A/N: Reaaally short first chapter, but I felt like I owed you guys. The rest will be longer, I promise!

Thanks for all the love on this story already!

XOXO, OceansAria

Chapter One

I spun around, scared out of my wits. What if it was a thief? I didn't have anything to defend myself! Or a serial killer? Again, nothing to defend myself besides a few Mentos and used tissues.
But when my eyes focused on the figure in front of me, I realized that it was neither.
He was tall, as he had always been-but real world tall now. His chocolate brown eyes were filled with laughter and his mischievous smirk was just as I remembered it. His hair was the same tousled mess that I adored. And he was dressed in his armor-every inch of it from head to toe.
"Nod!" I cried, completely forgetting the blizzard swirling around us as I jumped into his open embrace. "What are you doing here? How are you normal size? How'd you find me?"
He laughed. His lips brushed my cheek as we parted, and I felt my heart start to pound fast. "One question at a time, MK." He rubbed his arms and shivered. "And I'll preferably answer them inside."
I retrieved the key from him and we entered my tiny dorm room to warm ourselves. I kicked the ancient heater so that it would run smoothly as I stepped out of my soggy boots. My cheeks were flushed with excitement now, and my heart was pounding wildly in my chest. He shook the snow from his hair and removed his shoes as he sat on my bed. As I watched him, I felt like I was stuck in one of my fantasies-the daydream world where I could be with him again in Moonhaven, where the real world faded away and didn't matter anymore.
"So," I said, kneeling on the bed next to him, as that was the only place to sit besides my cluttered desk. "Tell me everything."
Nod smiled mischeviously. He kicked back on my bed, stretching out his long, lean body, with his arms behind his head. I blushed, realizing there was a boy on my bed, in my room, alone. My dad would've fainted.
He sighed, "Can I get a little shut-eye first? It was a long journey, MK."
I shook my head. "No! You have to tell me how you became a stomper, like me."
He chuckled. "Oh, great. I hadn't thought of that. Do I sound like a stomper, too?"
"No," I giggled. "You sound normal." I nudged him as I laid down beside him on my stomach, my chin resting on my hands. My pulse was going crazy at our closeness. "Go on, tell me," I urged impatiently.
Sighing once more, he began his tale. The young, new queen-her name was Daphine-had made me big again, like I mentioned before. She had been mastering her powers for months now, and had figured out not just how to make me stomper-sized again, but to make Nod, or any of the other Leafmen, that large as well. It took a lot of testing, patience, and time, but she finally got the hang of it. Nod was the first one to "get big" and enter the human world. The rest of the Leafmen refused the offer, including Ronin. They'd joked that there were already plenty of stompers out there, and not enough Leafmen.
"Will you be able to turn back?" I asked when he had paused to catch a breath. "You know, shrink back down to your normal size?"
He let out that breath slowly, like a balloon deflating. His expression turned grim for a moment, but then he brightened and I felt his fingers touch my chin gently.
"I don't know," he replied softly. "But all that matters to me right now, is that I'm here with you."
My ears turned pink. His brown eyes were mushy and sincere, and I felt like a puddle of melted goo. I decided to change to subject immediately.
Shifting so that I was further away from him, I asked, "So, how'd you find your way to Princeton?"
Nod extracted his hand and crossed both arms across his chest, as if wanting to change the subject too. "Oh, um, your dad helped me."
"My dad?" I raised an eyebrow. "I had a feeling he was in the middle of this somehow."
"Yeah, he helped me buy these things called 'plane tickets' and 'bus fare'."
I laughed. "You got here on a plane? I would have paid a million bucks to see that!"
He scowled as I guffawed and shoved me playfully. I almost fell off the bed. "It was really scary at first, but by the end, I loved it. Oh, and the bus! It was so loud! And it smelled like decaying logs, if you ask me."
He was dead serious at first, and I could hardly control my giggles. We both busted out laughing. After a while, the conversation turned to his own round of questions: What's a college? What's class like? What does the word 'dorm' mean? Dormant volcano? And so many more that by the time I was halfway done answering them, the snow was invisible in the twilight air, and my eyelids were drooping heavily. The room was warm, and he smelled like home, like the forest-like earth, air, and sky and the honeysuckle swaying in the summer breeze.
"Go on to sleep, MK," he whispered when I didn't answer yet another question of his. I mumbled a protest, but he laughed and I felt his hand stroke my bangs off my forehead gently, causing electricity to spark wherever he touched. He shifted my head so that my cheek rested against his chest, and then, just as I was drowning in sleep, he said something that I didn't quite catch-but it sounded so important.

Bright white sunlight split open my eyelids early the next morning. My feet were cold but my torso and face were toasty, and a second later, I realized why. Before I could scream, however, Nod popped his hand across my mouth and hissed, "It's me!"
I calmed down instantly, but my heart was still stuttering. Being wrapped in his embrace had been pleasant, yet for some reason, I had forgotten that he was even there for a split second. Thinking of sleeping in his arms all night long made my cheeks burn. Blushing, I mumbled, "Sorry."
He laughed, sitting up. His hair was messier than before. "It's okay. Just didn't want to get you in trouble-"
Right then, there was a knock at the door. We both froze, shut up, and stared at the slab of wood like it would attack us. Who could it be? For a moment, I thought of Mandrake, but then I recalled his death and relaxed slightly. A second later came a voice that made my stomach churn.
"Mary Katherine?"
Mrs. Holbrook-the dorm "mom". I sighed and climbed off the bed. Nod made a move to follow me, but I held up my hand. "Stay here," I whispered. "Don't move or make a sound."
He nodded slowly, then scooted back on the bed and froze again. Obviously, training with the Leafmen had taken an effect on him. He was much better with his stealth and self-control.
I took a deep, cleansing breath before I unlocked and opened the door to reveal the tiny, frail, cross lady before me. Mrs. Holbrook looked like she was on the better side of eighty, with her reading glasses perched low on her nose and her white hair sticking up in every direction. Beady black eyes like a rat's glowered up at me like I was the dog crap on the bottom of her shoe she'd found after a nice walk through the park. If I hadn't been afraid of losing Nod, I would've laughed.
"Mary Katherine," she repeated, her scratchy voice grating on my ears.
"It's MK, Mrs. Holbrook," I corrected her for possibly the thousandth time that semester.
She waved her hand aside like I was an annoying fly. "Mary Katherine, I was doing my morning patrol and handing out prescriptions when I heard what appeared to be a manly voice coming from your room."
I fidgeted unconsciously. Crap. We weren't supposed to have boys in our rooms-and if we did, we weren't supposed to get caught with said boys. I'd been good all semester, but Mrs. Holbrook had seemed to hate me from day one, and it was all because of how truly good I was 24/7. She suspected it was an act.
"A boy?" I laughed nervously. "Pssh. No boys in my room, Mrs. H." I surreptitiously shifted so the door was between us, and not as widely opened. "It was just my TV. I was watching a . . . my favorite soap opera."
Soap opera? Seriously? I felt like smacking myself. A quiet snort came from the bed.
Mrs. Holbrook frowned. "Well then. You know the rules. No loud music or TV shows, Mary Katherine. Is that clear?"
I nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am. I promise to turn it down."
With one last, long glare, she spun on the heel of her raggedy bunny slippers and left. I watched her pad back to her room on the other end of the hall before I gently shut the door, locked it back, and let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Woo! That was close!" Nod hooted, grinning manically.
I laughed shortly. Before I could move towards my mini fridge to rummage around for some breakfast, my phone beeped from the nightstand.
Nod grabbed it first. He twirled it around in his hands, confused. "What is this little thing?"
I snatched it from him and replied, "It's a cell phone, silly." Cursing, I stuffed my phone in my pocket. "And class is back on this morning. I have to be there in five minutes."
"Class?" he perked up like a dog who heard the word 'play'. "You're going to class? Can I come, too?"
"No," I answered, rushing over to my desk. I shoved my feet into my still squishy boots and grabbed my dry coat. "You wouldn't like it. It's long, boring, and you'd probably fall asleep."
He made a sour face, watching me as I raced about. "Then why do you want to go?"
"Because my dad paid for me to."
"He paid for boring classes? Are there any fun ones?"
"Yes. Like pottery, or drama."
"Ooh, pottery," he stood as he talked. "Making pots and then smashing them just for fun. Sounds awesome."
"Yeah, it is." Suddenly, my coat had disappeared. It had just been in my hands, I swore it had-
"Here." Nod held out my coat to me, ready for me to slip into. Just like with the key, he'd slipped it out of my grasp when I was least expecting it. Blushing, I threw my arms into the sleeves and zipped it up to my chin. He chuckled at the sight of me as I pulled a beanie down over my crazy bedhead hair. No time to brush it this morning.
"What?" I grumbled when he continued to stare.
He touched my nose with the tip of his finger. "You look adorable."
Good thing my ears were out of sight-because they were on fire. "Oh, um, thanks. I guess."
He laughed harder. "Adorable is a good thing."
Gosh. I wanted to yell at him for making me blush so much.
I backed up, reaching blindly for the doorknob, yet my eyes were still focused on his. My fingers bumped the knob. "Look, I'll be back in an hour and half and then we can hang out till my next class. There's leftover food in the fridge. The bathroom's that corner door, and there's a listing of TV channels beside the TV. If anyone knocks, don't answer, okay?" I felt like I was giving instructions to a kid.
"Got it," Nod replied.
Smiling at him, I leaned forward on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, surprising the both of us. "See you after class."
Then I squared my shoulders and headed out into the bright white world beyond.