Anya stared at the angry face of Professor Henderson when she entered the office. Luckily, the other kids were at lunch, so she had some time to talk before classes started again, but she thought it would be better to come to Professor Henderson directly and explain what had happened.

It appeared that Professor Henderson had been talking with another colleague before Anya entered the room - Professor Ronin, who sometimes took the classes in Cecile Hall and who absolutely hated Anya for a reason she couldn't quite remember. (Possibly something to do with accidentally setting the farmyard animals free, and one of them might have pushed Professor Ronin into the mud…)

"And where exactly have you been?" He didn't raise his voice, but Anya felt the undertones of thunder vibrate in her very bones. She had never seen her professor this angry before.

"Uh, I, I had to, well, um-"

"And why did you steal Ewen's bike?"

"Oh… I forgot I did that..." Anya mumbled sheepishly. "I'll give it back, I promise!"

Unfortunately, Professor Ronin did not seem convinced. "I'll have you know that stealing is by itself an expellable offence, but in this case there's a chance that you may only get one Tonitrus Bolt."

Both Anya and professor Henderson paled at the same time.

"But sir, you can't-"

"That would be her eighth Bolt! She'll be expelled!"

"Yes, well," said Professor Ronin greasily. "That's a shame, isn't it, but I'm afraid that her actions have justified it, and now she will have to live with the consequences. It's such a shame," he added, glancing at her with a smirk. "I was just starting to get entertained by you."

Anya fumed, and opened her mouth to start a verbal tirade, when the phone rang in the office.

"Allow me," said Professor Henderson gently. I need another moment to think and try and try to help Miss Forger out of this mess! She doesn't deserve this…

Anya was grateful to Professor Henderson at that moment, but in her heart she knew there was no hope. She was on her last Bolt, as she had always feared, and it was time. On some level, Anya was surprised that she had even made it this far.

On the phone, Professor Henderson straightened up. "What's that? She did what now? Is Mr Desmond alright?"

Anya jerked her head up immediately at the mention of Damian's name.

"I see," said Professor Henderson, and Anya strained to hear what was being said on the other side of the line. "Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will indeed take this forward." And he put the receiver down.

"It appears that there has been a mistake," said Professor Henderson, and his moustache twitched with a slight smile. "Miss Forger here was only gallantly going after Mr Desmond's attempted kidnappers."

Professor Ronin gaped like a fish. "I - excuse me, now, see here-"

"- and her attempt to rescue him was in fact successful. Miss Forger," he addressed her directly. "I presume you will return Ewen's bicycle within the day?"

Anya nodded. "I'll go and get it after school! It's in East Berlint in front of the toy factory-"

"Quite a distance, I hear," said Professor Henderon smoothly. "I will arrange transport for you to drop you off."

"Th-thank you. Sir."

"So," said Professor Henderson firmly as he turned to Professor Ronin. "If I am not mistaken, this means that Miss Forger in fact does not get a Tonitrus Bolt today, and she is spared from expulsion, correct?"

"For today," Professor Ronin grumbled. But next time, mark my words!

But only Anya heard it, and she smiled to herself. So she had managed to escape expulsion after all!

"You may go, Miss Forger," said Professor Henderon, and waved at her to leave.

Anya hurriedly bowed to both of the teachers, and ran as fast as she could out of the room.

"You're just sparing her because she's your favourite," grumbled Professor Ronin. "And for what? She's not even a good student!"

"She's a good person," Professor Henderon retorted sternly, and then he regarded his colleague through his monocle. "Which is more than I can say for you."

He elegantly got to his feet, and drifted out of the room with a smile on his face, while Professor Ronin stared after him with his mouth wide open.

Anya collided with someone in the corridors.

"Hey watch where you're - oh my gosh! Anyaaa!"

Becky crushed her into a hug. "Where have you been? What happened to you and Damian? I've been so worried! Unless you both decided to run away together to get married, in which case that is so romantic and I one hundred per cent support you -"

"Becky!" Anya held up her hands in protest. "It's not like that! Just a few things happened and…"

Her sentence faded away as her eyes dropped to Becky's hands. They were awfully close to someone else's, almost as if they had been holding hands... "Bill? What are you doing here?"

Bill reddened and jumped back from both Becky and Anya. "Oh! Hello, Anya! Don't mind me, I was just, er…"

Bill walked away from Anya backwards and faded into the background.

"Hey!" Anya called after him. "Were you two holding hands? Tell me!"

"Anya!" Becky scolded. "You shouldn't shout in the corridors! You could get a Bolt!" Phew that was close…

Anya perked up. Did she miss something? What had she just walked in on?

"Anywaaaay..." said Anya carefully. Whatever was happening with Becky, she could tell her when she was ready. "I didn't get a Bolt in the end, so it's all okay!"

Becky sighed. "Anya, you're going to have to explain a bit more than that."

"Oh right, uh… So I saw Sy-on boy getting taken away by these guys in masks -"

Becky blanched. "WHAT?"

"So I stole Ewen's bike, followed them to this factory, beat them all up, and rescued Damian, and now he's in hospital. Professor Ronin wanted to give me a Tonitrus Bolt for stealing Ewen's bike but Professor Henderson found out just in time that I had actually saved Damian so he didn't give me a Bolt in the end, so I wont be expelled!"

Becky stared at Anya dumbfounded, then she sighed. "Anya, I really thought you had gotten past your little phase of spouting these really elaborate stories. You can tell me the truth, you know?"

Anya sighed. She didn't blame Becky for not believing her, and it did all sound quite ridiculous.

How would Becky react if it was all true? Anya smirked at the thought.

"Hey - what's that smug look for?"

Damian didn't need to spend the night in hospital, thankfully. The doctors advised that although his ribs are bruised, there wasn't anything else they could do for him except to give him painkillers. His broken nose however, needed a little extra attention, but they said that was fine to deal with as an outpatient.

Loid stayed with him the whole time, which Damian completely did not expect. He had expected Loid to go straight back to pick up his daughter from school, maybe even scold her a little but he just didn't picture that Loid would stick around like a… like a…

A real father.

Damian tried to forbid the thought from this mind. He had a father. He couldn't just steal Anya's.

Even though he wanted was so much that he wanted to say. He wanted to say thank you, for saving him, and for making sure that he was okay, and for sticking around at the doctors' office.

(Of course, since he wasn't the real father, he wasn't allowed in the examination room with him, but just knowing that he was outside was good enough for him to feel grateful for.)

He was a little disappointed that he had to go back to school though.

The doctor finished putting the bandage on Damian's nose, and she straightened up. "There! All finished. You might want to keep a bandage on for the next two weeks, and be prepared for your eyes to get a bit puffy, but don't panic. They will lose their puffiness after the first week, and you might look like you have two black eyes for a bit. It's all a normal part of the healing process so don't worry too much about it, and be sure to change the bandage at least once a day."

Damian nodded and experimentally tried to move his face, but he winced at the pain.

"Now," the doctor took on a more serious tone. "You have just been through something potentially traumatic, although you were rescued within a few hours, this kind of thing can be known to leave some lasting effects. We do have a resident psychiatrist if you're interested in having a talk through with them?"

Damian shook his head, and his throat tightened up. "I, uh, " and his voice cracked as he tried to speak. "I'm not sure. Can I have a think about it? I feel okay."

The doctor smiled gently, as if she had heard people say that all the time. She probably had. "That's really common in the aftermath of an incident like this, but please stay in touch. You might notice that there are some side effects that you haven't anticipated, and it's always worth keeping an eye out for."

She kneeled down in front of Damian and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We just want to make sure that you have the best healing process possible. Physically, as well as mentally."

"Right," Damian nodded. "Thanks." His throat felt too dry for him to say any more.

The drive back to Eden College was silent, but as they pulled up to the drive, Loid turned in his seat to Damian once more.

"I know it's been a long day Damian, so I took the liberty of phoning the school while you were in the examination room. I spoke to Professor Henderson and let him know what happened, and he advised that you go to the school nurse as soon as possible."

Damian was confused. "But haven't I already been seen by the hospital?"

Loid shrugged. "You can leave it if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it. It will just be a space to rest for a few hours before the end of the school day. I think your classmates might be a little too interested in how you got that bandage on your nose, and how you got those black eyes. It might give you a bit of space to prepare yourself before facing them."

Damian nodded. The old man had a point.

"I'll leave you do it," said Loid. "But just so you know, I'm more than happy to help out whenever you need. I know that Anya cares about you a lot, so consider yourself welcome at any time."

Damian felt the heat spread across his face. Why did hearing that make him feel so happy?

But out of embarrassment, Damian just nodded. He felt so grateful to Mr Forger, he just didn't know how he would be able to express himself without messing up.

"Th-thanks Pops," he eventually settled on saying. He wanted to add how much he appreciated the kind gesture, but his eyes burned dangerously. "I'll head in."

He found the infirmary with ease, and collapsed on the bed. Thankfully the nurse wasn't around just yet, so he let the tears fall.

Anya couldn't concentrate on the class at all. They were supposed to be doing Classical Literature which was her favourite subject of all time, and the only one that she was actually the best at, but it was no use. She couldn't stop thinking about Damian and whether or not he was okay.

Papa didn't say that he had taken him to the hospital to get checked up, but it had been hours. Surely they would be finished by now?

Anya stared at the worksheet, but the words blurred together. She hmphed.

"Anya,"said Becky gently. She had noticed that Anya was getting nervous and distracted. "If you're that nervous about Damian, you could ask to go see him."

"I don't know if he's back yet."

"Well," said Becky conspiratorially, and Anya leaned closer. "I just saw your papa pull up in his car, so I think Damian might be coming back already!"

"Ah," Anya whispered back. "Thanks Becky!"

Just then, someone knocked at the door, and Professor Henderson popped his head into the classroom. "Miss Forger," he called. "May I see you for a minute?"

In the corridor, Professor Henderson waited until Anya had closed the door to the classroom before he spoke. "Just so you know, Damian's back at school. He's been a bit bruised but it looks like he will be fine. I have advised him that he should go to the infirmary."

"Of course," said Anya. She hopped between one foot and the other, clearly wanting to say something else.

Professor Henderson resigned himself and sighed. "Yes, you may go and see him. I'll tell your teacher-"

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Anya called and sprinted in the other direction, leaving a bemused Henry alone in the corridors.

Damian managed to wipe his eyes with a tissue, and took his shoes off before sliding himself between the sheets of the infirmary bed. He was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was sleep everything off. Sleep away the bad day, and hopefully the memories, and maybe some of the pain as well…

He heard the door click gently open, and he sat bolt upright. Was it the nurse? Were they finally coming to check on him?

But a head of pink hair rounded the corner shyly. She peeked at him from behind the curtain that separated the beds.

"Hey," she called out. "I heard you were back, can I come and sit with you?"

"S-Sure," Damian stammered. He shifted on the bed to make space for Anya to join.

When she did sit down next to him, she folded her hands in her lap and played with her fingers. She didn't even look at Damian for a while.

He swallowed. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her - had asked her, but obviously she wasn't able to answer them all at that moment in time. Could he ask her again? Would she get annoyed and push him away?

"Uh-" started Damian, but Anya interrupted him.

"I was really scared, when I saw them take you away," she started to sniff. "We've only just started to actually get along. I didn't want that to end just yet, you know?"

Damian swallowed thickly and nodded. He knew.

Anya continued. "And I know you have a lot of questions and that's fine, you're allowed to have questions and you're allowed to ask them, but I just wanted to say as well that there are some things I'm just not ready to tell you. I know that I already told you a few things, but I just… I don't know if I was ready really for anyone to know. So just forgive me please and wait a little longer? I can tell you some things now of course, but you might have to wait a bit longer to get the full story…"

"Why was your father there?" Damian said suddenly, then winced at himself. He didn't mean to interrupt her, but it just came out of him.

Anya shrugged with a smile. "I called him, of course."

Damian started. "And not the police?"

"Uh," Anya sighed. "I know, I know that would be the normal thing to do right? But the thing is, when I was kidnapped before, my Papa was the one that found me and rescued me. So when I was thinking about what to do, I just thought of him."

She continued: "My Mama came and got me the second time, but I didn't want to call her to come with me today because she would just walk right in and beat everyone up, and Papa is more likely to stop and think and come up with a plan with me. So that's why."

Damian was still sceptical, and he didn't know how to process the sentence about Mrs Forger, so he just decided to ignore it. A lot of this still didn't make any sense to him. Nevermind the fact that Loid has rescued Anya before, if he was the first she wanted to call, then he couldn't argue with that.

Then another question came to him: "How did you fight everyone off?"

"My Mama has been training me in combat!" And as if to show off her strength, or her pride, Anya gripped on to her bicep and held it out for Damian. "I've been getting stronger!"

Damian decided to not ask why Anya was receiving battle training from an apparently violent woman. "How did you make that smoke?"

Anya laughed. "Oh it's pretty simple really, I just made a peanut bomb but I reduced some of the key ingredients so that it would smoke instead of explode."

This shook Damian. "I'm sorry what? You made a peanut bomb? How in the hell did you manage to make this, and how do you know how to do this in the first place?"

"Ah," said Anya. "That's complicated."

She thought back to when she had followed her Mama to the restaurant date with Loid, and had heard the thoughts of a potential attacker. She heard him thinking the recipe in making a peanut bomb, and she had managed to infiltrate the kitchen before he ever got there. She had kept the recipe memorised in her head ever since.

(She also had it written down in her room somewhere and kept looking at it every now and again just to make sure she refreshed it in her mind. You never know when you might need a peanut bomb recipe.)

Damian's chest hitched, and he brought his hands to his face. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Anya gasped at seeing Damian shaking, and she knew instantly that he was feeling upset because of her.

It's all my fault.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, and instinctively reached out a hand towards his shoulder. "You don't have to cry, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm not crying," Damian sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

Her hand hovered in midair, just above his shoulder, then she brought it slowly back towards her. "Sy-on…" she said gently, with a tenderness in her voice that made Damian's heart break.

"Not that much anyway," he mumbled. "It's just, this is insane! I only wanted to wait at the bus stop for you, and then I got kidnapped, and then you came and got me and dealt with all those bad guys like it was nothing, and like you've been doing this your whole life! I just - I feel like I don't know you anymore!"

Anya felt those words strike her like an arrow.

Damian didn't notice her wince, and carried on. "I've wanted to get closer to you since forever, and I thought… I thought when I took you to the cinema that was the start of us actually being friends and maybe getting closer, but after everything you told me in the last few weeks as well, I'm beginning to think I don't even know who you really are."

Anya hung her head. What could she even say to that?

He was right. Every secret she held close to her heart, she had locked them away and made sure that no-one really knew her true self. She had been lying all her life, to everyone that she had ever met. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out that she was really just a fraud.

After what felt like an age, Damian sighed, and wiped at his eyes again. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said all that. I'm just tired, and everything hurts. It hurts to breathe."

It was too much, seeing him like this. Anya felt the tears roll down her own cheek before she could stop them.

"I'm so sorry, Damian," she choked. "I just wanted to protect you and make sure you were safe, a-a-and… I wanted to get closer to you, too."

Damian felt like his heart had stopped.

Did she just say his name?

And…. She wanted to get closer to him too?

Hope swelled in his chest, but Damian didn't want to get too carried away. He tried to keep it in check.

"But I wouldn't mind it if you waited for me at the bus stop tomorrow?" said Anya hopefully. "That was really thoughtful of you. We could try again?"

Damian thought that his heart was going to explode. "Y-yeah. I'd like that."

"And then… we can go to class together," said Anya through her eyelashes.

Blood rushed to his ears. If they walked to class together, people might actually think that they were…

"Just as friends! Obviously," Anya said quickly and tried to crack a smile.

"Yeah, friends."

"Good."

"Yep."

"Okay then."

The conversation petered to a stop, and both teens looked awkwardly away from each other.

As the seconds passed, Damian's thoughts only built up in his head. Mostly about what just happened and how he would ask Anya more later. He still had more questions that burned in his mind.

Sensing the changing landscape of his thoughts, Anya carefully rose from the infirmary bed. "I'd better go. Professor Henderson told me you'd be here, so I just wanted to come and see that you were okay."

Damian nodded mutely, and his heart stammered to a halt when Anya leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you at the bus stop tomorrow, Sy-on boy," she said with a wink, and skipped away. "Let's walk to class together!"

"Y-yeah," Damian stammered, but it was too late. Anya had already left.

He brought a shaky hand up to his cheek, still damp from her kiss. He thought he was going to faint.

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Phewww! Anya isnt going to be expelled! :D And she gave him a kiss on the cheek!

We got a little more honest and vulnerable DamianxAnya interaction here (my heart bursts for them), and I imagine Damian is going to have a time of it trying to integrate what he is learning about Anya into who he thought she was. Is it a good thing...?

I had a lot of favourite lines in this chapter, let me know your favourites! :D