HATE FALL LOVE

Chapter 12

[BRIANNA's POV]

A WEEK LATER.

There's a limit to everything. I guess.

"What's wrong with kissing in public?"

Dating the most popular "bad boy" in school was a complete one-eighty turn in my high school life, and pretending that I was dating him just made it even more unbearable. Yet, when I eventually agreed to go on with it, what I didn't expect was the ridiculous amount of PDA's I had to comply with and the unrelenting attention of the guy I am in love with. I didn't know that he would be one to get clingy so much, to the point that I was getting a little embarrassed for him.

"I mean, they all know we're together, so what's wrong with it?"

Discussing intimate matters with Kent turned out to be pointless because he would always have a reason to justify his actions, even when we both know it was totally crossing a line. We were just "pretending" and I didn't sign up for this to indulge myself in the idea that I was his girlfriend. In the first place, I already knew that it wasn't going to be the case in reality. I mean, I did insist that it was just going to be "pretending".

This was just a fake relationship that had begun because we didn't have time to take back the lie he had told everybody. Yet Kent was too persistent to make a point that it would be very convenient to just go all the way. And by "going all the way" he actually meant kissing every moment we see each other, going out with just the two of us, holding hands, hugging, touching, snuggling, driving me home, and everything else that would make our "couple-ness" believable.

I didn't want to agree at first, but as the days went on, I found myself being led into it involuntarily. And it was slowly messing with my tolerance. I still like him, but sometimes this new side of him as "my boyfriend" changed the way I perceived him. Maybe people were right all along. The fantasy could never meet your expectations in reality. And the "real" Kent that I haven't seen before turned out to be quite too much for me.

I began to feel a bit suffocated. But I couldn't find a way to make him understand how much I wanted to keep my personal space safe from eventually leading myself to the worse end of being a sucker for him.

"I'm not saying we should stop," I reasoned out as I stared at him from the passenger seat of my car, sighing wearily. We have been coming to a lot of disagreements lately that it was getting exhausting to have to deal with all of it. In fact, he had initially offered that we use his motorbike to ride our way to and from school when we started this "date" thing, but I strongly disapproved of it because his motorbike always reminded me of him and my sister in the past. And I just can't forget the things I have read from that secret diary entry of Emily that I had been keeping in my room.

And, yeah. I know it was such a childish reason just to refuse, but still. I didn't really feel like it. So, just for the sake of meeting halfway, we had both chosen to let him drive my car for me instead. But that's not the point here now. This time, we were trying to fix the issue of "kissing publicly". And I was trying to tell him how much it unnerved me that we would always have to do it every day for several times every time we met each other. It gradually felt too demanding for me.

"What I'm just trying to say is that I just don't feel comfortable about kissing all the time," I finished with a deep intake of breath, looking away to divert my eyes towards the window on my side. The thing was, it might just be nothing for him to kiss someone all the time, but for me, it meant a lot. And I was trying to find a way to lessen the intimacy between us because it was getting harder for as well to control my feelings for him.

"Why? Didn't you say before that you really like me?" He suddenly asked, catching me off-guard as I turned on my seat and sent him a deathly glare. He didn't have to bring that up. I was really stupid to tell him that I "like" him after he had kissed me on that very day he had proclaimed I was his girlfriend in front of the rest of the school. I was really a fool to let it slip from my tongue but it was too late to take it all back now.

And every time we had to face conflicts between us, he would never forget to pull that up just to annoy me. But I guess, I just had to accept that it was already said. Yet it didn't mean that I was just going to let him dictate what was better for this "fake" relationship just because he could use my confession against my favor.

"Maybe I already stopped liking you," I then told him in a derisive note, glaring, "Maybe this was all finally making me tired of pretending with you. Maybe, I already want to stop this whole lie and tell everyone it's over. And, who knows? Aren't you getting tired of it too?"

Right after I said these vague words with a deadpanned look on my face, Kent suddenly pulled over to the side of the road and just stopped the car without saying another word while he stared quietly past the steering wheel. His silence started to make me feel anxious as I paused and gaped back at him.

"Why did you stop?" I warily asked him.

But he didn't respond and he just inhaled sharply, letting out a long sigh as if he was still deep in thoughts. Then, after a few more moments, he finally spoke. But his words had been uttered very gently and somber.

"I don't want to break up, Brianna. Let's do it for real."

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[BRIANNA's POV]

TWO DAYS LATER

It had been too fast.

Minutes ago, I was humming "Teenage Dream" in the comfort room as I fix my hair before I leave. Kent had stopped by a gas station to fill in his motorbike. And the next thing I see, three guys fight in front of me... Two against one and my team is losing... KENT IS LOSING.

I watched him got assaulted by two big men with scary faces. And I was shouting down at them, trying to call for help. Then someone from afar shouted something about calling 911. And that was when the fighting stopped.

"Don't you ever dare!" The big bald man stood straight as he shouts across the empty drive lane of the gas station to the guy who mentioned 911. He pointed his finger at him with a menacing look on his face. Then even I, who was just a mere audience, instantly felt scared just by looking at it.

Then I turn and see Kent charging towards them again as if he hadn't been in pain for the last few minutes while he had laid helplessly on the ground receiving blows. The two men were about to give him another set when suddenly...

Suddenly...

I crouched and pick something, then threw a rock in the smaller guy's direction. It wasn't a very huge rock, unfortunately. But it was enough for him to stop and groan in pain as he nurses the spot on his head that the rock had met. He looks at me as if he was about to take revenge when Kent took that moment as a chance to push him down, making him fall back on his ass in a loud thud then he quickly spins to his left to give a straight jab to the bigger guy's jaw in a loud smack. The big guy steps back groggily and Kent looks at me with a silent order... Run now!

I was about to do that but chose better to drag him with me.

"What are you doing?" he remarked from behind my back as I pulled him with me. We run away so fast, ignoring the deathly curses from the two men we just left who are now struggling to catch up with us.

"Let go of me, they're going to kill us both."

"I know that," I told him back, still clutching his hand tightly, "But, I can't let them kill you alone. Not when I don't have a ride home."

I hear him chuckle softly at my answer and after a moment he murmurs back, "I knew you'd still need me alive after all."

I smiled down at that. Feeling genuinely relieved that he didn't really get harmed after all, and he could still tell a joke in the midst of all that's happening to us. And just when I thought we were already safe, away from trouble... Something hard hit me in the arm making me spun in pain.

I heard Kent calling my name, and I lose my balance. And then...

We were both falling to the ground.

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[KENT's POV]

She was HIT.

It wasn't really a direct one, and the bullet didn't get through her. It was a slight pinch on her arm, a scratch... But seeing her get hurt made me see red.

I covered her with my body, expecting another shot but when nothing came, I looked around and watched our back. They didn't see us falling down the grasses. I exhaled in relief and look down at her again. She was eerily quiet and it made me nervous as I nudge her frantically on her side.

"Angel! Are you okay?" I ask her worriedly. She slowly turns and winces, her face in pain.

"My side hurts..." she groaned and I instantly move to check that part for injuries. Her tank top had been ripped with a slight cut on the skin on her side and a bruise is starting to form there.

"Damn it," I cursed out loud, quickly pulling out a big handkerchief from my pocket to cover her waist.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning down, hissing when I accidentally touched the bruised part.

"I need to cover you, you're skin is showing," I told her with gentleness, as I wrap the big cloth around her waist in a swift move. The familiarity of her body made me feel hot all of a sudden, recalling our moments that night. Damn it. Focus, man. She's injured.

"Okay," she said back softly, staying silent as she waited for me to finish. When I did, I look into her eyes.

"It's secured now."

"Are we already safe?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

The picture momentarily captured me as I raised my hand to cup her cheek. It was the same thing I did that night before I kissed her and took her for the first time. "I'm not sure... But I'll make sure they'd never hurt you."

She stared at me with big blue eyes in a silent question, I could hear her breath hitching back and the sound tempted me to kiss her.

And just like that, I came back to my senses, pulled away from her, and turn to my own side, lying on my back beside her soft body.

I was trying to catch my breath after having to exert too much effort fighting and running away from those fuckers. I closed my eyes for a second.

"This night is hell," I said, as I look up to the sky. The moon was turning brighter and I knew morning is about to come.

"Thanks for bringing trouble," I heard her murmuring back and I turn my head to look at her face.

"Welcome," I mocked back, smirking, and watch her look away. She had a strange expression on her face.

"You sure are a man who makes a lot of trouble," she muttered out of the blue, stopping me from speaking. And I turn to my side again to look at her.

"That trouble," I said, referring to the two big guys who just almost killed us both, "That trouble is the reason why I keep on pushing you away..."

"What?" she frowned at me.

"They were going after you because they knew you're... You're..." I paused, feeling a bit shy.

"What? What am I?" she asked curiously.

"You're something to me." I ended with a puff of my breath.

"Something?"

"Yes," I said, annoyed that she's still not getting the point, "Something. As in I have feelings for you, okay? But I know it isn't right because I always get in trouble and you'd get in danger if you get involved with me..."

I sighed heavily as I gaze up at the stars, wondering what it would feel like if I try to just risk it and kiss her right now.