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After a very disappointing fight, Porsha had found the closest abandoned house in the neighborhood and powered down. She'd remained there for a little bit investigating the scratch on her lower thigh, and cursing the damn cat that had put it there. Damn thing stung, but at least it wasn't shorts season yet. Her skinny jeans would hide the claw marks.

She'd have to call Genie later to ask how it had gone with the bully, and to fill her in on her encounter with what she was sure had to be the absolute worst senshi ever. Even for a baby, he'd been..

It didn't really matter.

Thinking about it wasn't going to do much to improve her sour mood, but maybe visiting a friend would. It had been for Jude, after all, that she'd been out bully hunting today.

Cramming her hands in her pockets, she made her way towards the familiar yard of one of her best friends, relatively sure he was home today.

No sooner had Po lifted a hand to knock on the door, when a sound coming up the sidewalk pulled her attention around. It was Jude, and though his clothing looked pristine, the rest of him looked awful. He was hunched and limping, there was mud in his hair and on his face, and the look in his eyes.. That was worse of all. She stared at him, she couldn't help it. There weren't many people Porsha counted as true friend, but Jude was one of them, and the state he was in made her heart hurt.

"Judy.." She lifted a hand to touch his shoulder as he unlocked the door, but he'd slipped through it before her fingers had touched him. She frowned at him, concerned.

Later, when the mud was gone, and she'd done what she could to chase the hurt from his eyes, she'd be angry. But not yet.

He'd left the door open, and she followed him into the house, trailing after him. Bristling to ask him what happened, but not knowing if he'd tell her. Sometimes he didn't. She followed him, unzipping her jacket as she went, and let it fall t the ground when they reached his room.

Po had been in this house more times then she could remember, and Jude had always stood out like a well tailored sore thumb. But at the same time, he fit. Not because he matched, but because this was his home, and this was where they'd played a hundred games of hide and seek. Had thousands of heart to hearts.

She frowned at him, arms crossing under the swell of her bust in her loose fit rocker tee. "I don't have to what, make sure my friends alright?" She sounded concerned, but there was a small thread of anger raising up in her voice. Impatience at him, and his attempts to push her away.

"You're limping, what happened?" She moved towards him, reaching out to brush mud covered bangs from his face unless he moved out of reach. "how hurt are you?" She didn't want to ask what happened, because she didn't want him pushing her away more, so she was focusing specifically on the him, not the how, or the who.

"It's not.." She corrected, though not as though she expected him to back down. He might have been the victim of bullying for the majority of his life, but he was surprisingly stubborn. If he was hell bent on insisting he was fine there wasn't a whole lot Po, or anyone else, could do to convince him otherwise.

She sighed, an echo to his own, and helped him get the tie over his head, tossing it back on the chair along with his jacket. This close, she could see the only thing marring his face was the mud. Whoever had attacked him hadn't struck him in the face. Not that it made what had happened any better, but it did eliminate the chance for awkward questions from other people.

Cool fingers came to rest on his cheek, and she used her thumb to rub a bit of dirt away from his temple.

The question seemed so abrupt that Po let her hand fall back to her side as she blinked at him. "I came to see you." That should have been obvious. They were friends, why wouldn't she have come to visit? And how could she have simply walked away after seeing the state he was in.

She frowned at him, stung by his attitude, and watched him retreat to the kitchen.

An offer for coffee floated back to her, and she sighed before heading towards the sound of his voice. "Sure." She wouldn't have asked for any, but if he was going to make some anyways she'd accept.

Coal colored eyes followed the young man as he moved around the kitchen and began measuring out beans for the coffee. His question struck her like a physical blow. If it was within her power to keep him safe from everything the word threw at him, she'd have done it. So few in her life had earned such a place in her heart, but the blonde standing across the kitchen from her was right up there at the top of her list. She hated that he had to ask such things. That his being targeted was so damn frequent.

"Because people don't understand." It wasn't a very comforting answer, but then what would have been? Jude didn't deserve all the s**t he received, not by half. He didn't do anything to bring it upon himself, save take pride in his appearance, and since when was that such a crime? Genie and Po were no different, but because Jude was male, somehow it was wrong.

"Jude.." Two steps brought her up behind him, and though she wasn't sure what to say that'd take that look from his eyes, she had to do something. Her grip was tight when she wrapped her arms around his waist, molding herself against his back, her breath warm against the back of his neck. If he'd been taller she wouldn't have been able to hold him like this, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to lay a soft kiss on his shoulder, but they were almost the same height, Po perhaps an inch taller.

She wanted to chase that hurt from his eyes. To make him forget, for maybe only a few moments, that life sucked.

At the simplest touch he'd frozen so completely that Po couldn't help but smile. This wasn't the first time she'd hugged him, not by any means, but there were certain differences in the way she held onto him now that made all the difference in the world. And the flush of color that crept up his neck and along his cheeks out the corner of her eye was clear indication that Jude could tell the difference.

It wasn't as though the thought had never crossed the teen's mind. They were friends, but that didn't usually stand in the way of Porsha and her flirtatious nature.

Maybe it was that a part of her had always thought he'd turn her away, make a bigger deal of something that was meant to be so simple. He had enough stress as it was, and who was she to add to it? But now, standing in his little kitchen, she felt as though he needed a little more then a simple hug and more pretty lies that everything was going to get better, and one say people would stop being cruel.

An amused sound followed his reassurance, and she rubbed her cheek along the side of his neck until she could press her face into that warmth, arms tightening around him in a comforting squeeze.

Jude stiffened in her arms, a pain sound leaking between his lips, and Porsha froze against his back until he'd caught her wrist and tugged so he could step away from her. If he met her eyes he'd find them wide in surprise, but that quick look of shock would quickly melt away into the same concern she'd felt for him when she'd spotted him limping up the sidewalk.

She'd known he was hurt, but even so much that a hug was painful? "Jude, how bad are you hurt?" He might have stepped away from her, but that borrowed space would only last so long. The kitchen wasn't that big, and she was at his side again before the last syllable of his apology faded in the air.

Her first instinct was to reach out and catch his arm so he couldn't continue to back away from her, but the hand she'd lifted to do just that hovered between them, torn between touching and not. Now she had to wonder what else was injured on him. He reminded her of a cat, the way he understated his injuries, but she wasn't some junk yard dog to take advantage of any sign of weakness.