As Kyle’s days in NYAPA passed by, he became more comfortable with the students, teachers, and with the school itself. He even felt more comfortable sharing his talent, because it reassured him that music is what he needs to do in life.

As for his feelings for Rachel, those only got stronger every second. Each time he saw her. Each time she talked to him. And most of all, each time they practiced a song together. Her voice was made by angels, every time she opened her mouth to sing, Kyle felt weak at the knees and in awe.

“Man, her voice is amazing! I’m left looking like an idiot every time she sings,” Kyle said as he was walking out of the school with Michael by his side.

“That’s because you are an idiot,” Michael teased him laughing.

“You are a jackass,” Kyle said as he bumped Michael’s shoulder with his own, and mimicked his laughter. As the pair continue to walk towards Michael’s car, they saw Rachel crying on a bench. Kyle looked at her and nudged Michael making him look at her.

Kyle’s heart filled with worry and said, “I’m going to see what happened. Don’t worry about me man, I’ll find another ride home”.

“Don’t be stupid. Go find out what happened and I’ll wait for you near the car,” Michael answered patting Kyle on the back.

“Thanks, dude,” Kyle answered returning the back pat. Michael started walking towards the car and Kyle headed towards Rachel. She and Kyle had become good friends over the time he’d been in New York, so he didn’t feel like he intruding on something private.

Rachel was bent over in the bench on the side of the school’s entrance with her head in her hands, but it was pretty obvious she was crying. Kyle sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder as he said, “Hey, Rachel what’s wrong?”. As soon as he said that, Rachel raised her head shyly and faced him with a terrified look on her face. At first, he was confused on the look, until he saw what she was scared about and froze right on the spot.

Kyle didn’t know what to feel. He was furious, sad, upset, but at the same time, he was worried about Rachel and about what had happened. Kyle remained frozen for about 2 minutes, and Rachel just cried, fearing what Kyle’s reaction might be. “Who did this?” Kyle asked, referring to the big bruise across her face. Rachel just looked down. “Was it Tyler?” Kyle asked again, even though he was pretty sure what the answer to his question was going to be. After a few minutes of Rachel still not answering, he spoke again. “Rachel I’m just worried about you. I’m not going to help you. Please just let me help,” he pleaded.

“Yes, it was Tyler,” Rachel said at last in a soft, almost inaudible voice. Shivering at the word ‘Tyler’. But that was all Kyle needed to hear for his rage to flight to the roof.

“I’m going to kill that son of a b****,” Kyle muttered as he stood up with his jaw clenched, red face and with a furious look in his eyes. A look Rachel had never seen before.

“No! Please no!” Rachel begged this time raising her voice. When Kyle saw the desperation in Rachel’s eyes, he sat back down and just hugged her. She hugged him right back, getting the comfort she so much needed in that moment.

“If I’m not going to do anything to him, at least please tell me what happened,” Kyle said pointing to the bruise on her face with his eyebrow. Rachel nodded knowing he was right and started her story.

“It all started yesterday when we got in a fight. He claimed that I was cheating on him, that I didn’t love him and that I had just used him all this time. Which, by the way, only one of those things is true,” she said referring to the part where he said she didn’t love him anymore. Kyle nodded envisioning the scenario she was describing.

“I told him he was crazy to think I was cheating on him, mainly because I spend most of my day with him. He didn’t care what I had to say, he just told me a bunch of awful things and left. Today, the whole thing change.”, Rachel stopped for a second to avoid tears to falling yet again. Kyle looked at her with pity in his eyes and couldn’t help but feel the need to protect her. Seeing her cry wrecked him inside. He felt he was about to cry too. Kyle put a hand on her back and stroked it gently.

She continued. “We didn’t say anything to each other all day, we basically avoided each other. Something I was thankful for. But at the end of the day he was waiting for me at the school’s entrance. He just walked up to me and said ‘we need to talk now’ with fury in his eyes. I knew he was mad, but I never thought he was able of doing something like this. I just nodded and followed him. We went to the park that is right across the street. When we got there he continued to yelled all this horrible things at me, telling me I’m a ‘slut’ a ‘whore’ a ‘fame digger’, the list goes on. Then at the end, when I tried to defend myself. He just lifted his fist and punched me in the eye. I fell to the floor shocked of what had just happened, so I stayed there for a minute or two trying to recover myself from what had just happened. And when I stood up he wasn’t there. The last thing I remember was him telling me that if I ever told someone, I would pay.” By the time she was done, her eyes were bawling again. Kyle felt terrorized by what she had just confessed.

‘How could someone be so s***ty in this world and treat a beautiful girl so badly?’. And then it hit him. That’s why she didn’t want Kyle to go after Tyler. Because she was scared of what Tyler might do to her if he knew Rachel told Kyle what happened. In that moment Kyle’s rage tripled.

Kyle didn’t know what to do. He felt he should report this to the school or even better, to the cops, but at the same time, he didn’t want to go against Rachel’s will. He sighted and just hugged her tight while she cried. “You know I’m here for you no matter what. But I strongly think you should tell someone. The school? The cops?” Kyle suggested.

“No, I don’t want anybody to know,” Rachel answered between sobs.

“Rachel, the bruise in your face is pretty notorious, someone is going to find out. What will your parents say?” Kyle said as he tried to convince her.

“The bruise I can cover it with makeup, and my parents won’t notice a thing. I could not come home tonight and they wouldn’t care,” Rachel said bitterly full of pain. Kyle thought about it and realize Rachel was telling him her parents were extremely absent and didn’t show care for her. He felt even worse.

“Rach, I’m going to protect you no matter what it takes. I’m here for you, either you want me or not. That doesn’t mean I’ll do something you don’t want to, but I will protect you because he won’t even have the chance to come close to you again. Get it?” Kyle said as he looked deep into Rachel’s eyes. She just hugged him really tight and cried some more.

“Thank you,” she said. “For everything”. Kyle smiled at her and kept on holding her some more. A few minutes later he stood up and held out his hand for Rachel to grab.

“Come on, let’s go,” Kyle said. Rachel looked at him with big eyes and furrowed eyebrows. When Kyle noticed she was concerned about where they were going he said, “Don’t worry. Let me take you to my house so I can clean your bruise, calm you down some more and then take you home.” Rachel still looked a little hesitant. Kyle kneeled down in front of her. “I’m not like him, I’m not going to hurt you. Ever. I promise,” he said honestly.

His promise seemed honest and real, so she nodded her head and took his hand to stand up. Kyle had his arm behind Rachel as they walked towards Michael’s car. When Rachel saw Michael she panicked a little bit and looked at Kyle. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry, he won’t say a thing,” he assured her. Rachel nodded and continued walking.

When they were near Michael, Kyle made a face to him so that he would keep his mouth shut and not make any comment about her bruised face. Michael nodded understandingly and got in the car to start it. Kyle got in the back seat with Rachel to keep comforting her.

15 minutes later they arrived at Kyle’s house. Kyle turned to Rachel and asked her if she preferred Michael to stay, so they wouldn’t be alone. She nodded and Kyle asked Michael to go inside. The three of them walked inside Kyle’s house and went up to his room.

“Are you guys hungry? I can order a pizza or something,” Michael offered. Kyle and Rachel both nodded, so Michael left the room to do that.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to get the first aid kit.” Kyle said as he disappeared through his bedroom door. Rachel sat in Kyle’s bed and started thinking. How did she find herself in that position? How could she let that happen? All those negative things were rushing through her head. A tear streamed down her face, but she wiped it right away. She wasn’t going to let this break her. She was stronger than this, and the best part, she had the absolute best support.

Kyle was amazing, he arrived at her life at the exact moment she needed him to. How would she had ended up today if it wasn’t for him? She was extremely grateful, even though he was the reason Tyler got mad. Rachel had started to developed feelings for Kyle and wanted to end things with Tyler. But when she was about to do that, Tyler attacked her. She shook her head wanting that though to leave her mind as soon as possible.

Lucky for her, Kyle walked into the room and smiled at her. Following him came Michael, who also smiled at her. Those two boys definitely saved her life today, and she couldn’t have been more grateful.

Rachel left Kyle’s house 5 minutes before Melinda arrived. She had her bruise cleaned and covered with makeup so no one would know. The next day, Kyle had stood up to Tyler, of course, without Rachel knowing. He told him he’d better apologize and then stay away from her. And if he didn’t, Kyle would be sure to end his career before it even started and give him a taste of his own medicine.

Kyle was sure his threat was going to work because, first, if he was in NYAPA it was because he wanted a real career out of music. And second of all, Kyle was bigger and more muscular than Tyler, so, he knew he could beat him up if he wanted.

Their life continue as it was, thankfully, with Tyler staying away from them. Rachel and Kyle were getting closer than ever. They would hang out after school, get lunch together (with Michael and his new girlfriend Mia, of course), and most of all. They would always be there for each other. Even though things were going better than ever, Kyle couldn’t help but wonder if there was ever going to be a chance for him and Rachel to become more than friends. But as soon as he started thinking there might be a possibility, he remembered a conversation with Rachel the day after Tyler attacked her.

They were sitting on a bench outside of school waiting for the bell to ring signaling that break was over.

“Rach, come on. Stop crying, please. I promise you no one has noticed it and Tyler won’t come near you,” Kyle comforted her.

“You can’t be sure of that,” Rachel said between sobs. Kyle felt sorry for her and just hugged her as he caressed her back.

“I’m really sorry you have to go through all of this, but I’m being completely honest when I say that I’m here for you. No matter what happens. Even if you don’t want me there, I’m always going to be looking out for you. And I can assure you I will never do anything remotely similar to what he did to you, because you deserve the best of the best. And that’s what I want to be for you. So, you can trust me, because I’ll always be here, no matter the time, day or anything. I’m here,” Kyle said truthfully wanting Rachel to feel his support.

In that moment Rachel realized she had the best guy she could ever wish for, right in front of  her, holding her and comforting her. She raised her head and looked him straight in the eye, not crying anymore. “You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now,” she said. “But I can’t. Not after this. When I was with Tyler I completely lost myself, and I have to find me before I can move on with someone else. I know you are nothing like Tyler, so that’s why I want to better myself and improve myself. So, when I’m ready I can give you the best version of myself that I can. Because you deserve the best too Ky,” Rachel said honestly as she looked down.

Kyle put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet her eyes again. “I completely understand, don’t worry. Find yourself and do what you need to do. And when you are done, I’ll be here waiting for you,” he said.

She just hugged him tight and whispered a ‘thank you’ in his ear.

Kyle came back to reality and shook that thought out of his mind. He was supposed to meet Rachel in the rehearsing room to practice for their final showcase, which was only 1 month away. He walked inside and found Rachel sitting on a stool going over the lyrics for the song they were writing.

“Hey, I have a great idea for this verse,” Rachel said as soon as she saw him come in. “We can change this phrase here and repeat all this again over here,” she explained pointing to the paper with the pink pen she had in her hand.

“Yeah, that’s actually great,” Kyle answered amazed by her talent and ability to write and compose songs. Rachel looked down blushing and flattered about the way Kyle made his comment.

“So, shall we rehearse?” Kyle said smiling at Rachel. She nodded returning his smile.
   
      ~~

“Come on guys! We have five minutes until the curtain raises”, Mr. Jones hollered through the changing rooms. Everyone huddled together and Mr. Jones gave his famous ‘before the show’ speech. He finalized with, “I know you are all going to do great, and most of all because we have a full house everybody!”

Rachel, wide-eyed, shaking with nerves, looked at Kyle. He put his arm around her and whispered in her ear. “Everything’s going to be fine, you are amazing, and our song is amazing. We are going to kill it!”

As he whispered in her ear Rachel felt a shiver go down her spine. She was shocked Kyle’s voice could do that to her. Along with the shiver came the butterflies in her stomach. In that moment she realized she didn’t need more time. The only thing she needed was to be with Kyle. She needed him.

Rachel wasted no time in telling him just that. “I don’t need more time. I don’t want more time. I want you,” she said all in one breath.

Kyle was a little shocked at how the news had come to him, but at the same time, he couldn't be any happier. But just as he was about to respond, Mr. Jones called them over to do the scream before the show. They screamed and then Mr. Jones reminded them all of the order they were going in. He told them to pay attention because there were some changes. Kyle and Rachel were going to close the night up. Because of course, the best for last.

When the huddle was over Kyle took Rachel by the arm and dragged her to a corner wanting to give her an answer. But he couldn’t find anything worthy to say. So he just grabbed her gently, one hand on her hip and the other on the side of her face. And slowly leaned in and kissed her.

They both felt fireworks as the kissed advanced. Rachel sung her arms around Kyle’s neck as she deepened the kiss. Neither of them wanted to let go of the other. They had craved this for so long, and it was finally here. After about 2 minutes, they started to pull away and just looked into each other’s eyes. It was definitely the best kiss either one of them had ever had. It was slow and passionate, with the right amount of intensity and crave for the other.

Neither of them knew what to say, so they just looked at each other in awe. Lucky for them, Mr. Jones called everyone to their assigned seats on the side of the stage. He said they all had to watch their classmates perform for support and learning. Rachel started walking, but Kyle stopped her. He grabbed her hand, kiss the top of it and continued to walk.

Rachel couldn’t believe she was so lucky to have such an amazing guy. And Kyle couldn’t believe he had finally got the girl of his dreams. Now, it was time for them to concentrate on the showcase, and they had to rock it.