Saving the Villain

Maxen and Asher just looked at each other in silence. The latter didn\'t respond to Maxen anymore, glancing at the group of youngsters in the corner nonchalantly. He turned on his heel and walked away with his hand inside his pocket without saying a word.

Cosette sighed as she glanced at everyone. "See you later."

"See you around, Cozie."

She waved weakly and then dragged her feet to where Maxen stood. The closer she approached, the more she noticed he was staring at where Asher went.

"Boo!" she skipped a step to his side and perked up to startle him. Much to her dismay, he cast her a nonchalant side-eye.

"That scares me," came out a dead voice, making her click her tongue.

Cosette elbowed him mildly. "You don\'t have to pretend. What are you doing here?"

"Going out." He pointed at the door with his chin.

"Out?" her brows furrowed. "What are you going to do outside?"

pAn,Da-n0v e1,c "Take a walk."

"Ohh..." she nodded. "I thought you meant out in the city."

Cosette giggled. "Let me join you."

"Why?" he arched a brow.

"Why not?"

"Don\'t you have other plans?"

"My only plan is to check if you\'re still breathing." The corner of her lips stretched into a smug grin, holding her hand behind her. "Now that I\'m sure you\'re breathing, I feel like taking a walk."

Maxen stared at her smug expression before he shook his head mildly. While it takes every fiber of his body to stand here right in front of her and keep his composure, Cosette was the complete opposite. But then again, she didn\'t have malicious intent with that reward. For her, it was as simple as a reward.

"Whatever." He breathed out and marched towards the entrance.

"Ohh... so cold." Cosette crooned, staring at his back. When she skipped her steps to follow him, she yelled. "Hey, Max! Since when did you have broad shoulders? Can I look at your body?"

Maxen\'s steps picked up upon hearing her request.

"Max~"

\'This girl... is becoming more dangerous every passing hour.\' He shook his head, jogging on the stairs down. It didn\'t take long when Cosette caught up to him. Yet Maxen kept his eyes ahead.

"Gosh... why are your steps so big?" she complained, having to jog — almost running — when he started picking up his pace.

"Or maybe you\'re just out of shape." Maxen cast her a side-eye. "You should exercise a bit, Cozie. You only walked a few meters and you\'re already out of breath."

"What?" Cosette stopped while Maxen continued. "Hey, Max! What did you just say? Are you calling me fat?!"

"I only said you need cardio..."

She grunted and ground her teeth, jogging to follow him. "I\'m not out of shape! Didn\'t you see my body?"

"Right... right..." his face contorted as he waved without looking at her. "You\'re not out of shape. You\'re very healthy."

"Is that an insult?" she grumbled, picking up her pace until she walked past him. Cosette then turned around, walking backward, facing him.

"Take it back, Max." She demanded, but he averted his eyes. When he silently refused her demands, Cosette took a step to the side to block his path. However, Maxen smoothly crossed over.

"Hey!" she yelled, and this time, she was aggressive. "Maxen!"

"Not hearing you."

"This guy --!"

Little did the two know, someone from the second floor was standing in front of the window. Asher was loosening his tie when he stopped and set his eyes on the two people walking in the driveway. His brows furrowed, recognizing the girl and then the person she was nagging.

"That guy..." he whispered, narrowing his eyes. "... I don\'t like him."

Although Cosette and Maxen seemed to be very close with her biting Maxen\'s arm like a dog, that wasn\'t the reason Asher had this unsettling feeling towards Maxen. The first time their eyes met, Asher had this sort of unknown hostility towards him.

Maybe it was Maxen\'s eyes that seemed to see through people\'s souls, or it could be Maxen\'s intimidating demure. Asher had met many people. Therefore, he could tell if someone was good or bad, cunning or smart, dirty or simply stupid. But Maxen fell into the category that was in the middle.

It was like he could be bad or good, play dirty or play fair.

"And he is still this young..." he whispered, shaking his head. "I shouldn\'t think about that much."

BAM!

Asher flinched when the door of his room suddenly flew open. There, by the door, was Luke. Seeing his nose flare-up, Asher shook his head and stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

"You\'re still here?" Luke entered the room like a storm, stopping near the set of couches while Asher was removing his tie. "Didn\'t you read my messages?! Do you have to stay in here?!"

"Dad told me to stay here and watch over you."

"What?!" he gasped in disbelief. "Impossible!"

Asher looked at him dead in the eye. "Ask him."

"No!" Luke yelled, balling his hands into a tight fist. "Stay somewhere else! This is not the only place you can stay while you\'re checking the company\'s project."

"Luke." This time, Asher faced his brother and exhaled. "I\'m not going anywhere, alright? If you don\'t want me here, then you can check in somewhere else. Stop bothering me. I\'m tired."

Asher tossed the tie to the couch and walked towards the bathroom to bathe. But just as he took several steps away, he stopped and faced Luke.

"By the way, that guy... that seemed to have a close relationship with the young miss Blac. What is his name?"

Luke furrowed his brows and whispered subconsciously. "Max?"

"Max, huh?" Asher rocked his head before he took a step to continue where he planned to go. But this time, he stopped when Luke spoke.

"Don\'t touch him." Asher slowly looked back at Luke, only to see the latter\'s sharp glare. "Don\'t touch him. He\'s my friend."

Luke held his brother\'s gaze sharply as his jaw tightened. "If you did anything funny to him, just like what you did to all my friends... I will destroy you."

"Hah..." Asher looked back at his little brother before Luke clicked his tongue and walked out of the room. All he could do for the next minute was stare at the door, which Luke slammed closed.

"He always makes me sound like the villain here," he whispered, shaking his head. "It\'s not like I can blame him. He\'s a magnet for trouble, but he doesn\'t even know the people he calls friends are simply taking advantage of him. I won\'t be surprised if these new friends are the same."

******

Everyone had a sumptuous dinner with a variety of foods served to them. They had a feast that some of them couldn\'t even stand up from their seats.

"Max..." Cosette\'s expression died when she noticed Maxen, who was sitting beside her, was staring at her. She cast him a dead look.

"I\'m not saying anything." He shrugged.

"But your eyes are judging me." She rolled her eyes. Maxen bit his tongue to stop himself from laughing, a habit he picked up ever since he started living in the Blac\'s residence.

"Guys! Guys!" she snapped her eyes when Luke and some of their male classmates returned with these bright grins plastered on their faces.

"Uh... I don\'t feel good about this," Cosette whispered, watching them approach the table where she and Maxen and a few of them were idling.

"Hehe." Luke\'s grin stretched even wider while his eyes glossed over their faces. "We brought some alcohol."

"Huh?" Cosette\'s face contorted while Maxen frowned in dismay. But aside from them, the rest were elated.

"Really?"

"Are we going to drink?" Amie gasped. "But my parents might get angry."

"Oh, come on!" Fay hooked her arm over Amie\'s shoulder. "They won\'t know."

"Fay..."

"Yes, mommy Sarah. But this is what youth is all about!" Fay announced, making the rest nod in agreement. "See? It\'s not like we were going to drink until we\'re wasted. We\'ll just have fun."

"Fay..." Sarah looked at Fay with warning eyes.

\'This guy…\' Maxen looked at Luke with utter disdain, in disbelief at how this guy could take it this far. It wasn\'t like he never had a drink before. Maxen hang out with the wrong crowd in the past, so he knew what alcohol could do. Especially, to kids liked them since they were young, and drinking moderately wasn\'t in their vocabulary.

"Guys, guys. This is not mandatory." Luke chimed in. "But if you\'re going to join, we\'re setting up everything in the pool area, alright? Join us if you want and we will party the night away!"

"Yeeey!" most of them cheered, even Cosette, who wanted to enjoy her youth. However, her excitement was short-lived when she felt Maxen\'s icy gaze.

She chuckled awkwardly, showing a peace sign. "Don\'t tell my dad."

Little did Cosette know, tonight would be the night where she would lose her first kiss.