Chapter 16

Alan's POV
"Will you be my boyfriend?" I stared at him as he leant in and kissed my cheek.
"Yes Alan."
I squealed like a small girl and tackled him in a hug, causing the seat we were in to moved back and forth. I was happy. Truly happy. As we stepped off of the ride Austin laced his fingers with mine and brought them up to his lips, where he kissed my knuckles gently. I skipped happily to the car with Austin by my side. Things couldn't get much better.
~
(Insert time skip of a month or so)

"Tomorrow you will be having an exam on everything we have covered so far." Mr. Mathews said as we all started packing up. There was five minutes left of this class. "Hey Alan wanna come over today?" Austin said as he grabbed my bag and we headed out of the room.
"Sure." I kissed his cheek and we walked silently, hand in hand, to my next class.
Austin was late to his next class because he wouldn't leave me. He was too cute.

I took a seat in the back and settled in. Just a couple more classes and I could go hang out with Austin. I pulled out my notebook and a pencil and got ready for the lecture to start. The teacher walked in and the noise level decreased and her voice filled the room. I sat there in a half daze. Not bored but not completely engaged. I barely had heard the door open and I only realized when a all to familiar face walked down to the front and said something to the professor.
"Alan the Dean wants to see you." Even though we were in college, I still heard a few 'ohhhs' and 'ahhhs'.

I timidly gathered my things and clutched my phone tightly as James walked back up the aisle. He stopped beside of me and waited until I was in front of him, he put a hand on the small of my back and led me out of the room. As soon as the door closed I ripped around to see a smug look on his face.
"What the hell James?! Get away I don't want you here, leave me alone." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the side of the building.
"Don't make a scene. We don't want people hearing now do we?" He said talking to me like I was a child.
"I don't care who hears! I want you to let me go, let me be happy James." I pleaded. He took a hand and placed it on my cheek moving his thumb back and forth.
"Get your hands off of me!" I screamed and he slapped me, hard.
"Make another sound and little Austin wont get out with just a couple of bruises." That one sentence made me stop. Austin. He couldn't do anything to him. "See there we go. We just have to cooperate."

James pulled me close and grabbed my ass and I pushed him off.
"No James." I said. I wouldn't let this happen again. I was finally away from him.
"Alan baby, be careful. You never know what could happen to you or your little boy toy."
"Just stop James. Please. Don't do this to me anymore. If you ever cared about me you'd want me to be happy. You'd see how many problems you caused and you'd realize that it's best if you leave me alone." I said and turned around walking towards the main campus area. He grabbed my arm again.
"I love you Alan. I'm the only one that ever will love someone like you."

"Stop with your fucking mind games!" I screamed. Not even caring if anyone heard me. I was tired of all of this.
"Your the one that's a piece of shit James. You made me hate myself. Made me feel like I was worthless. I thought I deserved every punch and kick. Every bruise was a reminder of something I did wrong but they were necessary. I fucked up, at least that's what I was told." I was crying now but I didn't care. "Who deserves a broken rib because they didn't clean the house!"
He strode over to me and gripped my wrist harshly, pulling me towards him and pointing a finger in my face.
"Shut your mouth." His grip on my wrist tightened.
"Let me go!" I struggled to pull from his grasp and he grabbed my shoulder.

"He said let him go." An unfamiliar voice said. James looked up and scowled. I turned my head and saw two guys.
"It's none of your business." He said lowly.
"Is be bothering you?" The guy asked. I looked at James, his eyes were full of anger.
"Y-yea." I choked out. Out of all the times I've seen James mad this seemed to be the worse and I was scared. They guys came over and one tugged James away while the other forcibly ripped his hand from my wrist.
"Don't mess with him again." The guy said and him and his group led me away from James.

"Hey where is your place? We don't want you walking home alone." The one said.
"Could we like go find someone first?" I asked. I wanted Austin.
"Who do you have in mind?" The brown haired one said.
"Austin Carlile."
"I'm supposed to have class with him right now." The blonde one said again. I just nodded and he led us towards the classroom. I was thankful that the guys weren't very talkative.

Finally we reached the room door and the last guy, who had light brown hair went inside, next thing I knew Austin was coming out the door.
"What is it Shay?" He said and when he saw me he came over and placed his hands on my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug and instantly felt safe.