fire

Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker, and if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

~Avicii - Hey brother~

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Snow reached over to her side table and turned off her alarm. She sat up with a sigh, dropping her head into her hands. The day was Monday. It had been two days since the party, two days since Marco arrived at Tyler's house with her sister half naked and unconscious in his arms, two days since said sister had talked to her. Snow didn't even know what had happened.

Since Em wasn't talking to anyone in general, she had tried asking Marco but he'd gotten a dark look in his eye and said he hadn't seen anything. The one thing that made absolutely no sense to Snow was Em's reaction to her mentioning Bennett. The man wasn't even answering his phone. Snow was beyond frustrated.

Getting out of bed, she got ready for the day. She was once again too lazy to dress up, throwing on a baggy light blue sweatshirt and sweatpants, slipping into white converse. She made sure to be as quiet as possible since Em was still asleep. She picked up her bag, removing her phone from the charger and checking it as it dinged with a message.

Tyler: I'm outside.

Snow frowned slightly at the text from Tyler and looked at the time. It was fifteen minutes to seven. He was there early, too early. Sure Snow hadn't been able to sleep and was awake and fully dressed but, why was he so early? She continued to walk out of her room and down the stairs and instead of going into the kitchen as she usually would, she headed for the front door.

"Come in," she said with a smile, subtly observing his dressed form as he stepped inside and she closed the door. His clothes, as usual, consisted of the colour black...only. Black combat boots, black jeans, black polo-neck shirt and his black leather jacket. Due to his lack of colour, Snow had noticed other things. Like the fact that he kept his arms and neck covered, despite his obvious discomfort as he was constantly tugging at the material on his neck. It made Snow very curious.

"Why are you here so early?" Snow asked, ushering him into a seat on the opposite side of the kitchen island as she busied herself with breakfast. Tyler shrugged but gave no answer. He couldn't think of a proper answer and there was no way in hell he was gonna tell her that he was so excited to see her that he hadn't slept. So he shrugged and watched as she fluttered about the kitchen. Her hips swaying unconsciously to non existent music. If only he could walk up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist and bury his nose in the crook of her neck.

The plate of waffles placed in front of him pulled him out of his trance. He subtly shook his head to rid it of it's thoughts. He was getting way ahead of himself, they'd only exchanged numbers two days ago and he was already thinking of ravishing her on the marble island between them. What had he signed up for? When Snow had mentioned that she didn't have a driver's license and therefore couldn't drive herself to school, he'd offered to pick her up until her sister was feeling better and their normal routine could continue.

He had been so tightly wound thinking about how Snow would be the first person he'd see in the morning that he didn't sleep. He didn't know what he'd do if that happened everyday. He was already running on very little sleep as it was. Not that he wasn't used to it.

"Thanks," he replied as she placed a glass of juice next to the waffles, coming to sit down beside him. They ate in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. The silence continued as they made their way to school. The engine and the sound of the wind whipping past them the only disruption to the silence. Snow took off her helmet as they arrived at the school.

"Are you okay?" Tyler questioned, noticing the far away look in her eye and the fact that she was just standing there, helmet in hand, staring at nothing. Snow turned to him with a sigh, handing him the helmet.

"Thanks for the ride," she said softly, deciding not to bother him with her problems. She turned to walk towards the school doors but Tyler caught her wrist and spun her around, crushing her to his chest. Snow melted into him without struggle. She'd never felt so helpless before. Her sister was suffering and she had no idea why or how to help.

She took in a shuddering breath and buried her face deeper into Tyler's chest. He smelled amazing and his muscular arms wrapped around her frame made her feel safe. She blinked back tears and pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. "I don't know what to do. Why won't she talk to me?" she asked, letting frustration seep into her tone. Tyler sighed, wondering what to tell her. He wasn't especially good at comforting people.

"Just give her time. She'll come to you. You're her older sister after all," Tyler replied with a small smile, leaning down to kiss her forehead. That made her giggle a little as she slipped out of his arms. She could've sworn she'd felt his arms tighten momentarily before he let her go. She gave him a tiny wave goodbye as they parted ways at her locker.

Snow knew she only had a few minutes before her friends attacked so she dropped her bag in the locker and walked towards the nearest washrooms. She needed to collect herself if she expected to be her normal bubbly self.

"Did you hear that slut Madeline missed cheer practice this morning?" She heard someone ask as she opened the door. She froze for a second, anger bubbling in her veins.

"Yeah. I also heard, at the party on Friday, someone saw her go upstairs with Bennett then come down in the arms of a different guy. What a whore," a different voice replied as they giggled. They were too engrossed in their gossiping to notice they were no longer alone. The last thing Snow would remember was locking the door behind her as the flood gates burst and her anger took over.

When Snow regained control once again, she didn't need to be told what had happened. The battered and bruised bodies of the girls lying on the washroom floor told her everything she needed to know. She'd done it again.