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Hero (Nate Maloley)

The sound of shattering glass made me jump in my seat. The constant yelling from my parents was enough for me to grab my sweater and sneak out of the house and go for a walk. It was 11:30 at night and I knew I shouldn't be out of the house around this time, especially since I'm alone, but the arguing between my parents was something I didn't want to hear. I walked down my street and finally decided that I was just going to walk over to my friend's house. There was a short cut we would always take and I debated on whether or not I should take it, making it quicker for me to get off the streets. I decided to take the shortcut, but quickly regretted that decision as soon as I turned the corner and walked right into a few guys, who were probably two to three years older than I was. I took a whiff of the air and quickly realized that these guys were drunk and probably high.

"Hey, you go to that school a few block from here, right?" One of the guys with dark brown hair asked as I froze in fear.

"Um, yeah. I guess so." I responded, not knowing what to say. I try to walk away, but they crowded me, making it impossible for me to push myself through without either of them grabbing me. I started to panic, praying that I wasn't going to get killed tonight.

"Where you going? You know, someone as pretty as you shouldn't be walking around this late into the night. Something bad could happen." Another one of the guys adds, giving me a disgusting smirk.

"Right, well I should get –" I retorted, trying to back away from them and hopefully getting around them, but that didn't work. I felt someone grab my wrist and pull me towards him.

"Hey, you don't need to go. We won't hurt you, we're not that stupid." He slurs his words and grips my wrist tighter. At this point, I was terrified for my life. I try to pull my wrist out of his hand, but his grip was too tight.

"Let go of me." I said through clenched teeth, continuing to try and break myself free.

"Aw, come on princess. Have a little fun. We won't hurt you, promise." He repeats, handing his friend his beer bottle to hold.

"If you aren't going to hurt me. Let. Me. Go." I say, raising my voice. "I'm fucking serious. Let me go!" I repeat, practically shouting it. I see a tall and broad figure walking towards me from the corner of my eye and I prayed that it wasn't more of his friends.

"Let her go." He says, his voice deep and stern. He grabs the hand that was holding onto me and pulls it back, allowing my wrist to finally break free from the grasp.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked the tall guy who might have saved me from a situation that could have ended in horrendous ways.

Ignoring the question, he turns away from them and takes ahold of my arm, leading me away from the group of guys and towards the direction I was originally headed. I hear displeased noises come from the group of guys, but I didn't care. When we were finally out of sight from the scumbags who wouldn't leave me alone, he turns his attention to me. "Are you okay?" He asks, his eyes soften and I already knew he wasn't someone who was out to hurt me. I hesitantly nodded my head and began rubbing around my wrist, trying to sooth the pain.

He looks at my actions and concern was written all over his face. "Did he hurt you?" He asked, gently taking ahold of my wrist and examining it, making sure bruises weren't going to form later on.

"No, thank God. His grip was a little tight, but I don't think it'll do any damage." I reassure him, pulling my hand back. "Thank you for that, by the way. I didn't know what I would do if you hadn't come along."

He gives me a smile, dimples appearing on both cheeks, making him even more attractive than he already was. He pushes his hair back and looks down at the ground. "I guess sneaking out of the house was worth it." He chuckled, then his eyes meeting mine once more. "Where are you headed?" He questioned.

"Oh, uh, my friend's place. It's the street after this one." I explain, pulling the sleeves of my sweater over my palms.

"Really? That's where I was heading, I know someone who lives on the street after this one as well. Mind if I walk with you there?" He asked cautiously, making sure not to invade on my personal space.

"Of course. Maybe you can tell other guys to fuck off if I run into anymore who are anything like those guys back there." I giggled and I initiated the continuation of our walk.

A few seconds of silence falls between us, making things a little awkward. "Oh, I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Nate." He blurts out.

"I'm (Y/N). It's nice to meet you." I reply, slightly turning to him and sticking my hand out for him to shake. He shakes my hand and stuffs his hands into his pockets.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you out this late?" He wonders, not taking his eyes off me and walking closely as if he was afraid someone was going to snatch me away.

"I just needed to clear my mind." I explained.

"Clear your mind, huh? Let me take a guess, boyfriend troubles?" He teased, adding a chuckle at the end of his sentence.

I playfully roll my eyes. "Yeah, if I had one. But no, it's just things going on at home." I clarify. "What about you? Sneaking off to see your girlfriend?" I playfully bump him, causing him to smile.

"Nah, I'm as single as you are. I'm actually going to a friend's party." He says nonchalantly. As we continued walking, we began to get to know each other – unknowingly causing us to walk slower to savor our conversation. However, we finally get to the street that we were both headed to. Considering my friend lived in the first house on the street, our conversation was cut short even though we took longer to get there than we planned.

I halted in front of my friend's front gate. "Well this is my stop," I let out trying to hide my slight disappointment. I force a smile and he does the same. "Thank you so much for practically saving me from those guys back there. I feel like I owe you one." I laughed, trying to lighten up the mood. I see the front door swing open and my friend appeared, only to stop in her tracks when she saw me talking to Nate. We both looked at her and smiled awkwardly. Her lips formed an 'O' shape and she nodded her head, slowly backing away from us. "Let me know if you two need anything." She whisper-shouts at us, hinting sexual sarcasm in her statement with a sly smirk, then closing her front door.

I feel my face getting hot from embarrassment as I hear a laugh leave Nate's lips. I shyly look up at him, hoping he didn't catch the sexual tone my friend stated. The smirk that was plastered across his face lets me know that he did catch on. "She's funny," he chuckles in attempt to make me feel less embarrassed. I look at my feet, then heard a strange buzzing noise that came from Nate's pocket. He pulled his phone out and put it against his ear. As he spoke to the person on the other line, I look towards my friend's front door to find her head peeping through the side window, like a concerned parent who's watching their child go on their first date. I scrunch my eyebrows and gave her a 'what the fuck are you doing' look and in return she just shrugs her shoulders, then continues to intently watch us.

He ends the phone call and shifts his attention back to me. "That was my friend. He said he sees me and is wondering why I'm standing in front of his neighbor's house." He laughs, shoving his phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

I let out a small laugh. "I should probably let you get to that party," I tell him. "My friend's watching us through the window and is waiting for me." I whisper and he slowly turns his head to see my friend watching us like it was her favorite TV show. Nate gives her a friendly smile and wave and in return she does the same.

"Yeah, I should probably get going. I really hope I see you around. And soon." He smirks and nods his head once before continuing walking towards a guy who takes a drink out of his cup. Before walking up his friend's driveway, he looks back at me and waves goodbye. I mimic his actions and he disappears out of sight.

"Who was that?" I heard someone say, startling me. I was so focused on watching Nate, I didn't realize my friend made her way back outside. She raises an eyebrow and tries to search for the guy who was a stranger to her.

I smiled and responded to her question. "I'd consider him my hero for the night."