“I’ve seen better! Didn’t feel a thing at all. I’m just thankful that he has saved us,” said the familiar voice of Andrea from behind the pillar. It was enough to piss off Aries and he just stormed away towards his classroom. He wasn’t just disappointed, he was angry with himself that he saved her. How could she not consider him hot enough? How could she not feel anything at all when they hugged each other? ‘Thankful my as*!’ He muttered angrily. 

“F*ck off Andrea! I’m not saving you again till you admit that you did feel something in my arms,” he muttered again as he walked in to his class. He slumped beside Killian and muttered curses at himself for going out of his way to save Andrea and her friend. 

“What’s got you in a twist, dude? I’ve never seen you this worked up, ever,” said Killian, leaning towards him. Aries gave him a look of disgust. 

“Never save anyone, man,” he said, rolling his eyes.

 “Never save any girl to be precise. They’re all bloody hypocrites,” said Cameron, slumping beside Aries. They both gaped at him with surprise. Since when did Cameron start helping girls? All he did was slam, bang and goodbye!

“Spill,” said Caleb, joining them. Aries fell ill at ease. How did Cameron know about the way he  saved Andrea and her friend? 

“I saved a girl from crashing into a pillar but she slapped me instead! I should have allowed her to bang her head instead,” complained Cameron. Aries breathed a sigh of relief that it was a different story and not his! 

“That’s bad, dude!” exclaimed Scott who had also joined them. 

“But how did you save her?” asked a curious Aries.

“Exactly, how?” prompted Killian.

“I slipped in between the pillar and her so that she collided with me instead of the pillar but it seemed she didn’t like the idea of being saved,” said Cameron, looking hurt. Killian burst into chuckles and so did Aries. The professor walked into the class and they stopped their discussion immediately.

The whole time, Aries steered clear of the first floor where the Freshman classes were always held. After college, he met Grantham and got the details of the interview to be held over the weekend. Grantham gave him tips on how to prepare for his interview. At last Aries was done for the day and he walked towards the main gate. He had moved out of the dorm room on the campus into a decent residential building at a walking distance from the gates. Unlike in the dorm room, there he lived all alone and had the privacy to study. Although he was looking for a roommate, there wasn’t much urgency or financial need to go hunting for a roommate. His grandfather had left a huge fortune for him and his twin. With the entire Taylor family especially, Nelson Taylor and his parents looking after them like their own children. Aries and Alexis never felt like outsiders. They were family. 

Aries and his twin Alexis had a very difficult childhood when their father, Edwin Martin was diagnosed with leukemia six years ago. Their father had married their mom, Grace Martin who was his housekeeper’s daughter against his family’s wishes. It had irked their grandfather so much that he broke all ties with them, giving all his wealth to their uncle Edward, who was their dad’s brother. Their mom was unable to pull their expenses with a housekeeper’s work and they had been barely surviving when their dad passed away. However their mom developed pneumonia due to a carcinoid tumour in her lungs due to neglect. It was an advanced stage of lung cancer and before they could come to terms with it, she passed away leaving them all alone to cope up with life. Their uncle Edward and his wife, Emily Martin took them to their own house. However, the next few months had been very tortuous for them as aunt Emily tried to force their older sister, Annalise into marrying her friend’s son. However, Nelson’s presence in their lives changed everything for the best. He fought against everybody and married Annalise and brought all three of them to his house. Since then, life had become easier and more fun. While Alexis was studying architecture in Austin, Aries came away to New York to pursue his own studies. 

As he walked towards the gate, he heard a commotion at the parking area. “What’s up?” he  asked Killian. 

“Let’s go and find out,” suggested Killian. They rushed towards the parking area and saw a crowd gathered at the side. Fred, Roger and his whole group from before had again captured two girls and were harassing them. 

“These guys need to be stopped. I caught them before and now again they’re up to the same mischief,” said Aries, pushing through the crowd who were busy capturing the act instead of helping the girls. As they neared the group in the middle, to his horror, the two girls were none other than Andrea and her friend again! Fred was carrying Andrea’s friend to his car while Roger had grabbed Andrea and pulled her close, trying to kiss her. His grip was so strong that she couldn’t get free or do anything to save herself from him. 

“What the hell is going on?” he yelled at his classmates. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Andrea freed her hands and kneed Roger right at between his legs, making him wince and crouch to the ground holding onto his injured organ. 

The crowd dispersed and escaped sensing trouble. Killian caught Fred’s arm to stop him. “Leave the girl alone Fred. If you don’t, I’ll call my dad this instant and have the whole lot of you behind bars,” gritted Killian whose dad was a police officer employed in the New York Police Department. Fred’s face paled and he placed the girl down immediately. He glanced around for help only to find that all his friends had disappeared from the scene seeing Killian’s presence. They were all terrified of Killian and his reach! 

“I was just trying to be friends with her. No need to get your panties in a twist,” said Fred, getting into his car like a coward. 

“Whatever! Next time I catch you guys harassing a girl, it’ll be the last day of freedom for you,” threatened Killian. With his towering height and menacingly sculpted body, he looked like he could crush anyone with his bare hands. A petrified Roger, somehow dragged himself up into Fred’s car and they drove off in  a hurry. Andrea had tears in her eyes and she looked at Aries with gratitude.

“Thank you Aries,” she said while her friend trembled like a leaf. 

“How do they pick on you two every time?” he asked gruffly, turning to go away without waiting to listen to her. He was still angry with her and although he had saved her once again, he didn’t want to look over-eager and interested in her.

“Go home, what are you two waiting for?” ordered Killian, looking furiously at Andrea’s friend who hadn’t met his eyes yet. 

“We live in the dorm room,” said Andrea. 

“Thank you f-for s-saving us,” said her friend, finally looking up, her mesmerizing sea-green eyes clashing with his gray ones. Killian’s breath caught in his throat and he stood and just watched her without a word. Andrea pulled her friend along towards their dormitory.

“Lisa, come, we don’t want them to come back,” she said, pulling her. Killian’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing her name. Lisa! 

Killian jogged towards the gates and soon caught up with Aries. “Hey dude! We’re super heroes already!” he grinned but Aries turned to fix him a glare.

“Just because we saved them doesn’t mean that they belong to us, Kill,” he pointed out. Killian laughed, of course Lisa was his! He was very interested to know her. 

“I’ll be off to the gym, are you coming over?” asked Killian. 

“Yeah, I’ll just freshen up, change out of these jeans and join you,” said Aries. They went to the gym nearby and worked out together. All their friends joined them there after college. Later on Aries cooked for himself and sat down to study till late in the night while his friends partied. He wasn’t the partying kind although he did go out for an occasional drink to celebrate something once in a while. Now he had to prepare for his interview and didn’t at all have time to spare. 

Later in the evening, when he returned home, he just couldn’t put thoughts of Andrea out of his head. What was she up to? Was she again being harassed? Killian had told him that she and her friend Lisa lived in the dormitory. Even Simon and his bi*ch of a girlfriend, Melissa, lived in the dormitory. Not to mention that even Celina, who was Melissa’s best friend, lived there. 

As the evening proceeded, he felt restless. Should he just go to Scott’s dorm room and find out for himself? Sighing, he picked up his apartment keys and locked the door, walking out of his building towards the college campus.