Summer of Love

“You were what?!”

I sighed heavily and lowered my head onto my desk. Last night I had been released from the hospital once I had rested and they deemed me worthy to be let out. When I arrived at the Academy the next morning, Cian had already blurted everything that had happened before I even arrived. Now Sara was freaking out and the rest of my friends were staring at me in horror. Even calm Jack stared in shock, his mouth hanging open wide. I waited for a fly to head in to explore.

“It’s not a big deal...” I groaned, lifting my head a fraction only to be smacked back down.

Sara towered over me with an angry expression and I straightened to rub my aching forehead from the impact it had on my desk. She placed her hands on her hips and glared, her eyes filled with concern.

“You couldn’t have called? One of us, or all of us even could have shown up to walk you home!” she cried, the other students in the class staring and I sighed.

“I didn’t even know they would be there,” I said honestly, my voice small against the short tyrant that glared daggers down at me.

“You idiot, you should have been more careful!” she growled, smacking me over the head again and I winced.

Hannah frowned and leaned against Fox protectively. “We would have come to get you, Misa. I’m so happy that you’re alright.”

Cian sat at his desk with his head resting on his palm, his legs stretched out beneath his desk. The entire time he hadn’t looked at me, he just sat there with his eyes closed, his expression conflicted. I turned to glare at him.

“Don’t you think I should have been the one to say something instead of you shouting it to the world?” I asked angrily and Sara smacked me again. I groaned and cradled my injured head as she growled.

“Don’t be so rude, Misa! Cian saved your ass and you know it! If it wasn’t for him, you would have been...” she ranted until I rose from my chair forcefully, catching the attention of the entire class.

My face was curtained by my hair as I glared down at my desktop. “I’m very aware of what would have happened.”

Everyone was silent, waiting for me to say more or do something and I straightened. I had enough of this conversation, knowing what I did was reckless. It didn’t mean I needed or wanted everyone else to yell at me for my own decisions. I had a hard enough time dealing with them myself. I knew exactly what would have happened if Cian hadn’t shown up, but my pride was in the way so I wouldn’t listen to them. I brushed past them and stepped into the empty hall. I took a deep breath and decided that coming to school today wasn’t a good idea. I headed to my locker and gathered my things, when I felt a presence behind me and sighed.

“I’m going home.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No you’re not.”

“Don’t fight with me, Misa.”

The fierce tone caused me to turn and look into those determined, serious silver eyes and I saw the set of his jaw and rolled my eyes.

“I’m not an invalid. Everyone is in school anyways, so I’m sure I can make it home without company,” I said sarcastically and went to move past him, when he struck like a coiled snake.

He gripped my upper arm and tossed me back roughly into the lockers, the sound echoing down the halls and slammed both hands on either side of me, blocking me in. He glared into my eyes and there I saw something I couldn’t define. I stared back at him in surprise, shocked by the fact I was being man handled at school no less. Where the hell were the teachers and hall patrols now?

“Enough with the theatrics!” he shouted and I pressed myself against the metal lockers, subconsciously wishing I could melt into them and disappear. The furiousness in his eyes caught me off guard and I felt the first trickle of fear. I never feared.

I watched his jaw work as he tried to keep himself in check, but knew it took serious effort. When he reopened his eyes, they were clear and like steel.

“You can take your pride and shove it, Misa. I saw you that night, saw the uncontrollable fear. You faced something you couldn’t beat and now you’re bent up over it. Enough already!” he growled, our noses touching while I stared at him in silence. I was so startled in fact that I didn’t notice the tears forming and falling down my face as my breaths came out in short, quick bursts.

My pride grew brittle, the barrier growing thin and the fear I had felt and remembered at night crept through, filling my veins like toxic poison. I began to tremble, my hands beginning to shake as everything I had felt that night came back to me in a rush. I never realised how scared I really was.

Almost immediately, those moonbeam eyes softened and he straightened away from me, his hands tracing down to my arms. He coaxed me toward him and I forcefully pushed myself into his welcoming embrace and buried my face in his chest, letting the tears flow as sobs flowed through my lips.

He held me tightly, smoothing my hair soothingly, murmuring softly in my ear.

That was the first time I had allowed myself to fall apart since my parents died and not once, did he let go.