I sighed in frustration when I recognized the voice. It was unmistakable, his deep voice. The way it rang out into the night, clear and calm.

He just had to be here. Just like he had to be the owner of the car that Clara crashed her car into, just like he had to be the one who I ran into on Saturday night. Why was he everywhere, when he used to be nowhere?

He shouldn't have interrupted us. Now instead of me trying to quietly pacify Jesse, which I knew I could do, even if I received a couple of bruises in the process, there was going to a fight. Maybe not physically, if Roman was lucky, but Jesse knew how to fight with his words better than anyone I've ever known.

Jesse also didn't hesitate in throwing punches, especially when it came to guys who tried to talk to me. I've witnessed it more times than I could count. He said he was protective of me, but it was just jealous. A nasty, poisonous jealousy. Jesse was pretty big, and even though Roman was taller, I bet he didn't have the anger issues that Jesse did.

I didn't turn to face him, judging by the sound of his voice, he was standing right behind us. Jesse's eyes travelled over my shoulder, and I instantly recognized the look of anger that crossed his features. His eyes had already been dark, but now they were pitch black. Like in the darkness of the night in the middle of the forest, no hint of any brightness. Black, and freezing cold.

"Lilac?" Jesse spat out at Roman, his eyes returning back to my face so he could give me a look of suspicion. It was a look that caused a pit of dread to form in my stomach. "That's not her name."

It should have surprised me that my boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, of many months had forgotten what my actual name was. It should have surprised me; trust me, I realize that. It didn't. It didn't surprise me at all.

Jesse put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to turn around so I was facing Roman. He was standing a few feet away, and I was once again taken by surprise by just how good he looked.

He had changed from the clothes he was wearing earlier, and he wasn't wearing the leather jacket that I had begun to associate him with. Roman was wearing a black hoodie instead, with black jeans and a black beanie over his dark hair. It was so much black, and for a second, I wondered why. Why was he wearing all black? Was it his favorite color? It would be sad if black was his favorite color.

Those blue eyes that I had remembered so well were laser focused on me. I couldn't read his expression, just like I couldn't read it the other times we had met. He looked serious, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips tensed, like he was trying to prevent them from displaying a scowl. There was emotion in his eyes, though. It looked like he was concerned for me, and I couldn't figure out why he would care. He didn't know me, so why would he?

I could see Samuel behind him, leaning back against a different car than Clara had hit earlier, this one was white and sleek. It looked brand new. He was gazing over at us, a lit cigarette in one of his hands, and the other hand in his pocket. Samuel looked like he was waiting to see whether he needed to join Roman in his interruption, like he was waiting for a call for backup.

I wondered whose car he was leaning on. I wondered if it was Samuel's, or someone else's. Did they come here alone, or did they come here with other people? I wondered if they had a large group of friends. I wondered if they had girlfriends, and they came here to do the same thing that Brett and Jesse had intended to do. Show them off to all of our classmates, parade them around like they were for show. I wondered if they were the type of boys to do that. I wondered how they treated their girlfriends, if they had them.

And then, I wondered why I was wondering about them so much.

While all these questions were bouncing around my head, Jesse's voice infiltrated my eardrums. I hadn't realized that while I was standing here, eyes glazed over while I was deep inside my thoughts, it had gone quiet in my head again. I blinked a couple of times, trying to focus back on the words that were being exchanged.

"Why did he call you that, Lilly?" Jesse hadn't removed his hands from my shoulders, and I had to concentrate not to react to way they were pressing into my muscles. It felt like this fingernails were thumbtacks and he was trying to press them into a hard wall. "Do you know him?"

"You do realize that's her name, right?" Roman said in a calm voice, his eyes flashed back to Jesse, and I could see the emotion had transformed. It looked like he was angry, and again, I couldn't figure out why. Why would he be angry?

"Shut up." Jesse said to Roman, before he turned his words to me again. He lowered his voice, like he was trying to appear calm. I knew he was anything but calm. I know there was fire raging in him, and I knew it was threatening to spread, causing everything that was near him to erupt into flames. "Do you know him?"

I was still looking at Roman. I hadn't stopped looking at his face. I was embarrassed that he had to see this. I knew what it looked like. It looked like I was a weak, pathetic girl who allowed herself to be treated like this. A girl who couldn't stand up for herself, a girl who was perfectly okay with being spoken to like this. Maybe I was.

"I don't know him." I looked at Jesse, who was watching me, waiting for my answer. I could have told him truth, I guess. I could have told Jesse that I had met him twice before. I could have told him that he called me Lilac because I told him to. I don't know why I would do that, though. It would only cause more problems for everyone. Most of all, it would cause more problems for me.

"If you don't know him, babe, then why is he in our business?" Jesse asked me, removing one of his hands from my shoulders and snaking it around my waist, instead. Jesse looked back to Roman, as if he was sending a message to him through his words for me.

I knew better to answer, I knew Jesse wasn't intending for me to talk right now. It was always clear to me, when Jesse wanted me to speak and when he wanted me to be quiet. It wasn't always clear. It was like a fucking jigsaw puzzle, trying to make sense of his confusing actions at first. I felt like a dog being trained. Rewarded for my good behaviors with condescending smiles, and punished for my bad behaviors with his rage.

Roman was looking at me, again. It was like he was trying to talk to me through his eyes but he was speaking a different language, one I didn't understand. He peered down at me, and he tensed his jaws enough that I could see the muscles in them flex.

"You don't know me." Roman repeated my words, in a flat voice.

I didn't know what to say to that. It felt like the words should have been a question, but he didn't say them as a question. He said the statement like he was confirming my words. I don't know if he was confirming them for me, or for himself.

"But I know you." Jesse surprised me by saying. He knew Roman? How did he know Roman? How is it possible that he knew Roman, and I didn't?

"And you don't scare me, so whatever you think you're going to do, you might as well not bother. Join your friend back there, and get the hell out of here." Jesse continued, and I felt the way that he pumped out his chest from behind me.

Roman broke eye contact with me, and I was relieved that he did so. He looked at Jesse, and a dark smile crossed his face. He shook his head, and a low chuckle rang out from his chest. Roman looked down at the ground for just a split second, and he swiped his nose with one of his thumbs. When he looked back up, he looked like someone had just told him a hilarious joke.

"You're not scared of me?" Roman asked Jesse, and I didn't want to look at Jesse to see the reaction on his face. I knew it wasn't going to be good.

"It's funny..." Roman said, as he took a step towards us. "I didn't insinuate you were scared of me. The fact that you felt the need to bring it all up on your own... well, it kind of makes me feel that you are scared of me."

I heard Jesse open his mouth, but the words didn't come out, because Roman held out a single finger into the air. I was stunned at the fact he was able to stop Jesse's words so easily. He silenced him.

"I wasn't talking to you, anyways. I was asking Lilac if she was okay." Roman arched his eyebrow before he looked back at me. "And I still haven't heard the answer, yet."

"Lilly is my girlfriend, so whatever you have to say involves me. She's fine." Jesse rushed out, tightening his grip on me and pulling me back into his chest.

"I'm fine." I rushed out. I wanted Roman to leave, so that Jesse didn't get even more angry at me than he already was.

Roman nodded slowly, and he rubbed his chin with two of his fingers. He looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to believe me. He was glancing around my body, his eyes travelling over the parts that Jesse was holding me by.

"Are you sure?" Roman asked me.

"She's sure." Jesse said quickly, and he grabbed a hold of one of my arms, bringing it behind my back. The amount of force in his grip let me know that I wasn't going to try and resist. He put pressure on my arm, causing me to turn around. He pushed his weight against me, and I knew what he wanted me to do, so I started moving my feet, and I allowed myself to be walked back into the restaurant.

I glanced back over my shoulder once we reached the doors, and my eyes locked with Roman's, who was still standing in the same position. His head was tilted, and he looked like he was trying to understand what just happened. He looked like he was trying to figure out Jesse's actions, and most of all... my actions.

I wished he wouldn't.