Well hello there! Why am I grinning evilly? Oh, no reason. Just a twist I hope will leave you going "WHAT?" at the end of the chapter. :)

I'm thinking just another chapter or two for this story. Then I'll probably do a sequel continuing on a couple years later.

In this chapter there are two quotes, one from the movie 'Some Like it Hot' (With Marilyn Monroe) and one from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies. I'm not sure which one it's in, so here's an extra hint: It's said by Jack in the movie.

You have no idea how much I wish I owned Strange Angels. Actually, if you're on this fandom, you probably do.

I wasn't able to stay in my room for long. The bed frame was cracked from Graves's brilliant idea, so the mattress was partly on the floor. The desk was nothing but jagged splinters of wood.

I made a frustrated sound at the same time as there was a tapping knock at my door. "Dru? It's me."

I sagged with relief. "Hey Nat." I lifted myself off my bed and crossed the room to unlock and open the door.

Nathalie examined me critically. "You've been crying." My mouth opened to deny it, but she gave me one of those Nathalie Looks. "Don't even try it. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Now c'mon, girly. Let's get your stuff and get outta here."

I perked up a bit. "Thanks, Nat. You're great."

Nat flipped her silky hair dramatically. "Hell yeah I am."

I rolled my eyes in response and snagged a pair of sweats and a tank top to sleep in. Grabbed my pillow, stuck on my shoes and we were out the door.

Most of the students at the Prima were in dorms, except for svetocha. We had a whole freaking wing to ourselves, which seemed stupid. I'd only ever met one other svetocha, and she'd emptied an assault rifle at me.

Nathalie was an exception to the rule. Seeing as her and I were the only girls in the whole damn Schola, she got a room to herself, something I was extremely glad of at the moment. "Home sweet home." She sang and swung open her door in an extravagant gesture.

Nat's room wasn't as fancy as mine. Plain beige walls and cream carpet that wasn't quite the same quality as mine. I was so sick of having all this fancy-shmancy stuff around me that it was a relief to get away from the stiffness of it.

She flounced down on the bed and patted the spot beside her. I flopped down and joined her. We spent a moment in silence before there was a thud outside the door, like a body hitting the ground.

We shared a look and crept close to the door. We both pulled out our guns –what? Did you think I would go somewhere without one? - And Nathalie swung the door open.

I've never seen anything that made my blood run colder.

Lying on the floor, drenched in his own blood, was Christophe.

I dropped to my knees beside him. "Christophe!"

He didn't respond. Nathalie lifted her gun to shooting position and scanned the length of the hallway, but it was empty. She refused to search for whatever had done this and leave me by myself.

I didn't care.

"Christophe! Christophe, talk to me!" Dammit Dru, calm down! Injured people respond better to a calm voice than a frantic one! With an effort, I managed to do that. "Okay Christophe. You're gonna be okay. We're going to find a medic, and you'll be alright. Understand?" I wondered if he could tell I was trying to convince myself.

His eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing. I'd never been so terribly frightened. He couldn't die. He could not die. What would I do without him? The bastard couldn't just up and leave me! "Nathalie, find a medic!"

She shook her head resolutely. "I'm not leaving you-"

"Nathalie, find a medic!"

She gave me a look, and I realized she was just as scared as I was. After a moment she turned and ran towards the infirmary, dark hair streaming behind her like a ribbon.

I turned back to Christophe. I couldn't tell where the bleeding was coming from, and his aspect wasn't kicking in. He's really hurt.

Surprisingly, that little thought didn't make me feel any better.

I took his hand in mine. "Christophe, squeeze my hand. If you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

No response.

I decided then on my course of action.

I lifted my wrist to my mouth and called on the aspect to make my top incisors into fangs. Made a quick slit right where the vein is, and felt the warm blood well up from it. I shot my wrist down towards his mouth without a second thought.

That's when he spoke. "Dru, stop!"

I shook my head and tried not to let the relief cloud my thoughts. "You did this for me; I'm damn well going to do it for you!"

I started to place my wrist on his lips, but his hand flew up and grabbed mine. "Dru, I'm not hurt!"

"Dammit Christophe, yes you are! Stop being so fucking stubborn and let me do this for you!"

"Dru, stop! I'm not hurt!" To prove his point, he sat up straight with no difficulty. "See?"

I stared at him for a very short second before it sank in. Then I smacked him. "What-" Smack. "The-" Smack. "Fucking-" Smack. "Hell?" SMACK.

He actually had the nerve to laugh. "I had to make you see you weren't really mad at me."

SMACK.

Christophe winced. "Dru, milna, I'd appreciate it if you stopped that."

"Too fucking bad! What the hell, Christophe?"

He laughed again. I realized I hardly ever heard him laugh, and then I realized I liked the sound. "Now you know you're not actually angry with me."

"Like hell, you bastard! What the fuck?" I looked him over, and realized the blood was fake. I reached over and smacked him again. "Dammit!"

Christophe, instead of looking remorseful, grinned from ear to ear like some wonderful thought had just occurred to him. He looked at me in amazement, and I gave him an Are You Crazy? Look. In response, he simply said, "You'd do that for me."

I hoped I wasn't blushing. "I, uh. Yeah."

Christophe beamed, and I thought about how that was probably the biggest show of emotion I'd ever seen him display. He reached forward and took my hand. "Dru, I-"

"I got a medic!" Nathalie came flying around the corner, Dibs hot on her heels with a bouncing black bag. She stopped dead as she saw Christophe upright, and Dibs nearly crashed into her. "What the hell?"

I glared at Christophe as he laughed. "No need for a medic. This was Christophe's twisted idea of a joke."

Nathalie stared incredulously. "You think this is funny?" She demanded as she stalked towards him. Christophe somehow managed to regard her levelly as she stopped in front of him, even though he was still sitting on the ground.

"Now she knows she's not really mad at me."

Nat made an aggravated sound. "You idiot! You fucking idiot!"

Dibs was laughing behind her. Christophe looked over and nodded at him. "Thank you for your help, Samuel."

I looked at Dibs in disbelief. "You helped him?"

Dibs looked around guiltily. "Maybe. I might have gotten him the fake blood."

Nat stared at him for a second, then walked over and smacked him upside the head. He cringed. "Nathalie!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, walked back to me and pulled me up to my feet. Eyed the little slit on my wrist that was already almost healed thanks to the aspect. "C'mon Dru. Let this moron get cleaned up by himself." She whisked me into her room and firmly closed the door behind her, taking care to lock it and muttering something under her breath.

I sat down heavily on her bed and waited for my heart to stop pounding. Nathalie examined herself in the mirror. "Damned idiot made me mess up my hair." She grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "You look great, Nat."

She was facing away from me, but I could see her evil grin in the mirror. "So, Dru. Pretty serious about him, aren't you?"

Shit, I swore internally. "What do you mean?"

"You were going to make him drink your blood." She pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone. "That means you more than maybe-kinda-sorta like him. That means you lo-"

"I do not!"

Nat turned around and faced me. "You were willing to go through that for him. You lo-"

"Stop saying that!" I cried exasperatedly.

She shook her head stubbornly. "I will not stop until you admit it."

"There's nothing to admit!" I proclaimed. "I do not lo…" I couldn't make myself finish the sentence.

Nathalie made a 'Ha!' sound and pointed at me accusingly. "You can't even force yourself to finish that sentence! You are so in lo-"

I grabbed one of her pillows and chucked it at her. "Would you stop that?"

Nat did nothing but laugh. "Why so touchy, Dru? Could it be because you're in lo-"

I groaned loudly and flopped face down into the mattress. Nathalie simply laughed and started chanting in a sing-song voice, "Dru and Christophe sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes lo-"

I threw another fluffy pillow at her. "Screw you!"

"You know you want to." She sang.

"Oh yes." I drawled sarcastically. "You're beauty has drawn me in!"

Nathalie threw a hand over her heart dramatically. "No Dru, you don't understand! I'm not a man!"

Snorting, I answered with, "Nobody's perfect." I lifted myself up and tried to keep the subject off Christophe. "Do you want to watch a movie or something? We don't have classes tomorrow, so we can stay up as late as we want."

Nathalie gave me a Look, knowing full well what I was doing. "Sure. Let's see, we could watch… oh, Pride and Prejudice! The '05 version, because the black and white one is pretty bad." She gave me a falsely sweet smile. "Maybe we can get Christophe in here, and you two can be like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy!"

Frustrated, I threw the last of the pillows at her, and she tossed it back to me lightly. "You look way too tired to do anything but sleep. Besides, you just had a rousing evening with Shanks. How'd that go, anyways?"

I shrugged. "Pretty good." I decided it would be best to leave out the whole kiss thing that had happened.

"What did you do? 'Nother movie?"

I shook my head. "Not a chance I was sitting for another two hours. We ate. Stopped a mugging. You know, the usual."

Nat rolled her eyes, and a thought occurred to me. "Holy shit. Nathalie, what if I am… what I'm in…"

Nathalie smiled softly. "That's something only you can tell."

"Well that was maddeningly unhelpful. Thanks so much."

She laughed and threw her hands up in the air. "It's not like you have to worry about rejection, Dru! The guy's in lo-"

"Don't say that!"

She laughed lightly. "You have to be able to see it. He's in love with you. They both are."

I groaned. "I'm going to sleep. You got a sleeping bag or something? I'm not kicking you outta the bed."

Nat made a flipping gesture with her hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll sleep in the sleeping bag, you take the bed."

"No, Nat-"

She fixed me with one of them Deal With It Dru looks. "Go to sleep."

And, for once in my life, I listened.

M/O/N/G/R/E/L

I woke up the next morning, night, whatever, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

The man I loved was going to find out.

Nat looked over at me, and she must have seen it on my face. "You're going to tell him." It was a not-question.

I nodded. "I just have to find him."

Nat shook her head. "Brush your hair first. You're stunning Dru, but everyone needs to brush their hair. And teeth."

I sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Come with me?"

Nathalie grinned her cat like smile. "Of course."

We headed out of Nat's room and back over to what was left of mine. We got there with no trouble –for once, - and I ducked into the bathroom to change and get dressed into something half decent which consisted of a pair of jeans with no holes and a black T-Shirt that wasn't from Target. I know. Shocking.

Nat looked me over as I came out. "Better." She nodded approvingly. "Much better."

I grinned. "Thanks. Now I have to find him."

Nathalie nodded. "I'll leave you to it, then." She bumped my hip with hers and walked out, throwing a sardonic grin over her shoulder. "Have fun."

I swallowed nervously as she walked away. What if he didn't…

Well, only one way to find out.

I wandered down the hall, saw a figure heading to the caf. I called out to them in a mixture of excitement and nerves so racking I felt like I might throw up.

"Graves!"

HAHAHAHAHA BETCHA DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING!

Sorry. Had to get that out. But is it really what I'm making you think it is? Is it something completely different? Or is dru really going to tell Grave the whole "I love you" bit? Guess you'll have to wait for next chapter to find out! (Reviews make that chapter come faster!)

KittyCat571, I hope you don't mind- I couldn't find a way to make a full out prank war work, but I LOVED the fake death idea!

Remember, quotes! One is Dru/Nat collaboration, one is purely Dru. Both are said in dialogue. First person to guess gets a request- and remember, put your requests in anyways! I love getting ideas from you guys!