• "Liar!" the boy screeched.

    "No, Aiden. I-"

    "You were never there for me! You say you were, but you weren't!" Tears were streaming down the blond's cheeks from his olive eyes, which were filled with hatred, sadness, and despair. "You didn't save me when I needed you. You just let them torture me!" He had been through so much pain. And had Raito helped him? No. So it was all his fault that Aiden had left him.

    The younger glared an abhorring glare at his ex-lover before turning on his heel and storming off. The other fell to his knees, a droplet sliding down his cheek. Why was he crying? He never cried. People saw him as a tough guy. He shouldn't cry. But he was. So many times had he tried to get Aiden to come back to him. But each time he failed. Failed miserably. And now the object of his love was in the hands of those he had once hated: the ARTs. But it was a small group. A former member, and two who broke off from the main group. Thing was: they're all girls. And now they had Aiden. Pastel, as they called him. But the raven-haired boy still hated them, even if they did oppose the main organization.

    "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't force him. Let him come back on his own." A snowy-haired girl had stepped into the room, hands on her hips. She wore a blue hoodie and white cargo pants, and a nice digital camera hung from a strap around her neck. Scarlet eyes glared down at the boy, a scowl on her lips. "He's like a runaway puppy. He'll get lonely, scared, and sad. And that's when he'll come back to you. All you have to do is leave him alone." Photography crossed her arms across her chest.

    "Yes, Mother," Raito grumbled, standing and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I don't need your help. You and the rest of you ARTs are the ones who took him away from me," he shot at her.

    "The ARTs had nothing to do with it. If you had been there when he needed you, none of this would have happened."

    "I've already heard it once today, from Aiden. I don't need to hear it from you." He shoved past her has he exited the room.

    She stumbled a bit when he did so, but caught her balance by leaning against the door frame. "How rude." What was with that boy? His mood just seemed to worsen and worsen. If he would just take her advice, he could be a lot happier.

    --

    "Digi?" Photography canned out, irritably. Where was that girl? "Digi!"

    "Yo." The darker-skinned ART stepped from around a corner, bloody tissues stuffed against her nose.

    "Have you been looking at the pictures from the hospital again?"

    "... Maybe," Digital said innocently, eyes not meeting the other girl's.

    "That folder is completely off limits! What if Aid- Pastel walked in and saw you looking at them?" She couldn't get used to calling him Pastel. It wasn't right for him to be an ART. She wanted him to be the Aiden she once knew and loved.

    Loved. That was one thing Aiden had probably never known. Back when he and Raito had been a couple, Photography had had a crush on the fair-haired teen. There were those two times that had made her heart skip a beat, The first had been at the beginning of everything. She was filling Aiden in on what the ARTs were, what they did, and how much they had changed. Suddenly, she burst into tears. Aiden had comforted her. His face had been close to hers. That wasn't exactly when the crush started, though.

    The second time had been when Raito was in the hospital. Photography and Digital had made an excuse to leave Real Life's room so that they could visit the raven-haired boy. When they entered his room, they saw Aiden laying on top of him, their lips pressed together. Raito had yelled for them to leave. They did, but as the white-haired girl left, the blond winked at her, causing her to blush.

    The crush had come into existence long before then. Before even the rape. Photography had begun to crush on Aiden when he had first come up to the ARTs, asking to get through the front doors of the school. She had been the first to introduce herself.

    But what was it that made her like him so much? His hair was a golden brown, thick and shining in the sun. And those eyes. Those olive green eyes. A girl could get lost in the forest that is held within them. He was smart, one of the top kids in the class, like her. A beautiful smile. A loving laugh. A sparkling personality. No wonder Raito had fallen in love with him. But breaking the boy's heart was unacceptable. And Photography would pound that into the idiot's head. Because she loved Aiden, too.