Ever since Julia and Marcus met in The Indigo spell, I've shipped them really hard. I'm not a big fan of Carly/Marcus, so I decided to make a Julia/Marcus fanfic. Some of the college facts may be a little off cause I've never been, but I tried my best. I hope you guys like it!
Marcus never thought he'd be here. He'd been on the run for so long, moving from place to place, finding other Alchemists who questioned the system, and acting as a rebel leader. But now, after helping expose all the flaws in the Alchemist system and learning it would start getting better, his name was cleared and he was free. There would be no more alias', no move moving unless he wanted to, and the only time he'd be taking a trip to Mexico would be to see girls in bikinis and drink margaritas. Of course he decided to stay in California so it wasn't like he couldn't see that here. He'd grown fond of the Golden State, so he decided to make it his home. With this freedom also came the option to do something he never got to do; go to school. Of course with how Marcus was raised, he had no idea what he would major in, so he decided to just go to do some general education, and decide his major later. He got a few glowing recommendations from Clarence, Mrs. Terwilliger, and even one from Stanton. With all that, he got accepted in UCLA.
Marcus was getting ready for his first day at school, and was ecstatic that his first class would be English. He was a fan of literature, and while he could never keep a good book collection with moving around from place to place, he always kept his copy of Catcher in the Rye. He often visited libraries, when he wasn't annoying Sabrina by dragging her to the arcade, or doing some sort of Robin Hood type act. He made his way into the classroom, and for once in his life, Marcus Finch felt overwhelmed. It was a new environment. It seemed like it was some sort of conference room. There was 4 large crescent moon shaped desk; one of was small and toward the center of the room so he figured it was for the teacher, and the other three were in front of it, each up on a level slightly higher. From what he could see, each row fit about 20 students. He found a spot he was comfortable with, not too close to the teacher, but not far enough away either. There were a few other students in the class already and were setting up their area with their laptops, notepads and pencils, so he followed suit. Luckily he was able to use the reflection in his laptop screen to make sure the tattoo cream was still covering the indigo tattoo on his cheek.
"What does English have to do with fashion?" "I don't know, but they make us take it anyway, so we'll have to endure it.." Marcus knew one of those voices. He couldn't place it off the top of his head, but it was enough to have him turning in his chair.
Julia.
Julia Cavendish was Sydney Sage's human friend from her time at Amberwood prep. He'd only met her like once when he went to the school to talk to Sydney, but she'd left an impression. He wasn't entirely sure why either.. Yes, she was absolutely stunning, but he'd met a lot of beautiful girls. It also wasn't like he'd admired her for being able to handle his flirtatious nature like Sydney had (even though that was because she wasn't attracted to him..) she'd dropped her books and could barely get her name out. Still, there was something different about her and he found himself really happy to be seeing her again. "Julia," he called, catching the attention of the pretty blond.
Julia looked up at the sound of her name, distracted from what she was chattering about with Kristin as they walked into class. As soon as she saw who had called her name, she nearly turned bright red. She knew him as 'Dave', Sydney's older guy friend who she'd been crazy enough not to be interested. 'More for me,' Julia thought. She didn't want to make a fool out of herself though. She took a breath, before giving him her charming smile. "Dave!" she greeted, making her way toward him, Kristin on her heels.
"Actually, I'm going by Marcus now.. It's a long story," he said with a sheepish, yet charming, smile. Marcus had no clue if the teachers actually called attendance in these classes, and the last thing he needed was for the professor to call 'Marcus Finch' and confuse Julia.
"Maybe you can tell me it sometime," Julia flirted. She still felt like she was ready to stumble over her own feet, if not her own words, but she was determined not to look like an idiot now. She was in college, and she couldn't be flustered by an older guy.
"That could be arranged," he flirted back, award-winning smile still on his lips. "You can sit over here, if you like," he offered, motioning to the chairs by him.
"Thank you," she said, bowing jokingly. It was a really bad idea because, like last time she saw him, she spilled her books all over the floor. Luckily her laptop was in her bag on her shoulder, but it was heavy enough, so she had to carry a few books out.
"We have to stop meeting like this," Marcus teased as he helped her pick them up.
She flushed. "But what if I like you coming to my rescue?" she asked, blue eyes glancing at him, his green eyes staring back into hers. They froze briefly, getting lost in the other person's gaze. After hearing the teacher come in, it broke their trance-like state and Marcus finished helping pick up her books and the girls got settled next to him. "Marcus, this is my best friend, Kristin. Kristin, Marcus is a friend of Sydney. I met him one day when he was visiting Syd," she introduced them. Being that they'd only met once, it wasn't too hard to make the switch from Dave to Marcus. She spent more time thinking about how attractive and nice he was than his name, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't doodled 'Dave + Julia' a few times. Really, looking back, it didn't sound so cute. 'Marcus + Julia' sounded much better.
"It's nice to meet you, Kristin," he greeted, shaking the brunette's hand. Kristin was cute, but not nearly as gorgeous as Julia, who his gaze kept flicking over to. If English wasn't his favorite class before, it was now. Of course paying attention in class would be fun.
The rest of the class trickled in, and the professor soon started the lesson. Marcus did a pretty good job at paying attention, but he definitely snuck a peek at Julia every now and then, and could sense her eyes on him. Once or twice, they'd be caught sneaking looks, but they'd both smile and give a silent laugh before going back to their work.
Once class was done, Marcus worked on packing up his laptop while Julia and Kristin talked. "Do you want to grab lunch?" Julia asked her friend.
"Can't. AP Math, remember?" Kristin reminded her.
"Damn, my next class isn't for like 2 hours but I don't want to go back to the room.."
"What's say you and I grab lunch? I've got a little while 'til my next class and I don't have anything else planned," Marcus offered as he got up.
Julia and Kristin exchanged a glance and he knew it was a look of excitement, and Kristin using her eyes to yell at her best friend to say yes. Julia turned back to Marcus with a bright smile, "I'd love to!"
"Perfect," Marcus answered, smiling back.
"I'll meet you back in the room?" Julia asked Kristin, who nodded and told them to have fun, before scurrying off to their next class. "Where would you like to go for lunch?" she asked, going to grab her books, but Marcus beat her to it. "You don't have to do that," she said bashfully.
"Don't worry about it. This way you can't drop them," he teased, grinning, shifting stuff around so he could hold both of their things easily, going out with her. "As for food, I'm good for anything."
"Would you rather stay on campus, or go off?" she asked as they headed out of the classroom so they weren't lingering.
"I don't have class for a few hours, so I can go off if there's something specific you want. If you'd rather stay on, that's fine too," he shrugged. He didn't know too much about Julia, so he wasn't sure what kind of stuff she liked or anything like that.
"There's a cafe on campus? They've got salad, soups, sandwiches, coffee, smoothies.." she offered.
"That sounds good," Marcus agreed. "Lead the way." He was still trying to figure out his way around campus, but he'd mostly just looked for where his classes were for the moment. He needed to take some time to really explore and get to know what was around.
"Is this your first year at UCLA?" she asked while they walked.
He nodded. "Yeah, I've had some stuff going on and couldn't really attend college," he answered. He knew it was definitely her first year since it had only been a few months since he saw her at Amberwood, guessing she was a senior back then.
"More of the 'long story' stuff?" she asked, partially teasing. Julia would be lying if she said she wasn't curious, but she didn't want to push and drive him away.
"Yep. I'll keep to my word and tell you about it some day," he winked, making her giggle and blush in response.
"I look forward to it," she responded, figuring she'd let him pick the when.
"It's kind of dense, but if you want, I can tell you over lunch," he offered. It really wasn't a super long story with what he was planning to tell her. Stanton had advised he talk about being in witness protection if anyone questioned how he grew up or lived recently. But it definitely was a dense topic. He'd wait if she'd prefer, but he'd definitely like to get it over with so he could enjoy any future time he got to spend with her.
"I can handle it," she assured him, going over to the cafe. Despite holding his books and hers, Marcus still managed to open the door for Julia and made it look easy. "What a gentleman," she teased, going in and found them a place to sit.
"Let's get food first, then I'll tell you," he promised, sitting down with her and set their books aside as they looked over the menu. She'd ordered a salad, and a cup of iced coffee, and he picked out a sandwich and water. Once their waiter left, he turned his attention back to her. "So you remember Sydney and her group from Amberwood?" he started.
Julia nodded. "Yeah. Sydney was a good friend of mine until she kinda up and disappeared," she responded. "Then the others disappeared before the end of the school year and I haven't really heard from them since."
"All of them, and myself, were involved in witness protection," he said, lowering his voice a bit so only she could hear.
She rose her brow in response. "Witness protection? Really?" she asked, surprised.
Marcus nodded. "Sydney, Jill, Angeline, Eddie, Zoe, Adrian, Keith, Neil and like I said, myself. I still can't explain what we were in for, no matter how much I wish I could, but yeah. It's why I introduced myself as Dave instead of Marcus," he told her, sipping his water.
"I assume with the fact you're telling me means you're out of the program?" she asked, stirring around her coffee. He couldn't really tell how she was handling the news.
Marcus nodded again. "Yeah. I was deepest in, which is why I had to go with a different name. The rest just changed their last name. The only ones that were actually related are Zoe and Sydney are siblings, and Adrian and Jill are cousins." Well, distant cousins, but all the moroi royalty considered themselves cousins, unless part of the same line. "Sydney got put in danger, which was why she was pulled out randomly and relocated, and no one was really allowed to talk about it. Some stuff got stirred up with her and the others, which is why they also disappeared. After everything was cleared up, it was advised we not keep contact with anyone we met while in the program, that's why you never heard from them. I know it bummed them out a lot cause they really liked the friends they made," he told her, hoping maybe she'd be less mad at Sydney and the others since he was pretty sure none of them kept contact. Even he hardly heard from them since they'd got done and moved back to the east.
Julia nodded a little, not sure how to feel. Sydney had been a good friend of hers and had been hurt when she fell off the face of the earth and never heard from her, but what he was saying made sense. She couldn't imagine it was really encouraged to tell people you'd been in the program once you got out. "I guess that makes sense. It kinda sucks, I would have liked to at least say goodbye to them.." she murmured, sipping her coffee. "If you're not really supposed to talk about it, why are you telling me?" she asked, glancing up at him.
"Well, while you are one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen, I didn't seek you out. Fate brought us together. It may not be overly encouraged to tell people, but I don't want to lie to you," he answered honestly.
Julia was by no means self-conscious or anything, but when he'd told her she was one of the most gorgeous girls he'd met, she blushed like crazy. She'd been attracted to him since they met, and he was the only one she made a fool of herself around. "I'm glad fate brought us together then," she added with a flirty smile.
"So am I. I'm glad to be able to see you again and maybe get to know you better," he said. He wasn't sure if this was considered a date or not, but if it wasn't, he'd definitely like to go on one with her.
"I'd like that too," she said happily. Their food came short after but they were still able to make easy conversation."So is this something I can tell Kristin, or is it top secret?"
"You can tell her. I just wanted to spend some time with you, and she had class," Marcus flirted, smiling over at her.
Julia flushed. "You wanted to spend time with me?" she asked. Really, she wasn't shy around guys. She had her fair share at Amberwood, but Marcus was an older guy, and really hot. She figured he wouldn't have any interest in her.
Marcus nodded. "I've wanted to see you again. I asked Sydney about you, but she didn't want me to get involved with you because of the WitSec stuff. I really wanted to ask you on a date," he told confessed.
"Really?" she asked, surprised, and crimson red. He was pretty sure all the blood left the rest of her body and went into her face.
"Really. I mean, if that'd be something you'd be interested in," he said, trying to act casual about it, even though he really did like her.
"I would. I just figured a good looking older guy like you wouldn't be interested in me," she confessed herself. She definitely wasn't self-conscious, but again, he was really hot.
"Well if you were a little younger and still in high school, I might be a little wary, but we're both in college, and you're absolutely gorgeous, so yes, I am interested," he assured her.
"So I know it's considered rude to ask a ladies age, but is it considered rude to ask a guys age?" she asked, picking at her salad.
"I turned 22 this past May." he said, picking up on what she wanted to ask. "At risk of being rude, I'm assuming you're 18?" he asked.
Julia laughed. "It's fair to ask mine since I asked yours. Yes, I'm 18, 19 this year," she confirmed, giving him a smile.
"3 years isn't bad," he responded with a smile, finishing off his food. "So what do you say; will you go on a date with me, Julia?" he asked with his movie-star smile. "unless you want to call this.." he motioned around their table "a date. In which case, would you like to go on a second?" he added.
"First dates are awkward. So we can call this a date. I would love to go on a second with you, Marcus," she said, smiling back as she finished off her salad.
"That sounds good. How about you put your number in my phone while I pay for this," he said, taking his phone out and offered it to her, before going to take care of the bill. The only contact he had right now was Sabrina right now. He hadn't even officially added Sydney to it. He came back after paying and took the phone back when she offered it, checking to make sure it had saved before putting it back in his pocket. "I'll text you later so you have my number," he said with a smile, grabbing their books.
Julia nodded with a smile and got up with him, walking out. "So is Sabrina your sister? I wasn't snooping, I swear, I had to open up your contact list to add my number," she said, not wanting to seem like she was already being the crazy girl.
'I didn't think you were snooping," he assured her, smiling down at her. "She might as well be. She's my best friend, but she's like my sister. And don't worry, she's just a friend," he said, winking at her playfully.
"I believe you," she responded, smiling. "Walk me to my next class?" she asked, looking over at him. She didn't want to leave him but she did have class.
"Of course. You'll just have to leave the way," he responded. "Any idea when you want to go on the second date?" he asked while they headed to her class.
"Whenever. What do you want to do for the date?"
"Dinner? Maybe a movie?" he offered. It was the classic date idea. And he was kinda hoping if they went to a movie, they wouldn't watch the movie. Of course he didn't see her as a slutty type of girl, but that didn't mean he wouldn't like to make out with her.
"I'd like that," she nodded. "Would tonight be too soon? Or maybe Wednesday?" she asked, not wanting to seem too eager.
"Tonight would be fine, if you'd like?" he said, smiling over at her. It had been a while since he'd seen her, and their first date hadn't really acted like one, so he'd like to have one that was more official.
"I'd like that. This is my last class, then I'm free for the day," she told him.
"I have one more in an hour, then I'm done for the day. Since you'll get back before I do, check and see if there's any movies you want to see and what times, and text them to me, and then we can pick something?" he questioned.
"Sounds good to me. Just make sure you don't forget to text me," she teased, stopping outside a classroom.
Marcus shifted to give her the books that were hers, before taking out his phone and sent her a text 'If this is the end of our first date, can I still kiss you, even if it's not outside your door?'
Julia shifted her books so she could check her phone and glanced up at him with a smile before turning back to her phone. 'Yes :)'
Marcus smiled as he read it and put his phone in his pocket, before turning back to her, charming smile on his lips as he leaned down slowly, before pressing his lips to hers. He felt her respond, but he also felt something else. Something he'd never felt any other time he'd kissed a girl. The kiss lasted a few more moments before he pulled back. "I'll see you tonight."