CHAPTER 37: TRY TOUCHING HIM AGAIN

and came face to face with Lucian.

He looked at them suprised thinking what a luck to run into you right after he leaned against the brick wall by the library entrance, arms crossed, one eyebrow arched A slow, knowing smile curled his lips as his eyes flicked between them.

"Looking for someone?" he asked, voice smooth as poison.

Leonel’s whole body went rigid the second he saw Lucian.

Not just annoyed pissed. Like someone had lit a fuse under his skin and walked away whistling. Aiden felt it too, the shift in the air, the way Leonel’s shoulders squared like he was already bracing for a fight.

Lucian, of course, looked like he’d just won the lottery.

"Oh," he said, feigning surprise as he pushed off the wall and straightened up. "What a lucky coincidence running into you two right after" He let the sentence hang, eyes glinting. "I happen to have just run into a certain guy with two very interesting hickeys on his neck." He smirked. "Thought you might be looking for him. Guess not."

He started walking past them like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb.

Leonel moved faster than Aiden could blink.

He grabbed Lucian’s arm hard and spun him back. "Where is he?" His voice was low, dangerous, the kind that promised violence if he didn’t get an answer. "Did you say anything to him? Did you touch him?"

His grip tightened. Lucian’s sleeve wrinkled under his fingers.

Lucian didn’t flinch. Just laughed soft, mocking, like this was all a game. He yanked his arm free with a sharp twist. "You’re not in any position to be asking me questions, Leonel."

Then his gaze slid between them, slow and deliberate. "But tell me..." He turned fully to Leonel. "Whose mark is the old, purple one?" His eyes flicked to Aiden. "And which one of you left the fresh, angry red one?"

Silence.

Aiden’s jaw clenched. Leonel’s eyes narrowed. Neither spoke.

Lucian’s smile widened. "Here’s the deal. You answer me and I’ll tell you where he went. If not?" He shrugged. "Good luck finding him before he convinces himself he’s the villain in his own story."

Leonel turned away instantly. "Fine. Then don’t."

But Aiden exhaled sharply. "The purple one’s Leonel’s."

Leonel whipped his head around, eyes wide. "Aiden why?"

"Because I want to find Cassian fast," Aiden shot back, voice tight. "Before he disappears for real."

Lucian let out a low, amused hum. "Ohhh," he drawled, looking at Aiden like he’d just discovered a secret he never saw coming. "So you’re the one who went rough on him. Didn’t take you for the marking type."

Aiden ignored him.

Lucian’s grin turned sharp. "He stormed off toward your classroom the one with the broken blinds. Looked pissed. Or scared. Hard to tell with him."

Aiden didn’t wait. He was already turning, heading down the path at a fast walk.

Leonel followed without another word.

Aiden’s steps didn’t slow, but his frown deepened. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

They walked in silence for a few strides, the campus path empty this late in the afternoon. Leaves rustled overhead. Somewhere, a bell rang.

Then Leonel said quietly, "You didn’t have to tell him."

Aiden kept his eyes forward. "Yeah, I didn’t but Cassian’s out there thinking he’s broken. Every second we waste arguing about pride was more important he’s alone with that thought."

Leonel was quiet for a beat. Then, so soft Aiden almost missed it "You really care about him, huh?"

Aiden didn’t answer right away. Then, with a half-shrug that didn’t fool anyone: "Yeah. I do."

They rounded the corner toward the humanities building the one with the flickering hallway lights and the classroom Cassian always hid in when he needed to vanish.

Aiden’s pace quickened.

Because if Cassian was in there, curled up in some desk with his arms wrapped around himself, blaming himself for wanting them both...

Then they were going to sit with him.

Not as rivals.

Not as options.

But as the two people who saw him really ... saw him and loved him anyway.

And this time, they wouldn’t let him run.

The classroom door was cracked open just enough for Aiden to hear the raised voices inside.

" think you’re so damn special with your little head and your pretty boy friends?" a voice sneered.

Aiden’s blood went cold.

He and Leonel exchanged one look no words needed and pushed the door open together.

What they saw made Aiden’s stomach drop.

Three guys from the upper-year drama club had Cassian cornered near the teacher’s desk. One of them Rayan’s loudmouth cousin, Jace had Cassian by the collar, yanking him forward like he was trash. Cassian’s face was pale, but his eyes burned with something raw and defiant.

"Let go of me," Cassian said, voice shaking but steady.

Jace laughed. "Or what? You gonna cry to your boyfriends and complain about us?"

That’s when Cassian moved.

Fast. Sharp. He drove his fist straight into Jace’s jaw.

Crack.

Jace stumbled back, eyes wide, grip loosening. Cassian wrenched free but before he could step away, Jace snarled, "Grab him!"

The other two lunged.

One clamped a hand on Cassian’s wrist, twisting it behind his back. The other circled around, fist pulled back, ready to swing.

Cassian struggled, breath coming in short gasps, but he didn’t beg. Didn’t flinch. Just gritted his teeth like he was used to this like he expected the world to hurt him.

That’s when Leonel roared.

He didn’t walk. He charged.

One second he was at the door the next, he’d slammed into the guy holding Cassian’s arm, knocking him sideways into a row of desks. Wood splintered. Papers flew.

Aiden was right behind him.

He grabbed the second guy the one about to punch Cassian by the shoulder and yanked him back so hard the guy tripped over his own feet. Aiden didn’t stop. He shoved him against the chalkboard, forearm pressed to his throat.

"Try Touching him again," Aiden said, voice low and deadly calm, "and I’ll break your hand."

The guy paled. "W-we didn’t -"

"Shut up," Aiden snapped.

Meanwhile, Leonel had Jace pinned against the wall, one hand fisted in his shirt, the other cocked back like he was seconds from rearranging his face.

"You’ve got three seconds to explain why you thought it was okay to put your hands on him," Leonel growled.

Jace stammered, "H-he was not respecting us we told him to practise with us we are out of people hw was being rude! he needed a lesson!"

"I told you pretty nicely at first," Cassian cut in, voice raw but clear. He stood straight now, chin up, despite the tremor in his hands. "That’s not ’disrespecting.’ That’s called having a choice."

Leonel’s eyes flicked to him just for a second before returning to Jace. "You don’t get to decide what’s ’no’ for him."

Then, without warning, he shoved Jace hard into the floor. Not enough to injure just enough to humiliate.

"Get out," Leonel said, voice like ice. "All of you. And if I hear you’ve said one word about him, looked at him wrong, even breathed in his direction I’ll make sure you regret it."

The three scrambled up, bruised and wide-eyed, and bolted out the door like hellhounds were on their heels.

Silence fell.

Aiden finally let go of the chalkboard guy and turned to Cassian. "You okay?"

Cassian nodded, but his hands were still shaking. He wouldn’t look at either of them. "I didn’t need you to -"

"Too bad," Leonel cut in. "We needed to."

Aiden moved to his other side, gently brushing dust off Cassian’s shoulder.

Cassian finally looked up first at Aiden, then at Leonel. His eyes were bright with unshed tears, but also something else: relief. "I... I didn’t want you to see me like that."

"Like what?" Aiden asked softly. "Like someone who fights back?"

"You don’t have to hide from us, Cass. Not ever."

Cassian swallowed hard. Then, quietly: "What if I mess this up? What if I can’t... do this right? what if i hurt anoy one of you?"

Aiden smiled faintly. "There’s no ’right.’ There’s just us. And we’re not going anywhere and i dont think you can hurt us you are too nice."

Leonel nodded. "So stop running."

For the first time all day, Cassian let out a shaky breath that almost sounded like a laugh.

And just like that the guilt, the fear, the weight of choosing didn’t feel so heavy anymore.

Because he wasn’t alone.

He never had been.

all of them were smilling

But what none of them saw was the figure lingering in the shadowed hallway just outside the classroom door phone raised, screen glowing as it captured every frame from the time cassian fighting to leonel and aiden jumping in fight to Cassian between Leonel and Aiden, bruised but unbroken, their hands still on him like shields.

Lucian lowered his phone slowly, a slow, venomous smile curling his lips.

Perfect.