"You've built your wall so high that no one could climb it but I'm gonna try."

••

The car ride to Homewood is extremely quiet as I sit in the backseat. Blaze has his head perched against his headrest at the front while his dad is tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. That is probably his way of dealing with uncomfortable tensions. A few times, Blaze's eyes and mine would connect from his side mirror, and I would look away awkwardly, butterflies instantly circulating in my abdomen.

"So Harmony, right?"

I meet Mr. Blake's gaze through his top mirror. "Yes, sir. Harmony is correct."

"Is your major at Homewood Business like my son?"

Blaze's major is Business? It's so sad to admit that I don't even know that much.

"Um no, my major is English."

"Oh." He bobs his head. "That's nice. So, how did you meet Blaze?"

"Dad." Blaze hisses and shakes his head, annoyed. "Are these questions necessary? Stop interrogating her. She isn't one of your crime suspects."

Mr. Xander chuckles, his deep voice dominating the dense space and causing me to smile. "I am sorry, I am a cop; I can't help it. Sweetheart, do you mind me asking you questions just for conversational purposes?"

I shake my head with a grin. "Not at all, Mr. Xander."

"See? She thinks it's fine."

Blaze rolls his eyes and looks out the window.

Why is he consistently so aggressive toward his dad? He seems like a nice man.

"My son is very short-tempered, isn't he?"

I smile. "Sometimes...he can be fun too when you catch him alone."

At the mention of this, Blaze finds my eyes again from his mirror, and his direct glare causes a chunk of warmth to spread across my cheeks. I look away quickly.

"Really?" His dad is smiling toothily. "What's so fun about this walking time-bomb who curses at every chance he gets?"

I laugh. "Well..."

Mr. Blake seems to be waiting for a response as he glances at me through his top mirror, so I clear my throat nervously to speak.

"Uh, well... he likes singing awfully to the music on his radio, he's a good artist...he laughs at horror movies, and he can cook nice cheesy pasta."

I am surprised at how much I know about him. I may not know the deeper things, but the times we spent together taught me so much without him having to tell me.

"Oh, and he likes burgers." I chuckle a little. I can feel my cheeks on fire and wonder if I sound like a girl who's madly in love right now.

This is so embarrassing; I should stop.

I catch a glimpse of a small smile tugging at Blaze's lips through his glass, and he perches his elbow on the window ledge, concealing his elation with a hand.

"Wow. You know a lot, Harmony. I don't even know that much."

Blaze rolls his eyes at him. "Well, how would you when we barely spend time together?"

"See?" His dad chuckles lightheartedly. "He's so aggressive."

I smile a bit then focus my eyes to the window so that I won't end up exchanging eye contact with Blaze again. He has been staring at me through his mirror ever since I got in the car, and my cheeks are probably red as blood right now after my speech about him.

"You know I invited your mom and your little brother over to my house for dinner one Sunday; I hope you don't mind, princess."

He invited my mom for dinner? Wow okay.

"Not at all." I smile warmly. "I would love to."

"Did you seriously do that?" Blaze snaps at his dad, and it makes me wince. "Why do you need to be a part of every area of my life?"

Damn. I feel so sorry for the poor man.

"Because I am your father, Blaze," he responds as he turns into the parking lot of Homewood.

"Yeah well, don't try too hard; it's annoying." Blaze grabs his bag and gets out of the car in a flash, slamming the car door so hard I almost jolt.

I watch through the windshield as he walks toward the school's building, and Mr. Blake sighs as he looks back at me. "He is really hard work."

Oh, I know.

"Could you do me a favor, princess?"

I nod my head. "Sure."

"Keep an eye on him for me. And see if you can talk to him; see what's in his head. He won't tell me, so hopefully, he will tell you. You seem to know a lot that I don't."

I purse my lips together. "Okay, I will try."

He smiles. "Thank you; you're really sweet. Have a good rest now; bye."

"Bye." I get out of the car and close the door, fixing my knapsack onto my back. He waves at me one last time before he reverses out of the lot and drives away.

I decide to go after Blaze and talk to him. He really shouldn't talk to his dad that way. He's lucky he has one in the first place; I am still upset that mine is six feet under.

"Blaze, wait up!"

He is walking briskly to Ainsley Hall, and I struggle to catch up to him. He shoves the door open and enters his dorm room, and I go in after him, dropping my bag to the floor. "Blaze."

He rakes his hand through his hair and grabs his game controller before throwing it across the room. I guess it's the only thing in his reach to smash. It lands against the wall in a loud crash, and I jump in fright.

"Calm down," I say, walking over to him. "What did he do that was so bad for you to act like this? You shouldn't talk to your father that way, Blaze."

He whirls to me so suddenly that I take a step back.

"YOU SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS HARMONY!" He screams at me.

Ouch.

My eyes prick immediately, and I suck in a breath. "You don't mean that..."

His brows furrow. "Yeah? I do. Mind your own damn business and just leave me the hell alone."

I blink my eyes as if that will stop the cold tears from falling.

Well, those words were harsh.

I turn away to leave before the fluids come streaming down my face. He curses under his breath and walks over to me briskly, pressing a palm between me and his door to bar me from leaving. I keep my teary eyes on the wooden exit as he lowers his in remorse.

"I am sorry, Harmony, please don't go..."

A tear slips down my cheek beyond my control, and he pulls me against him in a tight hug, pressing his face against the top of my head.

"I didn't mean to say those things to you... I don't mean them at all; I'm really sorry."

I close my eyes and a bulb of liquid escapes beneath my eyelid.

He smells good and his arms are warm. It makes the words he just uttered a little less painful, but they still broke my heart.

He pulls away and grips my face, using his thumbs to erase the water beneath my eyes. "I am sorry that I keep doing and saying things to hurt you. I am not supposed to feel these emotions. And they are coming on so rapid and it's frustrating, Harmony."

I look up at him. "Will you please tell me what's going on in your head? That's all I ask."

He stares at me for a while as if he's battling whether to tell me or not. Then he releases a sigh.

"I want to, but you may leave again."

"I won't."

"You said that the first time, Harmony." He steps away from me and moves to the mini kitchen in his room, taking a bottle of beer from the fridge.

I turn my torso in his direction. "I won't this time. I was wrong to have walked out without hearing you out first. But I was hurt, Blaze. I thought-I thought you felt the same."

I drop my eyes. I don't want to see his facial expression after saying that.

"How do you know I don't feel the same?"

I look at him, shrugging my shoulders. "When someone likes someone, they know it. They aren't confused. They know right away what it is. If you have second thoughts, then maybe you don't like or love this person..."

He takes a drink from his beer, then shakes his head. "It's not that way for me."

He sits on his bed with a sigh, resting the alcohol on his nightstand before meeting my gaze.

"Come here."

His order earns a hesitancy from me. Being on the bed with him is just pure danger. The last time he told me to 'come here' it ended with us kissing and groping each other.

He notices my indecisiveness and sighs again.

"I'm not trying to fuck you Harmony, Jesus, are your thoughts that messed up about me now?"

How can he blame me when he told me that all he wanted from me at the initial start was sex?

"It's not like that," I mutter and walk over to him, plopping next to him on the bed.

He looks at me with an intense expression, and my body runs chills.

"I am going to tell you something; I am going to show you deep inside of my soul—a place I never let anyone in," he begins. "But if I do, you can never leave my side. You can never be free from me. Do you still want to see all of me?"

I stare at him for a while. I don't ever want to be apart from Blaze anyway. His blue eyes, his pink lips, his dimples, and his flawless skin, I want to see them as often as I can. Even though he hurt me, I don't want to be free from him. His destruction not only kills me but makes me feel alive.

I nod my head. "Yes. I want to see all of you, Blaze."

~

"Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?"—Labrinth & Emeli Sande.