At the end of the day, Lily hurried out of school as quickly as possible. Throughout the rest of the day she had to deal with all the stares, whispers and comments everywhere she went. She looked forward to getting away from that environment for a while and just being able to sit alone in her room.

She sighed to herself quietly as she walked down the narrow sidewalks, making her way back to her house. She wondered what was going to happen to Jack, and if he was okay. She shuddered slightly, remembering the look she saw in his eyes when he pressed that shard of shattered porcelain against Chad's throat. She had never seen Jack act so violently before, he had always been so reserved and shy. And that weird grin he had on his face… it made her feel uneasy for reasons unbeknownst to her.

She continued walking on, lost in her thoughts and staring at the tall buildings in the distance. She was glad she lived out in the suburbs, away from the commotion of the city. She shivered slightly as she walked, realizing now that in her hurry she forgot her sweatshirt in her locker. Oh well. She picked up her pace a little more, trying to get home and out of the cold a little faster.

After about 15 minutes of walking, she was finally back in her neighborhood. She continued walking down the sidewalk towards her home, clutching her books closely to her chest as she walked. She stared down at the ground or watched leaves blowing in the wind while she walked along. She was nearing her house, so she lifted her head up again. She halted in her steps once she saw him, just sitting casually on the sidewalk in front of her house. He sat on the curb of the sidewalk, with his elbows resting lazily atop his knees and his arms dangling in front of him. Even though she was a fair distance from him, she could see the stitches that protruded from his lip and the bloodied bandage wrapped around his right hand. He turned his gaze over and looked at her, a slight smirk sneaking its way across his lips. He still had that same look in his eyes from earlier that day as he made eye contact with her, his eyes slightly squinted.

Lily's mouth hung open slightly as she looked at him, still standing still where she had stopped. She almost wanted to turn around and walk away, and avoid having to see that slightly deranged look he had in his eyes. She swallowed, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly before she made her feet move again.

He watched her the whole time she walked over to him, looking up at her as she stood next to him. She averted her gaze to the ground, letting her backpack slide off her shoulders gently as she sat down next to him. She kept her textbooks tucked closely to her chest, tucking her knees up close to her body and wrapping her arms around them as she sat. She could feel Jack's gaze on her as she sat, but she continued to stare at the ground below, watching as a few stray leaves blew against the pavement. She shivered slightly at the cool breeze.

Jack chewed at his stitches slightly as he looked at her. She wouldn't even look him in the eyes. He wondered if she was scared of him or something now. He saw her tiny frame trembling slightly in the breeze, and he gently pulled off his olive green jacket, resting it over her shoulders.

Lily couldn't help but blush at Jack's kind-hearted notion, slowly turning her head to look up at him. Her soft blue-green eyes met with his own for a moment, before her gaze trailed down to the stitches that riddled his lower lip. She saw that he had a small gash that ran down the middle of his lower lip and continuing slightly on to the skin below his lips as well. She reached her hand up to his face slowly, gently running her thumb along his sutures. She looked back up in to his eyes again, they were still darker than they usually looked but they seemed slightly warmer than before.

"Jack, the school board is really upset about what you did…"

Jack snickered slightly in response. "Why, because I was defending an innocent girl from being bullied by somebody more than twice her size?"

Lily moved her hand away from Jack's face, wrapping her arm around her legs again. She stared down at her feet.

"Jack, you almost killed him…" Her voice came out in a hushed whisper as she spoke.

Jack twisted his hips, moving so he was turned toward Lily more, placing one of his hands on the sidewalk beside him, and letting the other rest atop his knee still. "Lily, I was never going to kill him. I wanted to make sure he never bothered you again." Jack spoke, remembering the incident in his mind as he talked. He remembered exactly how he felt when he was laying there beneath his grip, helpless to do anything to stop him. He remembered pressing that shard in to his neck, seeing the first drops of blood beginning to form as the sharp edges broke skin. He remembered how he did want to kill him in that moment, how easy it would have been to end his life…

But, Jack was drawn away from his thoughts at the sound of Lily's voice. "It doesn't matter, Jack. You may not have killed him, but you still hurt him pretty badly…"

Jack was beginning to feel slightly annoyed with her. "Are you telling me, Lily, that you're going to take this kid's side over mine?"

Lily looked back up at him, feeling a little discouraged at his remark. "No, Jack. That's not it at all..." She averted her gaze to the pavement again. "…but you broke his jaw."

"He deserved it."

Lily felt her frustrations growing more and more, and she snapped at him slightly. "No, Jack! That isn't the point. Don't you get it? You have never acted so violently towards anything before." Her voice was raised slightly as she spoke, only for her to quiet down to a barely audible whisper again. "You scared me, Jack…that look you had in your eyes…it was a side of you I've never seen before."

Jack felt slightly guilty now, trying to piece together the right words in his mind to ease her concerns. "Lily, look. I care about you, a lot. I only did what I did to protect you." He scratched at his head slightly. "I got a little carried away, and I'm sorry, okay?"

Lily turned her body so she was facing him. She reached her hand up to his face again, gently caressing his cheek. "Then you have to promise me something."

Jack looked at her; her soft blue-green eyes were slightly teary. Her tiny, full pink lips were parted ever so slightly as she looked up at him. He reached his non-bandaged hand up to gently move stray strands of hair away from her eyes, resting his hand on the back of her neck. "Anything." he murmured.

She blinked a few times, making the tears in her eyes disperse before she spoke. "I don't want to see you that way ever again, please. That's all I ask."

Jack looked down at her, their faces were only a few inches apart. He moved slightly closer to her, gently grabbing her by the chin as he was suddenly overcome with the urge to lean down and kiss her soft, luscious lips. He stopped himself before he got too close, remembering the unappealing stitches running across his slightly swollen lower lip. Instead he parted his lips slightly to speak.

"I promise."

Lily felt butterflies rising in her stomach when Jack moved even closer to her, only to be slightly disappointed once he halted. She could feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest when she gazed up at him, and then down to his lips. She wanted so badly to kiss him, she knew from the first day she met Jack that she liked him. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as she moved her face closer to his, parting her lips more in anticipation. Jack could feel her moving closer to him, and now their lips were within an inch of each other. He swallowed the lump he could feel in his throat, moving his hand so it rested on her cheek. He watched as Lily's eyelids fluttered shut and she leaned her face upward slightly, as if enticing him to move closer. He complied; gently closing his eyelids as well as he leaned down, gently pressing his lips to hers.

She moved closer to Jack, hoping he would notice and take the initiative to kiss her. She saw his Adam's apple bob up and down gently as he swallowed, moving his hand to her cheek. His touch was warm against her skin, and she immediately let her eyelids fall shut and leaned closer to him, feeling his lips pressing against her own. The sensation of his kiss sent shivers down her spine and butterflies through her stomach, she didn't even seem to notice how his stitches grazed gently across her lips.

Jack pulled away after a few seconds, worried that his stitches were bothering her. He opened his eyes and watched as she opened hers ever so slightly, before shutting them again. She placed her hands on both sides of his neck, gently drawing him in as she planted another gentle kiss, this time on his upper lip.

Lily pulled away slightly, opening her eyes again slowly and biting down on her lower lip with a slight smile. She saw that familiar warmth in Jack's eyes and suddenly felt like everything was better again.

Jack smirked at her slightly, placing a hand on her hip and moving her closer to him. He moved her so that she was sitting in between his legs with her back pressed against his chest. He draped his arms around her slightly, resting his chin against her shoulder and letting out a small sigh of content.

Lily turned around slightly so she could see his face, reaching a hand up to his face again and running her thumb gently over his stitches once more. They sat like this for a few moments before she broke the silence.

"So, what happened after they escorted you out of the cafeteria?"

Jack lifted his head up off her shoulder, tilting his head back slightly and looking at the sky.

"Hm. Well, first they took me down to the nurse's office. Cleaned me up a bit, then they called an ambulance to come and pick me up so I could go to the ER and get stitched up."

Lily blinked a few times. "You didn't get in trouble?"

Jack chuckled slightly. "Ah, not quite yet. The principal told me that I'm suspended from school until further notice, and that he would decide how to settle this later."

Lily looked down at the ground, feeling a little saddened. Having to go through her day today after lunch was bad enough, but thinking about having to go back to school and not even having Jack there made her feel more nervous. She let out a small sigh, turning her head and looking over her shoulder. Her parent's cars were gone, so they must still be at work. She smiled slightly, turning her head to look up at Jack.

"Jack?"

He looked down at her. "Hm?"

"Um, would you like to go inside?" She smiled at him slightly.

"Yeah, sure." he responded.

She smiled slightly, standing up again and sliding her arms inside Jack's jacket. Jack stood up too, leaning down to pick up her bookbag, sliding it over his shoulder before picking up her books as well. He followed Lily up to her front door, where she fumbled around in her pocket for a moment looking for her house key. She unlocked the door, letting Jack step inside first before shutting the door behind them.