Trigger warnings: Non-consent, blackmail, revenge porn, dubious consent, high school bullying, humiliation, degradation, and a forced D/s dynamic.

Note: This story, including all names and people, is entirely fictional and not based on any real life experiences or events.

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Eight years ago

Cole, age 18

I can hear Poppy crying before I open the door. But she quickly stops when she catches sight of me, whirling to face me with a hand at her chest. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” she demands.

“I’d ask you the same thing. Don’t you have class right now?”

“This is the girls’ bathroom, Cole! Get out!” She points at the door behind me, but I start walking towards her. I’m much taller than her, so she gulps with intimidation when I brace my arms on either side of her on the sink.

“I want to know why a beautiful girl like you are crying over a guy like him,” I mutter. I don’t know where this confidence is coming from, but I’m too lost in her eyes to care.

She shakes her head. “I’m not crying over him. Please just go.”

“I can’t do that, Poppy. Let me help you.”

“How can you help me?” she asks, disdain coating every word, which is fair enough even if it tears a hole in my heart.

I bring my hand to her waist, and her breath catches but she makes no move to remove it. “Tell me what happened,” I try, starting slow. I don’t want to scare her off by doing something dumb like kissing her, even though I really want to.

“He cheated on me,” she whispers, like she’s ashamed about it even though she really shouldn’t be.

I’m so angry with Brendan for hurting her like this. He had her yet tossed her away like she was nothing. He doesn’t deserve her tears, let alone her skipping class to avoid having to be around him.

It’s as though the floodgates have opened, because suddenly she lets out a sob and says, “He’s such a dick all the time. I can’t get a word in when we’re in group settings because he keeps belittling me at every little thing I say. He never shows up on time, he drinks too much, he never makes me come, he keeps telling me I need to lose weight, and he hates the idea of me going to college in Seattle, and–“ Her rambling ends on a hiccup, and I decide to risk pulling her in for a hug.

She surprises me by laying her head on my chest without protest. “Shh,” I soothe, offering comfort but allowing her to continue.

“And Haley? I suspected something was going on between them for a while and I was right. I caught them in my fucking bed at a party, like how fucking disgusting are they? And then Brendan wants to act like everything is fine.

“Haley has avoided me ever since for some reason, but honestly I’m thankful for it and I can’t stand her stupid face. I want to stab it. Is that normal? I just…I hate everyone right now.” She takes a breath, calming herself down a little.

“And I have no one to go to. All of my friends are Haley’s and Brendan’s friends and they all sided with them.” She looks up at me, her eyes filled with hurt and sadness. “I have no friends anymore, Cole. I have no one.”

The words “you have me” are at the tip of my tongue, but I push them down, knowing it’s too much too soon. I won’t lie, having Poppy in my arms feels heavenly, but I know I could so easily push her away right now if I’m not careful. She’s emotional and heartbroken, she doesn’t need me to insert myself into her life like that.

Instead, I calmly soothe her, holding her close and rubbing her head with my palm. She doesn’t say anything for a while, just silently cries into my chest until she calms down.

When she does, she pulls away, looking at the floor. My heart stops for a moment, worried she’s remembered who we are to each other and that we’re not supposed to do this.

But then she kisses me.

And she kisses me like she’s starved for it. Her mouth opens, and our tongues clash. I groan at her taste, at the feel of her tongue and the curve of her waist in my grip. She feels so right like this, in my grip and with her tongue in my mouth, and I deepen the kiss. I angle her head back, forcing her to take whatever I give her.

“What are we doing?” she asks between kisses, sounding out of breath.

I don’t bother responding, too scared it’ll ruin this moment between us. Instead, I move my hands down and down until I get to the button of her jeans.

Her eyes fly open, and she breaks away from me, her hands slapping mine away from her jeans. “What are you doing?” she demands.

I lean my forehead against hers, thankful she doesn’t try pushing me away again. “You said a lot of things about Brendan, but one stuck out to me. He never makes you come?”

A moment passes before she softly shakes her head. “I gave him my virginity, and he’s never made me come. He doesn’t even do anything I like in bed. I like being roughed around, but he just uses me as a fleshlight.”

A rumble deep in my chest escapes my mouth. “I can’t have that.” I slowly return my fingers to her jeans, but this time, she doesn’t stop me. She eyes me suspiciously still, but she lets me unzip her jeans and pull them down her thighs.

She’s wearing a pair of tiny white panties, and I groan at the wet spot in the middle of them. Slowly, my hand moves to cup her, and she gasps.

I’ve dreamt of this moment for an entire year. I’ve jerked off to it more times than I care to admit. And the way her eyes roll to the back of her head when I grind my palm against her clit…Fuck, it’s so much better than I could’ve imagined.

I kiss her again as I play with the flimsy waistband of her panties. I snake my fingers down, and the feel of her wet heat beneath my palm is nearly enough to make me come on its own.

I’ve had sex before, and I’ve seen a girl naked before. Yet just the feel of Poppy’s naked flesh is nearly enough to make me come. Fuck, what has this girl done to me?

I play with her entrance, making sure to rub my palm against her clit. She grinds against my hand, a desperate moan escaping her plump lips. “Cole,” she gasps, chasing her pleasure like she’ll die if I remove my hand from beneath her panties.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” I groan. I kiss her neck, and that’s her undoing.

She moans as she comes, flooding my hand with her come. I keep rubbing, riding the wave with her until it subsides after a minute, and she slumps against me.

I withdraw my hand. It’s soaked, and when I finally get a taste of her as I bring my fingers to my mouth, I moan. She tastes delicious, and I wish we had the time for another round, one with me between her gorgeous legs.

“What…” Poppy pants. “What was that…?”

I chuckle, kissing her forehead. “That’s the touch of a guy who knows how to make a girl come.”

As if on cue, the bell rings, and Poppy hurries to fix her clothing. I don’t bother washing my hands as we make our way to the door.

But we both freeze when Haley steps inside, though for different reasons.

She screams. She screams and she screams, so loud that my ears hurt. “What the fuck are you doing in here!?” she screams at me, and I cringe.

Fuck my life. If breaking and entering wasn’t enough, now I’ve been caught in the girls’ bathroom.

I look at Poppy, silently hoping she’ll make up some excuse of why we’re in the bathroom together. Alone.

But she just runs. She runs outside, desperate to get away from this situation like she didn’t just pour her heart out for me and come on my hand a moment ago. I run after her, right past Haley and the gathering crowd outside the bathroom.

“Poppy!” I yell when we get outside. “Fuck, wait!”

“Leave me alone!” she yells back. She stops when she sees I’m right behind her, panting heavily when she spins to face me. “Do you know how fucking embarrassing that was for me?”

“What? Why would it be embarrassing for you? I’m the one who was in the wrong bathroom.”

She doesn’t answer at first, and then it clicks. It’s embarrassing because it’s me.

Tears well in her eyes, like she doesn’t want to hurt me by saying the words out loud. “I’m sorry,” she says. “This was a mistake. You and I, we’re not meant to be together in any way. I can’t be seen with you. I’m sorry. I’ll forget this ever happened, and so will you.”

Those are the last words Poppy speaks to me for the rest of the year.

I don’t talk to Poppy again until graduation. I don’t watch as she grabs her diploma and shakes hands with her teachers.

I can’t.

On what’s supposed to be a happy day, I’m sulking like a child, angry that what happened between me and Poppy was a “mistake.” I sulk all the way home, even as my family gives me hugs and kisses and congratulations.

When I make my way to my room, I look at my application for college again. I chose New York to get as far away from this damn town as I could, but I won’t lie, being that far away from Poppy scared me.

But not anymore.

I need that distance. I don’t want to see her again or remember the way she feels to touch or to kiss. All I want to remember is how cruel she’s been to me all year, all culminating on that final day when she reminded me just how little I mean to her.

I can’t dwell on her any longer. I’m old enough to know that high school crushes are fleeting, useless things that don’t last.

I won’t ever see her again, and the thought doesn’t even fill me with sadness. I think if I were to see her again, it’d just remind me how cruel she’s been. Even if she’s changed, I don’t think I could ever forget that.

But part of me will always hold a torch for her. I know that. But if I ever see her again, I won’t fool myself into thinking she’d give me a chance. Never again.

Now

Poppy, age 26

“What are you going to do when we get there?” I ask cautiously.

Cole makes a deep rumbling noise in his chest. “I don’t know. But you should probably stay in the car.”

“Absolutely not,” I say. I have no interest in staying in the damn car while Cole does god knows what to Brendan. I might not like the man, but I don’t want Cole to hurt him.

He glances over at me, his grip on the wheel tightening. “It’s probably going to get ugly, Poppy. You don’t have to see that.”

“Then don’t make me see it. Give your caveman warning if you want to, but don’t hurt him.”

He sighs, sounding exasperated. “I’m doing you a damn favour. I’m not being a caveman about it.”

“Cole, don’t pretend you’re doing this for any other reason than because you’re jealous someone is interested in your toy.”

He suddenly slams on the breaks, and I gasp as the seatbelt digs into my skin when I lean forwards. “I swear to god, Poppy. I’m doing this for you, because for some stupid fucking reason, I care about you. I know you can handle him on your own, but I don’t want you to. I want to help you. That’s it.” He breathes heavily, then changes gears and turns back onto the road. “Now be quiet and let me fucking help you.”

I don’t say anything for the rest of the drive, too scared of provoking him. I know better than to believe his lies, but it still confuses me why he’s bothering with this. He still has the video hanging above our heads, so it’s not like he needs to worry about me and Brendan. I’m, admittedly, doing a poor job of handling Brendan, but I don’t need Cole’s help.

We arrive at Brendan’s house a few minutes later, and I’m out of the car before Cole has even shut off the engine. He hurries after me as I walk up the steps to the front door, but I ring the doorbell before he can stop me.

He can “help” if he wants to, but this is my problem to solve, not his.

“Hey!” Brendan greets excitedly, but the smile on his face quickly dies away when he sees Cole. “Cole? Cole Beckett?” he asks, his voice coated with surprise and disdain.

“Hello,” Cole greets cooly, then shoves himself past me. Before I can stop him, he’s already gripped Brendan by the collar of his shirt and shoved him against the wall behind him.

“Cole!” I yell, charging after him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What the fuck, man?” Brendan asks, failing to mask the quiver in his voice.

Cole’s face comes within inches of Brendan’s, and his voice sounds lethal when he says, “You’re going to leave Poppy Eaton alone. You don’t call her. You don’t talk to her. You don’t even fucking think about her. You got it?”

“Get off me, dude. What’s your problem?”

“Cole,” I say. “Calm the fuck down.”

“Listen to her, man. Let me go before I break your jaw.”

The threat makes me cringe. Not because I’m scared that Cole will get hurt, but because I’m scared Cole will kill Brendan for it. Brendan is not as strong as he thinks he is, and I’d really like it if Cole didn’t kill him.

Cole only slams Brendan against the wall again, making the wall rattle. “You fucking got it?” he repeats.

“You don’t get to lay claim over her like some damn caveman.” I’d laugh at the way he parrots my earlier words, but I don’t think I can make a single noise with the deadly energy radiating off of Cole.

“She’s mine,” Cole growls, and I hate the way those words make my thighs clench.

Still, I manage to speak up and clarify, “I don’t belong to anyone, Cole.” It’s technically not true with the video keeping me in Cole’s grasp, but I don’t care. I’ve already accepted he’ll post it, so in a way, I’m already free.

He chuckles, like I’m funny or something, just as Brendan says, “What is your problem? She chose to come here, why are you inserting yourself into something that isn’t your business?”

“She chose to have you barge into her apartment? She chose to have you call her in the middle of the night and pressure her into coming here?” He shakes his head, his grip tightening. “She doesn’t want you, Brendan. If you’re too stupid to see that, then I can’t help you.”

“She’s such a fucking liar. What’s she been telling you? That I harassed her?” Brendan asks, and I think he genuinely doesn’t believe he’s harassed me.

“I’m not here to explain how consent works,” Cole says, clearly not seeing the irony in how he doesn’t seem to understand it either. “Back. Off. I won’t tell you again.”

“She’s a stupid bitch, why are you giving someone like her the time of day?”

“Watch your mouth.” Cole lifts Brendan even higher against the wall.

Brendan’s eyes narrow, and I suck in a sharp breath, terrified of what he’s going to say next. “Dude, how whipped are you? You’re just as pathetic as you were in school, limping after Poppy like some lost puppy. Like, man, I get it, but that pussy is not worth it.”

I don’t register it at first when Cole’s fist connects with Brendan’s jaw. All I do is scream, hurrying over to Cole’s side to try to pull him away. But the man is unhinged, punching Brendan another time, and another, and another. It’s only after several seconds I manage to pull him away, leaving a groaning Brendan on the floor.

“I warned you to watch your fucking mouth,” Cole says, his voice a lethal calm despite the speed and aggression of his punches.

“What the fuck, Cole!?” I yell, dragging him away until we reach the door. I try to drag him outside, but he refuses to budge, his gaze dragging to where Brendan is heaving on the floor.

“Don’t make me come here again,” he says, then finally heads out the door. I follow shortly behind him, but he’s fast, quickly shutting himself inside his car.

I hurry to the passenger seat, then immediately turn to face Cole. “What the hell was that about? I didn’t bring you here to beat him up!”

Cole is breathing heavily as he backs out of the driveway, turning onto the road. “I won’t stand by while someone like him disrespects you. If he didn’t want me to break his jaw, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.”

“I don’t need you to defend me.”

“I know you don’t. That doesn’t matter. I want to defend you anyway.” He sounds sincere, but I don’t buy it, nor do I really care.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now because you’re about to ruin my life anyway, so.”

I expect him to reply, to maybe deny it or to offer me another chance to blow him to save my skin, but he keeps quiet the entire drive back to my place. I don’t know why he doesn’t just kick me out, honestly. Driving me back is pointless, since I’m not going to be fooled into believing he’s being kind to me.

When we get there, he follows me into the building. I eye him suspiciously. “Can I help you?” I ask, but I let him follow me.

“We need to talk,” he says.

We ride the elevator, and I let him inside my apartment. “What’s there to talk about? I refuse to fuck you so you’re going to ruin my life.” Even as I say it, I know we should still talk, if only so I can know what to expect when he posts the video so I can get ahead of it. Hopefully.

He sits down on my couch, and I follow, sitting a small distance away from him.

He looks tense, his fingers intertwined as he rests his chin on his hands. I’m still thinking about what Ava said. About how I need to apologise, and with our…”relationship” coming to an end, I know I won’t have another chance.

The words are at the tip of my tongue. I try to push them out, but I can’t, some stupid, stubborn part of me still refusing to give him an inch.

I hate him.

I absolutely despise him.

Despite how much I know I need to apologise. Despite the good moments we’ve had together these past few months. Despite how much my heart warms at the way he treats and cares for the people close to him.

Despite how much I like him, I still hate him.

He’s worse than Brendan. Brendan is a creep and an annoying prick, but he’d never film us having sex without my consent and then threaten to post it if I don’t keep having sex with him. Cole is a horrible, horrible person, and I can’t ever forget that.

But I still want to apologise, if only just for my own conscience.

“I am sorry, you know,” I say. He looks at me, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “About school,” I clarify.

He sighs, then looks down at his lap again.

“And I’m not just saying this in some vain hope that you won’t release the video. I’ve accepted that you’re going to do it already, but I need to say this.” I take a breath. “I’m sorry for how I treated you in school. It wasn’t fair, and you didn’t deserve it. I know I could so easily blame it on my horrible friends and on Brendan, but I can’t. I was cruel and a horrible person, and there’s no excuse for it. And that day in the bathroom…I used you.”

Cole looks at me again, eyes wide.

My voice quivers. “I shouldn’t have kissed you that day. I should’ve stopped you from touching me and getting me off. I was just so pissed off at Brendan and it was a stupid way of me to get back at him…Fuck.” I wipe under my eyes, trying to stop crying.  

I take another deep breath. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

There’s a long pause. More words try to make their way out of my mouth, but I keep my mouth shut, wanting Cole to take the lead and reply when he wants to.

I think several minutes pass before Cole says, “I deleted the video.”

My heart stops. “What?”

“I…I deleted the video.”

He what? “When?”

He rubs the back of his neck, looking nervous and agitated. “That day you sent me the video of you making yourself come. I deleted that too, by the way. I just…fuck, I don’t know. I snapped, I guess.”

“Snapped?”

“Poppy, I don’t think I’m a cruel person. I know you must think that of me, and I can’t fucking blame you. Back when Ava showed me the photo of you…fuck. I don’t think I can explain the emotions that went through me. I’d spent years trying to forget you, and just as I succeeded, I ran into your best fucking friend.

“She told me your name, and that’s when I knew I had to see you again. With how we split at the end of senior year, I thought you’d be the same girl you were back then. I don’t know why I thought that, I just did. And Ava? I thought she was another Haley. They’re both so damn bubbly and over the top,” A small smile tugs at my lips at his description of my best friend, “but she’s so fucking real, and I can’t stand it.”

He takes a breath. “I wish you were the same. It would be so much easier to do this to you if you were. But…Poppy, do you know why I chose to blackmail you like that?”

I take a moment to think. “For revenge.”

“It was. At first. But then I realised I’m still head over heels in love with you. I never stopped being in love with you. But it’s different now. You’re not the same girl you were in school. You’re kind and selfless. You take care of your students, and I know you do a damn good job at making sure none of them go through the same shit we did. You’re smart as hell, and you’re not scared of calling out shitty behaviour when you see it. Maybe you were always like this. Maybe Brendan and everyone else just blurred out your real self. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you, Poppy.

“This might’ve started as revenge, but it changed. I realised how fucking amazing you are now, but I became stuck. You hated me, rightfully so, and so the only way I could keep you in my life was with the video. It haunted me, treating you as bad as I did, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

I think I stopped breathing five minutes ago.

“That day you had dinner at my place…it felt damn good. I felt like we were on a real date. I felt like maybe in another world, we might’ve had a chance. But then you tried to delete the video, and I just…I snapped. I thought you were enjoying my company for once, but instead, you were only there to delete the video and try to escape me.”

I try to speak up to explain myself, but Cole holds up a hand to keep me quiet.

“I don’t blame you for that. Truly, I don’t. I was in a haze of emotions, and I took my anger out on you. I wanted to punish you for tricking me. And I’m sorry for that.

“I snapped when you sent me the video of you masturbating. I jerked off to it, but when I finished, I just felt so fucking cruel. You didn’t want to do that. I was horny and wanted something to jerk off to, and it was just so damn easy to text you and demand you send me that. I wasn’t thinking. When I finished, I snapped, and I deleted every copy of the video I had. I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t keep you under my thumb like that.”

“But…” I start. “But why didn’t you tell me, then?”

He drops his head into his palms, wiping his face with them. “I should have. But I didn’t know what the fuck to do. If I told you, you would’ve left just like that, and I couldn’t survive that. That’s such a shitty fucking excuse, and I knew it then too, and it’s been eating at me since. It’s not right to keep you in the dark as a way of keeping you in my life, and I’m sorry.”

“Cole…” I say, ending on a sob. “What are you trying to say?”

“You’re free, Poppy,” he says, looking at me. “I’m sorry that I did this to you. I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve never done it, and I should’ve deleted the video the moment I realised how fucking good you are. But I didn’t, because of my own pathetic lust and love for you.” There’s a pause, and he looks at me with a small amount of panic in his expression. “I won’t ever contact you again. I promise. I’m so sorry I did this to you, and I won’t ever forgive myself for it. Don’t let this weigh you down like it will me. You’re free.”

I’m free.

The words don’t register at first, but when they do, I’m full-on sobbing. Cole flinches, but he doesn’t make a move towards me. I don’t blame him; I wouldn’t know what to do in his shoes either.

“I’m sorry, Poppy,” he says, standing. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice shakes on the last word, and he sniffs, further breaking my stupid, fragile little heart.

I close my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears, but it doesn’t work. I cry harder, eventually covering my face in my hands to stifle my cries.

But when I remove my hands and open my eyes again, I see Cole walking towards my front door. He doesn’t look back, and I don’t try to stop him. His hand hesitates on the doorhandle for a moment, but he opens it with determination.

And when the door shuts behind him, the sound makes my heart shatter into a thousand little pieces.

Thank you for reading! There's just one more part left that I'll post either tomorrow or the day after. And, don't worry, it'll be a happy ending🥰