15

It didn't take long for the black-haired man to notice our eyes on him and I gasped tensely when I saw him walking towards us. Despite the darkness, the tight white t-shirt gave me a glimpse of his muscles and I immediately lowered my gaze. I didn't want to find him attractive.

"You don't like rules, do you?" He sat down between us with a provocative look directed at me, which made Lou roll her eyes in annoyance. "Do you seriously think you could forbid her something?" she asked her brother, who fortunately turned away from me and took aim at her. "Did anyone talk to you? You should mind your own business!" he hissed at her angrily as she unperturbedly took a sip of her glass and looked at me.

"And you should take care of your blonde," I replied, upon which he turned back to me and a smile broke out on his lips. "You're blonde too," he stated. "Darkblond!" "Blonde is blonde. So you want me to take care of you?"

There was a brief awkward silence between the three of us, the only sounds being the music and soft chatter from the tables around us as he fixed me with his icy blue eyes, putting me in a sort of trance. "Hiss off Jayden!" Lou hissed at him angrily and I was relieved that he got up and left without saying another word.

"I apologize for him," said Lou, who looked genuinely ashamed of him. "You don't have to. I can handle him." I raised my glass to her and smiled at her, which also drew a grin out of her, and together we continued drinking and chatting about music, life and everything that goes with it.

Eventually she went to the toilet and I started looking around. Jayden was now making out with this blonde and I didn't want to, but felt something like jealousy. Eating jealousy that planted itself deep in my mind and even hurt me.

"Well pretty lady," a familiar voice snapped me out of my thoughts and although I was still angry and disappointed in him, I was happy to meet him. "Don't you ever have to work or why are you always here?"

I looked at Ludwig's smiling face as he sat down next to me in his black shirt and his hair tied in a bun. "I work when I find time," he replied, eyeing the nearly empty whiskey bottle on the table in front of us. It didn't take a second before the blonde snapped in the air and a barmaid came over to us from across the street.

I was surprised that she had even heard the snapping, but before I could think about it any further, Ludwig asked me what I wanted to drink. "Tequila would be good," I murmured under his breath and he nodded and turned back to the barmaid.

"They leave you alone for a second." Lou took her place, greeted Ludwig, and turned back to me. "At least Jayden is leaving us alone with the one at our table," she whispered in my ear, but the grin that formed on Ludwig's lips made me think he had heard it.

"How are you guys?" the blonde broke the ensuing silence as he opened the tequila and poured everyone a shot. "Always good," Lou replied, gulping down her shot and then disappearing onto the dance floor. "There were only two left. I hope I didn't drive them away." Ludwig looked at me apologetically, but I calmed him down again. "She would have gone dancing anyway, so don't worry."

We looked deep into each other's eyes and it annoyed me that at that moment I only had to think of the black-haired man who had probably already taken the blonde home with him.

When Ludwig suddenly came closer, with barely a sheet of paper between our faces and I clawed my fingernails tightly into my thigh from the tension, my first kiss was only just interrupted by Chace, who apparently had accidentally tripped with his whole glass of beer on me distributed.

"I'm so sorry, Chiara," he said and looked back and forth between me and Ludwig. "Of course that wasn't intentional, was it?" the blonde scolded him and got up.

I held my breath, praying they wouldn't jump at each other's throats, and wiped the remains of the beer off my lap with a tissue. "Is there a problem?" Jayden suddenly stood between the two of them, which made me get up immediately. "Only if you make one out of it!" Ludwig replied and the two looked at each other with hatred.

"You know what?" I started. "You should go to your blonde!" I instructed Jayden and then turned to Ludwig. "And it would be nice of you if you would accompany me home."

I looked at the blond sweetly and bit back a laugh when I saw how Jayden's expression seemed to be overcome with bewilderment. "I just say goodbye to Lou."

I giggled as I turned my back on the three and walked towards the dance floor. It was so easy to tease Jayden, but I still didn't understand what his exact intentions were with me. At that moment I didn't care at all. I was drunk and in a good mood and a handsome polite man took me home.

What could be nicer.

I said goodbye to the dancing Lou and then disappeared from the club with Ludwig. Outside it was freezing cold, dark and raining. I was glad that I took my grandmother's rain jacket with me, because without it I would have turned into a wet block of ice. "Are you alright?" the blonde asked me while putting on his dark brown coat. "Yes, everything okay. What time is it actually?" "Just after one, why?"

He looked at me questioningly while the rain visibly took its toll on him. "I didn't really want to go home just yet, but this situation. I didn't know how to help us anymore." I grinned crookedly at him and bounced up and down nervously. Eddie seemed to be watching us and Ludwig noticed that too, so we walked a bit along the street.

"We can go to me if you want. Of course without any ulterior motives." He winked and eagerly awaited my reaction while I couldn't help but giggle. "I've heard a lot about you and women and no, I don't want to be part of your ex's club." "What did you hear?" he asked startled and I grinned stupidly at him. "That you use women for one night and aren't a person for long-term relationships. Something like that for sure."

He laughed and put his hands in his coat pockets. "Believe me. There are some women who just want one night themselves and you're not one of them. I know that. Don't worry. I really don't have any ulterior motives."

He smiled so incredibly cute and I wasn't sure if he was serious or just playing with me. I watched in embarrassment as the rain dripped off his hair and just made him look incredibly handsome. "So?" he asked, holding out a hand. I was very nervous at that moment, but decided to give him my hand and trust him, but in the end it didn't matter what I wanted or he wanted anyway, because before my fingertips could touch his, I felt two strong ones hands around my waist

"Just go away and let it be Ludwig!" I heard Chace hiss, but it wasn't him whose shoulders I was laying on, it was Jayden's. "Are you so afraid of competition that you can't let them decide for themselves?" Ludwig shouted after us, but no one answered him.

I looked at him pleadingly as he got smaller and smaller and then started thrashing around in a panic, but it was no use. He didn't even flinch from my resistance and when I wanted to scream out loud, he simply covered my mouth. Only when we walked halfway across the road into the forest and Ethan, Samuel and Chace walked away did the tall black-haired man let me down. I immediately balled my hands into fists and thrust my chin at him, shaking with anger.

"Are you out of your mind?!" I yelled at him, but he just cocked his head and eyed my neck as if looking for something. When he then got too close to me and pressed me against the tree behind me, my fear increased immeasurably and I bit his shoulder with full force, which made him scream out, but luckily for me, also pushed himself away from me remove.

My heart was racing with adrenaline and I could feel my legs getting wobbly, but that didn't mean I was going to put up with everything.

"Consequences, Chiara. Do you know what that means?" He narrowed his ice blue eyes and studied me while I tried to calm down and get my breathing under control. I was standing with my back against a tree, my hair wet and my eyes full of fear, but something inside me told me he wouldn't hurt me and that gave me renewed courage.

"You don't want me! That's what you said in your hut! So hold on and leave me alone you lunatic!" I hissed at him angrily, suppressing the tremor in my voice as best I could.

"That doesn't mean that someone else can have you.", he replied quietly and took a step closer to me, which made me so uncomfortable that I wanted to vanish into thin air. "You don't have to decide that." I just stuttered, because the closer he got, the more my courage disappeared.

"Oh yes," he grinned. "I have that."

Before I knew what he meant by that, he ripped my jacket off my shoulder, cocked his head and bit the crook of my neck.

I screamed and slapped his arms several times, but he wouldn't let go. On the contrary. He grunted like he was aroused and something happened to me too.

I felt pain, but also something like connectedness. His scent surrounded me and suddenly gave me a safe, familiar feeling.

Only when he broke away from me, stood in front of me with a grin and crossed his arms, did I pull myself together and punch him in the face with full force.

"You stupid idiot!"