My Guardian Angel

Chapter 22

"It's just up here." Katie pointed to her left so Ben parked to his right. He got out and held open the door for her and Cassie to get out of the back. Cassie was still clinging to her, but not crying as much anymore. She looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

Ben escorted them across the street and up to Cassie's building. Katie was insisting she had it from there, but that was before Cassie fully fell asleep, causing her entire body weight to lean on Katie. She nearly fell over.

"Let me help," he told her. "I know I'm the piece of shit who hurt your friend, but I still care for her."

Katie took in a deep breath, then let it out. "Yeah, well, you're not looking like the piece of shit after tonight. You grab her legs, I've got her arms." She counted to three, but instead of Ben lifting just Cassie's legs, he picked her up completely. Katie huffed, but opened the door to the building.

He carried her bridal style to the elevator and all the way to her apartment. Katie let him in, then pointed to her bedroom. "It's just down there. Can you make sure she's alright while I call Breck? I want to make sure I don't see him on Dateline."

Ben took Cassie down the short hall and to her bedroom. He gently set her down on her bed and turned on her bedside lamp. She didn't move an inch, even with the light in her eyes.

This is the first good look he's gotten of her since class earlier. It pained his heart to see the stains of tears on her reddened cheeks. It pained his soul to see the even more red mark left by Casey. He gently moved his thumb over it, causing her to stir an inch.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, then carefully removed her heels. He took the blanket at the end of the bed, then covered her with it up to her shoulders. He brushed his thumb over her temple before wandering around her room and taking a look.

He smiled at the pictures she had framed, the awards she proudly displayed. Everything was truly her. It was the same girl he got to know in Mexico. From the places she's been, where she's from, what she's achieved, it was all the truth. He didn't believe it at first, but it pained him to see proof.

Deep down, he had hoped she lied about everything. It would have made it so much easier to let go. After seeing what happened tonight, he wasn't sure if he was capable of it anymore. He felt such a powerful urge to protect her, he didn't know what in the hell to call it.

After a few more minutes of snooping and finding out that she truly had only lied about one thing, he sat down next to her. He took her hand from under the blanket and squeezed it in his own.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I don't care how many times I have to say it. I am so sorry, Cassie. I promise, I am not going to let a goddamn thing on this earth hurt you again. I know you can't hear me and I know you're going to forget this ever happened. I think that might be for the best. It still won't change the fact that I will look after you. I promise."

He lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on it before setting it down. "I'm not leaving you again," he whispered. "You'll see me on Monday, darling."

With that he stood up and walked out into the hall. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Katie casually leaning up against the wall near the door. She was looking suspiciously at him. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, all of it." She pushed herself off of the wall, getting nearer to him. He actually took a step away. "Listen, Cumberbitch. You can make all the empty promises you want to her, but she has been through enough with you. I was the one that was there to see her broken heart, not you. You were too much of a fucking coward."

He put his head down in shame. She continued, "Do her a favor and just leave her alone. Thank you for being her knight in shining armor tonight, but don't expect any favors in return."

His head snapped up to her at that. "Who do you think I am?" He harshly asked. "I'm certainly better than the crowd you keep around by the looks of it. You've got a friend who hits her and another who runs off to prove what a big, strong man he is. I don't want her to remember I was ever a part of this, but I will have to report it to the school. When they call you in for questioning, please leave out the detail I was here for my job's sake. Don't tell Cassie that, either. How's that for expecting favors?"

He turned on his heels and stormed down the hall as Katie chewed on her tongue in frustration. She wanted him to be bad for Cassie, but she had no idea what to think after that.

~ . ~

The next morning, Cassie was woken up by a wave of nausea. She leaped out of bed and booked it into her hall bathroom just in time for her to start spilling her guts out. She was still fuzzy and disoriented, but was glad to be stable enough to be doing this in the toilet.

As threw up one of the times, she felt a sharp pain on her cheek. He hissed and touched it, suddenly getting a rush of what had happened last night. She barely remembered a thing, but she did remember the slap Casey gave her after she told him to stop his advances. After that, it was a complete blur.

She doesn't know if anyone saw, she doesn't even know how she got home!

"Cass! Babe!" Katie's voice rang out from somewhere in her apartment. Cassie breathed out a sigh of relief and got up without flushing and ran into the hall where she met Katie and hugged the daylights out of her.

"Geez," Katie chuckled. "You okay? Ew, you smell like puke..." She gently pushed Cassie away and saw the red finger prints still evident on her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Cassie started tearing up as she said, "It was Casey. He tried coming onto me and I told him no and he slapped me, then..."

Katie gently shushed her and said, "I know, I know. Look...Ben saw the entire thing." Cassie's eyes went wide. "He helped you until Breck and I came out looking for you. I took it from there while Breck went to go see if Casey was home."

"Was he?" She eagerly asked.

Katie sadly shook her head. "No," she sighed. "Breck said he probably just missed him, but he packed up a bag and left. He probably drove to his parents, the baby. Ben said he's going to report it."

"He can't!" Cassie protested. "I don't want him to!"

Katie shook her head as she told her, "You don't have much of a choice here. He's a Professor who saw it happen. He has to report it or he'll lose his job."

She scoffed as she turned back to the bathroom. "Since when did you care about his job?" She bitterly asked.

Katie thought back to just a few hours ago and shrugged. "I don't. I care about you and I care about Casey getting what's fucking coming to him. God I wish Breck got to him last night." Cassie groaned at the ache in her head, then stumbled back to the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower," she grumbled, but Katie made her wait. She wanted to take any pictures as evidence. She admitted to getting pictures while she was sleeping last night, but wanted fresh ones from the morning after. She even took her dress away in case it was needed as "evidence".

"Anything else, Officer?" Cassie bitterly asked. Katie shoved her into the bathroom and shut the door.