Wowww it feels it's been too long. I love this story and even though I am writing it for fun, I really wanna see it to completion. So here is another update hope you enjoyed – this is a rushed upload cause I gotta run so sorry for any mistakes.

Thankfully, having absent parents meant Jasmine didn't have to ask her parents to have company over. With complete confidence she ushered her bestie inside, demanding he sit on the couch while she changed out of her now icky school clothes.

" Yes'm." He plopped onto her couch like a sack if potatoes, his arms flexing as he placed him behind his head.

Blushing, Jasmine raced upstairs to her room, throwing her door open.

She needed to get a grip. Now.

The rain as her soundtrack, she tore through her closet wildly, searching for something that fit this situation.

The fixing her friendship equation.

She needed something cute enough to not make him think she was trying to dim down for him, but also that covered up enough to hide her bruises and not make him think she was trying to seduce him. Not that he'd ever be interested in climbing back in her pink sheets anytime soon.

He had Wayward.

Jasmine tugged a little too hard on her baby blue tee, stretching it slightly. Crap. Sighing, she carefully tugged it on. Thankfully, it only showed a little of the bruise on her left breast. But she doubted he'd be paying that much attention. She clawed off her bra in an effort to make her boobs less " push-uppy," and paired it with navy blue basketball shorts that fell mid-thigh ( Riley's old shorts), and a pair of thigh high white socks. Fluffing her wild hair she did a once over before scurrying down the stairs. Huey was very impatient and would leave without saying anything if she took too long. Skidding across her creaking floorboards, she raced over to where Huey was still sitting, eyes closed.

She tapped his shoulder twice. Hard.

" Jasmine-" he hissed, turning towards her, but whatever irritation he had with her fizzled on his tongue. His eyes widened, taking her in, and she didn't miss the way his pupils sharpened in dilation. The way the muscle in his jaw tensed and relaxed then tensed again.

Crap. Maybe the top was a bad idea.

" Uh- " she cleared her throat and rubbed her arms for warmth. Under his stare the room felt even colder. "I'll start your food as you start our homework ?"

She watched him swallow hard, before his eyes narrowed slightly, making her clutch her arms a little harder. When he spoke it was monotone. " If you're gonna be working with food tie your hair up." His head turned swiftly back to the tv as he flicked through channels for the news.

He was a stickler for the stupidest things. She wasn't a mcdonald's employee.

An image of Huey's stupid angry face at finding a clump of hair in his soup made her she felt she had annoyed him enough; so after forcing her hair into a bun on her head, she skipped towards the kitchen to get to work.

A lot of the afternoons she spent with Huey went like this.

Jasmine would fix Huey his favorite vegan meals while he would " help" with Jasmine's homework. Huey's grandad refused to adhere to Huey's vegan diet so he relied a lot on Jas when he didn't want to cook, and Jasmine needed him to pass her science classes. Though Huey didn't believe in cheating, he always created guidelines for her that dumbed the material down just enough for her more literature-oriented brain to understand.

They would do this in a comfortable silence, switching from Jasmine's punky music to Huey's boring podcasts. To Jasmine, this time together was perfect proof of how comfortable they were together.

She really eff'd everything up.

This day, they listened to nothing – the air tense. The sound of her dicing tomatoes seemed so loud against the quiet. Every time she dared peek at him he seemed focus, his pencil scribbling away, his jaw tense. His long lashes cast small shadows on his cheekbones, and the way he clenched his brows together made her smile. Against the rain outside, he was the picture of broodiness. He just needed the bat symbol.

" What's so funny ?"

Jasmine squeaked, turning back to the stove before their eyes met again. Hurriedly she scooped two lavish scoops of tomato bisque into a wide blue bowl, sprinkling parsley on top. " I just love this arrangement of ours."

A soft and deep chuckle graced her eardrums. " Yes, prostituting my work for a grilled cheese is definitely a habit I love maintaining."

Jasmine's cheeks flushed at the word prostitute and it's suggestiveness, flipping his said grilled cheese before[KDD1] it got too burned. " Oh don't get all morall-y on me now Huey Freeman."

" For a writer, you sure do use a lot of made up words Dubois."

She giggled, turning to glare at him playfully. He was watching her, still somber but his eyes shone with a soft twinkle.

" Well Freeman," Jasmine breathed, " I like to call it having creativity."

Huey smirked that annoying smirk, and she whipped her head back towards the stove. She was sure her face matched the bisque.

There was a period of uncomfortable (but definitely less tense) silence.

A skrrt against the wood made Jasmine jump. Then footsteps. Oh no. He was walking towards her, and she needed to find a way to keep her cool. They were finally reaching a good place again, she could not mess this up.

His heat soon enveloped her, somehow feeling warmer than the stove.

Still a coldness seized her blood as she felt his hand graze her back, featherlight, as if any more pressure would make her break.

His breath by her ear made her tense even more. " How are you feelin Dubois."

She gulped, masking herself into feigned indifference. " I already told you in the car – I'm fine Huey."

His answering hum sounded belittling. " Really ?"

She turned again, fixing her meanest stare on him. Big mistake. His gaze on her was penetrating, so much so she swore he could see right through her and through her lies. See not only her bruised body but her aching heart. With no warning the hand that was still on her back pressed harder.

Where he had pressed her almost violently against her bed as he pounded towards his climax.

Jas couldn't help the whimper that escaped her at the memory. But still she refused to back down. Her eyes settled on his again, focused, and ready.

His own had slightly widened at the pained sound she made before narrowing. For a moment all that could be heard was the rain outside, the sizzle of the stove, and their mingled breaths. His hand never left her lower back, and she cursed that stupid growth spurt he had a year ago – it was hard to be intimidating when she only barely met his shoulders.

This was it though. The moment. The way she reacts to him will set the course for the rest of their relationship.

Or end it forever.

Panic swirled in her stomach, rising to her throat. She forced her eyes to stay focused on his, despite the quite different panic his big browns sparked in her.

" I promise." She lied. " I am perfectly fine." She forced her hand to move to his shoulder – an action she used to do absentmindedly but now sent chills through her[KDD2] .

Pushing down the nerves, she forced a pointed look on her face. "Physically AND emotionally."

Lightning flashed, lightening Huey's face for a short moment. His eyes were so bright, yet so little emotion was betrayed in them. Jasmine's hand trembled against her will, and she screamed internally, praying he wouldn't notice.

But she knew it was fruitless -he would notice.

He noticed everything.

Shock rang through her hand as he grabbed it, almost tentatively, pushing it off of him so gently she almost couldn't feel insulted. His knowing eyes seeped into her, scratching across her skin finally resting along her collar bone. On the bruise he left her with.

The purpled mark burned under his gaze, but not as much as his eyes on her when they finally returned to her face. Cold. Calculated.

His lips moved, and it took a second for Jasmine to hear the words that followed.

" Show me."