26.Ashton Belle

To say I wasn't happy with the change in Danny would be an absolute lie. He's been jumping me for sex this past week whenever we had any free time. Whether we were at school, my home, his home or my car, he'd find a moment to do something to get me going. I'm not exactly sure what had opened the floodgates of horny within him, but I was grateful to it.

I didn't know why we were still breathing hard – it's not like it helped. He had this completely unsatisfied, freshly-horny air about him and his messy long black hair looked...amazing. It screamed sex, and I felt a spark of pride at leaving him so completely disheveled. Proud that I most certainly have a great physical effect on him.

"Ashton," Danny purred in my ear as we made out in the library. He was currently straddling me as we sat in our usual isolated couch corner in the library. His hands ran through my hair and pulled my head back using the hair on the back of my head. He then leaned forward and licked the rim of my ear.

"Baby, what's gotten into you lately?" I whispered back to him trying my hardest but failing to ignore his body rubbing sensually on mine. "Everyday for a week straight, you've been all over me. Can you tell me what exactly I'm doing right?"

"You noticed?" He looked a bit embarrassed and blushed his usual sexy red. "Being close to you like this makes me impatient, especially since I stopped masturbating."

"Why would you do that?"

"Why should I do that if I have you?" He said. "Is that bad?"

"No! It's not bad at all!" I'm so lucky!

"Well, it's also because you take away my anxiety and misfortune and embrace me for who I am. It makes me want you all the time, and I'm not sure how to control that desire yet," he buried his face in my chest. "I'm sorry. I wasn't anticipating wanting so much."

Why was he so sorry? I'm hard as a rock right now and his explanation just made it more painful to endure the erection in my pants. Danny must know how seductive he was being, especially when he starts wanting sex. The fact that he probably had no idea made him twice as sexy. "No need to apologize, I just wanted to know what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that I'm glad you're into it, and that I can't believe I get to kiss you and we're going to do a lot more than kissing later," Danny told me snuggling into my arms. God, he was so small, I have to at least restrain myself at school and wait for a better time. Danny took a loud deep breath pushing into my mind the memories of him in this exact position breathing heavily and begging for more. Library sex was just way to inconvenient as I liked to hear Danny scream for more. "And the more I smell you, the more I want you."

He was determined to make this impossible for me. Unfortunately nothing came of his suggestive behavior but more kissing, this time as the bell to go to our next class rang. I took a deep breath and thought back to the time I saw my dad in just his rainbow socks, readying myself to stand up and go to class.

"We'll get back to it later then," I said. Danny pouted cutely but got up and grabbed his bag. "After school I'll make it up to you."

"Stupid," Danny mumbled. I grabbed my bag and his hand and brought him to his next class with Sam. Sam as usual was waiting in front of the classroom for us.

"Yo! Can you believe that Vincenzo is absent again? Right when I was about to introduce him to someone!" Sam crossed his arms and ranted to Danny about being stood up by Vincenzo. "Anyway, class is outside today. I had a feeling you'd forget."

"Should I-"

"Go to your class on time, Ash," Danny interrupted me. "We can catch up at lunch."

"Yeah," I leaned down and kissed him quickly and let him be pulled off by Sam who continued to rant. I watched as they speed walked away from my sight before heading towards my own classroom silently hoping that Sam talking about Vincenzo to Danny wouldn't result in me helping my enemy out more.

By the sound of the warning bell, the hallways had mostly cleared out from students, so when I heard a loud pain filled sound from an empty classroom, I couldn't help but be curious as to what or who it was.  With my luck, it was exactly what it sounded like, a pig being gutted.

I entered the classroom and saw a familiar silhouette at the window. Vincenzo stood there staring out of the window holding a flower vase that housed an orange jasmine plant. He was so lost in whatever he was staring at that he didn't hear me enter the classroom and walk up to see what exactly had his attention.

One story down, Sam and Danny had rounded the corner and walked outside towards a group of students. "....changed too much." I heard Vincenzo mumble. He lifted the pot up getting ready to throw it out of the open window, eyes trained on Danny. Before he could I grabbed him from behind and threw him backwards.

"Knock it off, Vincenzo!" I snapped at him.

"You again?! You stalking me now?!" He yelled back at me.

"You think I enjoy giving you my help?" I scoffed. "If you don't do things like this, there's no need to keep an eye on you. If you want to talk to Danny, just go talk to him. Why are you being so cowardly about this? Unless you're scared of your parents or something?"

"Huh?" He stood up and brushed himself off. It was then that I realized how beat up he actually looked at the moment. His nose was bandaged and his left eye was swollen shut while the other was just black. There was gauze wrapped around his forehead and he seemed to be having a hard time standing up.

"It doesn't matter to me anyway. You couldn't match me in strength even at your peak-"

"So what?" He smiled. "I just want to ruin that stupid face, even just a little bit."

Something seemed very off. "You-"

"Then, since I'm so cowardly, I'll straight up go beat his ass!" Vincenzo snapped. I dropped my hostility and came a bit closer to him. He immediately took a step back and his eyes darted for the door.

Fight or flight? "Who did this to you?" The question was out before I could stop it. Dammit! I'll just be dragged into helping him again like I vowed not to do again! "Who did this?"

"Aren't you happy that I'm getting my karma? Stop acting like you care," Vincenzo scoffed at me.

"I don't like you, but I still helped you. You owe me! So tell me who the fuck did this?" I snapped at him. "If you don't tell me, I can't help you anymore."

"My dad did it," Vincenzo snapped.

Danny didn't tell me about an abusive dad. "Is that why you tried to hurt Danny with the flower pot?"

"I wasn't trying to hurt him! I just want him to look at me!"

"By throwing a potted plant at him? If it broke on his head, he would've gotten hurt! Vincenzo, I understand being upset about your dad beating you up, but it doesn't give you the right to hurt someone else because of it," I said calmly. "If you want Danny's attention, just say something to him like a normal person for once."

"I hate that I can't let it go," Vincenzo sighed. "I'm trying my hardest to let go. You know, it was easy to let go of my parents, I even moved out of their house and got a job. But there's a part of me that just can't let go of Danny completely. I know that I'm only holding onto the happy child version of him, but I'd only ever known his love."

"Then just apologize to him and mean it this time," I said. "Listen I'm late for class. Talk about this with your therapist or something, but I'll kick your ass if you try it on Danny again. Whatever's going on just fucking handle it and stop using him as your punching bag!"

"I heard you two in the car," he said.

"Good, now you know for sure that he isn't for you!" I said. "What you hear isn't my business anyway and honestly I couldn't care less."

"That's not true, it is your business."

"What did they do to you in therapy?" I questioned, almost salivating with the news.

"Dr. Mansini cured me," he replied unimportantly. "Except for the violent psychotic episodes."

"The what?"

"Look, no council is perfect," he explained as if he were being incredibly patient with me. "There's always a few things that slip the net."

"So does that mean you could go crazy at any time?" I asked dreading his answer.

"Probably," he replied with a shrug. "I can't stop them from coming." Having people think he was violent and unstable would make him even more dangerous in their eyes. He'd give them a reason to fear him – even if it was wholly fictitious. He could always fake a psychotic episode if he had a good enough reason.

I could see where he was taking this now. He was still trying to find a way to break Danny and I up no matter what.

"So you have like...a split personality?" I asked with fascination as to how far he was willing to take this facade.

"Personalities," he corrected, dropping hyperbole as if he were spoon-feeding a pet. I didn't question the reality of what he was saying out loud. "He thinks it won't happen again..." he explained, "maybe."

"What would you do? Kill someone? Burn down the school?"

"Well... now you've given me those ideas," he replied with concern, as if it had never come to him before. "By the way, I heard you were rich. Did you lure Danny in with your money?"

"He didn't even know that I had money before he liked me. You're not doing yourself any favors by asking questions you know the answer to or by pretending to be crazy. Danny and I are dating and that's all there is to it." I said. "Clear your head and go to the clinic or go to class but for now, stop bothering Danny."

"I said I wasn't trying to hurt him," he said. "I was aiming for the ground in front of him so he could look at me."

"Even if you are telling the truth, Vincenzo, do you really expect anyone to believe that bullshit? You could've just went up and spoke to him instead of doing something so dangerous," I told him. Not my horse....well I am engaged to Danny so if it effects him then it is my rodeo. Great, getting back to life revolving around this guy again.

"I just.....you're rich, so you've never really lost anything before. Even a child will tell you the difference between good and bad in this situation."

"There's nothing wrong with doing the best for the person I love. I'm better than you, who acts like a baby ripping the wings off a bird because you don't know how you feel!"

"Better than me?! Who do you think you are to say you're better than me!?"

"You sure have a lot to say for someone who's just passing by! You're not going to break us up!" I rushed  from the classroom as there was no more pottery to throw and Danny had long since joined his class. It did me no good to continue to try and talk sense into a crazy person.

What the actual hell is going on with that boy? He just ain't right. I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing by leaving him alone after he just tried to drop a flower pot on him. No matter what way he tried to twist it, if I had let him drop the pot, it would've landed on top of Danny's head, no question about it. The point is that something big had happened and I needed to figure out what it was and nip it in the bud.

Do I let Danny know even we thought he was relaxed and not as paranoid as before?

I ran into my classroom a good ten minutes late to my teachers shame. She gave me a scolding look before sending me to my seat and ignoring me. As much as I needed to just focus, I couldn't help but be extremely worried about Danny bumping into Vincenzo.

During the lesson, I couldn't help but rack my brain as to why Vincenzo would start this behavior up again all of a sudden. What was the purpose of starting up again? There was no reason for him to be acting up like this at all, unless the therapy wasn't working out. I'm still getting charged for it so I know that he is going.

By the time class had ended, Danny was there waiting for me outside of my classroom by himself. He looked really excited about something, so much so that he ran past Vincenzo without seeing him and straight into my arms. He didn't even feel the intense glare that Vincenzo had directed at him as he passed.

"Ash! I participated in a kickball match!" His eyes started to twinkle. "I played and I didn't pass out or run out of breath! I played the whole time!"

I could see why Danny felt so excited at something so small. To him, this little thing was proof that his life was really turning around for the better. That he really is able to assimilate back into normal everyday life. I ruffled his soft hair, "I'm proud of you, Lovebug. We should celebrate."

"Great, then lunch is on you!" He said. Together we walked towards the cafeteria for our mediocre slop they called food. Danny laced his fingers with mine and gradually pulled me along with him.

"Anything you want, babe. You can't eat too badly though. You just got your health back, take it easy," I decided to forget Vincenzo for the moment and focus on the bright achievement that Danny had made today.

How should I surprise him this time? He doesn't seem to like jewelry as he's complained about the cost. I've bought him an endless supply of tattoo equipment and he doesn't particularly need me to buy him anything. Lord knows he's never even asked me to buy anything except lunch this one time.

He seems to really like sex. He certainly liked being spanked. I could spank him until he was begging for it, and then I could fuck him so hard he'd be screaming my name to deities and demons alike. If I tied him up and put a collar on him and marked him in obvious places would that be going to far? Maybe he would go with with anything as long as it made him feel completely exposed, vulnerable and begging for more.

Maybe not holding back anymore will be a good surprise from the heart. Hopefully he trusted me enough now.

In the middle of my fantasizing I felt a pressure from behind me pushing me forward on the stairs. That, and the fact one of  my feet had been hovering over the next step, made me stumble a bit and then fall.

Ah shit. This was actually going to hurt.

Before the hard, concrete steps could become acquainted with my face, another set of hands caught me by the back of my sweater. Heaving me back upright my eyes flicked downward to the  panicked owner of whoever saved me.

"H-holy shit!" Sam looked absolutely freaked out as did Danny who was trying to check if my legs were alright. "Dude, you almost face planted!"

"Ash, are you alright? Did you twist anything?" Danny asked frantically. While the two fretted over me, I could see Vincenzo walking away from the staircase turning back only once to deliberately meet my eyes, as if he was trying to make sure I knew who was doing this. For a moment my flight instinct kicked in, the bolt of reality that told me to get the hell out of a dangerous situation as fast as I could, but it quickly faded as the rage rose up. The angry, powerful voice in the back of my head, told me that if Vincenzo was going to be the raging bull, i was damn sure going to damn well shove him back by the horns.

I talk big, but in real life people have never challenged me before because I'm pretty huge. Well, they've never challenged me to this level before. But regardless of not knowing how exactly to fight, I had the strength to and the will to do so. He just declared war on the wrong guy. I couldn't believe that little shit dared to attack me just to try and get me to break up with Danny. He's actually making me want to be violent for the first time in my life. I've never wanted to hurt someone so badly.

"I'm ok," I said pulling myself back together. I needed to learn how to deal with people like him anyway, after all, the world I live in is full of people like him. Vincenzo was going to be the first in a long series of people I'll have to deal with in the future. It just sucks that i feel bad fighting against a mental patient.

Still, he messed with me, if it wasn't for Danny, I would've made him and his parents move out of state and made sure he couldn't come back.

"How did you even trip? Your shoes aren't even untied," Dan said.

Sam opened his mouth but before he could speak I interrupted him. "I just tripped over my feet. Let's go get that lunch."

"Hmm," Danny lifted his lip. I don't think he believed what I was saying. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Yes," I said ruffling his hair. "I'm all good baby. Thanks for catching me Sam. That could've gotten really ugly."

"Sure....no problem," his gaze shifted from me to where Vincenzo had walked away and back to me again, giving me non verbal confirmation that Sam had seen exactly what had happened. "But....what I saw....should I be concerned?"

"What did you see?" Dan asked.

"Vincenzo pushed him!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, he pushed him and went that way! I was coming to you guys and I saw Vincenzo behind you two. Then he pushed Ashton and turned to walk the other way," Sam explained. I shot him a glare but dropped it when I felt Danny start to glare at me.

"Ashton, what the fuck?" He asked me. "Did he really do that?"

"I think so, I saw him walking away."

"Oh god, you're telling the truth now!" He groaned anxiously. "What the hell is going on? Has he been bullying you or something? Tell me everything now."

"Ugh, I was going to stay quiet because I can handle it on my own. But I saw him earlier today on my way to class. He was going to drop a flower pot on top of Danny to try and get his attention for a bit, but I stopped him," I confessed.

"Why didn't you tell me right away?" Danny snapped.

"I want to be able to take care of you without having you be more stressed or paranoid, baby. It's my responsibility to protect you, keep you healthy and out of harms way. That can't happen if you keep getting sicker and being thrown into panic attacks because of Vincenzo's antics!"

"They only got better because I had you next to me to help that anxiety! That's the only reason if got better! Dammit, we're supposed to be engaged! You can't keep things like that from me! I can help you as well you know!"

"Lovebug, he's dangerously obsessed with you. Right now he's trying to get us to break up by force because he's pretending to be crazy. I'm not sure about what he's going to do next, I just don't want you to get hurt while he's doing what he's doing!"

"Break us up?"

"Yes, he's determined to break us up. If I had fallen and hit my face, he'd try to use that guilt to manipulate you back to waiting on him. And if he had succeeded in dropping the pot on you earlier, he might've taken that chance to scare you back into submission," I told him. "I just don't want you manipulated or feeling bad and running back to him because of that."

"Ash, do you really think I can be manipulated back?"

"In all honesty, I think it's possible!" I admitted.

"WHY?!"

"Because when it comes to him, everyone gets fooled and starts treating him like a fucking baby that needs coddling! Especially you! He can easily control you because you're a good person! You keep having some kind of hope that he can be saved, so I can't do much for fear that you'll get mad at me for it and run back to him!" I finally vented to him. "It's frustrating that I'm the one engaged to you but I still feel like I have to compete with that shitty guy! What's even more sickening is that I know that if I tell you why he's lashing out, you'll care about him again because he makes you so anxious!"

"Do you think that if you tell me what's going on, I'd like him again? You aren't just some placeholder for him until he gets better, Ash!" Danny snapped back at me. "What I felt for him was not the same as the love I feel for you! If you compared the two, he's like a younger brother that I'm really concerned about! Like Giacomo! Or like any other disadvantaged person I meet!"

"Then you aren't going back to him if you feel bad?"

"There's no one to go back to, Ashton. As long as I have you, and you want me, there's nothing to bring me back to that place. Id never go to anyone out of pity." Danny looked as though he felt guilty, but for the first time it was because of me, not someone else.  "I want to protect this love too."

Ugh! My insecurities about Danny were rearing their ugly head. Deep down, I'm still terrified of losing him to Vincenzo and it still seemed like it was a possibility. It could be stemming from the fact that Danny and Vincenzo have known each other longer or the fact that they had mutual feelings for each other at some point, I just knew that I hated that he meant anything at all to Dan. Even if it was as a younger brother, because Vincenzo just wanted all his attention, romantic or not.

While he may have Dan fooled, he can't fool me. "He got beaten up by his dad, and he moved out of his house," I said. "I have no idea what he was beat up over but his face is black and blue from it. It looks awful."

"Moved out?"

"He got a job and he moved out. He's still going to therapy and coming to school," I tried not to make it sound so serious as I saw the wheels turning in Danny's head. "He said it was easy to let his parents go, but he can't let you go. He's going to try and hurt me or get to you, just because he feels like he can."

"That's insane," Sam said.

"Not really. He's used to keeping people under his control using fear. That comfortable place is what he's going back to because he's feeling hopeless," Danny said.  "Every time something happens at his house, he gets worse."

"Just don't get stressed out about it, I can handle it," I said.

"No, you can't," Dan sighed. "I know how to handle him when he acts like this....I think. I should talk to him about this."

"No!" I said firmly. "It's not going to happen! Your attention is exactly what he's trying to get by acting like this! Why are you giving it to him?"

"Because I feel like I can solve this."

"Maybe this can make things alright if they can have a real talk this time," Sam tried. "There's no harm in trying it out. If it doesn't work then you can do what you want, right?"

"Right!" Danny agreed. "I don't like someone being able to effect us like this, Ash. I love you, so please trust me when I say nothing will make me go back to how I used to be."

"I trust you, but what if he does something to you?" I asked.

"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas," he said. "Let's go find him and nip it in the bud so we can get back to us."

If I refused, I would look like a petty asshole competing with a mentally ill person. If I agreed, I'd look like a petty asshole competing with a mentally ill person. But I couldn't argue with the solid compromise that Danny had come up with. "I want to beat him up first," I pouted.

"If it comes to it, I won't stop you," Danny retorted. "I can't allow you to get in any trouble."

"What if-"

"Uncle Mickey is a phone call away. He'll be glad to show him what real psychopathic harassment looks like," Danny smiled. "You also forget that I'm not that scared of him anymore."

I can't win. "Can't I just make him move somewhere else? I have the connections for it. Why do we have to walk on eggshells around him?"

"It's important to be good to the mentally feeble," Danny said. Great, another one of his dads fantastic sentiments of being a man. "It sets a good example. Plus, you wanted me to move on and I am. Im choosing mot to engage in his bullshit and I'm just helping someone who's having a hard time."

Now my own words are coming to bite me in the ass! "Fine, if I had ma' druthers, I'd put 'em down. He is who he is, God love em, I'll tell ya what!"

"What the fuck?" Sam asked. "What does any of that mean? If you're going to disagree, do it in English!"

My accent had popped out, meaning that I was definitely riled up. My pride had definitely taken a blow and it felt like I couldn't resist even if I wanted to. The facts are that even though Danny had come up with a compromise, I didn't want him talking to Vincenzo for fear he might get subconsciously hooked on him again....and that I deserved to hit him back for being this bold.

"It means, do what you want," I took a deep breath and tried to gather myself. I was bothered. I was so fucking bothered! This was not the right plan of action. "I don't want you talking to him at all. Talking won't work."

"It's how intellectuals handle things!"

"He's not an intellectual!"

"But he's not crazy either! You said so yourself!" Shit! Why is everything I'm saying coming back to bite me in the ass. "Come with me, let's stop this before it starts. And if it starts anyway, I'll listen to however you want to handle it. I'm counting on you to protect me just in case things go awry."

Counting on me to protect him.....dammit, I'm too cheap. I'm feeling better already just because he said that. Had it been anyone else, I wouldn't have been so easily coaxed.

"Whatever," I frowned.

"He goes to the roof at lunch," Sam offered. "I'll let you two handle this one. I have to meet Soyoung for lunch outside. Dan, make sure you tell me what happened later!"

"Ok!" Danny waved to Sam before putting his hands on my face. "The sooner we handle it, the sooner we can get back to you and me."

I lost. I could only ever give him what he wanted. He pressed his lips to mine, probably to stop my hissy fit. The first thing I noticed was that he tasted more delicious than usual. He must've switched to a different chapstick, and there was a residual minty flavor on his lips that was only slightly masking his own sweet taste. I demanded entrance to his mouth, and he gave it. While I was sweeping his mouth with my tongue, he was tentatively doing the same to me. I pulled back just long enough to tell him, "are you sure I can't change your mind?"

"Let's go to the roof, Ashton. As much as I want it, I'd like to take care of this first so I can fully enjoy it," he sighed. "Believe me, I'm annoyed as well."

No distractions allowed. I'm such a punk.

I gathered myself, a little embarrassed from my tantrum, and followed behind Danny to the rooftop with my tail firmly between my legs. This felt awful to have to put Danny through something so hopeless again, but if this is what it took for him to finally give up on Vincenzo for good, I guess I could support that happening. I mean it isn't like us taking care of the problem right away was a bad idea.

I should just follow Danny's lead and just step in only when necessary. Though, a big part of me couldn't help but hope for this entire thing to fail and have Vincenzo expose himself as unfit for conversation, and I didn't feel bad about it. After all, he was courting death the way he was going.

As Sam had told us, Vincenzo was eating his lunch on the rooftop. On impulse I put myself in front of Danny and went forward. "Hey!"

"What do you want?" he hissed the moment I set foot across landing. Invading his space.

"I wanna know what the hell you think you're playing at," i growled, holding myself like a hunter, stalking further into the roof. But that wasn't feeling right, it felt like Vincenzo was the predator and he wasn't the one that got cornered. Except I can turn the tables: Me, who could hunt him like I was one up on the food chain. Crocodiles were some of the oldest creatures on the planet, and they still ate their advanced human counterparts.

This was pathetic! Why couldn't I keep up my confidence? I know I can beat him!

"Meaning what, exactly?" Vincenzo posed. I could smell the faint aroma of cigarettes on him. Not like he'd care how unpleasant it was anyway. By his body language I could tell that he wasn't doing this to get some stupid reaction out of people, he wanted them to ignore him or think he's crazy when he had a cigarette in his hand; it was probably the only thing that calmed him enough to deal with people most of the time.

"You've barely been back a day and you're still trying to push me around like you got a right to," I started, "but if you're gonna hang around with him, you could at least be less of a crazy person and get some medication."

"Oh, no, don't tell me," he moaned through a thin, twisted smile as soon as he saw Danny behind me. Barbed wire stretched across his face. "This is too much." He raised up his hands in disbelief, as if to lift them from involvement in the situation. "You're here to defend him? Don't tell me, you caught him crying in the-"

"He doesn't need to be crying for me to know you tried to push him down the stairs, Vincenzo," Danny snapped.

"I'm here to tell you to back off or learn to play nice." I said.

"Danny can fight his own battles," he retorted. "Isn't he meant to be the big, important man on top now? Bit sad that he has to rely on you to-"

"Cut the bullshit, Vincenzo. Just tell me why you're lashing out," Danny sighed and stepped in front of me motioning for me to just be quiet for a while. I fucked up! I'm not good at being intimidating on purpose!

"You're unusually calm, don't you think? I thought you would be more hysterical. Seeing you guys this morning really was just a coincidence, but I had been subconsciously looking for you long before that. When I finally saw you, looking like you were happier than ever, I thought about finally taking revenge on you." Vincenzo took a second to chew his food. "Make you pay for ruining my life. When I was younger, all I wanted to do was mess around with women and be normal with a normal marriage. But as soon as my dad sees that I'm too interested in you, he beat the shit out of me. I had to force myself to be with women because I was attracted to you and no matter how much time passes or therapy I receive, I can't forget about you. I just want to hurt you and make you suffer the way I did."

"That's kinda fucked," Danny said outright. "Actually is downright psychotic."

"Yeah, well, instead of getting hurt, you just always brushed everything off! It's the same, nothing has changed at all has it," Vincenzo honestly looked as though he was about to lose it completely. "All my plans keep failing me. You caught me, I tried to push your shitty boyfriend, happy?"

"No I'm not happy! Wait! Pl- plans?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, to demand all kinds of unreasonable things and harass you for choosing wrong. I was even thinking of going as far as threatening Ashton's life to force you to break up with him. I don't even care if you fear me, I want to force you to be with me. I want to engrave myself into your being," Vincenzo explained. "At least, that's what I think I want. If none of this happened, I don't think I would've ever acknowledged my feelings for you out loud. I don't know how I feel anymore or how else I'm supposed to treat you."

"That's just like you. Isn't that such a selfish move? Since I haven't been able to forget what you did either, isn't it delusional to put all of the blame on me, considering what happened?" Danny scowled. "There's not a single time that I didn't remember in the back of my mind. Honestly, I always knew I was gay and for a long time, I thought it was wrong, but I never hated anyone for it. When I figured out what really happened, I was surprised....maybe a bit scared, but I cringe because I still have good memories of you as well. I'm all messed up because of you, you know that?"

"You having to sympathize with me like this....I must look pretty pathetic right now, huh?"

"It's not sympathy, Vincenzo."

"Just say what you have to say."

Danny inhaled deeply as if he were trying not to lose his patience. I knew all of this was pointless to even attempt. As if he would ever listen.

"Please grow up a little, are you not ashamed when we're about to enter the working world? You think you're the main character in some kind of kdrama? Usually people who are disadvantaged take the help they're given seriously because it's better than nothing at all. They don't cry and beg like a moron like you.

"You and me have a long history, that's true. But, I do not like you like that anymore, in fact, it was never that kind of like from the beginning. I would like you to stop deluding yourself, please. What happened was unfortunate, but it's already happened," Danny said. "You've turned into someone extremely toxic and burned me. But if you try to hurt Ashton again, I'll call Uncle Mickey to deal with you."

"Mickey?" Vincenzo seemed to react to that name unpleasantly.

"He's out of prison, Vincenzo, and this isn't the first time I've considered it."

"What am I supposed to do now then?"

Danny sighed and crouched down. "Why are your clothes ripped there?"

"The thing is....now that I think about it, it doesn't seem like a huge deal. I left my home and my father didn't like that, so he beat me up as a parting gift. That's what happened. He's been my biggest critic since I was born, so things like this get me a lot. And what's funny is that even though he treats me like crap for no reason, I didn't really care. I keep thinking I'm just unlucky and let it go, but I'm realizing that I'm not fine at all," Vincenzo sighed. "I didn't do anything wrong to him and I was the victim at home.....but is that right? What am I supposed to do with myself now? I'm worried that people will start judging me like my dad does even if I do nothing wrong. I'm trying really hard to stay positive and be nice believe it or not. So nice that no one Will believe that I ever did anything bad. I have to, even if I don't want to. It's all good-"

"What do you mean it's all good? Why not just be honest about how you really feel? It honestly looks like you won't stand up for yourself because you were scared of what people might think. I bet you bottle everything up thinking its a way of protection."

"Well-"

"You're a fucking idiot, Vincenzo. You're getting all the help handed to you, and your poor decisions are ruining that. You know better than this, that's why you look and feel uncomfortable. You're just scared because deep down inside, you know your dad has a problem and he just doesn't like you. It's not for any reason, he just doesn't. Some sick people tend to do that. You were just unlucky, none of what he did was your fault."

"And you?"

"That was your fault. You had the help even back then with my dad and I. You didn't accept it back then either, so choose different this time."

"I'm not ready to let you go." Vincenzo tried to grab a hold of Danny's shirt but it was yanked out of his reach before he could.

"You have to, Vincenzo."

"Because it's all about Ashton now?"

"Yes," Danny said right away. "It is. I'm asking you very nicely to stop doing this and move on for real."

"I don't want to," Vincenzo said stubbornly.

Danny sighed and back up towards me. "If you touch Ashton again, I'm going to set Uncle Mickey on you, Vincenzo. That's a promise, and I've never broken one of those to you. I don't want to do that so please stop."

"You know what to do to make me stop," Vincenzo looked right into Danny's eyes as if they were pleading with him.

"Well then, I wish you luck, because it's not happening," Danny looked at me expectedly and I took my rightful place next to him. On the inside, I was jumping for joy because their communication had been right, but in the end it all broke down and Vincenzo obviously wasn't going to change himself for anyone. With this Danny can finally give up his useless quest to save him from himself. "Bye Vincenzo."

As we walked away from the rooftop I felt my pride returning. Watching Danny threaten that guy because of me felt awesome to watch go down. More so, the anger he displayed once Danny said this, amused me to no end. Just the fact that he was putting himself out there for me was....orgasmic.

I didn't know if it's just a reflex on my part, but it sent my heart pounding like a drum and my palms became warm and clammy. Danny had no idea how sexy he was when he got serious and passionate.

On top of that, he chose me again, even after hearing what Vincenzo had gone through recently, proving my insecure thoughts were absolutely for nothing. I should've had complete faith in Danny from the beginning.

"Lovebug-"

"It's like my friend died," Danny shook his head in frustration. "When I spoke to him, it was like....I was speaking to him, but I wasn't at the same time. That person isn't the Vincenzo I knew."

"People change all the time," I tried to not to sound as happy as I actually felt, which proved to be a lot harder than I had expected it to be. "It's part of growing up. Some people change for the worse and some for the better."

"You're too happy about it," Danny chuckled. "You seriously suck at faking things. Just say what's on your mind, I already know you're petty."

"I'll be blunt then. I'm glad you tossed that basket case and walked away with me. Talking to a person like that never works anyway," I let my smile out. "He even had the audacity to attack me in broad daylight. The nerve of him to think he could get away with trying to hurt me of all people-"

"Oh my god, your ego got bruised. No wonder you didn't want me going."

"It wasn't my ego."

"Ash, I don't think anyone's ever told you this, but you have a lot of pride in yourself and your family. You're really sure of yourself as well, you definitely know when to be humble, but when you don't get you want, you throw mini tantrums too," Danny chuckled. "I think it's cute and it makes me like you more since I'm the only one you humble yourself for."

"Ok my pride got hurt, but I still don't want you talking to him. It's your turn to do what I say now!" I said proudly.

"Ok, Ash, you're in charge from now on. Tell me what I should do," Danny started to stroke my arm slowly.

"Brace yourself for later. I've decided that since you're healthy now and have built up your stamina, I'm going to stop holding back," I smiled decoding that I wasn't going to go so easy on him later.

"Is this what I get for not listening to you earlier?"

"No, I'm just going to show you what a real tantrum looks like," I whispered in his ear casing him to shiver violently in anticipation.