Warning: Violence and profanity.

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The anxiety of the possibility of Zoey completely unfriending me for not wanting to willingly leave my father alone ate at me from class to class. I could barely concentrate enough to take notes, and I kept giving wrong answers to all the questions asked. One of my favorite history teachers actually took me aside after class ended by asking how I felt.

"I'm fine," I said, feeling like a parrot echoing my own words over and over again.

"Don't be afraid to talk to me or any of the faculty about anything," Mr. Hanlon reminded me. "We won't judge."

"I'm fine," I affirmed before my feet began walking me to the cafeteria for lunch. Leo was there at the entrance for me. He extended a hand, and I didn't hesitate to take hold of it.

The guilty feeling clutching my chest for having turned down Mr. Hanlon's help loosened its grip. I was beginning to wonder if it was Leo's touch alone or if my mind had already subconsciously labeled the taller teen as my panacea, like some sort of placebo effect. Either way, I allowed him to lead me over to the student parking lot, where Zoey and Rick waited.

"We're going to your favorite place," Zoey stated. She was clearly still frustrated with me. But, her words still made me grin in the back seat of the car.

"We're going to Garnet Thursday?" I asked. "I love their quesadillas!"

"I know," she responded dryly.

"Hey, cut him some slack-" Rick began only to be cut off by his girl.

"Nope. Stay out of this, Momo's newest friend. Momo's longest friend has had enough of feeling helpless and scared over her best friend's well-being and general life."

"Zoey…" Leo interjected.

"Don't you Zoey me, Momo's friend with touching benefits," the ravenette huffed. "I admit that your mom is a badass, but I'm going to be on edge until my best friend's safe. You got that?"

The tension in the car persisted until we were seated at the restaurant and stared mulishly at our menus. I couldn't help but feel it was all my fault for not being careful enough to conceal my bruises the day before. The four of us had been joking around and laughing during the last lunch we shared, after all.

My breath hitched when Leo wrapped an arm around my shoulders and whispered into my ear. "Hey, don't worry, we'll sort everything out together. Remember?"

A small smile formed on my face, and I gave him a slight nod.

When a server walked up to us to take our orders, we were all ready and listed them off one after the other. As the tension between us simmered down, I grew excited again at the prospect of my favorite meal. I reached over to gently squeeze one of Zoey's hands.

"Thank you," I told her sincerely.

Though her blue eyes began to brim with tears, she smiled back, and my anxiety over our friendship died down. Unfortunately, our calmness allowed us to hear the commotion occurring at the booth across from us. All four of our heads turned when the yelling began.

"How could you be so fucking STUPID?"

The man was older than us, possibly in his thirties. He was very handsome, but my attention was drawn to his tiny girlfriend, who was curled in on herself and trembling. I knew that feeling of despair quite well.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Sorry isn't going to change their opinion of me, is it, you dumb bitch?"

The man had reached over to grab the woman across from him by the hair and shook her head roughly from side to side as she let out a whimper. I froze up and clutched onto Leo's hand in a subconscious effort to calm my thudding heart, which had gone out to that woman. It didn't matter that she was a stranger. She was someone in despair. Leo stood up a moment before Zoey did while another loud voice cut through the restaurant.

"Hey!" A young man that had to be our age or younger walked over to the table across from us. His short, curly hair was jet black, and his deep blue eyes were amplified by the thick-rimmed glasses he wore. "Leave her the fuck alone!" He had to be my height or shorter, and yet there he stood with his hands in his purple,  plaid pant pockets with a no-nonsense attitude radiating around him.

The guy at the table stood up to his full height, muscles tensed. I felt a cold chill at his visible anger. As my fear rose, my throat closed up. He growled at the petite guy, and I found myself flinching.

"The hell makes you think you have any right to butt into my affairs?"

"My boyfriend," the blue-eyed man responded as a superior smirk formed on his face. "Who, as you can see, has recorded your verbal and physical abuse on his cellphone."

The angry man at the table turned his gaze towards a tall wheat-blond who indeed had his phone pointed towards him to see what he'd do next. "Fuck this!" he huffed as he stood from the table and stormed out of the restaurant. The small woman left behind tensed at his departure but didn't make a move to leave.

All of the tables that saw the spectacle burst out into cheers when the boisterous man left, while the petite fellow beside the affronted woman crouched down to make sure she was alright. Leo and Zoey sat back down after that. They had been about to intervene before the blue-eyed man took the initiative.

All that I had done was cower, and that bothered me on a deep level. Why couldn't I have done more? Why was I so useless in such dire situations?

"Are the four of you alright?" The wheat-blond boyfriend of the petite guy asked.

His voice was almost as deep as Leo's, which surprised me. He didn't look to be much older than us. The others answered aloud, but I only nodded. Our responses seemed to be enough for him, and he went back to his shorter boyfriend and the woman.

"Good riddance," Rick grumbled. "I can't stand violent asses."

"I totally agree," Zoey added.

The queasy feeling in my stomach had nothing to do with Leo. He was right beside me, after all. Instead, it was an acute dose of shame. I, too, had a 'violent ass' in my life, but I did nothing about it.

"You okay?" Leo asked softly beside me. I glanced up at his amber eyes. The genuine concern I found in them filled me with warmth.

"I am now," I told him honestly.

"Sorry about all that, my name's Kane," the voice came from the guy with the plaid pants as he walked over to us. "My boyfriend Gyro and I were just urging her to press charges since we got it all on video and all. You'd be surprised how difficult it can be to take that next step."

Zoey looked a bit dazed as she glanced at Kane. But, she quickly shook her head and introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Kane," she replied. "My name's Zoey. That's Leo and Momo over there, and this is my boyfriend, Rick."

"High schoolers?" Kane asked.

"Yeah, our campus isn't far from here," Rick responded.

"Do you two go to another campus?" Leo questioned.

The dark-haired man smirked. "We're college students."

"You're shitting me," Leo refuted. "You look like a high school sophomore."

"I'll have you know I'm a solid 18," Kane countered, his blue eyes narrowing.

"Only a year older than us," Zoey mused aloud.

"She wants to go to the station," Gyro announced. "We should walk her over."

"That's my cue, then," Kane stated. "It was nice meeting you. Standing up for others is risky business. But, those that react to injustice as quickly as I do are great people to me."

"It was nice meeting you, too," Zoey concluded with a lilt in her voice. "Those two were dreamy. If they didn't already see one another…."

"Really?" Rick huffed.

"Don't worry, I'd have thought about it twice," Zoey placated as she planted a kiss on Rick's cheek. She then sent me a glance I couldn't quite decipher. Before I could ask her about it, our food arrived.

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