Warnings: a D/s AU. I recommend you look it up, before reading this fic. It'll explain a lot.

The alarm woke Cassidy up as it beeped and beeped, effectively annoying her. She rolled over onto her stomach and reached for the digital clock on the nightstand next to her bed. She checked the time, which was 6:30 A.M. and groaned in frustration before pushing the snooze button. Mom and dad probably did this, she thought, knowing that her parents only set her alarm for 6:30 on one important occasion. Might as well wake Austin up for this, knowing that he would still be asleep.

She yawned and stood, stretching her arms. On her right wrist was an intricate pattern, red swirling designs that formed to create a 'D' on it. D for Dom. Making her way to her brother's room, she tip-toed on the floorboards and cursed when they squeaked. The door was almost always open, so she stepped through the doorway and tried to avoid several piles of clothing thrown everywhere. She tripped on a pair of shoes lying near his bed with a small thud. Her brother was still asleep, curled into the fetal position with the blanket tangled in his legs.

He was mumbling things. The only word she could hear was "Kneel," before he shifted positions.

Probably still in his dream, and she felt sympathy for her 'younger-by-ten-minutes' brother. A Dom who just got his mark a few weeks ago would have trouble controlling those dreams. They were vivid and life-like, so it was difficult to distinguish dream from real life whenever he or she woke up.

When Cassidy first got one, she spent a few minutes pinching her arms because it was so, so real. Everything felt real and looked real and it was all very confusing.

"Austin," she called out, "Austin!" but he didn't even move. "Austin, wake up!" there was still nothing. So she reached forward, grabbed the blanket around his legs, and pulled it off. That woke him up, as he made a sound in the back of his throat and turned over. He was on his back now, propped up by a pillow underneath his head.

"What do you want?" he asked, irritated that he was interrupted. He glared at his sister, who was busy laughing at the sight. Messy blonde hair, a stuffed teddy bear in his hands, shirtless and only wearing a sheet for protection. "Cassidy, what do you want?"

She stopped laughing and tried to regain her breathe. "Sorry," she said in-between giggles, "Oh, yeah. Uh… you didn't hear your alarm clock go off?"

"No, was I supposed to?"

"Yeah, mom and dad set mine to 6:30."

He groaned, placing his hands on his face and dragging them down. He swore, going to his closet and picking clothes out. "6:30 means school…" he whined. While looking for a shirt, he asked if Cassidy wanted to use the shower first.

She responded with a 'Yeah' and went out of the room.

The door across from his room slammed shut for a few seconds, before it was yanked open and slammed shut again. There was a bathroom downstairs, so he listened to his sister's footsteps descending them. This is gonna take long, he thought, knowing that she took really long showers.

He sat on his bed, the clothes in his lap. As a way of passing the time, he ran his fingers over the mark on his right wrist. Dominant. He was a Dom, it still sounded weird. Austin Moon = Dom. Someone who held all the cards in the relationship and gave out orders. Everyone in his family expected him to turn out to be a sub.

But when Cassidy presented as a Dom, there was no doubt that Austin was going to be the same classification. Twins tended to be the same classification, after all. It wasn't surprising that he got his mark on his right wrist.

What was surprising, however, was when their older brother –Jeff- presented as a sub. The science with Dominant/Switch relationships yielded a 50% percent chance of the child becoming a Dom and 50% chance of the child becoming a Switch. So Jeff was the only submissive in the house. Austin remembered the time he stumbled into his brother's room, seeing him hold his left wrist in his other hand. The swirls and designs forming to create an 's'.

("Get out, Austin!" he yelled, throwing anything within his reach at the boy. "Get out!" but he didn't budge.

Austin was eleven at that time and asked if being a sub meant something.

"It does, 'get him on his knees' they say, 'a sub can't be in a show choir' they say," and Jeff laughed, it was bitter. "'Send him to the sub classes!'")

He remembered his dad's reaction. Just denying it and saying that he would dominate someone soon, because the science could not be wrong.

His son couldn't be a sub.

Austin was pulled out of his thoughts by someone knocking on his door. He looked at the open doorway and saw Jeff standing there, the silver bracelet around his wrist glinted in the light. Claim marker, his mind provided. But only permanent claims have a silver bracelet. "You're claimed?"

Jeff glanced at his own wrist with an amused smirk, "Yeah, by Nick." His best friend since forever. "Why don't you have a sub yet?"

Ah, there it was. He knew this was coming, the inevitable 'are-you-claiming-a-sub' discussion that loomed after he was marked. "I have all the time in the world!" he proclaimed with a grin. "It's not required for me to claim one at this age."

"Okay, if that's your decision. Oh, by the way, dad's calling you downstairs. Breakfast's ready."

"I'm waiting until Cassidy gets out of the shower," he said and motioned to the clothes in his lap.

He heard the shower stop running, and listened as the door slammed shut and feet go up the stairs. She passed him and said that he could use the shower now and tell mom and dad she was going out.

"What for?" he questioned, standing up and going toward the stairs. He was holding the clothes in his hands and slowly inching down the stairs, waiting for an answer. He didn't get one, so he walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Emerging from the shower, he was running a hand through his blonde hair. He went to the kitchen and saw his mom and dad standing there. On the table, there was so much food: eggs, omelets, stacks and stacks of pancakes, plus various plates of toast and jars of peanut butter and/or jelly.

He took his usual seat next to Cassidy and across from his dad. Jeff was sitting where she usually sat and said that he hoped she didn't mind. She probably wouldn't. Austin reached for a plate filled with pancakes and poured syrup on it, eating it. "Cassidy's going out," he said randomly, seeing his dad pause with eating his eggs.

"Where?" he questioned. And that was when Cassidy came down, placing a kiss on her dad's cheek.

"I'm going to Sonic Boom," she says, "I have to get a new string for my guitar. I heard there's a ton in the back room there," going to the door that led outside and opening it. "Bye, love you all, I'll just be gone for a couple minutes!" before it slammed shut.

His mom broke the awkward silence that followed by telling Austin to keep an eye on her when they go to Marino High. The new school they were going to was called Marino High, home of the Manatees.

Austin picked at his pancakes at that point, not even paying attention as she talked about the school. He was too busy thinking about what would happen once he went into that place.

He was new, shoved into Marino High in second semester due to his father getting a promotion. Everyone else already knew each other, so what would they say if they saw a new kid walking the halls?

Sighing, he tried to eat more before it was time to go.

Cassidy was walking to the Miami Mall, which was, thankfully, a few blocks away from their house. As she crossed several streets and neared the building, she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of claiming a sub. Sixteen was the legal age to be in a temporary claim, after all. So she weighed the pros and cons in her head, noted that the cons outweighed the pros.

A sub would be a huge responsibility, even if she was in a temporary claim. Someone to take care of and someone to care for. Maybe even someone she would fall in love with… and claim him or her permanently.

The cons, however, were drastic changes to her life. She wasn't sure if she could handle everything changing. Since she was of legal age to (temporarily) claim a sub, she would be required –by law- to move into a place of her own.

She got to the mall at 7:15, and school was at 8:30. Not bad of a time difference. She went to Sonic Boom –the only one open at that time- and strolled into the store. When she went in, she saw a boy behind the counter. He was wiping it down and she cleared her throat to get his attention.

He looked up and smiled at her, showing white teeth. "Do you need anything, miss?" he questioned, putting the cloth down.

Miss.

"I- I just need a guitar string. High E if you have it," she said, cursing when she stuttered.

"Just wait here," and he left the counter to get it. He came back a few minutes later, holding a small package of strings in his hand. He gave it to her and said it cost $4.80. She gave him a 5 dollar bill and told him to keep the change. He just nodded, telling her to have a nice day as she left the shop.

As she was walking, she thought of it again. Miss, and she couldn't stop smiling.

When she got home, Austin was sitting down at the table. His fingers picking at the guitar in his lap, his tongue stuck out in concentration. He looked up at her and gave her a smile, mouthing "It's already 7:30." Two backpacks were next to him, in the seat that was empty. A leather cuff was around his wrist, and she gave him a look that said 'what is going on and why are you wearing that?'

"It's a required thing. If you're marked," he told her "then you have to wear the cuff wherever you go."

She scoffed, immediately hating that rule. Her cuff was in a drawer in her room, among old bottles of nail polish and tubes of lip gloss. She hadn't touched it since her sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago. Her parents gave it to her, saying that she was going to make a fantastic Dominant for her own submissive. She hid it and never took it out.

Until now.

She went to her room and retrieved it, wiping off stains from open bottles and such. When she fastened it around her wrist, it felt tight against her skin. It just felt weird, having something that showed her classification off; a huge sign in big, bold letters that said 'DOMINANT'.

As she came down the stairs, she thought of the boy again. Was he a Dominant or a submissive? A Switch? Why did it matter to her? She giggled at the thought of him as a Dominant. He wouldn't be a Dominant, she couldn't think of the boy and Dominant in the same sentence.

Austin grabbed the two backpacks and handed one to his sister. They gave their parents the typical parental hugs and kisses, before Cassidy took Austin's hand into hers and dragged him out of the house. They started walking and Cassidy was constantly checking the time on her phone.

"I think I'm in love," she said randomly.

The look on his face was a confused expression. "What?"

"I said 'I think I'm in love'," she repeated.

"Again, what?" and she rolled her eyes, Austin was either confused or… yeah, he was just confused.

"I'll tell you at school."

They stopped walking when they reached the front of the school, simultaneously smirking. It was a huge school from the outside and students were walking up the stairs to go through the double doors. The doors that led to the inside.

He gave her a small smile, linking his arm through hers.

"Shall we?"

And she smiled back, "We shall."