THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[140] I CHOOSE YOU

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"I did what you wanted. Don't punish me for that."

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WE LOCKED EYES for a moment, our breaths mixing, as he stared down at me, but I found myself, pushing back awkwardly, eyes looking everywhere but not at him.

My mind ran rampant with so many moments, the first being the last moment we shared and that made my face heat up at the stupidity of my actions.

However, that soon died down when I remembered what he did.

How he had managed to sweep out the little confidence I had left from right beneath my feet.

It was then that I was reminded of who I was dealing with.
I felt like these past few moments we had shared I had started looking at him as less of an intimidating jerk than just a plain jerk.

But now, the pieces were rebuilding themselves.

My fists tightened around my bag straps looking slightly up at him when he talked.

His gaze stretched behind me, looking at the direction I had come from before landing back on mine in an instance, eyes narrowing down on me,

"Where were you coming from?" he asked, before glancing down at his watch, "this early?"

My eyebrows arched at this equation, blinking for a few seconds, trying to piece the question, lightly glancing back to where I had come from

I had run out of any excuses before he raised an eyebrow,

"Did you sleep in a classroom?" he asked, eyes trailing down my uniform I had never felt any more embarrassed than I was at this moment, my eyes widening, throat dry, before his head tilted.

"Is this about Daya?" he suddenly asked, studying me.

I stared blankly at him in bewilderment, blinking at the statement, not knowing whether to confirm or deny it.

I watched as his jaw clenched, tucking his hand in his coat, staring out ahead for a moment before his darkened gaze reigned upon me.

"She's not going to bother you anymore," he stated, his tone lower, eyes searching mine as if looking for understanding.

I was confused by that statement, my heart suddenly beating soundly within me when it dawned on me the question and answer he had provided.

My eyes snapped to him in utter disappointment when it clicked, feeling hurt when I realized what he had done.

Scratch that, what both he and Lucas had done.

They had fought my battle for me.

I wasn't particularly mad at this, but I realized one thing, the one thing I had been hoping to disprove.

Lucas tried so hard to explain it his way, but the truth remained as clear as day.

They thought of me as weak. As a girl who needed to be protected.

And what hurt the most was that it was true.

It was fricking true.

I had been protected all my life,

My mom, my Dad, Zali, Lance, Gravis, and now, here I was, 17 and still being sheltered.

Maybe I would have thought of it as what came as a result of being a princess and future Queen of a nation but right now, here where no one knew who I was, I was still sheltered and protected like a little bird.