Crown of Thorns

I can't breathe.
I try to draw in air but instead it's cold liquid that floods my lungs. My hands claw at the water around me, reaching for the beautiful light above me that dims as I rapidly sink. My wet clothes hug me tight, weighing me down. My body writhes as more and more water overwhelms me.

I slipped and had fallen into the river. It's dirty down here, I can't see past my feet. Waves of water pushed off passing boats rock my body backwards, pushing me further down.

I want to cough but I can't, I want to swim but I don't know how. I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I chant in my head. My fingers slice through the water, my legs limp with cold. My lungs feel like they want to explode. I need air!

I twist and reach out desperately, wanting- needing anything to hold on to. My lungs scream, my heart beating frantically against my ribs, my chest feels like it's going to explode. A massive wave slams me backwards and I feel the side of my head knock into something hard.

The world goes black.

I bolt upright out of bed. I pant as I clutch at my chest, my fingernails biting into my skin. My heart hammers away as I try to control my breathing.
Ohmygosh, oh God. The dream that I had just had seemed so real, like it almost happened. I groan when I realise that it did. I really had almost drowned in the river and had hit my head.

My fingers seek out the scar on my temple, touching it with new understanding. My eyes dart to the digital clock next to my bed, it's 3:15am. The room is pitch black dark, the only light in the room is the soft green glow that the numbers cast from my clock. With a long sigh I flop back down into my pillows.

Willing for sleep to come but it never does.

~~~

I sluggishly drop into my chair just in time for the bell to ring for home room. Kids race around in the classroom, sliding into their chairs as the teacher descends into hers. No one wants to face the wrath which was Mrs Kelly so early in the morning.

After the role is called and today's notices are read out, students chat to each other, but I remain quiet. I listen to my classmates talk to their friends, their voices so loud and annoying. How can they possibly be so animated at this time of day? I wince when Ben hollers at me across the classroom.

"Oi Mia!" I turn around and give him a small smile in greeting. He waves at me then drops his hand and asks me, "where's Emma and Jack?" I frown at the question and then look to the two empty desks beside me.Oh, they're not here. I shrug back at Ben and he returns the shrug. I turn back around, disgusted in myself that I didn't even realise that my two best friends aren't even present today.

I lean forward on my elbows and I rub the heel of my palms into my eyes, removing them of any left over sleep from last night. I didn't sleep after I dreamt that dream. My heart wouldn't slow, adrenaline kept me wide awake in bed until I had to rip myself away from my warm covers at seven.

I can't concentrate on anything, we had english first thing, followed by maths and I barely completed two equations. When the teacher called on me I stammered out the wrong answer and was rewarded with sniggers from the rest of the class and a irritated glare from my teacher.

All I can think about is the way my chest constricted due to the lack of air when I was drowning. The dream was so real. It's the only thing running in my head. But why am I remembering the incident now? Ten years later from when it happened? Is it because Harry mentioned it? Is it because of his return to the city that it might spark old memories? Is it because of him, period?

My plan to punish Harry for his sinful deeds yesterday went as far as me ignoring him when I saw him this morning. I don't know, I'm not a very motivated person- especially when it involves humiliating or trying to bring someone down. Also today just hasn't been a great day for me.

The bell rings and I collect my books. I stack them in my locker, my actions weak willed and tired. My calculator slips from it's place on it's metal shelf and crashes to my feet. I stare down at it for a few seconds, hating it's stupid existence before bending down and throwing it back in my locker, slamming the door quickly shut quickly so it doesn't fall out again.

I hear the calculator fall against the closed door and I lean against it and close my eyes, sighing a frustrated sigh.

"Hey babe," Sam's voice says and I open my eyelids. He's standing in front of me, blonde hair styled perfectly, blue eyes sparkling, wide smile beaming. He looks great- just as every other day. Normally I would have appreciated him being around me, but today I just want everyone to fuck off.

"Hi," I smile back weakly. His brow furrows at the sight of me. My uniform all creased, my skirt dropping below my knees. My hair's in knots and I've got shadows under my eyes. I haven't got an ounce of makeup on my face and I've got a massive pimple the size of Jupiter on my chin. In all, I'm looking fabulous.

"You alright?" He asks and I nod, "just tired," I reply. He smiles again sympathetically and then asks, "where did you go on Friday?"

This is when I realise that Sam probably had no idea where I was all weekend. My face flames when I remember when I woke up next to Harry having no idea what happened last night, when he told me that I kissed Niall and then he attempted to have dry sex with me.

Ohmygod I'm the worst girlfriend ever. "I- I went home," I stammer. Oh, I'm lying now? Even worse Mia.

Sam grabs my hand and kisses it. My eyes widen at the action but I'm more surprised at myself and at the incredible urge I have to pull away.

"I was worried, I called you like twenty times." I frown, "But I didn't get any miss calls."

Sam drops my hand and steps away, shaking his head, "something must be wrong with your phone then, because I called."

I nod wordlessly, confused at his words. I know there's nothing wrong with my phone.

Sam leads me into the cafeteria where we sit down at his table. For the first time I'm sitting at Sam's table without Jack and Emma. I start to feel uncomfortable at the thought. Sam doesn't talk to me and neither really do any of his friends. I pick at my food, my fork stabbing the same leaf of lettuce over and over.

Where are they? My mind wonders, is Jack skipping again? And what about Emma? Is she sick? I text them both asking where they are before slipping my phone away and staring around the table.

Everyone seems to be so happy, shouting over one another, all of them laughing and talking. No one bats an eyelid my way, not even Sam- my boyfriend. I glare at him for a full of three minutes and he doesn't even notice.

Bullshit, he didn't call me on Friday. He probably didn't even notice that I left. He certainly isn't noticing me now. I stand and leave the table without a word, to exhausted to be properly angry. I flee out the glass doors of the cafeteria to outside.

Now that autumn is here not many people are outside. The sky is overcast and the air is chilly. Some of the trees are starting to lose their leaves. Red, orange and yellow colours speckle the ground. The wind blows at my hair, whipping it into my face. I brush the wisps of hair away from my mouth and I sit down at an empty park bench.

I hug myself in the cold as I stare down at my shoes. I breathe deeply, trying not to think about how much Sam's being of a dick. I don't think about the dream- the memory. I don't think about Emma and Jack, I don't think about anything, well, I try not to.

For five full minutes I manage to successfully distract myself from my thoughts, but then male voices interrupt my thoughts and distract me from my distracting.
I look up to see Harry and Niall leaning against a wall hidden from most viewers but because of the angle I'm sitting, I can see them clearly. I can also see them both smoking. I glare at them in disgust.

Smoking? On school grounds, seriously?

Harry's eyes flicker from Niall's face to mine. I hold his gaze for a millisecond and then look away, gazing at something in the distance. I can feel his stare hot on the side of my face but I don't look up again to meet it. I whip out

my phone instead and swipe the screen back and forth, actually having no one to text but needing something to do.

I hear their voices nearing and my body tenses at their approach. I really did not want to talk to Harry or Niall today. I stand up when they I spot them out of the corner of my eye. I don't look at them as I turn to leave.

"Mia," Harry's voice calls my name. I take a step away from them but I am stopped by a warm hand encircling my arm. I angrily stare up into Harry's green eyes. He stares back down at me, looking highly amused.

Fuck you, I inwardly curse him and rip my arm away from his hold. "Don't touch me," I grate out past gritted teeth.

"Woah." He steps away from me, his hands held up in surrender. I notice that he isn't holding onto his cigarette anymore. I look over to Niall and see that he's still happily chuffing on his. Niall sees me looking at him and he winks and gives me this sick smile.

I swallow down the urge to vomit.

"What's up?" Harry asks me like we're best buddies. I just stand there and glare at him. All this pent up rage at him that I've kept on, a not very strong, lockdown beings to bubbles up inside of me.

At my silence and lack of answer, Harry grins, showing off his stupid ass dimples, "have you been trying to avoid me?"

He touched me, violated me, told me he would change and then didn't, tricked me into drinking alcohol, lied to me. He's probably in a gang and still hasn't told me that either and all he fucking does is grin?

Add on dad's suspicious phone call and my utter confusion, Niall's kiss and my cheating on Sam and I think I'm about ready to snap. Whatever Niall's smoking, I get a whiff of it and cover my mouth and nose in disgust.

"Could you not smoke that so near me?" I snap past my fingers. Niall just smiles and blows out smoke into the air around me. I glower at him as my stomach threatens to really puke this time.

"It's not like you didn't mind Friday," he tells me with a smug grin and I narrow my eyes. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" "Niall," Harry warns him in a low voice but we both ignore him.

"When you kissed me, I was smoking shit the entire night," Niall goads.

"Never would I ever kiss you." He's lying, I know he is. He had to have kissed me, not even in my drunken state would I have let him touch me.

"Well sorry to ruin your this for you princess, but you did."

"Niall!" Harry snaps angrily. I don't say anything in response, I stand there, hating the both of them.

"Mia-" he says slowly but I cut him off.

"What do you want?" I say with an exasperated tone. Harry's eyes spark with something that I can't recognise. Alarm? Regret? Guilt? Whatever he opens his mouth to say I don't let him.

"You've violated me, touched me. You've manipulated me into doing things that I don't want to do and you've lied to me. What else possibly could you want with me, Harry?"

"I manipulated you? You're the one who keeps throwing herself at me then stopping and hitting me halfway through!" He seethes, his demeanour changing from happy and smug to pissed off and offended.

"Maybe if you weren't such a dick would I have to remind myself who I'm kissing," I bite back. My blood heats and boils in fury, I watch Harry's eyes flash in anger as he matches my glare for glare.

"Maybe if you weren't such a bloody tease would you enjoy it."

"I have morals, okay? They're principles of what's wrong and right," I explain morals to him like he's a 4 year old toddler, "I'm not gonna let some jerk touch me whenever he feels like it!"

Harry's eyes darken like I said something incredibly offensive. They turn black- I swear, from green to black. A chill runs through me as I stand under that terrifying black look. I notice dimly that Niall has fallen silent, glaring at me also but not nearly as scary.

"Do not," Harry speaks slowly in a deadly cold tone, "talk to me about morals. You, of all people should not talk to me about what's wrong and right, Mia." He spits my name out like it had burnt his throat.

My eyes widen in confusion, what is he talking about? Just as I'm about to ask what he means, Harry's gaze snaps up from mine and narrows in on something behind me. Niall swears and drops and stubs out his cigarette before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Mia," someone calls out in the distance and I turn around to see Sam walking up to Harry, Niall and I.

"Here we go," Harry harshly breathes out in annoyance. There's two tall, big guys flanking Sam on each of his side. The three of them step up beside me, matching Harry and Niall for height, all five of them dwarfing me. Sam claps a firm hand on my shoulder and roughly pushes me into his side. I get the uncomfortable feeling that I am being treated like a ragdoll.

"What's going on Mia?" Sam asks me but doesn't actually look at me. His glare is fixed on Harry. And Harry's glare on me.

"We were just talking," I answer quietly- roughly. I return Harry's glare, never looking away.

"Well we need to go, the bell's gone," Sam says in a cold tone. I hadn't even noticed that bell went, I was too wrapped up in the argument.

"How high were you Friday night that you didn't realise that your girlfriend wasn't with you?" Harry asks Sam pleasantly, fury raging under a smothering layer of charm.

"Probably not as high as you were to come uninvited to a party and beat up the host who happens to be still incredibly pissed off," Sam replies coolly, his arm wrapping tightly around my shoulders. I watch Harry's gaze watch Sam's arm working it's way around my neck. I start to feel very insecure and threatened by all this testosterone in the air.

"Where is he then?" Niall jumps in and everyone ignores him.

"Did you even care that Mia left without you?" Harry asks, rage starting to show through.

Sam's eyes narrow, "not that it's any of your business, but I called her and left not long after she disappeared." His hand squeezes my shoulder tightly and I try not to wince.

"It is my business, seeing as she was with me." Harry now won't look at me. His arms are crossed over his chest, his face impassive.

"You freak, she left to go home, she told me herself," Sam spits out. A wave of guilt rushes over me when Sam and Harry both look down at me.

"I stayed with Harry for a bit," I admit bitterly, Sam stares at me with disbelief, hurt that I lied to him. "But I left soon afterwards," the lie tumbles out and I look up at Harry, challenging him to argue. He doesn't.

Niall scoffs quietly but also doesn't argue. "Why didn't you tell me that you went home with Harry?" Sam snaps at me.

"It was none of your concern," I bite back, knowing that it probably is his concern but I'm just too angry at the moment to care, "I got home eventually so it's fine."

Sam grabs both of my shoulders and turns me to face him straight on. "No, it's not fine, Mia. You were with this prick for more time then I'm comfortable with-"

"This prick took better care of your girlfriend then you could, dragging her into a party like James's," Harry interrupts rudely and I spin to face him, Christ can he just stay out of it?!

"Can you fucking not?" I seethe at him, shocking everyone. I then look around to face them all, "I'm going to class now." Sam, his friends and I turn to go but once again Harry's hand encircles my arm and stop me from leaving. I glare at him and he just stares back this time desperately.

"Mia, give up on Sam," I notice Harry's eyes are a sincere green glow, "please, I can take much better care of you then he can. He's not good for you."

My heart flutters strangely at his comment but still I shake my head. "No, Harry."
I notice Sam opening his mouth to say something but I raise a hand to cut him off. "Don't tell me what's good or not for me. I can be the judge of that myself. Oh and from now. Don't talk to me,"' I tell Harry angrily, and he smiles.

"Can't promise you that, baby."

"Then, this I can assure you, is the last time I will ever talk to you again."

Then I walk away.

~~~


Ignoring someone is a lot harder then people make it out to be. Seeing Harry and Niall in the corridors and having to bolt quickly so they don't see me is exhausting. Luckily I have distractions. Jack and Emma have returned to school, both with perfectly good excuses about why they weren't at here on Monday. Plus Sam's been acting strangely nice to me. He's been taking me to my classes, talking to me when we're eating.

Tuesday morning he was there waiting for me, his shiny car parked in my driveway. He then dropped me back off home at the end of the day. He's been doing it all week, I don't think Jack minds that much, probably happy he doesn't have to pay extra for car fuel.

Sam's also promised to take me out on a proper date Friday night, to a restaurant in town. The thought of spending one on one time with him has kept me somewhat distracted me from meeting those cold, yet searing, green eyes that I always seem to feel watching me wherever I go.

I also have tried to keep my mind distanced from the reminder of dad's conversation that I overheard. Just the memory of his shouting and swearing at someone over the phone scares me shitless. I'm even more worried and uneasy because dad will be coming home on Friday night- another reason why I'm so happy I'll going out with Sam. I don't want to have to face him, I won't be able to meet his eye without hearing his angry and terrifying threats in the back of my mind.

I feel as if I don't know him anymore, not that we used to be so close anyhow. But I suddenly don't know how I feel about dad. There's a whole other side to him, a side that scares the fuck out of me. A side that I rather don't want to know about.
Finally Friday night rolls around and I'm in my room, trying to zip the back of my dress up. It's a cute little navy blue dress with a hem that stops about mid-thigh. A bit short for me normally but I have tights underneath so I won't be too cold tonight.

I curl my hair into soft ringlets that frame my face and I brush on my makeup. When Sam rings the doorbell I run down the stairs quickly, shouting a goodbye to mum who's in the kitchen with dad who I've barely managed to avoid today.
Sam's makes a sound of surprise when I close the door behind him and drag him away from the house.

"H-hey," he greets me as I pull him to his car. I do not want him meeting my parents, no that would be bad, very, very bad.

"Quick, quick," I usher him into his side of the car and I run around to swing in next to him. Sam laughs but starts the engine quickly and pulls away from my drive.

"You look nice," he smiles at me as we pull on to main road. I beam, "thanks."

The car ride was alright, Sam and I talk about normal stuff like school and homework. The conversation wasn't awkward which was what I was fearing. We avoided topics like James's party and Harry. Tonight I swore to myself that I would not let myself think of him.

Sam pulls into the restaurant car park and we both hop out. He holds my hand as we wait to be seated. I found myself smiling to myself, this feels nice- what normal dates should feel like. No pressure, no insecurities, no uncertainties, no excitement, no thrill.

I clear my throat and scowl at the last two comments. Sam is safe, Harry is... not, I try to remind myself. Sam smiles at me over his raised menu and I return his smile. Stop thinking about Harry!

The restaurant we're in is lovely. Shades of reds and browns. Sam and I are sitting across from each other in a small booth towards the back of the place. There's a performer strumming the guitar in the corner opposite us. His voice is husky and deep and I'm pretty sure he's singing about sex in the rain.

Though the restaurant is amazing it also looks absolutely expensive. There's no prices on the menu but I'm hoping that Sam's paying. I think I can actually smell the scent of money in this place.

Sam and I give our orders to the waitress and then she leaves. I turn to look at Sam and he once again smiles at me.

"This is a really nice place," I begin.

"Yeah the food's good too," he answers and I smile. We talk about meaningless things until our food arrives. We both eat in a comfortable silence until I see Megan from my team dressed in waitress clothes talking with customers across the restaurant. It would suit that she works here, she's a straight A student and is impeccably nice.

"Oh, Megan works here," I smile and wave when she spots me
.
"Who's that?" Sam asks through a mouthful of steak. I turn my eyes back to him, "she goes to our school," I tell him, confused as is why he doesn't recognise her, I'm pretty sure she's school captain or something.

Sam shrugs like he doesn't care and goes back to eating. I watch as Megan makes her way over to us. I grin when she reaches out table.

"Hey," she beams at the both of us. Sam hardly acknowledges her and I feel slightly annoyed at the gesture. But I ignore him and smile back up at Megan.

"Hey!"

"You liking the food?" She asks, her gaze flickering over to Sam suspiciously. Probably wondering why someone like me is going out with someone like him. I like Megan but she's a girl and is just as judgemental as one.

"Yeah, it's really good," I answer.

"I didn't realise you guys were going out," Megan says and I nod, "yeah we are."

Megan gives me this secretive look and mouths out, Harry? My blood turns cold when Sam glances at me with a confused look.

"He's just a friend," I tell Megan quickly and she nods slowly, not at all convinced.

"I just thought-" then she frowns and smiles, "not to worry, you guys are really cute together. Enjoy your meals." Then she walks away. Sam looks at me again.
"Was she talking about Harry Styles?" He asks, his eyes hooded with some emotion that I can't identify.

"Uh, yeah," I reply awkwardly, shiiiitt. "Why would she think there was something going on between you two?" His blue eyes have now gone steely and cold and I swallow the rising bile in my throat.

"Ah um, I think she saw us together one time before we were dating." I am referring to the time when Harry was at one of my games and he invited me over to his. I'm pretty sure my whole team overheard him shouting at me.

Then there's a silence. A long awkward silence. I don't know what to say, he's staring at me and not talking. Oh shit. I look down at my hands, my fingers grabbing a hold of each other and letting go, twisting and pulling. Wringing my hands is an incredibly bad habit that I do when I feel uncomfortable.

I look up into Sam's blue eyes and I notice that they're not happy. No longer is he beaming, instead he's glaring and stiff.

"So was there something going on with you and Harry before me, Mia?" His voice is dripping with venom and hate so cutting I feel as if knives are slicing into me. My brow furrows at his question and tone.

"No," I blush, there wasn't really... Sam stares at me, then he slowly nods and then he continues to eat. I frown at him,
confused and a little scared.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I excuse myself and stand. I don't look back as I half run half walk towards the toilet. There's no one in the ladies room except me. I stare at myself in the mirror. I've got a wild look in my eyes, a frightened, petrified look that you see in caged animal's eyes.

I run cold water over my wrists.

What was that? I ask myself, was that just him being protective over me? Though the thought warms me a little I don't think that's what Sam was feeling. He hates Harry, like, really hates Harry. He also seems to hate any link that I have to the curly haired boy.

I know I promised that I wouldn't think about him tonight, suddenly he's all I can think about. What happened between him and Sam, they obviously knew each other before Harry came to Deltern.

I sigh a tired sigh and step out of the bathroom. I walk back to our table only to see that Sam's missing. I walk the rest of the way over to our table. I frown at our empty plates and unhook my bag from my chair and sling it over my shoulder. There's a bunch of notes left on the table.

So what, he just left? Like that, without even telling me? I look around the restaurant, sure that he's playing some kind of joke on me, no way would he leave. My gaze whips to and fro, trying to spot him but he's not here.
I pick up my phone and dial his number. The tone rings and rings. I get his voice mail before I hang up. I find Megan stacking plates and I approach her.

"Hey, did you see Sam leave?" I ask her worriedly and she frowns. "He just left?"

"Yeah, I just went to bathroom and he's now not here." Megan looks around me to my now empty table.

"You call him?" She asks and I nod my head. Her brow furrows further in disbelief. "Did he pay?"

I nod again, "he left cash on the table."

She and I go over to the table and I watch her as she counts the notes. "There's more than enough here to pay for the bill, and I'm really sorry Mia but I can't leave till my shift's over. I would really like to help you look for him but I can't-"
I hold up a hand to stop her, "it's okay," I say distractedly, "I'll go look for him, he's probably out waiting in the car."

I know that she doesn't believe me, heck I don't believe me, but she nods and smiles sadly.

I hug myself as I step out of the restaurant and into the cold night air. I look left and right to see if Sam is there and he isn't. I walk to where I remember the car is and to my relief I find that it's still there. I walk up to it and rest against it's shiny surface, redialling Sam's phone.

I hold it up against my ear as I listen to it ring. The time would have to be around nine and there's no one out in the car park except me. The sky is pitch black dark and the only source of light is the big streetlamp standing a distance away. The wind harshly whips at my legs, I hug myself tighter as I feel goosebumps appear on my arms.

Should have brought a jacket. The car park is disturbingly quiet, the place completely empty. I listen to the dial tone ring and then I hear it. A soft noise, a buzzing of a phone on silent- right behind me.

I turn around just in time to see Sam slam into me. A gasp of shock rips from me as he pins my body against the side of his car. His hands grip my forearms painfully, pushing them beside my head, pressing them into the cold, hard surface of the car door. The back of my head cracks into the car behind me and I dazedly look up into cold, blue eyes.

"Sam?" I wheeze out.

"Hey Mia," he says in a sing-song voice that sounds equally lazy and terrifying. His wicked, normally charming, smile chills me to the bone. Suddenly all my hopes for tonight to go well crash down around me. Fear seizes my chest and throat and I stare up at him in horror.

Oh my God.

"I'm sorry, Mia. I really didn't want tonight to end like this." His white teeth are grinning evilly in the little light that the street lamp has to offer. My heart is in my throat, what is he doing? What does he mean, end like this?
"What?" I ask breathlessly. What's going on!?

"But Harry was smart. Oh so smart. He got to you before I did, and so unfortunately for you, we're gonna have to move this process a whole lot more quicker," his tone is lethal and yet joyful at the same time.

I push my arms against him, trying to get free but he just forces my arms back harder, hurting me in the action. I cry out in pain and he tuts in disappointment.

"No, no, no, Mia. You can't escape, we can't have that." I stare up at him in fear. Who is this person? Gone is the old cheerful Sam, in his place is this terrifying, sadistic man with the same face. I try it push against him again and he doesn't budge, I'm too weak.

"Sam, let go!" I shout, twisting and writhing in his hold. I would kick him but our bodies are too close together for it to be effective.

"Stop moving!" He shouts, fury radiating through his voice. I automatically stop moving at his command, fear controlling my body. A chocked sob slips past my lips and I drop my eyes so he doesn't see the tears collecting.

What is happening? What is he doing? I worry what made him caused him to change so quickly, the date was going fine until Megan mentioned Harry. Oh God, what if Sam's one of those guys that hit their girlfriends?

I silently pray for anyone to come, anyone at all. For a car to roll in or for people to leave the restaurant and find their cars. But no one comes. I'm alone in a dark car park with my manic boyfriend.

"Please, stop. You're hurting me," I shakily beg him. Sam sniggers and tightens his grip on my arms and I do what any girl would do in the situation. I scream. A high pitched, blood chilling scream rips itself out of my throat.

Sam doesn't do anything but laugh creepily, wickedly. He then joins in on me screaming. mocking me. He yells and shouts and yet no one comes.

"Oh," he says in that eerie sing-song voice, "they can't hear us." Of course they couldn't, that guy singing in the restaurant would be too loud. I inwardly curse that sex in the rain singing man.

"Still shouldn't have tried." Then Sam slaps me hard across the face. My head cracks to the side. Tears cloud my eyes as my ears rings loudly, my cheek burns and stings violently, eyes widening in shock.

Nothing crosses my mind. I have no words for the emotions that consume me so entirely. Pain, humiliation, regret, fear, betrayal, hate. Sobs pour from me, tears now flowing freely down my abused face. Sam rightens me, picking me back up from my slumped position and slamming back against the car.

"I always thought it would be easy, getting you. You liked me from the beginning didn't you, Mia?" He brushes a curl over my ear gently and I find myself wanting to chew off his hand, "I knew all along. But when you didn't jump at the chance to date me when I asked, I could tell something was wrong. Never would I ever think it'd be Harry Styles." He spits the name out like it tastes bad.

"I've known him for a long time, fucked up that one. Likes feeling pain almost as much as he likes inflicting it. He's like me, only I much rather enjoy giving it." Then Sam squeezes my forearms in a bone crushing hold that makes me cry out in agony.

Another hand cracks hard across my face, the same cheek that he hit earlier. "No, screaming," he grates out past a toothy smile. I whimper and close my eyes against everything. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, dripping off my chin. My cheeks burn in humiliation as well as agony. I'm sure that Sam's handprint is now branded on my face.

"Why are you doing this to me? What did I do?" I sob. Sam's fingers wrap around my chin and tips it up to him, my eyelids open. He looks deep into eyes and says simply, "you were born."

I stare up at him with my mouth parted. Sam laughs coldly, "look at you all teary eyed and in pain. It's really turning me on." And sure enough, just like he said I can feel him growing hard against me.

Sam's been a fake this whole entire time. Underneath his sweet and charming personality there's a sick, twisted, wicked man who enjoys hurting people. I wonder if he's done this to all the girls his dated, but then I realise that couldn't be. Sam's dated too many girls that the word could have gotten out otherwise. So why me?

"You're making me hard, Mia," he whispers, his cruel smile mocking me. He presses his erection against my closed thighs. Disgust and repulsion churns in my stomach, my heart beats against my chest rapidly, adrenaline burns through my veins.

"Don't touch me," I grate out, his touch sparking anger and courage inside of me.

"Or what?" He scoffs and I to wonder, what I could possibly do against him. "Your daddy will come get me?" Sam puts on this childish voice, "he'll come kill me?"

My dad? What's this got to do with dad?

"Your dad's not here, Mia. And by the time I'm done with you, he won't be able to lay a hand on us."

Us? He said us. Oh God, there's more? I swallow the bile in my throat and choke out, "why are you talking about my dad?"

Sam looks at me with hatred and lifts me away from the car before slamming me back down, "why?Why? Your father's not exactly a saint, Mia. He's the whole fucking reason why I'm here, why I even bothered to consider dating someone like you."

"I- I don't understand." I'm hurt, I kinda guessed by now that Sam never actually liked me but hearing him say it out loud, it hurts. Almost as much as his bone rushing hold he's got on my arms.

"Of course you bloody don't, I bet he's got you and your mum in the dark. But I'll tell you what he is, Mia. He's a fucking murderer. He killed my parents!" Sam roars. I blink as I stare up at him. He's gone mad, he actually has gone mad.

My father's never killed anyone, though I overheard the conversation, never, ever, would dad kill someone. I know this.

"And now I've won," Sam tells me, his eyes wild with excitement. With one hand he grabs and pins both my arms above my head, with the other hand he reaches down between us. Fear stabs my heart and I try to writhe away from him but he holds strong.

"What do you mean you've won?"' I gasp, bucking away from him as he undoes his belt and unzips his jeans.

"Well whoever's got you, has him," his eyes slice up to meet mine, "and I've got you."

Notes

Sorry the update took so long, I've been on holidays and when I came back (and currently) there is a massive heat wave and Its way too hot to do anything.

sorry though, I'll try to post more asap

all story credit goes to the user doily


please check out my two fics, The Real World/ Perfect Act