The kids are all 16; there's a reason too. That said, begin!

Universe*

~Sam's POV

"I really wish you wouldn't do this..."

"Lily, I don't want to but if there's a chance it means he'll leave you alone then I want to take it," I replied.

"You'll get hurt!"

"I'll recover."

"You'll get in trouble!"

"I won't get caught."

Lily stared at me with concern in her hazel eyes. This morning on our way to school, she and I had been approached by Cameron Spats; an asshole who lives down the street from my family estate. Cameron has had this creepy attraction to Lily for a few years now and every time we run into him, which thankfully isn't often, he always asks her out or makes some perverted comments on her appearance. (Those comments have, um, increased since Lily "grew up" so to speak...) She always says no, and it's never going to change. Lily is smart, she knows he's an asshole, and doesn't tolerate that awful behavior. I don't know why he doesn't just take the hint and move on; I guess guys like him don't understand rejection. But when he met us today, he'd finally had enough.

He challenged me to a fight for Lily's affection!

I make it a... personal secret that over the years I've developed strong feelings for my lovely red haired friend. Her smile brightens up my day no matter how bad, her hazel eyes are beautiful and they're one of my favorite things to see, and her kind, caring, nature made me fall for her to begin with.

I hate the idea of guys like Cameron coming onto her. I don't believe she's owed to me, but I do believe she doesn't deserve to be disrespected. I need to do something about it. The two of us were walking through the park; it was relatively dark out here right now, to find him where he said we'd meet. I don't know if this is some kind of trick, but something tells me that Cameron isn't smart enough to plan something big ahead of time. The only reason Lily came too was so there'd be a witness in case he did something extreme. Not that I want her to get involved, it's just I'd feel more comfortable knowing she was there to step in.

And the next thing I knew I was tackled to the ground from behind by exactly the person we were looking for. I guess Cameron didn't want to waste any time. I struggled for a bit, but managed to throw him off of my back and already I felt sore.

"Glad to see you showed up!"

"Cameron that wasn't fair, he wasn't ready!"

"Shut your mouth bitch, we'll talk after I've won."

I quickly got up only to be almost punched, but I dodged it. My parents will kill me if I get too visibly injured here; I have to focus on not getting hurt instead of hurting him. He punched again; this one hit my shoulder. While trying to avoid getting hurt, I didn't notice Lily had disappeared. A punch hit my cheek and I could feel a small bruise forming. I don't think he was doing this for a girl, I think he just wanted to unload his own anger issues on me. Some people are just assholes. (No matter what my Uncle Fernald says about people having good and evil inside them.)

It was here that a small amount of blood trickled down my left arm. That bastard cut me with a switchblade! It wasn't a big cut, but it was deep enough to draw blood. But before I could retaliate with any kind of attack, Cameron was grabbed from behind by two sets of arms. Lily returned and stepped between me and Cameron. Since it was so dark I could only make out the headlights from a nearby police car that had showed up. I guess Lily wanted to stop us the hard way.

One of the officers was putting Cameron in handcuffs and the other turned her attention to us. "Your friend called us, saying you were in some trouble. How badly were you hurt?"

I showed them my arm. "He got me with a switchblade."

"Doesn't look deep enough for stitches," She said examining my cut. "You could bandage it up and you'll be fine."

The male officer was looking over Cameron with intrigue. "I know you. You're wanted for arson."

Lily and I looked at each other. "Arson?"

The officer nodded. "Last week a private school out in the Hinterlands burned down. A few people died, but multiple testimonies from surviving students said they saw a teenager fitting this boy's exact description start the fire. Looks like you have way more on your record than just public fighting."

Cameron made some choice swears under his breath in response as he was put into the police car. I looked at the female officer and noticed something in her pocket next to her holster. It was a spyglass... identical to the one in my Uncle Klaus and Auntie Isadora's office safe... This was no officer. She was a volunteer. Lily didn't know what that would mean, but I did. It meant that Cameron would never bother us again. V.F.D. would make sure of it. After all, my family is protected by them.

The woman seemed to notice me staring at her spyglass. She gave me a knowing look, but didn't comment on it.

"Miss, you're lucky you called us. Your friend here could have been seriously hurt," She said.

"Thank you for helping officers," Lily replied gently grabbing my other arm.

The male officer was standing at the car giving Cameron his rights. The woman gave us a curious smile. I think because of her work in the organization, she probably knows who I am. (After all aside from my slightly tan skin I look just like my dad.) She asked us for our full names and we gave them. I saw her nod slightly; she does recognize me.

"Ordinarily, we would take you both down to the station to have you report on what happened, but this is a 'special' case. Rest assured that this boy will be in jail for a long time. Make sure Mr. Quagmire gets patched up, and we'll be going now. We have a troublemaker to deal with." The volunteer got into the police car and the three of them drove off.

My suspicions on her being a volunteer were confirmed instantly because she drove in the opposite direction from the police station. I assume her partner was a volunteer too then. I figure they were taking him to a V.F.D. facility. As expected, none of us ever saw Cameron again... Good riddance.

"Sam, we should get you home."

I smiled weakly at her and she led the way back. The park was in walking distance from my home. Lily let me carry her leather jacket on my left arm to hide my wound, uncaring that it might get blood stains.

"That was weird wasn't it," She said, "What's a special case?"

I remembered my promise; V.F.D. was a family secret. "Just take her word for it, she's an officer. They know what they're doing."

Lily gave me a skeptical look before shrugging it off. "You have a small bruise on your cheek."

"That'll be tough to explain... hey Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for trying to help."

"You're welcome... you're my friend Sam. I care about you. I'm not the best at patching up people but when we get to your place I'll do something about your arm."

And she did exactly that. We got back to my house and saw my parents watching some movie together in the living room. They paid us no mind thankfully, and we went up to my room. (I'm allowed to have Lily in my room as long as one of my parents is home.) She immediately set to work on cleaning up my arm a putting a bandage on it. Lily was an aspiring marine veterinarian but she could do basic work on people too.

I watched her work with a smile. I love how gentle and attentive she is to all her patients. Until today I didn't think I would be one of them technically.

"There. That should do it. I can't do anything about your cheek so you'll just have to convince your parents you got hurt some other way."

"I'll figure something out. I got hit in the shoulder too, but that doesn't hurt as bad."

We locked eyes and she smiled up at me. I've gotten a bit taller than her over time.

"Sam why do you always need to look after me," She asked.

"Maybe because I care about you and the thought of something or someone hurting you really scares me."

We both went quiet at that. I paid no mind to the fact that her hand was gripping mine, it felt nice but drawing attention to it might make her pull away. But she didn't. Instead after a brief silence, she stood on her toes and brushed her lips against mine. I kissed back without hesitation. I reached up with my other arm and gently grabbed the back of her head to pull her closer. Her lips were so soft, and I almost couldn't believe that I was finally kissing her.

When we pulled away I whispered, "I love you Lily..."

I saw a pink blush cross her freckled cheeks. "I love you too Sam..."

We kissed again; knowing that tomorrow we would go to school as a new couple instead of just friends. I don't know when I truly fell for her, or when she fell for me, but we loved each other, and we were finally together.

~End of Chapter!

Yay for Limuel! And yay for a final multi-part short story!