Broken Defender

Chapter Twenty-Two ~ Stupid Teenagers

She saw us last night; of that I was certain. Though I couldn't actually pin point just what it was about her demeanor that set off the obvious fact that she knew. Maybe it was the air of professionalism she seemed to present. She treated me almost as though I were a co-worker, keeping all opinions to her self, only speaking of the weather, and my obvious groggy manner. It's true I was tired. I'd spent a good portion of my evening thinking about him, but I wasn't miserably sleepy today.

"Did she say anything?" Harry asked. His hand gripped mine tightly as we walked down the sidewalk toward school.

I shrugged my shoulders, pursing my lips in an unsure manner as he peered back at me through dark sunglasses. Yesterday's little rainfall brought on sunshine today, but it was still chilly. I donned thick jeans, and a sweatshirt. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he'd already reached up a handful of times to flip my wavy locks as though they were a helicopter propeller. This action amused him, and he laughed every time at my put off reactions.

"She didn't say a word... that's how I know she knows." I muttered.

"Well ya know we should probably tell'er... ya know?" He asked. His shoulder bumped mine as he squeezed my hand tighter.

I nodded at his remark, taking a deep breath as we made our way up the front steps of the school. The last time I was near these steps, I was hugging the pavement. I shook that thought off, glancing up as Harry shoved the door opened, allowing my entrance before his. As I had unhappily anticipated, I was quickly met by curious glances while we made our journey down the crowded hallways... it was like that all day actually.

I got curious glances from almost every person on campus, and those who weren't inquisitive about me, instead would stare at Harry. What were they thinking exactly? Did they hear about the fight yesterday? Maybe they wanted to know the details... maybe they had been there. Truthfully, it was hard to know who had been there as my physical was a bit shakily altered at the time.

"Ignore it Suz." Harry whispered in my ear. He seemed to notice just how standoffish I had been upon entering into the cafeteria.

"They're all staring at me."

"Ignore it." He insisted again, tugging me further into the cafeteria as we always did.

At this point I had insisted he put his sunglasses on his head. I thought the idea of wearing sunglasses indoors to be ridiculous, and he complied.

"Hey..." Harry began. He turned about to face me as a concerned expression crossed his features.

"You wanna sit alone today?" He questioned. His left brow furrowed down over his eye as he examined my expression.

I returned his gaze curiously. His hand squeezed mine as I let my eyes wander over to Zayn's already half full table in the corner. Why did he want to suddenly segregate us? Was it now that we'd passed the I love you barrier in our relationship, that he finally wanted us to have more time alone? I wouldn't argue with that. I did want to spend more time just with him during the long school days... but I couldn't help wondering if his intentions dug deeper than that.

"Yeah." I spoke quietly.

My fingers intertwined with his tightly as he led me through the crowded cafeteria. I wasn't exactly sure where we would sit... and neither was he, but he seemed determined to detach us from Zayn's table today... and I was more than okay with that.

The line moved sluggishly. Harry followed me this time, draping his arm around my shoulder as I made my way through the boring progression. The cafeteria ladies seemed a bit annoyed with his presence, no doubt bothered by the fact that he wasn't purchasing anything. He was dead weight to them in an over packed line like this... and I would have shrugged him off of my shoulder, insisting he go and find us a table, but I liked having him around. I liked his chin on my head, his chest against my back.