"Hospital?"

Peter looked up. They'd been studying, before Jimmy was located by a Prefect—Miss. Danvers' announcement system had broken earlier that day, courtesy of a very complicated and thoroughly enjoyable prank by the few remaining Townies not allowed back into school—who'd simply barked for the boy to return a call to his mother.

Petey, not a particularly poor or middle class boy, had a cell phone happily available for use, since he never seemed to need it. Jimmy had called up Mrs. Hopkins with an annoyed look on his face, until he repeated a simple word. Petey looked up in enough time to see a flash of surprise, and then genuine concern.

(His parent certainly wasn't a good one. But to say that Jimmy didn't still love his mother, even if she had an uncanny tendency to scream at her son, would be flat out ignorance.)

And then, everything seemed to speed up. Jimmy zoomed out of the room at lighting speed, only to come back almost immediately with a few outfits and some random items shoved in his old suitcase. He grabbed his main-course books and his camera, pushing them in to top off the aging bag, seemingly full to it's limit.

"I have to go," he breathed, running a hand through almost non-existent hair. "Mom's phony husband is outside."

"What happened?" Peter asked, standing up. His friend looked incredibly worried, after all, and it wasn't very often that Jimmy portray much in terms of fear.

"I have no idea. Probably something dumb, but..." he sighed, and glanced around, "Look, I haven't told anybody, but I'm sorta seeing someone. They're coming by my room tonight, and I don't have time to tell them. Could you wait, and tell them I left for the week?"

Petey wasn't a dull boy. He noticed the absence of specific pronouns, but didn't say anything. "Sure, I can do that."

"Thanks, Pete. I owe you one."

Jimmy headed out, and Peter sat back down, wondering who he—and it almost certainly was a he, by Jimmy's actions—could possibly be.

Gord wasn't a dull boy, either.

Sure, he could be superficial. And self-centered. And a bit oblivious, if he was really interested in something. And didn't seem to realize just how often someone wanted to hurt him. But he could still connect the obvious.

The obvious, in this case, being the murmurs that Jimmy had left. Had jumped in a car with a suit case and peeled off. Had he been expelled?

Except Gord knew for a fact the boy would've said good bye if /that/ was the case.

Plus, this was silly gossip. And even though he heard Derby discussing it, which almost certainly made it true, he needed to make sure.

So even though he knew the chances were slim, he still took a good two hours dolling himself up for a meeting with a Mr. James Hopkins, MIA or not.

Passing through the main room, he got a"Gord, darling, what's got you so dressed up?" question from Pinky, but he simply pressed a finger to his lips. She wouldn't tell anyone.

It was about 11 pm, and the air was just starting to get colder for the Fall. Despite still only being a slight nip, Gord adjusted a designer scarf, rigged head-to-toe in the full shebang. He walked quickly, gracefully, to the Boy's Dorm, making more then one head turn. As he should.

Now, Preps entering and leaving the Dorms wasn't that rare anymore. As the years had passed, they found they needed bigger closets, and the spaces assigned to them by the school quickly became just that. So Gord didn't have too particularly sneak around, though he did have to stop by the common room and wait for the hall to clear, so he could safely enter Jimmy's room.

"James, darling, this place is absolutely—"

Staring at him from Jimmy's desk was one Peter Kowalski, a quiet boy, the center of any number of rumors.

"...oh." Gord blinked, and then turned to leave, "I must have the wrong room, I'm sorry."

"You're dating Jimmy, right?"

He stopped.

"So he'll only be gone for a week?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't go find you, but he didn't tell me who you were."

Gord flicked his hand. "That's alright. I'm the one who asked we stay a secret, for now. It's selfish, but I need to ease my clique members into the idea."

"The idea that you're dating a boy?" Petey stretched out, laying back. Just a hint of his stomach peeked from his shirt. He had absolutely no muscle tone, and Gord felt an all too familiar desire to dress up the boy like a doll.

"No, that I'm dating someone poor."

Petey laughed, a soft, breathy thing. It was almost illegally adorable, and Gord blinked, slightly surprised by both the charming affect and the fact he laughed at all. "What?"

Clearing his throat, Peter looked away slightly, though he still smiled. "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. You're just kinda funny." His eyes widened. "Not that I'm laughing at you! Sorry. And sorry for saying sorry a lot. I just..." His face burned a shamed purple. "...yeah."

Pitter-patter.

Gord blinked again, his eyes seeming to sparkle. Petey blinked, sitting up, before he heard, "oh, my God, you are the cutest thing I have ever seen."

"...huh?"

"You are. Absolutely. Adorable." Peter's eyes widened a little as Gord cupped the boy's cheeks, forgetting all of Derby's lessons about 'touching people, especially poor people, without permission or knowing where they've been'. "Goodness, look at you! Your eyes match your hair perfectly. And you have such soft cheeks."

Peter stuttered, cheeks instantly turning a confused red. "I-I...cute? Really?"

"Yes! Oh, darling, what time is it?" Gord backed off instantly, only to pulling out the latest phone model, humming. "Perfect. It's not even 12." He put it away, and flashed a perfect smile. "Are you, by chance, free for the rest of the night? I would love to dress you up, buy you something cute." And then, added almost as an after thought, "if you want, of course."

As it turned out, the minute Petey denied any arrangements, he didn't have much of a choice. He was pulled off and out of the dorm, toward Old Bullworth Vale.

"...are you sure you don't mind? I mean, it's a little pricey, but I could always—"

"Oh, you are just like James, trying to deny gifts like that. This is for you, from me. Not from me, paid by you." He pressed a gentle kiss the boy's forehead for the fourth time that night, and Peter blushed all the same, squirming in a tad bit of delight. He'd never been given so much platonic affection. "Now come on, to the mirror. You look perfect."

Gord pulled Petey to the nearest mirror, and the smaller boy almost did a double take. His face had been patted at by make up for an hour, yes, but he didn't think it'd make him look so...feminine, the light pink lipstick puffing but not blinding. The dress, looser then what Gord would ever wear but somehow fitting with Petey, stopped just below the ankles. A white, simple texture, with green lining and a v-neck. The shoe's were very church-going, inch heels and shiny black surface.

"What do you think, darling? Am I not a genius?"

"I..." Peter gently touched his cheek, and felt a strange...lightness. For once in his life, he didn't feel repulsed by what he saw in the mirror. He may have looked changed, but not outright completely different. Even the worst features looked complimentary. "...oh, my God."

Gord grinned. "I take that as a good sign."

Tears gently prickled at Petey's eyes, but he forced them down. "Thank you. I...dunno what to say."

"Oh hunny," Gord wrapped his arms around the boy, and took a deep breath. "Your pretty face is enough of a reward."

A week (and a day) later, when Jimmy showed back up, he'd be completely confused by the new found friendship between the shyer boy and Jimmy's energetic boyfriend.