It was the next morning after the gala. I walked into the school with Chase by my side. Chase was talking about a football game he had watched last night but I couldn't pay attention much. A bad feeling was developing in the pit of my stomach since I had woken up.

Maybe it was because of Eleanor, I thought. I shouldn't have taken her to that ridiculous gala. What was I thinking? She was nervous all through the evening, especially after their talk with Lara and her mother.

She told me nothing had happened and my mom had taken care of everything, but I couldn't help the nagging feeling that was telling me that Lara had done something. I was going to ask Eleanor that morning again, but she insisted that she wanted to come to school herself.

I was going to kill Lara if I was going to find out that she had upset my angel.

"Are you even listening, dude?" asked Chase, and sighed when I looked at him and blinked several times confused. "Obviously not. Did something happen last night? You are so tense. You are clenching your hands like you want to punch someone."

"I don't know." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Everything was perfect up until I saw Lara and her bitch of a mother talking to my mom, Emmy and Eleanor. I think Lara must have done something because after that Eleanor seemed tense and uncomfortable. She even didn't let me pick her up this morning and it's killing me to give her space. Yet, I don't want to suffocate her."

"Well, fuck." cursed Chase. "Don't worry. You can talk to her after school. Take her to a coffee shop or something."

He then let out an exasperated sigh. "Fuck! This whole relationship shit is so confusing." he grumbled. "One moment they are all laughing and the next they're crying their eyes out and you don't even know what the fuck you have done wrong. I can't even smoke without Mia handing me my balls on a silver platter. I feel like a hopeless puppy who is drooling and waging its tail waiting eagerly so she only looks at me."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well puppy, I don't see you complaining when you lay on your back, belly up so she can pet you." I said with a knowing smirk.

Chase smirked as well and licked his lips. "Oh, no, definitely not." he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

We both burst out laughing and walked toward the lockers. I tried to convince myself that everything was fine. But the bad feeling in my heart only grew with each passing second.

The corridors were crowded and I couldn't find Eleanor anywhere between the teachers and students that were rushing around. Not being able to stay away from Eleanor anymore, I fished my phone out of my pocket to call her but just then I heard a high-pitched voice screaming my name.

"CHRIS!"

"Speak of the bitch and she shall appear." grunted Chase under his breath.

But my heart was jumping out of my chest for an unknown reason. Something bad had happened. I turned around and my heart sank when I saw Lara running to me crying her eyes out and I could see real fear and panic in her eyes.

Eleanor was nowhere.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen." cried Lara, not caring that everyone was seeing her like that.

I couldn't breathe. My heart was beating in my throat. "What the hell are you talking about?" I snarled as Lara reached me and grabbed my collar with shaky hands.

"Vincent and Hector." she screamed. "I asked them to help me scare Eleanor. I didn't think they will try to rape her. You should help her. They are in the backyard behind the bins. Please."

My blood froze in my veins and I swear my heart skipped a few beats. And then I was running. I was running full speed toward the backyard door. Lara's words were repeating themselves over and over in my mind and I couldn't think about anything other than Eleanor and the horrible images that were rushing to my mind and making me nauseous.

I pumped my legs to run beyond their limits and in less than a minute, I burst through the backyard door and ran to the dent where the bins had been placed.

I stood in front of the alley like dent and my heart sank to my feet before it began to beat with the speed of light. All I could see was red as I took in the image in front of me.

The two fuckers had an unconscious Eleanor pressed to the wall, groping and grinding their disgusting bodies to her body and one of them was fumbling with the zipper of her jeans.

I only was frozen for a second before I ran forward, like a raging bull, and knocked both of those assholes with my shoulder, throwing them to the ground. The next thing I knew I was straddling one of them who was going for Eleanor's jeans and punched him repeatedly.

"YOU. MOTHER. FUCKER!" I roared as I punched who appeared to be Hector to his face over and over. My blood was boiling and I couldn't think about anything. He was unconscious and his face was so bloody but I couldn't stop. The image of Eleanor pressed to the wall defenseless would forever remain in my mind, eating my soul and sanity away.

I didn't know how long I punched the shit out of Hector, but soon I felt four two pairs of arms gripping me hard and pulling my trashing form off of the fucker's body.

"Harrington!" I looked to my right and saw one of the teachers shouting at me to calm down.

I looked to my left and saw a fuming Chase being held by two other teachers on top of an unconscious Vincent. And then my heart sank once more and all of my energy drained from my body.

Eleanor

I turned to where I last saw her and saw our principal and his secretary kneeling beside her.

"Eleanor." I mumbled and pushed the teachers who were holding me away and rushed to her side. Bile rose in my throat and I really wanted to vomit as I took in her appearance as I knelt beside her.

She was so pale. A bruise shaped like a handprint was forming on her left cheek. Her lips were swollen, bruised, and bloodied. Her hair was a mess and slightly pulled out of her ponytail. A trail of blood had run down from the back of her head to her neck. Bruises were also forming around her wrists. I was grateful that her sweater wasn't letting me see other bruises on her body.

I wasn't listening to whatever the shit principal was saying. I quickly picked Eleanor in my arms bridal style and dashed toward the school's infirmary. Something or better to say an illusion of me in my chest was roaring like an insane man, pacing in the dark room of my chest, clawing at my heart, trashing and tearing everything in his way in hot pure anger.

It was my fault. It was all my fault. And the thought was killing me.

I burst through the infirmary's door and Nurse Mary's eyes widened behind her glasses and she gasped loudly.

"Please help her." I pleaded with a cracked voice and only then I felt the wetness of my tears on my face.

"Lay her on the bed." instructed Nurse Mary firmly just as the principal rushed into the room.

I quickly and gently laid Eleanor down on the bed and caressed her forehead. "Angel," I choked as more tears ran down my face. "Please open your eyes. Please."

Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me away from Eleanor. I didn't protest. I didn't deserve to stay by her side.

"Get out, Harrington." barked the principal. The old man was pale himself, certainly shaken because of the event that had happened in his school. "Get out. Now!"

He shoved me outside where I saw Chase standing. His face was pale as well. He was shaking and his bloodied fists were clenched.

He gulped. "How is she?" he asked with a shaky voice.

I shook my head and leaned on the wall behind me. "It's all my fault." I said. "Those motherfuckers had a feud with me. Lara wanted to push her away to be with me."

The image of the two boys assaulting Eleanor once again appeared in front of my eyes and this time I couldn't stop the bile that rose in my throat anymore. I ran to the restroom which was just a few steps away, barely reaching one of the stalls before I began to throw my guts up.

After I emptied the content of my stomach, I walked to the sink and washed my bloody and trembling hands. The skin of my knuckles had burst open from the force of my punches. I grabbed the edge with both hands and clutched it to the point that my knuckles turned white. Sobs shook my body as I closed my eyes tightly and cried loudly.

It was too much for me. Too much.

The guilt was killing me. The love of my life had gone through that horrible event because of me, because of my past mistakes. There was only one thought that was keeping me sane a bit. I was in time to save her and don't let them really rape her.

The thought of what could have happened if I was late made me rush back to the stall and threw up gall. Not being able to stand anymore, I stepped out of the stall and slid down the wall. There was no way I could manage that shit on my own and Eleanor's parents wasn't available. So I did the only thing that I could think about.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was a miracle that I had managed to put it in my pocket before Lara broke the news on me or certainly I would have dropped it. After struggling for a minute to be able to see through my blurry vision I finally was able to dial my mother's number.

"Hi, dear." she chirped. "Shouldn't you be in class now?"

"Mom!" I choked, not able to control my new set of tears at hearing mom's voice and feeling the safety that it brought me.

"Chris!" she said, her voice firm and alert. "What is it? Why are you crying? Where are you?"

"Eleanor!" I sobbed. "She was assaulted at school. Mom, I don't know what to do. Please come here. Please."

"I will be there in 15 minutes." she said, trying to sound firm, but her voice was shaking.

After I ended the call, I pushed myself to my feet and washed my mouth and face before walking out of the restrooms. I saw Miller and Mia in front of the doors as well. They all were sitting on the ground in front of the door of the infirmary, leaning on the wall.

Mia was in Chase's arms, crying her eyes out and Miller was staring at the door with blank eyes and a pale face. I heard rushing footsteps and saw two paramedics running behind one of the teachers.

The teacher opened the door and the two paramedics rushed inside, I was about to follow them, not able to bear the unawareness anymore, but the principal blocked my way while stepping out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Please, I need to see her." I begged, not having the energy to push him away.

"She will be fine." said Principal a bit softly as he saw our condition. "You will only fuss inside and won't let them help her properly. Please stay outside and don't cause any more trouble. I should go to my office. The police are here and I should call Miss. James' parents."

"You can't." I protested quickly. "Her father has left them and there are no contact details of him. You can't call her mother too. She is in hospital and should not go through panic."

The principal pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed under his breath.

"I have called my mother. She is on her way here and loves Eleanor like her own daughter." I said. "Please don't call Eleanor's mother."

"I see what I can do." he sighed and then raised a warning finger. "Stay out of that room. Don't make any more trouble. You are in enough trouble for almost killing those idiots. You to Smith. Although I'm forever grateful that you were there to stop that horrible act, you can also be in trouble if those boys end up badly hurt. You are lucky that there were teachers in the corridor when Miss. Samuels came to you."

Chase and I nodded and watched as Principal walked away. I began to pace in front of the infirmary as the others sat once again. The silence of the corridor was deafening and it was killing me to not be able to see Eleanor.

Mom was here in ten minutes. She was pale and disraughted, accompanied by a teacher. She didn't say anything. Her eyes scanned my body for any injuries before hugging me briefly and rushing into the room. Mia used the distraction and slipped inside the room and a second later, her wailing come from inside the room.

My heart was certainly jumping out of my chest and I was ready to jump inside when the door opened a minute later, but I stopped as I saw Eleanor being rolled out on top of a stretcher by the two paramedics. Mom and Mia also came out with them.

I rushed to the stretcher as tears once again welled up in my eyes. Eleanor was still pale like a ghost and was attached to an IV. An ugly bandage was placed on her head.

"Hey, angel." I said softly as I put a gentle hand on her bandaged head and caressed her forehead with my thumb. "You are going to be fine. You are fine."

My heart fluttered as she tilted her head to me but she didn't open her eyes. I walked alongside the stretcher as they rolled it toward the front doors. I noticed dad was there as well. He was the one who drove us to the hospital while mom went with the ambulance.

The rest of the next few hours were a blur for me. Much to my dismay, Maggie was informed as well after her doctor gave the police the green light, saying she was healthy and fine. Because she was in the same hospital, she had been wheeled by one of the nurses to her daughter's room. She was crying her eyes out and she hugged me and Chase tightly and thanked us thousand times for saving her daughter.

She didn't know that I was the reason that her daughter was attacked in the first place.

I didn't go to see Eleanor. I simply didn't have the heart. I couldn't bear her opening her eyes and looking at me with disgust and hatred.

So two hours later, when I was sure she was fine, I was sitting outside of the building, on the stairs that were leading to the hospital's gardens. My mind was empty and I was drained. All I could do was stare at the beautiful garden in front of me and listen to the soothing sound of the rain that was pouring.

I looked to my side when I heard shuffling and saw dad sitting beside me. He gave me a tired half-smile and patted my back. Silence stretched between us as we just stared ahead.

"How are you?" asked dad finally.

"It was not me who was assaulted." I answered him with a raspy voice and winced at hearing my own cruel word. I rubbed my face aggressively. "Fuck!"

"Chris," said dad softly and rubbed my back.

"You weren't there to see that moment, dad." I hissed, remembering the memory that was forever printed on my mind. "I died for a second at seeing my love being assaulted by those sons of the bitches."

"They were taken to the police station after they were treated by paramedics." said dad. "You and Chase had roughed up their faces so badly."

"Those fuckers deserve death." I seethed and clenched my fists.

"They will go to jail and will face proper punishment." said dad firmly. "I have appointed my lawyer to take care of everything. Don't worry."

I sighed and shook my head. "It was my fault, dad." I said and tears once again dropped from my eyes. "They hated me and they used Eleanor to take revenge."

"Why?" asked dad confused. "As much as I remember, they were your friends."

"Never friends." I spat angrily. "They only used to follow me and Chase around when we were dickheads like them. Once I got to know Eleanor and changed, one day I refused to participate in bullying a freshman and helped the boy to leave unharmed. But after that, Chase and I got engaged in a fistfight with Vincent and Hector and obviously gave them a good lesson. And of course, they blamed Eleanor for that."

I then looked at dad. Someone was tearing my chest and heart apart and the pain was unbearable. The guilt was eating me alive.

"It's my fault." I sobbed. "It's my fault that Eleanor is here, nearly raped. Lara is obsessed with me and wanted to take Eleanor out of the picture. Vincent and Hector attacked her because they hated me. What if I was late and they had raped her? What if Lara had not informed us? What if ...?"

I couldn't complete my sentence. My throat closed up and sobs shook my body. I clutched my hair in my fists on both sides of my head and tugged at them hard, begging those horrible thoughts to leave me alone. I closed my eyes as I groaned in the emotional pain that was destroying me.

Soon I felt two strong arms wrapping around me and hugging me tightly. I clung to dad's shirt for dear life as he hugged me tight, letting me cry on his chest.

"Shhhhh," he said. "It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong. If anything, you did everything right to stay away from those junks. I'm so proud of you for that."

"Dad, what should I do?" I cried. "My love is hurt and I'm afraid she blames me for that. I'm afraid she hates me."

"It won't happen." answered dad as he rubbed my back. "Eleanor is a logical girl. You saved her. It was an unfortunate and horrible event that you couldn't have predicted. Everything will be fine. I promise, son. I promise. Just give it time. Give her time."

I cried and cried, pouring out my pain into tears, hoping that it lessens and I can breathe. But no matter how much I cried or slammed my fist to my chest, there was still that illusion of me in my chest, trashing and tearing everything while roaring in anger, balming me for everything.

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A/N: What a sad chapter. At least Eleanor was not damaged beyond repair. Tell me what you think guys. Leave comments and please vote.

Thank you so much

Ela :)))