When they arrived at the pack house, there was an awkwardness that hung in the air as they all tumbled out of the car. Markus looked like he wanted to say something, to take control of the situation, but he didn't know what to say or do for this strange scenario. Cassie decided to help him out a bit,

"Thank you so much for your help, I'm sorry I shouted on the phone - I was very scared" .

Make him feel important and brave to avoid an explanation - Check.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I thought you were playing a prank at first so it wasn't your fault" Markus stood up straighter and gave her a sympathetic smile, "We should probably go in and speak to-"

"A-actually, I'm just really worn out from it all and I think Sam is too"

Use Sam's adorable, sleepy, red face to escape - Check.

"Okay, but you should probably talk to my dad at some point" Markus tried again, "He should be made aware-"

And finally, guilt trip so he never brings up the subject again.

"Of course, when I'm feeling up to it I'll go and speak to him alone - Thanks for not forcing me to tell you and letting me keep my privacy"

"Oh, sure, I completely understand." He nodded stiffly, like a soldier, and Cassie smiled sweetly before dragging Sam away quickly while she had an opening.

When they got to her room she closed the door, locked it, and broke down.

They spent the night squashed onto her single bed with blankets wrapped around them like cloaks as she unloaded everything that had been going on for the past couple of weeks with Brandon and Karliah. Sam listened quietly, his face showed how he felt very clearly but he didn't interrupt her and let her get it all out of her system.

When she felt she had told him everything and how she felt about it. They slumped into the covers together. Cassie felt relieved to have told Sam, to have told someone, anyone, about how disgusted and scared she felt. Sam let her have a few moments to breathe and relax before he spoke,

"Do you think maybe..." He looked awkward, "they're your mate?"

"Who?" Cassie's eyebrows pulled together.

"Brandon." He whispered the name like he was Voldemort.

"What are you talking about?" Cassie asked incredulously, "A mate wouldn't treat you like that!"

"He just seems so obsessed with you... And some mates do treat their partners badly..." He shrugged. Cassie gave him suspicious look, "It's... A friend of mine" he added.

"And what does their mate do?" Cassie was curious now, mates were supposed to treat each other like the sun shone out of their arse holes. She knew only one person with mate troubles and that was Hanmi but he wasn't mistreating her... He just wasn't interested.

"Well... First, promise you won't tell anyone" he put his pinky finger out and she interlocked hers.

"Of course"

"Well... My friend's mate... Is embarrassed to be seen with them... And only ever wants to see them to do sex stuff but doesn't want to go all the way because he doesn't want to mark them..." Sam looked away, his face crumpling.

"That's awful" Cassie whispered. She pulled Sam into her arms and squeezed him tight, "It'll get better though... I'm sure it will". They laid side by side with their arms wrapped around each other in a tangled hug.

Suddenly, Cassie's phone started vibrating again. With a sigh, she unlocked herself from Sam's embrace and pulled it out of her bag. She pressed the home button and froze at the list of texts and calls.

Unknown number - Baby where did you go?

Unknown number - 2 missed calls.

Unknown number - Why did you leave? We were going to have so much more fun! :-)

Unknown number - When you come back I wanna take another bite out of that cute round butt!!

Unknown number - 1 missed call.

Unknown number - You had better come back soon...

Unknown number - You're making me angry baby. Why haven't you come back?

Unknown number - You are in so much trouble I'm going to get you.

Unknown number - Stupid bitch.

Unknown number - You're just a fat sub. You're nothing without a Dom to own you. Like a dog without a master - A useless stray.

Unknown number - 1 missed call.

Hanmi - Hey! Me and Aminali spoke to our parents and they said we could go into town tomorrow and they said if you guys wanted to come that we could pick you up on our way? Let us know! x x x

Sam tilted his head,

"What is it?" He asked. Cassie handed him the phone without saying anything. She watched his eyes get wider and wider as he read the messages from oldest to most recent.

"He's crazy..." He muttered. "The messages start off creepy and flirty but then he just turns and starts lashing out... What is this?"

"He's just like that in person too" Cassie explained, "One minute he acts like he has a crush on me and then the next he's trying to hurt me!" They let out a joint sigh. Neither of them had any idea what to do. Sam felt so useless, he wanted so badly to protect his friend.

Cassie took her phone back and blocked Brandon's number. She didn't know how he had gotten hers and part of her didn't want to. Next she sent a text to Markus asking about going into town the next day (Perfect timing really she thought, hoping he still felt sorry for her and would cut them a break), then she replied to Hanmi letting her know that she had asked and would let her know when she got an answer and lastly, took her phone off silent so she would hear it when Markus replied. When she was done, she and Sam changed into PJs and rolled themselves up in her blankets again but this time to try and get some sleep.

Half an hour of trying later, Cassie's phone pinged with a text.

Markus - Yes.

~

"So, what do you guys wanna do today?" Asked Hanmi as they wandered down the high street.

"There's a cute new ice cream place that I really wanna try" Jasper offered, "It's down by that old-timey shoe shop" He added. Jasper was the fifth and final member of their friend group, although only Sam had any classes with him. The girls wished they could see him more often than just at breaks, he was such a sweetheart.

"That sounds great to me!" Aminali agreed. The others all nodded and they made their way to the 50s style ice cream parlour. Everything was bright and colourful and all the staff wore adorable costumes, Cassie loved it.

Aminali got mint choc-chip, Hanmi got vanilla with sprinkles, Jasper got chocolate and Cassie and Sam shared a rocky road deluxe sundae. (Cassie's mum had given her money for Sam as well). They all squeezed into a booth and began devouring their sugary treats, it was the first time it had been so quiet with all of them together. Once they were finished, they chatted, played with the jukebox, took photos of the fun decor and rested for a bit to let their stomachs settle.

They decided that they wanted to get manicures next, (They had voted on manicures over facials) so they filed out, giving their thanks to the waitresses on the way, and started their search for somewhere to get their nails done.

They didn't have to walk far as Aminali spotted a nail salon at the end of the street,

"Oh! That's where my big sister goes to get her nails done, let's go there!"

"Sounds good" Cassie agreed. Hanmi, Sam and Jasper all nodded, although as they walked down towards the brightly lit salon, Cassie could just about hear the two boys whispering to each other about whether a manicure had to include nail polish which neither of them were in favour of; not because they didn't want cute coloured nails, but because they knew they would be made fun of at school. She slowed her walk till the two girls were ahead slightly and whispered back to them, "Don't worry, a regular manicure won't put any colour on, they'll just be shiny". Both boys visibly relaxed.

Once they had all been herded through the glass door they asked the receptionist if there was room for all five of them to get manicures at the same time. The room was big but there were only three manicure tables and four pedicure chairs. The room had a short corridor stemming from the back wall with three rooms leading from it. The one in the middle had a big 'PRIVATE' sign on the door which Cassie assumed was a back office and staff room. The receptionist explained that while they had a function/party room in one of the rooms leading from the corridor, they didn't have enough staff available to do them all at once anyway. They decided that Sam and Aminali would get pedicures and Jasper, Cassie and Hanmi would get the manicures (Cassie was already wearing a much longer dress than usual to cover her bruises, she couldn't be lifting her legs up and letting the thin material slide up). That way, Team Pedicure could be soaking their feet while Team Manicure were having their cuticles attended to and then while Team Manicure let their fingers soak Team Pedicure could have their feet buffed and so on.

They were able to sit close together, taking all the corner pedi chairs and mani tables, and chat. Hanmi was gushing about how her dad had bought her a full set of rements (Gudetama meal ones!) so even though they were blind boxes, she didn't have to worry about getting doubles or missing out on one. All she had to get herself worked up about now was where she was going to display them in her room!

"You guys don't even understand" laughed Aminali, "Her room looks like a plushie exploded into a million more plushies! One day they will have to dig her out from under an avalanche of Sailor Moon figurines and hello kitty sticker books"

Hanmi shrugged with a blush,

"Its not my fault! It's like a magnetic force just draws me to cute things!"

"But why do you need that many phone charms?!" Aminali exclaimed. The others couldn't help giggling now, they all had witnessed how Hanmi was constantly trying to find new places to hang these cute charms from: her DS, her phone, her notebooks, her bags and her pencil case.

"Sometimes they're just particularly cute so I have to buy them and sometimes I get them in lucky bags at conventions and sometimes I get them in gachapon machines when we visit my grandparents!" Hanmi was trying to sound defensive but she couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness too.

Jasper was worrying, as usual, about being alone forever. He'd only just turned 16 and he was all ready give up hope. He had always been a hopeless romantic (His favourite films were Titanic and My best friends wedding - kinda predictable) and had been waiting for that magical moment when he would turn 16 and immediately find the cheese to his macaroni since he knew what love was! The others gave him encouragement but didn't worry too much about him - He would find his mate eventually. Although they made sure to say 'soul mate' in front of the humans doing their nails who thought it was cute that they believed in such things.

Aminali talked about things at home and how her family was doing, her older sister was having her bonding ceremony soon and she was going with her to pick out a dress. She wanted something with lots of orange and red tones as it would suit her dark skin but Aminali was trying to convince her to go with a dark forest green that matched her eyes (And coincidentally, matched Aminali's eyes too). Although again, they said 'wedding' instead of bonding ceremony because of the human company. The women filing their nails asked whether Aminali's sister had turned into a bridezilla yet and they all just laughed.

Cassie didn't talk as much as she usually would and it had been noted throughout the day. She still felt a bit numb... Talking had helped but she still didn't sleep well because it seemed all her mind could focus on was what happened; she just couldn't push it away to the back of her mind. She would think about his words, his texts, his tongue in her mouth and his dick rubbing against her hand. Whenever she let the thoughts bubble in her head for too long she felt nauseous. Sam had been giving her questioning looks to check that she was okay and she just nodded every time. She wanted distraction, she enjoyed just listening to her friends tell their stories and natter about nothingness.

When they were done the nail technicians helped them take a photo of their hands and feet together for Hanmi's Instagram. Sam had gotten a clear coat on his toes and Aminali had gone bright pink with a white flower on each big toe. Jasper got clear polish on his neatly rounded fingernails while Cassie had acrylics that were filed into sharp tips and painted black and Hanmi herself had pastel blue gels with a wavy pattern detail painted on each thumb in white.

They thanked the staff, paid, and left, all being very careful not to chip or break any nails - at least not for the first five minutes. The group mooched around various clothing and accessory shops for a bit longer, just relaxing and enjoying being together. As Cassie was following them into another shoe shop (Hanmi wanted a specific type of bootie that she had seen online but couldn't order as the shipping cost as much as the shoes) she caught a glimpse of a face she thought she knew. She darted into the shop and grabbed Sam's arm.

"It's him, he's here" She whispered frantically in his ear. The others were already distracted by the cute shoes and didn't notice the tense air around Cassie and Sam.

"Who?" Sam swung round, "Brandon?" She nodded and stared at the front doors of the shop, with her heart in her throat, waiting for him to walk in. Her phone beeped in her pocket and she pulled it out slowly, like she was removing a bomb. When she checked the screen, she had one text.

Unknown number - Peek a boo! I see you!

Sam and Cassie excused themselves from the group, lying that Cassie's mum wanted them home (Meanwhile texting Cassie's mum to come get them). They hugged and said their goodbyes before checking the entrance, leaning their heads out like ostriches in search of Brandon and darting for Cassie's mum's car parked at the other end of the street.

They drove home in silence, waiting for the privacy of Cassie's bedroom so they could both explode in a fit of anger, fear and confusion.