Jules would tell you Nate Jacobs is Lucifer.

He is dangerous. He is violent and cruel. He is unhinged. He is selfish.

He is handsome. He is tall and masculine. He walks with confidence. He has a dazzling smile.

He pulls you in and then he chews you just to spit you back out.

Jules knew to stay away from Nate- so why was she walking to his car late at night?

His text had been short and cryptic, something along the lines of him having something important to give to her. Although her first reaction had been to ignore him, there was a part of her that started walking towards him without even realising.

But that's the power of the devil, he lures you in and before you know it it's too late to turn back.

Nate was unpredictable. A part of her was expecting some other fucked up excuse to blackmail her. A small part of her was expecting some weird love declaration- not that she wanted that from him.

In true unpredictable Nate fashion, he had completely taken her by surprise when he handed her the disc and explained the contents of it. Jules felt her stomach drop at the thought of Nate, or anyone else, seeing this part of her personal life.

"Are you like a good person now?" And as much as she was surprised by the gesture, she knew Nate was a snake ready to bite at the first sign her guard was down.

"Absolutely not." He responded with certainty and slight humour, like the concept of him being good natured was absurd to him as well. "Cassie is pregnant."

This was no news to Jules. Cassie's new status had been a hot topic of conversation in the hallways of East Highland High. All it had taken was an angry Maddy telling BB, and then BB made sure even the walls knew Cassie Howard was having a baby with Nate Jacobs. In Jules's mind, she could not think of a worse person than Nate to procreate.

"I heard. Congratulations, I guess?"

"Yeah, thanks." He gave her a look that lasted a second too long. "It's a weird feeling though, like I need to make things right. Y'know?"

"I get it." She nodded his way, before inching closer to the car door. "Do you love her? Cassie, I mean."

"Why do you care?" He had asked with a little smirk.

"I don't." With a shrug, she turned around to say: "Okay, well, bye."

"Hey," Nate grabbed her hand to stop her from exiting his vehicle. "I'm sorry for last year, it was wrong of me to do what I did. For what it's worth, the things I said were true."

Ultimately, Nate had spent weeks talking to Jules every day and every night. She was his first hello and his last goodnight. Under the persona of shyguy118 or Tyler, he could let his walls down completely and be a different version of himself. Tyler was open to giving and receiving love. He could let go and let in.

Sure, his motive was to manipulate her and blackmail her into silence.

But he would be lying if he said Jules and the time they had spent getting to know each other had no effect on him. She had allowed him to open up to someone in a way he had never before. She had gotten to know a part of him unknown to Nate himself. She had brought out the best in him.

And the worst.

"Same here." Before making her way out of his car, Jules had added one last little thought. "You know, finding me attractive doesn't make you gay."

"I know." He responded nodding, looking at his steering wheel- almost as if that acknowledgement was for himself rather than her.

Nate watched Jules walk out of his car and into her house without looking back at him. She walked with confidence.

As he drove to his next destination, he tried to picture for a moment a reality where he was a different Nate. A reality in which the events of his life as he knew it had never occurred. A life in which his father had been the normal dad everyone assumed. A father that didn't have secret recordings of his rendezvous. A dad that hadn't slept with the first girl he established a normal connection with.

Jules was pretty and kind, she was smart and fearless. She had the freedom to be who she wanted to be, without worrying about others' perception. He envied that about her. He could never be like her.

Sure, one time he did try to picture a reality where he could be the kind of man that could be with Jules. The kind of person she deserved.

But he wasn't that person.

Being Tyler was easy, hiding behind someone else, forgetting who he was for a moment. He allowed himself to be caught up in the novelty of innocent courtship of a fellow classmate. Tyler didn't house his demons, his fears, his memories. Tyler was a figment of Nate's imagination. Being Tyler was like dressing up as a superhero when you're a child- he got to be this untainted version of what he could have been.

This was his real life though, not some make believe reality. The past could not be erased.

Nate was not Tyler.

Nate could never be Tyler.

His father had taken a chance at normality away from him.

And now he wanted to take Cassie from him as well.

But I don't want somebody who's loving everybody

I need a shy guy, he's the kinda guy who'll only be mine