Hello, lovelies! So I think I finally have an update schedule for this story, which will be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (unless I don't have a chapter done by then for whatever reason). And I may flip-flop between POVs every other chapter, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, hopefully you lovelies enjoy the chapter! (And thank you for the kind reviews on this brainfart that's come to life). ~Shaymie

Lorin's POV

I had blocked James. Scratch that, I had Alex block James because I was too scared to do it myself. I should have been happy, right? He would leave me alone now. But I couldn't help but have a disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if he came after me? What if he gave Maria my number?

"Are you okay, Lorin?" Alex asked, handing me my phone back. I nodded as I put it back in my purse and brushed some hair away from my face. I was fine. I was safe. They wouldn't hurt me anymore.

"T-Thank you…" I tried to stop my trembling and smiled slightly as Alex put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. Why was he always so warm? He was practically a human heater! I leaned into his touch and buried my face in his arm. Then again, maybe I was just always cold.

"What's the deal with Madison and Jefferson? Are they dating?" Well, that came out of nowhere. I looked up at Alex and saw that he was trying to hold back a laugh, the sides of his mouth curling up. "I found them by the gift shop, holding hands. They pulled away from each other the second they saw me."

"I didn't think Maddie was ever going to tell him he liked him," I sighed. He'd had a crush on Thomas since middle school, but he had always been too shy to tell him. They hadn't even talked before last year, when they were partnered together for a project.

"They were staring at each other like a couple of idiots," Alex chuckled, running his free hand through his hair. I giggled at the mental image of Maddie and Thomas looking at each other like a couple of schoolgirls, holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ear. I'd have to ask Maddie about it later.

"Are you better now? Calmer, I mean. We can go back to the others if you want." I shook my head and held onto his arm tightly. I wasn't ready to deal with everyone just yet. Angelica would scream at me, Gil would yell at me (most likely in French), and John would give me that look, the one that I hated so much. The one that made me feel like a huge disappointment, even though I knew that wasn't at all what he intended.

"Do you want to stay here? There's more comfier places to sit than on the floor," he nodded towards a bench against the wall. I nodded and let him lead me to the bench. I sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder as I watched the turtles.

"Do you know why this exhibit is going to be closed?"

"Apparently turtles aren't very 'exciting or engaging for young children'. Like we could engage with them while they're stuck behind glass," I huffed, staring at them sadly. "I don't know what they're planning on replacing them with. John was furious when he found out. He loves turtles."

"Is he 'Turtle Boy' in your contacts? That was the one name I couldn't figure out, aside from 'Cinnamon Roll'."

"John's Turtle Boy and Eliza is Cinnamon Roll." I flinched as I felt my phone vibrate in my purse and remembered that Alex had blocked James. He couldn't message me anymore. I wouldn't have to deal with him or Maria ever again.

"What was in the texts James sent me? Did you read them? A-Any of them?" Alex looked away, his jaw set in a tight line. That answered that. I had to know what he had seen. I had to know if he had seen anything about… that.

"It's not worth repeating. I'd rather forget it."

"Alex, please…"

"...He called you a whore," Alex spat out. I frowned as I saw the fury in his eyes and the way his hands curled up into fists. "He said you must love threesomes if you stayed with him for so long. And then he had the nerve to try and apologize, say that he didn't mean any of it! The last message was from someone named Maria, but it came from the same number."

"N-No…" I pushed Alex away as he tried to hug me and fell from the bench in my attempt to get away. I shuddered as I felt the ghosts of her hands wrapping around my waist, pulling me closer, the scent of her perfume intoxicating, her painted red lips kissing my neck, sucking until it was a delectable combination of pleasure and pain, and fuck, it shouldn't have felt so good, my body shouldn't have reacted like that because I didn't want it-

Alex was on his knees in front of me, wrenching my hands from my hair and holding me tightly by the shoulders. I blinked a few times until his face was in focus. And then I lunged towards him, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck as I hugged him and sobbed into his shoulder. He must think I'm nothing but a pathetic crybaby. It seemed like all I ever did was cry nowadays.

"What the fuck did they do to you?" Alex's voice had that tone that was somehow simultaneously calm and furious. "Lorin, what did they do to you?"

"N-Nothing… Nothing that I didn't deserve. 'Just say no and all of it's over,' they said. I couldn't even do that. Selective mutism, my ass. I was practically begging for it. It's no wonder they used me like some kind of-"

Alex cut me off with a kiss. A real one, not like the one he had given me on my forehead yesterday. I stared at him and saw that he was… crying? Why was he crying? Nobody had hurt him. He hadn't been used like some kind of a toy for people's entertainment. He had no reason to cry.

"You didn't deserve that," he whispered brokenly, running a hand through my hair. "You weren't begging for it, Lorin. You weren't."

He sniffed and gave me a final peck on the cheek before standing up, pulling me with him. I looked away from him as I pulled my phone from my purse. I had dozens of texts from everyone and spent the next several minutes replying to them, telling them that I was fine. Alex cleared his throat awkwardly, causing me to look away from my phone and at him. His cheeks pinked as he looked down at me.

"Sorry for kissing you like that… It was a heat of the moment thing, I promise it won't happen again."

"I-It's fine… It was a nice kiss, anyway." I smiled shyly at him and looked down at my phone as it vibrated with a text from Angelica.

Angie: Meet us at the food court in five minutes, not a second later.

I sighed as I showed Alex the text. Guess our time alone together was over. Angelica was pissed, and knowing her, she'd be mad even if we showed up early. I grabbed Alex's hand and started pulling him towards the food court. Maybe if we got there fast enough, she would be slightly less angry.