Amelia dragged Judas through the campus like a woman possessed, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his wrist hard enough to leave marks. Judas swallowed the pain, not daring to bring it up.
What the hell is happening right now?
Students parted like the Red Sea as she stormed past, the campus idol's usual composed grace replaced by something far more intense.
"Amelia, where are we—"
"Not here," she snapped, voice harsh.
They rounded the corner of the library, then another, heading toward the older section of campus where hardly anyone went anymore. The maintenance building. Storage rooms. Places that were technically off-limits but never locked because no one cared enough to patrol them.
She pushed open a door marked "STORAGE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" and yanked him inside with surprising strength.
The room was small and cramped. Old desks and stacked chairs lined the wall. Dust hung heavy in the air. A single window near the ceiling let in weak morning light that barely cut through the dark shadows.
Amelia released his wrist and spun to face him, breathing heavily. Her green eyes burned with anger.
"Who is she?"
Judas's mind fell behind, still processing being kidnapped across campus. "Sera?"
"If that's her name." Her voice cracked, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. That girl you were walking with." Venom laced her words. "That purple-haired girl who was hanging all over you. Who is she to you?"
"She's just—"
"Just what?" Amelia stepped closer, her face inches from his. There was something unhinged in her eyes now, a desperate possessiveness that he'd never seen on the perfect campus idol before. "Your friend? Some girl you know? Your fucking girlfriend?"
"No! She's not my girlfriend!"
"Then why was she walking with you like that?" Amelia's hands clenched into fists so tight her knuckles went white. "Why was she dressed like... like that? Why was she smiling at you like that..." Her voice broke completely.
[AMELIA HART - AFFECTION: 62% → 75%]
[WARNING: EMOTIONAL VOLATILITY INCREASING]
[SUBJECT DISPLAYING OBSESSIVE TENDENCIES]
Why is her affection rising??
His lungs struggled to draw breath. "I swear it's not like that."
"Do you have any idea what yesterday meant to me?" She laughed, but there was no humor in it.
"The last time I opened my heart to a man was in high school, I was a freshman and he treated me like I was nothing. And now here you are walking with some bitch I don't even know. I NEVER let anyone touch me or see me like that. I don't lose control, Judas. I don't sit in boys' laps and kiss them until I can't breathe. I don't..."
She pressed her palms against her eyes, shoulders trembling.
Holy shit. Holy shit. We've known each other for a day.
"I can't stop thinking about you," she whispered. "I've been up all night replaying it. Your hands on my waist. Your mouth on mine. The way you looked at me like I was the only person in the world." She dropped her hands, and her eyes were red-rimmed, mascara smudged.
"And then I see you the very next morning with some hot girl and I—"
"Then what IS it like, Judas?" she closed the distance between them in a single step, grabbing the front of his hoodie with both hands. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like I made a complete fool of myself. And now you're already moving onto the next girl."
"You aren't." Judas said firmly, bringing his hands on top of hers. He had felt something yesterday. "Let's slow down for a second Amelia and just—"
"Prove it." She cut him off as she tightened her grip, pulling him down until their faces were almost touching. "Prove to me that I'm not insane. That you felt what I felt yesterday. And when you touched me, it meant something to you."
Judas felt the heat of the room closing in, but his gaze didn't waver. He grabbed her wrists, not to push her away, but to steady her.
"Stop," he said, his voice low and steady. "You think I could just walk away after yesterday? I've spent my whole life being invisible, Amelia. Then you showed up and actually acknowledged me." He let out a deep sigh.
"I might not know the right things to say, and I might piss you off, but I'm here. I'm right here. So, stop looking at me like I'm already gone."
"I just need to know this isn't something I made up in my head," she interrupted, almost pleading to him. "Because if it is. If you don't want me the way I want you, I don't know what I'll do. I think I'll go crazy."
The words hung in the air, heavy and dangerous.
"I do want you," Judas said, because what else could he say when she was looking at him like that? "Yesterday was real. Everything I felt was real."
Amelia's breaths came in gasps. "Say it again."
"I want you."
"Again."
"I want you, Amelia."
The tears that were settled in her eyes poured down her face. She grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him, desperate and claiming.
This wasn't like yesterday's kiss, but rather much more violent with teeth and neediness. Judas's hands found her waist automatically, and Amelia made a sound that was a half-sob, half-moan against his mouth.
She broke away just long enough to gasp, "You're mine."
"Amelia..."
"You are mine." Her nails dug into his shoulders long enough to leave deep gashes in his skin. "Don't forget that." She kissed him harder this time, walking him backward until his back slammed against the wall. "Not hers. Not anyone else's. Mine."
Her hands slid under his hoodie, nails dragging across his newly defined abs with enough pressure to sting. She felt the change immediately, breaking the kiss to stare at him.
"You're toned," she whispered, pushing his hoodie up to expose his stomach. "Your body... do you work out?"
"Does it matter?"
"No." She traced the lines of his abs with trembling fingers, breathing growing ragged. "God, you're perfect. How are you perfect?"
Her hands explored his chest and stomach with growing hunger, mapping every new line of muscle. When her fingers hooked into his waistband, Judas's breath caught.
"Amelia—"
"I don't care if someone walks in," she interrupted, looking up at him with pupils blown wide. "I don't care if the whole campus sees. I need you to understand that you're MINE."
She grabbed his hand and placed it on her hip, right where her cropped hoodie ended and bare skin began.
"Touch me," she demanded, voice shaking. "Touch me the way you touched me yesterday."
His fingers flexed against her skin, thumb tracing the curve of her hip. Amelia's breath hitched, her body pressing against his.
"Like this?"
"More." Her hands slid into his hair, gripping hard. "I need more."
She kissed him again, and this time when her tongue invaded his mouth, Judas stopped thinking entirely. His hands slid down to her thighs, gripping the smooth skin just below her shorts.
Amelia's leg hooked around his hip, pulling him flush against her. She ground against him shamelessly, chasing friction with single-minded intensity.
"Do you feel that?" she gasped against his mouth. "Do you feel how much I need you?"
His answer was lost as she rolled her hips again, harder this time. One of his hands slid higher on her thigh, fingers slipping beneath the hem of her shorts to find even softer skin.
Amelia broke the kiss with a gasp. "Judas—"
"Too much?"
"No." She grabbed his wrist, guiding his hand higher. "Not enough."
Her forehead pressed against his, golden curls falling like a curtain around them. "I've been like this all morning," she whispered desperately. "Thinking about you. About yesterday. About your hands on me. I couldn't focus in class. Couldn't think about anything except getting you alone again."
[AFFECTION SPIKE DETECTED]
[AMELIA HART: 75% -> 81%]
His fingers traced the edge of her underwear through the fabric of her shorts, and Amelia's whole body shuddered.
"Please," she whispered. "I need—"
"Need what?"
"You." Her hand covered his, pressing it more firmly against her. "I need you to touch me."
Judas's brain short-circuited. "Amelia, we're at school—"
"I don't care." Her other hand slid down his chest, over his stomach, lower.
Her hand found him through his jeans, and Judas groaned despite himself.
"See?" Amelia's smile was wild, unhinged. "You want this too. Want me."
She kissed him again while her hand worked against him with clumsy desperation. Judas's hips jerked involuntarily, and Amelia made exhaled excitedly.
His fingers found heat. Dampness. Proof that she meant every desperate word.
Amelia's head fell back against the wall, mouth falling open in a silent gasp as he touched her properly for the first time. Her hips rolled against his hand instinctively, seeking more pressure, more friction, more everything.
"Oh," she breathed. "Oh, yes—"
Judas's fingers explored carefully, finding the places that made her shudder, that made her nails dig into his shoulders hard enough to bruise. She was soaked, trembling, completely lost in sensation.
"Like this?" he murmured against her ear.
"Yes—don't stop—please don't stop—"
Her hand on him moved faster, matching the rhythm of his fingers. The storage room filled with the sound of harsh breathing and muffled gasps.
"I thought about this," Amelia gasped out between desperate kisses. "Every second today. Thought about you. About us. About—oh fuck—"
His fingers found a rhythm that made her whole body go rigid. Her hand stilled on him as pleasure overwhelmed her ability to multitask.
"Judas—I'm—I can't—"
"Let go," he whispered. "I've got you."
His fingers moved faster, more deliberately, and Amelia's eyes rolled back. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as her whole body tensed, thighs clamping around his hand as waves of pleasure crashed through her.
[AMELIA HART - AFFECTION: 81->91%]
[WARNING: OBSESSION THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]
[EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY: CRITICAL]
She collapsed against him, trembling and gasping, face buried in his neck as aftershocks rolled through her. Judas held her with his free hand, his other still trapped between her thighs.
"Holy shit," she whispered. "Holy shit, that was—"
She pulled back to look at him, and her eyes were glassy, unfocused, completely undone.
"I love you," she blurted out.
Judas froze. "What?"
"I love you." She said it again, more desperately this time, like she needed him to believe it. "I know it's crazy. I know it's too fast. But I do. I love you, Judas Crown."
[OBSESSION LEVEL: DANGEROUS]
"Amelia, you don't—"
"Don't tell me what I feel." Her hands cupped his face, forcing him to look at her. "I know what this is. I know I sound insane. But you did this to me. You made me feel things I've never felt before. Made me need you like I need air."
Her thumb traced his lips. "Say you love me too."
"Amelia—"
"Say it." There was a desperation in her voice. "Even if you don't mean it yet. Even if you're lying. I need to hear it."
Judas stared at her, at the tears streaming down her perfect face, at the hope in her eyes, at the way she was trembling in his arms.
"I—"
The door handle rattled.
They both froze. Judas yanked his hand free, and Amelia quickly straightened her shorts with shaking hands. They stumbled apart just as the door opened.
A maintenance worker poked his head in, looking confused. "You kids know this area's off-limits?"
"We're leaving," Amelia said, voice surprisingly steady despite her flushed face and disheveled appearance. She grabbed Judas's hand and pulled him past the worker, head held high even though her legs were still unsteady.
The moment they were alone in the hallway, Amelia pressed him against the wall again.
"You didn't answer," she said softly. "About loving me."
"Amelia, I need time to—"
"Time." She laughed, but it sounded broken. "Right. Time." She pulled out her phone with shaking hands. "Give me your number. I need to be able to reach you. Need to know where you are."
"You already have my number—"
"I need to hear you promise you'll answer. Promise that when I text you at 2 AM because I can't stop thinking about what we just did, you'll respond. Promise you won't ignore me."
"I promise."
"Good." She typed frantically. "I'm sending you my schedule. I want you to do the same."
"Amelia, that's—"
"Necessary," she interrupted. "I need to know where you are. Who you're with. Especially if you're with her."
The way she said 'her' made it sound like a curse.
"If I see you with that purple-haired bitch again..." Amelia's voice dropped to something dangerous. "I'll lose my mind. I mean it, Judas. I'll actually lose my mind."
She grabbed the front of his hoodie and pulled him down for one more kiss. This one was desperate, possessive, claiming. "I'll see you soon Judas."
Then she was gone, but not before looking back at him three times, like she physically couldn't bear to let him out of her sight.
Judas stood alone in the corridor, trying to remember how to breathe. His hand still tingled from touching her. His jeans were uncomfortably tight. And his phone was already buzzing with texts.
Amelia: I miss you already
Amelia: I can still feel your hands on me
Amelia: Promise you'll come tonight
Amelia: Say you love me
Amelia: Please say it
Amelia: I need to hear it
Seventeen messages in three minutes.
[QUEST UPDATE: MAJOR MILESTONE ACHIEVED]
[AMELIA HART - AFFECTION: 92%]
[WARNING: SUBJECT DISPLAYING DANGEROUS FIXATION]