A/N: Oh, soon, this quarter at school will be over, and then, I'll have a glorious week of no school. And then, I'll have to put up with more shitfuckery from that blasted school. Oh, happy day (hurr, yeah right). Sorry for being so not happy; drama trauma at school, home, and work are making me want to bitch someone out severely. Anyway, I hope y'all like this chapter. R&R. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

"Justin, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I followed you of course. I was worried about you and I wanted to apologize for being such a dick. Good thing I followed you too." Although he answered me, his eyes never left Dave, who glared back at him.

"Justin, I was going to come back to the room eventually. So get out of here." He shook his head and stepped closer to us, speaking to Dave as he did so.

"You shouldn't be here. This is not your place and you're not welcome, so leave."

"I want him here." Finally, Justin's eyes ventured over to me and his gaze softened so much that I was astounded and slightly confused. How could he do that so easily? One minute, he's a complete and total ass; the next, he's a totally different person.

"He's just an ordinary human. This is not where he belongs. He should leave." Without my wanting it to, my anger started to dwindle, though only a little bit. I was still definitely mad at Justin, just not as much anymore.

"Dave is my friend. He has been for a long time."

"That changed when you received your mark. You're no longer human John; you're extraordinary. Those of us who are Selected and make it to Completion live far longer than ordinary humans. You two can't stay together because, eventually, Dave will die."

"I bet you'd like that, huh dog boy?" Justin's eyes hardened when he looked at Dave.

"It wouldn't put me in bad spirits that's for sure. John, please get off of the wall and come back to our room. I need to talk to you in private." He held his hand out to me and I ignored it.

and I got together, he would eventually die. If/when I made it to Completion, my body would age slower and I would remain alive for years after his death. However, Justin was in the same boat as I was: he had been Selected and was making his way to Completion. We already had a lot in common now, but if we both made it to Completion, we'd have decades, maybe even centuries together, considering that we were destined to become mates. Sure, I didn't like it. And, yeah, it made me want to punch something, preferably Justin. But who was I to deny that he was right? I couldn't deny it, because he was right. And it totally and completely sucked.

"Justin, just go back to the room. I'll be there in a sec, okay?"

All of a sudden, I felt really tired and I just wanted to get some sleep. Reluctantly, Justin lowered his hand and bit his lip before he nodded and turned to walk back to the doors that led inside. Shaking my head and sighing, I turned back to Dave, who was watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. We sat there in an uncomfortable silence, neither one of us saying anything. In all honesty, I wasn't sure what to say to him. Dave had been my friend for years, until we fell out, and now, he wanted to be my friend again, maybe even more. Sure, I liked Dave more than a friend, but…

But what? I honestly had no clue why there was a but there. All I knew was that it definitely belonged.

"Well, I should probably be getting back. Text me okay?" Before I could hop down off the wall, Dave reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Is what he said true? Are you his mate?" For a split second, I saw a brief flash of pain in his eyes and I felt bad. But I answered him truthfully. After all, he deserved to hear the truth.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Justin said that he saw the file that the school's seer had on me and his name was listed as my mate. So yeah, I guess we're destined to be together, although it sucks. A lot." His face hardened and he looked as though he was about to speak, but thought better of it and let me go. Instead, he pulled me to him and kissed me. It was a short kiss, but it felt nice and I didn't want to break away. We did break away, a light blush coloring both of our faces.

"You should go, Dave. It's getting late and I don't know how far you had to drive to get here."

"Okay. I'll text you."

"'Kay." And with that, I leapt down off the school wall and started towards the doors. Justin came out and held one open for me before I reached it and I mentally sighed. That boy was just a complete bundle of weird. Before we entered the auditorium lobby, Dave's voice called out to us and made us halt.

"Yo dog boy! Don't think this is over between us!" Justin growled, but said nothing as Dave dropped over the wall onto the other side, disappearing from sight. Closing the door, I started walking across the lobby and towards the ramp, wanting nothing more than a nice hot shower and a warm bed. After a few seconds, Justin jogged up beside me, looking annoyed.

"I don't like him."

"He's my friend. And the feeling's mutual; he doesn't like you either."

"You're my mate. He needs to back off." I stopped walking and stared long and hard at him.

"You know, it really would be nice if I could make my own decision for once today. How do you even know that I'll come to like you, let alone love you?" Justin tilted his head to the side, looking a lot like a confused puppy.

"Seers are never wrong. Ever. It's never once happened in the history of the world. We are destined to be together, John, one way or another. Speaking of which…I'm sorry. For earlier. Y'know, hugging you and telling you all of that stuff. I completely forgot about how it felt to have your life ripped away from you by being Selected, and I didn't make it any better. So, I'm sorry."

He looked genuinely sorry and I felt some more of my earlier anger dissolving. Seers weren't wrong. Ever. So, regardless of whether or not I wanted it, I was stuck with Justin. Although, now that I actually looked at him, I realized that he was pretty hot, although I bit childish, but still, hotness was hotness. And anyway, I was kind of played out by everything that had happened today and I knew that I must have looked as bad as I felt.

"It's okay. Let's just go to our room. I want to shower and sleep." Nodding, he walked along with me back to our room and I noticed that, although we barely knew each other, there was no uncomfortable awkwardness between us. It just felt…natural. Which was weird, considering I just met him, yet it was also comforting. We were mates after all, even if I wasn't still too keen on that idea just yet. But it did feel nice in a weird, twisted sort of way. I mean, at least I wouldn't have to worry about finding someone to be with for the rest of my life.

Just then, my cell phone went off and I groaned. I forgot about the fact that Dan had gone to get my Jimmy. Answering it, I gave Justin an apologetic look before I started speaking.

"Hey Dan. Did you get my Jimmy?"

"Yep I did. I'm parked at the school parking lot out front. Come meet me."

"The school parking? Okay, gotcha. Be there in a few. Bye."

"Bye, John-John." I hung up and looked down the hallway, realizing that I had no clue how to get to the school parking lot.

"Just turn left here and follow the hallway until you come to a fork and then turn left again. Walk down the stairs and turn left and you'll be right at the parking lot." I looked at Justin completely dumbfounded.

"Huh?" Justin laughed and smiled at me and I felt a small smile tug at my lips. He had a nice laugh and it lit his face up, making him look young and handsome.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Justin grabbed my hand and turned me around so that I was facing a hallway that I hadn't noticed earlier. Of course, before when I had walked past here, I was staring out of the windows at the moon and storming off in a fit of anger. We walked down the hallway and I was surprised to see that there were classes in session. It was kind of strange that kids were having class so late at night, but then again, Mr. McMahon did say that the vamp teens had school at night. Lining the walls were bulletin boards and posters for clubs and general announcements. When we arrived at the fork in the hall, Justin led me left and, after walking a couple of feet, we walked down a small flight of stairs and turned left. Ahead of us was a single door that led outside to a blacktop area: the school parking lot.

"Will you be able to find your way back, John?" I looked at him and nodded, feeling much better at the fact that Dan was here and that I could talk to him for a little bit.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He nodded and walked over to the door, opening it and peering out. Justin breathed in deeply before he turned back to me and smiled.

"In three days, there will be a full moon. It'll be great."

"How do you know?"

"Once you've been here and have started changing more and more, you'll just be able to tell."

"What all happens to us during a full moon?" Justin looked back outside and I strode over to him, following his gaze and grinning when I saw Dan leaning against my Jimmy.

"I'll tell you when you get back to the room and have showered and stuff. I'll see you then?" I looked at him and nodded, feeling better now that Dan was back.

"Sounds good to me." Justin nodded and smiled before he leaned closer to me and, very gently, placed a kiss on my cheek.

"Bye, John." And with that, he turned around and walked away. I didn't even notice that I was blushing until Dan said something about it when I, finally, walked over to my truck.

"You look like a tomato. It's good to see that you're, uh, making friends." His grin was mischievous and full of laughter, but I didn't get mad at him.

"He's my roommate…and my mate-mate." Dan stopped laughing and stared at me, looking surprised.

"Really? You've, uh, gone that far in such a short amount of time huh?" He smirked at me and I punched him, knowing full well that I was blushing furiously and growling at him.

"No we have not! And believe me, it came more of a shock to me. I just met him, expecting a normal roommate welcome, and he glomps me and tells me I'm his mate. What a lovely welcome-to-Hell-High-present!" Dan stopped smirking and sighed.

"Sorry. But you have to admit that it is kind of funny. And hey, the guy's pretty cute, right? I'm sure you two will get along well and…stuff." I shrugged and moved to stand beside him, leaning against the Jimmy.

"I guess. So, did you go and talk to Dad?" Dan frowned and glared off into space as he nodded.

"Well, it was more like yelling than actual talking… But yeah, I went to the house and we had words. Matt, Steve, and Sean are missing you like crazy, and Dad said that if you ever came back, he'd kill you himself. I told him that, if it weren't for my three younger brothers, I would've called the cops on him."

"I don't get why he hates me." Dan sighed and pulled me into a one arm hug.

"He doesn't like you because you're gay and, instead of Mom being sickened by it like he is, she embraced it and accepted you. Like a mother should. John, did you know that, out of all of us kids, you were the one that Mom and Dad almost lost?" Shocked, I looked up at him. No one had ever told me that before…

"What?"

"Yep. That's why Mom always kept an extra close watch on you, even when she was in the hospital…" Tears welled up in my eyes and I had to bite my lip to keep the tears from falling. I had never known that… Why hadn't anyone told me?

"Well John, I need to get going. My shift starts at six tomorrow. I'll call you and visit as soon as I get the chance, okay?"

"'Kay…" Dan hugged me tightly and kissed my temple.

"It'll be okay John. You're not alone in this." Nodding, I hugged him back, not wanting him to go. But he had to go. Breaking the hug, Dan gave me a small smile before he returned to his vehicle and got in. Waving to him as he pulled away, I never felt so alone and so confused. This was worse than almost getting diarrhea during the opening number of a musical.