"I get off my crutches in a week," Hero boasted, smiling over at me as we walked into our class.

"Yeah?" I asked, walking over to my table.

My face obviously contorted into a frown when I saw Cordelia. I grimaced and threw my backpack down on my table, keeping my eyes off of her at all costs.

"Henry?" Mrs. Thompson said, "you usually sit with Cordelia."

"We're broken up," I said, smiling over at her.

She sucked in a breath, patting my shoulder. "Sorry, kiddo."

Hero grinned at Mrs. Thompson, lifting an eyebrow. "Hey, Mrs. Thompson. Ask me what my name is."

"I already know your name, Hero."

"Ask me."

"Okay, what's your name?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, smiling his infamous smile. "Most people call me Hero, but you can call me anytime."

I couldn't help the smile biting at me, making me hang my head and shake it.

Mrs. Thompson walked away, but not before rolling her eyes and slightly giggling.

"It was good, right?" Hero asked, making her shake her head.

"One chance, man. It's all I need."

"Being of age, man. It's all you need," I deadpanned, grinning up at him as I sat down, "and to eliminate her husband. And to make her not be your teacher. And the list of things you need continues."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged, walking over to his table.

"Hey."

I ignored Cordelia's voice and began pulling my books out.

"I know you can hear me, Henry."

"What?" I asked, lifting my eyes to meet hers.

"You have a box of clothes at my house. I texted you about it, but you never texted back."

"Keep it," I said.

"No, Henry," she said.

"Burn it, I don't give a shit," I said, my eyes wide.

She laughed and stood up, shaking her head. "You are incredibly immature."

I decided to keep my mouth shut, facing the front of the classroom. I hadn't quite realized that I'd picked the table where the most notorious nerd sat.

"What are you doing back here?" He asked.

"Bro, just this one class."

"Don't call me bro, please," he said, "I'm afraid that if you call me bro too many times, I'll turn into one of those entitled jocks. You know, like you are."

I knitted my brows together. "O-okay."

Hero looked back at me, his eyes wide as he mouthed good luck.

"Do not do anything to tamper with this lab, I mean it," he said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I'll do all the work."

"I'm actually very good at these, thank you," I said, shooting him a glance.

"Okay, class, instructions are on the sheet on your table," Mrs. Thompson said, "if you have any questions, feel free to ask."

I began to grab the tubes, but Zach stopped me. "I kindly asked you to not tamper with this lab."

"Bro, I was just getting tubes."

He let out a heavy sigh. "I have a name."

"Zach, my bad," I muttered.

"Just sit there and text your girlfriend," he said, "like you usually do."

"He's actually single now," Cordelia said, obviously listening in on our conversation.

"This conversation actually doesn't involve you," I muttered, leaning back a bit to see her.

"Then maybe you should lower your voice," she said, glancing over at me.

"Bro, aren't you supposed to be moving?" Hero asked, looking over at her as he grabbed his tubes.

Zach took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "I'm going to combust if I hear the word bro one more time."

"Bro, take a chill pill," Hero said, smiling as he roughly patted Zach on the shoulder.

"Oh," Mrs. Thompson said, "your partner today will be your partner for the rest of these nine weeks. Just thought I'd-"

"Woah," Zach and I both said, earning her eyes.

"N-no, Mrs. Thompson," I chuckled out, bracing my palms on the table, "that-that's not going to work."

"Henry," she said, tilting her head over, "it's a good change of pace, okay? Meeting new people."

"Oh, yeah, it's a change of pace, not a good one, though."

Hero's shoulders were bouncing up and down, so I knew he was laughing. I shook my head, clearing my throat.

Cordelia looked over at me with a smile, shrugging. "Should've picked a better spot."

~*~

"Ladies, what is the disconnect?" I asked, pulling my hair down from the ponytail it was in, "we've been over this combo five times now."

"Sorry, captain," one of the freshman girls softly said, looking up at me.

I rested my hands on my hips, looking down at her. "I remember when I was as sweet as you."

Everyone else giggled, making me smile and clap my hands. "Alright, I want everyone on their feet. Pronto, ladies."

"Five, six, seven, eight," I began, walking through the lines of cheerleaders, grinning as I saw that everyone was catching on to the dance well.

"See?" I asked, "you guys had it in you all along. If only you believed in yourselves as I believe in you."

I noticed Eros from across the field, making me bite down on my lip with a smile. He was running off of the field, and obviously over to his bag to get some water.

"Hey, water break," I said, nodding at the girls before running over to him.

I smiled, waving at him. "Hey."

"Hey, cap'n," he greeted, smiling back at me.

"Did you see that amazing combo I have the girls doing over there?"

"I saw that A1 coaching going on," he said, chuckling.

I shrugged, looking up at him. "What can I say? I'm the best."

He pulled me into him for a hug, making me slightly grimace at the dampness of his skin. I really didn't care, though.

"Am I allowed to compliment your thighs in that skirt?" He whispered, making me giggle and pull away from him.

"You can compliment anything you'd like," I said, trailing my hand down his abdomen.

He grabbed my wrist, holding my hand up for me. "You, captain, need to calm yourself down."

I took a step closer to him. "It's the endorphins."

"Right," he whispered, nodding down at me.

He brushed my baby hairs away from my forehead, smiling. "Cutie pie."

"Alright, sugar shack," I said, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "gotta run. Am I coming over later to watch you attempt to fix that old ass car?"

I backed away from him, stretching. I was knowingly showing off my midriff, because I knew he loved my skimpy cheer outfits.

He pulled me closer and pulled my shirt down, pressing a kiss to my lips. "Sure."

"Woah," I said, pressing a hand against his abdomen.

"What?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Uh, don't sound so excited about my presence," I deadpanned.

"What was I supposed to say?" He questioned.

"You were supposed to say something more enthusiastic than sure."

He chuckled. "Yes. I would just die if you didn't come over later."

"See?" I asked, "now how hard is it to have that energy all the time?"

I stretched again, smiling a broad smile. I earned a whistle from one of the guys, making Eros roll his eyes.

"Shove it up your ass, Cam," he yelled.

He shook his head and rested his hands on his hips. "Douchey guys."

"Alright," I said, "I love you."

He looked taken aback, and I was, too. I didn't think before I said it, it just came out.

He knitted his eyebrows together, smiling. "Did you just say that?"

I scratched the back of my neck, biting down on my lip with a smile. "Y-yeah, I guess I did."

He chuckled, nodding. "Not bad, captain."

I smiled, shaking my head. "U-uh, sorry-"

"I love you, too," he said, "I'll see you later."

I felt my heart burst. My knees got wobbly, and my entire body seemed to heat up.

"Yeah," I said, watching as he ran off with a broad smile on his face.

~*~

I picked around my plate of food, knowing that none of it looked any kind of appealing.

"Babe, you haven't touched your chicken," Mom said, placing her fork on her plate, "and you've never turned down chicken."

"I'm just not that hungry," I muttered, my chin in my palm.

I could see the shift in Hero's entire aura, his eyes locked on me. I avoided the piercing eye contact, because I knew he'd interrogate me the first chance he got.

"Fran," Dad softly said, "please eat something."

"I really just don't have that great of an appetite," I said, lifting my eyes to meet his.

He tilted his head over, and I saw his face contort into what looked like a pained expression. "Fran, please. Is there something I could go get you?"

I shook my head, looking down. "No, thank you."

Things weren't getting any better. I would've loved for them to have gotten better, but they simply hadn't. If anything, they'd gotten worse.

I stopped really caring about the way I looked, I barely wanted to eat, I barely wanted to do anything besides lie in bed all day.

I made the mistake of looking over at Hero, whose eyes were already like lasers piercing into me. He was picking around his plate as well, narrowing his eyes when mine met his.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Mom said.

She was only person that knew, so she was the only person that could understand. I nodded, smiling a soft smile.

"If you need to go lie down, you can," she said, taking a sip of her water, "I know you don't feel good."

"What's wrong?" Dad asked, making me sigh.

I knew he was being a dad, but I couldn't take the constant interrogation.

"Girl problems," I said, standing up. I grabbed my plate and walked into the kitchen, blinking back tears.

"I'm gonna go get some air, if that's okay."

Dad nodded, making me walk into the living room and open the French doors. I stepped outside and let out a sigh, leaning my head back.

You're the topic at the table now. You should've just forced the food down.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the doors creak open. I looked over my shoulder to find Hero closing the doors, and he walked over to me.

He leaned forward on his crutches, squinting up at the grey sky. "Sun never seems to shine anymore."

I didn't say anything, just continued looking over at him.

"L-listen," he began, "I'm in no place or position to scold you about it, but is it what I think it is?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not quite realizing how brash that had sounded.

"Eating," he softly said, "i-is it a struggle for you to eat?"

"Hero, I just said I don't feel good," I said, taking my eyes off of him.

"Okay, well, I know something more is going on."

"Okay, well, maybe you're wrong. Have you thought about that? That maybe you're wrong?"

He knitted his eyebrows together, a look of disgust on his face.

"I'm sorry," I softly said, hanging my head.

"I'm just trying to help, Fran," he said.

"I don't really want help, to be honest," I said, shaking my head.

"Henry told me you were at that party," he said.

"Today, Hero?" I snapped, looking over at him, "really, today? You're confronting me now about a party two weeks ago?"

"I don't want you getting hurt," he snapped, looking down at me, "I know what happens at those parties-"

"Hero, I'm done," I said.

"No, you're not," he said, "you've been acting off since then. I don't know what happened-"

"I said I was done!" I yelled, looking back at him as I reached for the door handle.

I broke down in tears as I attempted to open the door, sobbing. "Why won't it open?"

"Fran," he said, dropping his crutches. He wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me into him.

I sobbed into his shirt. No matter how much Hero was like Dad in the interrogation and over protection sense, he'd always be a source of comfort.

"Fran," he whispered, rubbing his hand over my hair, "Fran, what happened?"

I shook my head, resting the side of my face against his chest as I sniffled.

"Fran, tell me," he said, looking down at me.

I bit down on my lip as I looked up at him, shaking my head. "I-I don't know where to start."

~*~