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"Pride, revenge, protection, fear, love," he continues. "Probably a healthy dose of stupidity on top of it. It's all right here in this book. King David married Bathsheba when it was all over, and she gave birth to their son, but the child died afterward. Punishment, he thought. You see, there are always consequences to war, even after we think we've won."

He tosses the Bible back down on the desk. A few people throw out questions that he happily answers. He's got a 'don't bother raising your hand' policy on top of an 'I'm not going to call on you if you don't want to speak' philosophy that makes for a fairly peaceful class period.

If only we weren't in this damn room.

I wait out the rest of the hour, jotting down a few notes, waiting until we're dismissed to haul ass out of my seat. I'm the first one to the door, the first one out of there. It's my third year at NYU, although I'm technically still a sophomore.

I missed a semester while in recovery.

Wandering outside, I pause and look around, not sure what to do. I've got about an hour before I have my next class, and usually I'd just head over to the library, but for the first time in quite a while I'm caught up on everything.

Down the block, I cross the street, heading over to Washington Square Park. It's a nice day out, the summer weather insisting on lingering. I find an empty cement bench along the path and plop down on it, dropping my bag on the ground by my feet. I slip in my pink earbuds and plug them into my phone, pressing play on some music, as I look around.

Enjoying the view.

Enjoying the sense of solitude.

It's somewhat busy out here, with students coming and going, but nobody bothers me. Nobody even seems to notice me, for that matter.

It's nice, surprisingly, feeling invisible.

I used to yearn for someone to look at me, to see me.

Some days I wish I could just disappear again.

Not to say I don't love my life, because I do. I love it. But I don't love some of the things that happened. I don't love all of the memories that haunt me here.

I just always wanted a normal life.

None of this is normal.

I've been sitting here for about twenty minutes when something catches my eye. Familiar blonde hair bounces my direction as people weave along the path. Melody. Smiling, I tug an earbud out and am about to call for her when someone beats me to it, someone standing nearby. The voice is all male with a strange sort of accent, almost like they don't really have one. Weird.

Turning my head, I spot a young guy.

A gorgeous young guy.

Holy shit.

I watch as Melody turns to him, her expression brightening, eyes lighting up like the Forth of July. And I know it instantly, just by the look on her face… that smitten, speechless, one of a kind expression.

Leo.

Tubby mountain man motherfucker he is not.

He looks like something off of a runway.

He's tall, and skinny, but not lankily so. Broad shoulders and tanned skinned, a sharp jawline and dark, dark features. His hair is as black as midnight, and his eyebrows might be a tad bit bushy, but he rocks them like it's the latest thing in fashion.

And hell, what do I know?

Maybe it is.

His teeth are so white they're dazzling as he flashes a smile at her. He's wearing jeans and a black button down, the sleeves shoved up to his elbow, which come on, is the hottest thing imaginable.

I love Naz. I do. I love him more than anything in this world. The first time I laid eyes on him, the man left me speechless, and looking back, I knew that moment that life as I knew it had been over. Naz is the kind of guy that, once he walks into your world, he throws it off its axis, so even if he walks back out, nothing spins the same anymore.

I love him, despite everything, with every fiber of my being.

But Leo.

Whoa.

I can appreciate beauty when I see it.

That's the kind of face women would go to war for, I think.

They approach each other, and he wraps an arm around her, pulling her to him for a hug. It's brief, but I can see the blush on her cheeks from him doing it. When he pulls back, he says something to her, chatting for a moment, but they're too far away for me to hear any of their words. The more he talks, though, the more her eyes light up, before she eventually nods enthusiastically. He kisses his fingertips and presses them to her lips. The action is so quick I barely catch it.

He's gone then, walking away, looking back at her once and smiling before disappearing into a crowd of people. Melody stares at him, waiting until he's out of sight before she lets out a loud squeal.

She jumps up and down in place, like she's having a fucking fit.

"Melody?" I call out.

The sound of my voice stalls her. She swings my way so fast she nearly falls over. "Karissa!"

She jogs over to where I'm sitting, wordlessly shoving me over on the bench. I make room for her, shifting my bag out of the way so she can drop hers by our feet.

"That must've been the infamous Leo," I say, motioning the direction he disappeared. "Gotta say, Mel, I totally get it now."

She grins, shoving me excitedly. "Told you! Isn't he everything?"

"Yeah, he's something, all right."

"He just asked me out," she continues. "Like, really asked me out, and not just for coffee. I'm talking dinner and a movie. A real date."

"That's awesome! When is it happening?"

"Tonight." The moment she says it, her expression drops. "Oh my god, it's tonight! What time is it? I gotta go! I've got my hair to do, and makeup, and oh shit... what am I gonna wear?"

"Whoa, calm down," I say. "It's like, one in the afternoon right now."