The library is quiet, students scattered here and there, studying and I'm rushing to find a book I need for class. The last time I had been here was when Blue and I had been thrown out for getting caught making out.

Man, do I wish I could be reliving that right now. Plush lips parting for me, hair a rumpled mess from my hands, mouth red and smeared with lipstick. Those were easier times, now life has been blown into a chaotic mess.

Nothing is making any sense.

I hate that I have to do something so mundane while my girl's world is falling to pieces all around her. Blue has contacted everyone she knows to figure out who this lawyer is. She even had Laura call the person only for them to never pick up. Her father left no will, no funeral arrangements, nothing.

It's been weeks since then and she's calmed down, but I haven't. She keeps telling me it's okay that either way she and Laura would have to split everything in half... still.

She was almost homeless because of it.

Stuff keeps happening to her. The storage unit where all her dad's and her things had been stored was robbed a couple of nights ago. The police are on it but have told her she'll most likely not be able to get the stuff back. Most of the time everything is sold off by the time the cops get to the robbers.

Everything is a mess.

She's dealing with all of this while going to school, working full time, and pregnant.

I'm useless.

These things I can't protect her from. I don't know how. My mom and dad are trying their best to help out but even they don't know what to do. All I want is for my girl to have some peace, security... and I'm going to give it to her.

I can't give her what she's lost, but I can give her a future. I can provide for her, protect her and our baby. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Tonight is our first game for the tournament and possibly my last hockey game ever, but all I can think about is the chaos swirling around Blue. I know I need to focus for my team's sake and for Blue's, but it's hard.

Finding my book, I yank it out and get line to checkout. I take a step but a tap on my shoulder makes me turn around. A girl I've known since freshman year stands behind me, her eyes darting around.

She used to date a teammate of mine but they've been broken up for a while. She's always been a nice girl, but we haven't talked in a year. "Hey, Yelena."

"Tariq, I," she pauses, leaning in, "I need to talk to you."

"Okay?" I ask, eyeing her, wondering why she's so tense.

"In private."

I let out a sigh. Great, is she going to confess to me? So many girls have done that at the library. "Yelena I'm in a really serious relationship, I'm not interested."

She gives me a deadpanned look. "Yeah, I'm well aware, there is something I need to show you."

I get out of line and follow her until we're in a private room. "Okay, this is getting weird, what is it?"

She pulls her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. "The other day my iCloud storage filled up so obviously I went through and started deleting some old videos. I found this one from Sophomore year--"

"Where are you going with this?"

She shoves her phone in my hand. "Just watch."

I look at her like she's crazy but do as she says. It's a video of the party at Alpha Tau Sigma during rush week our sophomore year. Paul is there and so am I. We're chatting up with some girls in the background and it's the part of the night I remember.

"Did you see it?" she asks.

"See what?"

She rolls her eyes and snatches the phone from me and plays it over. "Behind Clara, watch Colin. He's by the massive punch bowl all you guys were forced to drink from."

My eyes narrow and Colin is looking around and I watch as he takes a pill bottle out, dumping it into the bowl. My heart freezes, my blood growing so cold it's painful.

Dread fills every part of me.

"You saw it right?" she asks.

"Yeah, what is in that bottle?"

She takes the phone back and pauses the video. "He's close enough in the video that I could zoom in." She hands it back to me saying, "It's Xanax. Tariq, they drugged you guys. Paul's death was the frat's fault, specifically Colin's."

"Have you taken this to the police yet?" I'm breathless.

"I'm heading over there later. I wanted you to see it first. After everything you had been through, I thought you'd like to know."

My grip tenses, the phone whining a little. The pain of that night crashes into me all over again, molding into a primal hatred I've never felt before. Every part of me burns as the understanding of what Colin did soaks in my mind as my thumb taps the button, replaying the video over and over. My rage intensifies with every beat in my veins, with every touch of my calloused pad against the screen, making the speed of my pulse grow.

Finally, the disturbing truth would come out and the Alpha Tau Sigma frat will come crashing down, burning, not even leaving ruins behind.

It could be wiped clean from this campus. Paul would...

A horrible realization hits me hard in the chest, leaving me breathless and in pain. A new kind of grief washes through my veins, extinguishing the anger.

I've wanted this for so long, but...

None of it will bring my best friend back.

Paul's never coming back.

It wouldn't fix or redo what had happened to him. He's still gone and what's done is done. Yet, this video can bring his family peace, his death could stop someone else from getting hurt or killed. This video has the power to stop history from repeating itself.

It's also my last link to him.

This grief hits harder but it also has an ending. There's no more questioning, no more obsessing, no more searching for the truth. It's here, right in front of my face, and it's time to let go.

It's time to move on.

I hug Yelena, shaking as a couple tears slide down my face. "Thank you. Seriously, this is incredible."

She hugs me back. "Bet you feel like a real jerk for thinking I was hitting on you, huh?"

I laugh. "Yeah, I do."

Music blares in the stadium but I'm in the locker room, trying to clear my thoughts of everything before warmups. I have to be there for my team. I can't screw it up this time.

Elodie and I are going to figure everything out and hopefully by tonight, Alpha Tau Sigma will be shut down. Yelena said the police are launching a full investigation on the frat now and it will only be a matter of time before explosions are handed out.

But right now.

I have to lead my team to this victory.

The locker room door opens and I look up, but the person in front of me makes my blood curdle. "Colin."

He leans on the wall, his eyes dilated, burning with hatred. "Ready for the big game tonight?"

Paul is gone because of him.

I want to kill him.

"What do you want?"

Tension thickens the air and it's as if I breathe it in, I'll suffocate from it. He walks over and sits on the bench opposite of me, elbows on his knees, relaxed fingers laced together as he stares me dead in the eye.

My fists clench and I want nothing more than to end his life right now, but he's going to be behind bars. That doesn't stop the blood pumping through me, begging to be calmed by my fists slamming into his cocky face.

"You really need to stop coming after my frat, Tariq," he says.

"You come here to threaten me, Colin?"

He's relaxed, too relaxed so there's no way he knows about Yelena's video and the hurricane coming his way. He chuckles and watches me with those calculating grey eyes. The guy is incredibly smart, cunning, but he's going to fall.

The a-hole just doesn't know it yet.

"I'm here to call a truce... or war depending on your answer."

"And why would I agree to that?"

His white and blue striped button-down doesn't have a single wrinkle in it but he pulls at the rolled-up sleeves as if he's stretching some out. "It wasn't until you were thrown in the pond that I realized it."

"Realized what?" I asked through my clenched teeth.

"That you were in love with her. Bad move on your part."

I stop breathing.

"I had plans for her, to pay her back, nothing too drastic but..." he whistles, "when I saw how you had looked at her, I decided to go all out. All it took was a couple of ears, Ellis looking through her phone so he can get in the frat, and me pretending to be a lawyer to rip your girl's world apart."

My vision goes red and I have Colin pinned to the lockers. "You dick."

"I was thinking of calling it quits after announcing her pregnancy to the whole school, all thanks to Tracy overhearing her and Heather in the bathroom, but then I remembered how much I hated you, so, I found out about her storage unit and decided to have it robbed."

My arm swings back and Colin smirks. "Now, Tariq, you do that and you'll be suspended not only from this game but three others and that's if your team can manage to win without you."

My fist shakes in the air and it's taking every part of me to hold back. "You almost made her homeless."

"And you knocked her up, which made it so much better. Do you not know how to use a condom? Need a banana lesson?" His eyes gleam. "I did exactly what I told her I would do. I never touched or harmed her physically, but I've emotionally scarred her and I can continue to do so unless you're willing to call a truce. Stop coming after my frat and let the dead stay dead."

Chills prick at my skin as if invisible roaches are trying to devour my flesh. My arm hair rises and my chest swells. "You have no idea what's coming for you, Colin."

He is slow, malicious as he shakes his head and grins. "So it's war then?"

I grip his shirt so hard, I start choking him a little. My heated gaze meets his mocking grey eyes as I say with as much venom as I can muster, "Enjoy the game because this demon on the ice is coming for you as soon as I'm done."

I shove Colin so hard he falls to the ground, scrambling back up, he adjusts his shirt, and he's laughing at me. "You'll regret this, Araneo. Your girl is going to pay for it." He goes to the door and glances back, "your baby too."

"You come after what's mine and I'll kill you, I promise."

It's quiet between us and the air coils, hisses, and burns as if our hatred was alive in it. Without a word, he leaves and I quickly text Heather, my heartbeat slamming in my ears. Colin thinks he has the upper hand but he doesn't know about Yelena, that much is obvious. If he did, he'd be hightailing it out of here, not threatening me. I have to protect Blue and my baby at all costs these next couple of hours until Colin is either expelled or arrested. I have no idea what he has up his sleeve and the way his mind works and what he's already done, tells me I don't want to know. My hands shake and my breathing is harsh as I keep having to retype my message to Heather.

After the message sends, my neck tense, veins popping, jaw stretching to an unforgettable length as I unleash every frustration, every nerve, and every murderous intent into one bloodcurdling roar. My fist slams into a locker, denting it.

My lungs greedily suck in air in quick harsh breaths. I grab the remainder of my gear, shoving them on then walk out of the locker room. If one guy even so much as checks me wrong, his back will be on the ice and I'll gladly sit in the penalty box.

It was all Colin! All this time Elodie's life was falling apart Colin was behind it all. I doubt any of you were shocked though lol, but boy... What is going to happen?!

Four more chapters everyone!!!

At some point, I'll be going back and editing this to make it stronger.

If you want to see what's about to happen hit the vote button for me!

Thanks for reading

LivingRed