Happy Monday, lovelies! I hope everyone's ready for Halloween tomorrow! I don't know exactly what I'll be, if I dress up as anything, but if all else fails I'll just be a trash bag because I'm trash. Anyway, hopefully you lovelies enjoy this chapter that somehow ended up going from fluff to a lil' bit of angst and then fluff again. Next chapter will be all fluff, I promise. And the chapter after that (which goes up on the fourth), will be Lorin's birthday. Which happens to be the fourth. Totally didn't plan that. Welp, enjoy! ~Shaymie

Alex's POV

Lorin groaned in my arms and snuggled into my chest. I smiled down at her. After we had come back from Jefferson's house (which, admittedly, wasn't too bad of a time until he went into the kitchen to make his "world famous" mac and cheese that tasted like cardboard), she stayed by my side as we waited for the storm to go away. We sat on my bed, her reading a book and me working on the essay for English. I'd be damned if I let Jefferson get a chance to ruin my grade.

I brushed some hair back from her face and took it down from the pigtails she had left it in, causing it to tumble down her back in waves. I watched her sleeping face and chuckled as her nose adorably scrunched up as she slept. I didn't deserve her. Everyone else I had ever been with had scoffed at my fear of storms, some even laughing at me. One bitch had even kicked me out in the pouring rain when I wouldn't sleep with her, though in my defense I was kind of in the middle of a fucking panic attack.

I should have told Lorin about the hurricane. Considering the fact that she had told me everything about her, it was only right that she get to know more about me than just what Darcy had gotten out of me in her impromptu interview the other day. I could tell that she still didn't trust me with her sister, and I couldn't blame her. Even I didn't trust myself with her sometimes. Things would occasionally get a bit too intense when we were making out (her moans were too damn tempting) and I'd have to back off before I did something I'd regret. Not that I didn't want to have sex with her. I just wanted our first time together to be special.

I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and sighed. 4:30. I'd have at least twenty minutes before she had to wake up for school. Normally I'd try to get a bit more sleep, but I didn't really see the point in it. Besides, this gave me a bit more time to think of what to do for her birthday, which was in three days. I wasn't going to be that asshole who didn't do anything for his girlfriend's birthday. She said that she didn't really want anything, her face flushing as she looked away, but I felt like I had to do something.

Her drunken words floated back into my head. She had wanted me, and I had a feeling it was more than just the wine talking. Granted, the wine had played some part of it, but didn't people say that you only spoke what was on your mind when you're drunk? She had mentioned that her asshole ex and her father had told her that her only job in life was to… to pleasure the man in her life. Could that also be motivation for why she had tried to sleep with me? I didn't want her to think that she was obligated to do anything. We would have sex when we were both good and ready.

I sighed and kissed Lorin on the forehead before going downstairs for some coffee. I could barely think straight without caffeine in my system. Darcy was already at the kitchen table when I got downstairs, her head in her hands. A steaming cup of coffee sat on the table in front of her. She didn't look up as I approached, which worried me. She normally took any chance she got to remind me that she'd skin me alive if I hurt her sister. She had been so nice when we first met, and now it was like she had done a complete 180. She probably thought I would turn out like Reynolds.

"Hey, Darcy." She looked up at me, and I realized that this was the first time I had ever seen her without makeup or some kind of ridiculously expensive face mask, which made me notice that she drew her freckles on over her makeup. Granted, she did have natural freckles, but they were less noticeable than the ones that she drew on and only lightly dusted her face.

"What are you doing up so early?" she groaned, grabbing at her head. She sighed as I poured a cup of coffee, using the mug Lorin had bought me. It had a lion drawn on the front of it, and she said it reminded her of me. I shrugged at Darcy's question and sat down across from her.

"I always get up this early. The real question is what you're doing up. I don't think I've ever seen you awake before noon," I said, flinching at the glare she gave me. I guess both Haywood sisters were cranky in the morning. Though Darcy's crankiness seemed more of the violent type.

"I was at the shittiest party I've ever been to last night, I found out my girlfriend is a major bitch, and I'm fucking hungover. Pardon me if I can't go to sleep." She chugged her coffee, either not phased by how hot it was or not caring. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and narrowed her eyes at me. "What the hell were you and my sister doing last night? I went to check on Lori last night and she wasn't in her room, so I'm assuming she was with you. If you get her pregnant, Hamilton, I swear to god-"

"It's nothing like that!" I choked on my coffee and set the mug down before I spilled it everywhere. Darcy's eyebrows raised as she set her cup down. Shit. Maybe I shouldn't have interrupted her, but there was no going back now. "I… We were just doing homework. I was, at least. She was just reading a book. We haven't… W-We haven't had sex yet, I swear!"

"Yet? Are you planning to sleep with her?" That wasn't the right thing to say. Her glare had darkened, and she looked damn near ready to kill me. She slammed her hands on the table and leaned over, her hair almost getting in my coffee. I knew better than to comment on it. The look in her green eyes told me that she would hurt me if I said anything she didn't like.

"Lori's a bit too trusting of people that she loves. She thinks that they can't do anything wrong, and if they do, she blames it on herself. I blame Mama and her shitty father. Not that Mama really did anything wrong, I love her, she just… She told Lori a bunch of fucked up shit. And her father was a monster. He…" She trailed off with a scowl and settled back down in her seat, her manicured fingers tapping on the table. "It's not my business to tell. Just forget I said anything. That's beside the point. My point is that Lori will probably do whatever you want her to no matter how fucking terrible it is, and if I find out that you're taking advantage of her, I'll kick your balls so far up your throat you'll have a second Adam's apple, got it Hamilton?"

"G-Got it," I stammered out. She was fucking terrifying when she was mad. Darcy got up from the table and put her cup in the sink. She shot me a final glare before going upstairs. I sighed as I took a sip of my slightly cooled coffee and groaned as I realized that I had missed the chance to ask her what to get Lo for her birthday.

"You don't know what to get your girlfriend for her birthday?" I scowled up at Jefferson and glanced towards the back of the room, where Lorin was bent over her desk along with Burr, silently reading. She had an earbud in her left ear, while the right one was free. It was her subtle way of tuning out the gossip everyone had about her. I would have thought that the idiots would have shut up about her by now, but clearly I was wrong.

"I just don't want to fuck up and get her something she hates," I sighed, rolling a broken piece of lead on my desk. I couldn't believe that I was so desperate, I thought coming to Jefferson for help would be a good idea. He chuckled as he leaned on the desk, his elbow shoving my papers to the floor. I glared at him and bent down to pick them up.

"Are you aware that you're dating Lorin, Hamilton? You could give her a rock and she'd be happy. You're overthinking it."

"What are you getting her for her birthday then, smart guy?"

"That's a surprise. Look, if you want advice on what to get her, you should ask Laurens or Lafayette. They know her better than I do. Better yet, you could ask one of your friends." Jefferson started picking at his nails and turned a page in his textbook, signalling that the conversation was over. I guess that was the best thing I could expect from him. At least he hadn't completely ignored me.

We miraculously got through the rest of English without an argument, something that Lorin gave me a kiss on the cheek for when we left class. I didn't really think it was that much of a big deal, but maybe she was just happy she didn't have to break up another fight.

"It's nice to see that you're getting along with Thomas now," she smiled, taking my hand in hers. I shrugged as I started walking her to her next class. Everyone had an agreement that somebody had to walk her to her classes to keep her from being harassed. I narrowed my eyes as I saw Charles Lee standing outside of the choir hall. He looked up as we approached and grabbed Lo's arm, yanking her back.

"I need to talk to you." His voice was hushed and panicked, and there were several cuts and bruises on his face that I know I didn't give him. Lorin glared up at him and pushed him away. She was trembling and gratefully leaned into my touch when I wrapped an arm around her. I kissed her on the forehead and looked at Lee, who was tugging at the frayed strings of his hoodie.

"Leave us alone, Lee. Unless you're apologizing-not that we'd accept any apology from the likes of you- I think it would be in your best interest to leave us the fuck alone. You've done your damage." Lorin frowned as I finished speaking and did her best to make herself look smaller, pressing herself up against my side. She kept denying that what people were saying bothered her, but I could see the pain in her eyes. I couldn't even imagine how she must feel about this mess. We hadn't told George and Martha about the bullying because they were busy enough trying to deal with Reynolds, which meant that we had to deal with it.

"James is furious," Lee blurted out after a few cursed seconds of silence. Lorin tensed and peeked over at Lee. It didn't take a genius to see that she was absolutely terrified. I glared over at the idiot. "He said that you haven't answered his calls or texts in months and he came by the concert last week to see you but you weren't there. He wants to talk to you, Lorin. He says he's sorry and-"

"That's what he always says." Lorin's voice was barely audible since she was still pressed up against me. I could hear her breathing getting more panicked and knelt in front of her. She backed away from me with a quiet whimper. "He… He apologizes and then he and Maria take turns doing whatever the fuck they want with me and then we pretend like everything's normal, like he didn't just beat the shit out of me the night before and… and I let him. I always let him do whatever he wants to me. Because it's all my fault anyway, isn't it? He wouldn't get mad if I could've just shut up."

"He's been doing better," Lee said, his voice sounding almost desperate. Somehow I felt like Reynolds was the one who had beaten him up and gave him those new bruises. Lorin shook her head and put her hands over her ears, trying to block him out. I reached out a hand to her as her legs started trembling. "Lorin, he's changed. He's been going to therapy… He's been taking anger management classes. He just wants to talk."

Lorin was a sobbing mess at this point as her legs gave way underneath her. I looked between her and Lee, unsure of who to deal with first. I wanted nothing more than to pummel Lee down to a pulp, but if I didn't help Lo, she could only get worse. I made my decision quickly and scooted over to my girlfriend, who had curled up into a tight ball, tears streaming down her face and her hands still over her ears. Lee was rambling on about Reynolds, but ran off when I shot him a sharp glare. Good riddance. The late bell rang, but I couldn't care less about being late at this point.

I couldn't do anything to help Lo. She was inconsolable. The best thing I could do was text Laurens and Laf, telling them what had happened, and stay by her side. She wouldn't even let me touch her. She rocked back and forth on the floor, muttering to herself so quietly and quickly I couldn't even keep up with what she was saying. Laurens was the first person to get here, and he all but shoved me away to sit in front of her.

"She's never panicked like this before," he muttered to himself, his eyebrows furrowing. He turned to look at me and for the first time in these past few days, he wasn't glaring at me. He only looked worried.

"J-James is going to come for me, I know it. He'll find a way to trick me into going back with him," Lorin spoke in a hushed whisper between gasps. I hated the look in her eyes. It was almost like she was looking right past us. I put a hand on her shoulder-thankfully she didn't push me away this time-and started quietly counting her breaths for her. Laf showed up and silently joined us on the floor.

"We won't let that happen, Lori. I promise." Laurens' voice was soft and gentle as he brushed some hair back from her face. I narrowed my eyes at him, but focused on counting Lo's breaths. The last thing she needed was me and Laurens arguing over her like she was a trophy to be won. It took some time-probably around fifteen minutes-but eventually her breathing returned to normal and she calmed down.

"I won't let that asshole get anywhere near you, Lo," I murmured into her ear as I pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and let out a shaky breath. I refused to let anyone hurt her ever again, especially not that abusive, manipulative prick.