TEN

| chapter song: slow motion - trey songz |

| dedication: psychvtic - for the smokey cover xx |

TEN

He had me on lock down, in more ways than one with his hands firmly placed on my thighs and with his cold stare. I tried to wiggle out of his hold but it was to no avail- it only led to him pulling me closer into him, almost crushing me into his chest.

"You are insane," I breathed out, gawking down at him incredulously. He wasn't okay in the head right now and maybe, just maybe, Brandon had given him a good one.

"Never been as sane as I am right now," Link scoffed, his hands around my waist digging into me. I blinked a few times and then decided to wiggle some more.

Link shook his head at me. "You should really stop doing that," he tutted.

I glared down at him. "Why?"

"It's annoying," he said on a sigh.

I stopped moving around and thought to think through a plan strategically. If I just spat on his face and then pinched his cheeks and then—.

I was suddenly hauled upwards and I let out a small scream. Link stood, with my legs dangling down his sides and he was smiling down at me widely. I shook my head at him slowly, mentally firing wide erratic threats his way. If he didn't put me down in one second...

"You have something that I want."

I reared my head back so quickly, that I actually thought I heard a snap. "What do I have?"

Link just let out a chuckle, his chest rumbling up against mine. "Why did you follow me here?" Link suddenly asked.

I frowned down at him, placing my hands on his shoulders to stop myself from falling backwards. Or worse, closer into him. "You didn't look so great back there and I didn't want Palmer to see you."

"Could you put me down now?" I asked him, trying to pull one of my thighs out of his hold.

"No. Just carry on playing nurse."

I narrowed my eyes down and glared into his dancing eyes. He was getting a kick of out this. "I'm just going to leave and forget you even exist."

Link's upper lip curled into a smile. "Hard to do that when I'm your nightmare."

"Don't flatter yourself." I scoffed, moving out roughly in hopes of escaping from him. I felt his hands slip and just before I could jump at the chance, he roughly pushed me against the counter.

"Oh, so is it my sister that haunts you in your sleep?"

I stopped moving around. He took that as an advantage and pushed me further backwards, causing me to knock over a few cutleries. "Oh my god." I gasped out, my hands flying everywhere resulting in more mess. Odd things that were on the counter all fell down to the floor, making sure to make an ear-shattering sound as they made their landing.

I snapped my head back at Link and saw that he was enjoying this. "You think this is funny?" I hissed at him, clawing at his face with my fingers. Luckily for him, he moved his face away just in time.

"Chill," he said, his hands tightening around me again.

I shook my head quickly at him, refusing to be a participant in this game. "No, no you don't get to do this anymore. I have to clean up the mess."

Link looked down at the floor, evaluated the 'mess' before he decided that it wasn't worth my time. He swiftly picked me up and placed me on the island. Since I was very much reluctant to participant, I kicked out furiously. Link managed to block my leg and as a result I pushed over the bag of flour.

My eyes widened as a domino game erupted. Bag after bag, cry after cry, tear after tear, I watched on as every ingredient that Palmer used to work her magic came tumbling down. The sugar over the flour. The bag of baking soda hung by the end of the table, pouring out its remains in a slow manner. The bottle of vanilla extract fell down on the floor and splashed into many pieces, the liquid getting everywhere. A bowl of cake mixture fell down on the floor, the batter flying everywhere and covering every inch possible.

I let out a small whimper, my eyes scrunching up and I pointed at the mess soundlessly.

Link was looking at the whole disaster with wide eyes. "Holy shit." I heard him whisper.

"Palmer is going to kill us." I said in a high, whimpering voice. "She is going to kill us."

"Shit." Link repeated, his head flicking in every direction, trying to see how much of a mess we caused.

"What on earth is going on back there?" I heard Palmer's voice carry from the front and I kid you not, I nearly pissed myself. She was going to kill us if she saw this mess.

I heard her come running to the back, her foot carrying her like the wind and before I could even get off the table, she came in room.

She let out a loud gasp, her hand shooting up to her mouth quickly.

"Please don't kill us," I whimpered next to a shell-shocked Link.

_

_

_

It was safe to say we weren't murdered this evening. But we did have to stay behind to clean while Palmer went home to 'calm her mind'.

I bend down to my knees and picked up the glass one by one. The remains of the vanilla stuck around the class and the poignant smell filled the whole room. I scrunched up my nose and carried on picking the glass up with my bare hands.

"You shouldn't pick up glass with your hands."

"And since when do you care?" I muttered under my breath, carrying on with picking up the glass. Speaking to Link was not on my to-do list right this moment. I was going to clean up this mess, skip as far away from Link as I can with my middle finger raised up in the air.

This was the last time I'm ever going near that bastard again. I was officially done with him and his frightening cloud. If he so much as posed a threat to me I was going to hurled myself at him and claw at his face.

That freaking imbecile.

"Glad to be warned." Link said from close behind me.

I jumped at his voice in my ear, causing me to lose my balance and nearly fall forwards and flat on my face. "Do you mind?" I hissed up at him, pushing myself back up straight, using my hands to keep steady.

"Nah, I don't," he shrugged. He reached down with his finger and pushed my nose. "You talk more than you clean."

"Excuse me?" I asked him incredulously, pushing myself up to both my feet so I was eye to eye with him. Well not exactly but he sure couldn't talk down at me anymore.

"I wasn't talking. I was picking up the glass with my bare hands." I told him, opening my palm to show him what I was doing, even though he knew.

Link's eye flickered down onto my palm before he roughly snatched my wrist. He pulled my hand closer up before a sour look came over his face. "You're bleeding." He muttered, not sounding impressed at all. I peered up at my hand and saw a trail of blood all over the inside of my palm and wrist.

My eyes widened at the sight of it. "This is so your fault." I said before snatching my wrist out of his grip. I turned around and made my way to the sink, already dreading the sting of water that would meet my open wound.

"How is it my fault?" Link asked from behind me but I did well to ignore him.

I opened the tap and stuck my hand under the running water. All the while, I was reminding myself of two things. Clean up. Then get out of here. Clean up. Then get out of here.

"Clean up then get out of here." I repeated out loud.

"Are you really sane?"

I looked to my side and glared at Link. "Yes." I snapped at him, and continued to wash my cut.

"You should stop talking to yourself."

I ignored him once again. "Clean up then get out of here."

"You talking to me?"

"Clean up then get out of here."

"That's the plan."

"Clean up then get out of here."

Link stood quietly next to me, his eyebrow raised in question. "Are you okay?"

I nodded at him and said it again. "Clean up then get out of here."

"You're not okay." Link said slowly, moving a step or two back. He looked down at my palm under the water and pointed at it silently.

I turned my head and saw the blood kind of stopped and it was time to wrap something around it. "Could you find a first aid kit for me please?" I asked softly, inspecting the three massive cuts on my palm. I winced at them and gripped my wrist tightly.

A white cloth came dangling down my face. I snatched it and quickly wrapped it around my hand.

"That should stop the bleeding someway." I said, trying tie a knot to keep the cloth in place. After a few seconds of utter struggle, Link's fingers came over mine.

"Let me do it," he said quietly. I moved my fingers from under his and watched silently as he tied a perfect knot.

"Thank you."

Link didn't let go of my hand after that and I didn't try to move it myself. I kept my eyes on his hand that was frozen on mine, my mind taking me someplace else.

Imagine life if things happened differently those very nights ago.

"Imagine if things happened differently." I said, my voice coming out croaky.

Link and I would have probably never met, never interlinked, never held any significance to each other, never held onto each other's past, and never had bad vibes about each other. We would have carried on our lives with other things to worry about and we certainly wouldn't be in Palmer's kitchen together.

Link's finger trailed around the cloth, but I could feel the burn right through the cloth. He had his head bent lower so he could inspect my hand but his eyes weren't exactly moving around.

"You should sit down and I'll clean up the mess." He said after a long while.

I swallowed down my throat audibly as an involuntary shiver coursed up my spine. "I think I can manage." I told him, noting that he still hadn't moved his gaze from my hand. He wasn't inspecting it anymore nor was he letting go of my hand.

"You can't clean all of this on your own."

Link then slowly lifted his head and his lips curved into a smile, his previous straight face wiped away.

"You can keep me company."

I sat on the counter that previously had all the cutlery on. I made sure I wiped it all clean before placing the cutlery on neatly. Even with Link's protest that I shouldn't work, I managed to do it all under ten minutes.

"I just cut my hand, I didn't lose it." I had scoffed at him, before placing my elbow on the counter and my other hand to use to hoist myself up.

Link saw my struggle and came quickly to help me. "Let me get you up there." He offered, placing both his hands on my sides. My back shot up instantly at the touch and I heard his soft chuckle breathe down my neck.

"You getting antsy now?" He said over his chuckle. I didn't reply, knowing that it would do me no good.

He didn't stop there. I felt something cold on my side, on my skin. A surprised gasp escaped from my mouth. His fingers trailed up and down my side, slowly, devilishly.

His touched disappeared as quickly as it had come and before I could regain back my breath, I was hoisted up the counter.

"You can watch me work my magic." He said, winking up at me.

I was so taken aback by the gesture, and his playful ways, that I just ended up feigning a laugh. He didn't give it too much focus and carried on cleaning whatever he was cleaning.

I watched him, really work his magic. Never had I seen someone clean as quick and efficient as Link.

"Are you thinking of going back to college?" I asked him, swinging my legs side to side.

Link looked up from the sweeping he was doing. "It's kind of late to pick up any A-Levels right now, don't you think?" He picked up his broom and leaned it against the wall. He picked up his dust pan and used to sweeper to clear up the remaining dirt off the floor.

"Then what are your plans?"

Link shrugged. "Probably search for an apprenticeship. But then again, it's hard to get on one of those programmes."

I frowned at the lack of motivation and hope in his voice. "Why not?"

"I haven't exactly got the right CV for it."

"Why not?"

Link looked me straight in the eye. "Do you really want me to spell it out for you?" He gestured at his whole self. "Ex-prisoner. Ex-convict. Ex-"

I waved my hand at him quickly, not wanting to hear further synonyms. "I get it."

He carried on with his work, picking up the black bag and placed it near the door for him to take out later. "You really did this in under an hour." I said, in awe with his work.

Link smiled at me. "Magic." He mouthed, walking towards the sink to wash his hands.

I nodded at him enthusiastically. "Come and clean my room please." I said, jumping off the counter. I heard Link laugh behind me as I walked to the front, in search for a clock. My phone had died on me ages ago, leaving me practically disconnected from the world.

"You want to know the time?" Link questioned, appearing from behind me.

"Yes, but where is Palmer's clock?" I asked, my eyes looking around for the object in question.

Link pulled out his phone from his front pocket and checked the time. "It's just past six."

I gawked at him. "Six?" I asked again, not sure what my ears where hearing. "We've been here over four hours?"

"I guess so." Link walked over to the front door and placed his hand on the handle.

"You okay getting home or?"

I waved him off again, walking to him and the front door. "I can manage. It's not so far away."

Link went to open the door for me but it didn't budge. He tried the door harder, much more forcefully but it wasn't budging at all.

"No." I shook my head at him, not wanting to believe the unbelievable.

I raced back to the back room and tried the back door, knowing all too well that Palmer always kept that door shut and threw the key away ages ago. Ever since some incident that happened including some mislead thief and her back door, she decided to never open it again.

I tried the door handle, and as expected, it didn't open.

"You have got to be kidding me." I breathed out, running back to the front to Link. He still had some life in his phone and he could surely give Palmer a ring.

But just as I got to the front, Link looked up at me with a sour expression plastered on his face. He held up his iPhone which had that swirling circle of death on a pitch black screen.

"Adios to my phone."