Mike leaned towards her, his voice low enough she doubted anyone else could hear it. “I’m going to hold your hand, okay?”

She couldn’t find her voice, so she just nodded her head, still clutching her book, staring at the back of the seat in front of her. She wanted to just curl into a ball and shut out the rest of the world, but when Mike’s fingers slipped through hers, his much larger hand cradling hers, suddenly she could breathe again. That simple touch made her feel less alone, less frightened.

“If they think you’re mine, they’ll leave you alone,” he murmured into her ear.

Eyes wide, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him in shock. His? He didn’t care if they thought he was interested in a freshman? She’d thought he was just trying to make her feel better not... not make them think something. But Mike just smiled at her, his brown eyes warm and encouraging.

“Thank you,” she mouthed, too stunned to find her voice.

He leaned into her. “So, what’re you reading?”

They ended up talking the entire way to the bus stop where he got off with her and immediately recaptured her hand. Behind her, she could hear Ryan, laughing and joking with Kevin and Lawrence, as they followed along. For the first time, hearing them heading home on the same route as her didn’t make her feel tense or anxious. She felt completely safe.

Which kind of sucked.

“What’s with the scowl?” Mike asked, looking down at her with a frown. “Should we stop holding hands now?”

She suddenly realized he thought there was someone in the neighborhood she didn’t want witnessing their hand holding.

“No... it’s just...” Her voice trailed off, because after he’d saved her, she didn’t want to offend him.

“Just what?”

Eleanor couldn’t help but glance back over her shoulder. The terrible trio didn’t even notice, they were too busy doing their own thing, or at least pretending to. They hadn’t even glanced at her when Mike had stepped out of the bus seat and gestured for her to go in front of him, keeping his body between her and them.

“It makes me so mad they couldn’t just leave me alone,” she said finally. “Thank you for stepping in, but it just...”

“It sucks that I had to,” he finished for her when she struggled for a way to finish her sentence. Since he didn’t sound offended, Eleanor nodded. “That’s their problem, you get me? It does suck I had to step in, but that’s because they’re shitty and no other reason. If they weren’t little jerks, they would have taken your no as a no, and they should have.”

“So why didn’t you just tell them that?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking the question.