*“What the Fuck Did You Just Say?”

It was one of those days where showing up felt like a win.

You’d managed to drag yourself into school, hoodie pulled tight around your face, barely making it through the first half of the day without lighting up in the bathroom. You hadn’t said much, hadn’t eaten, and Kevin noticed. Of course he did.

He always did.

He didn’t pressure you. He just walked you to lunch, sat with you at your usual quiet table by the window, and let you exist.

Then, from across the room, it started.

Liam again.

Loud. Arrogant. Bored.

He was talking to his friends, but his eyes kept flicking toward you like he wanted you to hear. Like he wanted to be heard.

“I mean, I get it,” he said, smirking. “She’s always high, barely talks, probably doesn’t say no either. Bet she’s the type you don’t even have to try with. Just lay her down and she takes it.”

His friend snorted. “Kevin’s lucky, huh?”

That was all it took.

Kevin stood so suddenly his chair crashed backward. You flinched, startled—but his eyes weren’t on you.

They were locked on Liam.

Everyone turned. Even the teachers froze.

Kevin stormed across the room so fast no one had time to stop him.

He shoved Liam backward—hard. The table behind him screeched as it slid, trays crashing to the floor.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

Liam stumbled, his cocky expression dropping fast. “Jesus, it was just a joke—”

“No,” Kevin growled, his voice shaking. “Say it again. Say that shit again about her, and I’ll put your fucking head through this table.”

Liam’s friends jumped up. One grabbed Kevin’s arm, but Kevin shoved him off without looking.

“You think it’s funny?” Kevin’s voice was louder now, furious. “To talk about her like she’s some toy? Like she’s not a person? You have no idea what she’s been through. You don’t know her. You don’t know what it’s like to hold her when she’s shaking. To hear her say she wants to disappear. To pray she makes it through the week.”

Everyone was silent.

He stepped forward again, eyes burning. “And then you come in here and say she’s just some easy lay? Like the only thing that makes her worth noticing is sex?”

Kevin’s fists were clenched.

“I swear to God, if you ever say anything about her again—anything—you won’t just regret it. You’ll fucking bleed for it.”

A teacher finally rushed in, trying to get between them.

“Kevin—Kevin, enough!”

He didn’t move at first.

Not until he glanced back and saw you—still sitting, small in your chair, eyes wide, lips trembling.

That’s when the rage cracked into something deeper.

He looked away from Liam, chest still heaving, and walked back to you.

Didn’t say a word.

Just sat beside you and reached for your hand under the table.

You let him take it.

Your fingers were shaking, but you let him hold them.

And when the teacher came over, demanding he come to the office, Kevin stood without argument—but before he left, he looked down at you and said, quietly:

“Don’t ever think you’re less. Don’t ever think you’re just a body to me. You’re everything.”

And then he left.

Still angry.

But even more than that—

Still yours.