How We End

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Immediately I stepped down from Dean's car, the chilly October air hit my skin and I wrapped my arms around my body, rubbing up and down my bare skin.

"Cold?" Dean asked beside me.

"Yeah." I shivered.

Dean shrugged off his thick jean jacket and brought it behind my back. I willingly fixed my two hands into the sleeves and tugged on the edges of the jacket. It was huge on me, my fingers were barely visible through the sleeves.

It felt a lot warm.

"Thank you." I said in gratitude.

"It's no problem," He smiled at me. "And it really goes great with your outfit."

I smirked, "It does, doesn't it?"

"Come on, let's head inside." He cupped the small of my back and we walked toward the house.

Immediately we stepped into the house, the loud trap music which was faintly audible when we were outside blared through the big frat house.

"Let's find Chris." Dean said loudly, trying to overlap the music. "Stay by me."

I rolled my eyes but obeyed anyway.

We squeezed through the swarm of sweaty college students and Dean guided us to the kitchen which was less crowded than the living room.

"Want a drink?" Dean asked me.

"Yeah, sure." I replied.

"Yo! Ryan!"

Dean and I turned to see a group of people standing next to a keg, they were like five boys and maybe seven girls.

"Come over here, man!" A tall brown-haired guy shouted.

Dean faced me, "I'll be back real quick and with our drinks."

I forced a smile, "Okay."

I watched as he walked over to them and they all welcomed Dean with some sort of hand shake. Immediately, the girls were all over Dean, batting their fake lashes flirtatiously and rubbing his biceps.

"Hey! Is that my kitty?" A familiar voice shouted behind me and I pushed myself off the door and turned around to see Kyle.

He was wearing a black NYC hoodie and dark wash jeans on Adidas sneakers. His blonde hair looked like a ruffled mess and he had grown a little stubble on his face.

He looked good.

"I'm not your kitty." I said sternly.

"Yes, you are." He threw an arm over my shoulder and we both walked away from the kitchen and into the living room.

"Get it off me." I commanded, referring to his arm around my shoulder.

"No." He smiled sheepishly.

"One... Two... Three..." I counted slowly.

"Okay, okay." He freed his arm from my shoulder. "What were you gonna do anyway?"

"Squeeze the living daylight out of your balls." I told him.

"Yeah, right." He scoffed.

"Trust me man, she'll do it." I heard Chris speak from behind us.

Kyle and I turned around to see Chris, but he wasn't alone, there was a smoking hot black guy hooked on his right arm.

"No way." Kyle exclaimed.

"She does it to me any time I mess with her, I'm not even joking." Chris said, making hand gestures.

"Mmhmm, let him know." I bit my lip.

"Looking good best friend!" Chris exclaimed then shot a smirk at me. "And who's this fine looking man you're with?"

I rolled my eyes, "Chris, Kyle. Kyle, my best friend Chris."

They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, man." Kyle said nicely.

I cleared my throat, "And who is this fine looking man you're with, Chris?"

"Grace, Jayden. Jayden, Grace." Chris introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jayden." I tried to smile politely.

"Pleasure's all mine." He smiled at me.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, Jayden. I'm Kyle." Kyle smiled sheepishly.

I hooked my hand on Kyle's arm, "Let's leave this two alone, okay?" I said to Kyle. "You guys have fun."

As Kyle and I walked away from the two, I turned around to face Chris with a grin on my face, he was looking at me too.

"Get some." I mouthed.

He winked at me and focused his attention back on Jayden.

"Can't get enough of me, can you Grace?" Kyle smirked, referring to my hand on his bicep.

I almost forgot it was there.

I wanted to slip my hand away but he trapped it in his hand and twirled me around and back to him, his hand finding its way to my waist.

"Get your hands off me, Kyle." I said, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Come on, kitty. Just dance with me." He smiled down at me.

I didn't say anything as I moved my body to the beat of the song. "So, who are you here with?"

"My friends. All five of them." Kyle answered as he danced too.

I swayed my hips and whipped my hair left to right as Kyle and I sang along to the song that was booming round the house.

"Oooouuu, don't we look good together?!" We both sang loudly.

"Well, I'm sure we do look good together." He winked at me.

"Kyle Louis Junior, are you flirting with me?" I gasped mockingly.

"Okay first of all, not my name. Secondly, I don't even need to flirt with you baby, my good looks and charm is just enough to make you fall." He said, running a hand through his messy blonde hair.

"Ew." I scrunched my face up in disgust. "Get over yourself."

I felt a strong grip on my arm and the next thing, I was whipped around.

Dean was standing in front of me, a deep scowl on his face. "Who is this?"

"Yay, you got our drinks." I took a cup of beer from Dean's hand.

Dean and Kyle were, for some reason, scowling at each other.

I cleared my throat, "Um, Dean, this is Kyle. Kyle, my friend Dean."

"Yeah, this is the guy that was yelling at you the other day." Kyle smirked.

"I explained to her the reason for that." Dean clenched his jaw.

"You didn't exactly explain though, but okay." I muttered under my breath.

Dean tightened his hold on my arm, "Well, Grace and I are actually here together so I'm gonna have to take her back now."

"Here together." I rolled my eyes, "You ditched me, Dean."

"I'm sorry Chip, I was just gonna grab our beers and leave but-"

Kyle cut Dean off.

"Okay, you two go ahead then. Save me that last dance, kitty." He winked and walked away.

"Kitty? Really?" Dean gagged.

"Let go of me Dean." I pulled my arm away from his grasp. "Why did you have to be so rude?"

"I wasn't being rude, Chip. He was the one that was being rude." He defended.

"He wasn't. What happened to Mr I'm Nice Like That?" I said with air quotes as we walked back into the kitchen.

"You say it like you're the nicest person in the world." Dean said to me.

"I don't b***h to people for no reason, Dean." I defended.

He gave me a pointed look.

"Okay, maybe I do. But there's got to be a reason, either you're too handsy, too chatty, you smell weird, your hair's weird, your eyes are way too big or trying to make long conversation with me. Then, I am a bitch." I stated.

"Why were you even with him anyway? I thought he was just a creep in your class." He leaned on the counter.

I drank from the cup of beer, "Well turns out that he's actually super nice and sweet. I was such a b***h to him when he first talked to me but he was still nice to me anyway."

Dean rolled his eyes, "And kitty? Really? What kind of f****d up nickname is that?"

"At least it's better than Chip." I teased, smirking.

"No! You did not just do that! You don't just get to hurt my feelings like that, Grace, you don't." He placed a hand on his chest.

"No, come on. You could've thought of something better like Green or Jade or Spicy Mama." I said, the last part with emphasis.

He laughed, "But Chip has a sentimental value to it though, it marks the way we met."

I eyed him as we both sat on the barstools and leaned on the counter, "The way we met was in no way sweet, get that idea out of your head. I almost died that day."

"But you didn't, thanks to me. And I still haven't gotten my 'thank you'."

"I'm not thanking you for s**t. You were the one who stormed out of your car like--" I deepened my voice, imitating his, "--'why the f**k would you just barge into the road like that?'"

"Okay, first of all, I do not sound like that. Secondly, you were the one who, knowing you were wrong, boomed at me like--" His voice became really light, a miserable attempt in imitating mine, "--'you moron, you almost just ran me over!'"

"There is no way in hell I sound like a dumb Barbie choking on c***s and how do you still remember exactly what I said that day? I barely remember what my mom said to me the last time she called." I said.

His eyes scanned mine, "I remember every detail in every conversation I've had with you."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away.

"What's your name, Grace?" Dean asked and I faced him, wearing a confused look. "I mean, what's your full name? All your names."

I finished up my drink, "Grace Marie Abigail Anderson."

"I love it." He smiled. "I love Abigail."

"Thank you. What about you? What's your full name?"

"Dean Jason Ryan The Third." He answered.

"The third, huh?" I asked.

"Yup. It's funny because when I was younger and my Mom is like 'Dean', both my Father and I will always reply at the same time. We got used to it." He shrugged.

"That's really cool." I told him.

"Yeah," He said. "Thanks."

"Okay." I said and spun around on the bar stool, Dean doing the same. The kitchen wasn't so crowded, there were several people scattered around. There was a couple having a hot make out session on the kitchen island, there were a group of girls drinking and dancing. "So, which girl are you gonna take home tonight?"

He looked at me, "No one."

"Why? Chris is definitely getting laid tonight, you should too." I told him.

"And you?" He asked.

"No. I don't have s*x with randoms, I only do when I'm in a relationship." I told him.

"Then I'm not going to take some girl home with me tonight." He said.

"And why is that?"

"Someone has to drive you home." He pointed out.

"That's okay. I can just hitch a ride from Kyle." I said.

His grip on the beer bottle tightened, "What if he's taking some chick home with him?"

"True." I thought about it.

The group of girls looked over to Dean and one of them winked at him. Dean smiled sweetly at her.

"Which one of those girls would you like to take home with you though? I'd say the blonde." I said with a smirk on my face.

"Nah, her boobs are too big." He furrowed his brows.

"Blue miniskirt?" I suggested.

"Nah, her head is too big." He shook his head.

"Denim jacket?" I suggested again.

"Nah, her boobs are too tiny."

"You're so stupid." I chuckled.

"Yeah, whatever." Dean asked. "So, which guy tickles your fancy here?"

I scanned the room, "That black guy in the hoodie."

"What's so special about him?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Um, excuse me? Can't you see? He's super hot and gorgeous."

He rolled his eyes, "Please."

I chuckled. "But it's true!"

"Now, you ask me a question." Dean said.

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?" I questioned.

"14. I lost it to a sophomore in my high school. She was the hottest." He smirked.

"Wow."

"What about you? How old were you?" He asked.

"I was 16. I lost it to my boyfriend, my first boyfriend. It was my junior year of high school. His name is Andrew. He was really nice and sweet and caring, but we just had too many differences. We fought and argued a lot, he was possessive and I hated it. He and his family moved to Michigan so we just broke it off then." I told him. "Nearing the end of senior year, I dated this dude, Tyler. It was nice at first but after the first month, it became so terrible. I don't know why I even dated that asshole. He smoked and drank all the time, he partied way too much, he was just too friendly with other girls. He was such a douche." I shook my head then chuckled humorlessly, "I-I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, sorry."

Dean looked at me and pushed loosed hair that had fallen out of the ponytail behind my ear, "I love watching you talk."

I felt my cheeks heat up again.

Dean faced me, "Do you want to--"

"Yo, Ryan! You up for beer pong?" A tall black-haired guy walked over to us and asked Dean.

"Uh, yeah sure." Dean stood up and looked at me. "You coming?"

"Nah, I'll be here." I waved off the offer.

"Come on baby girl," Tall-black-haired-guy said to me.

"Do not call me baby girl. Ever." I said with a serious glare and Dean laughed quietly.

"Feisty, huh?" He licked his lips.

I ignored him.

"Chip, I could stay with you if you want." Dean suggested.

"No, it's okay. You go, I'll be okay here alone." I told him truthfully.

I didn't want it to be a constant thing, him always feeling like he had to look out for me.

"You sure?" He asked.

"I'm sure." I assured.

"Come on, bra!" Tall-black-haired-guy hung his hand on Dean's shoulder and they both walked out of the kitchen.

I stood up from the bar stool and swayed my hips to the rhythm of the song. I ran a hand through my hair as I continued dancing, moving my hands, my legs, my body.

"You're a really nice dancer." A voice with a thick British accent spoke.

I turned to see the owner of the voice. He had dark brown curls and electric blue eyes, he was light skinned and taller than me. He was wearing a black T-shirt on blue jeans.

"Thank you." I said politely.

He stepped closer to me, "Hey princess. I'm Justin."

The pungent smell of alcohol and cigarettes radiated off his breath.

I took a step back, "Grace."

"Where'd you learn to dance like that?" He smirked, taking a step forward.

I shrugged, stepping back again.

"Wanna get out of here? I have a really nice apartment." He held my hand in his.

"Um, no thank you." I slipped my hand away from his, feeling irritated. I was about to walk away from him but he pushed me to the wall and I felt a sharp pain in my back.

What. The. f**k?

He placed both his hands on opposite sides of my head and moved closer to me, his breath was killing me, "Hard to get, huh? You know you want this."

"Get the f**k off me, dude, I'm serious." I glared at me.

He trailed his fingers up my hand and cupped my face in his right hand, "Come on princess."

I pushed his hand off my face and pushed him off me, causing him to lose his balance. "Leave me alone. Go bother somebody else."

Justin pushed me back to the wall forcefully and the sharp pain I felt in my back intensified. He pressed my shoulders tightly against the wall.

What sort of sick f**k is this?

"Get your f*****g hands off of me!" I pushed them off again.

"Or else what?" He smirked leaning closer to my face.

"She said leave her alone, dude." I heard Dean's voice and I saw him standing behind the douche on me. His eyebrows were together, his blue eyes looked darker and he clenched his fists tightly into a ball.

"Stay out of this, Dean." I said firmly.

Justin backed away from me and turned around and looked at Dean, "This your little b***h boy?" He laughed mockingly.

"Wanna test me?" Dean said in a low deep voice.

A crowd had formed and almost everybody in the kitchen was watching us.

I walked over to Dean's side, "Dean, it's okay. Let's just go."

Justin grabbed my arm forcefully and pulled me to him, "Hey, I'm not done with you, you little bitch."

I slapped him as hard as I could right across his face. "How f*****g dare you? Nothing, absolutely nothing, gives you the right to call me a b***h. Go find someone else to bother, but I'm pretty sure your chances of screwing a girl in this party tonight are very slim because no girl in her right senses would want to spend the night with you."

"I'll teach you some manners, you stupid whore." He grabbed my hair forcefully and pulled my head forward to face his squarely.

My next instinct was to knee him in the balls but before I could, I felt Justin being pulled away from me and he no longer had a grip on my hair.

Dean spun Justin around and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pushing him forcefully against the wall, "Touch her again and I'll destroy every single bone in your body."

Dean's voice was low and dangerous. I haven't ever heard him use that tone of voice before.

"Dean, stay out of this. I can handle this on my own!" I shouted to him.

"That b***h is out of her goddamn mind!" Justin shouted and Dean's fist made a forceful contact with his face.

"Dean!" I shouted, as a warning for him to stop but he swung another punch at Justin's face. "Dean, stop it! Get off him!"

It was like he wasn't even hearing what I was saying.

He hit him again and I swear I heard a bone crack. Dean pushed Justin's weak body to the floor and was about to swing another punch at him when I held his hand back.

"Would you please just f*****g stop?!" I yelled at him.

His knuckles were bleeding, Justin's face was a mess and I was f*****g furious.

"Stop, Dean." I breathed out. "Get up."

Dean got up from Justin in anger and stormed out of the kitchen, the crowd making way for him to pass.

He was pissed? Well, that made two of us.

I trailed behind him and once we got into the living room, I rushed after him and spun him around.

"What the f**k was that for, Dean?" I raised my voice.

"You have got to be f*****g kidding me, Chip. I was defending you from that asshole!" His tone of voice matched mine.

I placed my index finger on his chest, "I don't need you defending m me, get that through your head. I don't need you feeling like you need to protect me, I don't need you treating me like some helpless little girl, I don't need you to do anything for me, Dean. So just freaking stop it!"

"Are you seriously mad at me right now?!" He frowned.

"Yeah, I am. I am mad. I told you to stay out of it. I was handling it just fine on my own, goddammit!"

"So, what? What did you expect me to do? To just watch him mistreat you?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"I expected you to respect my decision, not to punch the guy in the face!" I threw my hands up in the air.

"You really are so ungrateful, Chip. You are the most ungrateful person I have ever met in my entire damn life!"

"So what did you expect me to do? Smile as you beat the s**t out of him then give you a pat on the back when you're done?!" I shouted in anger.

"I was only protecting you!"

"I do not need your protection. I didn't, I don't and I will never. You need to stop thinking that you're ought to be there for me, to save me like you're freaking superman. I don't need you, Dean."

"What exactly the hell is your deal, Chip?!" He raised his voice.

"f**k out of my business!"

"You know what? f**k you!" He yelled in my face.

"Just leave me the f**k alone, Dean!"

"You know what, Grace? You put up a front for everyone about how tough or mean you can be but in reality, you're just a f*****g coward. You feel that being a little b***h to everyone around you is somehow gonna make you feel better about yourself. You're a coward because you are just scared to live your life, to let people in, and somewhere in that sick head of yours, you think that it's cool. But guess what, Grace? It's not! Acting tough doesn't make you tough, acting brave doesn't make you brave, so swallow up your pride and learn to accept help from others and not be such a big b***h about it!" He shouted.

I didn't say anything.

I couldn't say anything.

I didn't know what to say.

My chest felt heavy and I felt stupid. I opened up a part of me to Dean today and he spat the exact same thing I told him back at my face.

I let my guard down. I was stupid enough to let my guard down again.

There was no difference.

They're all the same.

"Got it." I said in monotone and walked away, feeling a foreign ache in my chest.

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