-Vic's POV-

The first bus came and went, I'd asked if he'd seen a girl with red hair and blue eyes, I wouldn't have explained her so plainly I just didn't have any time to dwell on the way her lips were the perfect shape and her teeth were a beautiful white, almost too white. The bus driver had shook his head and told me he'd keep a look out and also ask around.

I didn't believe him though.

But still I sat there, awaiting the next bus, my fingers so cold I lost feeling in them a couple of hours ago. My eyelids were heavy and I involuntarily shook violently my body trying to warm itself up. I saw bus 23 roll around the corner and head in my direction, my gut instinct told me this was the bus she'd got on, that if I asked, the driver would know but my eyelids were too heavy and my limbs refused to move.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, giving in to fatigue.

When I woke up again the first thing I felt was disappointment. I'd missed the damn bus, the second thing I felt was anger, towards myself. I should have stayed awake. I rubbed my face in exasperation and then checked my wrist watch, it was 2am, no buses would be coming around here for a good few hours, I rose to my feet and began to jump up and down. I looked ridiculous, I won't lie, but I had to keep warm. I was still shivering, I rummaged through my duffel bag, pulling out a shirt and a sweater and quickly pulling it on to keep the cold from making my limbs go numb.

-Leda's POV-

Six am came and went and I laid there staring up at the ceiling. Taylor was on my right breathing softly while lying on his stomach, his arms wrapped around the pillow his head laid on. I blinked a couple of times, wishing I'd get tired and fall back to sleep but I didn't, I laid there for what felt like hours, maybe even days, but when I looked at the vintage alarm clock to my left only fifteen minutes had passed.

Screw this I was getting up. It felt rude to wander through somebody's house whilst they weren't conscious but I was going to drive myself crazy if I laid there and thought for another minute. I pulled back the blanket and slid my legs out of bed first as I sat up, I made sure once I'd gotten out I'd tucked the blanket back in so Taylor remained comfortable and asleep. I eyed the sweatpants that were still neatly folded on the ottoman, I needed those, it was kind of chilly, I sneakily pulled them on and headed for the ground floor of the house.

I entered the kitchen with a smile on my face, I was unsure of why I was smiling, I shouldn't have been. I found a coffee machine tucked away in the corner near the refrigerator, that made me smile more, caffeine, that's what I needed! I pulled out of its hiding place and plugged it in and added the necessary coffee grounds and water, I flicked the on button and it began making that sound that I loved so much.

The sound that made me think of home.

No! No, I would not do that to myself. This is the right decision, I'm doing the right thing.

Right?

Food. That's what I needed, to make food and eat food. The making would make my hands busy, therefore keeping my mind on something other than my wayward thoughts and the eating - well who can resist food?

I rummaged through the cupboards, looking for something I could cook up. I settled for a salad, boring I know but it was six thirty in the morning and I wasn't exactly going to make a stir fry was I? I brought the lettuce, cucumber, tomato, celery, spring onion and radish to the counter and began cutting up some lettuce with the only knife I could find (and obviously it was the biggest and sharpest knife in existence)

At first it worked, the whole idea of doing something busy with my hands to keep my mind fast paced and distracted. But then my thoughts wander elsewhere, I felt like a house wife making dinner for her husband, my tummy fluttered at the thought, then it sunk. Me? A house wife? Imagine that. Who would want me to be their wife though, really?

I felt someone's arms wrap around my waist and I gasped in surprise, my insane thoughts cutting off abruptly.

"You know, you taking over my kitchen is a serious turn on." His voice was husky and coated in sleep and I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling even wider and splitting my face into two. I unwrapped his arms from around me.

"Behave." I murmured, continuing to chop up the salad, pretending he had no affect on me whatsoever. He re-wrapped his arms around my waist and said daringly.

"Or what?" He challenged, purring in my ear.

"You really want to mess with a girl holding a knife, huh?" I smirked, still attempting to pretend I was ambivalent about his existence. Quickly he spun me around, it all happened so quickly, I was facing him in a matter of seconds, the knife still in my hand pointing towards him.

"Yes, I really do." And there he was again, Mr. Dark and Dangerous, his eyes ignited with something fiery, his throat was a good few inches away from the point of the knife, he eyed it for a few seconds and then without his facial expression faltering he moved closer to me, thus moving closer to the knife, I watched him cautiously as he got closer and closer until the point of the knife was directly under his adams apple. The fire in his eyes remained there, making him look even more appealing, his smirk didn't even slightly twitch, he was so confident in his posture it made me weak.

"Show me what you've got." His voice was a whisper and I was breathless, my breath lost somewhere in my throat, I don't think I even blink, he moved forward a tiny bit more and I could clearly see where the knife was making a small dent in his neck but I couldn't move, his eyes held me in place, unmoving, unbreathing. He reached up and caressed my cheek with his hand, his skin warm against mine, I felt my blood rise to the surface, this was such a strange situation but I couldn't change it. He reached up with his other hand and slowly took the knife from my hand, then in one swift movement he had the knife on the counter and he lifted me up in his arms, letting me slide slowly down his body until our faces were the same level and then he kissed me, fiercely and with all his might, I lost my hands in his hair and my mind along with them.

-Mike's POV-

I woke up with a pit in my stomach, something was really wrong. I rolled over and sighed, did I really want to awake today and find out what that something that was wrong was?

No.

Was I going to anyway?

Of course!

I pulled back the covers and rolled out of bed lethargically, grabbing my cigarette packet and the lighter that sat next to it I headed downstairs. I put a cigarette in my mouth as I got to the bottom of the stairs and shoved the packet in the pocket of my sweatpants, I knew to wait until I got outside to actually light it. Leda's mom would kill me.

Upon entering the kitchen, four eyes were staring at me.

"Um, morning?" I greeted awkwardly, unsure why they were looking at me so cautiously. They didn't respond, they just glanced at each other and then looked off into other directions. It was too early for this madness, I walked past them and out of the door, my feet cold against the grass of the backyard, I pulled my lighter out of my pocket and lit my cigarette slowly. The smoke wrapped its toxic arms around my lungs and a smile crept across my face, the earlier pit in my stomach seemed to be very far away now. I closed my eyes, kind of enjoying the cold bitter morning, it made me feel something.

"Uh, Mike..." Lily interrupted my moment.

"What?" I didn't mean to snap and she frowned, looking a little hurt at my tone. "Sorry." I mumbled, not very sorry at all.

"Er, come inside we need to tell you something." And instantly the pit in my stomach returned, I felt a little sick in addition to that. I looked away from her and nodded finishing my cigarette and following her inside. Things felt weird since the incident between Lily and I, she was acting nicer towards me and I was acting more hostile. It was only kissing but I felt so insanely guilty, every time I looked at her I thought of Leda.

What was I doing?

Leda's mom looked nonchalant as I re-entered the kitchen, Lily looked nervous and I probably looked stoic.

"What's up?" I asked just wanting to know what the hell was going on, Lily looked towards Leda's mom and she nodded.

"Funny story," she spoke, this was the first time I'd ever seen Lily look nervous, "Vic...Vic is er, um, he's...gone."

For a moment I laughed out loud, I don't know if it was the pressure of the past week or that I was at my wits end but I just laughed and laughed and laughed for what felt like far too long.

Maybe I looked crazy.

Maybe I didn't care.

"You're laughing," Lily stated the obvious, "of course you're laughing." She shook her head in disbelief and I tried my best to cease the laughter but I knew if I weren't to laugh, I'd get angry.

"Sit down, Mike, you're unstable. I need to tell you the full story." Leda's mom said sternly.

"Maybe you shouldn't..." Lily looked at me as my laughter began to come to a slow halt, "I mean, maybe he can't take it right now." She looked at me for longer than necessary, her eyes flickering from all of my facial features, her eyebrows knitted into one line as she frowned, I don't know what she saw on my face but she didn't like it. She was worried.

"Lily, this is my house, you'll do well to remember that. I think he needs to know so I'm going to tell him." Wow Leda's mom was being a bitch today. Lily fell silent and nodded, biting her lip, she looked innocent, like a scolded child.

Was I seeing her in a new light or was this the new Lily?

-Vic's POV-

I checked my watch again.

My eyelids were ice.

7am.

Buses would start running from any time now. I persevered, writing a little song in my head as I waited.

It's getting dark we should go back,
But what's the use if what you love is what you have,
And I would die right now,
For something beautiful to take me somewhere else.

My little attempt at a decent song was cut short when bus 23 pulled around the corner, my heart was in my mouth in an instant, this was it - the bus - this was it.

I gathered my things, pushed my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and grabbed my duffel bag and awaited the buses stop.

It pulled up slowly, a loud gushing sound announcing its arrival and then the doors flew open. The bus driver looked old, his eyes watery and his hair thinning at a rapid pace, I smiled weakly and tried to muster up the courage to speak to the driver, it'd been so long since I'd spoken to any real strangers.

"Are you getting on, sir?" The way he spoke suggested he was from a generation that were more polite and treated everybody with more respect, it made me warm to him almost instantly.

I cleared my throat, "Um, no, can I quickly ask you a question?" Technically I just did ask him a question but I needed him to just co-operate and say yes.

"Sure, sir." He nodded his head and I spoke up, nervously.

"There's this girl, she has red hair and beautiful blue eyes, she's eighteen, around 5'3 maybe 5'4 I don't know..." I was a little disappointed at how terrible I was at describing her, I doubted he knew what I was talking about.

"Oh I think I know who you mean!" he exclaimed and I'm pretty sure my face must have lit up because he carried on, "She caught this bus about a week ago, I think she missed her stop, fell asleep you see, I had to wake her up." the way he spoke was almost theatrical, it was a very endearing quality.

"Do you remember where you took her?" hope rose within me as he thought about it for a few minutes, my heart pounded hard in my chest when he all of a sudden nodded I thought it was going to stop all together. He checked the bus for the amount of passengers and then turned back to me with a wrinkly smile.

"I can take you there if you'd like?" he offered and I was almost too eager, I hoped on board and shook his hand.

"Thank you, thank you, oh my god, thank you." I sounded uncool and pathetic but I really didn't care.

I had to find Leda.

-Leda's POV-

"So," I started, pulling the shirt, that had just been discarded onto the floor forty minutes ago, back on. I picked up the cup from the dressing table and headed out onto the balcony, he was hot on my heels, "we have to stop making a habit out of this-" I kept my tone light and happy because I was in a good mood but I was serious about what I was saying. He cut me off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, because you have a boyfriend," he rolled his eyes with a little chuckle. I took a sip from my cup, the liquid warming up my esophagus just nicely, and leaned my arms on the railing of the balcony, he mimicked me, "it's fine, no strings attached." his eyes darkened when he said it though and everything southwards of me tightened, I gulped.

"What do you do for a living?" I changed the subject, he smirked, aware of what I was doing but he went along with it. Humoring me.

"I'm actually a writer," he answered, looking forwards instead of at me, he took a sip of his coffee and I let that sink in. After a moment he smiled and raised an eyebrow, "surprised?" he asked.

"Wow," I choked out, "I did not see that coming," I blurted honestly. "But wait, I thought you read people for a living?" I furrowed my brows, remembering that comment he made when we first met.

"You don't think writing requires reading people?" he canted his head to the side and moved a little closer to me.

"Er...I don't really know, I'm not a writer." I shrugged clueless.

"It does," he answered for me, "My characters wouldn't seem real if I didn't give them real life characteristics." I loved the way his eyes sparkled when he talked about his writing.

"I suppose that's true," I shrugged, just trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. He was five years older than me, I didn't want him to think I was just some dumb teenager that knew nothing, "so what are you working on at the minute?" I asked, turning around and hopping up so I was sat on the railing of the balcony, his eyes widened but then he shook his head with a small.

"I'm writing about this girl who's a long way from home and doesn't really know what she wants." He said like he was hinting at something.

"Oh, awesome!" I nodded.

"It's about you."

Notes

oooooh lala!

Will Leda's Momma tell Mike about Leda and Vic?
What's going on between Mike and Lily?

Ugh, I'm sorry I take so long to update. I'd love to tell you it's because of college and how much homework I have, but I can't say that, because it'd be a lie. The first six weeks of college was so stressful and horrible but I managed to update rather frequently, and now? I have barely any homework and I just can't write. The problem is me.

I'm becoming very sick and tired of my own writing.
I find it dull and dismal and every time I read it back I want to make it better but I don't really
know how to.
Oh well, ignore me.
All I ask is for your patience, please, because I'm writing as fast as I can, I promise.

Thank you!

If there's anything specific you would like to happen in the next few chapters just leave it in your comment or message me with your idea and I'll probably use it. <3