Saving the Villain

"... you hadn't seen me misbehave."

Maxen looked at Cosette in a daze as she still got the energy to flash him an innocent smile. His brain could barely function with the softness of her lips lingering on his.

What did just happen?

Cosette let out a faint sigh and pursed her lips. "Reevaluate me." She snapped her fingers in front of him to bring him back from his trance.

"Good night, Max." She kept her smile and waved faintly before opening the door behind her. As soon as she closed the door, Cosette stood still with her back against the door. She lowered her eyes, pursing her lips, reviewing what she has just done.

"Did I really do that?" she asked herself under her breath. "Strange..."

Strangely enough, she didn't feel anything regarding their brief kiss. She was even more shocked by that little accident with Sarah, but with Maxen? The side of her lips curled up slightly.

She felt... excited.

The natural blush that resurfaced on her cheek was kept hidden under the blush from the beer she had consumed. Her heart was thumping against her chest, but it wasn't to the point she was out of breath. It was only the reaction of her body after surrendering her first kiss.

'It's not bad...' she thought, raising her brows when she felt someone's gaze. Cosette smiled and advanced in Sarah's direction, seeing the latter was still sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Everything good?" she asked, jumping on the bed next to Sarah.

"Uh..." the latter cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes. Everything is fine."

"Sarah, we've been friends for months now." Cosette took the pillow to lean on with her elbow. "I know when you're lying."

Sarah chuckled awkwardly while fidgeting with her fingers. "It's just..." she sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "It's just Maxen."

"Maxen?"

"Cozie, I'm scared of him," Sarah confessed as she faced Cosette solemnly. "He likes you and I'm scared of what he will do if... you know. I'm not saying he is a bad person, but there's just... never mind. It's probably the painkiller getting in my head. Everything's good."

"Sarah." Cosette studied Sarah and sighed, grasping her friend's worry. Deep in Cosette's heart, Sarah was genuinely concerned for her. She wasn't so dumb not to notice Sarah was always nervous around Maxen. She simply ignored it, hoping Sarah would come to terms with this fear.

But perhaps it wasn't that easy. Well, Maxen could be very intimidating. He even tried to intimidate Cosette moments ago. So, she couldn't really blame Sarah. If anything, she appreciated her friend's genuine concern.

"Thank you," she expressed, watching Sarah look at her in confusion. "I understand that you're worried about me and Max, but trust me when I say there's nothing to worry about."

"Cozie..." Sarah trailed off when Cosette shook her head mildly.

"Max is reasonable," Cosette stressed. "I will not say he is a good person or a bad one, but what I am sure is he is reasonable and he will never hurt me."

Sarah sighed after studying the resolve in Cosette's eyes. "What should I do with you?"

"Nothing," replied Cosette with a giggle. "I know what I am doing and although I look like a fool, who smiles a lot, that's because I chose to smile than sulk."

"I'm Cosette Blac," she added and shrugged. "I know where to stand and my limits."

"If that is what you say." Sarah shrugged as she dragged herself until she was leaning against the headboard. Looking at Cosette's eyes, she couldn't help but notice the pride in her friend's eyes at her last remarks.

Although Sarah was still worried about Cosette, knowing how terrifying Maxen could be, the look in her eyes was quite reassuring. Pressing on the matter was just Sarah being worried about nothing.

"Just take care, alright?" she reminded for the last time. "I don't know about Max and I don't want to judge, but for someone who only had one person..."

"They get obsessive?" Cosette continued what Sarah could not say, making the latter nod. She chuckled as she hugged the pillow and rested her neck over it, lying on her tummy.

"It's not like I didn't think of that from the beginning. I've read a lot of those," she mumbled, eyes at Sarah. "When a person only had one person to rely on... they tend to be territorial."

Cosette fluttered her heavy eyes as she felt sleepy from all the activities today, then amplified by the alcohol. As silence fell on them, she spoke once more.

"Sarah, had this ever happened to you?" she asked, keeping her eyes open. "That sometimes, you'll do something that you never thought you were capable of doing until you did it? That sometimes, you feel certain things that are familiar even though it was new to you?"

"Because... I feel like there were things I do and think that even surprise me. And yet, I don't feel the things I expected to feel. But instead, the effect is the opposite," she added in a lazy voice. "It happens a lot to me. Does it also happen to you?"

Sarah remained quiet for minutes, pondering about the question Cosette threw at her. When her lips parted, she noticed Cosette had already nodded off. Still, she continued what she wanted to speak.

"No, Cozie," she whispered, dragging herself to the edge of the bed beside Cosette's. "That never happened to me. Unfamiliar things are always unfamiliar since they're new things, new experiences, and the sort. The only time you feel something's familiarity is when your brain can't remember, but your heart does."

Sarah dragged the blanket near Cosette and assisted herself up, putting all her weight on her other foot. She covered Cosette with it and smiled when she sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Good night, Cozie," she whispered. "I hope you open your heart to us more... I would love to listen to your problems, just like how you listened to mine."

*******

Maxen stood rooted on the ground for minutes, staring blankly at the shut door. When he returned to his senses, he covered his mouth with his palm and looked down. The tip of his ear was red, and so was his face. It was far worse than Luke's beet-red face while the guy was chugging down the alcohol down his throat.

'... you hadn't seen me misbehave.'

Cosette's voice rang in his ear once again and the mischief in her eyes after stealing his first kiss. She was far different from the girl he knew until now. Even though he heard tons of stories about how Cosette changed, they were hard to believe.

Even though Conrad himself told Maxen how Cosette was in the past, Maxen took it with a grain of salt. But now... after seeing how daunting she could be, and how calm she was about it... he truly needed to reevaluate how he viewed her.

His constant reminder that it was a mistake to see her in just one light resonated in his head. He thought he hadn't been looking at her in one light, as she had many layers underneath. But this proved him wrong. Maxen was still subconsciously seeing Cosette as someone who didn't know what she was doing and was just a ball of sunshine.

She was not, and that was for sure.

'I had always known she's dangerous...' he ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled sharply. His eyes remained on the shut door, shaking his head in disappointment at himself.

'She's not just pretty, but she's a little hot too...' he clicked his tongue in irritation, dragging his feet away to his room. 'Why did she even ask to kiss in the first place...?'

With all this realization kicking him in the gut, Maxen couldn't help but wonder about Cosette's reason for suggesting to kiss. As he pondered about it, Maxen suddenly stopped in the lobby, frozen.

'She... didn't plan to groom me, right?' he wondered in horror, thinking she was laughing evilly every time he would fall for her convincing arguments. 'Am I being groomed here?'

For a moment, Maxen looked up and imagined Cosette and Conrad laughing evilly in her father's office as they lured Maxen in. He shook his head to erase that idea from his head. That was impossible.

"That's right... that's impossible." He nodded, convincing himself he shouldn't let his imagination run wild. But before he could take a step forward, he halted once again as another thought crossed his head.

'Then... does that mean...' Maxen narrowed his eyes before the side of his lips curled up deviously. 'That girl... shouldn't play with the fire too much.'

He was about to march away when he heard noises coming to the lobby from the pool area. He glanced at it and scrunched his nose, seeing Luke throw a tantrum only to retch while others help him. The guy was drunk.

'He's not a threat anymore... I guess.' Maxen shrugged and walked away, smiling subtly as he realized seeing the other side of Cosette wasn't so bad, albeit definitely shocking. At the very least, he didn't have to see her as someone so innocent, with no vestige of impurity.

So, a little bit of teasing would be fine… right?