Several weeks had passed by in what seemed like no time at all. Jack and Lily spent nearly every single day together those past few weeks, and they began to grow inseparable from each other. They still ate lunch together in the courtyard each day and would go for long walks around town after school or sit somewhere quiet and just talk and enjoy each other's company.

Now, all of the leaves had fallen from the trees and lay in large heaps on the sidewalks. The air began to grow cooler each day as winter loomed near.

People around school hadn't been taking very kindly to seeing Jack and Lily together all the time. Lily was noticing the dirty looks and whispering around her more often than ever before, but she still chose to ignore it. She didn't understand why everyone around her seemed to have a vendetta against Jack, but she ultimately decided their opinions didn't matter and she carried on with her life anyway.

On this particular day, however, things escalated and got far, far worse than they ever have before. Everything was fine, Jack and Lily were going about their day at school normally just like everyone else. That is, until lunch began.

Just like on any normal day, Lily was sitting absentmindedly in her math class as she waited for the lunch bell to ring. Once the bell did ring, she gathered her things and left class. She made her way through the hallway, ignoring the stares and jeers from the other students. She stopped at her locker, putting away the books she no longer needed for the day and grabbing the small brown paper bag at the top of her locker. She shut it behind her, making her way to the cafeteria.

Once she got there, she glanced to the windows across the room where she could see Jack waiting outside for her. A slight smile crept across her face, and she made her way across the cafeteria towards the doors leading outside.

As she walked, she neared a table where some of the guy's football team members all sat. They were your typical jock stereotype, big bulky guys with letterman jackets. One of them whistled at her as she drew nearer, and another called out at her.

"Hey there cutie, how about you come sit with us instead of that loser outside?" His friends chuckled at his remark, Lily's face grew red and she tried to ignore him while she made her way past.

As she hurried past, one of the guys at the table stuck out his leg. Lily hadn't noticed as she was trying to avoid eye contact with them, and she kept walking. She caught her foot on his ankle, letting out a shriek as she tripped over him and landed on the hard tile floor with a loud thud. She fell hard, landing with her knees colliding against the hard surface as well as her torso landing on top of her books and lunch bag, crushing the food inside and also causing the pointed edges of the books to press in to her ribcage, causing her to gasp for air.

Unbeknownst to her, the cafeteria had gone quiet momentarily as they all turned to see what had caused the commotion. She pushed herself up from the floor slightly so she was sitting on her knees. She blinked back the tears forming in her eyes from the pain of the fall, turning back around to see that the entire table of jocks were laughing and pointing at her. She felt more tears beginning to sting her eyes as everyone else in the cafeteria began laughing with them. She felt all eyes on her as she tried miserably to gather up the heap of items around her on the floor, choking back a sob.

Outside, Jack sat underneath the usual spot he always sat under the biggest tree in the courtyard. The limbs were bare, and piles of warm colored leaves sat in haphazard piles around the trunk. The air was bitter, but Jack didn't mind at all. He was sitting there casually reading while he waited for Lily to join him, when he heard a loud noise from inside followed by an uproar of laughter. Curious, Jack set his book down in the grass next to the tree trunk and stood up, walking over to the large glass doors leading back inside to the cafeteria, pulling it open and stepping inside.

The moment Jack stepped inside, his eardrums filled with the noisy laughter from students all throughout the cafeteria. He looked around, not noticing anything in particular right away. Then his eyes fell to the messy heap of books and smashed food on the floor, where he realized it was Lily who was sitting there on the floor being laughed at. Jack stood there for a moment, still. He could feel anger bubbling up inside of him as he clenched his fists tightly, striding across the cafeteria to where Lily was.

He knelt down in front of her, she had her head hung low and he could see tears streaming down her cheeks. He reached out, gently grabbing her by the chin and turning her head upwards so she was looking at him. She kept her eyes shut as used his other hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Hey, Lily. Are you okay? Look at me. What happened?"

The sound of Jack's voice and his gentle caress calmed her down slightly. She choked on a sob before whispering quietly.

"It was Chad. He…he tripped me. I fell, everyone saw…b-but I'm okay." Her lower lip quivered slightly as she spoke.

He shushed her quietly, pulling her head towards him so it was rested against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her back protectively. Jack turned his attention away from her, looking past her at the table in front of them. Lily could feel every inch of Jack's lean muscle as it tensed beneath her.

Jack looked at the one who had tripped Lily, glaring at him with daggers in his eyes. He moved away from Lily gently, standing up slowly. All eyes were on him as he walked over to him, and the cafeteria grew quiet again with anticipation.

Jack walked up to him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and stood so he was right in his face. His friend sitting at the table watched on with amusement, as Chad sat beneath Jack with a cocky grin on his face. Jack leaned in close, their noses nearly touching. Jack swallowed sharply before he spoke.

"You're so fucking lucky that she isn't hurt." was all Jack said, before leaning back again and releasing his grip on him. He stood tall, glaring down at him for a moment or two. Jack turned back around slowly, keeping his eyes fixated on him as he knelt down next to Lily again, turning his attention towards her again. He smiled at her slightly.

"Hey, let me help you up, okay?" She only nodded slightly in response, and Jack began gathering her things together for her. Lily wiped at her eyes, staring at the ground as Jack was gathering her things. A soft murmur began in the cafeteria as everyone around them seemed to lose interest in their little escapade.

As Jack had almost gotten all of her things together, she heard an audible splatter that caught her by surprise. Everything had gone quiet in the cafeteria again. She looked up, seeing Jack in front of her with the school's chili stuck in his hair and dripping down the side of his face. His eyes were shut, with his brows slightly furrowed. He inhaled deeply, slowly opening his eyes again as he tried to control his anger. Lily looked at him with concern written across her face, he glanced over at her like he was about to say something to her before the unsettling silence was broken again.

"FREAK!"

'Oh, no.'Lily felt worry in the pit of her stomach. She knew how much Jack loathed that word more than anything. She looked over at him, hearing the jeers and laughter from everyone in the cafeteria as it began. Jack only stared down at the ground, chili still dripping down his face and on to his clothing. His muscles were tensed beneath his shirt. His soft, hazel eyes turned in to dark pools of onyx, his face devoid of emotion. She watched as he clenched his fists tightly, and he stood up abruptly and made his way over towards where Chad was sitting.

He saw Jack making his way towards him and immediately stopped laughing, standing up and waving his hands, encouraging Jack towards him.

"Oooh, you wanna fight me, freak? C'mon."

All eyes were focused on the two as Jack got closer and closer to him. Jack stared at him with the look of pure hatred in his eyes, fixated on him completely as he strode closer to him.

Once Jack was within a few feet of him, Chad lunged towards him, aiming his fist for Jack's face. Lily gasped, watching meticulously as Jack maneuvered himself away from his punch easily, ducking to the side to avoid his fist. Chad nearly stumbled face-first in to the floor, catching his balance and turning back around to look at Jack, who was smirking at him.

"Missed me." Jack teased as murmurs and chattering could be heard, as everyone seemed just as surprised as Lily was. This only made Chad angrier, and he ran at Jack again. Jack stood in fighting stance with his fists raised; he could practically feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Chad drew near, throwing another punch at Jack. This time however, Jack didn't move out of his way quick enough and he felt his fist collide against his lip. He tasted copper in his mouth, but Jack didn't lose his focus for even one second. Taking his opportunity now that he was close enough, he twisted his hips, making sure to clench his fist hard and swung with a right hook to his jaw. There was an extremely audible cracking sound as Jack's fist hit him, and Jack could see the crimson smears staining his knuckles and Chad's face. Chad stumbled backwards, grasping his face and wincing hard as he tried to move his jaw or speak. Lily watched on in horror, feeling helpless to do anything to stop them.

The cafeteria was silent, except for a few surprised gasps and one person who cheered "Yeah!" after Jack swung. Despite himself, Jack couldn't stop. He could taste blood in his mouth and smell it on his breath and all over his hands. It sent thrills down his spine like nothing else he had ever felt before. He bore his teeth in a crazed smile, swinging hard again and hitting Chad in the lower jaw with a swift uppercut, sending him down to the floor. He stood above him, watching as he coughed and sputtered beneath him. Jack felt powerful and strong, pushing one of the lunch trays on a table near them on to the floor. It landed with a loud clatter, followed by the sound of a loud shatter as the plate that was on the tray fell to the ground and broke. Jack leaned down, grabbing one of the sharp shards from the broken plate as he pinned Chad beneath him. Chad looked up at him with fear in his eyes, as Jack looked down at him. Jack's whole body trembled with pure adrenaline as he looked deep in to his eyes, he could almost smell the fear that resonated from his body as he watched Jack. Jack licked at his lower lip, tasting the blood on his tongue. He grinned wide, causing the split in his lip to bleed even more as he pressed the sharp shard of porcelain against his neck. Jack could faintly hear the sounds of panic, they sounded as if they were far away as they were overpowered by the sound of his own heart beat filling his ears. He could faintly hear the sound of Lily's voice, shouting to him.

"Jack, no! Please, just stop!" He heard her pleas, but couldn't control himself. His breath grew shallow and heavy, beads of sweat dotted along his forehead and strands of messy, chili covered hair hung around his face. He gripped the shard of plate so tightly that it started to cut his own hand, a stream of blood flowing out from between his fingers. As he kept pressing harder and harder in to his neck, he could feel Chad's hands clenched around his forearms, desperately trying to pry his hands away. Jack's pupils dilated and he clenched his teeth as he watched the slow stream of crimson dripping from Chad's neck like a faucet. All it needed now was one quick, swift movement of the hand. Jack clenched the plate even tighter, feeling his excitement growing with the anticipation. Aaaaaaand…

Suddenly, Jack was pulled off from on top of him, still clenching the piece of glass tightly in his hand. He turned to look over his shoulder, to see one of the male teachers grabbing him by the bicep of the arm holding the shard of porcelain. Jack tried to shake him off, only to have two more teachers run up behind him. One grabbed a hold of his other arm as the other began trying to pry the shard from his clenched hand.

Abruptly pulled back in to reality, Jack's eyes swept across the room, looking at the many confused, shocked, disgusted and various other expressions on everyone's faces. He licked at his lips, feeling prideful at all of the engrossed stares he was getting. His eyes made his way over to Lily, who stared at him with only what he would describe as an expression of pure horror written across her face. He felt slightly guilty at what he had just done right in front of her, but he was only trying to protect her. He kept eye contact with her, flashing an inviting grin as he unclenched his hand, letting the piece of plate fall to the floor with a clatter. Lily now saw the deep gash on the palm of his hand, placing her hand over her mouth in nausea. The three teachers started to lead Jack out of the cafeteria once he dropped the sharp piece of plate, the whole time he just stared at Lily over his shoulder with that strange grin on his face. Lily watched as two female teachers ran over to assist Chad, lifting him up off the ground and helping him stand up. A janitor began picking up the shards of porcelain and another wheeled over a mop and bucket to the blood covered floor. Everyone in the cafeteria just sat in silence; nobody said a word as they watched Chad being led out. Lily sat there on the floor for a few moments, staring down at the ground before her attention was drawn to the man walking in to the cafeteria. It was the principal. He cleared his throat loudly, getting the attention of the students focused on him.

"Everyone, we ask that you please dump your lunch trays as quickly as possible and then get to your next class so that we can clean up the cafeteria. This incident that just went on here is not going to be tolerated lightly, and we are in the process of taking care of it now. Sorry to cut your lunch short." Was all he said, before nervously running a hand through his short hair and turning back around and leaving.

Lily remained still on the floor as others around her began standing up, carrying their lunch trays to the various garbage cans spread around the cafeteria. She could feel all eyes on her, and heard low whispers from some of the students.

"Jesus Christ... I always knew that kid was fucked up in the head."

"He tried to killhim… he tried to fucking kill him."

"What does she even see in him anyway?"

Those were only some of the comments she managed to pick out from the crowd of whispers. She stood up slowly, still feeling all eyes on her as she hastily gathered up her things and sprinted out of the cafeteria, feeling the warm tears as they began running down her cheeks yet again.

A/N: Finally, an update! Sorry that I don't update as often as I'd like to, as I am busy with life matters. But I had been planning out this chapter since I first got the idea for this story, and it was definitely the one I was the most excited to write! I really hope you guys enjoyed this, as it gives you an insight in to the Joker's personality before he even becomes the Joker. Anyways, thank you to all of you who keep reading and reviewing this story, you guys inspire me to keep writing! Again I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you did please review!