You, Me, and All The Spaces In-between

CHAPTER 35

I shut the door behind me at once.

"Alyx," Robert hissed, eyes widening in open shock, "why are you covered in bruises?"

"Sssh," I pleaded, pressing a finger to my lips.

"Alyx?" Elena called from down the hall. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine, Elena," I replied, grabbing Robert's hand and pulling him to my bed.

"You better start explaining," Robert muttered, settling on the edge of it, "or I'm going straight to Elena and demanding answers-"

"She doesn't know!" I blurted, panic rising within me. "You can't tell her about this!"

"About what?" Robert's eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "What's going on, Alyx?"

"Ok, ok." I raised my hands placatingly. "I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to get mad."

"I'm not making that promise."

"Fine," I sighed, staring at my feet. "I just...I was leaving school this afternoon, and Tyson...beat me up."

"What?!" Robert shot to his feet, mouth agape. "Oh my god! Have you told anyone yet?!"

"No..." I replied slowly. "And I'm not going to."

"What?!"

I winced at the utter disbelief that crossed over his face.

"It would only make things worse, Robert." I shifted restlessly; the whole thing was making me uncomfortable. "People like Tyson are touchable. And Cash-"

"What about Cash?" Robert snapped, eyes flashing. "Huh?"

"He...He..." The words clogged in my throat, and I couldn't force them out, no matter how many times I opened and closed my mouth. "He helped me," I said finally, evasively. "He's taking care of it."

"Taking care of it?" There was a bewildered kind of incredulity in his voice, and it occurred to me just how shocked I would be, if our roles were reversed and Robert was the one telling me this. "He's probably playing a prank on you or something-He's probably trying to make you look dumb!"

Although I couldn't blame Robert, his words hurt all the same. "That's not-He's not-"

"Alyx, please." Robert put his hands on my shoulders, and I froze at the intensity in his gaze. The pleading in his face. "Please, give up on Cash. Before you get hurt."

My bottom lip was wobbling so much, I thought I'd spill everything, right then and there. "Okay," I managed. It felt like a betrayal. Like the worst kind of lie. "Okay, I'll give up on him."

"Thankyou." He drew away, then gave me a long once-over, brow still furrowed. "God, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"It's happened before," I sighed, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu. "That time when I came to English covered in bruises?"

Robert made a sharp noise of outrage. "That was Tyson?"

"Yeah." I shrugged, but even that movement hurt. "Look, I'm not telling you this to worry you. And I don't want you to feel bad, or anything-"

"But I do feel bad," he groaned. "I feel horrible. I should've been looking out for you more-I just got so caught up with the whole Martin and Ky thing, and the thing with my Dad-"

"Oh, yeah," I interjected, "how is that going?"

"Nevermind that now!" Robert looked at me as though I'd said something very absurd. "You were injured, and I wasn't there!"

"Robert, it's not your-"

"No, I'm gonna do better. I will do better." He fixed me with a resolved stare. "For now on, I'll look out for you, okay? I promise." His lips curved into a trembling smile, and I realised, in that moment, just how much I'd scared him.

My stomach dropped as he pulled me into an embrace, a rare show of true affection between us. Robert was generally withdrawn, a little emotionally detached-I knew he didn't really like being touched.

But now he was hugging me. He'd been worried about me, and now he was hugging me.

I don't deserve a friend like him, I thought glumly. I'm lying right to his face.

Robert grinned at me as we drew apart. "From now," he said, "I won't let you out of my sight."

Oh no.

"Oh."

I forced myself to grin back, even as dread pooled in the pit of my stomach.

"That's good."

A/N: Thankyou so much for reading :)