The next day was agony. Word had spread about the first beating and now mages were finding brutal pleasure in accosting Jake’s rib cage as he walked by. His two classes for the day – though mostly the hallways between them – seemed to stretch out infinitely. 

Jake slammed the door to his dorm room, collapsing on the floor in front of it. He had narrowly escaped another group of mages, sprinting to the safety of his room. Spasms of pain shot up his aching torso with every gasping breath. As the blinding panic slowly receded, his lungs gradually stopped feeling like they were about to burst.

His roommate, Tom, had barely glanced up when he came in. As a human, he didn’t care one way or the other what happened to Jake. Usually, that rubbed him the wrong way, but being ignored was the best case scenario at the moment. 

Kicking off his shoes, he moved slowly to their shared mini-fridge, grabbing a bag of frozen veggies his mom had insisted he purchase. Gently flopping onto the bottom bunk, Jake pressed the makeshift ice pack to his torso and peered out the window, blankly watching the clouds drift by. 

He had homework to do, but his brain refused to focus – stuck in a hazy limbo of frustration and pain. The latch on the door clicked shut, signaling that Tom had left for his evening class. Jake finally breathed a small sigh of relief, the sense of safety that came from solitude taking the edge off of his despondency. 

Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he scrolled through his phone until he found the playlist he was looking for. The notes of the first song broke the silence in a familiar, comforting way. Quietly singing under his breath, Jake buckled down for an intense homework session. No rest for the weary. 

————————

Splashing water on his face, Jake winced at his reflection in the mirror. His nose hadn’t been broken, but the dark bruise blooming around his eye showed up brilliantly against his pale skin. Pulling some of his hair over, Jake arranged it carefully over the damage on his face, but it refused to stay in place, falling against his cheek to brush the edge of his jaw. Frustrated and exhausted, he tucked the strand behind his ear in defeat and continued getting ready for class. 

As Jake walked to class, choking down his instant coffee, unease settled over him. It was, unfortunately, a fairly common feeling around campus, but it seemed different today. So what, exactly, was he worried about? Class should be relatively safe. It was typically the hallways that were treacherous. So why was he so concerned about heading into class? 

Despite running late, he hesitated outside the doorway as the realization washed over him.

Damien. 

Biting his lip, Jake entered the classroom, briefly taken aback to see a notebook on the desk in front of his usual spot. Damien glanced up, the small smile vanishing from his face as he pulled the notebook back toward his textbook. Jake ducked his head, slipping into the offered seat silently. 

“Thanks,” he mumbled just as the professor began taking role. 

“What happened?” Damien whispered.

Jake shook his head. “Nothing.” It was an automatic response at this point. 

“I might have to hunt ‘nothing’ down, then,” Damien muttered under his breath. 

”Don’t.” Jake winced. “It’s not worth it.”

He could feel Damien staring at him, but Jake kept his eyes on the desk. Pulling out his tablet, he expected Damien to drop the subject as class started. 

A piece of paper was pushed into his line of vision and Jake wasn’t sure whether to laugh or shake his head at Damien’s stubbornness. 

Are you protecting whoever did this to you?

      No.

Yourself?

     No.

Then what?

Debating what to write, Jake sighed. 

     Why did you assume so fast that this wasn’t just an accident or a mutual fight? There’s always more to a situation than meets the eye.

He handed the note back, sensing exactly when Damien had finished reading due to the intensity of his gaze. It was solidly five more minutes before Damien slipped the paper toward him once more. 

Thou doth protest too much... but sorry for assuming things.

Jake turned to give him a halfhearted smile. He appreciated that Damien cared, even if it was strange. But that he had respected his boundaries – not pushing further even though he clearly wanted to – created an unanticipated flurry of feelings. Which made the fact that he’d purposefully mislead him that much worse. 

He put in a valiant effort to pay attention to class, but it was hard to focus on anything other than the worry he’d seen in Damien’s warm brown eyes. 

Long before he was ready, people began repacking their bags, noisily shifting their chairs so the professor had to call his last instructions over the din. 

Sliding his books into his backpack, Damien hesitated, shooting Jake a covert glance. “You gonna be okay?” he asked quietly. 

“Yep. I have another class," Jake replied, maybe a bit too quickly. "Gotta run." 

“Okay. See ya, Jake. Be careful.”