Her Knight In Rusty Armor

Chapter XX

╭──────────.★..─╮
Worth It
╰─..★.──────────╯

There had to be an explanation for this.

Not trying to make it about myself here, but things were getting way too complicated now. Time crept closer and closer to November, just the way the early morning chill crawled under my skin and across my muscles. It wasn't even half-term and so much had transpired already.

Me accepting to be Kate's protector had ignited a chain reaction: Me getting close to her, The Villains catching up on this newfound closeness, The Villains striking first and making things personal, me dealing with all that crap, me deciding to make friends – both real and fake – and finding myself as well as those friends tangled up in a cobweb that I had created on my own.

Today, the spider had finally lured one of my real friends into his trap. I was the only person there was to put the blame on, because I was the one who had spewed the first strand of the web.

Right now, I was dealing with the consequences of my actions.

"Tell me what happened back there," I whispered in her ear.

She shook her head vigorously, staring down at the cafeteria's marble floor, drowning in her own thoughts.

"Alright, fine." I huffed, delicately smearing my thumb over my lip which had been busted open earlier.

A small stain of crimson blood appeared on my thumb. I propped my head into the palm of my hands, resting my elbows against my thighs, then closed my eyes in exhaustion.

"Fill me in when you're ready."

It was almost five in the morning now. My eyes burned with lethargy; I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't just leave her all alone in the cafeteria.

As her shaky breaths grew quieter, I glanced back at her, those rusty brown eyes still glistening with fear.

"I..." her voice broke, yet she didn't continue the sentence.

It was weird to see Nora so quiet.

And it was even weirder to see her making out with the very person we all loathed.

"I'm sorry," she finally managed to choke out, letting out a troubled sob in defeat.

I frowned at her and swivelled in my spot to face her petite self, a single teardrop sliding down her cheek. I couldn't understand why she was apologising to me.

"What are you apologising for, Nora?"

"F-for kissing him, what else?"

I sighed at her. Those hazelnuts of hers – which we would call eyes – leaked with more drops of misery, and I couldn't help but pull her into a hug. She didn't return it, but did bury her nose into the crook of my neck, her small sobs dying down into silence.

"Don't blame yourself, Nora... You're hardly at fault here. You'll have to tell me why you did it, though, zucchero [sugar]," I cooed in her ear while rubbing my hand up and down her back.

She was slightly shaking.

I knew she wasn't dumb enough to be willing to do something so stupid, though, so I remained calm and waited until she would regain her bearings and become capable of narrating what had happened.

She sniffed, pulling away from my grasp. Clearing her throat, she finally returned my gaze, with brownies mirroring olives.

I suddenly wondered what olive flavoured brownies would taste like.