It's kind of short but I hope you enjoy. There's like 2 people I know who have actually read this so thanks for sticking with me. I haven't been doing too good lately but I'm working on it and plan to upload other stories too

Eli thought he could just forget what had happened but it seemed no one would let him, Julia and his parents constantly asking if he was okay, the school forcing him into counselling sessions during lunch. He was better now why couldn't they see that? It frustrated him to no end. He distanced himself from Julia for awhile, for some reason he had a resentment towards her, almost as if it was her fault.

When everything died down and the counsellor decided he was doing fine he finally decided he would try to work things out with Julia. She was sitting alone on a small table in the corner of the cafeteria. He sat beside her and gently tapped her shoulder. "Hey… I know we haven't talked much lately but things are finally starting to go back to normal and-"

"Normal? Are you kidding me? You might have everyone else fooled but I know something's wrong" she really wasn't going to let this go.

"You need to let this go. Everyone else has" he went to leave but she gently grabbed his hand.

"I just don't want to lose you too okay?' she had blurted that out without really thinking and instantly regretted it. He didn't question her on it because he could sense that but he did sit beside her again.

"I'm not going anywhere I promise" he kept hold of her hand. "but you have to let me get past this okay?" she reluctantly nodded in response to that. Of course she didn't want to be the reason she lost him.

"Okay but you have to promise me you're not gonna do anything like that again"

"You have my word" hearing those words was really a relief to her, especially since at that time it seemed he genuinely meant it. Without even thinking about it she hugged him tightly, before she had been afraid to truly let him in but now she was terrified of losing him and it made her realise that life is too short to be afraid. He held her close for awhile. They had never really been this close for this long, they had both been so guarded but now they were starting to really let each other in. So Julia let herself believe like everyone else that Eli was truly okay, even Eli himself believed it so clearly it must be true right? Her line of thinking was interrupted when she heard some older kids making fun of them as usual. They were the outcasts really and only had each other.

"Awe look. How cute they actually have feelings who would have guessed?" he asked sarcastically as he and his friends laughed. Julia got up within seconds and went for him but Eli quickly caught hold of her gently.

"They're not worth it. Just ignore it" he was much more rational and patient than her in these situations but hearing his words calmed her a little besides he was right. If she ignored it they'd get bored. Unfortunately for her they were very persistent after she had tried to fight them. Eli had to keep hold of her hand beneath the table in case she lost it again.

"When we get you alone without your little boyfriend to protect you we'll see if you're as brave. The only thing going for you is you're not bad to look at. Maybe if you didn't dress like a vampire I'd actually fuck you" he said as he walked off. Julia squeezed Eli's hand tightly beneath the table.

"Don't worry he's all talk" Eli tried to assure her although he wasn't so convinced himself. He even insisted on walking her home that day.

Just as she had opened her front door her step mother was standing there, she looked Eli up and down with disapproval written all over her face. Julia just gave him an apologetic look but really he didn't mind. He said his goodbyes and turned to leave but her step mom stopped him. "Stay for dinner. I need to get to know the delinquent who will probably end up getting Julia pregnant" she said this with a smile plastered on her face as if that would cancel out the horrible things she had said. Eli wanted to refuse but he saw something in Julia's eyes, it seemed she was afraid of this woman and it was easy to see why. So he stepped inside and prepared for the most awkward dinner of his life….