Chapter Twelve

A/N: Again, I want to thank reviewers and people who favourited.

Greg just stood there, with his mouth wide open, gaping at Rodrick and me. We at least had the decency to step away from one another while Greg was standing there.

"Why were you kissing him?" he turned to gawk at me, like I had done something to personally victimise him

"I, uh, um, I, uh" I stuttered, failing to think of one coherent thing to say.

"Because she's my girlfriend, dumbass" Rodrick spoke up. I looked at him in shock and Greg's mouth dropped a little further.

"She can't be. She's a actually a decent human being and not gross" Rodrick glared at him, and Greg started to look a little fearful

"She is very much not gross, but if you tell Mum and Dad anything, you are so dead!" Rodrick snarls at Greg, who backs away slightly, eyes growing wider in fear rather than simple surprise. Before I can stop him, Rodrick is up at Greg and putting him in a tight headlock

"Rodrick!" I exclaim and try to dislodge Greg's head from Rodrick's iron grip

"Well, he needs to realize the consequences. He acts like a dumbass, he gets treated like a dumbass" Rodrick glares at Greg and tightens the grip slightly. Greg tries muttering something that I can't quite make out. This side of Rodrick was upsetting, and was against everything that had happened in the last few days.

"Rodrick, let him go" I say, trying to use my most reasonable, yet frightening tone and Rodrick looks guilty, like a kid being told off. I then turned to Greg who was massaging his neck.

"Greg, what did you say?"

"I said, I'm not going to tell anyone but-"

"But what? Spit it out, wimp" Rodrick interrupts and Greg rolls his eyes

"You have to be nice to me for as long as Flor is here"

"Whatever, but if you tell Mum-"Rodrick makes a cut-throat gesture with his hand

"I won't as long as you're nice to me. But if you slip up, I may accidently-"Greg threatens and Rodrick glares at him so hard, Greg flinches slightly

"OK, Greg, Rodrick promises to be nice" I speak up and Rodrick looks at me, almost pleadingly

"He better" Greg mutters and wanders back up the stairs shaking his head. I couldn't believe how easily that ended. I felt like I had missed something.

"What the hell just happened?" I turned bewildered to Rodrick, who still had that same frosty expression on his face as he stared at the door Greg had just left out of. If looks could kill, Greg would be blown to smithereens

"We got caught, but it's okay. I have stuff on Greg that would make him regret ever opening his mouth" Rodrick smiled in a way I could only describe as sadistic. He turned towards me, and gestured with his head to follow me to his bed. Confused, I followed him, hoping this wasn't his bizarre way of trying to get me to his bed. As much as I liked him, his weird animosity towards his brother scared me a little.

He reached underneath the bed and pulled out a journal?

"I know more about him than he could ever know" his grin stretched wider as he showed the pages in Greg's handwriting, accompanied by what looked like drawings. All I could think was what have I gotten myself into?

…..

The next day stays pretty much the same as the day before, and so does the days after and before I know it an entire week has passed.

I was walking to my locker, right after the bell for lunch had gone and thinking about an upcoming speech on the American Industrial Revolution I have to give in History

I shove my books in my locker, grab my lunch bag and make my way to the cafeteria, to the table I sit at with Bliss, Tori, Oliver and sometimes Rodrick, if he isn't busy with his own friends. Sometimes the guys that Tori likes sit with us too, but they are usually gone within a week or two. She moves on quickly.

An arm wraps around my shoulder. At first, I'm startled, but then I realize it must be Rodrick. As I turn to kiss him, I realize it's not Rodrick, but Rob.

I shrug off his arm and glare at him

"Long time no see, babe" He nods at me and I can already feel my tension levels rising

"I thought I made it very clear how I felt about you calling me that last time we spoke" I snarl at him and start walking faster. He catches up again and just laughs when I glare at him

"I have a boyfriend, so piss off"

"So?" He questions and I nearly explode

"So? So, you ask me? Are you completely stupid or just oblivious to real life?" I yell at him and march through the cafeteria doors and to the table, which, unluckily for me, is uninhabited by my friends and boyfriend. Rob just follows me like a lost puppy and pulls up the seat next to me

"What about us?" he asks me. What the hell? There never was an 'us'

"Get lost Rob, there was never anything there" I respond and stare at my sandwich, wishing I was somewhere else

"Come on, we should go out sometime, or we could go just to my place-"

"ROB WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT GET LOST MEANS?" I scream, much to the surprise of Rob and most of the cafeteria. Shit, I really need to work on my volume control

"But-"Rob starts, but then a voice stops him

"My girlfriend asked you to go away, and I suggest you do, before I make you" Rodrick growls at him

Rob turns around and the two of them attempt to stare each other down. I could almost imagine the twang of the guitar in the background right before a legendary showdown begins. Rodrick may be shorter than Rob, but he is definitely more muscular and much more threatening.

"Oh yeah, what are you gonna do?" Rob challenges, but there was a slight wobble in his voice that showed how frightened he really was of what Rodrick could potentially do.

Before I know it, Rodrick punches Rob in the jaw. It's like it's in slow motion, as Rodrick's fist moves towards Rob's jaw and the force pushes Rob's head backward.

" . God!" Bliss pops up beside me, her mouth nearly open as wide as mine. It feels like the whole cafeteria is holding its collective breath, waiting for the two boys to whack the bejesus out of each other.

Rob gets back up and swings at Rodrick. Rodrick is too slow to move and Rob's fist makes a direct collision with Rodrick's eye. There is a trail of blood dripping down Rob's chin, but he does seem to notice it. It feels like all the air has left the room, especially in this corner pertaining to my lungs.

My first instinct: check that Rodrick is okay.

Second instinct: yell at Rodrick for being violent.

Third instinct: beat the shit out of Rob myself

Fourth instinct: kiss the hell out of Rodrick for being such a wonderful dumbass

Before I can act upon any of these desires, Rob comes forward again with a low blow to Rodrick's stomach. He makes a terrible sucking noise, like all the wind has been taken out of his body

"Oh helllll nooooooo, you did not-" My anger and fear for Rodrick gets the best of me and I go to hit Rob as hard as I can, but he grabs my wrist just in time, spinning me back and pining it against me. Shit shit shit shit-

"Miss Harrison, not again!" and again, the principal catches me right in the act

…..

"This better not become a habit, Miss Harrison. First the fight with Brittany, now with these two" Mr Martin rubs his temples like he's had a terrible day and frowns at me. The frown unhinges me and makes me feel guilty despite the fact I TECHNICALLY did nothing wrong.

"I'm sorry, sir, I really am, but he was being the sh-hell of out Rodrick, and well, Rob and I have never gotten on at all"

"Why do you say that?" Mr Martin looks suddenly more interested in my story, and picks up a pen as if he is going to write everything i tell him down.

"He constantly harasses me, won't stop following me around and-" I have the decency to blush, "I think he's a bit, uh, obsessed with me"

"I see, so would you say he was provoking you and Mr Heffley?" he rubs his shadow of day old stubble as if he is thinking deeply.

"Yes, he won't leave me alone"

"OK, well, Miss Harrison, it seems Mr Parsons has a bit of explaining to do" The principal nods and motions for me to leave

….

Surprisingly, I get no punishment at all, and Rodrick only gets one full day of Saturday detention, on the basis that he was trying to defend me. Rob, on the other hand, is not allowed back at school for a week and and has very strict orders to stay very, very far away from both Rodrick and I.

"You'll have to tell your mum about this, look at you" I plead with Rodrick, looking at his face as we drive back home. Already, an ugly bruise started to appear around his eye, and from the way he was eager to accept the medication in my bag, I could tell it was painful. But it didn't make him ugly in anyway. He almost looked more beautiful, like a flower was bursting on his face

"I don't care. It was for you, so it was worth it" the fact that he focuses on the road, and drives at a reasonable pace while saying this somehow makes it even better. Like it would have been too personal if he had looked at me

Either way, he really does know what to say sometimes.