---

Can't you see that you're smothering me
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you

---

"Oi, wimp."

Tyler had become accustomed to the greeting. He didn't have to look away from his locker, but he did anyway, to see Adelaide half dragging herself toward him. Her uniform was limp and unflattering on her slim form and her hair looked like a bird has taken refuge in it. The clean black lines that normally outlined her pale blue eyes were messy and uneven making it look like someone has socked her one in the eye. She readjusted her empty looking satchel on her shoulder and slumped down against the lockers beside him, grunting.

"Did you get the number of the truck that ran you over?" Tyler teased with a chuckle, but immediately shut up when Adelaide glared up at him, her pale blue eyes like daggers. "So," she started with a clear of his throat as she pretended to shuffle around in his locker. "What did you do last night?"

He heard Adelaide bang her head against a locker a winced. "Thought of ways to commit suicide …" she mumbled, more to herself than him. He couldn't help the burst of fear that pumped through his veins at her words, joke or not. "The minute I got home, Edward was on top of me itching for details like a fuckin' leech. Stupid he-bitch would not leave me alone. Kept bugging me all night for juicy details about what we did." A small smile crept onto her face and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her lips. Tyler's heart clenched at the sound. "Finally told him I shagged you senseless but by then it was time for me to get to school. So if he asks …"

Tyler was so red he could have put a tomato to shame. "I … why would you say something like that?" he asked as he zipped his backpack closed and slung it over his shoulder. His hands tightened around the strap as vivid images of what could be passed through flashed through his mind. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't … you know … and you're telling …"

Adelaide rolled her eyes and sighed. "Does the word 'lie' mean anything to you at all? You seem to have a hard time understanding the concept of something that's the opposite of truth. I know what we agreed to and I'm more than happy to honour the agreement. Doesn't mean I don't get to make you squirm every once in a while."

Tyler shut his locker, unable to deal with her sadistic sense of humour and the subject they were currently discussing. She knew how he felt about her and used it as ammunition to hurt him, unintentionally or not. "Didn't you need help with your English essay? Professor Geoff said he'd help you out with it before class."

"You don't really expect me to go in there looking like this, do you? As you put it lightly before I look like I got run over by a truck and I sound like two frogs are having sex in my wind pipes." Adelaide grumbled as she held out her arms for him to pull her up. He hesitantly obliged. "Think that Sarah girl will take pity on me and work some of her prep magic on me hideous visage before class?" She asked as she dusted off her buttocks.

Tyler quirked an eyebrow not only at the fact that she had just said something so ridiculously out of character but that she had wrapped her arm around his. "Since when do you care what other people think about you?" he asked, struggling to gather his thoughts.

"Since a Prince of Ipswich is hot for my body. What would the Spencer populace think if they saw you associating with a lowly peasant who looks like she could be Frankenstein's cousin? Besides, I'm not in the mood to go on a walk of shame with you. I don't have the energy or the will power to break Barbie heads today."

Tyler chuckled half-heartedly at her attempt at lightening up the situation. She didn't have a way with words but she was trying and that had to count for something. It did, with him anyway. But that still didn't stop the clenching in his chest or the dropping of his stomach every time she mentioned the two of them together in a sentence. He'd seen her cry, he'd heard her laugh, he'd tasted her and he wanted more. But … how far was he willing to push her to get what he wanted?

The world seemed to fade around them as she led him to English class, her endless babble never reaching his ears though he did feel the tightening of her arm around his and that … that wasn't enough for him. But for now it was going to have to do.

---

Adelaide dropped down in her seat in third math, her father smiling brightly at her from his desk in the front of the classroom. He sent a warm wave in her direction but she ignored it, focusing on the intricately designed ceiling above her. Tyler was beside her, doing some last minute scribbling in his notebook. While he cared about passing this class, she didn't. Homework was so far beyond her she couldn't even see it's fat shadow anymore.

Her eyes drifted to the corner of the room where Tyler's friends resided, their eyes trained in thier general direction. They could have been looking at anything but Adelaide knew better. They weren't comfortable or happy with the fact that Tyler was spending as much time with her as he was but she couldn't help it. He was a glutton for punishment, not that she was any better.

"Your friends have a staring problem. Make a mental note to tell them to fuck off, especially that blonde basturd, Garwin. He keeps sending me notes asking me what underwear I'm wearing, if any. The only reason I haven't ripped his testicles off yet is because you're friends but he's testing my patience; what little of it I have." She grunted, her hands interlacing behind her neck as she leaned back in her seat.

Tyler made an acknowledging noise as he continued to furiously scribble in his notebook. She wouldn't push it. She knew how much math homework and pleasing the man meant him.

She tilted her head back, settling on staring at the ceiling once again when her head inadvertently tuned in to the conversation going on behind her. Adelaide couldn't help but eaves drop on the conversation. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. Class didn't start for another fifteen minutes.

"So Aaron and I were out last night at this cute restaurant and guess who we saw there?"

"Brangelina?

"In Ipswich? Girl, wake up from that dream."

"Shut up. So anyway, we were just about to leave when we saw her," she paused. "And Tyler. I couldn't believe it. That little twerp actually had the guts to ask that freak out. And to make matters worse he let her … kiss him. It was disgusting. She was leaned over the table sucking his face like wet octopus in front of the entire restaurant. And that's not the worse part … Tyler actually seemed to be … enjoying it!"

"I think I just lost my lunch … wait, I haven't eaten anything yet. Never mind."

"Was is as horrible as it sounds?"

"Worse."

Leave it to Kiera to blow things way out of proportion. Adelaide growled, fighting to keep her anger in check. Who was she to go around spreading lies about her? What she did outside of school was none of her or anyone else's business. She had the right to spend her time with whomever she pleased and do whatever the hell she pleased with them.

Adelaide was about to turn around and rip the red head a new face when Tyler's voice broke her from her anger induced trance.

"Done. Finally. You were saying?" She looked over at him, a lazy grin on his slightly flushed face. All anger seemed to dissipate.

"I was saying …" she tried to remember what she had said to him earlier but she couldn't remember. Stupid Edward and his brain call eating pointless rants about Perez Hilton and his faboulessness. "I was saying that you should stop being so damn cheerful all the time. And stop smiling, your teeth are giving me a migraine."

Tyler chuckled as she planted both her chair legs on the ground and planted her hands on the desk, exhaling. "Pardon my amazing hygiene skills-" He reached over and tugged at her loose sweater. "Madame Suitcase Lady."

Before Tyler could react, Adelaide's hand shot out and grasp his chin firmly in her hand, bringing it closer to her. Adelaide shook her head with a sigh and licked the pad of her thumb before descending it on his left cheek. "What hygiene skills? You've got pen all over your face, moron."

All the blood in Tyler's body raced to his face and Adelaide couldn't help the swelling of her chest at the fact. She licked the pad of them and ran it over the offending blue marks as many times as need, her attempts making a violent red stop on his already red cheek.

"What are … I'm not a baby." Tyler mustered, though he didn't pull out of her grasp, his hands coming up and gently winding around her wrists.

A crooked, almost smirk crept onto Adelaide's lips as she cocked her head to the side. There were so many things she wanted to say right now … the way he was looking at her was too much, doing things to her she didn't understand but didn't reject either. Was this what her old man felt every time he looked at Edward … was this what her mother felt when she first met the old –

"See, that's exactly what I mean. He let's her put her filthy little hands all over him." Adelaide didn't take her hand off her Tyler's face as they both turned to face Kiera. Tyler tried to pull her hand off his face but she refused to budge, her eyes narrowing in a menacing manner he didn't like. "Freak love is vomit inducing, Tyler, you can do so much better than that-" she pointed at Adelaide with a freshly manicured finger. "- monster."

"Adelaide, don't …" Tyler's voice broke through the veil of anger that was now clouding her senses once again.

She didn't realize she had been grinding her teeth or that her face had turned beet red. Her one hand was shaking against Tyler's cheek while the other was clenched tightly in her lap, the veins angrily sticking out on her hands ready to explode at a moments notice.

"What?" Kiera provoked, resting her face o her hand as she leaned forward in her desk. "Have nothing to say because you know it's true?"

Adelaide's eyes darkened, her jaw set tight. "I suggest you stop talking now, Kiera, before I give you a black eye to match your boyfriends." Her cheek twitched.

Kiera laughed, and cocked her head to the side, her eyes momentarily wavering on Professor McCarthy in the front before turning to Adelaide. Her friends beside her giggled at the dark haired girl, her face becoming redder as every second passed. "You don't have the guts to do anything while dear daddy's around." She chuckled. "Not even he can save you from the Provost if you lay a hand on me."

Adelaide bolted out of her chair, knocking it over the process. She raised her fist. Kiera's eyes widened in shock and her friends let out a high-pitched scream that alerted her old man in the front of the room.

"Think again." She threw her fist forward, her hand just inches from Kiera's face … when … it stopped.

Adelaide turned to the side, her arm gripped tightly in Tyler's hand. She tried to free herself but he wouldn't budge, he wouldn't let her go. She could see her old man running toward them through the corner of her eye, Tyler's friends standing up in their seat with infuriated eyes. Hot tears stinging at her eyes, air escaping her lungs at mind numbing speed …

Adelaide used her free hand smacked Tyler across the face sending him sprawling back into the desks behind them. She wrenched herself free of his slacked grip, grabbed her backpack and pushed her way to the isle. Her old man stood there, surprised and angry all at the same time. She didn't bother to apologize as she pushed him out of the way and hurried out of the classroom toward the parking lot.

By the time she reached her VW bug she hadn't calmed down. She fumbled around in her pockets for her keys, unable to find them. A loud half growl, half scream erupted from her lips as she gripped at her hair, practically seething.

"Adelaide!"

She didn't turn to see who it was; his reflection in her car window was enough. Tyler stopped behind her, a violent red handprint present on his face as he reached out to her.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, turning around and swatting his hand away. Her eyes were wild and dangerous, her face as red as a chilli, probably as hot. "I thought you were my friend! I thought you would stand by me no matter what I did! You humiliated me back there, you ignorant son of a bitch! You heard what she said! She deserved what was coming to her!" she swallowed thickly, the world spinning. "You stopping me … tells me what you think what said was … right."

Tyler shook his head, his head reaching out and snatching her wrist, pulling her closer toward him. She didn't refuse. "I don't care what she said. It didn't deserve a beating. No harm no foul. Words are words, Adelaide; you need to get over the fact that people are going to say things you don't like. You're allowed to have your opinions and so are they. It's not Kiera's fault you have an ego the size of a planet!"

Adelaide's eyes narrowed, her breathing becoming haggard. "Did you just …?" she growled and pulled her wrist out of his hand, balled it into a fist and smashed it a hard as she could in his face.

Tyler stumbled back and clutched his mouth, bright red liquid seeping through his shaking fingers. He looked up at Adelaide with wide eyes, warm tears streaming down her cheeks as she slowly backed away … laughing?

"You're just like them … I thought you were different. I thought you liked me for who and what I am but everything … everything you told me was lie! I can't believe I actually let you mean something to me." She wide smile appeared on her face. "I was tired of coming in second to girls like Kiera, I was tired of being compared to girls like Sarah, I was tired of being put down by assholes like Aaron. I took a stand, I've been taking a stand my whole life and today you took that away from me. She ruined my life … a Kiera ruined my life and this was my chance to start over …" Tyler took a step toward her but she quickly retreated back, laughing as she fat tears rolled down her cheeks onto the dirt ash vault. "If you ever come near me again, if you ever speak to me again, if you ever so much as look at me again there is nothing on this earth that will save you from me. I will make sure suffer for what you did."

And then she was gone.

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Numb © Linkin Park

Oh, the cliché … : (

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