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Letting her anger get the best of her she seethed, “It's not like your mom never leaves the house, Quinn.” The voice in her head was screaming at her to stop there, especially after Quinn’s gaze pierced her further, but she forged on, "Anyone who sees her is gonna pick up on the fact she's strung out on something. "

If she didn't think his glare could get more piercing, she was wrong. And it was worse. She could see the fleck of hurt that she'd inflicted in them, too.

Quinn wasn't exactly one of those guys who was protective of his mother, but he was protective of his reputation, how people saw him.

He hated to think that anyone might see his situation and pity him.

But how could you not at least feel a little bad for him?

His home life was a wreck and he'd had to fend for himself until Raelyn's family had come along.

She knew he hated it. He hated accepting help, but Raelyn's dad had set him down when he was ten years old and firmly told him that it was completely unreasonable to expect a kid to take care of himself and his mother.

It was completely unreasonable that he had to make sure the bills got paid, that groceries were bought, and that both he and his mother were safe.

Charlie had told Quinn that he would accept help from them because it was the least they could do.

He would accept their help because even with it, he'd still been robbed of so much of his childhood.

Quinn had resisted at first, but over time learned that if he was going to remain in Raelyn's life, this was something he would have to put up with.

But for him to think she thought of him as a charity case? How could he think he meant so little to her?

She didn’t expect Quinn to respond. He was far more the silent brooding type.

Instead, his gaze traveled behind Raelyn, and back one more time before walking around her without a word.

Alaina was still standing in front of her locker, apparently watching their argument closely.

If Raelyn had been given a million guesses as to what Quinn was about to do, she would never have guessed right.

Quinn snaked one arm around Alaina's waist and pulled her close to him. Tilting her chin up with his other hand, he kissed her. Right there. In front of Raelyn. With tongue.

I'm sorry, what am I witnessing here?

He pulled away from Alaina who looked mildly surprised, but mostly rather pleased with herself and the situation she'd been placed in. Raelyn heard Quinn say to her, “Looks like I’m suspended now…We should get out of here.”

Trying her best not to stare, because she felt like she might throw a punch if Alaina gave her another smug little sneer, Raelyn looked down at her feet and once again wondered what the fuck was happening.

Quinn put his arm around Alaina's shoulders and they walked down the hall together, attracting stares from everyone they passed.

Raelyn watched as they walked around the corner together. Once out of sight, she rolled her eyes and gave a dramatic sigh-slash-groan, feeling as though her best friend had just figuratively bitch-slapped her by walking off with Alaina fucking Costello .

Instead of heading to class, Raelyn ran back down the stairs, past the library, to the principal’s office.

She figured the principal and counselors would be calling parents to come in and meet with them about the fight and hoped that Liam would still be down there.

Quinn had likely been released to get his things because the school knew better than to expect Molly Casey to answer her phone, but Liam’s parents would be there in an instant.

His mom was a lawyer and his dad was a family court judge, which meant, depending on the series of events that had taken place in the locker room, things could get really ugly for Quinn.

Tearing through the door of the main office, she didn’t expect to find Chris and Jett waiting with various bandages and ice packs.

Raelyn stopped in her tracks and stared from one boy to the other, taking in their injuries.

Jett was holding an ice pack to his eye, and Chris had bandages on his knuckles, as well as a fat, split lip.

She noticed the blood on their shirts and wondered how much blood Quinn’s sweatshirt had been concealing.

“Uh...what the hell happened?” Raelyn blurted finally. “Quinn wouldn’t tell me a goddamn thing and then he just walked off all pissed. Oh! And he made out with Alaina Costello before walking out. What the fuck?”

“Language, Miss DeRose,” Coach Barlow said firmly as he stepped into the office.

“Sorry,” Raelyn muttered. Jett moved over one chair so she could sit between him and Chris while they waited.

“He didn’t tell you anything?” Chris asked.

“Really? No reaction on him walking out with Alaina?” Raelyn looked back and forth between Chris and Jett, “Is this a thing? Are they a thing? He knows I hate that bitch-” She pointed to Coach Barlow who was giving her another warning look, “I’m not actually sorry about that one.

I’m also technically skipping class so feel free to suspend me for the rest of the day if you want. ”

Coach Barlow shook his head and made a face that clearly stated he was giving up .

Jett stifled a laugh and Chris covered his face with his hands, trying to shield his own grin. Leaning forward, Jett looked at Chris, “Can you imagine if we would’ve talked to him like that on the football field?”

“Princess Rae says and does what she wants,” Chris shrugged. “Apparently everyone’s got that memo.”

Raelyn snapped her fingers impatiently. “Hey- back to Alaina. What’s going on there? Or was she just a random pawn Quinn was using to piss me off?”

Folding his arms over his chest, Chris eyed Raelyn, “Why would it piss you off to see him kiss someone else?”

Raelyn stared back, mouth half open as she contemplated, “It...wouldn’t. He can kiss whomever he wants. I just want to know why he refused to tell me anything and then swept her away like he’d been dying to see her all day.”

“It’s hard to keep up with Quinn these days,” Jett said. “But I’ve seen them together a few times. Maybe there is something there.”

“Gross…” Raelyn muttered.

“He really didn’t tell you anything though?” Chris prompted again.

“Nothing useful,” she sighed. “Though I gather it had something to do with Liam.”

“Your boyfriend is an asshole, Rae. Sorry, Coach,” Jett held up a hand to an increasingly frustrated Coach Barlow before turning back to Raelyn. “He’s quite possibly the worst person I have ever met.”

“But he’s so pretty when he takes his shirt off,” Raelyn said dreamily, knowing the disgusted and animated reactions she would receive.

Chris and Jett both groaned. Chris’s head fell into his hands and Jett scrunched up his face before making a barfing gesture.

Laughing, Raelyn craned her neck to look around the office and the boys understood she was looking for him.

“His parents already came and got him,” Chris said. “His mom was furious and was throwing around words like ‘lawsuit’ and ‘press charges’.”

She groaned, resting her head back on the wall behind her. “What a mess...I’m sorry, I feel like this is my fault. ”

“It’s not, Rae,” said Jett, putting an arm around her shoulders. “You should’ve heard the way he was talking about you. I’m pretty sure you would’ve smacked us around if we hadn’t done something about it.”

“We were supposed to go on this date tonight…”

“We heard,” Chris droned. “Please tell me you’re not still considering it.”

“Of course not,” Raelyn assured them. “And I know he had it in his head that we were going to have sex-”

“Heard that, too,” Jett cut in.

“-but I wasn’t going to.”

“Thank God,” Jett sighed. “Although I doubt he’s feeling up for it after having his nose broken.”

“Quinn broke his nose?” Raelyn gasped. “Tell me everything.”

After school, and after hearing Chris and Jett’s version of events before both their parents came to pick them up, Raelyn drove straight to Liam’s house.

She would like to be the kind of person who kept in mind that there were two sides to each story, but Chris and Jett wouldn’t lie to her.

They had no reason to, and quite frankly, the story they told made a lot of sense.

Mrs. Hamilton opened the door for Raelyn when she knocked. Her face was still pinched and red, as though she’d been ranting non-stop since the meeting at the school.

“Can you believe this?” Mrs. Hamilton fumed as she closed the door behind Raelyn. “I’ve never even heard of this boy, this Quinn Casey . He’s on the football team with Liam, did you know that?”

“Yeah,” Raelyn sighed. She thought it best to keep to herself that she was actually very well acquainted with the boy who’d broken her son’s nose.

“And they couldn’t even get his parents to meet with us,” Mrs. Hamilton continued. “Uninvolved parents. It’s no wonder the boy is so troubled. Liam says this isn’t the first fight he’s been in either! I can’t believe- they should expel him, I think. ”

Before Raelyn bit an actual hole through her tongue from trying to keep her comments to herself, she asked, “Is Liam upstairs?”

“Yes, sweetie. He’s in his room resting.” Mrs. Hamilton finally waved Raelyn in the direction of the staircase. After muttering a quick thanks, she slipped off her boots and headed up the stairs.

She didn’t bother knocking on his bedroom door and entered the room to find Liam lying on his bed, staring up at his phone.

“Raelyn,” he sat up, appearing surprised to see her there.

“Eventful afternoon, huh?” Raelyn said, taking another step into the room.

Liam stood up and closed the distance between them. He was wearing dark blue athletic pants and no shirt. Lord, he did look good without a shirt.

No. I’m angry with him right now. Ignore the pecs. Ignore the abs. Ignore the sexy V-cut pointing into his pants.