A/N: OK, so first of all, a day late, I know. I'm so sorry. I had a huge workload on Saturday, and I just didn't have the energy or motivation to get it finished yesterday. (Please don't lynch me, it won't happen again!) ^_^;

Anyway, I'm hoping this chapter's worth the wait. Kinda proud of this one, I'll admit.

Enjoy! :D

He'd never noticed it before, but the door to Randy's dorm room could be incredibly loud when it wanted to be.

Despite the fact that the day hadn't even reached 8pm the hall was almost deathly silent, so the creaking of the door could be clearly heard as Randy opened it. He took a deep breath and slowly stepped in, apprehensive for what was to come.

"Mike?" he whispered. He wasn't sure why he whispered, the likelihood of Mike being asleep at this hour was slim.

He closed the door cautiously behind him, only succeeding in prolonging the time it creaked for. The lights were off and the whole room was bathed in darkness but the reptilian monster didn't dare flick the light switch, lest he upset Mike further.

"Mike?" he repeated, looking around his roommate's side of the room.

"Yeah?" came the reply, causing Randy to jump.

"Oh, there ya are chum. How… uh, how're you feeling?"

A shuffling sound could be heard accompanied by a heavy sigh. Randy mentally cursed his poor eyesight not allowing himself to see what Mike was doing, the darkness not helping any either.

"You can turn the light on if you want."

Upon hearing those words Randy reached over and flicked the light on, finding Mike perched on the edge of his bed with his eye trained on the ground. He briefly wondered what he should do. Sit next to Mike? Put a comforting arm around him? He settled on perching on his own bed, facing Mike. It would be easier to talk to him that way.

Randy opened his mouth only to immediately close it. His previous question had gone unanswered so he wasn't sure what to say. He repeated the motion a few times before sighing and looking down in a similar fashion to his roommate.

"I'm sorry…" he finally muttered.

Mike looked up. "What for?"

"For… not defending you. When the Dean… I should've…" His speech became broken as he began tearing up. "I'm sorry."

Mike looked away. "It's alright. Not much you could've done anyway."

"No, it's not alright Mike. I should've done something."

"Randy, it's OK, you couldn't have changed things." He sighed before continuing. "If I hadn't challenged Sullivan the way I did then none of it would have happened."

"But… it was his fault. If I'd stepped in and told the Dean that-"

"Look, Randy, what do you want me to say?!" Mike suddenly snapped, turning to Randy with a look of bitter anger. "You want me to say that I wanted you there? That you should've been a friend and spoken up? That you shouldn't have just… blended into the background and left me alone? "

Randy gasped, averting his gaze from Mike's own. The anger had taken him by surprise and he didn't like it one bit. He struggled to fight back the tears that began to form, not wanting to appear weak in a time he should be comforting his roommate. But despite already having had the same thoughts, it hurt to hear Mike voice them. It hurt a lot.

Mike's chest was heaving from his previous outburst, though his expression began to soften, becoming gloomy once again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that…"

"No," he sighed. "No, it's true. You have every right to be angry…"

"No, I don't. It wasn't your fault… it was mine."

Randy looked back at Mike who offered him a small smile. "So, uh… what're you gonna do now?"

Mike sighed and looked out the window, no doubt to gaze at the School of Scaring. "I… I don't know…"

"Well, maybe you could-"

"Randy, do you think maybe we could talk about this tomorrow?" Mike said, cutting in on Randy's thought. "For now, I think I just wanna sleep it off."

"Oh, sure Mike." He wrung his hands together, contemplating whether he should do or say anything else. Was it still a bad idea to offer a comforting arm, or a hug?

He didn't have to wonder long as Mike quickly drew back his duvet and climbed under, rolling over to face the wall as he led down. "Good night," he muttered.

"G'night, Mike," he replied.

The room fell into silence once again as Mike seemingly fell asleep. With nothing else to do Randy picked up the nearest book, which happened to be the book lent to him by Johnny, and began reading it. There wasn't anything in the book he hadn't read, so as his eyes trailed along the words his mind worked to remember the events leading up to his mastery of his camouflage ability. Of course, it hadn't just been the book, Mike had helped him immensely. Randy couldn't possibly have done it so quickly without him. In fact, if it wasn't for Mike he wouldn't have thought his ability important to master at all.

And he'd pulled it off. He managed to perform an impressive scare for his finals. He hoped it was enough to be one of the top of his class. Perhaps enough to make Johnny proud, and Mike.

Randy looked over to his roommate and sighed slightly. How had things worked out so wrong for him? If anyone deserved to ace their finals it was Mike. He knew more than anyone. But… perhaps he was right. Mike really wasn't that scary. The Dean herself had said so.

The reptilian monster set the book back on his cabinet, no longer wanting to attempt reading it. He shut off the lights and clambered into his own bed. Perhaps an early night would do him good too.

As he drifted off to sleep he wondered how things could possibly improve. He hoped Mike had a plan, because he sure couldn't think of one.

As expected Randy had awoken early the next morning. Particularly early given the time he went to bed. For the briefest of moments he considered forcing himself to try and sleep a little longer but realised it would be a futile exercise, instead settling to take his usual early morning walk.

Upon his return he found his roommate was now awake as well, gazing out of the window. A slight pang of guilt hit him, wondering if leaving the room had woken Mike up.

"Uh, Mike?" Randy ventured. "You OK?"

"Yeah…" The reply sounded weak and hoarse.

"Are… are you crying?" he asked, concern evident in his tone.

Mike sighed, not once turning his gaze from the campus outside the window. "No Randy, I've had all night to do that… Barely slept at all…"

"Oh," he said, wringing his hands nervously. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he replied simply.

"So have you, uh, thought any more on what you're gonna do?"

"Well, I should probably see the Dean… See if I could at least switch majors." He sighed, looking from the window to the floor. "I don't know what I want to switch to though… Scaring's my whole life. I've never wanted to study anything else. I toyed with the idea of maybe switching to Door Tech, but…" His voice lowered, the rest of his sentence barely more than a whisper. "…It's just not the same."

"But… at least you get to stay here at MU," Randy offered, flashing a small smile.

Mike looked up and did his best to smile back, though it quickly faltered. "I guess there is that."

"When do you think you'll be seeing her?"

"As soon as I can. I think her office opens at 9am."

"Well…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. Considering Mike's words, would it be in ill taste to wish him luck? He allowed the thought to pass and proceeded to anyway. "…good luck to ya Mike. I really hope you can make it onto the Door Tech course. At least… at least you could still end up working for a Scare company."

"Yeah…"

Silence befell the pair as Randy took a seat on his bed. There wasn't anything left to say, to do. The atmosphere in the room wasn't entirely comfortable and Randy feared it never would be again. But he had to hope Mike would make good of his circumstance. He couldn't bear to think of the alternative.

Time passed surprisingly quickly and before Randy knew it Mike left to the Dean's office. Unconsciously he'd kept his fingers crossed the entire time his roommate was gone. He wanted nothing more than to be able to keep his friend, and he knew if Mike was unable to find a suitable replacement major then he would have no chance of doing that.

SLAM!

Randy practically jumped out of his skin, only now aware that he'd dozed off. He looked over to where the door had undoubtedly left a dent in their wall, Mike storming his way in before slamming the door closed just as hard.

"M-Mike?"

"I cannot believe her! Is this some kind of sick joke?! A punishment?!"

Randy gulped. "D-Did you… not get onto the Door Tech course?" he asked timidly.

"No, I didn't," he spat, not in anger at Randy, but in anger nonetheless. "I got an Engineering course though. Only one left available. Wanna guess what it was?"

Randy felt Mike's intense, anger-filled gaze boring into him. He knew Mike wasn't angry at him, but it still scared him. "I… I dunno, Mike."

"Canister Design! Can you believe it?! She wants me to spend the next semester studying how Scream Cans are made. Scream Cans!"

"W-Well… At… at least you got a new major," he offered, his voice becoming feeble as though expecting an angry comeback.

"Oh yeah, I got a new major alright. Best major around. Everyone in the world loves Scream Can engineers! They're so widely loved and appreciated! Never mind the fact that designs haven't changed in decades; it's such an important field of study. I can't wait!"

Done with his angry, sarcastic rant Mike stormed his way over to his bed and slumped onto it with a huff. His arms remained seemingly permanently folded as he scowled at nothing in particular. He sat there fuming, not uttering another word. Randy was too afraid to say anything more, not wanting to set his friend off again.

Moments passed and the two said nothing. The tension in the room couldn't have been higher. The silence, however, wasn't destined to last forever.

"Can you stop doing that?" Mike snapped.

Randy's head snapped to his roommate, a questioning and slightly fearful look on his face. "D-Doing what?"

"That. With your hands."

Randy looked down to see he was wringing hands again; a nervous habit he noted was becoming more common. "O-Oh, sorry."

Mike heaved a heavy sigh. "It's fine."

Silence fell again and Randy felt even more uncomfortable now that he had no physical habit to lean back on, whether he realised he was doing it or not. It became too much for him, so he felt the best thing to do was excuse himself and find something to do elsewhere.

"I'm, uh… I'm gonna go out for a bit…" he said, uncertain as to whether even that simple statement would upset Mike.

The small green monster simply nodded. Taking this as a signal that leaving really was the best option Randy quickly made his way out. He sighed in relief once outside the room, almost as though the air was fresher out in the hall.

He wasn't sure what to do, but he busied himself anyway. He knew if nothing else he could go back to the JOX house. Should he consider himself able to handle more video games, that was.

The rest of Tuesday, as well as Wednesday and even Thursday morning had been spent doing the same thing for Randy. Barely uttering a word to Mike and avoiding his dorm room as much as possible, spending his time in the library, at the JOX house or wandering around campus.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. If things didn't improve then he could kiss his friendship with Mike goodbye, course or no course.

But there was no time for that now. It was Thursday morning and Randy had a promise to keep. He strolled over to the School of Scaring, easily spotting the monster he was looking for. He was, of course, surrounded by his fraternity, although he knew at least two of them would be taking their finals along with Johnny.

He was spotted by Javier first who gestured towards Randy's location to Johnny, causing the horned monster to turn around. Upon spotting his boyfriend Johnny smiled warmly, opening his arms out when Randy was close enough to pull him into a hug.

"I knew you'd come," he said happily, wrapping his arms tightly around Randy, though not too tightly in consideration of his slender frame. "Hope you're ready to be impressed."

"Yeah… sure am…"

Johnny broke the hug and looked into Randy's face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh… nothing," he lied, putting on a false smile.

"Mmm…" he hummed, clearly unconvinced. "After the exam, OK?"

Randy nodded before smiling more genuinely. "Good luck. Not that you need it."

"Of course I don't, but I appreciate it," he winked before making his way into the lecture hall.

Javier and Chet began to follow behind, causing Randy to assume them to be the others taking the exam. "And good luck to you two as well," he told them.

The two turned to the freshman. "Thank you," Javier said whilst Chet simply nodded in acknowledgement. They then made their own way in.

Randy was left behind with Chip and Reggie, suddenly feeling awkward. He shuffled his feet slightly, not sure whether he should enter before them.

"You coming then?" Chip asked him, nodding towards the entrance.

"Oh, uh, sure," he said, following behind the pair as they made their way in.

Once inside the lecture hall he wasn't quite sure what to do. His first instinct was to sit next to the two RORs, but he wondered if they would actually want him there. This was quelled fairly quickly when Chip led the way into the back row of seats and Reggie held a hand out, gesturing for Randy to follow him before Reggie himself did.

Taking a seat between the two RORs, Randy watched as several monsters performed their final exams. It wasn't all too different from his own, although there were noticeable differences. The settings on the simulator were higher, the questions were more difficult and more advanced techniques were required for the appropriate scare to be employed.

The first of the three RORs taking the exam was Chet who performed better than any monster so far. Randy was impressed, not least in part due to the fact he considered him to be possibly the least scary monster of them all.

Javier was next and his scare impressed Randy even more. Javier's screech was truly terrifying and Randy did have to wonder how Johnny would top it, though he never doubted the ROR president would.

Chip and Reggie made a few comments amongst themselves, talking over Randy's head. The freshman wasn't particularly annoyed by this, but he couldn't help but feel a little excluded. Still, the moment he'd been waiting for had finally arrived. Johnny was called up to the stage.

In all honesty, Randy couldn't remember the specifics of the 'child' or the name of the techniques Johnny would be demonstrating. He only remembered how Johnny looked doing it. And it was amazing.

Johnny silently made his way across the room without a sound, looking positively predatory doing it. He appropriately built up tension, causing the right noises in the right places to leave the scare dummy apprehensive as a human child would be. After all this was done, Johnny simply had to deliver the final blow. With a loud stomp he attracted the dummy's attention to him, promptly letting out a roar that echoed around the whole theatre and, no doubt, halfway across campus. No results would have been needed, the canister-shaped meter on the side of the simulator filled to the top. Everyone knew Johnny had gotten a perfect score.

Chip and Reggie were among the first to get to their feet and cheer as loudly as they could. Randy thought such a thing would have been frowned down upon during an exam, but considering the number of monsters that followed suit, he came to assume a perfect score may be the one exception. He soon joined in, cheering as loudly as he could too. He was pretty sure his voice was drowned out by Chip and Reggie, but by the way Johnny looked directly at him and smiled he was sure his cheering had been appreciated.

There was no need to wait for the rest of the exam to be completed. Johnny, Chet and Javier all made their way up the stairs to lead the way out, Reggie, Randy and Chip filing out after them.

"So…" Johnny began, waiting to ensure the others had caught up before continuing. "Impressive, right?" The way he turned to Randy after suggested the question was aimed at him.

"Y-Yeah, it sure was," Randy said, grinning wide.

"Good," he smirked.

"Seriously Johnny, you got the top score!" Chet cut in. "It was amazing! I can't believe it! Well, I can since it's you, but still, it was crazy!"

"Chet, tone it down a bit," Chip said.

"Sowwy," Chet said, calming down.

"But he's right, man. That was a great show. You too, Jav."

"Thank you," Javier chuckled. "I didn't think anyone noticed."

"Aww, c'mon Jav, we all love you too," Johnny teased. "It's just, well, I am awesome."

Javier clicked his tongue and shook his head, smiling. "Sure, sure."

The RORs continued their banter as they walked with Randy just following along listening. He began to feel like a third wheel and wondered if he should excuse himself, despite how much he wanted a moment alone with Johnny.

Before any of them knew it they were outside the ROR house. The RORs were about to make their way in instinctively before they suddenly remembered Randy was with them. They'd made their way up the steps whilst Randy stood at the bottom looking a little uncertain.

"Y'know, you're welcome to join us," Johnny said, smiling warmly.

Randy looked from him to the others. The way they were placed at the top of the steps simply accentuated the fact that he felt smaller by comparison and he really doubted the fact that he'd be welcome, or that he'd even be included even if they didn't mind his presence. He wanted some time with Johnny, not the others, selfish as that may have been.

"Gee, I dunno…" Randy said. "I, uh… I don't know if it's such a good idea."

"But… why not?"

"Well, it's your time to celebrate. Yours, Chet's and Javier's. You should all enjoy yourselves. I can see you another time."

"Oh." Johnny almost visibly deflated at the proposition, having hoped Randy would finally accept an invitation into the house. "Well, perhaps we could at least meet later?"

"At the usual place?" Randy replied hopefully.

Johnny's spirits seemed to be lifted and he began to smile wide again. "Sure. Say… six o'clock?"

"Sounds great."

"Then I guess I'll see you then…" he trailed off, clearly hinting at the fact that he still wanted Randy to join them now.

"I'll see you then," Randy said, turning and walking away. It pained him to shut down Johnny's hopes like that but he really didn't think he'd have felt comfortable amongst the others. He felt he had a good gauge on Javier, but he couldn't be sure of the others. He may not have been welcome by all of them and he didn't want to intrude on their time of celebration.

No, Randy would just busy himself like he had done the past couple of days. It would be easier this time, at least. He did have a date atop the clock tower after all.

Johnny watched Randy walk away before sighing and turning to the others, leading them in.

"Sooo…" Chip drawled. "'The usual place', huh? You told him about the clock tower?"

"Wait, how did you-?" Johnny began to protest.

"This one's for keeps then?" Reggie added.

"Seriously, how did-"

"C'mon Johnny, we all knew," Chip smirked. "You do remember who you got the key from, right?"

"Ohh. Oh yeah," he chuckled. "But none of you said anything before."

Chip shrugged. "Didn't feel we needed to until now."

"Yes, now we can tease you mercilessly," Javier said.

"Oh great…" Johnny said. "OK, how's this? I'll by all the beer this time if you let me off the hook."

"No dice," Reggie said.

"We're not passing this up," Chip added.

Johnny sighed. "Fine. It's worth it anyway."

"Aww, how sweet…" Chip chuckled.

"Shuddup."

"I… honestly don't know what's going to happen, Johnny," Randy sniffed. "He's just… shutting himself out. Almost like he doesn't even wanna know me anymore."

Johnny sighed. He couldn't deny that this was what he wanted, but to see Randy this upset about it tugged at his heartstrings. "Look, just… give him time," he reassured, rubbing the freshman's back soothingly. "You never know, he might settle into his new course. He might end up enjoying it. Then he'll be back to his normal self and you'll both be happier."

"But… I don't think he will. Mike's dedicated his whole life to Scaring, not unlike you, and to have all that torn away…" He sighed and leaned back into Johnny's arms which firmly wrapped themselves around his midriff. "I don't think he'll ever get over it."

Johnny actually felt a small pang of guilt. He'd spent so long thinking of Mike as nothing but a joke that he hadn't even considered the fact that Mike may have worked just as hard as he had to get where he is… or was. Whether it was selfish or not, however, Johnny didn't care. With what had happened in Monday's finals he didn't have to entertain the thought.

But could he really do what he was itching to do? On the one hand he could advise Randy on how to repair his friendship with Mike; he could do the right thing. But on the other, he could do what he had wanted to for some time now. He could break it apart for good.

With a heavy sigh he came to a decision. For better or worse, he settled his resolve and chose his next words as carefully as he could.

"Then… perhaps yours wasn't a friendship built to last."

Randy gasped, looking up into the senior's eyes. "B-But… I… I…"

Johnny cradled the freshman slightly, shushing him. "Randy, it's difficult to think, I know. But sometimes these things happen. You have to consider the fact that your friendship might be one that can't be repaired. It was built around your mutual love of Scaring. With that gone… as much as I hate to say it, there may not be much left."

Randy allowed the words to sink in. As much as he didn't want to agree they made sense to him. After all, practically the only thing he and Mike had ever bonded over was studying. Was that really all there was to their friendship?

He wouldn't admit it just yet, but he clung to the possibility. If nothing else then to prepare himself should it prove true.

"Just remember," Johnny said soothingly. "No matter what happens, you have me. I'll be right here for you."

"I know," he whispered, closing his eyes as fresh tears began to sting them.

Randy leant against his lover for a moment, mulling over his thoughts. Tomorrow was the last day Mike would be there before he went home for winter break. He had one last day to try and repair their friendship before it had the chance to become too late.

One last day. No problem. His friendship with Mike was the strongest he had ever had in his life. It was surely strong enough to survive this.

He was determined. Randy would win Mike back tomorrow. But for now he simply wanted to enjoy this moment in Johnny's comforting embrace. He sighed slightly as a small smile spread across his lips, becoming more comfortable.

Meanwhile Johnny simply stared straight ahead, out into the night sky. He couldn't bring himself to look at Randy knowing what he had just done. But he had made his choice and acted upon it. There was no turning back now. He had to ensure Randy would be his, both as a lover and a future frat brother. No matter what.