Unexpected Love

Together

Four weeks passed and I finally got my cast off. I had only broken my knee and it had only taken four weeks to heal. I had been with Aiden for a month now. He had seemed pretty calm whenever I had brought up Sam and his gang but I still didn't believe he would let it go. Sam had been away from school for three weeks helping his brother earn money to repair his car. He only arrived back at school halfway through last week and had kept his distance from us. But that wasn't going to last for long.

I walked slowly to school with Jake and Chlesea by my side who were holding hands.

"You finally got your cast off!" Chelsea exclaimed. "Was it scary?"

"Not really," I shrugged. "Aiden will be glad that he doesn't have to be my servant anymore."

"I think secretly he enjoyed looking out for you," Jake laughed. "He cares about you a lot."

I smiled to myself. Aiden was sweet, he was more affectionate when we were alone and he'd always show that he cared.

When we arrived at school we all sat down in a circle on the oval as usual. I waited impatiently for Aiden to arrive and jumped with joy when he arrived.

"Lana!" He called, I knew that voice anywhere. I turned around to see his smiling face. He must have noticed that my cast was off. I walked up to him and flung my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around my waste and lifted me off the ground, spinning me in midair.

"Your cast is off!" He exclaimed, putting me down and still holding me until I was balanced. I smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"That's a bit cute," I heard someone chuckle and I looked past Aiden at Sam and Reece.

Aiden turned his head towards the sound his arms around me protectively.

"Sam," he gasped. I looked up at him full of worry. Aiden couldn't lose control now. I pulled free of his hold and grabbed his arm.

"It is lovely to see that you two are so happy," Sam clapped his hands walking towards us. Chelsea and Jake stood up and were by our side in an instant.

"No need to get protective," Reece said, blowing a stray strand of black hair out of his eyes. "Seriously if you were going to fall for anyone I would've thought it would be one of the cheerleaders. They could give you so much more."

"Alana is better than all of them," Aiden growled.

"Please, come join us again," Sam pleaded. "You can have anything you want, anyone you want. You surely don't want to waste your time with this piece of junk."

Sam took a step forward towards me and Aiden stepped towards Sam but I yanked him back.

"Don't you dare touch her," Aiden snarled.

I held back the tears that were forming at my eyes. Sam was so close, I could smell the sickly sweet scent of his body. He placed his hand on my cheek and out of the corner of my eye I could see Aiden clench his jaw.

"You think that I'd hurt your dear sweetheart?" He asked maliciously. "Of course I would." He looked directly into my eyes. "When your gone."

In an instant his hand slipped from my cheek and his fist went right into Aiden's jaw. Aiden stood his ground. Sam striked again and I gasped as Aiden punched Sam back in the jaw. Reece hurried behind Aiden, kicked Jake to the ground and held Aiden's hands behind his back. Chelsea was leaning over Jake who was slowly rising to his feet.

I couldn't stand back and watch anymore. I lunged at Reece just as Sam punched Aiden again, this time in the stomach. Aiden groaned and I tackled Reece to the ground, pulling Aiden free. I held Reece to the ground as he struggled to get up. He swung a punch at my face and I ducked my head, but he swung a punch a second later and caught me by surprise, knocking me off of him. Jake was up and pushed him to the ground again. I spun towards Aiden who was on the ground holding his stomach. I sprinted towards him as Sam was about to kick him once more.

"No!" I screamed, pushing Sam back. Sam lost balance but regained it in a second. He swung at my face and I took the punch. It hurt, ALOT! I felt my fist clench and I was so angry that I threw a punch at his stomach and he doubled over. I knelt down and held his hands firmly against his back.

"Just leave us alone!" I screamed into his ear. He winced but rolled over and pinned me to the ground. His hand was holding my throat and it felt as if he was choking me. Aiden threw him off of me and they tumbled in the dry grass.

"Fine!" Sam yelled. "We'll leave!"

Reece stopped struggling with Jake.

"Be warned," Reece smiled slyly at me. "This won't be the last of it."

I shuddered and got to my feet. Aiden ran over to me.

"Are you alright?" He asked, holding my face in his hands. "Did he punch you?"

"Once," I avoided his eyes then looked straight into them. "What about you?! He looked like he could tear you apart!"

"I'm fine Lana," he chuckled. "I just want you to be okay."

I tried to smile but instantly I felt the tears prick at the corners of my eyes. How long was this going to go on for? Aiden must've noticed because pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair. I let the tears spill out. We rocked from side to side until I got control of my emotions.

"Why do they hate us so much?" I choked out.

"There has to be a reason, and we're going to find out," he said sternly.

"Are you insane!" I swallowed back the tears and pulled away from him. "You can't go after Sam and try and find out what's going on!"

"Lana," he said softly. "They're not going to stop. I know these people. I need to find out the reason why they're victimising you. Maybe after that we can try and sort things out."

"We," I corrected sternly. "Don't do this without me. I won't let you hurt yourself."

"And us," Jake spoke up. "We're all a part of this. Alana is the one being threatened but we've all been a part of it."

Aiden nodded and I looked up at him.

"What happens if it doesn't work?" I asked.

"It's worth a try."

Amber hurried over to us, dragging Luke along behind her.

"What's going on?" She panicked, finally seeing the bruises on our faces.

"Sam's not going to let this go," Aiden started to explain. "We just... Fought. All of us. He's victimising Alana for a reason. We need to find out why. Then maybe we can work something out from there."

"We're with you," Luke spoke up, sheer terror in his eyes.