Eli can't help but feel a tad nervous, the huge plaster cast covering up his entire right arm. He can feel the stares of his classmates burning into him as he walks to his locker for the first time in a long few days.

If only they knew the truth... they'd stare even harder.

"Hey, can I sign your cast?"

Eli gives a start as somebody speaks in his ear, turning to face Jim.

"Uhhh…" Eli stammers, eyes nervously darting over Jim and the two people behind him, Claire and Toby. "Sure?"

Jim leans down, popping open a permanent marker and leaving a rather nice cursive signature.

Jim winked. "So, what happened to your arm?"

"Yeah, who could have done such a thing?" Toby asks, mock concern in his voice as he adds his own messy signature to Eli's cast.

"Seems pretty serious." Claire adds, marking a delicate signature over the plaster.

Wow, they really pile it on don't they?

Eli tried to compose himself, intimidated by the trollhunters. In his minds eye he can still see them ready for battle, facing down a literal monster with bravery and poise.

Surely they don't consider me one of them now?

"It was..." Eli blinked, choking on his lie now that he has to speak it aloud. "Steve beat me up! Haha, preeeetty typical stuff! Whew!"

Wow... smooth.

Jim raised an eyebrow. "Really? You want me to give him a..." Jim curls his fist. "...talking to?"

"No need!" Eli stammers, way too suddenly. "I mean, uhhhh, don't worry about it? Please?"

"Ahhhaaa..." Toby gently taps his shoulder. "You can handle yourself, can't you?"

Eli nods, face slowly breaking into a smile.

"You know what, I think I can."

We agreed to keep each others secrets. It's okay, Eli. Everything is fine.

"Be careful, Eli." Jim says suddenly. "Don't pick up just anything off the ground, okay? Be safe."

Eli nods seriously.

Don't worry, Jim. That rock won't hurt anyone ever again.

Finally Jim turned, waving as he and his entourage made their leave.

Eli waves, anxiety and excitement still clutching his stomach. "See you guys... later!"

Whew…

Eli approaches his locker again, happy to be back at school. The locker always waits for him, every day of the week. Even after everything that happened, nothing about school had changed.

Normalcy feels pretty good after everything got so weird.

"Hey, TURD!"

Eli braces himself, body tensing as somebody lifts him up from behind, sending flying through the air and then landing back against his locker.

Hello, Steve.

Steve grins like a fox as he sets Eli down, his heart beginning to thump again.

A big bandage covers Steve's nose, and many cover his arms, badges of honor that Eli wears as well. But Steve is still just Steve- an ordinary human teenager.

Steve leans his arm on Eli's locker, wrapping it around Eli's shoulders. He sneers. "You want me to sign your cast, nerd?"

His words sound sarcastic, but the smile is as genuine as they come.

"Uhhh…" Eli stammers, stubbornly confused by Steve's conflict in tone and appearance.

"Too late!" Steve leans down in a flash, pulling a huge marker out of nowhere and scrawling in crude, massive blue letters. The letters S and P appear on one entire side of Eli's cast, even cutting through the other signatures.

"There." Steve says happily. "Now you'll never be able to forget the name… Steve Palchuck!"

"Well…" Eli turns the cast over, the letters appearing upside down to him. "Thank you…"

Oh, Steve… you're not very scary as a simple human, you know? Not anymore. Not to me.

Steve now glances around as other kids clear out, the tardy bell soon to ring. He wraps an arms around Eli again, leaning down.

"It's good to see you." He whispers. "Also…"

Steve's eyes dart about, for a moment unable to hold Eli's gaze.

"What?" Eli asks, getting nervous.

Steve places a finger on Eli's chest, deep brown eyes finally holding Eli's gaze in his.

"What I said, I mean, after everything went down…"

"Oh that?" Eli stammers. "It's okay, you don't have to…"

"No, I do!"

Steve takes a deep breath, holding his bandaged hand to his chest.

"You're my hero, Eli Pepperjack." Steve declares, voice low and soft so no one else can hear him. "And don't you forget it."

Eli can't help but feel a wave of blush come over his face as Steve turns and saunters away, shocked that Steve, of all people, would make such a statement.

Eli wants to call out, to follow his friend down the hall, to stay close to him, to never let him out of his sight.

But instead he stands as the bell rings, watching Steve go.

His hero?

Eli smiles, looking down at his cast and tracing a finger over the massive initials.

"You too." He whispers.

Steve stomps down the hall, feeling as confident as ever.

"What're you so happy about, dude?"

One of Steve's teammates is at his side, attentive as ever. Steve hadn't realized that his emotions where showing through so much.

"It's nothing!" he snarls, but then pulls himself back.

Hmmm… No need for that kind of hostility, huh?

He grins. "I mean, don't worry about it." He places his hands behind his head, allowing his face to be honest to the ceiling, at least.

His body is still sore from all the chaos, but his heart feels lighter than ever before.

I can let all that anger go, if I want to. It's easier when you know somebody is watching out for you.

"It's nothing." He says.

"Nothing at all."

~Fin~

I hope you enjoyed this story! I had a lot of fun writing it. THANK YOU for reading!