When he first met her, a relationship was the last thing on his mind. Some might say it was a sign of his gayness. Those people were idiots. He had been walking down the hall on his way to copy some papers. A boring task, but one that was expected of the student council President. He turned the corner to find a group of cheerleaders picking on a specific one.

Noah wasn't the caring type. Bullying happened everyday, it was a fact of life. There were a couple of things that persuaded him to help this girl out. The first was that it would be good for his rep. Election would come again eventually and anything he could do to beat Courtney was a bonus. The second was that he really liked putting the 'elite' in their place.

"Ladies where are your hall passes?" He asked. The girls stopped picking on the one cheerleader. They stared at him incredulously.

"Excuse me?" One of them said. She had blonde hair and a mole on one of her cheeks.

"Where are your hall passes?" He repeated.

"Do you know who we are? We're the cheer squad." The 'leader' said as though that meant something.

"I gathered that from the uniforms." He remarked drolly. "I suppose your coach gave you a hall pass?"

The girls looked like they couldn't believe him. It was like they weren't used to being caught out. They turned their heads back to the blonde, who at this point he was sure was head cheerleader. "Who are you to ask us for our hall passes?"

Noah pulled out his badge. "Student council President. Now give me your hall passes or you all get detention."

"Samey had them!" The head cheerleader said, pushing the girl they'd all been picking to the floor in front of him.

Noah sighed, they were looking for a scape goat. "Did they give you any hall passes?"

"Of course we did, why would we lie?" The blonde with the mole answered before the girl could speak.

"I want to hear her say it." He told her. He turned to the bullied girl. "Did they give you any hall passes?"

The girl gulped as the cheer squad glared at her. Then a determined look came over her face. "No they didn't, but um, I have mine right here." She said handing him a hall pass.

Noah looked it over, it was official ,up to date, and signed. "Everything appears to be in order. Very well Sammy you may go."

"How'd you know my name?" Sammy asked, looking excited.

"It's on your hall pass." He deadpanned.

"Oh…" She trailed sheepishly.

He turned to the others and pulled out his pad of detention slips. "As for the rest of you, you're getting detention." He saw the group of cheerleaders glare at Sammy as she ran off. Maybe she'd get some peace now.

/

The next time he saw her she was lying on the floor clutching her side. It wasn't hard for him to see she was hurt. He knelt down to grab her attention. "What happened?"

When she answered it was in a voice addled by pain."The others weren't happy with me after our run in last week. So they decided to punish me."

Noah nodded, this was grounds to suspend her squad. Physically harming a student was a huge offense."Is that where it hurts?" He asked, using his head to indicate the part of her side she was clutching. The blonde nodded. "I need to see it."

"Okay." She gasped, moving her hand from the spot. Noah moved in for a closer look and winced. A large bruise roughly the size of the front end of a high heel shoe stood out from her flesh. It was swollen with a dark purple hue and he could tell it was only going to get worse. Apparently she noticed his wince because she asked. "Is it really that bad?"

"We need to get you to the infirmary. I won't be able to carry you, do you think you can walk if I support you?" He hoped she could, otherwise he was going to have to get backup and who knew what might happen to her in the meantime?

"I think so. Help me up." She asked to which Noah obliged. Together they slowly made their way to the nurse's office. When they got there the nurse looked her over. It was clear she knew this was a result of bullying from the look on her face. A few minutes later she took Noah aside.

"Do you know who did this to her? She won't tell me." the nurse asked him.

"It was the cheer squad. She said they were mad at her. From the looks of it they kicked her in the side, multiple times." Noah told her. The nurse nodded and Noah knew the squad was getting suspended.

Their next encounter was about two weeks after that. He was heading home when he noticed her staring at him. She looked like she wanted to say something. "You know most people say hi." He remarked drolly.

She took a deep breath and approached him. "So I wanted to thank you for all your help." She whispered.

"Just doing my job as student Council President." He brushed her off. Who knew what Courtney would do if he didn't, and he refused to let her have the position.

"That might be true, but I really like you. So um I was wondering… would you go out with me?" She asked, looking like she was bracing herself for rejection.

It wasn't like this was the first time Noah had been asked out. Usually the answer was no. This could be for a number of reasons, some had been trying to use his position. Some were annoying, and some he just didn't like personality wise. Sammy was different though. There was nothing inherently bad about her, and he would already know if she was trying to take advantage of him. "Why not." It was a long shot but what did he have to lose?
"Really?" She asked, and while he would normally reply with a sarcastic no, the hope in her eyes was too much for him.

"Yes really." He smiled.

"Great! So I was thinking we could hang out at the park, that is if you want to." She said, still sounding like she was asking him.

"The park sounds fine." He agreed.

"Great! So um is Friday after school good?" She asked.

"That should be fine." He replied.

"Then I'll see you!" She beamed, he turned with a nod, and she ran off, not realizing he could see her pumping her fist from his peripheral vision.

When the day finally arrived they didn't do much. He didn't bother dressing up, and neither did she. It was a casual first date. They went to the nearby park and watched the clouds. Noah found he enjoyed watching her when she was happy. There was something wonderful about seeing someone who had been beaten so badly so full of life. She turned to look at him and her breath caught. "You're smiling."

"Stop the presses, it's the apocalypse." He snarked.

She reached forward and grabbed his hand. "I like it." The two sat in silence for awhile. Eventually they started to head home. According to Sammy her house was not that far from here. So he decided he'd walk her home. It was a date.

They reached a typical middle class dwelling and Noah walked her to the door. "So this is it." Sammy said looking at the porch.

"Yes." He confirmed. An awkward pause began as Noah stood there wondering what he should do. Part of him wanted to make out with her, he was a teenage boy after all, albeit one with more control over his emotions then most. He was worried that would scare her away though, and he knew that rushed relationships rarely lasted.

After some time he grabbed her and slowly but surely he kissed her. They were both a bit tentative. This was Noah's first date, and he had a feeling her twin sister made dating rare for her. They didn't want to mess this up. He deepened the kiss a little watching her reaction. He didn't want to push too far, that would make him another bully. Eventually they pulled away. She blushed. "Well that was nice."

Noah smiled, it might have been just a kiss goodbye but that was fine. "It was."