Daniel lay with his chest to Tessa's back as she didn't move. Both of them awake and silently lying in bed as he stroked her arm and she simply cuddled into the comforter, not making any efforts of getting up.

"I don't want to go, today." Tessa murmured quietly as she buried her face into his pillow, murmuring something inaudible to him.

Sighing, he brought his arm before her, cupping her chin into fingers as he turned her to be facing him.

"What are you saying?" He asked her gently, rubbing his thumb over her jaw. "I don't understand with your face in the pillow."

"I said I don't want to go to school today."

"Alright." Daniel nodded as she looked at him with surprise. "What? I can't force you to do anything." He shrugged as he pulled away from her, sitting up straight and internally groaning how it was a Monday again.

"There is another thing..." Tessa trailed nervously as she peeked at him from below her lashes, her cheeks flushing lightly.

"What?"

"Can-can you stay?" She asked uncertainly. "I really don't want to be alone..."

"Tessa...I have a job..." He trailed uncertainly. "It's not as easy for me to call in sick to work."

"Oh...okay..." Tessa spoke quietly as she watched him take out his police uniform, about to get dressed for the day. Meanwhile, Tessa threw the covers off herself and pattering across the room towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Hmm? To get dressed." She informed as he looked at her in confusion. "I don't see the point in staying home when I don't wanna be alone. Could you give me a ride to school? The bus would have left by now."

"Hey, you know you don't have to go if you don't want to, right?"

"I know...It's just...I kinda think I should go to school...might miss out on something important."

"Okay..." Daniel relented after a moment of gauging her expressions. "I'll give you a ride to school."

They both set off to get dressed as Daniel wondered if it was a good idea to send her since she didn't look too well. Then again, he can't force her to go to school, neither can he force her to stay at home.

Once they were all ready to leave, he insisted that Tessa have something to eat, so she grabbed a granola bar for the go before they took the elevator to the underground parking.

They drove in relative silence except for the occasional crackle of the radio on the center console.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Daniel asked once he stopped outside the school. "You can hang out at the precinct if you want?"

"No, I think I'm fine." She tried to assure with a weak smile.

"If you say so..." He relented as he cupped the back of her head, pulling her close to placed a kiss on the top of her head. "See you at home, then?"

"Yeah...see you at home."

With that said, she stepped out of the police car and walked across the silent parking lot before entering the school building, seeing a few students lingering about; either waiting for their classes, having a free class, or simply bunking.

Walking into the little girl's room, Tessa placed her bag onto the counter before taking out a pouch from her bag. Gathering all her hair, she pulled it into a messy bun on the top of her head before fixing the sweatshirt she wore. Dusting the front of her ripped jeans, she gave herself one last glance, taking a deep breath before exiting into the hall just as the bell rung, sounding the end of the second class.

Standing by her locker, she waited for her friends. Hearing their chatter and giggles before actually seeing them.

"Tessa!" A voice exclaimed as she looked up from her phone seeing Natalie and Valery rushing towards her, both of them enveloping her in a hug as Clint came and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Where were you?!" Jeremy asked before anyone else could say anything.

"Well..." She trailed, deciding on how to tell them. "Initially I didn't want to come to school-"

"-Why?" Natalie interrupted as Bruce shushed her, urging Tessa to continue.

"And I really didn't want to come, but then I didn't want to be alone either and I asked my..." She drifted off, thinking about her relation to Daniel. "Roommate...if he could stay with me, but he couldn't due to his job, so I decided that I might as well come to school then."

"But, why didn't you want to come to school?" Clint asked from beside her in confusion. "Didn't you go on a date on Friday? Didn't that go well?"

At the reminder of her date, she couldn't help but grimace while lowering her gaze, fidgeting with the stray strands that fell out of her bun.

"Tessa..." Bruce spoke up at her reaction. "Did...did something happen on the date?"

"I-I don't know..." She trailed uncomfortably. "It-it happened so suddenly and I got scared and ran home...and when I told my...roommate about it, he...he said it was harassment?"

"What?!" They all exclaimed at the same time staring at her in disbelief as she shrunk away from them. "That asshole harassed you?!"

"Oh, sweetie," Natalie spoke under her breath as she walked towards Tessa, wrapping the shorter girl in a hug as she felt like she needed it.

"What happened?"

"Well..." She trailed as she stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets. "The date was going very well until the end where I told him that I should be getting back since I was told to be home by ten. He told me not to leave...and then grabbed my ass and forcefully kissed me." Tessa explained as she swallowed thickly.

"I-I'm glad that Daniel had me take a pepper spray with me...otherwise I don't know what would have happened."

"Oh, my God." They all gasped quietly as they all came into a group hug, squishing Tessa between them, just wanting her to know that she was cared for.

They had to pull away when the bell rung for the next class, all of them pulling apart and telling Tessa that they'd talk to her at lunch before they went in the directions of their respective classes.

Bruce walked beside her as he hadn't spoken a single word since they broke apart from the hug, and Tessa wasn't too eager on starting a conversation either.

Suddenly, on their way to their class, he came to a sudden halt, grabbing Tessa's arm to stop her as well.

"Is that him?" Bruce asked her quietly, pointing across the hall where Brandon was stuffing books into his bag.

Noticing him, Tessa lowered her gaze, not wanting to be seen by him before nodding to Bruce's question. Almost instantly, a devious smirk overcame his features as he had a mischievous glint shining in his eyes.

"Hey, watch this." He told Tessa, pulling up his hood before ensuring that there was no teacher in the hallway.

She watched in confusion as he approached Brandon, tapping him on the shoulder. The other boy turned around, only to have a fist rammed into his nose. The blow having him hit his head against the locker and cry out in pain as he clutched at the abused area, sliding down the metal.

"Run!" Bruce yelled at Tessa as she started running after him, having a difficult time keeping up with his strides along with a heavy bag.

Skidding along the hallway, they both burst into their classroom, sending the teacher toppling over as the class either burst into laughter or jumped back in fright.

Tessa was bent over laughing from the adrenaline rush as Bruce was trying his best to regain his breathing.

"That felt good." He wheezed out as Tessa couldn't even respond, being so out of breath.

Once they calmed down, they both settled in their seats.

At lunch, the story spread like a wildfire that a guy in a hood punched Brandon, their friends laughing when Bruce told them it was him. However, along with another story that there was some sort of safety demonstration going on and people were coming into the classrooms for an information session.

By the middle of the second half, they had all forgotten about it and they kept on hearing about this 'really hot guy' but didn't understand who they were talking about.

Although the confusion lasted until the last class when they were all seated in the same classroom, the bell had rung just when Brandon walked in with a bandage over his nose, a snicker escaping majority of the class as he glared at a few people before settling down. The professor close behind.

"Alright!" He spoke loudly with a clap of his hands. "I'm sure that all you must have heard all about the demonstration going on, so let me give you guys a little more information on it."

"So, the Baltimore Police Department was so kind to send two of their officers to different schools for a demonstration regarding sexual harassment."

Instantly murmurs broke out among the students as the teacher quieted them.

"Alright! Alright! I'll let the police take it from here." He announced before looking towards the open door, giving a curt nod and stepping back as a lean built woman with blonde hair in a ponytail and brown eyes stepped through the threshold, wearing the standard police uniform and combat boots.

Looking at the woman, Tessa felt as if though she looked familiar not being able to place from where she had seen her.

However, following behind her was none other than Officer Daniel Robertson, and every girl -including Tessa - gasped at the sight of him. Everyone instantly straightened as the principal walked in with a grave expression.

"Can we take it from here?" The woman asked the teacher, who gave a nod of confirmation, and Daniel stood a step behind her with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, hi! I'm Gloria Alonzo, and this is my partner Daniel Robertson." She introduced as Daniel gave a short wave of his hand.

"So, I'm sure you all know why we are here, considering that word spreads faster in high school than a fire in a forest." She joked as a couple of students chuckled. "But if you don't know, it's quite alright. Daniel here can enlighten you. All yours, Dan."

"Thanks, G." He nodded to his partner before taking a step forward. "So, harassment." Daniel started with a clap of his hands, some people wincing at the causality of his tone.

"What do you guys know?" He asked, looking around at all the students, meeting a couple of eyes as they all looked away. "No, answers? Alright. Basically, it is intimidation and pressure put on another person by someone."

"I'm sure that a couple of you know what I'm talking about. And I am sorry that you had to go through it because harassment is a sick and twisted method of bullying and no one deserves to go through that. And this is what today's demonstration is all about."

"Today, Gloria and I will go over the types of harassment and how to fight against them." Daniel enlightened. "And I am gonna apologize beforehand because you all must feel uncomfortable having to hear this from a stranger rather than your parents, but we took an oath to protect you guys, and we will stick to it. So, please endure us for the next forty minutes and we'll be done."

He looked around the room once more, ensuring that he got the message across before Gloria stepped forward, thanking Daniel before telling the students about the type of harassment that occur on an almost daily basis.

The talk about it had quite a couple of students feel uncomfortable, but when they got to the actual defense part, everyone was suddenly paying attention.

"One method of protecting yourself from harassment is by saying 'No'. If they respect you, he/she should back off. If not, then you get away. As. Soon. As. Possible." Gloria emphasized. "You guys can also learn a couple of self-defense moves if they get too aggressive."

"We can demonstrate a simple judo-flip here if you guys want," Gloria suggested as the kids nodded eagerly, a grimace overcoming Daniel's features as he rubbed his shoulders.

"Okay, fine. Everyone move back." Daniel spoke over their excited chatter. "I'm the one that's gonna get thrown around, so you might want to watch out."

Instantly everyone shuffled back in their seats making space as Gloria and Daniel stood in the center, everyone watching with eager eyes as she grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her before rolling him across her back and throwing him onto the floor with a loud thud, a dazed expression overcoming Daniel's face as he coughed out a grunt.

"I will have a word with you." He grunted at his partner as Tessa grimaced at the visible pain he was in.

"Now, for those who don't want to take self-defense classes." Daniel huffed out as he straightened, his back making painful popping sounds. "You can buy either a can of pepper spray or a Taser."

"Now, everyone knows how to use a pepper spray, but a Taser." He grinned deviously, taking out a black one from his back pocket. "Now these are my favorites." He resumed as he clicked it on, showing the electric currents.

"Now...can I have a volunteer for a harmless little shock?" He asked as everyone looked at him in fright. "It's on a low volt, so it's completely harmless," Daniel assured as he tasered his own hand, not showing any signs of pain while the others winced.

"If no one is going to volunteer, I'll have to pick one out." Gloria piped in, looking around. "How about...Brandon?"

Instantly the aforementioned boy started choking and violently shaking his head, and Tessa instantly knew what Daniel was doing.

"Oh, don't be shy." Gloria chuckled as she walked over to him, easily pulling him out of his chair and dragging him to the front with no obvious difficulty from his struggling, the teacher and principal have left a while ago. "It won't even sting!"

Just as she said this, he turned to look at Daniel who was giving him a forced smile, beckoning him forward.

He was still struggling, before Daniel grabbed him, his back to his chest as he easily restrained the boy with one arm.

Tessa watched as he whispered something into Brandon's ears, his eyes widening in fright followed by a sinister smile across Daniel's lips.

"So, kids!" Daniel spoke as he held Brandon firmly in place. "Using a Taser is very easy. You see this switch? You simply turn it on and hold it against a person."

Just as he was drawing the Taser closer to the boy, his struggling grew worse, but it wasn't a hindrance to Daniel. Instead, he just put the Taser to the boy's neck, and a shrill scream escaped him as everyone jumped back at the sound, waiting for something.

"Kid..." Daniel snorted. "It's off."

Slowly, smiles overcame the student's faces at the look of utter terror upon Brandon, before Daniel took a step back, holding back his snicker. Everyone bursting into hysterical laughter as they all realized that the macho football captain, Brandon Shaw, just peed himself over an off Taser.

Just then the principal returned, grabbing Brandon with him before leaving again.

Daniel and Gloria gave a couple of final words before bidding farewell just as the bell rung, dismissing everyone.

Instantly majority of the girls ran up to Daniel as Tessa was about to walk over to him, wanting to say something when someone tapped her shoulder causing her to turn around. She was expecting one of her friends but was surprised to be greeted by an unfamiliar face.

The boy before her had shaggy brown tresses and chocolate colored eyes as he nervously pawed at his fringe.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" He asked her as Tessa turned towards the front before looking back at him.

"Brandon isn't my-" She started before being cut off

"No, the officer." He responded. "I've seen him drop you off to the bus stop."

"H-How do you know him-?"

"I use the same bus stop. I'm generally wearing a hood."

"Oh." Tessa realized that this was the boy that stood with her at the bus stop. "And, no, he's not my boyfriend. He's my roommate."

"Rather overprotective for a roommate, don't you think?"

"Yeah, well...he considers me his responsibility, so there is that." Tessa giggled at his words, turning around just in time to see Daniel disappear behind the door, deciding on thanking him at home. "I'm Tessa. Tessa Forbes." She introduced while sticking out her hand to him.

"Hello, Tessa." The boy gave a soft smile, removing his hood before taking her small hand into his larger one. "I'm Xavier Scott."