Walking into the cafeteria I'm beyond pissed at what I heard the girls in the hallway whispering. I will not have Teddy being bullied. She's been through too much to have to deal with girls being jealous of her. I'm holding Teddy's hand as we walk through the door. I feel tingles go up my arm making me shiver slightly but I reluctantly ignore it and proceed to walk to the lunch line holding Teddy's hand. The line is short since we came late.

"Same lunch?" I ask her as I turn and look down at her.

"Yea." she says softly as she stares up at me.

I grab her salad then walk farther down the line to the cashier. I pay for her lunch and grab her tray as I slip my arm around her waist. We walk to our table and sitting there is the regular gang. I take a seat at the end of the table and set Teddy's tray in front of me. I turn and start talking to Cory as I feel a small weight in my lap.

I immediately wrap my arms around Teddy and put my head in the crook of her neck as she starts to eat her salad. I'm happy she didn't ask permission and just sat down like I asked her to do. I tune back in to what Cory is saying about the movies.

"What time do you guys want to go?" he asks everyone sitting at the table.

"We should go late." Maddi says to answer Cory's question.

"How late?" he asks to her.

"Around midnight maybe?" Matt says but it's more like a question.

I feel Teddy tugging on my shirt as they continue talking. I turn slightly and look down at her. She looks up at me with the softest eyes I have ever seen.

"I definitely can't go if it's at midnight." she softly tells me.

"Ok I'll fix it." I tell her as I turn and look back at everyone at the table.

"We can't go at midnight." I say to them and they all stop talking.

"Why not?" Maddi asks me as she looks at me.

"Because I'm not going at midnight." I say to her trying to keep the blame off Teddy.

"Since when don't you go to the movies at midnight?" Becky asks me.

"Since now so you guys can go at midnight if you want but I'm not." I say to them.

"Ok besides Logan who doesn't want to go at midnight." Cory asks everyone.

No one says anything after he asked his question. I guess they really want to go at midnight but I'm not going if Teddy can't come so I'm not going at midnight. We sit in silence until Teddy softly says to me "I'm done with my tray."

I take her tray and hand it to Cory. He wordlessly gets up and walks to the trash. Everything is quiet till he gets back then Matt says "Well Logan I guess your going by yourself then."

"Ok." I say to them as I snuggle into Teddy's neck.

"You sure you don't want to come at midnight?" Becky asks me.

"Positive." I say as I feel Teddy lean back into me.

The bell rings a few minutes later and everyone stands up getting ready to leave. I pick Teddy up and then slip my arm back around her waist. Guiding her to the doors of the cafeteria. After walking out of the cafeteria we walk to gym and proceed to go into the girls locker room. I get to my locker and change as fast as I can without using my supernatural speed so I can be by the doors when Teddy walks out.

I get to the doors that enter into the gym and wait for Teddy. When I see her I feel my lips curve into a smile as she walks this way. I slip my hand in hers as she reaches me and we then walk into the gym.

Walking into gym I see mostly everyone is already out on the gym floor probably waiting for Mr. Taylor to show up. It's not like he's late he's just never here before his students are here. He comes in about two minutes later and says "Start your warm ups."

Getting into our spots on the gym floor we start to do our stretches. Which only last about six to seven minutes. After stretches we run ten laps around the outer edge of the gym. I'm still running my laps but mostly everyone else is done except a tall lanky boy who looks to have breathing problems, a girl who is just walking, and two boys running together who look to be in good shape.

I continue my running only having two laps left. I'm turning the corner when I feel two hands grab me and pull me off the outer edge of the gym and up against the wall of the gym. I try to scream but a third hand covers my mouth. I close my eyes as I once again see images flash through my head; hurtful images, horrible images, and painful memories. I start to breathe heavily as my back is flush up against the wall. I stare up at the person grabbing me but I'm shocked to see it's the two boys who looked to be in good shape.

"Don't make a sound." one of the boys demand.

I'm in so much shock that I just nod to what he's said. The boy holding his hand over my mouth releases my mouth as the other boy continues speaking "You have two options. You can stop speaking to Ash and Logan or you can be the tool we use to get back at them."

I stare at him in utter confusion as he finishes his sentence. Who are these boys? Why would they want to get back at Ash and Logan? Why use me to do it? I've been in my own world that I didn't notice he had continued on "You have those options to chose from. Nothing more nothing less and to give you something to remember us by."

He trails off and I wonder what he means until I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I feel another pain as I look up and see the boy who was holding my mouth hand coming up from my stomach. I fall to my knees as he releases my arms.

I hear them walk away and I crawl into a fetal position. I stay like this for some time thinking about what to do. I know I can't tell Ash and Logan or they'll leave me. I slowly get up, with help from the wall I was previously pushed up against, and make my way to the girls locker room.

I look at the clock in the girls locker room and see that it's 11:55pm. I only have ten minutes until class is over. I slowly go to my locker and change back into my clothes. I walk out of the locker room and into the hallway as I make my way to art class.

I walk into art class just in time slipping into my seat as the bell rings. I look over at my angel and see her bent forward slightly with one hand holding her stomach and the other working on her project. I'm a little upset I didn't see her in gym class.

I start to work on my project after I decide not to speak to her until a few minutes till the end of class. The class hour goes on uneventful with me drawing the picture of my loved one. I glance up at the clock and see we have seven minutes till the bell rings. I get ready to leave and start packing up all my tools I used during the class hour. I see my angel is already packed and ready to go.

I walk over to her as I finish putting my stuff up and the bell rings. I take her hand in mine as I smile at her. She gives me a weary smile as she squeezes my hand. We walk out of art class heading to the front doors of the school. Walking out of the school into the blazing heat of the afternoon we head to my car.

I get into the drivers seat after I made sure my angel was securely in the passengers seat. I pull out of the parking spot and maneuver out of the school's parking lot. We ride in our usual silence all the way to her house. I grab her book bag then I get out of the car. I walk around to her side of the car and open up her door as I help her out of the car.

Slipping my hand in hers we walk to the front door of her house. She goes into her pocket pulling out a key and unlocking the door. She walks into the house leaving the door open for me. I hesitantly walk in behind her then I shut and locked the door. I follow after her into the living room but take a pause as I gaze upon Amber sitting there in the living room. I gulp and stride into the room. I take a seat in a sofa and levelly look at Amber.

"Gabriela go upstairs." Amber says to my angel but she is staring at me.

"But." my angel goes to objected but I glance at her giving her a comforting smile.

She wordlessly goes up the stairs. After watching my angel walk upstairs I turn my attention back to her sister and can feel the slight hate rolling off her.

"So-" I start off but she cuts me off.

"Your a girl." she states to me as she looks me over.

"Yes." I say not sure about why she has stated that to me.

"Mm." she says as though she is thinking.

"Well um ma'am I was wondering if I could take my an- Gabriela out today?" I ask in a rush after recovering from almost calling her my angel out loud.

"Where would you be going?" she asks me.

"A early dinner then a school soccer game." I tell her.

"Mhm." she says as a look of thought comes over her face. "She will have to be back at 10:00pm no later then that."

"Ok that should be plenty of time." I say with a smile.

My smile is immediately wiped from my face when she says her next words "I don't like you. I don't know what it is but I don't like you. You and that other girl, Logan. I don't like her more but I still don't like or trust you. Gabriela better be here before ten pm or you will never take her out again. As long as she is under my roof you'll never take her out again."

I stare at her horrified at the thought that she would keep me from my angel. She can take her away from me and make it so I would never have her.

"Do you understand?" she asks me as she glares evenly at me.

"Ye-Yes." I tremble out still thinking about how my angel could be taken from me.

She gets up and walks towards the front door. Before she gets there she turns around and looks at me. I silently get up and proceed to walk after her. We reach the front door and she opens it. I walk through the threshold but turn around and look at Amber.

"Could you tell Gabriela I'll be back at five?" I ask her as I look down at her.

She looks up at me and says "I'll let her know."

I turn around and walk to my car only glancing back once to look at the front door. Amber is there watching me intensely like she's waiting for me to mess up. I get into my car just as Amber slowly shuts the front door. Pulling out of their driveway I'm still immensely happy that I get to take my angel out tonight and show her a good time.

It's 4:50 pm and I'm in the bathroom with Eli doing the final touches for my date with Ash. I'm so nervous and I guess Eli can tell because he is trying to distract me with random questions.

"Mama?" he calls for the twelfth time.

"Yea Eli?" I softly say to him as I pause to look at him.

"When will I get to see veggie again?" he asks.

I look at him confused as I softly ask "Who's veggie?"

"One of the big scary men." he states like it's obvious.

"Oh" I softly say connecting the dots and figuring out he's talking about Logan "Um tomorrow maybe."

"Really mama?" he asks me with disbelieving ears.

"Yea Eli." I tell softly him.

He is about to say something when the doorbell rings and he jumps off the counter as he runs out of the bathroom. I look in the mirror one more time and check what I have on. Which is a light gray shirt, white skinny jeans, and some gray chucks. I walk out of the bathroom heading downstairs after Eli. I'm coming down the stairs when I hear Eli say "Your not veggie!"

I walk down the rest of the stairs and I'm surprised to see a nervous looking Ash standing there holding a bundle of red roses. I smile slightly as I glance over what she's wearing. A white sleeveless sweater, green undershirt, white jeans, green Adidas. I stare at her as she looks down at Eli and says "No I'm not veggie."

"Where is veggie?" he asks her as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Um." I hear Ash say as she searches for an answer. After a minute of waiting I decide to make my presence known when I slowly walk farther into the living room. Ash's head immediately lifts and she grins at me as she starts making her way over to me. She reaches me and hands me the roses as she says "You look beautiful."

I smile softly as I whisper "Thank you. You look nice too."

"It is nothing compared to the beautiful girl in front of me." she whispers back.

I swallow the lump in my throat and whisper "Let me put these in water."

"Ok." she says as she takes a step back.

I start to walk away but as I'm turning I see Eli has a slight frown on his face. I continue on into the kitchen where I find Amber reading a book. I go to the sink and get a cup then fill it with water as I put the roses in it. I go to set the cup on the counter of the kitchen Amber says "Gabriela."

I set the cup of roses down and turn to look at her as I softly say "Yea."

"Is Ash here?" she asks me after a few seconds.

I slowly nod my head yes and she then asks "Will this be your first date?"

I look down as I slowly nod my head yes again. She pauses for a second and then tells me "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do k? She asked for your company and that's all you have to give. If you want to leave at anytime call and I will be there to get you. You understand Gabriela?"

I slowly nod my head as I lift my head to look at her. She gives me a smile as she says "Have fun on your date."

I walk back in the living room and see Eli glaring at Ash but Ash is nervously looking anywhere but Eli. When she spots me she quickly walks over and asks "You ready to go?"

I nod my head and she lightly grabs my elbow and guides me towards the door. I stop for a second and turn back to Eli who looks like he is about to cry.

"Mama." he whispers in a trembly voice when he sees me turn to look at him.

"Eli mama is going to be back ok." I softly say to him as I walk over and kneel in front of him trying not to wince at the pain in my stomach.

He throws his arms around me as he says "That big scary men is trying to take you away. He can't have you mama. I'm going to eat all my veggies then I'm going to be big and strong. I'll take care of you mama. Papa or him won't ever hurt you when I'm big and strong!"

I look at my baby boy stunned by his words. I had no idea he remembered what his father did to me. I had no idea he heard me when I would wake up screaming. Now my brave baby boy wants to protect me from everything but he can't because I'm suppose to protect him and that's what I'm going to do.

"Elijah Ash is not taking me away or going to hurt me. We are just going out to eat." I softly say to my son as I pull back from his embrace and see his tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.

"But mama." he says to me.

"Yea Elijah." I say softly to him as I lift my hand and wipe his tears.

"Can I come too?" he asks as a hope shines in his eyes.

"Not for this one. It's just going to be Ash and me." I softly tell him as his face drops and my heartbreaks.

He wordlessly nods and then he let's go of me and runs over to Ash. He looks up at her and crosses his arms as he puffs out his chest while he says "You better bring my mama back here."

Ash looks at him with all seriousness and says "I will."

"Good or I'm coming to find you." Eli says as he runs back over to me.

"I love you mama." he says as he gives me a quick hug and then runs up the stairs.

Getting up from my kneeling position I wince a little coming up as I stand. I put my hand on my stomach and walk back over to Ash a little slower then when I walked over to Eli. She lightly grabs my elbow and guides me towards the front door once again. As we reach the car she helps me into my seat. She then goes to the driver side and gets in. She pulls out of the driveway and turns down the road heading somewhere.

"Elijah loves you a lot." she says in a whisper.

"Yea I love him too." I softly say as we continue on down the road passing houses and stores.

She doesn't respond after that and keeps driving. We have been driving for over five minutes when she pulls up at this nice looking building that has a sign in front that says "YOLO".

She parks the car in a parking spot and hops out. She comes to my side of the car and helps me out of my seat as I stare at the building. She places her hand on the bottom half of my back and guides me through the doors of the building. We come up to a counter and Ash says to the lady behind the counter "I have a reservation."

The lady looks up and smiles when she sees Ash then asks "For just yourself?"

"No for two." Ash says to the lady.

She then glances at me and huffs as she says "Follow me and you will be seated."

We silently follow her and as we walk I take the chance and look around the restaurant. It's very neat and elegant but has a soft and comfy feel to it. We come to the back of the restaurant the lady then says "Here is the menu. Your waiter will be with you in one moment."

She looks at Ash once again then walks away. I pick up the menu and skim it over for a little. After a minute of looking at the menu I decide on getting a sweet and spicy grilled salmon with fresh spinach and a pinch of salt and lemon.

"Hello my name is Michael and I'll be your waiter tonight. Do you know what you'll be having tonight?" He asks me as he looks over at me.

"Um yea can I have the sweet and spicy grilled salmon with fresh spinach and a pinch of salt and lemon." I softly say to him.

He writes in his pad before turning to Ash and asking "And you?"

"Medium rare T-bone steak with a baked potato and asparagus." she says to him as she looks up from her menu.

"Ok and for your drinks?" he asks.

"We'll both have lemonade." she tells him.

He once again writes in his pad and then says "Ok that will be right out."

He collects our menus before he walks away and I turn my gaze to Ash as I do I can see she is already looking at me. I shyly look down at the table and whisper a quiet "What?"

She shakes her head and continues to watch me for a second before asking "So why did you move to limestone creek?"

"I had um family issues." I softly respond to her as I gaze about the restaurant.

"Are you liking it here so far?" she asks me.

"Yea it's nice." I softly but honestly tell her.

"You enjoying the company?" she asks me with a sly grin on her face.

"Um somewhat." I softly tell her as I look into her eyes.

"That's good." she says as she looks at her hands.

"So you play football?" I ask her softly.

She looks up from her hands as she says "Yea I'm the captain of the team."

"What made you want to play football?" I softly ask genuinely curious.

"Well my father played for the same school. He had all the records set there in football so I join the team to beat them. After awhile I really started to care for the game." She looks down at her hands again as she finishes off what she is saying.

"Don't get me wrong I liked watching football before but after I started playing I felt like I had a better connection to it." she says to me with a genuine smile on her face.

I smile at her as I softly ask "So your competitive?"

"Only," she says but pauses as she looks up from her hands and stares directly into my eyes "When I want something."

I gulp as I turn away from her intense stare. I glance across the restaurant instead thinking of something to change the mood.