"Just leave me alone." I continue walking down the street as Varsity surrounds me, annoying me for the millionth time.
"Now why would we do that?" Rick grins.
"It's Sunday. You torture us enough as it is. At least leave us alone outside of school."
"Oh, come on dollface. We're just trying to be friendly." He gets too close to my face.
"Please." I scoff. "You idiots don't know the meaning of the word."
"Hey, you should watch your mouth, missy." Cole spits from the other side of me.
"Look, moron, I know you don't have a brain - but save it for the ice." I snap.
"What the hell did you just say to me?" Cole raises his voice to try and intimidate me.
"You're dumber than a bag of rocks, asshole!"
"Oh, you're asking for it!"
Knowing I've made a mistake, I start running. Considering they were already next to me, it doesn't take long for them to catch me. I get shoved into a wall in the nearby alley. As they all reach for me, I can't escape. I scream for them to get off me, desperately hoping someone will hear me. All I feel is pain with every blow. I try to fight back but its no use - I'm outnumbered. It feels like an eternity before someone else shows up.
"Guys, what are you doing? You know how much trouble we could get in? Too far! Get off her, come on!" Scooter appears and prys his friends off me - convincing them to leave because they could destroy their images. "Sorry, Y/N!" He calls out as he runs after them.
With them all out of sight, I fall to the ground - hyperventilating and shaking as I try to recover from that beating. Lying on the cracked concrete, I sob, coughing as I gasp for air. I can barely process what just happened.
Ice fights are one thing but being punched in an alley is another. There's no protective gear, no refs, no consequences and no one to help me fight. As I start to come around from my fear induced panic attack, I know there's only one person who can make me feel at ease.
I grab the dumpster beside me and manage to pull myself to my feet - groaning in pain from the pressure put on what will likely bruise. When my hand reaches my eyeline, I spot some fresh blood on it. Putting the other hand to my mouth, I realise one of them busted my lip. Great...
Finally mustering up the courage to move, I take a deep breath and exit the alley. As I walk down the street, people just stare at me. Not a single person checks to see if the bleeding ghost of a girl is okay. After 5 minutes of walking on high alert, constantly looking over my shoulder in case they return, I finally arrive at the door of my boyfriend's house. As I knock on the door, I'm still shaking.
"Babe, what the hell happened to you?" Fulton's concern is instant when he sees the blood.
"Varsity."
"Jesus christ." He mumbles under his breath. "Come on, I'll clean you up. I wanna know exactly what happened." He grabs my hand and leads me into the house.
Fulton offers to let me borrow some clothes since mine got messed up - only partly due to Varsity. I happily accept, craving the warmth and comfort of his hoodies. As I change into Fult's oversized clothes, I'm cautious to prevent getting blood on them.
Back on his couch, Fulton gently tends to my busted lip as I retell the events that put me in this state. I can't help but wince with each stinging sensation. Blood now cleared, Fulton carefully and softly kisses it better - causing a small smile to creep onto my face albeit brief.
"It's my fault."
"No, it's not. Those guys are assholes."
"They only attacked me because I started insulting them." I remind him.
"You were standing up for yourself. Trust me, that's the least they deserve."
"Fulton, it was awful. I-I-I felt like I couldn't breathe." I stammer as the memory floods back. "They grabbed my arms. I-I couldn't move. I begged them to leave me alone and I screamed for help but it didn't work." I break down again as I relive the moment.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, you're okay. I'm here." Fulton assures me as he pulls me in and holds me close. "It's over, they're gone. You're safe, I promise." He strokes my hair to try and calm me down as I sob into his shirt.
"But what about school? What happens when they see me tomorrow? They're gonna be gunning for me even more." I cry out and he places a kiss on the top of my head.
"Sweetheart, listen to me. You don't have to worry about any of that. I swear I'll fight the entire damn team for what they've done." He's adamant as he rests his chin on my head.
"You can't take the whole team without Portman." I mumble a reminder as I finally start to calm down.
"I don't care. I'll take my chances for you."
"I love you." I mutter sleepily.
As we cuddle up on the couch, I'm no longer on edge. Although I feel myself preparing to drift off to sleep in the safety in his arms, Fulton isn't done with his sentiment.
"I love you more. I promise I'll always look out for you. I will always protect you. Always. Nothing is gonna change that. I won't let them or anyone else hurt you again." With a final kiss to the head, we both fall asleep.
Cut to lunch the next day...
My lip is killing me. I thought I'd be able to distract myself from the pain but I keep catching it somehow. I can't even hide it because it's glaringly obvious - people keep giving me strange looks because of it.
I didn't want to show my face at school today. The fear started eating my alive knowing Varsity would taunt me. I feel sick from all the worrying. Somehow Fulton convinced me to go. He's been practically glued to my side since we got here.
Now that lunch has arrived, I make up every excuse in the book. I'd do anything to avoid the cafeteria. My appetite is completely gone as I reluctantly agree to go in. The logic being that I'd have the Ducks of something happens this time.
Despite the fact that I'm not getting any food, I stand in line with Fulton and the few Ducks that were in our last class. We got here before most people thankfully. Fult insists on me eating something, so he gets something we can share.
We get to the table and continue as if nothing happened. I lighten up and become more of myself again. I decide to go get one the baked treats so I'm not eating all of Fulton's food. He offers to come with me but I decline.
Third person...
The Ducks continue their conversations almost not realising any change at the table. Y/N picks out her favourite treat and heads back to the group. However, she gets interrupted by her attackers and the commotion causes concern and sparks action.
Y/N's pov...
"We'll be taking that." Cole snatches the snack from my hand.
"Thanks, sweetheart." Rick smirks and starts messing with my hair.
"Will you just give me my food back and leave me alone, please?" I refrain from using the aggression that got me beaten up.
"How's the lip?" Cole stuffs his face with my lunch and reaches for the injury he inflicted.
"Hey, get your hands off her!" Fulton appears by my side and swats his hand away.
"Cool it, Bash Brother. We're just having a little fun." Rick puts his hand on Fulton's shoulder but he jolts it away.
"You call assaulting an innocent girl fun?" Fulton shoves them.
"Hey, she had it coming!" Cole tries to justify their actions making Fulton jump for him.
"Fult, it's not worth it." I grab his hand and pull him back.
"But Y/N-"
"Please." My eyes plead him to have restrain. I know he's good in a fight but Dean isn't here, so it wouldn't end well. Plus I don't want a repeat of yesterday.
"Okay, let's go." He glares at Varsity and tightens his grip on my hand before we turn to go back to the Ducks.
"Yeah, walk away." Rick taunts.
"Guy's got no guts." Cole chuckes making the rest of Varsity laugh.
Their lack of remorse sparks rage within Fulton. He releases my hand, turns around and sucker punches Cole so hard his nose breaks. The Ducks, who were watching the whole event transpire, leap out of their seats and race over to us. Naturally, Varsity fights back, causing a huge fight until Scooter, once again, becomes the voice of reason.
"Let's get outta here." Charlie leads the Ducks - including Adam - away from the disaster to a few picnic benches outside. The whole time we walk away, both teams scowl and glare at one another.
Finally sat away from those goons, things start to calm down. I lean into Fulton's shoulder as he wraps an arm around me and pulls me closer. He kisses my head and I fiddle with his rings (that were birthday presents) as the team discusses the situation and potential consequences.
"This doesn't boud well for us." Julie states.
"What're they gonna do? Luis questions the authoritive figures.
"They'll do a lot more to us than they'll do to them." Russ is right.
"You okay?" Kenny asks - I just give him a small nod in response.
"We're getting kicked out. They'll say it's for starting the fight and doing damage." Charlie claims - most likely the truth.
"But they started it. They hurt Y/N before we even got here." Averman reminds us.
"We can't prove that." Connie shakes her head.
"Yeah and Fulton broke Cole's nose. As far as they're concerned, it happened at the same time." Guy uses their logic.
"They wouldn't believe us."
"Then we'll bring in Bombay." I look at Adam confused. "They attacked you and tried to continue of school grounds. And with the way they get special treatment here, something has to be illegal."
"A couple of teachers commented on your lip this morning - they could help our case." Ken recalls, adding to the solution.
"I'm sure Scooter would vouch for us." Adam suggests.
"Yeah, as long as we make it clear he didn't do any harm. Worth a shot." Fulton agrees to the plan.
"I'll be ready to call Bombay when it gets to that point." Charlie finalises the plan.
We may be getting ahead of ourselves, but it's the safest choice - one they probably won't see coming. We'll it all out when the time comes. For now, all I care about is sticking with Fulton. I never had any doubts, but he's already keeping his promise. Fulton has proven that he will always be my protector.