my work here is down" before heading down the corridor to their next class.


It was the end of second period when Mara trailed out of the classroom at the back of her peers, heading out for break. She was mindlessly humming an old lullaby her father had taught her when she was a small child, just about to leave the doorway when her action was countered by Jerome.

"Excuse me" she mumbled through her clenched teeth, attempting to get around him. But every step she took, from left to right, he stood in front of her to block her way.

Now it wasn't one those cliché accidental scenes that you see in every bad rom com; no, Jerome was purposefully keeping Mara there and Mara was annoyed almost as much as she could see Jerome was.

"Mara…" he tried to get her attention, for she was looking in every direction but at him. She just couldn't- not after yesterday, after what she'd seen. He'd broken her heart in a million ways, a million times already and he just kept coming back to reopen her wounds that were never fully healed to begin with.

"What do you want Jerome?" she sighed, finally reaching his eyes and trying her hardest to give her most convincing glare. But Jerome could see the softening in her gaze as she looked into his eyes, the eyes he'd missed endlessly for the past four days. As hard as she wanted to or tried, she couldn't hold back the pain and anguish that filled her eyes every time she saw him. And that killed him.

"What's going on between you and Eddie?" he growled, eyes as cold as she'd ever seen them before. She knew he was jealous, but he had absolutely no right to be. He'd made his bed, he could god damn lay in it.

"I really don't see how that's any of your business" she replied testily, although she knew that there was undeniably nothing going on between her and Eddie, or at least nothing more than a good friendship. But it still mattered to her that he was jealous when it seemed like she was with another guy, and even though she hated him for it, it still sent a swarm of butterflies fluttering around her stomach.

"Mara, is Eddie harassing you?" he snarled at her, determined to find out just what was going on between the two of them. Mara, though slightly taken aback by the question, regained her composure and slowly but surely replied in a monotone that ensured not to show any emotion. He didn't need to know that this mere conversation with her was leaving Mara slightly thrilled on the inside.

"No, Eddie is most certainly not 'harassing me'. And we are most certainly not an item, as I take it that's what you was insinuating. All he's done is comfort me, like a good friend should. He would never do that to Patricia, and neither would I. Besides, some of us take longer than a few hours to get over a break-up" Mara spat, and although he could hear the venom intended for her words, she couldn't control the emotion that overwhelmed her eyes. Pools of sadness clouded her vision and at that moment, Jerome could see right through her façade; she missed him.

Seeing the pained look in her eyes, he reached forward to brush her cheek with his fingertips and after an initial flutter at his touch where she couldn't help but close her eyes and inhale deeply trying her best not to break down and cry, she shook her head and began to pull away.

"Stop it, stop it!" she cried, biting her lip to stop herself from saying anything she'd regret, everything her heart screamed at her to say.

"Mara, please-"

"No, stop tormenting me like this! You've made your choice Jerome, you can't do this anymore!" she exclaimed, still trying to get past him. But he simply held her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to capture his eyes in a steady gaze.

"…But what if I made a mistake? What if I did something incredibly stupid and just want things the way they were? What if I miss the girl I'm in love with and intensely regret the day I ever even considered leaving her?" he explained with such sincerity and pain coating his words that Mara had no choice but to believe him.

His eyes screamed 'forgive me!" and it was hard; so god damn hard. She loved him more than anyone she'd ever been with, she'd never been with someone the way she'd been with Jerome. He was her first love and the only love she'd ever shared and losing him was the most painful experience she'd ever had to go through. But that's why she just couldn't accept anything that he was saying- he'd put her through so much, to just try and take it all back a few days later? No.

"Then you've just lost the girl you're in love with because of a mistake, Jerome"

"No, I haven't lost you, not yet" he assured her, shaking his head and brushing a hand through his hair, a sure sign to Mara that he was nervous.

"Jerome-

"No Mara, I refuse to listen to anything you have to say about how there's no chance for us. I know that I hurt you, and I know that it'd take everything I've got to gain your trust again. But I love you too much to let you go just as I realise how stupid I've been" no longer trying to outstep him, Mara listened to every word he had to say.

More than anything, she longed to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her head in his shoulder. To smile, laugh and cry all at the same time. What Mara truly desired was the love of the boy she'd lost, which she felt was one scar on her heart that could not be fulfilled. How could she feel the same love she'd once felt from him, knowing that she must not mean that much to him, she couldn't mean that much to him if he'd once started to second guess their relationship. Once a cheater, always a cheater. And it disgusted Mara to use that word to describe someone she held so dearly, but when it fitted in every way, shape and form, how could she not?

"You don't mean that" she solemnly bowed her head, knowing that he was only half aware of the promises he was making. She didn't understand how she could have gone through so many different emotions in such a short conversation; anger, frustration, love, sadness, mistrust.

"Yes, I do. And if you'll let me, I'll spend every damn day we're together proving it to you. Because I love you too much, and know you too well to give up on you. I'm the one who knows you Mara! I'm the only one who notices how when you're reading and you shiver, it means you're tired and need someone to convince you to put the book down and go to bed. I'm the one who can tell you're upset, just by the way you style your hair in the morning. I'm the one who knows something's worrying you just by the way you take an extra second to respond to someone who's talking to you. I'm the one who knows that that song you were humming earlier was the one you and your Dad used to sing, which you only sing when you're missing home" he finished pleadingly, trying to convince her how much he knew her. But it wasn't enough to just know her anymore.

"You're also the one who broke my heart" she whispered, and although it was said with hurt and anguish, she could also hear the passion leaking through to her words. She felt unsteady and overwhelmed, and so grabbed a fistful of Jerome's shirt in her hand and leaned into him.

The smell of him was intoxicating and just being in his embrace again sent a shiver of warmth dance along her spine. Her breathing became heavier, almost as if she'd stopped breathing properly since his absence in her life. She knew that she shouldn't be doing this, that it would just be that much harder when he left her again, but somehow she just couldn't pull away. There, right then in that moment, Mara felt like her heart was somehow expanding and fixing its cracks as it went. With his arms wrapped around her in the tightest, most constricting yet entirely comforting and enthralling hug, she didn't care about the past or future, she was with him in the present and that's all her heart could bare her to register. Cautiously pressing his lips to her temple, as if he was scared of her trying to retreat again, he held her face in his hands and delicately whispered,

"I'm also the one who's going to fix it"