Taylor P.O.V

God dammit, just keep running. Just keep running through the school grounds and you'll be just fine. 

It was only 8:37am, school hadn't even started yet and already I was being chased down by McKenzie and her fucking group of friends. I just had to run into them on my way into school, didn't I? Fuck! Running down the school corridor, I bolted for the girls bathroom, hoping that they didn't see me go inside. Just for safe measure, I locked myself in a stool and sat on the toilet seat so that they wouldn't see my feet from beneath the stool. 

The door opened, and I could hear whispering and giggling. They were in here. They were in here with me. 

God, where are you, Sam? Where are you?! I couldn't help but think in a panic. 

I let out a loud scream, putting my hands over my ears as the stool door before me appeared to be kicked at, the loud sound being the evidence of that fact. And it wasn't just kicked or hit at once. No, the students were continuously banging on the door, trying to get it open. Trying to get me to come out. 

"Come on, Taylor! Stop hiding in the closet!" McKenzie's voice mocked on the other side of the door while her friends laughed alongside her. 

"Get out here you faggot!" 

"Stop being such a little baby bitch and face what you deserve!" 

"For fuck sake, get your ass out here right now!" 

Not knowing what I could do, the only thing I really could do... Was just curl up into a ball and sob on the toilet seat, while they burst with laughter and continued to slam their fists and feet against the door. It was going to be okay, they were going to leave me alone. It was going to be okay, they were going to leave me alone. It was going to be okay, they were going to leave me alone. It was... It was... 

Where are you, Sam...? 

****

Sam's P.O.V

8:41am. Well, at least I wasn't late. Four minutes to spare until school started. That gave me just enough time to go to the bathroom. Though, as I wondered down the school hall, I wondered where Taylor was. Sometimes we tended to meet near the school gates, or other times we might have saw the other person walking down the road and we'd catch up and walk with one another.

But today, nothing. Where was she?

A frown fell upon my face, when I saw McKenzie and a group of her friends laughing and giggling as they left the girls bathroom. I heard one of them mention Taylor's name, and instantly the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise, while my blood began to boil. At that moment, they all noticed me, shared glances and then continued on their way in the opposite direction, still laughing their asses off as if they had told the funniest fucking joke in the world.

Why were they talking about Taylor? Was she in there?

Without even a second of hesitation, I rushed inside, only to be horrified by what I saw. Taylor was here, standing in front of the mirrors as she had a tissue held up to her nose with tears streaming down her face. When she noticed my existence in the doorway, she looked completely alarmed as she span around to face me. 

"T-Taylor... What... What happened?!" I cried, running over to her, wanting to make sure she was okay. 

"It's... It's nothing, I'm fine. It's just a couple of bruises and a bloody nose, nothing I can't handle..." She whispered as she avoided my eye contact. But I wasn't having any of it. There was no way she could just brush this off as if it was nothing!

"It was McKenzie and her friends, wasn't it? They did this to you, didn't they!?" I questioned, demanding an answer rather than asking. For a long time, Taylor hesitated to answer, until she finally just broke down into tears and I allowed for her to throw herself into my arms. I hugged her close, allowing her to sob, not caring if she got tears or even blood on my clothes. 

"They... They came in... And they wouldn't leave me alone." She sobbed into my shoulder while I sadly listened, rubbing her back with my hand to try and calm her cries. "T-They kept banging at the door, and wouldn't stop until I came out... They were m-making fun of me because t-they knew I was your girlfriend." 

The moment she said that, that is when I officially wanted to imagine myself fucking breaking McKenzie's neck. Of course she would go and pick on Taylor because I told her the truth, because I wasn't ashamed to admit that Taylor was my girlfriend. She literally just went to pick on her and beat her up because... What? She wasn't fucking heterosexual? Well, excuse me, McKenzie. But not everyone is as straight as you fucking apparently are!

"I'm sorry, Tay... That's probably partly my fault." I sighed, causing her to let out a confused "what?" 

"I told McKenzie the truth - that you were my girlfriend, because I ran into her on the street the other day and she tried to make fun of me by saying I was going out with you. So, showing I wasn't ashamed, I admitted that I was. She was definitely shocked, and I could tell she was probably going to be laughing at us about it later, but I didn't think she'd go this far... Fucking bitch." Again, I exhaled. "I'm sorry, Tay... This is my fault." 

"Don't go and blame yourself, Sam. It's okay..."

"No, it's not okay." I replied sternly. "In fact, I don't care what happens, I'm going to make sure McKenzie officially pays for this after school today." 

"W-What are you going to do...?" She questioned. 

"I'm going to fight her." I told her honestly, which caused her to gasp and shake her head, pulling away from the hug as she stared at me with wide eyes.

"Sam, you can't keep going and getting yourself into trouble for me like this. If you fight McKenzie and hurt her, you're only going to go and get yourself expelled... And I don't want that to happen to you. Not just for my sake, but for yours. What about your future? Your education? You can't go putting that at risk for m--" Before she finished, I put my lips to hers in a sweet, caring kiss. Just wanting her to stop worrying so much, to just calm her as she was clearly distraught. And it worked. Because she slowly began to sink into the kiss, closing her own eyes as she put her arms around me. I pulled her closer, just not caring about anything or anyone around us. If anyone had walked in right now, I would not care. If they gave me judging glances, I would not care. Because I wasn't ashamed to admit that Taylor was the girl I loved, and she was going to stay the girl I loved. Always. Whether she believed it or not. 

Eventually, I pulled away and smiled at her, while she was clearly still surprised and taken aback by the loving kiss. "Listen, Tay." I started, placing a hand on her cheek as I stared into her eyes. "I want to do this for you. I hate just having to stand by and watch while people go and treat you like shit. You may be used to just allowing for it to happen, you may be used to just hiding yourself away, hoping that the problems will go away... But I don't want you to think that you have to go and suffer alone. I am always here for you. No matter what. And it'll stay that way. I'm going to fight McKenzie, and I'm going to make sure that she never crosses you again... Because I want to do this for you. I love you." I whispered, once again bringing her in for a hug. Momentarily, she was silent, until she eventually replied.

"Alright, Sam... You can do it..." She murmured. "And... I love you too."