Author’s Note: Oof. Sorry it’s taken so long. I’ve had some family complications (mom was readmitted to the hospital, but things are looking okay). Anyway, I’d like to thanks Sue and Chants for their input, as well as Dick. XD Also, thank you so much to: Kibagal, English summer rain, Ramenluver, Deefective, My Atomic Garden, xx raincharm fetish xx, Stargirl Lilac, and Tetelestai! Your reviews were all helpful! Please continue to point out what you like and dislike. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this!

–x

Love Squared – Chapter o3

- Raythe

“To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.”

- George Santayana

–x

Toni sprinted past shelves and shelves of books; she was rushing to meet up with her tutor. Flying past the romance, the fantasy and sci-fi, and then the mystery sections, she rounded the corner of a tall bookshelf and knocked a pile of books from a stranger’s arms with her shoulder. Wincing, she could feel the bruise that would be forming within a few hours on her right shoulder as the muscle there throbbed from the assault.

Murmuring a quick apology and fumbling to help gather the books, she spared the boy a quick glance when she dropped his books in his arms. Pretty eyes, she thought. Hah, but nowhere near as pretty as his, she smugly triumphed in her mind. Then, with a slight inclination of her head, she was off again towards the study room where he was waiting – her tutor and long-time crush.

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, after her high school let out, she was ordered to head towards the library to meet with her SAT tutor. She was a sophomore forced to study analogies, critical reading, and algebra. Torturous.

It had been heinous at first, lugging around the heavy and thick SAT prep books, but once she’d met her tutor – not a boy, but a man – she’d developed an infatuation with him. His soft, deep voice, his smooth hands that felt soft when they brushed her by accident, the subtle scent of his cologne as he bent over her shoulder to point out her mistakes, and his patience with her questions were all things she had grown to love over the period of their six-week tutor-student relationship.

His inexpressive demeanor and sometimes-jerky movements had been uncomfortable for her at first, but time had cured that. Sometimes she caught him looking at her gently, and that made her feel treasured.

Grinning as she made her way to the closed door, she wondered if he was there already. She had shown up nearly an hour early since her English honors club meeting had been canceled, but knew it was his habit to lurk around the library. With the key she had picked up at the front desk, she opened the door and was surprised to see not only her tutor but also a blonde girl whom she’d later meet named Emily.

Her heart tripped.

What was this?

A shapely blonde with her shirt around her neck, her skirt flipped up, and a thong still slung around an ankle. The blonde was splayed out on top of the desk they worked on.

The desk she solved equations on.

The desk she had studied on.

Her desk.

Bed is to sleep, as library desk is to study? …Copulate?

He was naked from the knees up. With his pants in a heap around his ankles, she could tell they’d been in a rush. Bent over the girl, muscles twitched beneath his skin. Everywhere. His triceps, his thighs, his abs. Even his shoulders and back had muscles outlined against his skin. They went taut, then would relax and go taut again.

His breath was harsh and his hands looked rough with the way he gripped the blonde’s waist. He was oblivious – head tossed back, eyes shut, mouth slightly open to exhale the breath and effort from his actions.

She couldn’t see the blonde’s face. It was turned away. But the girl’s calves and thighs, were up in the air—

Toni averted her gaze sharply to something – anything – else. She focused on the blonde hair that seemed to be spread out everywhere. It curled over the edges of the desk and trailed a good three or four inches.

Blonde.

She’d read something about blondes.

“Blondes do it better.”

Then she heard it.

A faint whimper. A gasp. But no, no moans of pleasure on the blonde’s part.

Then Emily’s face turned towards Toni, pale and petrified. Salty trails on the girl’s cheeks reflected the dull overhead fluorescent light.

Her lips trembled before pursing themselves into a straight line. Eyes glistened with more tears that had yet to fall.

The desk thu-thunked a few times more before he even cracked open his eyes and slanted a stare towards the door where Toni stood.

She screamed.

–x

Raspy screaming continued.

Was this how Emily had felt? Alone, and yet so close to people who could have heard her? Who could possibly have saved her before it had happened?

“George… please, stop. George!”

Toni’s voice was hoarse – her throat was constricting with fear and her brain couldn’t seem to get past the words, “please, stop,” “George,” and “Emily”.

Emily.

Her eyes fluttered open. She hadn’t even realized they’d closed or that her hands had gone slack. With renewed panic, Toni pushed and elbowed and stomped her feet against air trying to release herself from his hold as he struggled to get them closer towards the ocean. He had just ran past a lifeguard post, still carrying her.

His feet were unstable on the sand, and he tumbled into the sand, taking her with him near the water’s edge. Using that chance, she grappled with him, but it was difficult with her back against his chest and her arms pinned by his. As she wrenched her body around almost crazily in her hysteria, the back of her head cracked against his forehead, apparently hard enough for him to shout angrily in pain and to drop a hand from her waist to rub against his forehead.

With one side of her body freed, Toni slammed an elbow into his midsection. Twisting around and out of his arms, she scrambled on palms and knees on the damp sand. She wanted to head back towards the rest of the group. The rest of the group! She cried out as she looked over her shoulder at him and saw him lunging at her. With a shriek, she felt him fisting his hand into her curls. He jerked her head towards him, pulling her back. Her arms flailed out and one hand slapped against salt water.

The pain helped to clear her head of its maniacal distress.

”Fuck, George! Let me go!”

With her hair knotted in his hands, he crouched behind her head and lowered his mouth beside her ear.

“Shut up! God, you’re so noisy.”

Her nails scraped at the sand before gathering it into her palms and tossing it into his face.

She was scared senseless, yes, but also starting to get angry. They had come in a group! Where were the rest of the people? She was angry with herself and angry with the group. She was angry with Eric for being drunk, angry with Aaron for leaving with Jessica, angry with herself for getting into the situation, and especially angry with George for having the balls to do this to her.

Turning around to finally face him voluntarily, Toni yelled and threw a random punch.

However, as she was on her knees on the sand, and he had been in a standing position, her punch had connected with what appeared to be his nuts.

An expression of shock flitted across his face, quickly followed by one of agony as he slipped to his knees and curled over onto his side.

Taking that as her cue to exit, Toni crawled away from him before finally having the energy to stand up shakily with her arms wrapped around her body. The wind kept her face strewn with her messy hair, obscuring her sight.

She heard movement to her right and pivoted to see who was coming, trembling arms coming out to defend herself.

When she saw it wasn’t George, but Aaron, she nearly collapsed onto the beach with relief. At least, she’d felt relief until she had seen his hard blue gaze, the tense set of his lips, and the glare that seemed to permanently etch a line between his brows. He was just as much a stranger as George, even if she had talked a bit more with him than George. But, worse, was the fact that she couldn’t even begin to tell what emotions were going through his head.

Aaron’s voice was rough, probably from the cold wind, but softened as he asked her, “What happened?”

Stumbling towards him, Toni kept her hands clasped between her breasts, feeling as though she had to hold herself together.

“I-It happened so-so sud-suddenly! I don’t kn-know.” Grimacing at the sound of her own stammering, Toni felt like all her emotions were about to burst out to fall at Aaron’s feet. He wouldn’t even know what to do with all her chaotic emotions.

His hands cupped her upper arms gently, sliding up and down to help warm them up.

“Relax, first. Then talk.” He was calm as he spoke, yet had she known him better, she would have realized that the tic on his right temple and the tightening of his lips were both the earliest stages of his impending anger.

Unable to suppress the shudders that wracked her body, she spewed a single name vehemently.

“G-George. H-He… He—“

Her breath hiccupped with a gasp as she tried to explain.

The hold on her arms constricted at the name.

Finally, like a fountain that had been turned on, the tears fell and pattered on the sand between them.

It wasn’t until she felt the warmth of his hand pressing against the small of her back that she took the final steps to close the distance between them. She leaned against his chest, finding solace in the large arms that held her around her waist. He kept a hand running slow circles along her back.

He lifted his other hand and smoothed her hair away from her face before cupping her chin. His pale blue eyes locked with her hazel ones.

“Don’t worry about it, Toni. It will be fine.”

The lines were clichéd, but oddly she felt comforted.

Oh, Emily…

–x

Eventually, Jessica and then Eric had come along. Aaron ignored their approaching presence, and instead focused on Toni.

“You okay?”

Toni lifted her gaze from the shells she’d been counting on the sand. She needed to stay sane. Anything to take her mind off of – of – okay, what was it? Thirty-four?

“I’m okay,” she murmured. Only, not really. She wasn’t hysterical like before, but she still felt as though she’d come close to one of her nervous breakdowns. She hadn’t had one in a while, but the symptoms were beginning to flare up again.

Inability to focus. Scattered thoughts. Elevated heart rate and breathing. Soon, she’d be running around with her hands trashing about, she reflected impassively. She didn’t move when Aaron brushed her shoulder. His touch was gentle on her skin as though afraid to see her metaphorical body break apart.

She saw him leave from the corner of his eye, his expression once again stoic and inscrutable.

Jessica, who had been standing a few steps away from Toni, closed in on her as soon as Aaron left. Confused as to what was going on, the brunette blurted out her thoughts.

“What happened? Are you okay? Where’s Aaron going?”

A still tipsy Eric tottered on his heels, whistling to something only he could hear.

His chest was still bare, Toni thought faintly. In any other situation, she would have been more than fixated on it.

Attempting to focus on his crooked abs and the situation at hand, Toni shrugged and smiled bitterly.

“Toni?” Jessica’s worried frown and forward step had Toni backing up one.

“Nothing. N-nothing happened. Just–” It was hard to explain, Toni thought. She couldn’t seem to meet Jessica’s gaze, either.

When Aaron had showed up, the words had been tearing at her throat, ready to be expelled from her mouth. Now… Now it seemed difficult to formulate the words.

“I don’t know. G-George. George was just – you know how things get. A guy gets excited, and doesn’t express it right.” Toni didn’t want to say that George had been extra excited. Repressing the memory was best, she thought.

”Oh.” Jessica didn’t need anything else to understand.

Eric’s whistle stopped mid-note. Apparently, Toni thought, neither did Eric.

“What do you mean?” There was an edge to his voice. If he had been drunk before, or tipsy, his eyes and voice were quite clear.

Surprise showed up on Jessica’s face as she turned to look at the boy who had been slurring to her moments before, but was now sounding quite lucid.

Staring at a point past Eric’s hazel eyes, Toni shrugged, lips pursed. “He got excited. I’d rather not go into detail.”

Toni’s fingertips were busy digging themselves into her palms as she tried to keep herself from upending the contents of her stomach on the beach. She wasn’t just repulsed by the situation, but becoming physically ill at the thought. She dug her nails deeper. She could feel the bile inching up.

Eric’s eyes flickered towards the area Aaron had taken off for. “And Aaron knows this?”

“Yes. H-he found me sort of after things happened.” A small gasp slipped from her lips.

What had Emily gone through right after the entire… ordeal? It had taken the girl a few weeks before… that had happen—.

“The fuck? And that little shit didn’t explain anything to us?” Taken back to the present by the sudden vicious tone, Toni had little time to react before Eric was sprinting off after the other boy, sand kicking up behind him.

As soon as Eric had left, Jessica kept saying ‘Sorry.’ It was obvious by her expression – the winces, her teeth chewing at her bottom lip, and the hand that grasped onto Toni’s.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Jessica’s hands fluttered around Toni’s.

“I feel so guilty about stranding you with Eric, and then not even noticing when he came back that you weren’t with him. God, I’m such an idiot!”

Ashamed, Jessica explained that it had been Aaron who had commented on the lengthy amount of time that had passed since they had last seen Toni.

“You should have seen the guy. Once we all realized that it had been a while since we’d seen you with Eric, he went off to go check where Eric was. Of course, that jerk was drunk and still throwing back more Bacardi, so Aaron and I split up to look for you.” Jessica frowned and slipped an arm around Toni’s shoulders.

“It’s all good. Nothing happened, right? As long as he wasn’t able to… rape… you, you’re fine.” Jessica couldn’t seem to spit the word, ‘rape’, out. Her entire body froze at it, incapable of fully comprehending the situation, Toni thought.

Jessica smiled and rubbed Toni’s back, trying to be comforting.

“I guess…” Hesitance wasn’t something that Toni was familiar with, but she didn’t quite feel “alright” the way Jessica thought Toni ought to be. The situation felt a lot larger than just a “well, if you weren’t raped, it’s all good.” Christ, she could still feel his hands snaking around on her skin. Suppressing a shudder, she rubbed at her stomach, not wanting to feel the ghostly touch of memory.

“Don’t worry about it, Jess.” She smiled at the brunette, knowing that the upward lift to her lips did more for Jessica than it did for herself.

–x

Aaron prowled the beach, scanning it left and right for wherever George had sauntered off to after his stint with Toni.

His entire body was rigid at the thought of George molesting Toni – shit, any of the girls. It was just a whole new level of sleaziness, even for Aaron. He messed with girls, but that was consensual. Shit, this may not have even been the first time George had pulled something like this, Aaron thought darkly.

Jogging towards the part of the beach that had been closer to where he had first found Toni, he spotted a limping form heading towards him.

Squinting against the sandy wind, he saw the hunch to George’s back, a hand cupped between his thighs, and the other fisted at his side.

“Hey!” Aaron called out, waving an arm.

George’s face was ashen, and he smiled with gritted teeth.

“H-hey man, ‘sup?” Aaron noticed the other guy moving to straighten slowly, sliding both hands into his pockets.

“What were you doing all the way out here? Don’t you know the party’s on the other side of the beach?” George joked feebly.

Narrowing his eyes, Aaron didn’t miss George’s furtive glances, as if he was coming up with a bullshit story.

“Uh, not much. Just enjoying the beach, you know? What about you, huh? Alone out here, looking for me? Dude, me no homo. God, all the models think I’m gay. You must get that a lot, too, huh? Probably why you’re always talking about how you pinned some chick. Need more non-homo stories to combat the designer image, right?”

Babbling, Aaron thought with derision.

“—not like I’m gay, those dipshits. I mean—“

“Shut up,” Aaron interjected coolly.

“—who—wait, what?” Hesitating, George scrambled to get his thoughts together. “What—ooph!”

Eric’s fist, followed by his body, lashed out as he pelted onto the scene.

A slight smile flickered across Aaron’s face before he got his emotions under control again.

George had been too busy babbling about himself and his gay issues to have noticed Eric until the last moment. And, by that time, Eric’s fist made his entrance known.

“Fuck, man! What the fuck?!” George had taken the blow, spun to his right and dropped down onto his knees on the sand.

“What the hell is your probl—!” George had just swung back around to face Eric when a second jab collided with his face.

“Nice, Eric.”

George was slower the second time around, getting up. He shook his head, as if trying to clear away the ringing in his ears that Aaron knew was there.

“What the hell? Aaron, the fuck? Did you just see that?”

Aaron didn’t bother to glance at George. He shot a look at Eric, instead, who was busy fingering the knuckles of his right hand. “I don’t know, Eric. Did you just see that, man?”

Eric smirked as he glanced at Aaron. “I don’t know. I don’t think I quite caught that. Let’s do a replay.”

George scuttled back on his ass and hands, trying to escape. Once he hit the water, though, he attempted to get back onto his feet.

“What’s going on, you guys? Why are you just letting him punch me? Shit!”

“George, you talk too much,” Eric snarled. He stepped towards the lankier boy with fists raised, but hesitated when Aaron waved a hand at him.

“Here, I’ll make it simple.” Aaron stepped towards George as the other boy was just standing up. With a hand to George’s slim shoulder, Aaron shoved him back down.

“Don’t fuck up again.” Aaron’s voice was steady and quiet, but underlying the calm façade was a simmering menace that was close to spilling over. It wasn’t just the fact that George had been fucking around with Toni. It was that the piece of shit was fucking around like that, at all. As much as Aaron liked his women, he had some morals to speak of.

“The hell! Whatever that bitch said was a lie. I didn’t do anything!” George spat out some blood nervously, trying to stand back up again. “Shit, guys, I think I lost a tooth,” he whined.

“Poor baby,” Aaron cooed, backing up as Eric stepped forward. “We’ll make it symmetrical, don’t worry.”

With arms folded across his chest, Aaron smiled as he anticipated Eric’s next move.

–x

Back in the car, the atmosphere felt tense and silent. Grimacing, Toni couldn’t help glancing between Eric and Aaron. One was relaxed while the other was still tense.

Muttering in silence to herself, Toni just wanted to head home to her apartment. As soon as she had asked for a ride back to her car at Farrington’s campus, though, the boys said that she ought to fix up before heading home. Not understanding, but taking their word as gold – after all, they had presented her with a bruised looking and sorrowful George with a never-ending tumble of apologies – Toni and Aaron had gotten into Eric’s car. Jessica had said she’d head out on her own, with yet another barrage of apologies to Toni.

The boys decided to hit Aaron’s condominium to get Toni cleaned up before Eric dropped her off at her own apartment.

Music played quietly in the car as they drove along. Silence was predominant, but it had been a comfortable and pensive atmosphere. Toni had her head leaned against the glass window, watching trees and pavement zoom past.

Pulling into a parking space, the night’s events were almost wiped clean from her mind as she stared at the condo complex. Christ, the boy wasn’t just spouting gold. Aaron was living in it.

She had barely enough time to glance at all the palm trees and balconies before being swept into the building, up an elevator and into his home.

After a second of staring at the huge foyer and family room with complete set of up-to-date technology LCD TV and other odds and ends, Toni finally found the on switch for her brain.

“Um, nice pad?”

With a half-smile, Aaron patted her back as he pushed her down a hallway, telling her to go to the bathroom.

“Go shower and stuff. I’ll bring you some clothes to change into.” With that, he headed off with Eric towards what seemed to be the kitchen.

Mumbling her thanks, Toni walked down the hall, unsure where the bathroom was exactly. There were four doors in total.

Hazarding a guess, she pushed open the first door on her right. It was dark, and her eyesight had just begun making out shadows from objects when she heard a soft sigh.

“Well, what took you so long?” The voice was husky, low, and very feminine.

Standing in the dim hallway, with only a bit of light filtering through the doorway, it was enough for Toni to make out the scantily clad girl standing a few feet from her. The girl was faced away, presenting Toni with her back.

Dressed in a tiny g-string, a lacy bra, and nothing else, Toni was shocked.

What shocked her even more was when the girl slipped off her bra and spun around.

Well.

Did her jigglies flop around as much as that?

–x

Author’s Note: WHEW. Okay, so what sayeth you all? Review! What are your ideas? What do you think will happen next? XD Are the characters coming along okay?