[Andreas's POV - a few hours later]
"Why is it so hot?" I complained loudly, pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it onto the nearby armchair. "It's November, for God's sake…."
Of course, there were multiple reasons for the removal of my top…. a notable one being revenge for Kaden's excessive teasing yesterday.
Kaden’s POV:
I growled as my boyfriend removed his top, showing off his skin. That boy… he seriously didn’t know what was good for him, and teasing me wasn’t it.
“Andreas… put your shirt back on,” I demanded, trying to appear casual about it but failing.
"But I'm hot," I continued to complain, only now, there was an extra connotation behind my words. "Why, is the sight bothering you?"
“Yes, Andreas, you’re beyond hot,” I breathed out. “And yes, the sight is bothering me, but I’ll let you know you’ll regret being this way when I decide I’ve had enough.”
My face was noticeably pink by now, but I raised an eyebrow nonetheless.
"Well, I had enough of your relentless teasing yesterday….." My lips twisted into a playful smirk. "Maybe this is my revenge."
I stood up from my seat, stalking over to Andreas in a rather dangerous way.
“Well, maybe I’ve had enough for you today,” I muttered. “Come here, Andreas.”
With full knowledge of he trouble I was getting myself into, I grinned and uttered two lethal words.
"Make me."
I lunged at him, grabbing his arms (and shit were they hard), slamming my mouth on his, having enough of his relentless teasing.
I melted beneath him, my cocksure mannerisms crumbling to nothing but dust now that I was facing their consequences. "Kaden…." A soft sound escaped my lips, an invitation for him to kiss me harder.
I tilted my head, trying to get more access to his mouth, deepening the kiss, wrapping my arms around his strong back.
Andreas had always been the muscular one out of us, and I swear his body made me drool. I was rather skinny, and now that I had him, I could always run my fingers over his broad chest, bare or clothed. I had an excuse.
It was ironic, how I was the taller, more muscular of the two of us, yet Kaden was significantly more dominating when it came to kissing and…….. other things.
I grinned against his mouth, parting my lips to make his job easier—–And the front door swung open.
I immediately jumped away from Andreas, my eyes widening and cheeks turning crimson in mortification when I caught Elliot and Prince Colton at the door. The prince had a surprised look on his features, mouth open in an ‘o’. Shit. We were found out. By the prince no less.
“Ah,” the prince finally said in his rather surprised voice. “It seems we interrupted something. Excuse us, please. We’ll leave you to your moment. Do continue.”
A slew of curses tore through my head. I jerked away from Kaden, my whole body heating up like a burning coal even as icy fear doused my body.
The Prince just stood there for a moment, staring at us. Fully prepared to grab my boyfriend and run, I tensed, awaiting his condemnation. But he didn't sentence us to death, to both my surprise and relief.
"…..Do continue."
I may have been blushing before, but now…. I was practically a tomato. My panicked eyes found Elliot's—but instead of disgust, I saw only amusement. "Yes, do continue. We'll bother you later."
The prince rubbed the back of his neck rather awkwardly, which was a first because he always seemed to be in control.
“You know, there is a lock on this door,” he muttered, making my heart beat faster. “Be careful next time, or just take it to your room.”
Why wasn’t he sentencing us to death? Why tell us that? Was he planning on using this as blackmail to make us obey him? And what was he doing with Elliot?
My heart pounded in my chest, confusion flickering across my features. What we had been doing was punishable by death—yet, the son of the man who upheld that rule was fine with it?
Head spinning, I hastily pulled on my shirt, glancing quickly over at Kaden. "Yes, um, sir."
Strangely, Elliot didn't seem to be particularly…. surprised. I looked to him, a question in my eyes, and my face paled. Dark purple bruises littered his throat, forming the vaguely recognisable shape of a handprint. How had I not noticed them before?
"What happened to you?" I asked, worry seeping into my voice.
I frowned, confused at Andreas's question. Following his line of vision, I was staring at the bruises on Elliot's neck and paled. The bruises looked recent–as if they'd just been made hours before.
"What the hell, Eli?" My eyes flickered to the prince, an unasked question on my face. Did he do this? Was this why they were here? Why was he hurting Elliot, and why did our best friend look okay about it?
My slip-up with Kaden forgotten, I stood and pushed behind the Prince towards my best friend. Horror contorted my features as my fingers skimmed over the marks, which were fresh, less than a day old.
I turned my head to look directly at Colton—had he done this? "Explanation. Now." Directing the question towards Elliot, I pulled them both inside the room.
Colton's POV:
I sighed, running a hand through my hair as Andreas pushed past me. Judging from the look they were giving me, they were thinking I'd done this. They wouldn't be wrong. My hands were the ones that had been wrapped around Elle's throat. They were the ones ready to strangle her at the first second of approval.
I looked at Elle. How was she going to handle this, I wonder?
Elliot was strangely calm as I seated him on the couch. Shouldn't he be at least mildly traumatised after being strangled? I began to bombard him with questions, only to have him deflect each one.
"I'm fine," he told me over and over, "Honestly. An accident happened—that's all."
Elle was surprisingly calm with Andreas throwing questions after questions at her. She kept saying the same thing—it was an accident.
“Who did this to you?” Kaden finally spoke, his eyes burning, voice shaking. “Yeah, okay, we get it. It was an accident. You’re okay, but who the hell tried to strangle you, Elliot?”
Come on, think of a lie. Anything.
"A member of the court—" I blurted suddenly, an idea coming to mind. A questionable one, maybe, but an idea nonetheless. "I had to speak to Colton about something. They mistook me for someone else."
Kaden’s POV:
I narrowed my eyes at his reasoning. Seriously? Was he lying to us?
“The entire school knows who you are, Elliot, but yes, of course the court member attacked you,” I said sarcastically, turning my attention towards the prince before going back towards Elliot. “And what else? Did he not recognize you even after a few minutes had passed? Because those marks on your neck don’t seem mild enough to be caused by mistake.”
Andreas's POV:
The poorly fabricated lie only served to make me more suspicious.
"Exactly," I chimed in after Kaden had finished speaking. "Come on, Eli. We're your best friends—Just tell us the truth. You can't just show up with dark bruises ringing your neck and proceed to lie to us about who gave them to you. Why can't you say?"
Colton’s POV:
I continued to stare at Elle. She was only making things harder on herself. I knew if I spoke, they’d only take her away from me, but I also knew it would be good for her.
In a way, I was protecting her from myself.
“Elliot, stop,” I sighed, shaking my head. “It was my fault. I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was already done. Hurting Elliot wasn’t my intention.”
Elle's POV:
The blood drained from my face. What on earth was he doing?
Before either of my friends could speak, I rushed to defend Colton, sugarcoat his statement with lies—but the damage had already been done.
Kaden’s POV:
I froze, staring at Elliot and then at the prince. He just admitted it. He admitted to hurting Elliot.
“So corrct me if I’m wrong, Your Highness,” I clenched my fists, trying not to hit him though I really wanted to. Not only would it end up with me in the dungeon (killed, most likely, for attempted murder of the prince), but I wouldn’t get out unscathed. “But all those times… especially the wounds on his back… that was you as well? You didn’t ‘realize’ it was Elliot that time, either?”
Elle's POV:
"No—" I tried to protest, panic beginning to overwhelm my senses. It wasn't right for them to be mad at Colton, it wasn't his fault. But there was no way that they could know that for sure—This was bad.
"The wounds on my back—those were my fault. I was training, I made swords with my power, and I lost control," I explained hastily, pushing my hair out of my eyes. "I was distressed after because—Because I already have scars on my back. And Colton had seen them while giving me stitches."
Andreas's POV:
I was practically seeing red. Prince Colton had hurt, had strangled my friend. Hurting Elliot had never been his intention? Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.
"That doesn't explain him strangling you!" I yelled, clenching my fists.
Colton’s POV:
I almost winced, but kept my expression guarded. Yes, that was right. Get angry. Hate me. Keep her away from me.
”See what I meant, pet?”
No. Not right now.
”Your happiness will always be short lived.”
Stop. Stop talking. Just for this one time, stop talking.
”Come with me. Submit to me. I can guarantee your happiness.”
“It doesn’t, does it?” I answered nonchalantly, trying to agitate him a bit more. Anything to keep Elle from being near me. “That was a bit of a stupid excuse, right? I had no intentions of hurting Elliot?”
Andreas's POV:
"Fuck. You," I hissed, completely oblivious to the smoke rising from my glowing skin. "I don't care that you're the Prince. I care that you hurt my friend—I care that you strangled him. Explain to me, Colton, how he still seems to think that it's okay despite the fact that you just admitted to wanting to hurt him."
Elliot was getting more agitated by the second, clenching his trembling hands into fists. My heart broke for him. Couldn't he see what this bastard had done to him? What was going on here?
Colton’s POV:
I quirked an eyebrow, trying to ignore the rising storm inside of me. He was getting angry—great. Exactly what I needed. Tell Elle she can’t be around me anymore. Tell her she isn’t safe. Keep her near you at all times.
I would miss her—of course I would. I would miss her body pressed against mine, her hands, her arms around me, her soft, female voice. I would miss her soft, pink lips, the way they molded perfectly in mine. But no matter how much I desired her, I wanted her safe. From me. From the monster inside of me. From the puppeteer. I hope she would knew I was doing this for her own good.
”How righteous~ You are such an amusement, Colton…”
“I’m surprised you would speak to me like that, Andreas,” I continued to rile him up. “You do realize your life rests on my hands, right? It seems anger has clouded your better judgement. You think your little drama would make things easier?”