Whoo, two chapters in less than 24 hours! I have an obsession with this story, send help. Fair warning, we learn a bit about smol bean's past and it's... not pretty. But luckily, next chapter is going to be a bit happier. And I have a question: whose POV would you rather read it from, Lorin or Alex? I'm down for whichever, but I'd like some advice. If you liked the tiny bit of bean x Alex this chapter, there might be more next chapter! Don't be afraid to review! ~Shaymie

Lorin's POV

Why won't he leave me alone? I stared at my phone as it vibrated for what seemed like forever, but was only about thirty seconds. Even though I had deleted his number, James still had mine. He was constantly calling me or texting me. It took all my willpower to not answer. I hadn't even read any of the texts, but there were hundreds of them, popping up on the top of my screen for a few seconds. The most recent one sent shivers down my spine. It was short enough that the preview showed all of the message.

Unknown number: Maria misses you.

All I had to do was say no.

Why can't you speak, you idiot?

You must like what they do to you.

Maria was right, you're nothing but a dirty fucking slut who can't say no.

You deserved it.

I took in a shaky breath as I heard knocking on my door. I shook away the thoughts and tried to stay calm. Everyone had been leaving me alone for the past few days (and thankfully it had been the weekend). I hadn't even left my room. Someone left me food everyday, but I hadn't had much of an appetite. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was time for dinner. I pinched my wrist, silently cursing Gil for taking my pack of razors away.

I walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see Alex, holding my usual tray of food. His hair was down and looked slightly damp-he must have just taken a shower- and he seemed nervous. Not that I blamed him. This was the first time anyone had seen me in a couple of days.

"Hey, Lorin… Can I come in?" I nodded and stepped to the side, letting him in. I shut the door behind him and slipped my phone into my pocket. He set the food on my dresser and sat down, running a hand through his hair. He looked around the room silently and sighed as he looked back at me.

"I'd ask if you're alright, but that's a pretty idiotic thing to ask." I snorted and tried to ignore the constant buzzing in my pocket.

All I had to do was say no. Just say no and all of it would be over. They would leave me alone.

But you must want it if you can't say no. You like being their plaything, don't you?

I turned my phone off and looked at Alex, who was staring at me, concern clear on his face. He probably thought I was a freak.

"How much sleep have you gotten, Lorin? You look exhausted." I shrugged. I had been pulling all-nighters the past few days, trying to get caught up on my homework. The few times I had drifted off to sleep were terrifying. I had nightmares about James and Maria, about their hands touching me, pulling my hair, hitting me, the feeling of their lips on mine-

A choked sob escaped my throat as I tried to push the memories back. Alex stood up and led me to my bed. I nodded thankfully as he grabbed a blanket (the one Eliza had knitted me last Christmas) and wrapped it around me tightly. He sat next to me and pulled me onto his lap, my head ending up on his chest. He looked away, his cheeks slightly tinted red.

"You should try to sleep. You've been having nightmares, I can tell… I can hear you crying in the middle of the night. I'll be right here if you can't sleep alone."

I wanted to argue back that I was perfectly fine, that I didn't need to sleep, but the words were caught in my throat. And I was so sleepy, and he was so warm… Maybe just a few minutes wouldn't hurt…

No nightmares. I reached up to rub my eyes and realized that something was restraining me. I started to panic before realizing that it was just Alex. Sometime in the night, he must have fallen asleep and pulled me along with him. I looked at the clock and gasped when I saw the clock. It was thirty minutes past noon! We had to get up for school! Why didn't Gil wake us up? I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned it on, seeing that I had an email from school.

There was no school today because of a faculty meeting. I smiled as I put the phone back in my pocket and tried to wiggle out of Alex's arms. He shuffled slightly and woke up as I sat up, smiling sleepily at me. Now that we were so close, I could see just how handsome he was...

"Hey, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?"

I nodded and looked away, sure that my face was bright red. God, Lorin, couldn't you know a guy without having a crush on him? Alex would never be interested in a slut like you.

"Y-Yeah… Thank you for staying with me. Oh, there's no school today! There's a faculty meeting." I saw Alex nod from the corner of my eye and tried to ignore the fluttery feeling in my chest as he stretched, the bottom of his shirt rising up slightly..

"It's no problem." He glanced over at my dresser, where the food he had brought up last night sat forgotten. "You must be hungry… Do you feel like coming downstairs today?"

"Yeah… I just need to take a shower…" Alex nodded again and stood up, turning towards the door. After a few seconds of silence, he planted a kiss on my forehead and left before I could even understand what had happened. I shook it off as I grabbed some clothes and got in the shower.

Thirty minutes later I was in the dining room, full for what was probably the first time in days (Alex had made me eat a few sandwiches), listening to Gil and John (who was on speakerphone) apologize endlessly, even though I told them it was fine. I had repeated it about ten times until Alex had enough and slammed his hands down on the nearest surface… which was unfortunately the stove, which he had forgotten to shut off. He cursed as he ran to the sink and turned the cold water on, running his hand underneath it.

"Since we have no school today, maybe we could all go out somewhere. I know I've been dying to go out," Gil said, glancing at his phone. I looked over at Alex, who was nodding enthusiastically. I was sure he hadn't left the house much, if at all for anything besides school since he got here.

"Let's go to the aquarium!" I yelled at the same time as John did. I giggled and watched as Alex turned the water off and sat down. He sighed and narrowed his eyes at Gil, who had gotten up from the table and went back upstairs.

"Nice to see some concern, Laf. What if I had burned my hand off?" he yelled after him, brushing some hair from his face. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure you would have been fine, Alex. I've dealt with worse," I said without thinking. I flexed my right hand, suddenly all too aware of the almost star-shaped burn mark on it.

"Bad girls deserve to get punished," Maria sneered, pulling me up from the floor. I coughed as she blew cigarette smoke in my face. James sat on the edge of the bed, getting dressed. He refused to look at me. Of course he wouldn't want to look at me. I hadn't done what he wanted.

I wrapped an arm around my chest in a pathetic attempt to cover up. Not that there was any point. They had already seen all there was to see.

"What are you doing that for?" Maria asked, wrenching my arm away from my body. "Now that the deed's done, the slut wants to cover up? How pathetic."

She took a long drag of her cigarette as she glared down at me. Suddenly, without warning, she grabbed my arm and pressed the cigarette in the palm of my hand. I screamed in pain, but it was quickly muffled by her smashing her mouth onto mine...

I jumped as Gil suddenly bounded down the stairs, launching himself onto me in a hug and saying that we were going on an impromptu trip to the aquarium with everyone. Alex stared at my hand and frowned when I put it around Gil in a sad attempt to hide the burn from him.

He probably thought I was disgusting.