Togetherness

13

"Hey," David says when I set my tray down on the table, across from him.

"Hello." I walk over to the water fountains across the cafeteria from our table and start filling up my bottle. I feel a presence walk behind me but I think nothing of it, figuring it was somebody throwing something away. That is, until I feel large, meaty hands latch onto my waist and a hot breath hits my ear, paralyzing me.

"Hey, slut."

"Tim, can you please not?"

"Can you not be all over that fucking asshole?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"You know what the hell I'm talking about." He squeezes my hips harder at 'hell'.

"Are you talking about David? Sweet, cinnamon roll David?"

"He is not a fucking cinnamon roll. Nor is he sweet. I had to get eight stitches because of him!"

"There's no-" I turn around and look at his face. "Oh." Sure enough, there's a row of evenly sewn stitches on his right cheek. That feels like it was so long ago, even though that was only yesterday. "Whatever, can you get off of me?"

"No, princess, I can't."

I ignore his princess comment. "Why the hell not?"

"Because you're fucking mine and I can touch you for as long as I want."

"I'm not yours!"

Perfectly timed, David comes up and rips Tim off of me. I collapse onto the ground against the water fountain and scoot back to the wall next to it. He grabs Tim's collar and lifts him just enough that his feet are no longer on the ground.

"Listen here, buddy," David seethes. "Keep your fucking hands off my man or we're gonna have an issue."

"She's-"

David's fist connects with his jaw before he could finish the word. "He is a boy, you cunt." He drops Tim and comes to crouch in front of me. I see a few people rush over to Tim, who's groaning on the ground. David's eyes soften and his features fill with worry. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? I swear, I'll kill-"

"Shhhh," I press my finger against his lips. "I'm okay. He didn't hurt me."

David nods and slips his arms around my middle. I return the hug and bury my face in his shoulder. After a second or two, I notice that the cafeteria is dead silent and that everybody is watching us.

"David, bear, people are watching us," I whisper.

"Let them watch," he whispers back.