It's been a week since her father decided to 'step in' and Harlow still won't look at me. I can't tell if it's her dropping her guard around me, so she doesn't have to put the fake smile on, or is it that she doesn't want me to even know about what happens behind closed doors with her and her family. I already caught a glimpse of it, and I think that scares her.

"Miss Lovato, we need you out here." One of the football players ran into my office with a panicked expression before bolting out of my office when he saw me get up to follow him.

Harlow and her brother were getting the shit beat out of them.

There were three guys against Harlow, and three guys against Jackson. One pinned their left arm and left leg to the wall, one pinned their right arm and right leg to the wall, and the third beat the shit out of them.

Jackson seemed to be doing better off, so I went to help Harlow first.

"Enough!" I yelled as I charged at the group.

They continued to throw fists, but when Harlow saw me she somehow snapped out of her trance.

She jumped up, letting the two guys hold her up, and kicked the boy who was hitting her in the balls before elbowing one of the guys who had her arm pinned to the wall.

At this point I decided Jackson needed more help, so I tackled the guy who was hitting him to the ground and called for help.

"Code Purple. Severe purple." I quickly rushed my words through the walkie talkie before helping Jackson get out of the guy's grasps. "Help me out here." I looked at Jackson after I got him free and he nodded.

When I turned back to where Harlow was, I saw all three of the boys on the floor while she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

I felt someone grab my hair before throwing me backwards into the bleachers.

"No!"

That was the last word I remembered hearing before the lights suddenly turned off.

"You better run!" Harlow yelled just before I passed out.

"How is she?" A familiar voice panicked beside me.

"She should be awake here soon. I don't see the need to call an ambulance. I mean, her dad said that she's tough and she won't let us take her when she wakes up anyways." A softer, yet more mature voice spoke on the other side of me.

"I should've saw it coming." She muttered.

Harlow.

"I could've stopped them." Her voice got softer by the second.

"Don't beat yourself up over this Harlow. You already beat yourself enough as it is." The more mature voice whispered.

"I could've fought them off. Kyle shouldn't have gotten her. All I needed to do was get Jackson free and then we could've handled it with ease, but no. Since I zoned out and started to accept the punches instead of seeing the opportunities to fight back till I saw her running at us. There was no way she could take all of them." Harlow's voice got closer, indicating that she sat down.

"Harlow, she's going to be okay. She'll have a concussion, but with rest she'll be fine." I felt a soft padded finger brush a strand of hair out of my face.

"I'm o-okay." I mumbled weakly and tried to stand up. Daddy didn't raise no bitch.

"Harlow, I can't help her to her office. Can you do it or are you too sore?"

I weakly opened my eyes to see the nurse looking at Harlow with sincere eyes.

The nurse looked down at me being stubborn and trying to get up.

"I can do it." Harlow nodded before putting one of her arms under my arms and another under my knees.

I heard her wince as she stood back up, but she hid it well from the nurse.

"I'm sorry." Harlow's voice cracked as she walked alone with me in her arms back to my office.

"It's okay Harlow. I'm okay." I gave her a reassuring smile, but she didn't look down at me.

Instead a tear fell from her previously stone cold expression.

My hands itched to reach up and wipe the tear away, but it would be out of line for a teacher to do that to a student in a situation like this.

Fuck it though. It's the second week of school. What's the worst that can happen?

I reached up and wiped the tear off of her chin.

Her lungs took in a sharp breath, but she did her best to hide how effected she was by it.

"You don't have to put the cold front around me Harlow. You can be you with me. I won't treat you any differently." I whispered as she opened my office door with one of her feet.

"It's not a front. It's a lifestyle that was given to me years ago that I cannot shake off of me no matter what." Harlow whispered as she carefully put me on the bench in my office so I could lay down. "As you know, my family isn't as kind as they portray themselves. Jackson is the only one I truly have when it comes to family. Well, when it comes to anyone. Without my brother I would be dead, and that isn't an exaggeration." She nervously played with her fingers after putting a pillow under my head.

"And I still don't see you differently." I put my right hand over her fiddling fingers to stop them.

"I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing." Harlow sarcasticly chuckled, but it wasn't a rude one; it was a hurt one.

"I still see you as the girl who has to play strong and cold so people don't try to get attached to her and so she doesn't get attached to them, because she has trust issues more than anyone I've ever met. Those issues are something that can only be fixed with truth and assurance, but she only has that in her brother so she keeps going along, fighting off her demons on her own, because telling her brother would mean she would be accepting the fact that she needs help. Accepting the fact that she isn'tas strong as she has fooled herself to be." I rubbed the pad of my thumb over the back of her hand.

"How do you know all of this about me when I barely do?" Harlow's voice was soft. One could even call it vulnerable.

"Well, to me you're like reading a book even though you fight that. You try to close people out with your cold expressions, but the coldest ones are the easiest to read." I gave her a sad smile.

"I'm bound for another beating after that whole ordeal, especially since a teacher got hurt." She held her bottom lip between her teeth as she fought the tears back.

"What even happened?"

"My father expelled their friend for trying to rape that girl, and now they are taking it out on us to avenge their friend." Her shoulders moved up and down once as she did her best to fight back the tears.

"Why does he do this to you when you're just defending others and yourself?" I sat up so I could read her more effectively.

"I've always been the blame. They always blame me, even if I was the one who helped. One time there was a person who's heart stopped on the fishing dock for some reason, and I successfully performed CPR, but in the process I broke one of his ribs. The man thanked me when we saw him again and told me that it happened, but it would just be a way to remember the girl who saved his life, but my father saw it as me injuring another person. So I got my ass beat that night." Her whole figure tensed up when I cupped her cheek with my hand.

"You can cry in here Harlow. I don't judge, and I don't tell." As soon as I said that she let the tears flow.

I got up shakily and locked the door since it was the end of the day anyways and just pulled her into my lap so I could hold her as much as possible. I have the need to protect and nurture her. I don't know why.

"You're okay. You're with me." I rocked us side to side slowly as one of my hands played with her hair and the other rubbed her back.

Her arms hesitantly snaked around my waist, but when she realized that I was okay with it she held onto me for dear life.

I could hold this girl for hours.