"Hey, you alright?" Seth asked, looking over at his childhood friend with a slight frown as she worked on her homework, not meeting his gaze.

"I'm fine, Seth. Just fine…" She replied, letting the lie slip past her lips before she changed her mind. "I just got into an argument with Mason, that's all, okay?"

As awful as she felt for lying to her best friend, she didn't - couldn't - have anybody find out about what happened behind closed doors. Not even those closest to her could find out. Things were bad enough as it is, and she didn't need more on her over-stuffed plate.

"Okay, Easter…" Seth said slowly, still quite worried for the younger teenager as he hesitantly went back to looking at his own homework. "What was it about?"

"He, ah… He wanted to take me out to McDonald's for Valentine's Day…" Easter lied once more, feigning an embarrassed look as she looked up at him and tucked some ashen blonde hair behind her ear. "You really need to touch up your blond patch or something, dude…" She quickly added, attempting to change the subject.

"I know, I know." He said, waving a hand rather dismissively before saying, "But seriously?! Doesn't he know that you loathe Mickey D's?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't wanna spend too much money…"

"That's fucking bullshit!" He exclaimed, scowling. "He's the richest motherfucker in this entire school corporation, he shouldn't have to worry over his finances!"

"I know, Seth… But I guess I'm not worth the money…" She murmured, sighing as she looked back at her paper and muttered, "Fucking Algebra…" under her breath. The girl was never that good with math and failed Algebra in her freshman year…

Seth opened his mouth to say something, only to quiet down when their other friends sat by them, as announced by the sound of lunch trays meeting the table. But then, he said, "Dean, Roman, Easter's being too stubborn!"

Dean, sitting beside Easter, let out a small chuckle, causing Easter to look up at the Ohioan as he said, "Is this about that prissy bitch boyfriend of hers?"

Seth smiled a bit and nodded, before frowning again as he said, "She said that he wanted to take her out to McDonald's for Valentine's Day, and she keeps on putting herself down."

Dean leaned back in his seat and nodded, looking over at the blonde beside him and wondering where her lunch was as he said, "Hey, Easter, what's goin' on?"

"You already heard from Seth, what else is there for me to say…?" She asked, glad that it was too loud for them to hear her growling stomach as she eyed one of the tacos on Dean's plate from out of the corner of her eye.

Dean watched her closely, as attentive of the blonde as ever as he said, "Do I need to kick this douche's ass?" before looking at Seth and nodding ever so slightly.

Seth got up and hurried to the school's 'Mexican food' line, knowing exactly what to get for his friend as he fished out his wallet.

"N-No, it's fine!" Easter exclaimed, putting a hand on his bicep before he could get up. "Mason is just really stubborn, that's all… So don't worry about it, alright?"

Dean paused at the touch to his shoulder, looking her over before nodding and - albeit reluctantly - relaxing. "Sure. But seriously, if he ever does anything, then just say the word."

Easter didn't reply right away, feeling like she was quite unworthy of getting into a fight over. Especially with such a rich and popular guy like Mason as an opponent… Not to mention that she regarded herself as being quite ugly… However, she eventually nodded, looking surprised when a tray with - not one, not two, but three - tacos, a side of peaches, chocolate milk, and a bag of barbecue flavoured, baked Lays chips were set before her.

"Here, Easter, you didn't have anything for breakfast." Seth said with a smile, not even bothered by the amount of money it cost him, considering that he was very concerned for one of his best friends. "You gotta eat something."

Her gray eyes were wide with surprise, uncertain on what to do with so much before her. She hadn't eaten in a long while, the poor girl…

Roman looked up from his own food and noticed the slight nervousness in her eyes, saying, "Easter, have you been eating recently…? You seem nervous."

Easter nodded, hesitantly taking one of the tacos and leaning over her tray before sinking her teeth in, the shredded cheese melting in her mouth as the spicy yet cheesy taste overwhelmed her neglected tastebuds. She managed a hum, but felt like an absolute pig as she swallowed the mouthful and took a larger bite.

Both Seth and Roman relaxed, but Dean continued to cast glances at her as he, too, began to eat his tacos, knowing that something was horribly amiss about the girl at his side. He never really liked Mason, after all… And that was obvious enough, by the anger that lit up in his azure eyes whenever the rich boy was mentioned. Then again, he hated the majority of Crown Point High School, after all.

The Northwest Indiana school was full of bitchy women, asshole jocks, and most of the teachers being dickheads that could barely teach if their life depended on it. Hell, one of the girls in one of Easter's mutual friend's Choir class was pregnant, and that was no rumour.

Either everybody came from the 'hick' town just west of them, Cedar Lake, or their moms were housewives, there was no in-between point. And if you came from a normal, loving family, then the world was ending. And then there was the shitty architecture of the school, too…

Dean shook his head a bit, finishing off his first taco before moving on to his second. He glanced at Easter again, slowing with his chewing as he noticed that she was almost done with her three tacos already, making him look quite surprised. On any other day that they had lunch, she typically ate slowly, considering she typically tended to swallow her food too early or do something else that made her start choking. So he was quite surprised at how quickly she put the last bite of somewhat spicy food in her mouth.

Easter grabbed her carton of milk and opened it with ease, not bothering with a straw as she took as big of a drink as she could, making even Roman look a bit surprised as the trio watched her.

"Woah, woah, Easter, pace yourself a bit…" Seth said, putting a hand on her arm and making her set the carton down. "You know how bad your luck is when you gobble everything on the tray down."

"O-Oh… right… S-Sorry," She said, feeling ashamed and embarrassed as she nodded and checked her phone nervously. She felt like a pig again…

"Hey, you don't gotta apologize. I just don't want you hurting yourself, okay?" Seth said, giving the blonde a reassuring smile. "I've known you for a long while, you're one of my closest friends…"

"O-Okay…" Easter said, managing a small smile as she slowly drank the rest of her milk.

Dean didn't comment, simply looking between his two friends as they conversed and noting anything that wasn't like Easter, when it came to how she was acting. He might not use his mind all the time and let his smart mouth get himself in trouble, but he was still as caring and as protective as any other friend. He just showed it in a… less than conventional manner.

And Dean certainly noticed when she stopped eating and stood up to excuse herself to the bathroom, making the corners of his lips dip down for a moment as he watched her scurry to the girl's bathroom.

After a long moment, he also stood, standing next to the door to the girls' restroom and hearing somebody gag and such from within, making him a tad worried. What if that was Easter…?

He sighed and shook his head, leaning against the wall without a care in the world as he checked the time. Lunch was gonna be over in a few minutes, it seemed.

Easter came back out as everybody left, seeing Dean at her side as she jumped and said, "J-Jesus, you scared me!"

However, Dean didn't chuckle or smirk a bit, as he'd usually do. Instead, he leaned in and asked in a surprisingly soft tone, "You okay…?"

Easter looked up at him with her wide, gray eyes as she said, "O-Of course, Dean! Why would I not be okay…?" and hoped that he didn't put the pieces of this incomplete puzzle together. She couldn't have him find out…

"Oh, I just heard some girl, gagging in there or somethin'. Guess I shouldn't worry about it, then." He said, shrugging dismissively as Seth and Roman approached them, with all of their bags.

"Easter, you alright?" Seth asked, handing the blonde's things to her. "You were in there for an awfully long while… I hope I didn't offend you."

"Y-You didn't offend me, Seth! I just felt stomach pains and ran to the bathroom, just to be safe, you know?" She said with a sheepish laugh, blushing as she added, "You understand, right…?" and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yeah, I got it." He understand with a smile, opening his mouth to say something as a boy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes wedged his way between the trio.

"Hey, babe!" He exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "How was lunch? Any of these guys tried anything with you?"

Easter held back a wince at the tight grip on her upper arm, saying, "L-Lunch was good, Mason… And they didn't bother me at all, I promise…" as she glanced back and waved goodbye to her friends. She was so scared…

Seth sighed and waved, with Roman nodding and Dean watching the odd couple go.

Once they were out of earshot, Dean automatically said, "I think something's goin' on between them… Somethin' not good."

"I agree." Roman said, glancing at where Easter and Mason went off to. "Should we follow them?"

"Well, if we're thinking the same thing, then following them is too dangerous to Easter." Dean pointed out, moving around restlessly. "Besides, we don't have solid evidence. Unless odd gagging from the bathroom counts, since she was the only one in there."

Seth scowled, saying, "If she is stuck in an abusive relationship, we need to tell a police officer or something, right?! Just going in there and beating the shit outta him is gonna land all of us in jail, including Easter."

"That fact hasn't stopped me from beatin' the shit outta guys before." Dean countered with a smug expression. He might not have won every fight, but he still left more than just some scrapes, that was for sure.

Seth sighed and shook his head, looking over at Roman. "What do you think, Ro?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We can't just go to the cops with no evidence. Not only will they not believe us, but - even if they did - they wouldn't do shit. His family just about funds the school, and if their 'golden boy' got arrested, they'd stop funding the place." Roman decided after a moment of thought, running a hand through his hair as he added, "We should at least get evidence, and call up one of those domestic abuse phone-lines. We gotta do something before she's seriously hurt."

Both boys nodded, with Seth smiling and Dean sighing a bit.

"Guess I can't kick rich boy's ass?" He asked, tilting his head a bit as he spoke.

"Not recommended. But we won't stop you." Seth said, sighing a bit at the Ohioan's words. "Just make him throw the first punch, and it won't be as bad for you."

"Got it, brother."

Seth smiled a bit, saying, "I have to work on a stupid group project in Latin, with some of Mason's buds. I'll see if I can get anything out of em, deal?" and receiving nods and other approving gestures from the other two.

"I'll keep an eye on Easter, then, make sure her mood isn't going to shit." Dean said, knowing that Roman was busy with football practice to really do anything like either one of them were. But Roman would try to pitch in, for sure.

"I'll try and get any info on him from exes or anything. It'll help see if he's a threat to Easter or not." The Samoan said, knowing that many women in the school liked him quite a bit. It wouldn't be too hard to get info on Mason. Just a few polite words and they'd spill the beans, without a shadow of a doubt. He never showed too much interest in women, anyway.

"Works for me. So, we got a solid plan?" Seth said, grinning over at Roman before glancing at Dean.

"Hell yeah!"

"Yep."

Seth continued to grin as he extended his fist, in which Dean and Roman did the same until all of their fists were touching.

Nothing was separating them. Not even rich boy Mason.

Here's a new WWE fanfiction of mine! I hope that you guys will enjoy this, and I swear that this was far longer on Google Docs! But I hope you enjoy!