Jones let out a sigh of relief as he read the first message.
"Hi Jones, thanks for saving me back then…"
"Hey baby girl, hope you are doing alright now."
"I'm doing just fine, the right side of my chest just hurts a little whenever the bruise touches something."
"Good, that way I don't have to hold myself back."
"What do you mean?
"Do you have any idea how worried I was, I hope you are ready because tomorrow when you come to school, you will have to explain yourself real good, unless you want me to teach you how much of disadvantage you have against a man of my size."
"That's not fair, come on, all I did back then was fend for myself, I was doing it for my own freedom."
"There are many ways to solve problems, we had agreed you would run from them until they forgot about you, not rush it by starting fights you can't win on your own."
"Everything worked out in the end."
"What if I wasn't there, you'd been in the hospital bed for a long time, never try that again, promise me."
"Ok… I promise."
"I want to hear it from your own mouth, tomorrow we talk again. Until then, I want you to rest. And by the way, if we don't have to keep our relationship a secret anymore, I guess we can spend a lot more time together at school, alone."
"Wouldn't we be caught?.."
"Don't worry, I know all secrets to that campus, we'll only be caught if I want too."
"Why would you want that?"
"You don't have to worry about it right now, but start thinking of how you will apologize."
"I'm really tired, I'll think about it tomorrow morning.
Goodnight master."
"Goodnight baby girl."
Jones sighs again, he remembers what had happened that afternoon, how Adrien had been hurt right in front of his eyes. He couldn't take it, he wanted to annihilate Noah, show him to think twice before daring to even touch Adrien.
But the truth was that they were just as untouchable as he was. Their father's were extremely influential men, that greatly contributed to the school's capital, plus they were friends to his father.
The situation was only bound to get worse, if the parents were to learn about their sons' misdeeds, and what had caused them, then Adrien was a factor to be removed, so the problem could be solved.
Jones wanted to avoid this outcome at all costs, he knew he had to make a deal with Hugh and Noah to keep their mouth shut.
He was way too angry at the moment to think of such deals, he had to start by putting his anger out, grabbing the pair of gloves he usually practiced boxing with.
He starts landing heavy hits into the punching bag hung on the west side of his massive bedroom, he imagines Noah, his punches are monstrous, in quick succession, he can't stop himself from doing it.
He keeps at it for some time, until he feels somewhat satisfied, at that point he was completely covered in sweat, breathing loudly, he goes take a shower, while deliberating on the future deal.
After a drawn-out shower, Jones has a good notion of how to handle Noah and Hugh, all he had to now was set the bait.
Adrien wakes up the next day, to the sounds of chirping birds near his bedroom window, he feels refreshed, ready for another day, but as soon as he moves his right arm extending his chest muscles, he can feel the pain from the bruised area.
His will to get out of bed gets completely drained from the strong lingering pain.
He stays there staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, feeling the pain slowly subsiding, even breathing slightly hurt.
He proceeds to preparing himself, doing as little movement as he could, at breakfast his mother gives him his prescription pills, which relieve the pain a few minutes later.
"Those pills really do help with the pain, maybe I should take some to school."
"The doctors said to take a maximum of two per day, you shouldn't abuse them."
His mother responds, making sure he remembered the doctor's advice.
"I know you are still a little tired from yesterday and everything, but we still haven't talked about what happened yet, I would like to have an explanation.
I phoned the school asking, but they refused any happenings, they said it was a small 'incident', but they didn't specify any further."
"Hmmm…"
Adrien was trying to not divulge of his relationship with Jones to his mother, she would add the facts, and conclude of what had happened in the weekend, leading to forbidding him from seeing Jones ever again.
"I fell down the stairs… That's right! I was late for class and tripped on a small paper."
"Do you think I am that dumb? You are a terrible liar, I want you to tell me the truth, what really happened, don't worry I won't be mad, I promise."
Adrien is starting to panic, his mother was a hard person to deceive, he gives up and starts telling part of the truth.
"It was because of bullies…"
"I knew it baby boy, why didn't you tell me from the start."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok, and what happened then?"
"They were harassing someone."
Adrien didn't know why he was bending the story, he kind of felt like his mother expected way too much of him to be the victim of bullying and he wanted to prove her wrong.
"Wait, it was not you?
"They were harassing a girl that is from my art class, I just couldn't stand and watch…"
"Was she your girlfriend?"
"Yes? Wait—"
Adrien was so concentrated in fabricating a story, that he reflexively said yes to his mother's question, he quickly tries to refute his own answer, but his mother doesn't give him time to deny it.
"Oh, I knew it! The way you were keeping everything to yourself, the party from the weekend and your sudden glow up.
I'm super happy for you, please tell her that you can both hang out at our house whenever she wants and that I would love to meet her.
I can't believe you have a girlfriend, why didn't you tell your mother, I deserve to know these things.
Is she alright? You are a brave boy for protecting her, but please be more mindful in the future, call a teacher or an adult next time.
I know that I am your mom, but if you need any advice I can help you, and please use protection if you do it."
Adrien is overwhelmed, he didn't expect such a reaction, he feels super awkward, he just wants to leave that place.
"Yeah, okay mom, we can talk later, right now I have to go."
"We can talk while I drive you to school."
"That's ok, you have been doing so much recently, I think I'll just take a taxi, you have a good day."
Adrien tries his best to avoid conversation, kisses his mother and leaves.
"Ok… see you later."