Against the World

PART ONE: Where it all began...

ANNABELLE POV

“Are you getting ready for college?” Vivian, my friend since the first grade, asked next to me while she texted someone else on her phone. She was always multitasking.

“Something like that,” I answered.

We had all just graduated high school and were heading off to college in just 2 short weeks. However, I went from being super excited about it to feeling like I wanted to stay home. I had planned on going to the same college as Darian since we were kids, but now we were broken up for the hundredth time, and going to the same school as him only made me feel worse.

Darian and I are what you call an on-again/off-again power couple. We have been neighbors and best friends since we were little and soon after junior high started, we tried the whole girlfriend/boyfriend thing and it stuck. We were inseparable and soon our friendship turned into full-on being in love with each other. Except, he pissed me off and I pissed him off and because of that, we broke up and got back together more often than anyone in history. But, that was just how things were between us.

It was obvious that we loved each other very much but sometimes we couldn’t be in the same room as each other. Our friends used to try to talk us off the ledge but after several breakups and getting back together, they stopped meddling. They knew we’d always find our way back to each other. It’s just how it was between us.

“I heard you dumped Darian last night... Want to talk about it?”

I didn’t really because she’d probably call me silly and tell me to get over it like she always did. “Not really,” I replied with a shrug of my shoulders.

“I’m betting with Suzy that you two will be back together by this afternoon. The record is three hours.” I know she was trying to give me a hard time but it also pissed me off. Yeah, my relationship with Darian wasn’t perfect, but it’s mine and his problem; not theirs.

I didn’t reply to her asinine comment and looked away, but as I looked up, Darian came walking out of the movie store with his guy friends as they were all laughing at something. Our eyes connected and Darian immediately looked away from me. I hated when we went through this but he did it to himself this time. I found text messages between him and some girl from a few towns over talking all cute with each other. He swears up and down that he was simply being Josh’s wingman but I didn’t buy that stupid excuse for one second.

“Darian!” Vivian called out to him. “How long until you and Belle make up this time?”

Oh my God. I could kill her right now.

They all stopped and stared at me. The guys eyed me and Darian before I noticed Darian glaring at me.

“However long it takes Belle to believe me when I tell her nothing is going on between me and Ciara.” His jaw went tight and his glare held mine.

“Nothing? You call late-night texts behind my back nothing? You’re crazy if you think I believe anything that comes out of your mouth right now.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away from him.

“Are we really going to do this right now?” He sounded bored as I whipped my head back in his direction.

“We’re not doing anything, or have you forgotten? I’m not the bad guy here, Darian, you are!” I stood up then and got right in his face before I poked him in the chest. “I’m not the one being disloyal, Darian. I’m not the one being a bastard, Darian.”

“How many damn times do I have to tell you that nothing is going on?!” His voice was raised now and I went to poke him in the chest again but he grabbed my wrist and prevented me from doing so. “Do that again and we’re really over this time.”

I scoffed in his face. “We’re already really over. Have fun with Ciara.” I went to walk away from him, realizing all of our friends had disappeared into thin air when I felt Darian grab my arm, spin me towards him, and lift me over his shoulder before he headed down the hallway. “Put me down,” I cried out.

“Not until you listen to me!” He stormed down the mall hallway and into a single-stall bathroom before he finally set me down. He locked the door behind us before he grabbed me. “If I wanted to be with anyone other than you, I wouldn’t have tried so hard over the last 4 years to keep you. Don’t you understand that it’s me and you against the world, B? Yeah, we fight and break up, but we always come back to each other. If I didn’t love you, why would I do that?”

“Convenience?” I asked with a shrug.

He snorted. “Convenience? For what? Being a giant pain in my ass?”

I went to slap him but he was quicker and grabbed my wrist. “I told you not to do that again,” he growled out.

“Correction. You told me not to poke you again.” I poked him. “You didn’t say anything about slapping you for being an asshole.”

He barked out a laugh as he shook his head and stared into my eyes.

“God, I love you, B. You completely drive me crazy in all ways possible. I can’t stand you sometimes and I can’t stand to be away from you other times.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “Forgive me, B. We need each other.”

He wasn’t lying. I’ve grown up in the most dysfunctional family and he grew up with adoptive and controlling parents. We have been there for each other since we could walk and talk. It really was me and Darian against the world. I loved him and hated him all at once, but my love for him always won.

“I don’t know if I can this time.” And that was the truth. This wasn’t one of our typical fights where we broke up for the day and ended up in one of our beds, making up. No, this time he really screwed up. There was another girl involved, no matter what excuse he came up with, he still did what he did and I’m not sure if I can forgive him for that.

He sighed. “B, what do I have to do to gain your trust back?”

“Never talk to the opposite sex ever again.” I was only half-joking. I wasn’t one of those girls that didn’t want my boyfriend talking to other girls; I was one of those girls that didn’t like my boyfriend to openly and obviously flirt with other girls, and that’s exactly what he had done.

“Deal,” Darian replied. “If it means you’ll forgive me, I’ll do anything.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I was only half-joking. But, to be fair, what you did really hurt me.” Now I was being serious. My sarcasm was shoved back inside for now.

“Babe, I know I screwed up. I was only helping Kristian. This chick, Ciara, apparently liked me, so I took the opening to talk to her first. But, I swear I told her I was taken but that my buddy Kris was into her. She took the bait right away. Didn’t you read those messages?”

I had, but by the time I read those ones, I was already too pissed off to care what they said or meant. What do they call that? Tunnel vision?

“It still doesn’t make what you did any better. If you were truly trying to help Kristian out, don’t you think it would have been beneficial on your behalf to tell me what was going on? Instead, I find the texts when you were taking a shower and asked me to fix your phone.”

He lightly laughed, trying to be nonchalant. “Babe, if I was truly hiding something from you, would I have asked you to fix my phone? No, I would have hidden it from you.” He pulled me closer to him, our chests against one another’s, as he stared down into my eyes. “I’m truly sorry for what I did. It won’t happen again.”

I stared into his blazing gaze and studied his eyes. I always knew when Darian was lying and this wasn’t one of those times. Was I still hurt? Yes. Was I still pissed at him? Absolutely. Was I going to forgive him? Probably.

“Just shut up and kiss me already,” I teased.

A devilish grin spread across his lips before he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me possessively. His arms wrapped around my waist perfectly as he pulled me tightly up to him. I loved the feeling of being so close to him, it always made me feel special and wanted. Being in his arms was unlike anything I’d ever felt before and knew that I would always need him.

I jumped enough so that my legs could wrap around his waist as he laughed into our kiss and held me tenderly beneath my thighs. His tongue slipped out and traced along my bottom lip as I moaned into his, colliding my tongue with his. It would be an understatement if I said the taste of him was intoxicating. Darian was my drug and right now, I was completely high on him.

“Darian, take me home.”