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It was lunchtime and I was already sitting with Taylor. I had a salad for lunch and she had a burger. I came back after grabbing water and winced as I sat down. Taylor looked at me with concerned eyes and looked at my stomach. I just gave her a small smile and started to pick at my salad. I can't remember the last time I ate because I wanted to. "Bell, eat please," Taylor said and I took a bite of my salad. It didn't taste like anything, life was boring, this is what happens when you are in 'mate limbo'. "Jonathan, he is cute. And he seems really interested in you." Taylor said and I just shrugged. "Bellamy really think about it, Vincent has moved on and you should too. You deserve to be happy and I know you don't believe it but you should." I really wanted to believe her, that I could be happy again. Just then Jonathan walked over and sat down across from me. "Can I just say the lunch here is way better than at my other school?" He said as he bit into the burger he got. "It's like a gourmet meal." I laughed at his silliness and gave a small smile. "You know you have a beautiful smile, you should smile more." I blushed when he said that to me.

"If this food is gourmet to you then you really need to expand your palette," I said taking another bite of food. "Salad, are you a vegetarian?" He asked me. "No, but lately my appetite just hasn't been the same." I honest truthfully but I tried not to give to much to where he would ask questions. He just nodded and we continued to eat and making small talk. I looked up and I locked eyes with Vincent and he was holding hands with Amber like always. He normally doesn't sit with me but I guess he changed his mind today. His scent invaded my nose again and he sat next to me glaring down Jonathan down. I just rolled my eyes at him. "Hey man, I'm Jonathan." Jonathan stuck his hand out to shake it. But Vincent ignored it. "Yeah, I heard, the new guy," Vincent said pretty harshly, but Jonathan just chuckled at him. "And you are?" Jonathan asked. "Vincent." He was being rude and it was making me irritated. "How are you liking it here so far?" Amber said butting into the conversation. I wish she would just go away. "Great. Bellamy is a great guide and has been very nice to me. And Taylor." He smiled at me and I smiled back. It was sweet. The bell rang meaning that we had to go to another class and I couldn't be happier, this lunch got awkward extremely fast. I walked to dump my trash and Jonathan walked with me and stood there.

"Yes? Is there anything you want?" I stood there awkwardly and I couldn't take his intense stare. "Vincent is your brother right?" He asked me, I started walking to my locker and he followed. "Yeah, he is." I was hoping he would drop it. "I have seen overprotective brothers, but this is a little different, seems like more." Okay, he was prying and I was getting irritated. "Just drop it." I slammed my locker shut and walked away but he caught up quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry." He grabbed my hand and stopped me. "Just for future reference anything pertaining my family never bring up in conversation. Okay?" I said to him sternly. "I get it, I'm sorry." He put his hand on my arm and rubbed it up and down, it was somewhat soothing and uncomfortable it's been a while since I have had this type of affection from a man. I took a deep breath in and out and nodded at him. "Thank you for understanding. I'm sorry for blowing up at you." I felt bad, he didn't deserve it, he has no idea what my life is like. "No sweat." He gave me a soft smile. "I should go, I can't be late for class. I will call you later." With that, I walked away and headed to class this day has been very eventful.

*****

I just made it back to my home and saw my mother sitting on the couch with my father. Our relationship has never been the same since they found Vincent and I were mates. "Sit down Bellamy. We need to talk." I rolled my eyes and dropped my backpack and sat down in the chair across from them. I crossed my arms and waited for them to speak. "We are waiting on Vincent." Of course, we are. We stayed in silence and it was awkward, they don't talk to me much anymore. They blame me for breaking our family apart. "How was school?" My mom asked and I just scoffed at her. "Please, don't act as if you care." I could feel my eyes start to water, I hated being home. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the front door opened and Vincent walked in with, of course, Amber. "Amber! Hello." My dad yelled and gave her a hug. He loved her more than he did me. I saw my mom looking at me with pity, sometimes I believed she cared.

I ignored them both and continued to look down at the ground. "Amber if you will excuse Vincent, we need to have a family meeting." My father said smiling at her. I can't remember the last time that ever happened when he smiled at me. "Of course Trey. I will be in your room." Amber said giving Vincent a kiss on the cheek, ripping my heart into two, but there isn't much left to rip. It is far beyond repair. When we knew she was out od earshot Vincent and my father sat down. "Vincent told us today about your friend. Jonathan? Princess Layla's son." My father started talking. I knew best not to speak when he was doing one of his monologues. "You know the rule." He said again. "Screw the rule." I could see my father's anger grow at me not obeying him. "I am tired of you making me live a miserable life. I hate being here and I hate being alive. But none of you care. I know you blame me for breaking up this family that it is all my fault. But you won't let us reject each other because it would kill us. I'm tired of living this life and being looked at with disgust. I'm tired of being constantly bruised on my stomach and falling asleep in agony. I'm done." I stood up and grabbed my backpack and my car keys and headed toward the door.

"Bellamy this conversation isn't over." My father said trying to stop me. "It is now." I slammed the door and that's when the tears started to fall. I made it to my car and grabbed the spare black hoodie I have in my car and pulled it on. I put my hair into a ponytail and pulled the hood on. I started driving but I didn't know where I was going. I found myself at this random diner on the other side of the city. I parked the car and walked inside. It was quaint and small, there were mainly booths and it was very cute. I sat down in a booth all the way in the corner and pulled out my MacBook Pro and started to do my homework. "Hey there sweetie, what can I get you?" A small woman walked to my table, she was sweet. "Oh um--" Right then my stomach growled and she smiled at me. "How about a burger and fries and a vanilla shake?" I asked her and she gave me a smile. "That'll be right out." She walked away and I continued to do my homework.

I heard the diners' front door open because of the bell ringing and I heard my waitress yelling at the person that walked in. "Johnny! You're usual?" She said. "Hey, Mrs.P, and yes ma'am. Always." I knew that voice, I looked up and I made eye contact with Jonathan. He walked over and sat on the other side of the booth. "Well, I've never seen you here before." He smirked at me. "Yeah I needed to clear my head, and this is the furthest place away from home," I told him honestly. "Family issues. I would ask if you would want to talk about it but that is on the no-talk list." I could see the concern in his eyes, he actually cared. "Do you have a mate?" I asked him. "I used to, she passed away." My heart broke again for hearing him say that. "How?" He took a deep breath and sighed. "Car accident, a drunk werewolf." I could see the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He gave a small smile and shrugged me off. "Don't be, it was some time ago."

I took a deep breath, I trusted him for some weird reason and I felt like he wouldn't judge me. "It is a long story, so prepare yourself." I was about to begin but then Mrs. P came and gave us our food. "Enjoy." She smiled and walked away. "Alright, I'm ready." He said as he took a bite into his grilled cheese sandwich. "I have a mate, but unfortunately it's my adopted brother Vincent." I waited for his reaction, so far nothing. "He was adopted by my parents before I was born. When we were both 16 we found out what we were to each other. You can imagine my parent's reaction. They blame me for our family falling apart. So they made rules so that their children can stay alive. The first was no rejecting. The second was no mating. The third was that I was not allowed to date anyone else." I took a deep breath and then continued. "He is the only one who is allowed to date and mate. So basically the rules only apply to me." I took a bite of my burger and fries. "Well, it seems you are unfortunately mated." I loved how open he was about it and I started to laugh but then I felt the usual aching pain in my stomach. I hunched over in the booth and I could see the concern in Jonathan's eyes as he came to my side of the booth and held me.

I was clenching onto my stomach so hard I could feel new bruises arising. After a couple of moments, the pain finally stopped and I was able to breathe again. Before I could stop Jonathan he lifted up my shirt and his eyes flashed to my stomach. My eyes started to water as he stared down my purple, blue, and yellow covered stomach. "What happened?" He asked me. I pulled my shirt down and moved away from him. "When Vincent has sex with his girlfriend, the pain is the bonds way of telling me what he is doing. The bruising is to make it so the mate that is doing the cheating stops. But as you can see Vincent doesn't care." I held my stomach trying to calm my heart down. "How often?" I sighed and looked at him. "Every day. It's worse when I am home and I can hear them." He got up and grabbed my laptop and put it into my backpack. "You're coming with me. My dad will take care of you." He grabbed my hand and helped me out of the booth. I walked outside and there was a chauffeur waiting for Jonathan I think. "June, I won't be riding with you. My friend here needs help, so just follow." He helped me into my car and buckled my seatbelt. He got into the driver's seat and started driving. "Today is the last day you will have those bruises." I leaned my head onto the window and let sleep overtake me.

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