No. The word was cold and final, and Haley's heart shattered as Keida delivered his brutal judgement. She would never be good enough for Cain, and maybe that was why, they'd remained<b>just</b>friends for all those fleeting high school years. Perhaps, she would never be worthy, never be loved by the one she loved from afar. It was miserable feeling that dug its talons into her vulnerable heart, and she bit down on her lip, hoping the physical pain would distract her from the hurt within. She didn't know how to respond to her failure. Keida acted before her, closing the distance between them and reaching out with his malicious fingers. She didn't see it yet - beneath his golden irises and cool demeanor - the predator yearning for her purity and untouched flesh.<br/><br/>Everything happened at once - one hand reaching out to clasp her bra while the other one trailed lower and lower.<br/><br/>Haley's confusion was written on her face, in her eyes (wide with shock) and her mouth (half-open in fear and disbelief). "Keida, no." Her voice quivered pathetically in her throat, a little more than frightened whisper muttered beneath her breath. His deft fingers were trespassing where no one had touched, it was spreading heat as it went - electricity between her thighs. The sensations scared her almost as much as the cruel words that spilled from his lips like poison.<br/><br/>She couldn't focus on what he was saying about Cain, all her attention was turned to the hand squeezing her breast and the fingers that lingered where they shouldn't have.  He continued his unwanted exploration, leaving fire wherever he touched - liquid fire on her skin, liquid fire<i> inside </i>her.  Haley didn't like what was happening, it wasn't right.<br/><br/>She reached for Keida's offending hand, cold fingers clenching around his wrist as his own fingers danced across the sole strawberry print. Haley tried to pull him away from her most sensitive place, but he was all sinew and muscle and much too strong. "Keida," she called his name again, hoping to snap him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in. "This isn't right. I - I don't like you like<i>that</i>. " Her brown eyes were scanning his golden ones. He seemed to be a different person now, and she tried (oh she tried) to search for remnants of the old Keida - the rambunctious child who used to challenge her and Cain to races, the child who used to glow with energy and mirth during the nostalgic summers of their childhood youth. They'd learned how to ride bikes together, had cooked treats in the familiarity of her kitchen, and had swam in the lake when the sun shone too hotly. She knew Keida, and yet, she didn't. "We're friends, aren't we? Please, you're scaring me. Stop, just<i>stop</i>."<br/><br/>He stopped for a moment, but it was a cruel deception. Keida stepped back only to issue a command, and when she didn't comply, he forced her to listen. Haley yelped as she was shoved into the counter, his hands were rigid on her spine. Unmistakable fear marred her soft features.<br/><br/>This couldn't be what all boys wanted. This couldn't be what<i>Cain</i>wanted. He was a nice boy, wholesome and warm like the sun. Tears sprung to her eyes as her broken heart hammered inside her chest like a caged bird. "Keida, please let go. I need to go home. It's getting late and... and-" fear choked off whatever words she'd wished to say.<br/><br/>Keida ground his hips into her backside as he held her down. She felt him then, an unfamiliar hardness against her soft flesh.  The feeling of his clothed eagerness coaxed a frightened whimper from her trembling lips, and when Keida rocked his hips against hers once more, she tried to pull away from his possessive hold. Instead of freeing her, it pressed her harder against his confined member. Ever through his jeans, she could feel him, eager to take what she didn't want to give, what she was saving for Cain. Her insides clenched in fear as he continued rolling his cruel hips into hers.<br/><br/>"Keida, please.<b>Stop</b>. I don't want this. I don't<i>love</i>you." In Haley's land of fairy tales, love always preceded intimacy, heroines always lived happily ever after, and childhood friends never turned out to be monsters. Keida was shattering her innocent illusion with each passing second. "Stop."<br/><br/>When he didn't listen, she started to fight him. Foolish girl digging her grave deeper and deeper.