I winced as he pulled the blanket away from me. He paused for a moment, realizing I wasn't trying to resist. He scoffed and leaned in close to me.
"You can't pretend forever. I'm not a charity case." He said, but his face was bright red. He was blushing. "You need to hate me."
I watched him for a moment, and he blushed harder. "Do you like me?" I asked, blushing a little myself.
"What? Where'd you get that from?" He sputtered, trying to compose himself.
"Dylan." I said, leaning slightly closer to him. He looked at me like I was a wild beast and moved backward off of me. "You do, don't you? That's why you're blushing and acting frantic!" I laughed.
"Shut up! I don't like anybody or anyone. I'm a loner, and I'd like to keep it that way." He scoffed, but he wouldn't look me in the eyes.
He took a breath and walked back over to me. He climbed on top of me again, and I prepared myself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting to feel him rip me apart, but nothing happened. I felt a tear fall onto my face, and I opened my eyes. Dylan was crying. He was looking at me with pain, so evident on his face I thought he'd break.
I reached my hand up and wiped a tear away. He started crying harder, and I didn't know what to do except talk to him.
"You're getting me wet. Stop crying. Everything's going to be alright. If worse comes to worse, you can just let Benjamin kill you instead of the cold and darkness." I said, then played back my first sentence and froze up. I started stammering out what I meant, but Dylan laughed.
"Now, who likes who?" He said teasingly. "You are bright red, and you look like you'll have a heart attack if you say something like that again."
"Don't jinx me!" I yelled. "Besides, don't teaze a girl like that." I added with a blushing smirk. "Because who knows. Maybe I do like you." I thought about that for a moment, and it sounded like a confession. I blushed harder, and then I realized. I do like him.
Dylan looked shocked, but he didn't respond for a while. He was still on top of me, but he didn't do anything or say anything until he composed himself. He stood up and I watched him find his clothes and put them on.
"You were supposed to hate me." He said, and I could tell he wanted to cry again. "I didn't want you to like me. If you hated me, it would've been easier than asking you out, dating you, and messing up all the time."
I stood up from the bed and realized I didn't know where my clothes went. I was stripped down to nothing, and I couldn't find anything. Dylan looked at me and blushed, passing me his shirt, which was way too big for me. I took it greatfully and put it on. I looked like a mouse in a mansion. I felt Benjamin shift where he had been laying, and he woke up. I was a little disappointed.
"Did he hurt you?" Was the first thing he said.
"No." I lied. "He was respectful of my boundaries."
"It doesn't look like it. You're wearing his shirt." He said cautiously, then he caught the sight of Dylan, and he stood up emediantly. "What did you do to her? How badly did you hurt her, and why is she lying for you?"
Dylan sighed and stepped forward. "I don't know why she's lying for me."
"I'm not lying. The last time he hurt me, you were awake, and you hit him in the neck, remember? He passed out on my chest, and you ripped him from my body. He hasn't done anything since. We just talked." I said.
"What did you talk about? Was it anything important? Did he mention Lily?"
I looked at Dylan, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Is Lily the friend of his?"
"Yes." Benjamin said, sighing and sitting back down on the bean bag. "And she was the love of my life."
I looked at Dylan, and he gave me a silencing glare. I knew what he wanted, but I wasn't going to give it to him.
"Dylan didn't rape her. It was his brother." I said.
"What?" Benjamin's head snapped up. "Is that true?" He asked Dylan.
"Allaris! I told you not to say anything!" Dylan scolded, but he turned back to Benjamin. "Yes, it's true. I just wanted to protect my brother because their was no turning back time, but I didn't want to lose both of them. Losing Lily was hard enough. I didn't need to lose my brother, too."
"I understand." Benjamin said, but he looked anything but understanding. "I understand you let a criminal roam free while you took the blame. It's a good thing the jury didn't believe you actually did it because you would've gotten a way worse punishment than community service."
"I did what was best for my family." Dylan shot back.
"Yeah, but you should've done what's best for Lily. Your friend. You should've done what's best for society. Did you even think about what would've happened if he hurt somebody else?"
"Shut up." I interrupted, glaring at Benjamin. "He did what was best for himself. I would've done the same thing for my mother if she needed me to. It's called sticking together and supporting each other. I understand you loved Lily, and Dylan cared for her too, but you don't know the full story, so you can't tell him that!"
Benjamin looked at me with a hurt expression, but he also looked relieved. It wasn't a good look. He looked like he had just found something that was lost, but not in a peaceful way.
"She's back. Finally, Lily has come back to me. Her new body is yours. Her new name is Allaris." Benjamin said, looking at me hungrily.
"Ben, you don't know what you're saying." Dylan said, stepping in front of me as Benjamin stepped forward. "You're upset, and it's making you delusional."
"Yeah, but I'll happily accept it if it means I'll finally have the women of my dreams. Allaris is just like her, isn't she? She has those same gleaming eyes. Her blue is so vibrant, just like Lily. The only difference is the name and the hair color. Lilys were brown, but this will work better. Wait, no. You aren't Lily. You are Allaris, but Allaris is an upgrade." Benjamin smiled wickedly and took another step forward.
I stepped back in alarm. Dylan tried to talk him down, but it was useless. "Ben, dude. Calm down. Allaris isn't a thing to pass around. She is a woman with her own will and feelings."
"Then let her decide." Benjamin said, and they both turned to me. I froze up, and Dylan grabbed my hand. He rubbed circles into the back of my hand, and I calmed down a bit, but I didn't know what to say.
"She is going down to the basement with me, and you are staying here alone." Dylan exclaimed, and I looked at him in shock. "Allaris needs safety, and I can't give that to her. I can't stop myself from hurting her, so somebody else will stop me. I'll stop you because Allaris needs me."
"What? Do you like her?" Benjamin asked, jealousy overcoming him. Dylan scoffed and looked away. He wouldn't answer him. "What, do you?" He added, more demanding.
"Dylan?" I asked.
Dylans hand shook in mine, and I couldn't tell if he was angry, embarrassed, or scared. I also couldn't tell whether he liked me or not, but I never gave him a clear confession earlier either, so I understood his hesitation.
"Dylan. If you don't like her, then let her go. I can take better care of her, and we will make sure the human race doesn't go extinct as everybody dies off. I'll protect her, but if you do like her, then just say so. If you say so verbally, we will fight for her. I don't know what you're feeling unless you say something."
"Shut up." Dylan scoffed, his grip tightening around my hand. He stayed silent, not continuing his statement. He wouldn't give a clear answer, and I knew that. I pulled my hand free and grabbed my backpack, slinging it around my shoulder.
"This is stupid. You're both jerks, and I'd never date either of you." I said and opened the door to leave. Before I did, I looked back and saw Dylans face. He looked heartbroken, but why? He said he wanted me to hate him.
I stepped out of the room, and I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. Somebody pulled me back into the room, and I was pushed onto the bed.