Raven (Nolan Rayburn fanfic)

Six.

Nolan arrived at school early that day, hoping he could talk to Raven before class, he didn't know what it was but he felt the need to be around her, to protect her in some way. He walked into school, nodding to a few kids he knew, and headed over to his locker. He felt someone punch him in the arm as he undid his lock. Of course it was Josh.

"Aye So Gus said you guys hung out with the talk of the town last night." He said, excitedly.

Nolan rubbed his arm where his friend had hit him, "If you mean Raven, then yeah we did." Nolan responded, slightly annoyed.

"Well did you tap that or what?" Josh whispered, nudging Nolan in his ribs. I can't believe I call this asshole a friend.

"No I didn't fucking tap that because she's a good person, not just some random girl that every guy in this school wants to fuck." Nolan shoved Josh out of the way and walked towards the main hallway.

He spotted a familiar red jacket in one of the locker bays and felt his heart beat get faster. He walked up to the girl.

"Raven, Hey." He said, sincerely.

Raven didn't look the Nolan, she kept her face forward. "Hey." She whispered.

Nolan frowned. Her voice was almost gone, like she had the cold for a long time, but she seemed fine yesterday.

"Uh, want to walk to chemistry with me?" He asked, the confusion he was feeling clear in his
tone.

Raven nodded and closed her locker, doing her best not to face Nolan as she did so, but Nolan noticed something on her face. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, turning Raven towards him. There was a large bruise on her jaw with multiple cuts surrounding the bruise. Nolan's eyes widened, confusion, fear, and anger boiling up inside him. Raven refused to meet Nolan's eyes, she just stared at the ground as if she had done something wrong.

"Raven. What happened." Nolan said, keeping his voice low and stern.

Raven finally met his stare, Nolan looked at her, his eyes roaming from the bruise and back to her eyes. She looked absolutely broken.  "I fell." She murmured, ripping her arm out of Nolan's grip. She began walking towards chemistry.

Nolan wasn't going to give up that easy. He caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to the side of the hallway. "Who fucking hit you, Raven." Nolan said, his voice now full of anger, not at Raven, but the person who hit her.

Raven shook her head, "I fucking fell, Nolan. Now can we forget about and go to class." She pleaded, clearly wanting Nolan to drop it.

Nolan kept pushing, "Please, Raven. Here let's skip chem, we can hang out and talk about it." Nolan said, his voice desperate.

"You know what Nolan, if your not gonna drop it then I don't want to fucking hang out with you anymore." She regretted it right as the words came out of her mouth. She watched Nolan's eyes go from concerned to hurt. She didn't mean to lash out, but she couldn't tell him her foster dad was abusive. She just couldn't.

Nolan nodded, clenching his jaw, "Fine." Without giving Raven another glance, he walked away towards the main doors. This is what you get for fucking caring about someone, they tell you they don't want you anymore. They fucking hate you for trying to help.

***

Nolan arrived at work and grabbed a bucket, not bothering to acknowledge Luke. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He filled his bucket with soap and water and began cleaning. What the fuck did I do? I just wanted to fucking help her. I mean yeah it was probably traumatizing when it happened but she knows she could tell me. Sure she's probably scared to talk about it... Nolan realized that she didn't lash out because she was mad at Nolan, she lashed out because she was scared. Scared of what, he didn't know, but he wouldn't give up on her. This girl is gonna be the fucking death of me.

***

The next four days Raven didn't show up to school, and Nolan was worried. At lunch he sat next to Gus, quiet and lost in thought.
"Damn man this girl really got you love sick huh?" He teases.

"It's not like that, I'm just worried Gus." Gus nodded, Nolan had told Gus what happened a few days prior.

"Really though Nolan, I'm glad you're finally let people in." Gus explained, trying to keep his voice down.

Nolan looked at Gus, "Jeez Gus it's not like I poured out my soul to her, I just mentioned my dad." Nolan blushed.

"Whatever you say, lover boy." Gus laughed.

Nolan finished his day at school at headed to work. He made light conversation with Luke and began cleaning the boats like always. About halfway into Nolan's shift, he decided to take a break. Nolan laid on the deck of the ship and soaked up the sun as he lit a cigarette. Then he heard a voice, "working hard or hardly working?" He sat straight up, Raven was standing in front of him, smirking.

Nolan did his best to conceal the smile forming on his face, "I'm on break, asshole." He said, throwing the girl a playful glare and putting out his newly lit cigarette. He felt like he shouldn't smoke around her, he wasn't sure why.

"Can I come up there with you?" She asked, she sounded nervous.

Nolan nodded yes and stood up to help her on, "you ever been on a boat?" He asked grabbing Ravens hand and pulling her up onto the deck.

"No actually, this is a first for me." Raven said, looking around. Nolan looked down and realized the two hadn't let go of each others hands yet, Raven seemed to notice too. The both of them pulled away and Raven blushed.

"Um, so, I asked Gus where I could find you after school." Raven stated, fidgeting with a bracelet on her wrist.

Nolan sat down, leaning against a metal wall on the boat and motioned for Raven to do the same. "Well I'm right here, what did you need?" Nolan asked, his heart beating faster due to how close the teens were sitting.

Raven was quiet for a minute and then finally broke the silence, "Nolan I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said, you.. you were just trying to help and I lashed out at you." She looked at Nolan, who was looking into her eyes.

"Raven you are so strong it's crazy. The amount of pain you must be feeling... like I said. I will be here for you no matter what." Nolan said, not daring to break eye contact with her. Her eyes started watering up and she looked away, quickly.

"You don't need to hide your emotions, Raven." Nolan whispered.

"Oh and you don't?" She retorted, smirking at him.

He shook his head and laughed, "touché."

Without thinking Raven leaned her head on his shoulder, the need to be close to him was too strong. Nolan was completely caught off guard as the girl cozied up to him. He wasn't used to human touch, yet alone from a girl. This felt completely right though. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, adjusting his shoulder so she was more comfortable. He felt her breathing against his neck, he felt the warmth of her body against his skin.

"Thank you, Nolan."

Shit. I like her. I like her a lot.