“Jesus,” America whispered.

We turned to watch Chris’ teammates pick him off the floor, and I cringed at his red and puffy face. Blood trickled from his nose, and Brazil handed him a napkin from the table.

“That crazy son — of- a- bitch!” Chris groaned, sitting on the chair and holding his hand to his face. He looked at me, then. “I’m sorry, Abby. I was just kidding.”

I had no words to reply. I couldn’t explain what had just happened anymore than he could.

“She didn’t sleep with either of them,” America said.

“You never know when to shut up, Jenks,” Brazil said, disgusted.

America pulled on my arm. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

She didn’t waste time tugging me to her car. When she put the gear in drive, I grabbed her wrist. “Wait! Where are we going?”

“We’re going to Shep’s. I don’t want him to be alone with Travis. Did you see him? Dude’s gone off the deep end!”

“Well, I don’t want to be around him, either!”

America stared at me in disbelief. “There’s obviously something going on with him. Don’t you want to know what it is?”

“My sense of self-preservation is outweighing my curiosity at this point, Mare.”

“The only thing that stopped him was your voice, Abby. He’ll listen to you. You need to talk to him.”

I sighed and released her wrist, falling against the back of my seat. “All right. Let’s go.”

We pulled into the parking lot, and America slowed to a stop between Shepley’s Charger and Travis’ Harley. She walked to the stairs, putting her hands on her hips with a touch of her own dramatic flare.

“C’mon, Abby!” America called, motioning for me to follow.

Hesitant, I finally followed, stopping when I saw Shepley hurry down the stairs to speak quietly in America’s ear. He looked at me, shook his head, and then whispered to her once again..

“What?” I asked.

“Shep doesn’t…,” she fidgeted, “Shep doesn’t think it’s a good idea that we go in. Travis is still pretty mad.”

“You mean he doesn’t think I should go in,” I said. America shrugged sheepishly, and then looked to Shepley.

Shepley touched my shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Abby. He just doesn’t…he doesn’t want to see you right now.”

“If I didn’t do anything wrong, then why doesn’t he want to see me?”

“I’m not sure; he won’t talk to me about it. I think he’s embarrassed that he lost his temper in front of you.”

“He lost his temper in front of the entire cafeteria! What do I have to do with it?”

“More than you think,” Shepley said, dodging my eyes.

I watched them for a moment, and then pushed past them, running up the stairs. I burst through the doors to find an empty living room. The door to Travis’ room was closed, so I knocked.

“Travis? It’s me, open up.”

“Walk away, Pidge,” he called from the other side of the door.

I peeked in to see him sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the window. Toto pawed at his back, unhappy about being ignored.

“What is going on with you, Trav?” I asked. He didn’t answer, so I stood beside him, crossing my arms. His jaw was tensed, but it was no longer the frightening expression he had in the cafeteria. He seemed sad. The deep, hopeless kind.

“You’re not going to talk to me about this?”

I waited, but he remained quiet. I turned for the door and he finally sighed. “You know the other day when Brazil mouthed off to me and you rushed to my defense? Well…that’s what happened. I just got a little carried away.”

“You were angry before Chris said anything,” I said, returning to sit beside him on the bed.

He continued to stare out the window. “I meant what I said before. You need to walk away, Pidge. God knows I can’t walk away from you.”

I touched his arm. “You don’t want me to leave.”

Travis’ jaws tensed again, and then he took me under his arm. He paused for a moment, and then kissed my forehead, pressing his cheek against my temple. “It doesn’t matter how hard I try. You’re going to hate me when it’s all said and done.”

I wrapped my arms around him. “We have to be friends. I won’t take no for an answer,” I quoted.

His eyebrows pulled in, and then he cradled me to him with both arms, still staring out the window. “I watch you sleeping a lot. You always look so peaceful. I don’t have that kind of quiet. I have all this anger and rage boiling inside of me — except when I watch you sleep.

“That’s what I was doing when Parker walked in,” he continued. “I was awake, and he walked in, and just stood there with this shocked look on his face. I knew what he thought, but I didn’t set him straight. I didn’t explain because I wanted him to think something happened. Now the whole school thinks you were with us both in the same night.”

Toto nuzzled his way onto my lap, and I rubbed his ears. Travis reached over to pet him once, and then rested his hand on mine. “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “If he believes the gossip, it’s his own fault.”

“It’s hard to think anything else when he sees us in bed together.”

“He knows I’m staying with you. I was fully clothed for Christ’s sake.”

Travis sighed. “He was probably too pissed to notice. I know you like him, Pidge. I should have explained. I owe you that much.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re not mad?” he asked, surprised.

“Is that what you’re so upset about? You thought I’d be mad at you when you told me the truth?”

“You should be. If someone single-handedly sunk my reputation, I’d be a little pissed.”

“You don’t care about reputations. What happened to the Travis that doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks?” I teased, nudging him.

“That was before I saw the look on your face when you heard what everyone’s saying. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“You would never do anything to hurt me.”

“I’d rather cut off my arm,” he sighed.

He relaxed his cheek against my hair. I didn’t have a reply, and Travis seemed to have said everything he needed to, so we sat in silence. Once in awhile, Travis would squeeze me tighter to his side. I gripped his shirt, not knowing how else to make him feel better other than to just let him hold me.

When the sun began to set, I heard a faint knock at the door. “Abby?” America’s voice sounded small on the other side of the wood.

“Come in, Mare,” Travis answered.

America walked in with Shepley, and she smiled at the site of us tangled in each other’s arms. “We were going to grab a bite to eat. You two feel like making a Pei Wei run?”

“Agh…Asian again, Mare? Really?” Travis asked.

I smiled. He sounded like himself again.

America noticed as well. “Yes, really. You guys coming or not?”

“I’m starving,” I said.

“Of course you are, you didn’t get to eat lunch,” he said, frowning. He stood up, bringing me with him. “Come on. Let’s get you some food.”

He kept his arm around me, and didn’t let go until we were in the booth of Pei Wei.

As soon as Travis left for the bathroom, America leaned in. “So? What did he say?”

“Nothing,” I shrugged.

She raised an eyebrow. “You were in his room for two hours. He didn’t say anything?”

“He usually doesn’t when he’s that mad,” Shepley said.

“He had to have said something,” America prodded.

“He said he got a little carried away taking up for me, and that he didn’t tell Parker the truth when he walked in. That’s it,” I said, straightening the salt and pepper.

Shepley shook his head, closing his eyes.

“What, Baby?” America asked, sitting taller.

“Travis is,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “Forget it.”

America wore a stubborn expression. “Oh, hell no, you can’t just—,”

She cut off when Travis sat down and swung his arm behind me. “Damn it! The food’s not here yet?”

We laughed and joked until the restaurant closed, and then filed into the car for the ride home. Shepley carried America up the stairs on his back, but Travis stayed behind, tugging on my arm to keep me from following. He looked up at our friends until they disappeared behind the door, and then offered a regretful smile. “I owe you an apology for today, so I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already apologized. It’s fine.”

“No, I apologized for Parker. I don’t want you thinking I’m some psycho that goes around attacking people over the tiniest thing,” he said, “but I owe you an apology because I didn’t defend you for the right reason.”

“And that would be….” I prompted.

“I lunged at him because he said he wanted to be next in line, not because he was teasing you.”

“Insinuating there is a line is plenty reason for you to defend me, Trav.”

“That’s my point. I was pissed because I took that as him wanting to sleep with you.”

After processing what Travis meant, I grabbed the sides of his shirt and pressed my forehead against his chest. “You know what? I don’t care,” I said, looking up at him. “I don’t care what people are saying, or that you lost your temper, or why you messed up Chris’ face. The last thing I want is a bad reputation, but I’m tired of explaining our friendship to everyone. To hell with ‘em.”

Travis’ eyes turned soft, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Our friendship? Sometimes I wonder if you listen to me at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s go in. I’m tired.”

I nodded, and he held me against his side until we were inside the apartment. America and Shepley had already shut themselves in their bedroom, and I slipped in and out of the shower. Travis sat with Toto outside while I dressed in my pajamas, and within half an hour, we were both in bed.