Page 43 of Follows with Intent

Jadon tried to tamp down his fury as he escorted Nico—pale and trembling—to his room, but it felt like a losing battle. The suspect had been here. Inside the dorm. Waiting. He’d planned the whole thing. He’d been waiting. He’d watched them approach the dorm. If Nico had returned alone, Jadon guessed the assault would have happened near the entrance. But Jadon had ruined that plan, and so the suspect had retreated and gone with his backup plan: the lights on Nico’s floor. And in spite of Jadon’s best efforts, the man had escaped again—in Jadon’s memory, the chase was a blur of impressions: the sky a gray smear of light pollution, the branches of old trees swaying overhead, the narrow passageways between the old campus buildings, and then emerging, his body hot from the run, his breath steaming, into the emptiness of the quad.

When they stopped at Nico’s doors, Jadon waited for Nico to unlock it, but Nico only stood there. After a moment, Jadon took Nico’s hand and slowly worked the keys loose from between his fingers. Nico’s breathing stuttered, and tears rushed into his eyes. He blinked them away, and as he released the keys, shook out his hand like it was aching.

“That was smart,” Jadon said as he opened the door. “The keys were a good idea. You kept your head, and you remembered how to protect yourself.”

Nico’s little noise was half laugh, half sob. After Jadon gave the room a quick look, Nico didn’t resist when Jadon put a hand at the small of his back and walked him inside.

He’d been in Nico’s room earlier that day, but it seemed like it had been so much longer. The morning, and that run through Forest Park, and the moment that had flowered between them, with the Jewel Box like a giant prism, and Nico talking about subjectivity and truth, and the way Nico had seemed brighter, more alive as he talked—all of it felt like it had happened ages ago. Sparkling, Jadon thought, remembering how Nico had looked with the sunrise lighting his face. Like Nico was a prism too, and people only saw the sharp edges, the glass, until light hit him at the right angle, and then there was so much more.

“Why don’t we pack your clothes,” Jadon said as he helped Nico sit on the bed, “and we’ll get out of here? You can stay at my place—” Nico opened his mouth, and Jadon rushed to add, “—in the guest room. Or if that makes you uncomfortable, I’ll get you a hotel.”

“What?” Nico stared at him blankly.

“You can’t stay here, Nico. I’ll pack your stuff. Tell me if I miss anything.”

“I can’t leave.”

“What do you—”

“Do you know how that would look?”

“How it would look? What—” Jadon stopped himself from saying, What does it matter how it looks? Instead, he managed “Right now, the most important thing is that you’re safe.”

“The most important thing that matters is giving my paper tomorrow, convincing one of the professors to write me a letter, and making sure they include me in the edited collection.” Nico’s voice got stronger as he spoke, and some of the color was coming into his face. He pushed his shaggy hair back with both hands and said, “It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ll lock my door or something and—”

“Nobody is going to care if you sleep somewhere else tonight. They’re certainly not going to be upset that you took steps to keep yourself safe when you’re clearly in danger.”

Nico shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

“You’re right about that. I don’t understand.”

“Dr. Chapman, he—God, it’s a long story, but he heard me saying something stupid about hooking up, and you don’t know how he is. He’s this terror of a dinosaur, and he, I mean, he’s going to say it’s my fault or something. That I shouldn’t have drawn that kind of attention, or—or I don’t know.”

Jadon breathed slowly. He studied Nico’s wide eyes, his shallow breathing, the restless hands that plucked at hair and clothing. “I understand that right now, you’re upset, and you’ve been through a lot. But you’re not thinking clearly. What matters—”

“I already told you what matters!” Nico recoiled from his own shout, making himself smaller, arms wrapping around his stomach. In a quieter voice, he said, “I’m not leaving.”

After a long ten-count, Jadon said, “I’ve got to call this in.”

Nico nodded without looking up at him.

Jadon called campus security first. Then he called Cerise. In actuality, everyone responded promptly, but the process was long and onerous, with Jadon briefing the campus security guards who arrived, and then telling his story to Cerise, and then Nico, withdrawn and still hugging himself, delivering his statement in a monotone, without looking anyone in the eye.

When it was finally over, one of the campus security guards offered to patrol the area for the rest of the night. Cerise lingered with Jadon near the stairs at the end of the hall. Her eyes cut to Nico’s door, still open, and she lowered her voice. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“No.”

“He should go to a hotel.”

“I told him.”

“I can tell him if you want.”

Jadon shook his head.

A radiator rattled to life nearby, pinging and creaking and groaning. Cerise’s face was a maze of questions, but finally she said, “Don’t fuck yourself over, please.”

“I won’t.”

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