More Than Friends

Part 25 (Tessa)

Before falling asleep, I decided I was going to go to school. My alarm wakes me up and I try to quietly sneak out of bed without waking Hardin. I'm tip-toeing out of Hardin's bedroom when I hear him shifting in the bed.

"Where are you going?" he asks in a sleepy voice.

"I'm going to get ready for school."

"Okay, Tess. Just give me a few minutes and then I'll drive you."

"What? You aren't going to sleep in?"

"I already told you I'm going to be there with you."

"Okay, Hardin." I smile. This boy just keeps amazing me.

"What? No argument?" he teases.

"Not today. I really need your support today."

Hardin sits up, pulls his jeans on and walks over to me. He grabs my hands in his and says, "You have that and so much more. Whatever you need." He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.

"Thank you," I say into his chest.

"Okay, now you better go get ready before I decide to take you back to bed with me." He smiles and gently pats my butt to force me to leave.

"Yes, sir!" I laugh.

"Don't start with that or you definitely will be coming back to bed." He winks as I blush.

I shower, put on some make up to cover what's left of the circles and puffiness under my eyes and grab a granola bar for breakfast. I'm so nervous about today I don't have much of an appetite.

I finish putting all my stuff in my bag as Hardin finishes in the bathroom and grabs his stuff.

"Are you ready, Tess? You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I'm ready," I say as I take a deep breath to calm myself.

"Come here, my brave girl," he says as he hugs me. "I'm going to be your personal body guard today, and what a beautiful body I'm guarding," he chuckles and I roll my eyes.

"Okay, let's go, Mr. Darcy," I say as I drag him out of the apartment.

The whole car ride Hardin goes over the rules of today, and there are a lot of them. The most important is for me to stay away from Zed and Molly. I'm supposed to walk to my classes with him, text him if something happens while I'm in class and wait for him after class, so he can walk me to my next class. We're going to spend lunch together and then we will drive home together.

"You know, you sound more like a stalker than a body guard," I tease.

"Theresa... please don't fight me on this. Not today."

"Okay, Hardin," I reply as he gently squeezes my thigh.

We pull into the campus parking lot and Hardin grabs his bag and mine.

"You know, a girl could get used to this. Who knew you were so romantic?"

"I'm not romantic."

"Could have fooled me." I smile up at him and see a hint of a smile on his face.

He walks me to my first class and I already notice girls staring and whispering and guys leering at me. Unfortunately for them, so does Hardin. All it takes is one powerful glare from him and they turn their attention elsewhere.

We sit through our Literature class together and I feel better, until it's over and I know I'll have to fend for myself in the rest of my classes.

Hardin drops me off at my next class. "Remember to text me if anything at all happens, okay?" he says and then surprises me by kissing me.

"Um, okay," I stutter.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't expect you to kiss me at school, I guess."

"And why wouldn't I? I'm proud to be with you and I want everyone to know it." My heart flutters at his words. "Now, I'll be back here to get you for lunch. Wait here for me." He kisses me goodbye and leaves for his own class.

I get through my class with minimal whispers and stares, then I wait for Hardin as instructed.

"Hey there, pretty lady," I hear from behind me.

I turn to see the voice belongs to Neil. Neil is a huge creep who could never stop hitting on me and trying to get me to go on a date with him, no matter how many times I turned him down.

I try to ignore him and impatiently wait for Hardin to arrive.

"What? No hello?" he asks as he reaches for me and gently tugs at my hair and curls it around his finger.

"What do you want, Neil?" I ask angrily and pull myself from his reach.

"A date. Or whatever else you're willing to give me. You see, I've been hearing some things about you and my feelings are hurt. It seems you give it up to everyone else, but not to me. Why's that?" He grabs my shoulder to turn me to look at him.

"Get away from me, you creep!" I shout.

"And who's going to make me?"

"Me!" Hardin booms from behind him, causing Neil to whip around.

"Scott, do you mind? I'm busy trying to get this smokeshow to go out with me."

"That 'smokeshow' is my girlfriend and if you don't get the fuck away from her, I'm going to rearrange your face."

"She's with you?! Wow..."

"Problem?" Hardin's temper is starting to boil over.

"No..." He starts to leave, but not before turning to me and saying, "If you ever want to be with a real man, you know where to find me." And then he winks.

"Tessa, what the hell was that about?"

"Neil has been trying to get me to go out with him to the point of harassing me about it. Now with the rumours.... well, I'm just glad you showed up when you did." I give him a warm hug.

"Me, too. You need to stay away from him, Tess. I've heard things about him and how he treats women."

"I know, Hardin. But, can we talk about you calling me your... girlfriend?" I look up and smile.

Hardin blushes. He actually blushes. "Enough of that. Now, where should we go for lunch?" He gives a shy smile and we start walking down the hall, my hand in his.