The moment my lips touched hers, I dropped my hands from her shoulders and wrapped them around her lower back. She froze at first, then put her hands on my neck and kissed back. I opened my eyes to meet her bright blue ones, and the next second she pulled back. I felt a stinging pain on my left cheek, realizing a moment later that she had slapped me.

"What the heck was that??!! You cannot just walk up to someone you don't even know and just kiss them!" she ranted at me. "I mean, you don't even know my name! Not that it wasn't nice and you're cute and..." she trailed off, eyes widening and she clapped her hand over her mouth. "I did NOT just say that."

I laughed and pulled her hand from her mouth, turning it over when she winced at the contact. Not expecting what I saw, I traced my finger over her scarred arm. "How long?" I asked in barely more than a whisper.

"A little over two years," was her reply. When I noticed her voice cracking, I looked up to see tears streaming down her face. She pulled her arm back a little, and I let go of her wrist, wrapping her in a hug.

"Can you promise me that you won't anymore? I know I barely know you, and I only know your name from the school site, but please? I hate seeing anyone in pain."

"It's not that easy to just say I won't," she choked out through her tears. "I can try, but I can't make any promises."

I smiled softly at her, "That's all I can ask." Cautiously, watching her for any sign of rejection, I brushed a soft kiss onto her lips. She smiled, and I lost my head again, blurting "Will you go on a date with me?"

* * *

**Michaela's POV**

When Kellin grabbed my wrist away from my mouth, his fingers managed to wrap around a cut I had made a few nights ago, and pain shot across my skin. He must have seen that it hurt me, because, before I could pull my hand away, he turned it over, seeing the scars I was so afraid of him seeing.

All he asked was how long it had been, and something inside my head made me answer honestly. What broke me, and made me cry even harder, was when he asked if I could promise to stop. All I could do was choke out, "It's not that easy to just say I won't.." before I couldn't speak any more.

"That's all I can ask," was all I heard before I looked up again. Kellin was slowly moving towards me, like he was waiting for me to say no. Instead, I kept still, letting him kiss me again. When he blurted out "Will you go on a date with me?" I couldn't help but laugh. My giggles seemed to make him think that I was laughing at him, so I answered as flirtatiously as I could.

"Does this answer for me?" and then I kissed him hard, pushing him back lightly and wrapping my hands around the back of his neck. He broke away for a half a second to turn us around and crushed me against the wall. I gasped as he crashed his lips to mine again and reached up to tangle my hands into his hair.

Just as suddenly as he had turned, Kellin broke away and grinned cheekily. "I'll take that as a yes," he said with a laugh. I scowled at him, making him laugh more. He grabbed my hand, and started walking in the direction I pointed. Hand-in-hand we walked to my house, and just before he left the yard, I called out.

"Kellin!" Once he turned around, I added, "Don't call me Michaela, I prefer Micky." he grinned and nodded, then left down the street. I watched until he turned a corner, then headed into the house and towards my room, realizing something had gone right for once.