Josephine's Secret

5. Mine, Not Derrick's

5. Mine, Not Derrick's: Archer's Pov

Chapter Goal (for a major Josephine/Archer scene): 335 votes

QOTD- who's perspective do you like reading more? Archer's or Josephine's?

(a few days later, 7pm)

"Are you afraid of people seeing us together?" Josephine asks, looking at all the people around us. I find her physically distancing herself from me to avoid looking like the two of us are associated with each other.

"Not at all." I truthfully answer. "Are you?"

"Kind of." she shrugs, looking over her shoulder again. "If people see us together, they're gonna start spreading rumors and all of that. We talked about it, remember?"

"I remember." I nod, agreeing that we shouldn't make our relationship too public. Pressure is the last thing that I want for Josephine and I. If the entire pack knew about us, we would be pressured into doing things that we're not exactly ready for. "But what if we just act like how we want to in public, but just not make any big announcements or anything to the pack?"

"I don't know..." Josephine trails off, thinking about what I just said. "That seems ideal, but you know that rumors are still going to start going around. I already have people talking about me and how no one sees my family anymore, I don't want them saying that I'm 'playing the Alpha' or that doing certain things too."

"Doing what things?" I ask, slowly getting closer to her as we walk.

"Sexual favors." she answers, not seeming shy or awkward at all. "You already know that I'm not exactly a saint, other people know that too. A lot of people at school think that Alan and I are friends with benefits even though we're not. He's like a brother to me, but anyways, people are gonna think that I'm doing those things for you."

The look in her eyes as she says that lets me know that she's thinking about something. "My friends and people I hang out with have a reputation for doing drugs, having sex, and partying even though most of us aren't like that. We know our limits and when to stop. It's just that everyone else doesn't think we do. The girls and I have been called skanks and sluts during school and on the street, none of us like it. If I give people a reason to call me those names, I won't be able to deny anything."

"Who the hell is talking to you like that?" I growl, thinking about people disrespecting my mate like that. "I can take of them for you-"

"We already did."

"What?"

"My friends and I don't let people talk smack about us like that." Josephine says, a rebellious spark in her eyes. "I try to let things slide, and I usually do- It's just when people bring up certain things that I lose control."

"So the fights you were involved in weren't your fault?" I question, referring to the fights that she told me about. She figured that if I'm going to hear bad things about her, then it should be her who tells me.

"Nope." she shakes her head, being completely honest with me. "I used to start fights on purpose when I got bored and wanted to see Elia. A few of them were 'wrong place, wrong time' situations or someone else swung first, but most fights started because I couldn't control myself."

"Do you ever get hurt?" I ask, concerned about my mate now. Even though I'm fully aware that she can take care of herself, I still don't like the fact that she gets into situations where she can get seriously injured.

"A few times." she says after a while, her voice quieter now. Josephine doesn't add anything to that. She just shoves her hands in her pockets and looks down at the ground. "How was high school like for you?"