A/N: I love this story. It's going great. That's why I'm updating more often. Also, a friend is dying to know who Chazz is going to end up with. And for this reason, this chappie is dedicated to none other than ambercharae. You rox girl!

Disclaimer: I do not own GX or Jesse. sigh


Chapter 7:

Chazz stood on the beach, pondering Alexis' words of wisdom to him. Could he possibly be as foolish as she'd made out like? Was that why Jesse had left him? He sighed heavily and flopped down on the sand.

Afar off, there were several shrill screams of fangirls. This could only mean one thing: Atticus was coming.

"Oh, Atty!" One girl was shrieking particularly loudly, "Can I get your autograph?"

The surfing god and number one hottie of Duel Academy flashed a killer grin and flipped his long, rich brown hair. "Of course, ladies. Who's first?"

"ME!" came a whole chorus of female voices.

"All right, all right, one at a time!" Atticus began the grueling task of signing autographs.

Chazz watched Atticus for a few minutes. Suddenly, it dawned on him. Yes, that was the answer to all his problems! Atticus would be his soul mate! After all, the older Rhodes always had understood him, even when it seemed as though he were the one in the wrong. Atticus would be there for him, of this he was sure. And they'd never break up because they were perfect for each other.

He waited until the crowd disappeared, then he boldly approached Atticus.

"Hey, Chazz!" Atticus greeted cheerily, "How's it going?"

"Ok, I guess. Say, Atty, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Girlfriends." He corrected, still smiling.

"No, I mean like a steady."

"I know."

Chazz stared. "You mean to tell me that…"

"Yep. So why'd you want to know? Want some more advice?"

"Um, no thanks." He sat down again, looking discouraged.

Atticus stuck his surfboard in the sand and sat down next to him. "What's wrong, Chazz?"

"I'm just feeling a little down. I don't want to be alone anymore."

"Aww, poor Chazzy. I can give you one of my fangirls."

"No," he said shaking his head, "It won't work. I want…someone who'll understand me. Someone…like you."

Atticus looked surprised. "Whoa, whoa, whoa…what?"

"I'm saying I want to date you." Obviously, he hadn't learned from his last experience, and Alexis' words of advice had not helped in the least.

"Um, Chazz…" Atticus laughed nervously and run his hand through his chocolate hair nervously.

"Oh, come on, Atty! Just give me a chance!"

"But I'm taken!" Atticus whined.

"But, Atticus, you can still date me too! If you have girlfriends."

"That's different. I don't do guys."

"But you can't say that unless you've tried."

"But I don't want to."

"Aww…come ON!" he begged, getting on his knees, "Please!"

"I'm your aniki, not your boyfriend." Atticus protested, putting his hands up as though to ward the youngest Princeton off.

"Awww…but, Atty!"

"No, I don't want to date you."

Chazz drooped. "No one wants to date me."

Atticus looked at him sympathetically. "Is that what this is? You want to find your special someone?"

He nodded, looking miserable.

"You're going about it all wrong. Take it slow. If you sit back, relax, and go along with the flow, then everything will be fine. Just take your time. Your mate will find you eventually. I am a strong believer in love, just as you are. Don't give up on it. I also believe that everyone has someone. Or two. Or three. So just relax and enjoy life, and that will attract your mate. Ok?"

Chazz groaned. "You sound exactly like Alexis, only more happy-go-lucky."

"Speaking of Alexis, didn't you used to love her? What happened?"

"I gave up," he replied, "it just wasn't worth the pain."

"Too bad. You almost had her."

"What do you mean?" Chazz's head snapped in Atticus' direction.

Atticus smiled lazily. "But, I guess you're not interested in hearing about that. After all, you're gay now, and you don't like her anymore."

"No, tell me!" He protested, "I want to know!"

"Hmmm….I don't know." Atticus looked up at the sky, pondering this.

"Please, Atty? Please?" he begged.

"Now why would you want to know?" Atticus smiled impishly.

Chazz blushed. "Well, just for the sake of knowing."

"Well…if you insist." Atticus grinned. "She was about to crack and go out with you. I mean, you showered her with so much more attention than her other pursuers did. You were persistent, and you didn't give up. Your attempts were beginning to impress her more than disgust her. And she noticed that you gained back your self respect. That is, until you pulled this stunt. It's a shame. If you'd have asked her out one more time, I'm sure she'd have said yes."

Chazz's mouth fell open, his eye twitching. "You mean to tell me…and I just undid all my hard work?"

"Yep. I'm sorry, but that's what happens when you're impatient."

Chazz opened his mouth then closed it. He opened it again, and made a strange noise.

"Well, I suppose that you could try to win her back, that is, if you tried hard enough. But she's really disappointed in you. She thought you had more self respect than that. And guys that don't have self confidence don't impress her much."

Chazz sighed heavily. "So, that's it. I can't undo the damage."

"Chazzy, Chazzy, Chazzy," Atticus sighed, shaking his head, "I'm pretty sure you can, you just gotta believe in yourself. You won't impress her if you don't. Just between you and me, she not only thought your arrogance as an obelisk blue was annoying, she also found it to be really attractive. She respected you a lot more back then. But when you ran away, she wasn't too happy with you."

"So that had something to do with it too, huh?"

"Yep." Atticus nodded, "So if you want to talk to her, I suggest you do, especially before another guy gets to her."

"Like who?"
"Hmmm….I don't know, maybe…Zane?"

"Do you know that for a fact?"

"No," Atticus admitted, "But I have a hunch. So go hurry up and talk to her. Do it now, for Pete's sake! Go! Run! Run to her, Chazz, run to your love!"

Chazz only leapt to his feet and tore down the path at top speed. He didn't know why he was listening to the older Rhodes. All he knew was that he had to hurry and get to Alexis before Zane, or someone else, did. He hoped he wasn't too late. And he hoped he wouldn't lose her like he'd lost so many others.

Being as desperate as he was, he went to the Obelisk girls' dorm. Without a second thought, he climbed up a tree, and jumped onto the balcony. It never crossed his mind that Atticus might have been kidding. Nevertheless, he tapped on the glass of her window.

It took a moment, but she finally came to the window and, frowning, opened it.

"What do you want, Chazz?"

He looked into her eyes, suddenly at a loss of words. "Um…"

"Well, what is it? What do you want?"

"Can I come in?"

She scowled. "You're not supposed to even be here."

"I know. But I had to talk to you."

She sighed heavily. "Well, if you must. I don't want you to get in trouble with Ms. Fountaine. So come on."

"Thanks, Lex." He crawled in through the window, then fell flat on his face.

She raised an eyebrow. Obviously, she was less than impressed.

Blushing, he quickly stood up. "Heh, I meant to do that."

"Of course." She rolled her eyes and turned her back on him.

"Lex?" He had a sudden pang in his heart that reminded him of his omnipresent feelings for her.

She ignored him and messed with some papers on her desk. Swallowing hard and feeling increasingly worse, he stepped over to her.

"Lex?" He touched her shoulder.

He thought he heard her sniff. At first, he thought it was only his imagination. But no, it wasn't because he saw a tear drop down on her papers.

"What--"

"Just shut up." She said in a trembling voice.

Realizing that she was hurt, he slid his arms around her waist, unable to contain the urge to comfort her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked in a quivering tone.

"For dropping you as though it were nothing. I'm sorry. I was wrong, Ok? I'm not really gay. Yeah, I liked Jesse a lot, but that's over now because I realized it was nothing more than a fling. And I never really gave you up."

"So, what was he? Was he just a way to redirect your affections?" She no longer sounded angry, just sad.

"Well, not entirely. Look, Lex, I didn't know you liked me. I gave up because I tried for so long, and you didn't like me back, instead, you seemed to be miserable. I was just hurting so much from the rejection. Wouldn't you have given up, too?"

She nodded and leaned back against him. "But…you…you kissed Jesse…was that your first?"

He blushed. "Um…."

"Chazz?" She looked up at him with sorrowful amber eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm sorry I did." He looked nervous, "The truth is, that was supposed to be yours."

She scowled. "You gave my kiss to Jesse? What else of mine did you give to him?"

"Well…uh…."
She gasped. "Chazz, you didn't."

"No, no, no! It's not what you think! I only slept with him!"

"You only slept with him? Do you know how wrong that sounds?"

"No, not like that! I just slept next to him…though…"

"Though what?" She narrowed her eyes.

He looked ashamed. "I almost did more."

"What?!"

"Well, I would've, but he wouldn't let me…"

"I sure hope he didn't!"

"He didn't, I promise."

"Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know, Ok?"

"That's a terrible reason!"

"I said I was sorry, Ok? I'm just impulsive!"

"I can tell!"

"Lex, can you just forgive me?" He looked at her pleadingly.

She shifted uncomfortably, then sighed. "I might as well. Ok, Ok, you're forgiven. It's not really any of my business anyway. I have no right to tell you what and what not to do, and I have no right to reprimand you for your actions or punish you."

He smiled a little. "So, are we cool?"

She looked up at him. "On one condition."

"What's that?"

She took his face gently in her hands, causing him to blush. As she stroked his cheek and brushed the silky ebony spikes out of his face, she whispered. "That you give me what's mine."

His onyx eyes widened. "Do you mean…?"

She nodded, blushing.

He smiled a little bit, and let her pull his head down. Her fingers became entangled in his thick hair as he titled his head and brushed his lips gingerly to hers. After a brief moment's hesitation, she kissed him back. They stood in the middle of her room, their fingers in each other's hair, kissing softly, for a long time, finally being relieved of their heartache.

----------------------------------------------

Jesse sat on Jaden's bed, waiting for the slifer to come back. He sighed and lay back on the mattress, thinking about how Chazz had stolen his first kiss. Perhaps that had been the most foolish thing he'd ever done. Either that or the time that he and Jaden had broken into the girls' dorm, thinking that they were going into the kitchen, when they'd really ended up in the girls' hot springs and seen some rather...erm…interesting things. He smiled remembering how Jaden had told him 'I didn't know that girls were different!' That, of course, was when Jaden was still innocent. Alas, his parents had ruined that.

As Jesse stretched out, he yawned, feeling sleepy. He really wished Jaden would come back. He was bored and lonely. And he really wished he could tell Jaden that he'd changed his mind. After all, if they kept their relationship a secret for awhile, no one would accuse him of being a player when they came out into the open with it.

Just as Jesse's eyelids became heavy, beckoning him to go to sleep, Jaden burst into his room. He stared at the boy lying on his bed for a moment, then smiled.

"Hey, Jes!"

"Hi, Jay," Jesse greeted sleepily.

Jaden pulled his shoes off and flopped down on the bed beside his friend. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired, that's all."

Jaden chuckled softly, then, glanced at the cardboard box which Jesse had left in his room. "Jesse, what's that?"

Jesse blushed. "Oh, just some stuff I brought."

"For what?" Jaden blinked.

Jesse blushed redder. "My stuff…all my stuff."

"Why?" Jaden cocked his head to one side, looking curious.

Jesse smiled at the adorably clueless slifer. "I want to move in with my best friend, that's why."

Jaden's cheeks flushed red. "In the slifer dorm?"

"Yep."

"But, Jes, Sy lives here too--"

"Well, in that case, do ya want to move in with me? Please, Jay, I mean nothin' by it. I just want to be with you." Jesse looked into the other boy's eyes pleadingly.

Jaden finally sighed and nodded. "Ok, Ok. But Sy's not gonna be happy. Why can't we all live together?"

Jesse blushed. "Well, um, well…"

Jaden looked surprised. "Wait, Jesse…are you telling me you want to be a couple?"

Jesse nodded. "But we have to keep it secret for a little while, Ok?"

"Why?"

"Because I was Chazz's boyfriend a few days ago. I can't have people thinking bad things about us!" He paused a moment, thinking, then said, "Ok, I guess it is smarter for me to move in with you and Sy. That way, no one will know about us."

Jaden grinned widely. "Sounds good to me. So…I guess this means…"

Jesse smiled and pulled Jaden into his arms. "We're together now, Jay, and nothing can tear us apart."

Jaden snuggled against Jesse's chest. Pressing his cheek closer, he listened to the steady beating of Jesse's heart. Having his love this close--it meant the world to Jaden.

Jesse held Jaden tighter, overcome by joy to be with the one he loved. From now on, things would be better. He wouldn't have to worry about being alone. He wouldn't have to worry about being hurt. They would take care of each other until the end of time.


A/N: I think I'll write one more chappie as a closing chappie, one that shows everyone's interactions and when Chazz and Jesse find out about each other's new interests. It will serve as a happy ending, and to wrap up the story and prepare the plotline for the sequel, which has yet to be named. It might be awhile before I write the sequel, it all depends on how many stories I can knock out.