Kat's POV-

I stepped out of my car feeling absolutely exhausted. My parents had drained me of energy so damn early that morning with their BS. Plus, everything from the night before was still weighing on me.

The only thing that was keeping me going was Erik and his confession from the night before. I was elated about his feelings for me. I was elated that he loved me... Someone loved me!

I caught Erik's eyes almost immediately. His mouth stretched into a grin when our eyes locked. That wide grin of his made me grin back like a fool. As soon as I saw him, it was like everything from before was washed away. He made me feel giddy and happy.

He quickly met up with me and kissed my lips instantly. At first, it was a quick peck. However, he quickly pulled me back into him, and kissed me more thoroughly. Then, after that kiss, he pulled me back in again and again. After the fifth kiss, he finally let me go.

"What was that for?" I asked in a dreamy state.

"I wanted to be sure that my kiss was the only thing left in your mind. I wanted to be sure that my touch was left instead of his. I wanted to override his awfulness and unwanted touch on you," he answered honestly as he wiped his thumb over my bottom lip.

"Mmm. I'm not complaining even a bit. However, he was completely forgotten the moment I met your eyes across the way. You make me forget everything except you. Let me tell you, it is such a nice feeling," I told him firmly.

He smiled softly at me. Well, that is until my scoop neck fell down too far and revealed light bruising on my shoulder area. It was obvious fingerprint marks, and we both knew it.

"What's this?" He asked in a deadly voice.

"I bruise like a peach," I found myself dismissing instead of answering.

"That wasn't the question. What is this and where did you get it?"

"They're obviously bruises. I knew that I shouldn't have worn this top. I need more clothes," I groaned to myself.

"He did it?" Erik's voice was so low that it was a bit scary to me.

I simply nodded with no words. There was nothing really to say about it. They were very obvious markings where he had been holding me.

Erik's fingers slid into the same positions that Matthew's had been in the night before to cause the marks in the first place. With Matt, all I felt was disgust and fear. However, with Erik, I felt trust, love, and the want for more. I would have almost moaned if it would have been an appropriate time to do so.

"I... I am going to-"

"It's okay, love," I cut him off.

"No, it's not okay!" He exclaimed as he slid his hands over the marks. His lips quickly replaced his hands, and it took everything in me to not wrap my legs around him for him to have his wicked way with me right then and there.

"Erik..." I gasped out slowly.

I felt him smirk into my collarbone before straightening back up. "My touch Kat. Only my touch," he told me fiercely.

"Oh yes sir... Your touch will be the only thing in my mind all day long, trust me," I told him dreamily.

"Good," Erik replied as he led me into the school so we wouldn't be late. "I'm glad. All I want to do is make you feel good."

I kissed his cheek with a smile at his words.

"You two are so gross. I can't even stand it," Chris said as he came up beside us.

"Well, I can't even stand you," I replied easily with a big smile on my face.

"Erik... You're just gonna let her talk to me like that?" Chris asked in fake hurt.

"Well, she speaks for everyone, bro," Erik replied with a loud laugh.

Just as we were both cracking up and laughing hard, someone came by and walked right through us. It had obviously been on purpose, and his shoulder push sent me to the ground. Erik whirled around, ready to beat the person to a pulp, but I caught his hand before he could do anything stupid.

"We're okay, love," I told him calmy as he helped me up and brushed off any dirt that was on me. "It's okay. I'm fine."

"It's not fucking okay," he articulated each word with anger. "I'm sick and tired of you telling me that it's okay! It's not okay!"

"Erik..." I said making him look me in the eyes. "What are you going to go do? Go beat him up? Go kill Matt? Beat my mother and father so hard that their personalities change?"

He just frowned at my words, knowing that he couldn't do any of what I said.

"I understand that you don't like that these types of things happen, but you can't use your anger and fists every time some idiot decides that they want to display their irrelevant opinion in a destructive way," I told him firmly. "I get it. Trust me, I don't like it either... but you losing your cool will do nothing but get you in trouble. You can't get into trouble because if I have to come here without you, I'll be extremely upset."

"Yes... And princess Kat can't be upset," Erik said with a childish frown.

"Exactly!" I said cheerfully with a giggle, making Erik smile at me. "We'll figure something out, love. Don't let them get to you."

However, the boy that rammed through us, caught Erik's eye across the hallway and he almost growled. "You touch her again, and I'll let you figure out why everyone is terrified of me," he called to the guy.

"That's fine," the guy said with a sneer. "I wouldn't want to touch someone like her who has been tainted by your kind anyway."

My mouth dropped open, and I took a few steps forward. Chris caught wrist before I was out of reach and pulled me backwards.

Erik glared at the guy even more, balling up his fists. I knew that I had to do something. Otherwise, Erik was going to get his ass in trouble for getting in a fight.

"You're just mad that I turned you down freshman year," I called to the boy with an eyeroll.

"I-I..." He sputtered with no words to defend himself with. Everyone knew that he had tried to get with me for that whole year. It wasn't until I lied and told him that my father saw his unwanted dick pics and threatened legal action on him that he finally quit harassing me.

"By the way, his dick is way bigger than your little baby dick that you continuously sent me pictures of, even after I told you to stop it," I said with a shrug.

He gave me a murderous look.

"Look, Sam, I get it... You're mad that I didn't even try to give you a chance back then. And now, here I am with someone that you deem beneath you," I said rationally. I yanked my wrist out of Chris' grasp and took a few steps forward. "Let me make it very clear to you and everyone else here, Erik is amazing. He has not ever once tried the type of bullshit that practically everyone else here has tried with me. He's respectful, nice, and very attentive. That being said, he's also able to rip any of you fuckboys apart limb for limb. So, if you keep trying to mess with us, I'll use my very vast number of resources to make sure that Erik gets off scot-free for defending me and himself," I announced with a challenging tone.

I then walked directly in front of Sam who was standing next to dickhead Richard as well. "Erik is not beneath anyone. Unless we're talking about me when I'm on top while fucking him," I told them firmly. "You are not better than anyone. When you finally figure that out, maybe people will actually like you and you won't have to pine after a girl due to her connections and her father."

I then turned around and walked back to my boyfriend. He had his head tilted while staring at me with a hard look. I might've just stepped over my boundaries, but I was sick of everyone, so it was whatever at that point.

"So, you are just the slut that everyone has always said you are," Richard finally yelled across the hall.

"Oh yeah, that's me. The slut that turned you down," I said with a shrug. "Think about how bad you must be if me, apparently a big giant slut, turned you down."

"You're just a slutty nigg-"

"Think about what you're about to say," I hissed. "There are plenty of recordings of this confrontation right now. Things like this go viral, and I personally will not rest until every single college in the country has a copy of the statement if you finish it," I threatened. "They'll be forced to not let you in if continue talking."

"You can't do that!" He yelled.

"Why not?" I asked innocently. "Isn't that why you wanted me? For my connections. For my family. No one here has ever wanted me for me. So, don't come at me or Erik like this because he does. I'm sorry that I saw through your superficial motives in trying to pursue me. One day, I really hope that you'll figure out that not a single person is better than another, and you'll find you a nice girl after that. However, that nice girl will not be me."

"You're a fat, ugly, bitch. I'd never want you..." Richard yelled across the hall.

"MR. FRANKLIN!" A teacher said as he realized the crowd that had congregated in the entry hallway.

"My Instagram DMs beg to differ," I replied as I remembered the countless desperate messages that I had received from him.

"That was before I found out what kind of company you keep. That was also before I knew how much of a whore you are," he said, ignoring the teacher completely.

"Mr. Franklin!" The teacher yelled again.

"Shut your mouth before I make you have to wire it shut," Erik yelled.

"Mr. Franklin, my office now!" The principal of the school said as he finally showed up. "You too Mr. Jones."

"What?" Erik asked in disbelief.

"So, that's what happens when a guy stands up for a girl who was being harassed?" I asked the older man innocently. "Hm interesting..."

"What?" Mr. Fredrickson asked skeptically.

"Don't worry, Erik. I'll tell my father that you were defending me. We'll work something out between us all. I'm sure that since you're getting trouble for defending me, after all, he'll take great care of you," I said calmly. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure when he finds out what happened, he'll be here shortly."

"I-I... You were defending Katherine?" He asked slowly.

"Yes sir," Erik replied shortly.

"Yeah, Richard has been rather... difficult as of late," I shrugged. "I was hoping that it wasn't going to have to be handled by my dad, but I guess..."

"Don't worry, Ms. Reynolds, I'll take care of it," the man told me firmly. "Mr. Jones, thank you for defending your female peer. You two are free to go class. I'll handle Mr. Franklin for you, Katherine," he said with a vigorous nod. "All of you disperse! You're all late to your first period!" And just like that, everyone dispersed, and Richard was being escorted to the principal's office.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are scary?" Chris said as he looked in between us. I shrugged as I gazed at Erik's hard face. "Seriously, I... I'll see you two later," Chris said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"You shouldn't have done that," Erik deadpanned when Chris left.

"You were about to lose your cool. Besides, they all deserved it," I shrugged. "You're the one that said that it wasn't okay."

"You don't get to do that, Kat!" Erik said with a slightly raised voice. "You didn't do it because he insulted and assaulted you. You did all that because he insulted me. You weren't doing it to stand up for yourself. That isn't okay. I don't need you to fight my battles for me!"

"He insulted all of you," I said strongly.

"All of whom?"

"All of you... Because you're black!" I answered.

"Is that what this is about? Some white guilty conscious thing that you have going on. You want to be my savior against racial injustice? You have to stand up for me because he was being racist like with the security guard. Is that what this whole relationship is to you? Am I just another one of your homeless charity cases? " He replied.

"Are you serious right now?" I exclaimed. "I was defending you because I fucking love you, asshole! Is that what you think of me? That I'm dating you because I'm what? Trying to prove a point, being charitable, pissing my parents off, something like that?"

"I-"

"Screw you, Erik," I said and turned around.

"Kat..."

I swung back around with an angry look, "Did you want to defend me because I'm a girl? Because I'm white? Because my parents don't give a shit about me? No... I was assuming it was because you loved me. However, maybe if you think that about me then you really don't."

"Kat..." he sighed.

"I get that I have no idea what you go through. I have no idea what it's like to be black. I have no idea what it's like to be dating some rich white girl while being black," I said slowly. "However, I do know what it is like to love you. I know that when people degrade and discredit you for anything, including the color of your skin, it pisses me off. Not because I have some white guilt or whatever the hell, but because I know you. I know how amazing and loving you are. I know that you have loved me better in the short time of our relationship than anyone else in my whole life. I defend you because I love you."

"Then why won't you defend you?" He asked in a soft voice.

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"You won't defend yourself. You didn't defend yourself when he knocked you down, to Matthew, and especially not your parents. You didn't even say anything to Sam until he said something about my kind. You're so quick to jump to my defense, but you refuse to defend yourself. I take personal offense to that because I love you, so I want you to stand up for you too."

We both stayed quiet for a few moments as I took his words in.

"I'm sorry for coming at you like that, love. I just... Sometimes I don't do well when others defend me. It makes me feel weak. It makes me feel like you think that I can't do it for myself," he finally admitted.

"I know that you can defend yourself. It's just... your defense tactics sometimes scare me because I don't want you getting in trouble," I explained. "You can't lose your temper and beat people to bloody pulps. It just... doesn't exactly work that way sometimes. I saw an opening to defend you in a more rational way, so I did."

"Thank you for doing that," he finally said. "Maybe people will leave us the hell alone now, knowing that big bad Kat will defend me to the ends of the earth, but just... Think about what I said. It's time to stand up for you, Kat. I know that we've talked about it before, doing what you want instead of listening to your parents, but that goes for everyone else too. Love yourself enough to defend yourself too."

I looked down at the ground. I knew what he was saying made sense, but I still felt completely off-kilter. I knew I did have a problem with placating people; it was how I was raised. However, I also knew that Erik was right... I needed to love myself enough to stand up for myself.

My parents would be gone for two whole months. I needed to use those months to officially make myself happy. Do things for myself. I needed to get myself strong and happy. I couldn't continue to let people tear me down. I couldn't live the life that I was living anymore. I was ready to officially be Kat. Not just to Erik and his family either... I was ready to finally be me. The real me, the me that I hid from the world except from Erik.

A/n-

Hey y'all! Please let me know what you think! I love y'all! Don't forget to vote, comment, and share!

-KAF❤️