"Did you die in there?" Nico asked while knocking on the door.

"Yes," I replied while finishing tieing the ribbon at the back of my hair.

He opened the door instantly, making me jump a little. I held my hand over my heart, "I didn't actually die."

"Wanted to see for myself," he shrugged.

He walked over to me and grabbed my face, tilting it up. He pressed his lips on mine, and I felt my back arch as I kissed him back.

He pulled away, and I felt lightheaded for a second since I had just gone so long without breathing. He smirked at this and held me close to him while moving some hair out of my face, "Be careful. Let me know when I'm being selfish with you."

I held onto his hand as we exited the bathroom, and when I turned and smiled at him over my shoulder, I noticed he was watching me carefully. He explained when he saw the confusion on my face, "You're clumsy. I'm making sure you aren't gonna hurt yourself."

"I'm not gonna-"

I tripped on his rug, once again, and he collected me in his arms like he was expecting that. He held me close to him and stared down at me, "See?"

"Whatever," I shrugged. "It's fine because you're here."

"Mhm," he moved some hair out of my face. "And I always will be, to protect you."

"Even with how huge my muscles are?" my head tilted.

He squeezed them slightly and nodded, "Can never be too careful."

He kissed the top of my head before letting me walk again, his eyes close on me.

We went outside, the wind blowing my skirt up. I was expecting Nico to pull it down for me, but instead, I was met with his hand slapping my left asscheek.

I gasped and turned around, looking at the smirk on Nicos' face. My eyebrows lowered as I rubbed where I was sure had a red mark on it.

"Asshole."

"Beautiful."

"Dick."

"Mesmerizing."

"Idiot."

"Bitchy but sweet," he smirked.

He quickly kissed my cheek, "I'm just kidding."

He held the passengers' side door for me, and I sat down carefully since half of my butt still tingled from him slapping it.

He shut the door and walked around to the drivers' side, and I turned on the radio while he got in.

"Is Rio meeting us there?" he asked while pulling out of his driveway.

"Mhm," I hummed. "He's bringing me the dress that I'm gonna wear tonight."

I felt a feeling of anxiety fill my stomach. Even though he didn't say anything, I asked anxiously, "Is it....okay that I'm wearing a short dress there?"

He looked at me with lowered eyebrows as if I just said the dumbest thing ever, "Elle, let me tell you something real quick."

I nodded, watching him as he took glances between me and the road.

"You are a human being before you are my girlfriend. You can wear whatever you want in the world, and me or any other guys should never make you feel like you shouldn't. Why's it matter if your dress is a little revealing if I'm the only one seeing what's underneath it?" he told me.

"I don't know if you're going to stay with me forever, so if you don't, always remember that."

I had a first instinct to immediately voice my feelings, "I don't date if I don't see a future, Nico."

His green eyes warmed, the corner of his mouth turning up even though it looked like he was trying to hide it. He leaned across the seat quickly and kissed my neck, making me laugh, "Nico! We're gonna crash!"

"We'll trauma bond after," he smirked, but leaned back into the drivers' seat.

He pulled into the parking lot once we got there, and I could see Rio through the window. He was eating some chocolate ice cream, and I could tell because there were some on the corners of his mouth.

Nico held onto my hand as we entered, and I took a seat after he demanded I sit while he pays for me. I smiled at Rio once I was sitting, "Hey. You got a little something...."

I motioned to his mouth, so he picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth clean. He put the balled-up napkin on the table after and Nico set cookie dough ice cream in front of me before taking a seat.

"Hey Cross," Rio smiled at him.

"Hey man. You really like that ice cream, huh?" Nico sort of smirks while pointing at Rio's mouth which already had more ice cream on it.

Rio wipes it off one more time before muttering, "Goddamn it."

I put some of the cold ice cream into my mouth, and Nico keeps his hand on my knee under the table.

"You gonna tat me up soon?" Rio asked Nico while smiling.

I smacked Rio's arm, "I need to see it first to make sure that it's not stupid."

"Now, why would I get a tattoo if it was stupid?" Rio shrugged.

"Maybe cause you are," I teased, making him roll his brown eyes.

"Where do you want the tattoo? Nico asked him.

"My neck," Rio replied, making me choke on my ice cream. "Just kidding. My wrist."

"Wrist tattoos hurt," Nico warned him.

"Maybe if you're a little bitch," Rio shrugged.

I shook my head and laughed slightly, putting more ice cream into my mouth. Rio kicked my shin lightly under the table, which made me move my eyes up to look at him.

"Overheard mom and dad talking about you this morning," he told me, making me let out a sigh. "They were talking about where you're going to go to college in September, and what for. They don't think you'll go for engineering like Romeo, but they're hoping you'll go to either be a doctor or a dentist."

I shook my head at his words. I wasn't going for either of those; even though I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do yet.

Nico noticed the stress on my face and started moving his hand up and down my leg, "Don't stress yourself out, Elle. You're 19, you don't need to know what you want to do with your life yet."

For some reason, his words gave me immense comfort. All I've been hearing all my life is 'You need to start picking your college courses,' 'You need to have a plan for your life before you finish high school,' 'If you don't go to college you'll never live a good life.'

It was refreshing to have somebody tell me that it was okay to not know what I wanted to do yet.

Once we were done with our ice cream, Rio had to go since he was having a friend over soon. I hugged him goodbye even though he said 'ew,' but I let it slide since he hugged me back.

We got back into Nicos' car and he asked me, "You want food?"

I nodded, and without hesitation, he started driving into town.

----------

Nico waited patiently in his bedroom while I got ready in the bathroom. My hair was straight, and I wore more make-up than usual. My dress and shoes were both black, and I knew that I'd be matching with Nico since black is his favorite color to wear.

I opened the door once I was satisfied with my appearance. Nico lifted his head, and his emotionless face turned into a slight happy one. He stood up and walked over to me, grabbing both of my hands in his.

"You're so beautiful," he moved some hair out of my face. "The guys are gonna have their eyes on you all night."

"No they won't," I disagreed.

"They will," he nodded. "But it's fine, because I can fight."

I laughed, making his mouth turn up in a smile.

We got into the car, and I told Nico the address that Winter sent me. I checked my phone as we drove, seeing if my parents' texted me. It hurt me a little to see that they hadn't, but it also made me relieved because then I didn't have to deal with them yelling at me.

Nico parked on the side of the road once we got there, and I heard him make a noise once he saw all of the people that were there.

We got out together, and he was quick to walk to my side and hold my hand.

It was clear that nearly everybody here was drunk, since everybody standing looked like they'd fall over if you tapped them.

As we walked toward the front of the house, Winters face appeared in the doorway. She smiles widely at me before rushing down the stairs, nearly tripping as she did so. She stood in front of me and said cheerfully, "Hi!"

I pull her into a hug, and she hugs me back as if she hasn't seen me in forever.

"Elle, you sexy bitch!" she looks me up and down through her blue eyes once the hug was done. She turns to look at Nico and nods her head slightly. "I'm not going to compliment you because you're dating my friend."

"Good," Nico replied.

Winter looked back at me, "I'm playing pool inside with a few friends if you decide you want to join!"

"Maybe in a little," I nodded at her, and she gave me a smile before turning around.

I leaned against the stairs as I stood, looking around at all of the people. I was looking for anybody that looked friendly to talk to, but all of them avoided looking at me like I was the plague. My eyebrows knitted together and I didn't understand why, but when I looked up and saw the unfriendly look on Nicos' face, I knew that was why.

"Smile," I told him.

He kept the scowl on his face, "Make me."

I pulled his head down and pressed his lips against mine, running my hand around in his black hair while I did so.

When I pulled away and saw the smile on his face, I knew that I won. He rolled his eyes at the victorious look on my face.

"Do you want anything to eat?" he asked me.

My eyebrows lowered, "Eat?"

"Yea. I don't fuckin' know if parties have food, so I brought some shit that's in the car. Do you want me to get you a granola bar?" he asked me, and I laughed at how sweet he is without even meaning to be.

I nodded since I was a bit hungry, "Sure."

"I'll be right back. Stay here, I can see you from the car," he ordered.

I nodded and he walked past me, headed for his car. I looked around the yard, trying to look for any girls around my age that seemed like they would make good friends.

"Hey Elle," a voice said from behind me, making me turn around.

My heart dropped seeing Melina.

"Hi," I forced a smile

She looked around while sighing, "Did you come here alone?"

So what if I did?

"I'm here with my boyfriend," I told her, and she laughed while holding her hand over her mouth.

"I don't see him," she kept looking around.

You won't be able to see anything after I'm done kicking your ass.

"And who are you here with?" I asked since she approached me alone.

She turned around and called over a guy that was talking to a few other guys across the yard. He walked over and smiled, and she gestured to him, "My current fling."

"How fun," I muttered.

The guy looked me up and down, and I wanted so badly to knock his hat off of his head.

"Your boyfriend really let you leave the house wearing that?" he bit back a laugh. "You might as well start doing porn if you're gonna wear a dress that revealing."

"The fuck did you just say to her?" Nicos' angry voice spoke from behind me as he pulled me back so that the guy was no longer in front of me, but in front of him.

The guy looked at Nico with a little bit of fear, but quickly wiped it off of his face. He looked Nico up and down, "Who are you, exactly?"

"Cross," Nico replied, and even though it was just one word it seemed to make the guy shiver.

"Wow, cool fucking name dude," he glanced at Melina when he said that, like he was making sure she was entertained.

"And what's yours?" Nico asked calmly.

"Gilbert."

I started to walk back towards him while laughing, "With a name like that, you already lose."

Nico put his arm around me to stop me from walking up to him, and he pulled me against his chest.

"Do you pay him to date you, Elle?" Melina asked me with a condensing smile.

"Was anybody fucking talking to you?" Nico spat at her.

Gilbert took a step forward, "Did you just say that to my girl?"

Nico pushed me behind him, "Yea, cause she's a fucking bitch."

I gasped as I watched Gilbert try and punch Nico, but Nico dodged his punch and kneed him in the stomach. While he hunched over, Nico grabbed his hair and threw his face into his knee, making drops of blood fall from his mouth as he stumbled back.

A crowd of people now formed around in a circle, and even though I wasn't worried about Nico losing, I was still worried about him getting hurt. Even if it was just one punch.

"Nico," I called out, hoping I could communicate to him with my eyes that I didn't want him to get in a fight for me.

He didn't turn around. Gilbert tried punching him again, but Nico caught his arm and pulled him onto the ground. He got on top of him and started throwing punches, making the crowd of drunk people make noises of amusement.

It didn't take long until Gilberts' face was covered in blood, and some drunk guys came to try and pull him off. I cringed looking at all of the blood, having to look away for a second and hold onto the porch railing.

When I turned back around, Nicos' eyes were on me now. They were warm, and his face softened. Even though he had been easily shaking off the people trying to get him off, he stood up and got off of him by choice now.

He walked over to me, walking softly as if he thought I was scared of him, "Elle? Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Y-yea. Just that much blood, you know..."

Sin had said Nico was a good fighter, but I had never seen it for myself. And he was right, because Gilbert was still laying on the grass, unconscious.

"Lets go home," he said gently, holding his hand out for me to take.

He looked nervous, as if he thought I wasn't going to take it. His face lifted once I put my hand in his, and he ignored all of the eyes on him as he walked towards his car.

Getting into the car was silent, and so were the first few minutes of the drive. He spoke up, "I'm sorry if I scared you. I just got so pissed hearing him talk to you like that."

"You...you didn't scare me, Nico," I told him. "But how do you know how to fight like that?"

His tongue ran along his teeth on the inside of his mouth. He spoke up after a second, "You really want to know?"

I nodded.

"I beat up men that hurt women," he told me, his sentence trailing off for a second before he finished it.

"Including the guy that attacked you near the bus stop."