Their first party is a disaster.

On Saturday night, Nate convinces her to go to a party at Ben Hinks' house. Cassie is reluctant, being well aware she is not one of the most liked people at school right now, but she agrees to make him happy.

He wants to show her off, so she wears one of her new 's revealing, not that her wardrobe had ever been conservative, and she barely recognises the girl in the mirror. But she looks fucking good. So good that Nate can't keep his hands off her in the car.

He's a few beers in and keeps telling her how hot she looks, keeps running his hands all over her body. He drags her hand to his crotch.

"Feel how fucking hard I am."

"Are you hard for me?" Her voice is breathy as she sensually rubs his hardness over his jeans.

The look in her eyes drives him wild every time, the way her blue eyes look at him with a mixture of confidence and shyness. Vixen and angel.

Cassie blows him on the way to the party, because that's what a good girlfriend does- she takes care of her man.

She loves pleasuring him, watching him lose control, being his girl. And Nate loves hearing the gagging noises she makes when he pushes her head down.

Her make-up is ruined, so she spends a couple of minutes trying to fix herself up before going in. She does a half-assed job, but Nate secretly loves the fact everyone will be able to tell what they had been up to.

Everyone stares at them as they walk in, Nate revels in the attention from the crowd around them and Cassie starts to feel unease. She sees them whispering about her and it brings her back to her leaked videos in junior year. Nate is welcomed like a god by his football team. He's the big star quarterback, everyone offers him shots and pats him on the back.

He keeps his arm around her waist protectively and she loves it.

"So you guys like a thing now?" One of the guys asks nodding in their direction.

And Cassie's heart swells when she hears Nate call her his girlfriend.

And when Nate bends down to kiss her in front of everyone.

The kiss is a little full on, but he loves to put on a show, to claim her. The euphoria of his affection is shadowed by her eyes finding Maddy in the crowd. She gives her a solemn look and shakes her head, and Cassie feels the judgement of many others around them.

Lucky for her, Maddy finds the parading of their relationship too tough to bare and leaves straight after.

The party sucks, at least for Cassie. Having no friends there means she is forced to just hang with Nate and the rest of the guys. One of them is dating a girl from St Mary's who she briefly talks to. She tries to not leave Nate's side, but eventually she loses him though the crowd.

A few girls from cheerleading come up to talk to her and ask about her and Nate.

"Is it true you're living with him?"

"Is he good in bed?"

"Are those real diamonds?"

For a moment she puts on a chirpy persona and brags about her amazing relationship with the girls. And she is, happy about her relationship. Ecstatic, actually. They're not her girls, though, and she wishes things were different.

But, she's with Nate and that's all that matters.

She tries in vain to text him and gives up finding him after witnessing endless underage sex, so she settles for a spot on the couch instead.

Eventually a guy she recognises from her Biology class sits next to her and starts up a conversation.

It's innocent chatter, nothing flirtatious, and they end up laughing about a funny incident in class a few weeks back. She's happy to finally have a normal conversation at this party. They're not even sitting that close to one another.

It all happens really fast.

One moment he is sitting next to Cassie chatting and the next he is being thrown on the ground by Nate.

A crowd gathers and it takes her a second to react to what is happening.

Nate punches and kicks and she screams at him to stop.

Luckily, the boys intervene and break up the fight before Nate causes too much damage.

She watches his chest heave and his adam's apple bob from the adrenaline. His eyes are wild. She's not sure if she pushes him towards the bathroom or if he drags her instead.

But she remembers him caging her against the door, searching her eyes like a mad man.

"Did you fuck him?"

"What? No!"

"But you want to fuck him?"

"Are you insane?" She blubbers out, tears streaming down her face. "We were just talking."

She raises her shaky hands to his cheeks and continues to plead her case. She's not sure why she's apologising to him, but she is.

"Nate, please, I love you."

She can taste the alcohol on his lips as she hesitantly tries to kiss him.

As someone who had spent most of her adolescent years using her body and sex as a means to an end, she saw no problem in trying to diffuse the situation by offering her body to him instead.

It works, it always works.

So she lets him be the man he needs to be and allows him to deepen the kiss she had started. She allows him to hike up her dress and fuck her roughly against the bathroom door.

"I could kill a guy for touching you."

She feels his anger with each thrust.

"You're fucking mine, remember that."

She feels his desire with each kiss.

"I fucking love you."

She feels his love through his jealousy.

"Now they know who you belong to."

She's sure they can hear the noise of her back hitting the door repeatedly. And she's sure they can tell by the way she walks out of the bathroom, unsteady on her feet.

Nate apologises to her in the morning with flowers and her favourite bagel in bed. He toys with the N charm on her necklace and wipes cream cheese from her lip. He kisses her navel and goes down on her. He cherishes her.

Back at school, the events of Saturday night are on everyone's lips. There's even a few videos of the fight and some ear witnesses to the sex in the bathroom.

She sits alone in Biology and no guy dares to talk or look at her all week.

Sure, it may not be everyone's ideal relationship, but at least she is loved.

You could chain me up or set me free and you could suffocate or let me breathe.

Baby, you could be the death of me.