Ellin

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the first chapter of this story! Hopefully this chapter will give you a new perspective on these characters.

The next chapter should be up as soon as possible.

***

Continued from Chapter One...

Kellin:

I buried my face in my hands, leaning my elbows on the small café table in the coffee shop by my house.

This was where I ended up. After I stormed out of the house, my mom screaming at me from the kitchen, I drove in circles until I ended up here, hungry, upset, and out of gas.

Five years. That's how long it's been, that I've been helplessly in love with him. I groaned and scowled at my coffee, my breath making small waves in the light brown liquid. He had to have known... It had to be some kind of joke, some kind of prank, planned by Conner and his disturbed mind. He'd known I'd been in love with David; he'd told me to stay away...

"Hey, Kellie, can I talk to you for a second?" He'd said, smirking at me. He'd seemed nice enough, from what I could tell, but we hadn't ever said more than a couple words to each other.

"Of course, Conner. What do you need?"

I could remember how his whole face darkened when we were out of earshot from David and the rest of our friends. His words were imprinted into my mind, and I wasn't sure what would ever make them go away.

"You better leave him alone," he'd spat at me. Like I was hurting David, like I was the one he should've been worried about. "David is mine now, and you'll have to kill me before you get him away from me. Are we clear?"

I winced at the memory and dropped my head into my hands. How could he be such an idiot, to crawl back to someone like that? Every time I'd tried to tell him what Conner was really like, he'd brush it off like he didn't know what I was talking about. He sure as fuck knew. He knew what it would do to me when he kissed me, too. He had to have known; why else would he have done it? Like he could ever feel that way about me. He had Conner.

I smirked bitterly, silently brooding, when there was a gentle knock on the table in front of me. I followed the small muscular arm up to its shoulder, and recognition hit me. My face broke out into a smile, as I watched his deep brown eyes flicker hesitantly.

"Cameron," I grinned at him. "I haven't seen you in ages, what are you doing here?" He laughed and gestured to his apron, holding up the broom at his side.

"I work here. Kind of embarrassing." His voice was deeper than I'd expected, due to his petite frame. His face was framed by short, wavy brown hair, and his eyes were a deep chocolate brown. He had thick, dark eyebrows, and bright white teeth, surrounded by full, pink lips that looked deliciously inviting.

He sat in the chair closest to him, brushing crumbs off of the front of his apron, and looked back up at me, smiling.

"How have you been, Kellin? We don't have any classes together, so I never see you around anymore..." He trailed off and his face flickered with disappointment. I smiled widely and shook my head.

"I'm alright. But damn, Cameron. When did you get so hot?" I watched the way his cheeks flushed; his shoulders shook when he laughed, and his teeth grazed his lower lip.

"As if. You look good, too, Kel. How's David?"

My smile faded and I looked down at my coffee, absentmindedly tracing patterns on the table top with the tips of my fingers. "Fine," I mumbled.

He slid a seat over, sitting in the chair closest to me, and gently ran his hand up my arm. "Hey, did something happen?" I looked up at him and his eyes were so deep brown that they swirled. I took a deep breath and looked back down, staring intently at my coffee in front me.

"I was just kind of in love with him..." My eyes flicked back up to his, and then back down. "And he kissed me, and I was so happy. You have no idea..." I smirked at the memory, even though the bliss of the moment was short-lived.

"Then why are you upset? It sounds perfect. Loving someone unrequitedly for an impossibly long time, and then ending up with them? I'm jealous," he interrupted. His cheeks flushed pink again, and he looked away from me, embarrassed.

"Right after I left his house, he had sex with Conner," I snapped. I gripped my cup tightly and willed myself to calm down.

"Kel, I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"I know," I mumbled and looked back up at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just a lot." He nodded and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Do you want to go vandalize their cars with me, or something? I get off in..." he trailed off and turned in his seat, glancing at the clock on the wall behind him. "About fifteen minutes," he finished, looking back at me and smiling nervously. "I have a feeling it might make you feel better."

"Absolutely," I laughed, leaning forward in my chair. "I'll be here." I watched him get out of his seat and shoot me a smile before disappearing behind a door that read, 'Employees Only'.

***

David:

I pulled back from him, trying to catch my breath as he pulled out and collapsed on top of me. Running my hands over his back, I traced his shoulders and all the way down his spine.

"Mmm, baby," he drawled into my ear, lightly nipping my earlobe between his teeth. "You're going to make me hard again if you keep doing that."

Proving his point, he gently ground his hips into me and I sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly to calm myself down.

"Conner, I have to get home soon..." I brought my hands around to his chest and lightly nudged him back. I dropped my voice down to a whisper. "You can come over later tonight, but I need to finish my homework."

He growled into my ear and got up, stretching his back and picking up a towel off of the floor, wiping us both down. On his way to the bathroom, he tugged on some sweats and I bit my lip, admiring the view as he bent over.

Once he was out of the room, I let out sigh and heaved myself out of bed, tugging on my clothes. I grabbed my keys and phone from his nightstand.

"I hate that you're leaving now..." Conner murmured as he came back into the room, slipping his arms around my waist from behind. I froze, holding my breath. I'd said the same thing to Kellin, just hours before. "Call me, okay? I hate that you're leaving even now..."

Tears welled up in my eyes as his voice rang through my head. "You've chosen, David. I hope you fucking regret it." I sucked in a deep breath, and Conner tightened his arms around me.

"What's wrong, baby?" He mumbled into my shoulder, his hair teasing the side of my neck.

"Nothing," I said dismissively, turning in his arms and leaning up to brush a kiss across his lips. "I'll call you when I get home, alright?" He nodded and leaned down to kiss me another time.

"I'll be over tonight," he whispered and I forced a smile, turning away from him and shutting the door behind me on the way out.

When I got to my car, I reached for the door, but stopped when orange paint caught my attention. Following the curve of an 's', I laughed curtly, my eyes filling up with tears.

Scrawled in giant, spray painted letters across the side of my car, was the word slut, followed by a small heart. I ran my hand through the color and leaned back against the door, staring at the orange on the tips of my fingers. Fabulous.

***

Kellin:

"Oh my fucking god," I panted, laughing hard and bending over, bracing myself on my knees.

"How crazy was that?" Cameron breathed, grinning wildly, his face covered in orange paint.

He'd decided he'd wanted revenge on his ex-boyfriend as well, and in the midst of spray painting 'Fucking Whore' on the side of Adam's new Acura, Adam had popped up from inside the car, breathless and half-naked with his new twink Sam. He went crazy and we'd booked it as far as we could run without passing out.

Laughing, I realized I'd dropped the spray paint when Adam lost it. "Aw, fuck, no more paint," I whined, and he laughed again, pulling another can out of his back pocket. He shook it and raised an eyebrow at me.

"There's enough for one more. Is it time for David?" He flashed me a hesitant smile, and I nodded, finally regaining the breath I'd lost.

"It's time."

Making it safely back to my car, we drove to Conner's house, hoping he'd still be there. To my luck, his clean little Honda Civic was parked right out front.

Cameron pulled up right beside it, and looked over at me in the passenger's seat, giving me a nod. I jumped out and shook the can furiously, clenching my free hand into a fist. I hope he makes you happy.

I scrawled 'slut' on the side of his car in massive letters, my handwriting easily recognizable. I smiled and added a heart on the end for good measure, and ran back to the car, jumping back into the passenger's seat.

"You good?" Cameron asked me, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. I laughed and watched the still-wet paint drip down the side of his car in thin lines.

"Yeah. I'm great.

***

After that day, Cameron and I reconnected. We spent almost every day after school together; going to movies, going to the mall, going anywhere. He was beginning to fill the void, that empty space that David had left in my chest, when he'd picked Conner over me, and he treated me much better than David ever had in the first place.

David and I no longer spoke to each other. The first couple times he tried to talk to me, in person or over text, I ignored him, and soon he stopped trying all together. I'd heard he'd gotten back together with Conner, which was fine with me. If he wanted to ruin his life with that controlling asshole, he might as well do so. He was no better.

***

"Kellin, you have a visitor." My mom knocked quietly on my bedroom door, and then opened it slowly, poking her head into the opening. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Mom, if David is here please tell him I'm not home." I turned back around and opened my Calculus book, chewing on my bottom lip.

"It's not David, honey," she mumbled. "It's Cameron."

I smiled and dropped my book, homework long forgotten. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

She looked at me sheepishly, and hustled out of the room. I followed her, confused.

"Cameron, would you like something for that, dear? Ice? Anything?" Her voice wafted from the kitchen and my frown deepened. Ice for what?

As I turned the corner, I stopped and held my breath. Cameron's neck was painted in deep bruises, and a strange noise came from his throat as he held his sides.

"Cameron..? Cam, what happened?" He turned and looked at me, his cheeks flushing pink, and I was momentarily distracted by the color until I saw his eye.

It was deeper purple than the rest of the bruises on his neck, and slightly swollen. His lip was cut and bleeding a river down his chin. He looked down, ashamed, and I hurried over to him, laying my hands gently on his shoulders.

"Cameron, what the hell happened to you?" Gently, I tilted his face up and gritted my teeth when I saw the bruises up close. He shrugged and tried to pull away from me, but I held him tightly.

"Please tell me what happened," I whispered into his hair, being as gentle as possible. He sighed against my neck and wrapped his arms loosely around my waist.

"I was sticking up for you, Kel. Conner was furious at the both of us after he saw David's car, and he told me he was going to beat the shit out of you for hurting David. I told him he should pay more attention to how much David hurt you instead, and he punched me." He laughed abruptly, tightening his grip around my waist. "I gave him a black eye, too, so we're even." Pulling back, he looked up at me and flashed me a lopsided smile. I laughed and lightly brushed the hair back from his face.

"I'm just glad you're all right. You're my best friend," I told him, trying to fix his hair after I finished messing it up. His cheeks turned pink again and I tried to hold back the smile and satisfaction that that color gave me.

Across the room, my mom cleared her throat and raised her eyebrow. I pulled back and grabbed the ice pack from her hand, shooing her into the other room.

"But Kellin, I'm your mother, and I want to see what happens!" She whispered furiously, glancing at Cameron from the corner of her eye, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of my kitchen.

"Mom, oh my god, stop. I'm not going to tell him, he won't feel the same," I whispered back, embarrassed. "Shoo, shoo."

She shot me a dirty look, but complied, pouting and scurrying into the living room. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Cameron, biting my lip.

"Are you sure you don't want any ice or anything for your eye? It looks like it hurts, Cam." I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel, handing it to him. He mumbled a thanks and pressed it to his black eye, wincing.

"Hey Kellin?" I turned back towards the sound of his voice.

"Yeah?" He looked worried, and I went over to him, seeing if I could fix anything, but he just batted my hands away.

"What were you talking to your mom about just now?" He asked lowly; I could barely hear him, and his cheeks were darker pink than I'd ever seen them before.

"Um... What do you mean?" I busied myself with fixing the towel wrapped around the ice pack to avoid looking at him.

My mom had been under the impression that I'd been falling for Cameron these past few weeks that we'd reconnected. I understood where she was coming from; last year I had a giant crush on him, but he had been with Adam, and there was nothing I would've done about it anyway, since I still had strong feelings for David.

But soon I'd realized she was right. At first, I thought it might have just been a rebound; I mean... I'd just fallen out with David a couple weeks before, where else was I supposed to turn my affection? But when I started dreaming of Cameron instead of David, and started using him for masturbation fantasies, I knew I'd crossed the line.

"Kellin, what did your mom want you to tell me?" He took the ice pack from my hands, bringing me to the present. I laughed nervously, avoiding his gaze. Damn, I was awkward.

"Nothing, she was just joking around. Mothers and their humor," I laughed again, trailing off at the serious look he gave me.

I sat down at the island, and folded my hands into my lap, staring at them intently.

"Look, Cameron, I don't know what you want me to tell you... It's not like it would make any difference if I told you or not, right? It's embarrassing, first of all, plus I wouldn't want you to think that I'm just rebounding and not being serious at all. I take commitments really seriously... I really care about you. I don't want anything to fuck up our friendship." I watched my fingers intertwine together, and separate, deliberately avoiding his eyes, until a cold finger made its way under my chin, tilting my face back up.

"Why do you seem to be under the impression that I'm not capable of being in love with you?" My eyes widened and my cheeks flushed, making them hot. "Honestly, Kellin, I think you're kind of blind. I've loved you since that day in biology... Do you remember that?" His eyes darkened and squinted with his smile, which I returned.

Back then, he was the new kid at school, and he didn't have any friends. Sitting alone at a biology table in the back of the classroom, he kept his nose buried in his book, and he didn't talk to anyone much.

I remember how all of the girls would talk about him under their breath on the way to class.

"Do you see him? How can someone so gorgeous be so shy?" I used to wonder the same thing.

That's why, when my lab partner decided to drop out, I volunteered to move back with him. I smiled as I remembered the look on his face when I'd first said something.

"Is this seat taken?" I'd asked, knowing it wasn't, but deliberately asking to get his attention. Surprised, he must have jumped about a foot in the air, his eyes going wider than saucers and his cheeks turning pink. His rosy cheeks were always so adorable.

"N-no, of course not, please. Sit." He'd hastily moved his stuff out of the way, making room for me.

"I'm Kellin. You're Cameron, right? From Montana?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. It's nice to meet you, Kellin."

He was so cute, and I looked at him now, watching the way the corners of his mouth turned up into a smirk, the tip of his tongue darting out over his lower lip...

I knew he would treat me better than David ever could. I was comfortable around Cameron. I leaned forward and laid my hand on the side of his neck, running my thumb under his eye and over the purple bruise there. The bruise he got for defending me.

Leaning forward, I hesitantly brushed a kiss across his lips, making sure to be careful of the bruises that littered his neck.

He wasn't so careful. He grabbed my face with cold fingers, pulling me closer and crushing our lips together. He tasted like spearmint toothpaste and it made me smile, as I slipped my arms around his waist and pulled him into my lap from his seat.

I slipped my hands up the back of his shirt and traced his spine up to his shoulder blades, and he let out a small huff into my mouth. Encouraged by his reaction, I lightly raked my nails down his shoulders and he shivered against me, groaning under his breath. I moaned with him and began to run my tongue over his lower lip, lightly poking it inside-

"I thought you told me you weren't going to tell him!"

I jumped back from Cameron and groaned when my mom smiled wide at me.

"Mom, do you have to interrupt everything? Look, Cameron's going to never want to kiss me again," I grumbled, gesturing to his pink cheeks and embarrassed expression.

"I have to disagree with that," he mumbled, shooting me a smile before leaning over and brushing his lips against mine for a second. I sighed and my mom cleared her throat.

"Alright, love birds. It's time for dinner."

***

David:

"I didn't know they were dating! That's so cute," Melanie whispered in my ear. She was my best friend, and had been since kindergarten.

I looked in the direction she gestured and froze. Cameron and Kellin were intertwined, leaning against the door of Kellin's car. Cameron's hands were fisted in his hair and they were pressed so tightly together, you couldn't tell where one ended, and the other began; but they weren't kissing. They were talking. Kellin whispered something to Cameron under his breath, and Cameron laughed, shaking them both.

They looked amazing together, and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back what I really wanted to say.

"Yeah," I murmured. "They're adorable." I watched as Kellin leaned deeper into Cameron, leaning him back completely against the car and kissing him deeply, then pull back, both of them all smiles.

I sighed and turned my head, unable to keep watching the free show they were putting on. I'd had my chance, and Kellin was right. I did fucking regret my decision; it was probably one of the most stupid things I'd ever done. Damn straight.

I felt a hand slide down my back, and I looked up to find Conner smiling down at me.

"Hey, baby. Care to follow?" He backed up a couple steps and nodded to his car. I smiled and grabbed my bag off the hood of Melanie's car.

"I'll see you later," I called to her, and made my way to Conner's car. When I slid in the passenger's seat, he reached over and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers. I smiled and bit my lip. Conner usually wasn't so sweet; it was a nice change.

On the drive home, he held my hand tightly in his own, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the backs of my knuckles.

"You're spending the night, right?" He asked me absentmindedly, still playing with my fingers. He looked over at me briefly, and I looked back at him.

"If that's what you want." I smiled. The rest of the drive was spent in silence... until he missed the turn off at 116th for his house.