When he was in eighth grade, Rhys had a bully. He was cruel, constantly picking on Rhys, getting all the other kids to ridicule him. Never did Rhys think that he would encounter someone so cruel again, and he hadn't so far.

Well, that was until he met Jack. Then again, he had never met someone that had changed his life as much as he did also.

After the awkward- and frankly terrifying- encounter, Vaughn and Fiona had successfully shaken Rhys out of his stupor. He was still a bit out of it. To Rhys' credit, he had never met anyone who had eyes like his, especially someone so gorgeous.

"Pumpkin, I know I'm gorgeous, but could you stop staring?" Jack snapped his fingers in Rhys' face. Blinking, he realized how he had been blankly staring at the other man. "Yeah uh- sorry man." A bemused smile graced Jack's face as he stepped towards the taller man.

"I haven't seen you around before,and I like to know everyone who enters my campus. Are you a new freshman?" Rhys nodded, Vaughn and Fiona looking at each other as they processed Jack's words.

"Hi, not to interrupt whatever is happening here, but what do you mean 'your campus'?" Fiona stepped forward. Jack scoffed, eyes still locked with Rhys'. "My old man is in charge here. That means that technically this entire university is mine." He grinned at the surprised looks on all three teens faces, obviously used to shocking people like this.

His gaze was completely on Rhys', seemingly wanting to take in every details that he could. Rhys darted his tongue out to wet his lips, Jack's eyes following the movement. "Including you, kiddo." Jack whispered so only Rhys could hear.

His heartbeat sped up, unsure whether Jack had really said that, or if he had imagined it. Time seemed to slow as they took each other in, only a cough coming from one of the others snapping them out of their reverie.

Jack glanced once more at Rhys' lips before grinning widely. "Well, this has been fascinating, but I have a large cappuccino with my name on it. Rhysie- can I call you that? Anyway, Rhysie, I hope to see you around." Jack winked, brushing past the group. "Ciao!"

Walking around the campus was relaxing, but proved uneventful. The trio mainly entertained themselves by bickering as they walked. "You were acting like puppy with it's master back there, dude." Vaughn laughed at his friend. Rhys' face flushed a bright red, the tint travelling up to the tips of his ears.

"No no I-I wasn't a puppy. It was just surprising, is all." He said defensively, an incredulous look on is face when the other two started to laugh. Fiona slapped a hand on his shoulder, Rhys jolting withe with the force of it. "Dude, I haven't seen someone thirstier than you in that moment."

Turning away from the two, he threw his arms into the air only to bring them to his hips a moment later. "I'm not... I'm not thirsty! I barely even know the guy!"He stalked in front of the other two, temper flaring and face red as a tomato.

Trying to get his mind off of his humiliation, and the gorgeous man he met, Rhys looked around the campus. It really was beautiful, and quite grand, most of the buildings large and made out of marble. The natural flora and fauna of the campus swayed gently in the wind. Rhys took a deep breath in, all the tension releasing from his shoulders. For the first time all day, he felt completely calm.

"Hey bro, do you think you'll bone that dude in our dorm? Warn me before you do! You know, the whole 'sock on the door' drill?" Vaughn yelled out, catching the attention of a few passerby's. Rhys shoulders became taut as he whipped around, furiously watching Vaughn and Fiona lean against each other as they laughed.

"You guys suck!"

Sunlight streamed in the window, hitting Rhys' eyes. He groaned, burrowing deeper into his blankets to avoid the dreaded sunlight. A few minutes passed, and finally Rhys admitted defeat. He had to go to class anyway.

A few days had passed since the 'coffee shop incident' (Rhys was too embarrassed to call it anything else, especially since he made a fool of himself in front of that handsome stranger.) He hadn't been able to get Jack out of his mind. This frustrated him, as he barley even knew the other man!

Rhys leapt from his bed, not wanting to be late on his first day of classes.

The tall man walked into the large lab that would be his robotics class. Rhys was beyond excited for this class, sure that nothing could dampen his mood. He soon found a seat, opening his backpack to take out a notebook while he waited for class to start. There were a few other students in the room, most notably a girl with bright red hair, and a boy whose face was covered with a hood.

Oh, and there was a kid there, too. She sat on the able in front of his, short legs swinging as the dangled from the table. She had short blonde hair with pink ribbons tying various parts of the hair into pigtails.

Rhys sat staring, slack jawed. 'Why is there a kid here? She can't be much older than 13!' He thought, mind whirring as he tried to come up with some explanation as to why there was a child in his robotics class.

Before he could work up the courage to find out what the hell was going on, a short man covered in grease skidded into the large room.

"Hey, what's up? I'm your teach, you can jus' call me Scooter!" The man excitedly said, looking around with a goofy smile on his face. He pantomimed finger guns, 'shooting' them at various students, including Rhys. Actually, he seemed intently focused on Rhys.

"Woah! That's one arm you got there!" Scooter yelled, pointing toward where Rhys sat. All eyes instantly turned towards him, Rhys' face going beet red at the attention. "Do you mind if I touch it?!" He asked as he bounded over, hands hovering over said arm.

"G-go ahead." Scooter lit up as he immediately went to work inspecting every inch of the arm, muttering and exclaiming every once in a while. This continued for a minute or two, before Scooter came to his senses. He stepped away, coughing awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Anyway, I guess we should get started!"

Jack walked into the administration building, giving tight lipped smiles to all the secretary's he passed. He bounded up the stairs to the top floor office, face set in a light scowl.

"Pops, I coming in!" He yelled out as he knocked once, then opened the door to his fathers office. No one was inside, much to Jack's delight. The less he had to deal with his father, the better. It's not like he hated the old man, he just didn't like his constant nagging.

Jack went to work flipping through files, brow furrowed. He searched for a few minutes, growing frustrated as the time passed. "C'mon, dammit!"

Just as he was about to give up, he found the file he had been looking for. Whistling, he sauntered over to his fathers desk, sitting back whilst throwing his feet up on the desk. Jack opened the file, gaze carnal as he stared at the photo within.

"Hello, Rhys. Time to learn all about you."

Hey! Sorry if this seems not that good, I kinda just wanted to get more exposition out of the way. In case you couldn't tell, yes, that was Tina in Rhys' class. I will explain more on that in the next chapter (hopefully). Thanks for reading, feel free to give me any feedback!