The next day, Laura got dressed for class, did her makeup, and met Steve in the kitchen. "Morning, Baby," she said absentmindedly as she took a seat at the table with a banana in hand.

He looked up at her for a moment. "Good morning, Sunshine. Did a rainbow suck all the color out of your clothes this morning?"

Laura looked down at her outfit. It was a little plain. She was sporting a loose gray sweater and an old pair of jeans that were a little too big. Her white sneakers didn't attract attention either. Laura shrugged. "Guess so," she chuckled.

Steve frowned. He took a deep breath and sat in the chair beside her. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Laura, you don't have to hide. If you feel unsafe in your classes, drop them, or pursue disciplinary action against him. I'm sure they'd squeeze you into a couple of full classes if you explained the situation."

Laura's brow furrowed. "I'm not hiding, Steve, and I'm not changing my schedule. I just didn't feel like dressing up today."

"That breaks my heart," Steve pouted.

"Well, it's not about you," she snapped. She regretted it immediately. "I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress."

"I know," he whispered. "It's ok. Your classes end late tonight. Do you want me to meet you there after work? I can drop you off if we leave now and pick you up tonight so you don't have to walk alone to your car."

"No. That's not a good solution long-term. The university has a service for that. I'll be sure to call them tonight."

"Ok," he agreed. "I have to go, but call me if you need anything, ok? Absolutely anything."

"I will," she agreed as he stood.

"I love you," he purred, kissing her gently.

"I love you too. See you tonight."

"See you tonight, Beautiful. Be safe," he reminded her as he closed the door behind him.

Laura tried to resist the urge, but she couldn't. She got up and slid the chain in place behind him.

Laura arrived dangerously early to her first class, but she knew this professor always did too, so she felt safer in a supervised room than wandering the halls. She sat on the opposite side of the room again. The first person to enter was Dan. She smiled at him nervously and watched as he walked to their usual side of the room, sat down, and ignored her. Deja had spread the word, she supposed.

Laura was gearing herself up to find a whole new group of friends in her department when Georgia walked in and sat beside her.

"Hey," she said.

Laura looked up at her in surprise. "Hey." She would've expected Georgia would be the first person Deja would tell.

"Are you ok?" she asked gently.

Laura's brow furrowed. Deja had told her, and she hadn't blown her off. She smiled weakly. "I'm a little better now that you're here, honestly."

Georgia smiled. "Look, don't worry about Dan. You know how he is. He thinks all his exes were just nuts and that a man can do no wrong."

Laura chuckled and looked back over at him. That wasn't a bad description. Maybe she'd keep the only worthwhile friends after all this.

Deja walked in next. She kissed Georgia on the cheek and purred, "Hey, You…"

"Hey," Georgia smiled.

Deja looked at Laura as she sat one seat in front of Georgia. "Hey, Laura. How are you?"

"I'm good, Dej. Thanks," she said softly.

"Look, I told everybody, and just so you know, things seem pretty evenly split. Dan's a jerk, not that that's news to anybody. Terrence has known Alex forever, so he doesn't believe you, and you know Rachel just agrees with whatever he says."

"That's fine," Laura said. "I'm not trying to destroy the group or ruin Alex's life. My only priority is keeping myself safe."

"Well, we're here for you," she assured her.

"You don't have to be," Laura shrugged.

"Laura, c'mon," Georgia pressed. "We believe you, and we care. Just let us."

Laura nodded. "Yeah. Ok. Thanks."

Having switched seats partway through the semester, they got several glares from students walking into the classroom. Then Rachel and Terrence walked in, hand-in-hand, ignoring all three of them and making their way over to Dan. Then Wayne walked in and sat down beside Georgia, right in front of Laura. "Hey," he said quickly, turning back to nod at all of them.

Laura and Deja exchanged a glance. They hadn't expected him to choose her side.

"Um," Deja began. "Wayne, did you get my voicemail?"

"Yeah," he nodded casually. His face grew serious. "That's fucked up, Laura," he said.

"Uh…. Yeah," she agreed.

"Lemme know if you need someone to walk you to your car or anything tonight."

Laura smiled, sincerely touched. "Thank you, Wayne, but I think I'm taking a break from spending any time alone with men other than my husband for a while."

He nodded. "I understand. The offer still stands."

Having found more support than she had expected, Laura began to relax a little… or she did until Alex walked in two minutes into class. She told herself to take a deep breath and focus on the lecture in front of her, but that became much harder when he took the seat directly behind her. She tensed immediately. She wondered desperately why he hadn't sat where he always sat, but she knew why. He wanted to sit by her. The longer he was behind her, the more she missed of the lecture. She didn't even realize it had ended until she heard him stand behind her.

"Laura," he said gently.

She turned to him, a look of fear on her face. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"No," she said firmly. "I told you I don't wanna talk to you."

Alex looked at their mutual friends. "Ok, so what if they stay with us?" he asked. "I just need to talk to you."

Laura glanced nervously at her friends.

"I know you told them what you think I did," he said.

Laura looked away.

"Just talk to me. Please."

"Fine," Laura agreed eventually, mostly to get him off of her back.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Deja asked.

Laura thought about it seriously. He couldn't do much to her in the crowded cafe downstairs, and all things being equal, she didn't really want everyone to hear their conversation. It was uncomfortable enough as it was. She steeled herself for this. She would tell him firmly and clearly that she didn't want anything to do with him anymore, and that would be the end of it. "No. I'll be fine. I'll meet you downstairs at the cafe in ten, ok?"

Alex smiled brightly in relief. "Ok."

With that, Laura quickly left the room, practically running to the ladies room to take a few minutes to relax.

Ten minutes later, she made her way downstairs. He stood when she walked in. "Hey," he smiled, pulling out her chair.

She sat in a third chair beside it. "Hey," she said flatly.

He sat in the chair he had pulled out and moved his drink closer. "Laura, I didn't drug you," he said firmly. "I would never, ever do that to you."

"Why should I believe that?" she asked.

"Because… I… love you," he said eventually.

Laura's eyes widened. She hadn't seen that coming.

"I was trying to get up the courage to tell you that night. I'm in love with you."

Laura didn't even know how to begin to respond to that.

"So you can know that I would never do anything to hurt you."

She decided to start with the obvious. "I'm married," she reminded him.

"To an abusive man," he exclaimed a little too loudly.

Laura looked around at the other students in the coffee shop in embarrassment. "He is not abusive!" she scolded in a sharp whisper.

"Yes, he is!" he exclaimed, again too loudly. "He treats you like property he can keep locked up for his own pleasure."

"That's not true," Laura growled. "You don't know Steve."

"But I know you! I know you better than anyone in the world, don't I?" he asked.

"No!" she yelled. She saw a flash of anger in his eyes before his face turned to one of disappointment. She looked around them again. They were starting to give off an intervention vibe, and she knew Alex was somehow coming off looking like a hero based on the looks he was getting from the other women in the room. "You barely know me. You don't know me. You don't know my husband or how he treats me, and you certainly don't love me!" she exclaimed.

"Laura, you need to calm down," he said softly.

Laura scoffed. "I need to calm down? Seriously? Now, you're trying to make it seem like I'm the crazy one? You just professed your love for me three days after drugging me!"

He shook his head at her as if she were doing something to disappoint him. "Maybe we need to take some time to cool off," he suggested gently.

"That's what I've been saying! I didn't want to talk to you! I don't want to talk to you! I'm afraid of you!" she said, trying to hold back the tears that had been bubbling up from days of stress.

"I can't talk to you when you're like this," he complained, standing from his seat. "I'll see you in class," he said.

Laura was left there flabbergasted. She had no idea what she'd done, and she was disturbed by the way he'd left, but he had left, which was a relief.

He sat behind her again in their last class of the evening. He didn't say anything to her until halfway through class. He leaned forward and inhaled deeply. Laura jumped, but tried not make a scene in the middle of the lecture.

"You smell so good," he whispered just loudly enough for her to hear.

Then he left her alone for the rest of class. She stood as soon as they were dismissed and tried to get out of there. She would call campus security. They would walk her to her car. It would all be fine, but knowing she was calling campus security, her friends left. Then the rest of the class did. Then the professor. She didn't realize she was alone with Alex, waiting for her escort, until it was too late.

"If you needed someone to walk you to your car, all you had to do was ask me," he said, making her jump when he stepped out of the classroom.

She turned to him in surprise. He didn't realize he was the one she was afraid of? Even if he was really innocent, any normal person could at least pick up on the cues she was sending. Realizing that he was not capable of reading those cues, she suddenly became afraid of saying anything at all. Who could tell how'd he'd interpret it?

"You look so sexy tonight," he whispered, stepping closer to her.

Laura didn't say anything. She just stepped a little further away from him.

"Oh, now you're just gonna ignore me? After everything I've done for you? You're gonna see someday. I'm right about Steve." He looked at her for a long moment. "You're gonna come crying to me when he finally crosses the line."

Laura relaxed slightly as she saw the neon yellow vests approaching them. Finally! She moved toward them as quickly as possible.

"See you tomorrow, Beautiful," he called as she half-walked, half-ran away.

Things seemed to continue like this for a while. She and Alex overlapped in classes. She continued switching seats, and he continued to take the closest seat to her, no matter where she was. He somehow always managed to arrive just after her. He wouldn't bother her much through class. She'd sense him staring. Occasionally, he would whisper something to her. Always a compliment, never anything too graphic. Then he would try to talk to her after class. She continued to try ignoring him, setting boundaries, telling him off, waiting with other people, but nothing seemed to deter him. It didn't matter what she did, he was always there, but then she'd get home. She'd lock the door. She'd focus as much of her attention as she could on her life, her family, and the love of her life. She even threw Steve a killer birthday party at the end of September.

Then things got worse.