"You don't have to 'get over it', Lucas. If this is something that's bothering you, talk to me." Melissa insisted, her face still displaying worry. "Please… I want to know what's going on. I want to be able to talk to you, when you need it."
Lucas flushed a bit and looked away. "It's just… my dad always got really mad if I missed curfew. It… um… made me a considerably more punctual person…"
Melissa nodded a little, still trying to pin something. What exactly, she didn't know. "Is that really all that's bugging you? Because that doesn't seem to line up, on my end."
"I generally just don't like the idea of anything that could potentially get me in trouble, I guess… I don't exactly do well."
"I… I guess that makes sense. There's nothing I can do to help, right?" Melissa asked softly, noting the school was up ahead. Them picking up the pace, had gotten them there in half the time.
"Probably not, unfortunately. It's gonna be a gradual thing with me, love." Lucas looked up at the school.
"Right… well, if you think I'm capable of doing something, let me know." Melissa nodded a little, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"Alright, Mel…" Lucas returned the kiss and walked up to the school, holding open the door for Melissa.
"Thanks, Lu." Melissa hummed softly, walking through the door. "Look, people are still in the hall. We have time."
Lucas nodded a bit, sticking close to Melissa regardless. "Mhmm. I'll… I'll see you after class." He waved and left.
"Alright- love you!" Melissa called out, watching him go off on his own. With a slight huff, she started off in the opposite direction.
"Love you too." Lucas called back before he headed into his classroom and sat down.
(Do we want to skim through the rest of the day??)
(Sure lol, unless something interesting happens like Melissa getting bullied and Lucas throwing hands lol)
(I mean… I’d be down.)
(Lmao feel free to)
(I’ll get something up in a couple minutes, here.)
(Aight)
Melissa was quietly walking by herself, down the school hallway. Class had just ended, and she was on her way to lunch. She had a light smile up as she walked, avoiding people in the crowded hallway. Melissa eventually caught sight of the cafeteria, but was stopped by the couple of kids standing in front of the door. They were giving her odd looks, whispering to each other and laughing and some mysterious joke. "Um, excuse me? Could… could I get through?" Melissa asked awkwardly, fidgeting a bit in place. She recognized some of these kids- and they were never good news.
Some of them continued to snicker under their breaths, muttering things to each other. "I thought you'd be more assertive, Brennahan. But then again, anyone would be pretty ambivalent wearing that." One of the girl ridiculed, keeping up a smirk as she did so. Melissa just gave her an odd look, rocking on the balls of her feet.
"Well… first off, I don't think you're using that word correctly. Second, I just asked to get through."
Lucas yawned a bit as he left his class. Despite sleeping in, he was still tired. He thought he might be dehydrated, which he could fix at lunch. He looked up and noticed that a group of people was stopping Melissa from getting into the lunchroom. Friends of hers? I don't recognize most of them… "Hey, what's going on here?" He asked, coming up to Melissa's side.
"Look, it's your boyfriend here to save you." A taller boy crooned, getting a light laugh from the other three. "Can't stand up for yourself, can you Brennahan?" Melissa still had a confused look on her face, glancing over to Lucas with a little shrug. "Why don't you mind your business, blondie? This isn't of any of your concern." The first girl snapped, reaching out and taking Melissa's arm. "So why don't you go, and leave this to me, huh?"
"Don't touch her." Lucas grabbed the girls arm and forced her away from Melissa. He gently pushed Melissa back so he was between her and the group. "It's absolutely my concern if you're messing with her. She hasn't even done anything to you." He glared at them, trying to ignore how hard his heart was pounding. Melissa was his main concern. The anxiety was on the back burner for now.
The girl scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Leaning in a bit she kept up the light smirk. "You sure about that?" She retorted, her icy blue eyes starring into his. By this point, she had both arms crossed over her chest, and her expression was unwavering. Only periodically she would glance back to Melissa, who was too shocked to do anything. She hadn't seen him like this, and honestly didn't know how to take it.
"Of course I'm sure. I know Melissa far better than any of you assholes ever will." Lucas glanced back at Melissa to make sure she was doing okay. Could be better, but we can talk about it later… "And what could she possibly have done to get a whole group of random people blocking a doorway just to needlessly harass her?"
The girl rolled her eyes, seemingly ignoring his question. "You clearly don't know her that well. Why don't you ask her what she did? I'm sure she'd love to tell you." The girl hissed, scowling a bit as she pulled back. Whatever she was talking about, Melissa didn't seem to know. But the icy eyed girl seemed pretty certain Melissa had done something. "Maybe once you know, you'll stop trying to be her knight in shining armor."
"She hasn't done anything. And even if she had, this is incredibly excessive, and I'd still do this. I happen to actually care about her and her wellbeing, and I'd thank you to move before someone gets hurt." I'm stronger than I look.
The girl rolled her eyes once again, starting to walk off. She herself wasn't that strong, but still managed to brush past Lucas, and ram her shoulder into Melissa. The others silently followed after her, muttering crude things under their breaths when they passed Melissa. When they all had walked off, Melissa held her shoulder, cringing in pain. "You didn't have to do that, Lucas…"
Lucas glared at them as they passed and pulled Melissa closer to himself. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, starting to quiver a bit now that the anxiety was pressing into the forefront of his mind. He tried to ignore it for the moment so he could check on Melissa.
Melissa couldn't speak for a moment, seemingly frozen. After a couple of seconds, she nodded weakly before pulling him into a hug. She didn't want him to see the tears stinging at her eyes. "Thank you… I love you…" Melissa responded weakly, burying her face into his shoulder.
"I love you too… but are you okay? You didn't answer…" Lucas held Melissa close and gently kissed the top of her head. "She didn't hurt your shoulder too badly, did she? Did they hurt you anywhere else? Should we go to the nurse?"