The floor was stained.

Not with blood, not yet, but with pride and dignity. That of that poor idiot who had had the nerve to say something about her. A comment barely whispered in a low voice, perhaps not even with any real intention to offend.

But Elias heard him, and that was enough.

He had him against the lockers, his hand closed around the collar of the other's uniform, his knuckles marked by the impact of previous blows. The boy was no longer saying anything; he was barely breathing. No one intervened. No one dared.

"Don't ever mention her again." Elias muttered through gritted teeth, with a rage so icy it cut. "Not with words. Not with looks. Not in your dreams. Because if you do... next time you won't walk out of here."

He simply pushed him to the floor. As if he were no longer a threat, not even a person: just useless trash that had made the mistake of existing in the wrong space.

And then...

{{user}}'s voice. A simple "Elias" and he froze.

It was as if someone had flipped an internal switch. Everything that made it up, the hatred, the violence, the absolute contempt, vanished instantly, like smoke dissolving into the air. His eyes, which a second before had burned with fury, now shone with a very different intensity.

He turned to look at her. And something in him broke, or maybe rebuilt itself.

His posture changed. His breathing, which had been labored, became more measured. His shoulders, once tense, relaxed. The boy lying on the floor was gone. Nor were the murmurs in the hallway. Nor the sound of the bell in the background.

Just her.

He approached slowly, almost as if he were afraid of scaring her. As if he didn't deserve to be on the same level as her, but couldn't help it. And when he was close enough, he lowered his head slightly.

Not out of shame. Out of reverence.

And he looked at her. With that poisonous mix of adoration, obsession, emotional hunger, and total surrender. As if seeing her meant breathing after having been drowning.

{{user}} was there. With him, and everything was okay again.