Over the next week or so, life continued as normal. I continued going to school every day and hung out with my friends. I questioned Castiel about the whole "I'm his" thing, but he would just blush and change the topic every time I brought it up. It was almost as if he wanted me to forget about it, but that just left me wondering even more. Nathaniel had finally started talking to me again. We just kept passing by each other in the hallway, the cafeteria, the library, etc., and we both knew it was gonna stay like that, so we might as well have started being friends again. I stayed FAR away from Lysander though. I didn't know him all that well; he's nice around other people, but from what I'd seen, I didn't know WHAT he'd do if he ever got the chance to be alone with me. So, I decided to take Castiel's advice. I never called him, I always avoided him when we passed by each other in the hallway, and I never even spoke a word to him.

Today was just another day. "Hey, Slim." Castiel greeted me with that sarcastic smile of his as I crossed the courtyard on my way to school. "Hey, Castiel." I replied, smiling back at him. *Wow, he's actually giving me the time of day to say 'hi' now! XD* I thought to myself as I made my way into the school. My morning classes went by as usual; boring lessons and ALL the homework that came with them. And as usual, I was so relieved once they were over. I returned everything to my locker and started towards the cafeteria for lunch. However, I had so many thoughts on my mind from all the homework that was given, and I wasn't really paying attention. I turned a corner and….*BAM!* I was on the ground. I knew I had bumped into someone again. I thought it was Amber and her friends, but when I looked up, I saw Lysander looking down at me, a look of irritation on his face.

I quickly stood up. "I'm sorry…." I apologized, refusing to look at him. I tried to walk around him, but he stepped to the side, blocking my path. Before I could do anything, he grabbed both my wrists and pushed me up against the wall. No one was around to see it, because everyone was at lunch. I suddenly got really scared; I didn't dare look at him. Lysander finally spoke. "You're avoiding me. I'd like to know why." Still looking away, scared out of my mind, I started to say "W-What? I'm not-" but he interrupted "Yes. You are. I know you ar-Look at me." He tilted my chin up with his hand, forcing me to look at him. His face was only inches from mine, and I could feel myself blushing. I tried to look away again, but he wouldn't let me. "See? You ARE avoiding me. THAT needs to stop." I didn't really know what to say; I was just so scared. "P-Please stop. You're scaring me…." Lysander grinned at me. "Really? I couldn't imagine why…" He leaned to the side and slowly ran his tongue up the side of my neck. I closed my eyes, "Mm…" He softly bit me, finishing off. Lysander looked at me again and said, "I want you to call me every night. And don't EVER avoid me like that again. Do you understand me?" I nodded, too shocked to speak. He grinned and pressed his lips against mine. "I'll see you later, darling." Lysander stood up and walked away, leaving me standing there, shocked. Well, I was shocked, confused; I didn't know WHAT I was. Too many emotions were running through me, and I couldn't think straight. *What just happened?!*

After I snapped out of…whatever I was just in, I had finally arrived at the cafeteria. As usual, Iris waved frantically at a table across the room, motioning me to sit with her. *Yes Iris, I know. I can see you….* I got my food and walked over to the table. As I sat down, she began her daily rant about 'who did what' and 'who's seeing who'. Of course, I wasn't listening to a word of it. I was too caught up in my thoughts about what happened just before lunch. What was Lysander trying to pull here? Did he think I was HIS? *Oh…..no…..* I was starting to see a pattern. "Julia!" Someone shouted my name. I nearly jumped. "Wha-?!" I looked over to see Nathaniel sitting next to me where Iris was just now. "Oh. Hi, Nathaniel. Where's Iris?" Nathaniel had a concerned look on his face. "She left minutes ago. You didn't see her?" When I didn't answer, his look of concern turned into worry. "Julia, are you ok? What's wrong?" "Nothing….." I replied, and quickly finished my food. By now, everyone had left and I wanted to get out of there before Nathaniel spoke again.

I got up and rushed off to throw my trash away, but of course I was too late. Nathaniel got up and followed me, saying "You know I won't buy that. Tell me what's wrong." I didn't say a word, but instead threw everything away and headed for the door. Nathaniel saw me and blocked my escape. "Julia, tell me. Did someone hurt you?" I looked at him. "No." Nathaniel sighed and shook his head. "I know someone did SOMETHING to you….and I'm gonna find out who and what." I said nothing, just stared at him, holding back tears. He looked at me, and put his hand up to hold my face. "Julia…..I would never let anyone hurt you. You mean too much to me." He leaned in towards me, closer and closer until I could feel his lips gently touching my own. His kiss was so…warm and passionate. Unlike Castiel's, whose was more of a joke, (At least, I think it was….) and definitely unlike Lysander's, whose was forced onto me. I slowly closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment. After it was over, I said to Nathaniel "Um…..I should go….." and tried to walk away, but he tightened his grip, pulling me back towards him. Blushing, he said "Wait. Please….stay." He just held me there in his arms "O-Ok…" I replied silently, resting up against him. *So warm….*

After a minute or two, Nathaniel and I finally let go of each other. (It's a good thing too; he was so warm, I thought I'd fall asleep in his arms. –w–) By that time, we were both very late to class, so we got detention for an hour. Just enough time to miss basketball practice with Castiel. Great. *Maybe he won't even notice I'm gone…...oh, who am I kidding? He is SO gonna kill me…..* The rest of my classes passed by in an instant, as usual. Nathaniel and I walked to detention together. "Don't worry," he said, smiling at me. "It'll be over before you know it." I smiled back at him. "That's good." Though, I didn't really care either way. Even if I DIDN'T have detention, I would just be spending that time in the gym, getting trampled on by other students. At least here, I would have time to do my homework or think about what happened that day; useful things. I ended up doing both. Simultaneously. And a lot of good THAT did me. It put on stress, which made me confused, which made me frustrated. Thank God Nathaniel was there to help me, or I wouldn't have gotten ANYTHING done!

As it turned out, Nathaniel was right. Detention was over before I even realized it. I said goodbye to Nathaniel in the hallway after he walked me out of the classroom, and started towards the exit. As I walked across the courtyard on my way home, I noticed that Castiel wasn't standing by the tree. *He's probably still in practice.* I thought to myself. *Though, it should be ending soon.* And sure enough, not long after that, I saw the students from basketball practice coming out of the gym.

I had just stepped onto the sidewalk border-lining the courtyard when someone grabbed my arm. "Hey!" I turned to see Castiel with an angry look on his face. *…..knew it….* "Why weren't you in practice today?! You tryin to bail on me again?!" I became a little irritated. "No! I'm NOT tryin to bail on you, I got detention." He calmed down a little and crossed his arms. "You? Detention? What'd you do, Slim?" To that, I replied "I was late for class." "Hmm…." Castiel just stared at me for a moment. "Nope, sorry. Not buyin it." I suddenly became angry. "What? But I was!" Then Castiel became irritated. "Yeah? And HOW? You're never late for class; this isn't like you." I stayed silent for a moment. I couldn't just TELL him Nathaniel kissed me. Like he would believe HIM of ALL people would make me late anyway. I decided to tell him the half-true reason. "I was lost in my thoughts." Almost as soon as I said that, he shot back at me "And what were you thinkin about, Slim?" Again, I told him the half-truth. "School." He shook his head. "You're lying." I sighed and said to Castiel, "Fine, don't believe me." With that, I turned and started walking towards my apartment.

"It's another guy, isn't it?!" Castiel called out from behind me. I instantly stopped and waited a second before turning to face him. "No! It's not another guy!" Although, that WAS a lie. I turned back and started walking home again, but he walked up from behind me and grabbed my arm, turning me to face him. "You're lying to me! Who is it?!" "No one!" I shouted at him. "Why do YOU care anyway?!" Castiel stayed silent. "Oh, wait. Let me guess. Because I'm YOURS, right?!" He just shook his head. "Let's go!" He grabbed my hand and dragged my back to my apartment. It seemed that every time another guy was involved, Castiel felt the need to walk me home. After a few minutes, we had finally reached my apartment door. I unlocked the door and went inside. "Thanks for walking me home. Goodnight, Castiel." I said to him as I started to close the door. Castiel put his hand up against the door, stopping it from closing any further. I became a little nervous when he didn't say anything. "Cas-mph!" Before I even knew it, Castiel's lips were pressed against my own, him holding my face with one hand, the other tightly wrapped around my waist.

As soon as he broke the kiss, I tried to back away, but he only tightened his grip, and instead, kissed me two more times before finally letting go. I stared at him, blushing, but said nothing as I tried to catch my breath. "Slim," he said to me. "I'm gonna find this guy you're seein'. And when I do…." Castiel clenched his fists so hard, his knuckles turned white. "….I'LL KILL HIM!" He turned and stomped off, filled with rage. I quickly went back inside my apartment and closed the door. I immediately slid to the floor, terrified. I had never seen Castiel this angry, and there was no telling what he was gonna do.

That night, I couldn't fall asleep at ALL! Too many thoughts consumed my head; I eventually gave up. And then I had just remembered something. Lysander wanted me to call him. Since I couldn't fall asleep and would hate to think of what he'd do if I DIDN'T call him, I picked up the phone and dialed his number. It rang two or three times before I finally heard a voice on the other end. "Darling." My eyes widened a bit. How did he know it was me? "I was starting to think you'd never call." I stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "H-hi Lysander." I replied nervously. "What's the matter, dear? You sound nervous…" *Was it THAT noticeable?* "Um, nothing. I'm just tired….." My excuse was believable, after all, it was already 2 a.m. "…..Do you need me?" I was a little surprised by his question.

"What?"

"I can come over if you want me to."

"Now?!"

"If you're scared….."

"I'm not scared….."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine. Thank you though."

"Hmm…alright then. Goodnight, darling. Sweet Dreams."

"Goodnight."

And then I hung up. I laid back down onto the bed and tried to fall asleep, but unfortunately, my little phone conversation with Lysander only made things worse. Just because of that, so many more thoughts were added to my already-exploding brain. Thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts. Everywhere. *Lysander is calling me 'darling' as if he thinks I'm his! And what about Nathaniel? He kissed me and then asked me to stay. Does THAT mean HE thinks I'm HIS? And thinking it meant something else, I said yes! I'm such an idiot! And Castiel is really going to kill both of them, because HE is determined that I'm HIS! They all think I belong to them! Why does everything have to be this way?! What did I ever do to deserve this?! WHY does EVERYTHING have to BE SO COMPLICATED?!* I was so upset, I couldn't fall asleep until 4 a.m., when I finally passed out from exhaustion. *Thank. God.*