Saving Garnet

Followed Home

Sean grinned and playfully pulled her close to his side. "He was fantastic," he answered for her.

Her parents laughed and she reluctantly pushed him away. She had to keep up the unimpressed image.

"Whatever. I'm going do pre-cal homework. Some of us actually have to turn our assignments in."

He waved. "Have fun, darling."

***

After her daily workout and an English essay, Garnet was ready to pass out. She looked at the time and was stunned. It was almost midnight. 

She'd had zero free time today.

She sighed. Her schedule was about to get even busier if she got accepted to Juliard.

There was a knock at the door. 

"Come in," she called, yawning.

Sean poked his head in. 

"What are you still doing here?" she asked, taking the pencil that had been holding her bun out of her hair. It fell to her waist and she ran her fingers through it a few times, glad it was finally down. 

He stared at her, seemingly mesmerized. 

It was kind of a major self esteem boost.

"Well?" she asked, grinning.

He blushed. "I, uh...I just came to tell you that I'm all moved in."

"Excuse me?" 

"I'm living here now. Your parents decided that you need protection at home, too."

The thought of Sean living in the same house as her was strangely exciting. She couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, then. Cool."

"Alright. Good night."

"Good night."

Sean left and she headed for the shower.

She came out fifteen minutes later, feeling clean and very, very tired. 

And bumped into Sean.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, bending down to pick up the clothes she'd dropped.

She looked up at him and found that he was shirtless. Her breath was literally taken away for a second. When she finally tore her eyes away from his chest, they zeroed in on something in his hands.

Her white, lacy bra.

"Oh my God, give that back!"

He laughed. "Ooh, let's see what size it is!"

Her cheeks had never been so red. She jumped up and grabbed it before he could look. Her 34 B was not exactly something to be proud of.

"You're an ass," she declared.

He grinned. "I never claimed not to be."

She pushed past him, cheeks still flaming, suddenly not so relaxed.

He grabbed her arm.

"Hey."

She faced him. "What?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry."

She raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"I said I'm sorry."

She smiled, the fight leaving her. He was just too darn attractive and she was too tired to fight it. "In that case, I forgive you."

"Good night."

"Good night."

She walked to her room and fell into bed, dazed. 

She could get used to this.

She rolled over to plug her phone in to the charger and saw that she had a message from the same unknown number as before. 

She opened it, hands shaking.

'You might want to move to a bigger lunch table..yours is getting a bit crowded. Oh, and tell your boyfriend to back off, would you? He's getting on my nerves.'

"Sean!" she yelled.

Mayne had been watching her. 

The thought of his eyes on her all day while she was totally unaware made her feel violated and dirty, despite her shower.

She wondered briefly if he could see her in the shower, and pulled her arms around herself.

She shivered as her door flew open, terrified.

"What's wrong?" Sean demanded, in full focus mode.

She held out the phone, hands shaking so hard she almost dropped it. She tried to get a grip, but she was confused and scared and exhausted.

He read the message and threw her phone onto her desk, angrier than she'd ever seen him.

Then looked at her face, and what he saw must have made his anger go away. He climbed into her bed and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair.

"Don't worry," he murmured. "We'll take care of this, I promise. He won't touch you."

She buried her face in his chest.

"Just breathe," he instructed softly.

She took a deep breath, calming down slightly. He ran his fingers through her hair, something that never failed to calm her down.

When he finally pulled away, Garnet was back to normal. She had full control of herself, and the rational part of her brain told her that she was protected in her house, if not at school.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Thank you."

He hugged her tightly again. "I just want you safe. And you will be. I have to go show your parents now, okay? Just go to sleep and we'll take care of everything."

She nodded, laying down. He grabbed her phone and turned the light out on his way out.

As Garnet drifted off, she couldn't help but realize that Sean's had been the first name she called. Not her parents. 

Just weeks ago she resented him and wanted nothing to do with him, and now he was turning into the person she trusted most of all.

The thought was both scary and reassuring at the same time, so Garnet pushed it to the back of her mind for tonight and instead focused on the way Sean had comforted her.