"I’m not interested, please leave me alone!" You said sternly, despite feeling utterly terrified inside.
You were walking away from Derek Reilly, the captain of your school’s rival hockey team. You had been hanging around the edge of the field before Derek approached you, almost like clockwork, every 15 minutes, first engaging in small conversation but then becoming more aggressive as you declined his proposals for a date.
"Come on babe! Just one date won’t hurt!" He continued relentlessly, following your tracks as you trotted faster to the boys locker rooms, knowing Ashton would be there - or someone else to make Derek back off.
"I have a boyfriend! I don’t want to go out with you, Derek!" You glanced your eyes sidewards and saw he barely had to stroll to keep up with your fast pace, his long legs carrying him further in one step than yours could in three.
His menacing grin made you grimace, but a shaky breath of release escaped your lips as you saw the fluorescent glow of the locker room light the path in front of you, safety. Unfortunately, Derek saw too, and began shouting threats towards you, reaching out and grabbing your arm, attempting to drag you the other way. You began thrashing about in his grasp, screaming and kicking for help. A second later, Derek’s body flew sideways, your arm jerking out of his grip. You were thrust into comforting arms, immediately recognizing them to be Calum’s, Ashton’s friend and teammate. You heard vicious screams and turned around to see Ashton holding Derek by his collar, feet barely touching the ground, subsequently making the once arrogant boy’s expression turn terrified as your boyfriend’s grip was causing his pale skin to turn an alarming shade of purple.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing to my girlfriend you fucking psycho?” You heard Ashton roar in the vulnerable boy’s face.
"Nothing, leave me alone." Derek managed to squeak out.
"Yeah? Why didn’t you leave Y/N alone when she wanted you to huh? Fuck you." Ashton dropped the squirming figure, Derek’s body crumpling on the floor in a heap.
Ashton turned away from him in disgust, and quickly came to engulf you in his warm body. You rested your head against his chest and heard his heart beating incredibly fast. You felt his hand on your hair, smoothing it over calmly, and gently kissing your head before whispering that you were safe now. You pulled away from him and looked into his hazel eyes, flickering in worry for you, but quickly began burning, the way they would if he was absolutely furious, as he heard Derek’s cronies mocking laughs from behind you two.
The umpire of the hockey game about to be played was walking towards the crowd of people that had gathered at the noise Ashton and Derek had been making. Derek had wrongly assumed that he was safe from Ashton now.
Ash turned on his heels, shrugging off your hands that attempted to hold him back. He stalked over to Derek and punched him square in the jaw, causing the boy to double over in pain. Ashton’s teammates spurred him on, causing the umpire to rush over, but not quick enough to stop Ashton from elbowing Derek in the back, the boy now flat on his face in a heap on the floor.
"Fuck." Ashton headed back over to you, after being disqualified from this game and the next four that would commence after this one. The crowd had dispersed as soon as Derek had hit the ground, the game was about to start.
