Knight in shining armor gone wrong

Xander often went up to the roof top to have his lunch, as he didn't have any friends to share a table with in the cafeteria and he didn't want to be easily seen and targeted by bullies whose names he tried his best not to learn. The rooftop had always been a safe space for just him. But this time, it wasn't.

His hand hovered over the metal door handle as he heard loud voices coming from outside.

"You're such a bitch!" A male voice yelled.

"Bitch?! What on earth gives you the right to call me that?!" this time a female voice, a female voice that sounded a lot like Iris. "Don't fucking call me that!"

"Oh, would you prefer a slut, then?" The male voice boomed. "Isn't that what you're trying to be?"

"Let me go, Sam!"

Sam? Wasn't Samuel Iris's boyfriend of four years?

"Didn't I tell you I didn't want to see you come close to him ever?! I heard you were with him alone in class this morning, what were you two doing, huh? Tell me!"

"Nothing! We did nothing!" Iris yelled, her voiced cracked as she shouted, showing that she was about to cry. "We barely even talked, please let me go, Sam! You're hurting me!"

"Don't fucking lie to me, slut!" There was the sound of a harsh slap then a thud. Someone had fallen to the ground, Xander gripped the door handle. "I always knew you had a little something going on for that loser, tell me the truth now before I go beat his ass!"

Xander couldn't take it anymore, this Sam was hurting Iris! He had to do something to stop him. Before he could force himself to make a rational decision and call a teacher, he barged into the rooftop as caught sight of Iris curled up on the ground sobbing as Sam yells profanities at her.

"H–Hey!" He called out, it sounded more like a squeak than a yell to be honest. "L–leave her alone!"

Sam looked up from Iris and turned to him with a harsh glare. "Oh, look Iris! Your new boyfriend wants to be your knight in shining armor!"

Sam was almost twice as big as Xander, so watched him walk toward him with clenched fists and a look that could kill made Xander tremble like crazy. But he couldn't just walk away when Iris's boyfriend abused her what was probably a dumb reason. Even if it wasn't, that wouldn't justify hurting her. Growing up, Xander had always seen his mother getting hurt by his father with either his words or his fists, so naturally he had an instinct to protect anyone he saw getting hurt even at his own expense.

Which was weird, seeing as Xander couldn't fight to save his life.

"Wanna save your damsel in distress, huh?" Sam added. "You think by standing up for her, she'll finally let you sleep with her?!"

"I…uh…" Xander stumbled over his words, ever atom in his body was telling him to make a break for it, but…Iris, despite her being horrible to him for no reason…he couldn't just leave her with this guy.

"X–Xander!" Iris yelled, her tear-filled eyes were wide and she had a palm to her abused cheek. "Run!"

Why was she telling him to run like she cared about his safety?

"Better listen to her, Shrimp!" Sam was standing very close to him right now. "Or are you looking for a free beating?"

"Please…stop hurting her." He forced himself to say. "She's a girl."

"So?" Sam sneered. "Don't think you're a saint, idiot… she's getting hurt because of you!"

Me?

"W…what?"

"XANDER! GO!" Another yell from Iris. But he still couldn't move.

"Don't think I don't know what goes on in your stupid head." Sam lightly hit him on the side of his head making Xander wince. "I know you want my girl. I gave her one simple instruction, 'stay away from you' and this morning I heard you were both alone in the class together."

"But, we didn't do anything!" Xander defended, "Iris and I barely even looked at each other!"

"Do you think I care about that?!" Sam swung his fist and it landed in Xander's cheek, making him fall to the ground. "If you don't know, my girlfriend still has a soft spot for you. So who knows what could have happened!" Sam kicked him in the stomach next which made him curl to a foetus position.

"Sam! Stop it, please!" Iris screamed, but the kicks and punches didn't stop. Xander grunted in pain, he really was dumb. Shouldn't he have called a teacher first before barging in like he was going to save the day? He had spent a lot of time at the gym during school break and yet he couldn't even land a hit on this bulky guy who called himself Iris's boyfriend. Soon his face was covered in bruises and scrapes and Sam grabbed him by the collar and lifted his upper body up for a moment.

"Not a knight in shining armor, are you?" His face was inches from Sam's. "Let this serve as a warning to you! Stay. Away. From. My. Girlfriend!" When he raised his fist to deliver the last blow, Xander heard a loud thud…then Sam's grip on his collar went slack.

Then Sam collapsed on top of him which made Xander groan in pain. It took him a while to realize that Sam had been knocked unconscious by no other than Iris herself, holding a large plank Xander often used to close the metal rooftop. She had wacked Sam in the head with it!

She gasped once she had realized what she had done,dropped the plank like it was burning hot and covered her mouth. "D–did I kill him?" She asked shakily.

Xander would have laughed at her question if his body didn't feel like he had been ran over by a train then had a bag of rock hard cement dropped right on top of him. "No…" He replied with a groan, "He's alive. See? He's still breathing."

Iris released a breath of relief while tears ran down her vibrant forest green eyes, "thanks, creep." She muttered while looking away with a slight redness to her cheeks. He couldn't tell if she was blushing because of him or just blushing because she had been crying.

Either way, he had a problem in his hands. Sam was unconscious and he was covered in bruises.

"What's going on out here?!" A voice boomed right behind them, it was Mr Rogers, and he wasn't happy about the sight right in front of him.