The Innocent and the Bad Boy (CLOSED)

"You need to go too." Colton frowned at her.

"I'm not," she replied firmly.

Colton shook his head with a small laugh, "Come find me when you've come to your senses." He grabbed his bag and walked off.

She sat in stunned silence for several moments before she took her bread she'd gotten with her lunch and ripped it up to toss to the fishes swimming in the pond. "Eat up," she told them.

Colton sat down in the back of the class room, crossing his arms while he listened to the teacher. Though his mind was on Paige and why she was acting so weird.

Paige watched the fish eat most of her lunch. She put her earbuds in and blasted Perfect [Clean] by P!NK.

Class passed uneventfully, Coltin actually paying attention for once and it didn’t take long after that until the day was over. Once it was, he want to find Paige.

She was laying on the bench, her arm supporting her head. Her earbuds were in and her eyes were closed.

Colton eventually found Paige again and he sighed a little. He walked over and sat on the ground by the bench, not realising she was awake.

Paige thought she heard something beyond the music in her ears. Her eyes flickered open and locked on- "Colton?" she asked quietly, pulling her earbuds from her ears.

“Mhm?” Colton replies, flicking his gaze from the ground beneath him to the girl on the bench.

"What are you doing here?" she asked wiping at her face quickly.

“Why were you crying?” Colton softened his gaze.

"I wasn't," Paige replied, not meeting his gaze.

“I saw you crying,” He deadpanned, “Please don’t lie to me…”

She bit her lip. "I just needed to let out my stress somehow."

Colton nodded, “Do you- Do you want a hug?”

She nodded, her bottom lip quivering. She bit the inside of her cheek. Don't…

Colton pulled on Paige’s hand, lightly tugging her into his lap, “You can cry if you need, I’m not going to judge…” He said gently, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other rubbing at her back in soothing circles.

Paige burrowed her face into his neck and let herself completely relax in his arms. She let the tears come.

Colton shushed her softly, whispering comforting words to help her calm down a little. He wished he could let his emotions out like her.

Paige wished she could keep her emotions inside, like him. When she was finished, she shifted to breathing heavily and quietly.

“You’re gonna be okay, I’m here whenever you need me.” He whispered, pressing a very light kiss to her head before he began to hum softly.

She closed her eyes and curled into him. She couldn't find words, so she hoped that what she wanted to say, he understood by her movements.

Colton cracked a small smile. He tightened his grip on her protectively, resting his chin on her head.

"Why are you so worried about me?" she asked softly. Her voice sounded a little strange from all the crying.

Colton was silent for a while, “Because… you’re different. You’re not like the other girls out there and I know it’s cliche but it’s true. You make me want to change to be a better person and I don’t want to see a bright star in pain.”

Paige slowly adjusted her head so she could look at him. "No one has… ever said anything like that to me before," she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow, “Really? That’s stupid because you deserve to hear all of that.”

She blushed. "I'm not that special…"