After class, when I put back my chair, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me aside. "Where were you?" he asked calmly, but his eyes contained a ferocity I've never seen before, and for the first time in my life I was scared of him.
                          
My lips stretched into a wide grin, a bit of the laughter I've been holding back the entire class, and it seemed to calm him just a bit. "In my defense," I said slowly, looping my arm through his and enjoying the closeness and warmth that seeped from his body into mine, "you never said you wanted me at camp."
                          
"Oh, I have to say it now?!"
                          
The banter continued until we reached down the stairs, and I had to let go before my parents said anything about clinging to him like that; Xavier pulled me back, and the argument continued, ending only when I had to leave.
                          
"Some sign that we're cool?" I begged, my sister tugging on my arm and trying to pull me away from him, which I desperatedly did not want. The urge to swat her away was nearly irresistible.
                          
His lips widened into a grin and then into a loud, familiar laugh, making me thank God that I managed to calm him down. He pulled me into a hug, and whispered into my ear, "I'm still mad at you, you know that, right?"
                          
Before I could answer, he let go, and gave me an arrogant peace sign, meant to piss me off. Thrown off, my sister yanked me away, and all I could do was glare at him as he laughed so amusingly at me.
                          
The knock on the door woke me up, and I groggily sat up from my face in my jacket. God, double period History classes were the worst. Yeah, I loved my teacher, she rocked, but double was just too much, especially when it came to politics.
                          
Her head snapped to the door, and when it opened and I saw Danny standing in the door, I wasn't surprised to hear him ask to see me. Danny was like a parasite - he clung to Dom everywhere, but I tried my best not to complain. After all, his phone was the one that supplied us our daily dose of Temple Run and kept the teachers off my back by making our couple duo and group trio.
                          
I rolled my eyes at him and stood up reluctantly. My jacket was comfortable, damn it. The minute he shut the door behind me, his expression turned serious and started to scare me. "Dom tried parkour," he said emotionessly.
                          
His voice was so deep and dark and he spoke so fast it took me a while to comprehend. "What?" I said, after some time. But my heart was pounding when I caught Dom's name.
                          
Sighing exasperatedly, he repeated himself more slowly. "Dom tried parkour. He jumped off the stairs."
                          
My eyes widened. "What?" I said again, this time refusing to believe my ears.
                          
"Just come up to the audi," Danny said, and left, leaving me frustrated and worried sick. I stood out there breathing heavily, until I dashed back inside the class, hastily asking whether I could leave for the toilet.
                          
Her nod had barely been finished when I rushed back out, running the steps two by two to the audi. I didn't hold track records, but I was fast enough that I ran at least one event every athletics meet. When I got to the audi it was like a nightmare.
                          
The backstage boys all crowded around one figure who was stretched out on several plastic chairs with a bag of ice pressed to one of his feet. All I could see was the back of his head but I didn't have to see his face to know it was Dom. The boys parted when they saw me, giving me a clear view of him.
                          
And God, it was bad.
                          
I've never seen him like this before. I've seen his sensitive, vulnerable side, but this was way beyond it. With one ankle the size of a large bowl, his face was contorted in pain, trying to stem the flow of tears. "Christ, Dom," I gasped, moving closer. He opened his eyes, and they flooded in relief on seeing me.
                          
Taking one hand in mine, I threw my arms around him carefully, pressing my face into his shoulder. The arm that wasn't gripping the edge of the chair to stay balanced crawled around my waist carefully, holding me to him.
                          
Part of me wanted to slap him for being such an idiot. Who the fuck jumps off the top step ninty degrees down to the ground? Especially when that person is fucking stage manager, with the annual concert two days away?
                          
When he was supposed to spend time with his girlfriend?
                          
When he knew that she was already falling apart at the thought of another girl?
                          
Another part wanted to break down and cry just seeing him like this. I felt hopelessly useless. I didn't know the pain he was going through, and I had to leave him and return to class soon.
                          
One more third was almost bursting with joy at the prospect of him being away for concert. My parents and the teachers wouldn't be able to say shit. And I could get away from him clingy-ness and over-romantic crap. Just for once in my life, I was fucking free from Dom.
                          
But at the moment, the first two overtook. We held each other for a while, obviously finding comfort in each other's hold, before he said quietly, "You should go."
                          
"Dom," I began, not wanting to listen, but he cut me off.
                          
"Go," he repeated. "I'll be fine, don't get in trouble."
                          
I nodded slowly, admitting grudgingly that he was right; I got up and pressed my lips to his temple lightly, before straightening to my full height and turning to the backstage crew. "If he gets up, push him back down," I told them, and from my expression I knew that they got the idea that I was fucking serious.
                          
"Who'd be stupid enough to get up?" one of them asked.
                          
If he was stupid enough to jump, I thought, he'd be stupid enough to get up. I desperately wanted to voice my thoughts, but instead I pressed my lips together in a tight line. "Just keep him down." And with that I ran out of the audi to escape the living nightmare.
                          
Before I entered class again, I paused to take a breather, and then went in. Calmly handing the pass back to the teacher, I felt all eyes on me, and resisted the urge to snap at them with a loud, 'what the fuck are you staring at?'
                          
As I sat back down in my chair, I buried my face into my jacket again, trying to process. Dom jumped off the top step straight to the floor, hurting his leg in the process. A bone was probably cracked and he'd have to go for operation. Which in turn means that he'll be MIA for concert. My shoulders shuddered with the wave of tears that threatened to overtake me, and I calmed myself again.
                          
A hand rested on my shoulder, and I could hear a chair being dragged up to my table, but I refused to show my face. Right now, I wanted to laugh at the idea of being away from him, cry at the thought of being away from him, and beat the crap out of him for being so stupid.
                          
After a while, I registered that it was Mel's hand, but I still ignored her. The few tears that fell were absorbed by my jacket, and it took only a surprising five minutes to stop after what had just happened. So when I looked up and saw Mel's worried look at me and the stupidest question you could ask, which was 'you okay?' slip out from her lips, I lied the biggest bullshit ever.
                          
"I'm fine."
                          
I'm sorry for the late update!!!!! :X