Bella:
"Ryder!" I gasped, rushing towards him as he crashed to the floor.
I reached for his hands, but then he opened his eyes, and a frown appeared on his face as he saw me. He slapped my hands away, sitting up.
"What the fuck? Who let you in, Runestone?" he questioned in a raised tone as he surveyed the room. "Babe," he called out to Fae, and she rushed towards him while I stood there, allowing my heart to shatter into multiple pieces.
It was happening again, and everything felt like it was just yesterday.
I watched Ryder wrap his arms around Fae, kissing her forehead before pulling away to look at the both of us.
"I... I can't really remember how I got all bloodied. The last thing I can remember was you saving me, and I can't imagine what I would have done without you," he said, pulling her into a hug, while Fae turned back briefly, giving me a smile that hurt more than anything.
I tried to steady my breath, but it wasn't working, and my mind became lost.
"Why the hell is she still standing here? There are fucking limits to my father's..." Ryder started.
"Shh," Fae said, placing a finger on his lips. Then she cupped his face, kissing it. "I just recovered you from a heart- wrenching incident, and I would hate to lose you again, so let go of it," she said to him, and I rolled my eyes.
"Give me the phone!" I demanded, my voice raised.
My feet, which had been planted on the ground, suddenly moved, and I walked myself towards Fae, grabbing her phone. Ryder tried to intervene, but she held him back.
"I have something of hers, and she wants it back, so it's no big deal," she said, running her hands on his chest, and I tried to keep my mind away from the fact that she was touching him.
With shaky hands, I erased the pictures and videos on her phone completely, then I tossed the phone towards her without looking at Ryder.
"Nice doing business with you, Bella. You may leave now!" Fae said with a straight face, and I turned away, walking towards the door.
I reached for the handle, but it was pushed open before I could grab it. Finn, Kai, and Hazel walked in, their brows wrinkling as they saw Fae and Ryder together.
"What the hell is this?" Finn asked, making his way towards Ryder, but Kai grabbed his hand.
"No, you should let me, because he drives me crazier than sitting for a math test. You can never predict the guy," Finn said, and I glanced at Ryder as a tear ran down my eyes.
Kai grabbed my hand at once.
"We are sorry, Bella. We should have never put you through this," he said, and I wiped my tear with the back of my palm.
Ryder gave a yawn, then crossed his arms, facing everyone.
"Are you done with this drama? Because I would like everyone to get over whatever this is and get the fuck out of my apartment!" His tone at the end was heavy, causing Finn to scoff.
"You will regret this path, and we were so foolish for thinking you cared about Bella. This will be the end of this intervention. Hurting your mate without knowing is one thing, but being fully aware is another, and that is what you just did," Finn said, turning around to leave.
"Let's go," he said, and we left with Ryder slamming the door heavily behind us.
As we walked out of the apartment and headed into the car, I prayed silently that my plan would work, because if it didn't, Fae would win. When I got in, Hazel placed my head on her shoulder, patting it gently. My phone beeped at that moment with a message from Fae.
"It is good that you kept to your end of the deal, Bella, and now you will dance to my tunes."
I sighed, shutting off the phone.
"Is that Ryder?" Hazel asked, and Finn, who was at the wheel, looked through the rearview mirror. "Is he troubling you? We could..."
"I am fine. It is just a random service message," I lied, resting my head totally on Hazel's lap.
My plan was bound to work, but why was I scared?
**
Ryder:
My eyes flipped open at exactly midnight, causing me to jerk up on my bed. The events of the day replayed in my head, and Bella struck my mind at once, including the thoughts of what Fae had planned to do with her the next day. I was supposed to be part of it, but I had to tell Bella at the spot we had planned to meet.
Hurriedly, I got out of bed, making my way out of the room and down the hallway towards Bella and Hazel's room. I walked past it and couldn't smell her, so I knew where she would be. I rushed down the back stairs until I got to the last one.
"Bella," I called out in a low tone as I saw her pacing around the large glass mirror embedded with the school symbol. I rushed towards her, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug.
"It worked," she said, tears hanging in her eyes.