RYAN'S POV

"Ryan!" I heard someone shout my name across the hall. "Bradley!" The voice got louder and I soon saw Mason bounding towards me – shoving people out of his way. I was instantly put on red alert.

"What?"

"Becca," he wheezed but roughly grabbed my bicep and started dragging me down the hall at high speed. I dropped a few pencils on the ground from the sudden movement but didn't care at the moment.

"What about Becca?" He kept pulling me but didn't answer. "Mason what happened to Becca?!" I realized I was close to shouting now and some of the other students meandering in the halls were giving us looks.

"Hurt. Kate told me. Landon's with her." For a split second I wonder how long he's been searching for me to be so out of breath but my mind goes back to what's important – Becca.

Mason finally releases my arm and I run right behind him and realize he's headed to the nurse's office.

"Thanks," I put my hand on his shoulder and sprint past before plowing through the door. Landon jumps up immediately and puts his finger to his lips as a signal to be quiet.

"What's going on? Where is she? What happened?" I whisper nonstop questions furiously.

"Sit down Ryan," my best friend states snappily.

"I need to see her. What's wrong?" My voice is steadily rising in volume, showing my panic.

Landon gets up once again and pushes me into the chair by my shoulders. "She's getting checked out. Sit down and be quieter for Christ sakes!" I try to fight him for a second but he's just as strong as me.

"Well can you at least tell me what the fuck is going on? Why is Becca here again?"

"After gym some of us got let early so the coach could talk to the footballers and cheer squad. Obviously, Becca was the only girl to get dismissed early so she was in the locker-room alone..." I felt myself stiffen up. "I was changing in the guys locker-room when Kate suddenly ran in screaming my name. She told me that Mel hurt Becca and so I ran to go get her." I leapt out of my chair and Landon did the same.

"I'm not going anywhere. Just keep talking," I seethed while pacing back and forth in the tiny makeshift waiting room.

"She wasn't conscious so I carried her here. Nobody else saw her in the halls and I told Kate to get you. I don't want to freak you out," I immediately stopped pacing and glared at him. "Her back was bleeding a little bit and Kate told me to be careful of her head. I didn't touch her hair or anything because I didn't want to make it worse so I don't know if she was bleeding there or not."

Just as I was about to freak out some more, the nurse entered the room through a side door which I immediately went to.

"You can't go in there!" she ordered but I wound around her and went to Becca. She was awake and crying, all curled up with her knees drawn to her chest. I had no words at all and just wrapped my arms around her tiny body. She seemed frightened at first but must have quickly realized it was me since her arms wrapped around my neck to pull herself closer. She hid her face in my neck and her sobs became much louder. My heart was hurting for my girl and all I wanted to do was run my hands through her hair or down her back but I couldn't. I didn't know what hurt. I reached under her bottom and lifted her up – her legs wrapped around me and I spun us so I was now sitting on the exam table and she was on my lap.

"Baby it's okay. I'm here." I kept repeating these words over and over in the gentlest voice I could manage. "You're okay Becs. I'm right here."

I still felt her crying a few minutes later but her body was no longer shaking from the sobs. Carefully, I pulled my head back to see her face and started wiping the tears from her blue eyes.

"Sweetheart, please tell me what happened."

She took a few moments to catch her breath before speaking; however, right when she opened her mouth, the same damn nurse walked in the room.

"We need the number for your parents Rebecca, one of them will have to come pick you up. You're too distressed to drive right now."

"Let me take her home," I said and realized I sounded kind of demanding. "Please. I can take her home and that way her parents won't have to be pulled from work."

"I'm sorry but I can't allow that." I felt Becca start shaking from fear of being near Kirk, especially now.

"Please, she's really stressed out right now. I can take her home now and she won't have to wait."

The nurse lady seemed to think about it for a while and finally nodded her head.

"Let's go baby." I stood up and she was still all wrapped around me. Since I didn't know quite where her injuries were, I put my arms under her butt to keep her up and hoped she didn't mind too much. Her head found it's place against my neck once again and her fingers clutched on to the back of my shirt.

"I'm taking her home," I announce to Landon, fully aware that the nurse lady is watching my every move. "After I drop her off can you meet me at my place?" He gave me a weird look but nodded while doing it. "Please grab my books too. I only need Chem for homework." I was mainly saying this to get the nurse off my back but Landon knew my locker combination so he could bring our backpacks home for us anyways.

Turning away, I pulled Becca closer and walked straight to my truck. After climbing inside with her on my lap, I pulled out my phone and texted Alex – I knew he always had it in class anyways.

___

|Ryan Bradley > Alex – 1:52pm|

Sent: I need the keys. Meet me by the truck as soon as you can.

Received: ...ok? Hold on I'll get a pass.

Received: On my way.

___

"What happened?" he asked as soon as he saw Becca curled up on my lap.

"Mel." Alex looked a little shocked but confused at the same time; however, he handed over my truck keys without another thought.

"I'll get a ride home," he mumbled softly and set a cautious hand on Becca's knee. "You'll be okay Becca. I'll see ya later."

As Alex walks away sadly I move Becca off my lap gently and start the truck. In a few short minutes we are home so I take her to the closest room – the living room – and pull close to me.

"Is your head okay? Can I touch your hair babe?"

She nods slightly as silent tears continue to roll down her face. I instantly run my hairs through her hair in a soothing motion.

"Please stop crying Becs, it's killing me... What's hurting, should I call Matt?"

"I-I'm not r-really that hurt," she whispered softly when her crying died down. I lifted her chin and wiped the tears from her face before kissing her forehead.

"Can you tell me what happened?" She mumbled something under her breath but I couldn't understand. "Sorry Becs, I missed that."

"I don't want to," she states at a normal volume this time and kind of seems embarrassed.

"Hey," I make eye contact with her and hold her chin up gently. "You don't have to be embarrassed to talk to me about anything but if you really don't want to tell me about it right now, or at all, then you don't have to okay? I'm here no matter what alright?"

"Thank you," she whispers and pecks my lips shyly.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" This instantly cheers her up and I grab the blanket off the back of the couch while handing her the remote. She scrolled through the options on Netflix and picked out some dance movie with Channing Tatum in it that honestly didn't look all too interesting to me but whatever. I must have nodded off during the middle of it because somebody slamming the front door jolted me awake.

"What happened?" screeched Bentley as soon as she saw Becca. The brunette wrapped her arms around my girl and practically tore her away from my side. I leaned forward quickly and lowered my eyebrows. I realized I was being a little too protective when I heard Landon chuckle from the entryway.

"I'll be in the kitchen okay Becs?" She nodded and I fled the room with Landon to give them their girl time.

---

We're currently cooking a pizza since the girls have been chatting in the living room for the past half hour and I keep bugging Landon about Bentley without pushing him too far. I'd so far hinted at how she sits by him at lunch and wondered if they had any classes together but it was time to kick it up a notch.

"So you brought Bentley here huh?" I ask teasingly.

"Yep."

"How'd you like her arms wrapped ar..." he looks up from his phone, finally giving me attention, and interrupts me mid-sentence.

"You know, your girlfriend has also had her arms all wrapped around me on my bike so if you're indicating that means something then we might have a problem." I know he was just teasing but it still got me to shut up as I narrowed my eyes at him. "So did you and Becca talk?" he asks, changing the subject.

I nod once and lean to take the pizza from the oven. "A little but she didn't want to tell me what happened. She seemed embarrassed."

"She has nothing to be embarrassed about," he scoffed.

"I know, I told her that. I also said if she didn't want to tell me that would be fine too but I'm here if she needs to talk."

"Are you really okay with that?" Landon lifted his eyebrow and already starved shoving a scorching hot slice of pizza into his mouth.

"Not really, but if she doesn't want to tell me then I'm not going to make her."

He nods his head in understanding. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her but she woke up right before the nurse walked in and just looked terrified. I don't think she even registered that I was sitting next to her, trying to calm her down."

"I kind of got the vibe that she had a flashback or something... she told me that she wasn't really hurt much. I wish she would just talk to me about it." My fingers snapped the crust on the slice I was holding, giving away the frustration I was trying to hide.

"I'm sure she will Ryan. Just give her a little time – she doesn't have to run to you every time something happens. In fact, you should be happy she might try dealing with this herself. It's showing that she's getting stronger."

I hated to admit it, but he was right. Overall, I did want Becca to be able to handle herself but the selfish side of me wanted to be the one to protect her.

Before I could react, the girls came waltzing into the kitchen.

"Did you put another pizza in?" Becca asked sweetly while sidling right up to my side. I nod and hand her the piece that's on my plate.

"So did you guys just want privacy when watching Channing Tatum dance or were you actually talking?" Landon said mockingly and surprisingly got a reaction out of Bentley.

"No, we were talking and..." she was full of attitude but cut her sentence short.

"And what?" I asked.

"It's just that..." she thought for a second before spitting it out: "I knew I hated that bitch for a reason!"

Landon broke into hysterics and Becca gave me a knowing look. I'm not sure whether it was meant to reflect knowing that Mel's a bitch or that Landon was laughing along with Bentley but either option worked.

---

After a few hours of playing the dumb game of Monopoly, Landon and Bentley left on his motorcycle and I walked with Becca to her bedroom. She had cheered up quite a lot since this afternoon and I had her new friend to thank for that. I wasn't sure if she wanted me around tonight – she kept a little bit of distance the whole time we played the game. Just before I turned to head to my own room, Becca's small hand reached for my elbow.

"Ryan?" Her voice was soft and quiet, not quite a whisper but almost there.

"Yeah?"

"I do want to talk to you. I just felt stupid before."

I bent over and wrapped my arms around her tightly; extremely grateful that she wasn't pushing me away.

"Becs, please don't ever be afraid to talk to me about anything. We've been through a lot together already and nothing will make me question how much I care for you okay?"

"I know," she mumbled, her voice muffled by my chest. I lifted her easily and her legs went around my waist while her arms stayed clasped behind my neck.

"Tell me what's going on in that head of yours beautiful girl."

"It's just humiliating that I got beat up by another girl... I thought I was done with that kind of stuff," she said sadly. Moving some of the inky black hair from her face, I patiently waited for her to continue. "She yelled at me for still talking to you." I tensed up.

"I told her to back off..." Becca interrupted me just to get everything out as fast as possible.

"I was scared and just kind of froze up... When I lived with Kirk, I always knew what kind of reaction he wanted from me but I didn't know what she was expecting me to do. When I did nothing, she got mad and grabbed my hair, and then she pushed me against the lockers. I don't think she really meant to because she seemed scared and ran away really fast. That's all I remember."

Becca wasn't crying as she told me the story, her voice wasn't shaking, and her eyes stayed attached to my own.

"Why were you so afraid when Landon brought you to the nurse?" I asked cautiously. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught.

"It just reminded me... o-of other stuff. You know... from K-kirk." Now she was trembling in my arms.

"Hey it's okay babe," I comforted and gently wound my hand in her hair to pull her close for a light kiss. "Can I tell you something?" She nodded silently. "Becs you are absolutely amazing and should never be nervous to talk to me about anything. I will never judge you for what you aren't in control of okay sweetheart?"

We lay down on the bed – signaling sleep, so I just stripped out of my jeans and climbed under the covers with her. She faced me and a gentle smile appeared on her adorable face.

"Becs," I stopped, I couldn't get myself to say it... what if she wasn't ready for those three important words?

"Yeah Ryan?"

I simply kissed her forehead and convinced myself that I wasn't chickening out... only waiting until she was ready.

"Nevermind. Goodnight beautiful."

She snuggled up close and placed a kiss on my cheek with a sigh.

"Goodnight hun," she said sweetly and I smile at the second nickname she's ever called me... I like it.