"Ana, this is the stupidest thing I've ever placed on my body. I'm taking it off, we're leaving, and you are never to speak of this again," Aster declared as he stepped out of the changing booth and glared at his patiently waiting companion.

Ana ignored his grousing and examined the outfit. She was used to Aster by now and knew how to read him. He liked this one and that made him uncomfortable. After years of wearing nothing by ill-fitting jeans and paint splattered t-shirt, the idea that he could look attractive probably had his head spinning, but that's why she was involved.

"Go ahead and turn so I can see the full package," she commanded and Aster complied, though the glare never left his face.

Ana smiled in excitement and nodded. Yes, this would do nicely. Jack wouldn't know what hit him. "Alright, you're buying it."

Her companion made an annoyed, scoffing sound, but Ana noticed that he didn't fight her on the matter. In fact, as he handed the clerk his credit card at the checkout, she swore he was actually fighting an excited smile.

Aster allowed himself a one last peak in the mirror and adjusted his green bandana before grabbing his backpack and heading to the kitchen. He still couldn't believe he was wearing this get up to school, but he couldn't lie to himself. He looked good. Good enough to draw the gaze of a certain, incredible attractive, albino? That he didn't know, but he was starting to hope that it would.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, absentmindedly eating a milk drenched Weetabix bar and daydreaming about Jack, when a familiar buzzing in his pocket drew him back to reality. His dreamy smile transformed to a frown as he pulled his phone out, flipping it open to see what had cause the vibrations. It was a text from Ana.

"Are you coming?"

He looked at the message in confusion and then checked the time. Just how long had he been day dreaming? After sending a quick reply of "BRT, eating" he wolfed down the rest of his soggy breakfast and rushed out of the front door. An amused looking Ana was waiting for him at the end of the driveway.

That really surprised him.

"You're walking with me?"

Ana didn't bother to acknowledge the question since the answer was obvious, opting to give an appreciative wolf-whistle instead. "I didn't think you'd be so willing to wear it! I figured I'd have to drag you back inside and make you change. You look incredible!"

Aster tried to look uninterested in the compliment as he walked down the driveway to join her, but he failed miserably. With a last ditch effort to maintain his dignity, he gruffly exclaimed, "Just don't make me regret doing this, okay?"

She giggled in amusement and nodded. "You have my word. Now, let's go!"

After a week of walking to school alone, it was a little strange to have Ana by his side once more, but he wasn't going to complain. Her constant chattering was a welcome sound and made the walk to school fly by.

As the familiar, low, gray building came into view, the two teens picked up their pace, hurrying across the parking lot to where the nice, warm sleigh was waiting for them.

Aster reached the jeep first and opened the back door, sliding into the seat by Sandy just as Ana reached the cherry-red vehicle. It was only when he was about to close the door behind him that Aster noticed that she was laughing and that Sandy was treating him to a look of deep amusement. Nick merely seemed surprised.

"What?"

"It's nothing, really," Nick replied as Ana got into the car. "I'm just surprised that you let her have the front seat."

Aster's whole face lit up scarlet. Oh. The thought of sitting anywhere but where Jack would soon be hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Nice outfit, by the way. What's up with the new look?"

Aster managed to stammer out something about Ana and a shopping trip before she stepped in to save him.

"I made Aster let me take him shopping. Can you believe I had to go over to his house this morning just to make sure he wore it?"

Nick's curious look transformed into one of sympathy. Ana had been trying to get Aster to wear something that wasn't covered in paint for years. As Nick focused that pitying gaze on him, Aster mentally made a note to thank Ana for saving him from trying to explain his sudden interest in fashion. Then, the car door was opening and all thoughts of thanks flew somewhere far away as Aster turned to stare into shocked, blue eyes.

Ana had been right in her guess that Jack would be the type to go for the "bad-boy" look. In place of Aster's normal ill-fitting and paint-splattered artist's chic, he was wearing a tight, white t-shirt that showed off his chest and had a "marvelously low-cut neckline. Over the shirt, he was a wearing a warm, black-leather jacket she'd picked out in order to give Aster a bit of 'dangerous air' and, instead of a faded, ratty looking bandanna, Ana had forced the Australian to buy a new, bright-green one that perfectly matched his eyes and made them 'pop'. That was just the part that Jack could see, too. Once he got a look at Aster's new jeans (which actually showed off the Australian's physique instead of hiding it) Ana was betting that Jack would be wiping away drool.

Jack was starting to worry. Yet another nightmare had left him gasping and unable to sleep. How many was that now? He'd given up counting, but knew it was somewhere in the double digits.

The first few hadn't bothered him, he'd even expected them. Nightmares had plagued him after his parent's death, after all, but those hadn't been nightly occurrences like these and he didn't remember having that much trouble falling back asleep.

He sighed and thrust his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans as he trudged towards the high school. Thinking about his nightmares was probably not going to help him get rid of them. He just hoped that the ever observant duo of Ana and Sandy would miss the tell-tail signs that he was exhausted.

As his feet hit the blacktop of the parking lot, Jack plastered a smile on his face and headed toward the familiar jeep. From here, he could see that Nick and Ana were turned around and talking to someone in the back, meaning that his presence had yet to be noticed. The fact that he was early due to being up since 3am probably helped, too.

Oh well, time to make his entrance!

Jack threw open the car door, ready to call out his usual greeting, but the words died in his throat as his eyes widened in shock. Since when did Aster start dressing like that?

Wordlessly, the albino slid into the car, staring at Aster the entire time. Finally, he managed to ask, "What happened to you?" in a stunned voice.

Most people would have noticed the tone of that statement and realized that Jack was more than a little impressed, but Aster was too nervous to hear anything but the words themselves. Jack didn't like it. Yesterday had been a total waste. What had he been thinking letting Ana do this to him?

Ana immediately realized what was happening when she saw Aster's shoulder's slump at Jack's question and it took an impressive amount of willpower to hold back a groan. Honestly, did she have to do everything for these two? After exchanging a brief look of "are they for real?" with Sandy, she focused her violet eyes on Jack and grinned.

"Doesn't he look great? I finally managed to make him go shopping with me."

Jack remained silent, never taking his eyes from Aster while he debated how to answer that question. Ana was right; Aster looked good, really good, but not better, just good in a different way. This look suited the attitude Aster gave the world at large, the gruff exterior he liked to portray, but the baggy jeans and paint-splatter t-shirts were like a part of who Aster really was: the art-loving guy with a heart of gold. How did he say that without insulting Ana or Aster? Realizing that he'd been staring without a sound for long enough to be considered creepy, Jack decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"He looks great, Ana! Nice work."

Ana beamed as Aster stared at Jack in surprise and said, "Really? I thought it was a bit much…"

"No, it looks great!" Jack was back to his normal, grinning self. "Almost as good as that outfit Ana picked out for me."

The makeover queen grinned. "Why thank you, Jack. Maybe I'll even let you come along when I take Aster out again."

The Australian glanced at her in alarm, but Jack's comment of, "I don't think you could make any improvements on this, Ana," immediately had Aster gazing at his shoes, desperately trying to hide a pleased smile and a growing flush.

As Sandy rolled his eyes and Nick glanced between the trio in confusion, Ana held back a triumphant smirk. Good. Now Aster knew step one was going as planned. It was a little depressing that she had to drag the admissions out of Jack, but she'd do what she had to. Now it was time to move the conversation on before Jack noticed anything weird, though.

"True, I did do an incredible job on him. Now, if I could just get you to stop wearing those ratty old hoddies…"

Jack laughed and began to mockingly argue with her about his fashion choices, but Aster didn't hear a word the two were saying. So what if he didn't care much for fashion? If it caught Jack's eye, then it was worth the effort, even if it meant he'd have to change clothes before and after his art periods.