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The entire room was filled with silence, everybody gawping at the fight that had been laid right in front of them to view for their enjoyment. Anybody in our school loved a good fist fight, every single time one occurred students always flocked to watch.

Everybody continued to ignore me as I politely asked them to move, resulting in me having to shove through the small gaps between the crowd. Murmured whispers filled my ears, gossip had already begun to spread round about what this fight was about and the majority had already decided I was to blame. When I finally reached the front row, my eyes locked onto Hunter.

"How the fuck could you do this to her?" Hunter roared, his face inches away from Luke's.

"I-I" Luke stuttered, his eyes wide in fright.

Within seconds Hunter had his fingers wrapped round Luke's neck, pushing him further into the bricks of the wall.

"Grace is one of the most perfect girls I have ever met, and all you did was abuse her! You're lucky she ever looked at you, you piece of shit!" Hunter continued, with each word his hold got tighter and Luke's eyes were slowly losing there usual mischievous shine.

He deserved this, every bone in my body willed me to stay in place – silently watch as the boy who had violently abused me over the years got a taste of his own medicine. However my inner conscious had different ideas, a pang of guilt settled in my stomach – sure he'd done some bad things, but two wrongs will never, ever make a right.

I slowly walked towards Hunter, Liam's eyes suddenly turning wide as he turned to look at me.

"How does it feel huh? This is how you made her feel, how do you like it?" Hunter paused for a moment, before throwing a quick and forceful punch into Luke's right eye. Without me having to intervene Hunter released him – allowing Luke's body to slump down to the ground.

Hunter's tall, muscular body turned his eyes flitting towards Liam, then to mine. I wanted to say so many things, begin with an apology and finish with a thank you but nothing would ever suffice for all the countless amazing things he has done for me over the entire seventeen years I had known him. As he swiftly moved towards me, my arms reached out for him – and for the first time in my life I realised how much I truly love, and adore Hunter.

Hugs from Hunter were never long enough in my books, usually they'd only last a minute. However when we were younger we used to cuddle up to each other on the cold winter evenings, and even then those hour long cuddles would never fully satisfy me.

In his arms I was safe, and all my worries disappeared like rain on a hot a summers day. With his arms around me, I was protected from all of life's fear and misery – nothing could ever hurt me. Each breathe lead me to inhale the fresh scent of his aftershave, the very same one he had worn since he was fourteen – a gift I gave him on his birthday, that immediately became his favourite.

"I'm so glad that you are safe." Hunter whispered against my hair, "I love you so much, if anything had of happened to you I never would of forgiven myself." He squeezed me tighter towards him, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

My heart burst with love and gratitude, after all I had done over the last month he still loved me, he still cared for me the way he had when we were little kids.

"Get your hands off my girlfriend!" A voice reappeared, a loud rumble I was too familiar with.

As Hunter released me, all hairs on my arms stuck up in fear. Luke's eyes connected with mine as he began to stand up from the floor – the very charcoal I dreaded seeing every single day. His face was a tomato red, whether it was from anger or the fact Hunter had nearly strangled him to death five minutes ago was unknown.

I grabbed Hunter's hand, pulling him towards me before pleading, "Please don't let him hurt me."

Hunter's hazel eyes filled with a sadness I had never seen, "He will have to go through me first before ever hurting you again."

Before I could even say another word to Hunter, Liam pulled me behind him where Olivia was also stood wide eyed – my stomach twisted, tugged and twanged as all three of us linked hands watching the fight that was about to unfold.

"If you touch my girlfriend again-"

"She isn't your girlfriend anymore, she doesn't want to be with a psycho like you! Drill that into your thick, demented skull!" Hunter shouted, his deep raspy voice echoing through the compacted room of students.

Luke's eye twitched, his face begun to scrunch up – Hunter had hit a nerve, a big one. Luke had two operations when he was younger to fix a bone in his skull that he cracked after falling off his bicycle. It was a story I had heard many a time off Luke's mother and one I could never forget. It showed his bravery, strength - because of this operation his family looked at him as Mr Perfect. He beat all odds, and came out of the other side of the operation healed and healthy. But the scar that went from ear to ear over the top of his head, was one Luke had never forgotten and would be there for life to constantly remind him of the hell he went through.

Luke inched forward, "You take that back right now!" He gritted his teeth, slow rugged whispers escaping between the gaps.

The look on Luke's face now was all too recognisable, the deep sickening eyes and the smirk on his face that played on a repeat in my nightmares each time I got into bed. It seemed as if he enjoyed it – the anger, the torment and the way he used violence as a solution to all of his problems.

Hunter seemed fearless as he closed the distance, before laughing right in Luke's face.

"I'd rather die than take anything back that I am going to say or do to you. By the time I am done with you, you will seriously regret ever laying a finger on Grace."

Luke hands clenched into fists by his sides, "Is that a threat?"

"No Luke, that's a promise." Hunter's lips tugged up, but before they could turn into a smile Luke's fist collided with his flustered cheek.

It all happened so fast, Hunter threw another punch towards Luke and Luke proceeded to throw punches back. Liam kept reassuring me and Liv that Hunter was fine, and if he needed help then he would intervene. But despite the amount of blood that poured from Hunter and Luke's faces, Liam continued to stand frozen. I had to trust him, he knew Hunter's tactics and I had to somewhat believe in him.

"STOP! Stop right this instant!" A loud boom filled the hall, all eyes turning towards the voice any student that attended this school dreaded to hear.

Mrs McDonnell stormed through all the students, demanding all of them to get out of the way before she finally reached the front of the audience. Her heels clicked against the wooden floor making Hunter and Luke aware of her presence.

Mrs McDonnell was getting old, we all loved her – but the angry side of her was one we never wanted to see. She was now gradually reaching her retirement age, and we all knew as students she was the best headteacher all of us could have ever hoped for.

She'd fought for all of us in our own corners, and not once had she ever given into the council when they wanted to change or remove things from the school that we all loved. She believed in all of us, she made all of us feel good about ourselves and she always knew the right thing to say if we ever doubted our ability to learn.

"Hunter, Luke – my office now!" Her blonde curled hair bounced on the top of her head as she turned, "Grace, Liam, Olivia you can join us too!"

In the corner of my eye Olivia's face sank, not once had she ever been in trouble and today wasn't the day I was going to let her be because of me.

"It's nothing to do with Olivia, Miss."

"I don't want to hear it Grace. All five of you, my office now!"

All of us began to trail through the empty path amongst the ocean of students, soft whispers clouded the room – all of them now knew my deepest secret. Mine and Luke's image of a perfect relationship, had turned to tatters. Everybody finally knew how messed up our relationship truly is. Life, school, my relationship and friendships had changed in that moment; nothing was ever going to be the same again.

***

A/N:
- What did you think about this chapter?
- Are you glad that Hunter gave Luke a taste of his own medicine? Or do you agree with Grace that two wrongs do not make a right?

If you are going through anything similar to Grace, please speak to somebody. An adult, teacher, friend or family member that you can trust. Do not be afraid, you are not alone ❤️