Before I begin, I'd like to thank those who read this story even after I practically abandoned it. I pretty much made this back when I was in high school and just going through the hormonal and depressing phases, which ended with me forgetting about this. I've since grown up and have been going to college full-time, trying to earn my degree in Radiological sciences.

Now for those who have left reviews, you'll be happy to know that I've improved quite a bit since I started this so hopefully you will all enjoy the newest chapter I place. As for those who are mostly confused with what the series is about, it's the story of how Dominic has to struggle with his last year of high school, especially with some of the more personal parts of his past.

If you have any questions or remarks, please feel free to pm me and I'll get back to it as soon as I can. Also, since I never officially gave details about my character's physical appearances, I will be posting them on my profile for those who read this story.


October 13, Monday

6:30 PM


Ralph's Room

Inside the room, one could take one look and think that a tornado blew by, throwing everything it could on the ground in an instant. Most of the football player's clothes found themselves piling up in one corner, while dirty plates and bowls piled on top of his furniture.

Within the room itself, both Ralph and Dominic were on separate parts places that were a good distance from one another. The football star was on his desk, having a bored expression on his face, while his tutor found himself resting on top his somewhat clean bed.

Though at that moment, the two of them had an atmosphere of tension between them, almost like something bad was about to happen.

"God damn it man, we Just went over this like six times already... Alright, One more time. Who was the sixth President of the United States?" A frustrated Dominic repeated, trying his best not to let the current headache he was having make him do something stupid.

About 11 days had pass since he found himself forced to undertake the task of tutoring the football captain, which was too many in his opinion. Though despite his irritated attitude towards it, Dominic wasn't the type to purposely try to make someone fail.

No matter how much said person deserved it, and did everything he could to prepare Ralph for their exam on Thursday. Though it was easier said than done due to his student's lack of interest, and irritation.

"Ugh god... I still don't get what the hell this crap has to do with me, I mean come on, no one ever hears how these old dudes did anything epic like throw a perfect spiral," Ralph remarked with annoyance.

"Yeah, but at least they know how to actually take something seriously," Dominic retorted, earning a sharp glare from his student.

"Watch it douche, Don't forget that if I can't pass this, your ass is on the line too."

"How can I forget? It's the only thing you can actually remember since we started this freaking thing!"

That single statement made the football player jump up from his spot, wanting nothing more than to tackle and beat down his rival. Before he could, the door opened to reveal Ralph's older brother, Mike, who had what looked like two paper plates in his hands.

Each one had two big slices of pepperoni and sausage pizzas, sprinkled with chili flakes for extra flavor.

"Hey, sorry for the interruption-" Mike began to say, looking up to see his younger brother standing still, trying not to make himself look more suspicious. "Alright, what's going on in here?"

Dominic moved his eyes towards the football player, who started sweating a bit as he could feel the glare from his brother. It was the perfect time to snitch on him, wanting to get even for his attempt to beat him up.

Though being the bigger man, he decided to let it slide and just keep it to himself.

"Nothing, he was just gonna get up to stretch after sitting down for so long," Dominic replied while grabbing the plate Mike was handing him.

The older brother took another glance at Ralph, eyeing him intensely to make sure that he was telling the truth. Deep down he knew that his younger brother couldn't like to save his life, but figured that having to act nice to his tutor was punishment enough.

"Alright, that's good, I don't need to babysitting you two when I got another date tonight with my lady," he added with a smile on his face.

"Man, you've been seeing this chick for more than a year now, when do we get to see her?" Ralph asked, starting to eat the pizza that he got.

"She's been busy with work and school, but did say that we would want our families to meet for Christmas, so probably by then," Mike replied.

"Wow, it must be getting pretty serious if you're risking it on her meeting your family," Dominic added while taking a bite from his own pizza.

"You got that right, I plan on doing something big, so you better not screw this up Ralph!"

With that last remark, Mike turned around and headed out of his little brother's room, closing the door behind him.

"Screw you..." Ralph muttered, sitting back down in his spot and finishing the rest of his pizza in silence.

After a few minutes and chewing later, the football player looked over to his tutor and burped loudly, making Dominic start to feel queasy

"So what was the question again?"


Arson Home

8:30 Pm

After what felt like an eternity of pure torture at the hands of a gorilla man and his constant complaint of the education he was trying to receive, it came time for Dominic to head home.

After kindly turning down the invitation for dinner by Ralph's mother, the young man entered to his car and drove off into the night. Turning the corner of the road, he eventually found his way to his house, seeing that the lights inside were still on, which meant the others were having dinner.

After driving into the drive-way, Dominic stopped the car and turned it off, walking out with his backpack and heading through the front door. Normally, he'd just go through the garage into the kitchen since his older brother always hogged the living room like it was his kingdom. Though since he was still off visiting his fiance, Dominic figured there was no better time than for him to go through the forbidden lands after so long.

He inserted the key into the door knob and turned it, feeling the lock move out of it's place and turned it. With it unlocked, he pushed it forward and saw the living room empty, only hearing the voices of his family in the dining room. The smell of beef stew filled the air, making Dominic's stomach rumble despite having eaten pizza earlier.

His thought on the food stopped when Zero came in, barking happily as he jumped up and pawed against his masters stomach.

"Hey Zero! You miss me boy?" Dominic remarked with playfulness in his voice, rubbing his dog's head and scratching it softly.

The golden retriever's tail wagged, happy to hear the sound of his master's voice and enjoying the attention he was getting.

With his greeting done, Dominic moved past Zero and went up to his room with his loyal companion behind him as they entered their domain.

Dominic went towards his bed, placing his backpack on it before heading over to his bathroom to wash up before going to eat.

After a few minutes in there, he walked out and moved towards his door with Zero back on his trail, following his master towards the dining room.

Before long, he could hear the sounds of dinner conversation going on the closer they got, which got louder after they past the door.

In front of the young man was his mother Aria and her husband, Hank, along with his sister, Aria. The three were immerse in a conversation and didn't notice Dominic was there until Zero barked out, making them stop and turn around.

"Oh Dominic, you made it home," his mother remarked with a smile, getting up to give her baby boy a hug before walking towards the kitchen. After his hug, he walked towards where his sister was at, pulling out the chair and taking a seat himself.

"So, how'd it go with the tutoring session?" Lisa asked, taking another spoonful of beef stew she had in front of her. "Broken through the football captain's thick head yet?"

"No, not yet, which sucks considering how much we've been going through this," Dominic responded with frustration.

"Well you can't expect it to be easy, I know how football athletics are since I was one back in the day. It'll just take a bit more effort and quite a bit of patience Dom," Hank remarked while drinking some grape juice.

All Dominic could do was sigh out a breath of exhaustion, tired from all the stress that he was going through the last few days.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I'm sure you'll figure something out," his mother remarked as she returned with a bowl of her delicious beef stew for him.

He looked up and grabbed the bowl, smiling at her before putting it down and beginning to eat, occasionally throwing some pieces of beef to Zero.

Before long, the conversations started back up, making Dominic start to feel relaxed, something that rarely happened with his older brother, Terry.

It was something that was gonna get him through this tough time, and even more that would come his way.


9:00pm

After having finished their meal and placed their dishes in the sink, most of the Arson family went to do their separate night routine. This left Dominic to enjoy the quiet time and watch pre-recorded episodes of Law and Order: SVU on the living room TV.

With a large glass of soda and a bowl of popcorn in front of him, Dominic grabbed the remote and pushed play, grinning like a kid who was watching cartoons.

Soon enough, the scene came in and he began to really pay attention, but felt someone tap his shoulder, making him turn around to see his sister standing next to him.

Lisa showed to have on her sleeping shirt, which was too big for her and practically covered her body down to her pelvis, along with a towel wrapped around her head and shorts underneath.

"Whatcha watching?" She inquired, grabbing some popcorn from the bowl in front of her little brother.

"Newest Law and Order that came out today, didn't think it was actually gonna be on the DVR," he remarked with surprise, scooting over to make room for his sister.

She sat down and looked forward, watching the detectives on the TV start to analyze the body after arriving on the crime scene.

"They never show the real work behind all the deduction stuff, there's way more to it than people actually think. I mean they don't just wait for the detectives to show up, they take all the fibers, dust for fingerprints, and rush over samples to the lab for analysis."

Lisa couldn't help but smile at Dominic's infatuation with that profession, always looking like it's Christmas when he gets to see it performed.

Ever since he first learned about it, all that ever passed through the young man's mind was wanting to be just like them, even if the job got dangerous.

When the first commercial came up, Dominic got up to go refill his soda, causing his sister to follow him in order to grab her own.

When they got to the kitchen, a thought passed through Lisa's mind as she remembered something that she wanted to tell him.

"So Dom, who's Emily?"

The younger sibling was drinking from his now filled glass when she asked that question, causing him to swallow some down the wrong hole in his throat. It took him a few seconds to get it out of his lungs, making him feel like he just gargled granite in his throat.

After finally settling down, Dominic looked back to Lisa.

"Uh... Why do you ask?" He inquired with a nervous tone, trying not to make it sound too obvious.

"Well it's just, earlier today we got a call on the house phone after you left to Ralph's, apparently it was a cute sounding girl named Emily, asking if you were there since apparently, you're phone was off."

Hearing that response, Dominic slapped his forehead, realizing that there was something he forgot to do. After arriving over at Ralph's house for their tutoring, he turned off his phone cuz he wanted to focus all his attention on the gorilla.

Though since then, he forgot to turn it back on to check for any messages or calls he might've missed or gotten while it was off.

"Don't worry, I let her know that you were off on your torture session and that you'd text her before going to sleep."

"Oh man, thanks sis," Dominic responded with a sigh of relief, but soon regretted it when he saw the wide grin on Lisa's face.

"Sooooo... Who's Emily?"

"Please Liz... I'm not in the mood for teasing right now, especially with this.."

"Oh you can't expect me to be silent, come on, who is she?"

All Dominic could do was groan and leave the kitchen, ignoring the other remarks said by her sister and taking his seat once again. This time however, he pulled out his phone and turned it on, seeing that he had received two texts: One from Emily and the other from Jason.

He first read the text Emily sent:

'Hey, was hoping to ask you if you could come check out what we're doing for the play, wanted your opinion on something?'

Dominic raised an eyebrow in surprise, never expecting that she'd ask him for something like that, especially since she knew he wasn't really into theater.

His train of thought stopped when he read his best friend's text, getting an even more confused look on his face.

'Hey Bro, meet me up at the library, gotta ask you something'

"Geez, what's with everyone suddenly needing me?" Dominic muttered to himself, completely unaware of what was really going on.


Tuesday, October 14th

12:10pm

Library

Passing through the wooden doors, Dominic found himself inside the library, feeling the warm heater blast in his face. All he could see were rows of books that stretched pretty far, dividing into different sections with numbered posters to identify them.

Though since it was lunchtime, most of the library was empty due to people often preferring to go eat outside than stay in here.

Looking around, he saw a hand wave from where the aquatic fish books were at, making him raise an eyebrow in confusion. He walked over there, suddenly seeing Jason pop out of nowhere with sunglasses on, trying to look like someone hiding in the alley.

The outfit he wore that day was a zipped-up brown hoodie with a Nike-hat on his head, which matched his semi-loose blue jeans and lug boots.

"Uh... Any particular reason you look like some hood rat looking to sell crack?" Dominic inquired with a raised eyebrow, wondering what the hell was going through his best friends mind.

"Don't want anyone thinking I'm some kind of egg head just cuz I am in the Library today instead of at the cafeteria on cal-zone day," Jason replied, making his best friend roll his eyes in annoyance.

Dominic always knew his best friend had flair for the dramatic, even if it someone bugged him to no end and embarrassed him half the time. Though despite the annoyance, he always played along and just didn't say anything about it.

After taking one final look to make sure no one was around, the man dropped his hood and took his glasses, putting them into his pocket.

"So, what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Alright, so get this: Monica got the okay for another Halloween party this year, which is gonna be at her house."

"Really? I thought after that whole ordeal last year, there was no way in hell it was ever gonna happen."

"Well apparently, some well-earned babysitting jobs plus an entire month's worth of chore doing finally got her parents to forget about it."

At last year's Halloween Bash, someone had the bright idea of bringing an actual tarantula for the hall of spiders that Monica planned. This lead to a panic crowed, more than three broken windows, and someone having to go to the hospital for treatment against the bite. Ironically, it was Jason that got bit and still loved Monica to this day, though he made her promise to never buy anything with eight legs.

"Okay, but you normally tell me about this sort of thing about a week beforehand, why tell me now?"

"Because bro, we're making a new rule: People who are going to come have to bring a date And a matching costume."

That response made Dominic realize what was going on, which made him glare right at his best friend, causing his scar to get mashed.

"Hey, before you complain.."

"Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? Emily and I are Just Friends-"

"Oh don't give me that crap man, since day one, you practically been falling head over heels whenever you see her. Why not just go for it and get back out there, I mean come on man, what the hell is it that you're so afraid of?!"

That last statement by Jason finally pushed Dominic, who was trying to just ignore his comments, too far.

"TERRY! YOU HAPPY?! I'M FUCKING TERRIFIED OF MY BIG BROTHER AND I DON'T WANT EMILY TO GET INVOLVED WITH HIM OR WORSE, GET HURT BY THE FUCKER!"

Thankfully, they were in the more secluded section of the library, meaning no one would hear the loud yell Dominic did. Though now, the tension between the two was so thick, you could cut it with a butter knife and serve it to a whole family of people.

Immediately after the outburst, Jason felt guilt wash over him, realizing that he and Monica were trying too hard with their friends. They cared for them, but realized that both had their own issues that played into their friendships, especially Dominic.

Dominic sighed a breath of frustration as he leaned against the rows of books, feeling his rage start to simmer down. Before long, he was back to his normal mellow self, which made him look over to look at his best friend, who had his arms crossed.

"Is he still..."

"Broke my nose and gave me a couple more bruises, other than that, it was just his usual bark and no bite shit."

"Damn it... Why the hell do you still live there man? You know my mom's more than happy to let you shack up with us until the end of the year."

"Mom told me that she wanted my last year to be special and to have us try to be a family again... And right now, he's not even there and for the first time in years, I really feel like I'm in a family."

All Jason could do was listen, thinking over what his best friend was telling him and feeling bad that he pushed him far enough to snap. Though his guilt trip stopped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, looking up to see Dominic with a smile on his face.

"Hey, don't give me that mopey look, you shouldn't feel bad about trying to do this for me, hell I even appreciate the effort bro."

"...Thanks man, but I mean, you should really give this a shot dude, I mean what's the worst she can say, no? All it means is that it wasn't meant to be.."

Dominic took his best friend's advice to heart and rubbed his chin, thinking it over in his mind and realizing what he said made sense. All the time he spent with Jason and Monica, the three always did their best to help one another, even with embarrassing stuff like this.

And no matter what, the three of them came out the end better for it, especially Dominic, who decided that it was time for one more gamble.

"Okay... Despite my better judgement, I will ask Emily to the party so you and Monica can finally stop hounding us."

That remark made the duo laugh, which was soon interrupted by the sound of bells coming from Dominic's pocket. He took it out and saw that it was Emily, who texted him to meet her at the auditorium before lunch ended.

"Speak of the devil, she just sent me a text."

"Well then go on tiger, go get your piece of meat," Jason remarked with a teasing tone, making Dominic roll his eyes at him.

After that, he adjusted his backpack once more and waved bye, heading out of the library to the auditorium that was close by.

In his heart, Jason wanted to hope that this would work out for everyone, though he knew that there was always something that would come in Dominic's way.

He just hoped that for once, it wouldn't be his older brother.


Auditorium

12:15pm

Passing through where the waiting room of the building was, Dominic found himself entering where all the seats were in. Due to most school activities often needing large spaces, the school kept places like the auditorium open for anyone to go in whenever they want.

Looking towards the stage, he found that there was a small group of students from the Theater Club, sitting around in a knitting circle with some props out and about.

Most of them didn't notice the newcomer that entered as Dominic walked down closer, slowly starting to hear what they were talking about.

"Come on, you just don't want to admit that doing something like Romeo & Juliet is always better, especially for how much this school focuses on football," one of the actors remarked with frustration.

"Yeah cuz that's what people want, boring drama about a tragedy that's been done Everywhere. We need something original and fresh, something that just screams awesomeness, like Macbeth, who can say they did that for their fall play?"

Soon after the topic began, more actors began throwing their suggestions for play changes, but stopped when they heard a bull horn siren. This turned all present towards their director, Emily, who was glaring at most of them.

"I told you guys already, we didn't come here so you could all complain about how you don't like the play, we came to check out the props and make sure everyone knows what they have to do," Emily remarked with frustration in her voice.

Before any of them could respond to her remark, the first warning bell began to ring, indicating that it was time for the next period to begin. This caused most of the cast to stop their feud and begin grabbing their stuff to head out and get to the class they needed to go to.

Emily sighed with annoyance, feeling like someone slammed her head into the wall with the headache she was having.

"Geez, and here I thought family outings had more arguing," Dominic spoke out, making his friend turn around quickly in surprise.

"Damn it Dom, you need to get a bell around you or something, almost scared me to death," she replied while holding her hand over her heart.

"Sorry, I was always told I could somehow go anywhere unannounced and no one would ever find me."

"No kidding... What took you so long? Class is already gonna start."

"Sorry, I had to talk with Jason about some stuff, mostly about Monica's Halloween Party, she told you about it?"

"Oh of course, she really wants me to go so much that she insists I go costume shopping with her on Friday after school, that girl is cooooky".

"Eh, you get used to it, remind me to tell you about the time when she tried to make me and Jason go to school in nothing but our swim trunks, in Winter!"

That remark made the two of them laugh, feeling at ease with one another despite having been scared just a few minutes ago. Their laughs died down as they looked at one another, looking over each other and imagining some very dirty thoughts.

When their eyes met, it snapped them out of their trance, causing them to blush and turn away, not wanting the blushes on their faces shown.

"So.. What did you want to show me?" Dominic repeated, making Emily realize that she forgot about the text that she sent, which was just a ruse.

In fact, the whole thing purpose of her inviting him there was part of an illustrious plan made by Monica.


Flashback

Sunday, October 12th

3:30pm

"You want me to what?!" Emily yelled out, looking back at her best friend, who was lying on top of her bed with a copy of People's Magazine in her hand.

The two girls had decided to hang out at Emily's house since both Dominic and Jason had plans, leaving them with not many options for entertainment. After a marathon of Sex in the City, which practically left the two regretting that very decision. After a couple more episodes later, they found themselves lazing around in Emily's room, listening to any songs that were playing on the radio.

Though in that moment, Monica realized that it was the perfect opportunity to put the plan she had in motion for her bestie and Dominic.

"Come on, you should just woman up and ask Dominic out for my party, it'd be so much fun to see you both in matching costumes," she repeated.

All Emily could do was roll her eyes and lie back on the soft carpet, looking up at the ceiling and ignoring the stare she was getting from Monica.All Emily could do was roll her eyes and lie back on the soft carpet, looking up at the ceiling and ignoring the stare she was getting from Monica. It took her a few seconds to finally make eye contact and let out a sigh of frustration.

"Look Monica, why are you so hung up on me and Dominic getting together, I mean this isn't that whole guilt thing over his ex, is it?"

Soon as she asked, the petite woman clammed up, focusing her eyes back on the page of the article she was currently pretending to read.

"Monica..."

There was only a silence that followed, leaving Emily to realize that she was right, all of this was an attempt to help and repay Dominic on Monica's part. The girl still hadn't forgiven herself when her closest and oldest friend used her boyfriend's, practically breaking him in half. She knew how much pain he endured in the past, and only ever wanted to help relieve it in someway, and she believed this was it.

"Okay, yes, it's true... Look Emily, there's a whole other side of Dom that no one aside from me and Jason has ever seen, one that he still has and is still hurting him. It was wrong of me to try and heal him by making him do stuff like this, but I never intended him to get hurt..."

Emily couldn't help but feel bad for Monica, knowing that her heart was in the right place, even if the way she did it wasn't the best way. And in honesty, she wasn't in denial that Dominic wasn't a good person, hell, he treated her better than most guys she had met. She would be lying if she didn't want him, not just as a friend, but someone who was there for her both mentally and physically.

Monica sat up from the bed, looking at her hands with sadness, but soon stopped when she felt Emily come up from behind and hug her.

"You, Monica Stone, have a heart of gold, even when it's often put in the wrong way sometimes. Look, if I try and find the courage to just ask him, will you finally stop and give yourself some slack?" Emily asked.

All her friend could do was smile, feeling like tears were starting to well up into her eyes, but didn't want to cry just yet. She'd save that for if her plan would actually work.


Present

"Emily... Earth to Emily, you still with me?" Dominic's voice called out, snapping the woman out of her trance.

She looked back to find herself still in the auditorium, facing the man that she called there, having a look of concern on his face.

"You okay? You just kind of blanked out on me," he remarked while keeping his attention on her.

By that point, Emily knew that she had to do it, not just for Monica, but for herself. She took in the biggest breath of her life, slowly exhaling it out to calm her nerves before turning her whole body to face Dominic.

Their eyes locked on each other, making them blush once again, and this time, both could see how red their faces were turning.

"Dom... I-"

"Wait... Emily, before you say anything, I just need you to listen to one thing... Will you go out with me?"


What will Emily's answer be, and how will Dominic react to it? Stayed tuned for Chapter 7: The Trial of Halloween Love III