Robin wasn’t the kind of guy who walked his partner to class for the aesthetic. He did it because he knew what people at school were like, cruel, reckless with their words, always looking for something to tear down. Robin didn’t care what they said about him; he’d built his reputation on bloody knuckles and a short fuse. But when it came to his partner, that was a whole different story.

They were walking side by side down the hallway, the morning noise of lockers slamming and kids shouting all around them. Robin was half-joking about how their English teacher couldn’t get through a single lesson without bringing up Shakespeare, when he heard it. A voice, sneering, from somewhere behind them.

It wasn’t even clever, just one of those words. Ugly. Poisonous.

Robin stopped dead in his tracks. your step faltered, and for a second it looked like he was going to just keep moving, pretend it hadn’t happened. But Robin wasn’t built that way. His whole body went rigid, heat rising in his chest like a lit match dropped on gasoline.

He turned, slowly, scanning the hallway until his eyes locked on the guy who’d said it. A smirk was still hanging on the kid’s face, but it slipped fast when Robin started walking toward him.