Destroy Me Gently:Ex-Enemy Becomes My Lover!
Chapter 21: Freaking Detention

Chapter 21: Freaking Detention

Chapter TWENTY ONE

**Oliver West**

First day of detention. I walked into the room expecting to be alone with whatever teacher was supposed to watch us.

I had convinced myself that Kieran wouldn’t show up, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t waste his time coming here and even Principal Johnson wouldn’t blame him if he skipped - everyone knew his parents basically owned the school.

The room wasn’t empty, I found William sitting at a desk near the window, looking tired and worried. This was his first time in detention as well, and it was because of me.

"Hey," He said quietly when I sat down next to him.

"Hey." Guilt ate at me as I looked at my best friend, even after pushing him away the other day, he hadn’t hesitated to come to help me when he heard there was a fight.

"William, I’m so sorry you’re here because of me..." I barely started but he interrupted by giving me a deep glare.

"If you apologize for things like this, I’d really take it that you don’t regard me as a friend, well that wouldn’t matter because you’d always be my friend"

His words made my eyes teary and the guilt tore even more than ever, my heart felt heavy.

"But your parents..." I knew how strict they were, how much trouble this would cause him, and how much they expected William and his sister to be perfect golden children.

"I’ll deal with them," William said firmly. "You’re worth anything, Oliver. Let’s take it that we are simply getting more time to spend after school," He gripped the back of my neck suddenly, I yelped at the force, I managed a small smile.

I felt something settle inside me, a decision forming.

I can’t let him control every part of my life.

Right then, I made up my mind. No matter how hard Kieran made my life, I wouldn’t let him take away my best friend. William was too precious to lose.

It didn’t matter if I had to fight Kieran to protect our friendship.

William was quiet for a moment, then he pulled out his phone and a look of worry flickered in his eyes. "Oliver, I need to show you something. It’s... It’s all over our school’s platform"

"What do you mean?"

I had an ominous feeling about whatever William was about to say.

"Amanda posted a video from earlier, when Marcus and his friends were attacking you." His voice was grim as he held up his phone "She’s been sharing it everywhere."

I could see the video playing. It showed Marcus shoving me against the lockers, his friends laughing, me looking helpless and scared. But it cut off right before Kieran appeared. Amanda had been smart enough not to include the part where Kieran nearly killed Marcus.

The comments underneath made my chest feel hollow:

"OMG look at him cry like a baby 😂"

"Why is he even at our school? So pathetic"

"Aww, his boyfriend William came to save him 💕"

"Oliver and William are relationship goals tbh"

"I ship them so hard! William protecting his man 😍"

"Get yourself a man who fights for you like William fights for Oliver"

My hands started shaking as I scrolled through more comments, everyone had seen me at my weakest moment, they were either laughing at me, mocking me, or even shipping me with my best friend like we were some kind of entertainment.

"Oliver?" William’s voice sounded far away. "Are you okay?"

I wasn’t okay.

My throat felt tight, like I couldn’t breathe properly.

"The rumours about us dating are even stronger now. Look at these comments."

Honestly, some of the comments were hilarious, did they think we’re some reality TV show couple or something? I almost felt like a celebrity.

William grinned sheepishly "Are we even best friends if people don’t accuse us of being a couple?" he said, trying to make me smile.

He suddenly leaned over and planted a loud, dramatic kiss on my cheek.

"William!" I squeaked, scrubbing my cheeks clean "Stop it!"

"What? I’m just being a good boyfriend, you should also thank me for granting you your first kiss, otherwise you’d simply die as a virgin!" he said with a broader grin, then kissed my other cheek with an exaggerated "mwah" sound.

"You’re so embarrassing!" I protested, but I was starting to laugh despite myself.

"Oh, you think that’s embarrassing?" William’s eyes lit up with mischief, before I could react, his fingers found my ribs and started tickling me mercilessly.

"No, no, no!" I dissolved into helpless giggles, trying to squirm away from him. "William, stop! I can’t breathe!"

"Not until you admit I’m the best boyfriend ever," he said, continuing his tickle attack.

"Never!" I gasped between giggles, which only made him tickle me harder.

"Say it!"

"Fine, fine! You’re the best fake boyfriend ever!" I managed to get out, laughing so hard my sides hurt.

William finally stopped, looking very pleased with himself. "There we go. Much better, now we just need to find the sweetest nicknames for each other. I really want a boyfriend too and since our school just gave me to you, I won’t miss this chance!"

I was still giggling, my earlier sadness temporarily forgotten. "You’re ridiculous."

"But you love me anyway," he said, wrapping his arms around me in a warm hug.

"Unfortunately, yes," I said, leaning into the hug gratefully.

That’s when I saw the dark figure on the window. The laughter died in my throat instantly, my heart ceased to beat, a few moments later the door slammed open with such force it hit the wall.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. William’s arms were still around me when Kieran walked in, and I felt the exact moment his gray eyes locked on us.

Vince was with him, moving with that quiet, dangerous grace he always had. I noticed William’s eyes widened slightly as Vince walked past our desks, the snake tattoo on his forearm visible under his rolled-up sleeves.

All of my attention was on Kieran.

His face was stone cold, his jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping. The air around him seemed to vibrate with barely contained violence.

Why the hell is he even in detention and also brought that dangerous friend of his along?

His eyes locked onto William’s arms around me, and something deadly flickered in those gray depths. It was like watching a predator spot its prey.

"Here comes the devil" William whispered under his breath, his arm still thrown around my neck possessively.

Kieran moved with deliberate slowness, each step calculated and threatening. He didn’t say a word, but the silence was more terrifying than any threat he could have made.

Vince took a seat in the back corner without acknowledging any of us.

I couldn’t contain my gasp when Kieran chose the desk right beside me, even though there were plenty of other seats available. As he sat down, trapping me between him and William I could feel my legs start shaking under the desk on their own accord.

The familiar smirk curved his lips as he noticed my reaction. He was enjoying this.

The teacher still wasn’t here and the room felt like a powder keg about to explode.

"Just ignore him," William manually turned my head so I could look away from Kieran.

The silence in the room stretched with me severely conscious of the predator beside me.

After a while, William broke the silence again.

"Here," He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of cola. "You didn’t eat lunch. You should drink something before the teacher arrives,"

I reached for the bottle murmuring a thanks, but before it could reach my lips, a hand shot out and grabbed it. I turned just in time to see Kieran twisted off the cap and in one swift motion, he poured the liquid contents over my head.

I hissed in shocked humiliation as the cold cola cascaded through my hair and down my face, soaking my shirt and dripping onto the floor.

"What the hell!" William shouted, standing up so fast his chair fell over.

I wiped cola from my eyes, my whole body shaking from cold, shock, and the day’s accumulated embarrassment "Why did you do that?"

Kieran stood up slowly, his gray eyes cold and merciless. "You broke your promise." His voice rings.

The promise to stay away from William, my hands clenched into fists.

"I don’t care about that promise," I said looking up at him, my voice stronger than I felt.

Something dangerous flashed in Kieran’s eyes. "You should care. For his sake." His icy gaze darted to William for the briefest seconds.

"Leave him alone! He didn’t do anything wrong!" William pulled me away from my seat, standing between me and Kieran, his face flushed with anger.

Kieran’s expression turned deadly. "Get out of my way."

"No," William met his gaze. "I’m tired of watching you hurt him. Don’t target him anymore, it makes you look pathetic you know, picking on someone a lot smaller than you!"

Whoa!

I gazed at my best friend in pure amazement, the way he stood up for me even knowing that Kieran could easily take us both.

I could see the violence building in Kieran’s eyes as he stared down at William and then his fist clenched, and he lurched forward.

"No!"

Without thinking, I threw myself between them and grasped Kieran’s clenched fist.

"Don’t!" I gasped, feeling his muscles tense under my arms. "If you have to hurt anyone, let it me m-me," I stuttered like a pathetic fool.

"I told you not to touch me!" Kieran snarled, and before I could react, he shoved me away hard.

I stumbled backward and fell, landing hard on my butt on the cold floor. Pain shot through my tailbone.

Kieran’s jaw clenched tight as William immediately rushed over to help me.

"Oliver! Are you okay?" William’s hands were gentle as he helped me sit up, checking me over for injuries.

"So, you two are really in a relationship?" Kieran spat the words as he gazed down at us.

Perhaps, It’s the sight of William helping me that seemed to push Kieran over some invisible edge. His hands were curled into fists so tight his knuckles went white. I could hear his breathing become sharp and controlled, like he was trying to hold back something explosive.

"So what? Oliver is amazing, I’m lucky to have him, so don’t think of laying your stupid hands on my boyfriend!" William glared at him with the same intensity.

I could see it almost immediately in Kieran’s eyes - he was about to do something terrible to William. Something that would end badly for all of us.

But then, a loud shrieking voice broke through our tensed silence.

"What is going on here?!"

The teacher’s voice cut through the tension like a knife. Mrs. Carter stood in the doorway, her eyes wide as she took in the scene - me on the floor with William kneeling beside me, Kieran standing over us like a storm about to break, cola dripping everywhere.

"Everyone sit down. NOW!" she commanded.

Kieran stormed out of the room, banging the door so hard that I flinched. He wasn’t even here for detention, he purposely came to harass me.

And I had to do this for two weeks?