*Author's Note*

Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews.

Spring & Summer Soulmate Spats

March 2008

Gem POV:

It's been months since me and Brock decided to do our own things and not focus so much on a romantic soulmate relationship (since he refused to meet me when I was down in Willowdale). We still talked thru our bond and (I can't believe I'm really going to admit this) fooled around sometimes with it too, but we didn't express any actual romantic wants and needs. So…yea…we weren't going to be seeing each other for a long time, if at all. We had an understanding that we could see other people. Currently, I was single. Brock claimed that he wasn't seeing anybody, but I doubt that. He was older than me and has needs; he must be seeing somebody even if it's just a casual hookup here and there.

The bond, in a way, kinda sucked since it allowed me to feel his pain. Basically, Brock decided to get a traditional sakyant tattoo since he's in Thailand (it's a work mission, but whatever) and the pain I felt in my left underarm radiating from the bond was enough to keep me up last night. Basically, I felt like I got the damn tattoo too.

At least I was on Spring Break so I was able to sleep in and pop some Tylenol to deal with the phantom pains of my soulmate's tattoo. I'd actually ran out of aspirin since there wasn't much in the medicine cabinet to begin with, so I was currently walking down the street to the nearby bodega to get some.

"Hey, Gem! Wait up!" I heard Geno's voice call out from a few feet away.

Turning around, I hollered back, "What'd ya want?!"

"Haven't seen you in a while; thought I'd say hey and apologize for being stupid." Geno told me as he reached my side. He had a sheepish look on his angular cut face, one that I've never seen on him before. He usually was never ashamed or sheepish by an action, but I guess he was embarrassed and truly sorry about what happened back in October.

"Oh…" I heavily sighed, shocked at Geno's apology since he usually wasn't the type to hand those out. "Um, I heard from Izzy and Tiffany that you dropped out last term. That true?"

"Yea, it's true. I've been working full time for Bobby at the chop-shop." Was Geno's answer as we walked side by side, but with a good arm's length between us, down the street.

"Oh…" I nodded, letting the fact that Geno was boosting cars for a living sink into my brain.

"So, how're you and your soulmate?" He asked, sounding both curious and bitter, as she shoved his hands in the pockets of his worn-out jean jacket.

"Um…" I chewed my lip, pondering whether or not to tell my ex the truth. He watched me with curious brown eyes, silently waiting for me to give him an answer other then a hummed um… Letting my bottom lip slip out of my teeth, I sighed, "We're on speaking terms, but we're not together."

"So, you dumped me for some older guy that doesn't want to be bothered? Hmm, sounds a real smart move." Geno sarcastically scoffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"It is what it is, Geno." I sighed, feeling like shit since his words stung a bit.

"Look, there's a party tonight on the northside of the neighborhood. I don't know if you're going, but maybe I'll see you there."

"I wasn't planning on going to the party at Juju's tonight. I need to study-" I began to tell Geno, only for him to cut me off with, "Still listening to that soulmate of yours and studying hard even tho he doesn't want to see your face? Oh, that's real smart, Gemmie Bear. Just put your life on the back burner til he decides he's ready to fuck ya or not."

Even tho I didn't want to admit it, Geno had a point. I was putting my life on te backburner for a soulmate who made it perfectly clear that he 'couldn't' meet me or be with me; that he didn't even know when he'd be 'able' to either. Maybe Brock wanting me to focus on school was his way of keeping tabs on me; making sure I wasn't out with another guy or something.

*Later That Night…*

Brock POV:

It was around midnight, I was exhausted from the mission I just got back from, and I was stuck at a secret underground HYDRA meeting that was being held in the basement of some high-profile politician's mansion that was hidden in the Blude Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Yea, the mountain range was a great place to build a mansion with a basement large enough to hold HYDRA meeting is, right? The basement didn't even feel like once since it was decorated with fine high-end furnishings. It also had a kitchen, dining room, and a few bedrooms in it too. The basement wasn't just a secret meeting room, but was a safe room. Yep, shady politicians were ready for anything.

This entire meeting felt very medieval since the meeting room, which was the largest in the basement, had a large King Arthur style round table in it that all of us HYDRA members were seated at. At the head of the table was Pierce. I was stuck sitting on his right since I was his protégé. Apparently, he saw potential in me to be a heavy hitter in the secret society that let everyone believe it was dead. Cut off one head, two more appears. God, that motto made my skin crawl. *SHUDDERS!*

Pierce was making some speech about how if we could harness Banner's power, learn to control him, and get him onto our side we'd have another asset in our arsenal whenever that song about jeans and fur boots suddenly popped into my head. Very loudly too.

Fuck, why is Gem listening to that for? I know she's on spring break, but she wasn't a party girl. There's not reason she's be blasting that song for. Keeping a neutral look on my face while listening to both Pierce and the annoying mental music in the head, I opened up my soulmate bond with Gem and asked her, "Why're you listening to this shit for? It's midnight."

"I'm at a party with my friends having fun." My soulmate snippily answered me.

"Yea, I can hear that." I dryly told her thru our bond. "Where's this party at?"

"Oh my god, don't worry about it." She spat like the 18-year-old she was. God, she was having a pissy attitude with me for no dame reason.

"Don't worry about it? Baby, you're staying out all night partying, something you never do, so I'm gonna worry bout it."

"I'm not gonna stay up all night. God…" She huffed, sounding aggravated at my assumption. One that was true too.

"It's a lil past midnight, baby. Safe to say you're staying out all night." I mentally pointed out to Gem while pretending to listen to Pierce's insane speech.

"You're up too. Don't you have work in the morning?" Gem sassily quipped back. Her words sounded a bit tipsy in my mind. Fuck…she's getting drunk at a party with her dead-end friends. Does she want to get stuck in Bensonhurst?

"I'm up cause I'm in an emergency work meeting. Remember, I work for SHIELD, not a 9-5 company." I told her, earning me a huff. "Do you want to fuck up your chance to get out of Bensonhurst? Staying up all night; partying will cause you to fuck shit up. You want to go to Culver, right, baby?"

"Don't hold Culver over my head. I already got accepted; even sent back my paperwork for summer semester classes and student housing instead of for fall. I'm going to Culver whether I got out for a fun time with my friends from time to time or not."

"You're drunk and I'm not doing this with you right now, baby. My boss is going over something important; might need my input, so I need to call it a damn night with you."

"Yea…I bet your boss needs you..." Gem trailed off. "Sorry the song interrupted your night. Have fun doing whoever."

"Goddamnit, Gem, I'm not doing anybody. I really am in a work meeting."

All I got was radio silence from her. She turned off the bond in favor to party with her friends. Fuck! I hate my job right now. If it wasn't for being undercover, I'd be in a normal relationship with my soulmate instead of some mental long-distance shit where she doesn't even seem to want to pursue something romantic once things are safe.

Gem POV:

"Goddamnit, Gem, I'm not doing anybody. I really am in a work meeting." Brock hissed thru our bound in a vain attempt to get me to believe that he was in a meeting at midnight.

Who the hell has work meetings at midnight that aren't working a third shift in a factory? Um, prolly nobody. I really don't care what he does right now. He doesn't have to use a lame excuse about why he's up or why the music I'm having fun listening to at a party's bothering him.

"Gemmie Bear, what's up? You look a little out of it." Geno asked, coming up from behind me and lazily slinging a half-drunk arm around me as I stood in a corner holding a solo cup while Izzy and Tiffany danced with their boyfriends.

"Nothing, just taking a breather from dancing." I smiled before taking a sip of my drink. It was a half-truth; I had decided to take a quick break and grab some punch (which was vodka spiked red Kool-Aid) right before Brock started his shit with me.

"Okay. For a minute there I thought you were dealing with your old man soulmate." He half-joked in a relieved tone while leading me away from the wall and over to an empty armchair.

"Don't call him an old man, Geno." I ordered my ex-turned-not quite boyfriend again as he flopped down on the empty armchair; taking me down with him to sit sprawled on his lap.

"What? He is, isn't he?" Geno rhetorically asked with a raised brow. Giving me a pointed look, he added in the fact of, "Guy's 15-years older than us."

"Doesn't make him old." I pointed out. Taking another sip of my drink, I said, "I don't feel like talking about him, tho."

The music loudly blared around us as Geno just laughed, "I'd hope not. The whole reason we're talking's so you keep your mind off of him." He smiled, brushing a hand thru my brown hair. I didn't say a word, kept sipping on my drink. No, I didn't really want to be with him again, but the attention he paid me felt good. If I'm to be honest, it felt very good.

April

"Prom's in a few weeks. You wanna go shopping for a dress tomorrow?" My Nonna asked me as I walked into the kitchen after coming home from school.

"I was going to go dress shopping with Tiffany and Izzy next weekend, but we can go to Macy's tomorrow." I told Nonna since I knew that dress shopping with her would get me a nicer (and maybe a more expensive) dress from 34th Street then going to the local dress shop on 2nd with my friends would get me.

"You going stag to the dance or with that cheap fucking bastard you've seem to taken up with, again?" Nonna asked snippily as her tiny sweater wearing dog pranced around the kitchen while she was rolling fresh pasta dough sheets thru a Kitchen Aid attachment.

"Geno's not that bad." I sighed, leaning against the kitchen island.

"I beg to differ, sweetheart. He shoved you into a locker." Nonna countered, feeding her dough into the pasta roller for the umpteenth time. She was always very particular about having her homemade pasta sheets being thin for when she did homemade ravioli. Yep, tonight was ravioli night. YAY!

"I know, but he's not like that anymore."

"Your soulmate went thru a lot of trouble to teach Geno a lesson; he won't be too happy about you being with Geno." My Nonna told me with a knowing look while placing her thin sheet on dough on the kitchen island.

"I don't care about what does or doesn't make him happy right now, Nonna. He doesn't want me so why should I sit around pinning and waiting on him." I angrily spat while my Nonna retrieved a bowl of ricotta and meat filling from a counter across the room.

"Did he tell you he didn't want you?" She asked while returning to the kitchen island, filling bowl clutched in her old, wrinkly hand.

"I wanted to see him when I was in Willowdale doing a tour of Culver and he said no. We decided to do our own things for a while." I revealed to Nonna while she started plopping little spoonfuls of filling onto the past sheet.

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this? Anytime I ask about your Brock you say you're doing fine."

"We are fine, Nonna. We're just not perusing anything romantic."

"Hmm…" Nonna hummed. Tilting her head to the side, she sighed, "Platonic soulmates never work out. Somebody always ends up jealous over whoever the other is seeing and it gets ugly. Real ugly real fast too."

"Right now, I doubt I'm ever going to meet Brock, so it doesn't really matter." I honestly told her as she folded the pasta sheet, covering the filling and sealing the little pockets of ravioli before cutting them out and ribbing the edges with a fork.

May 10th

The prom dress I picked out a few weeks back with my Nonna was very pretty. It was a navy-blue mermaid dress that had off the shoulder straps and a layer of lace covering the dress. My Nonna said it has an old Hollywood charm that made me glow and look like a movie star. Standing in front of my mirror, which was hanging over my dresser, in my dress with my hair and makeup done made me feel pretty. Nonna was right, the dress did have a classic beauty to it. The pearl necklace and earrings I was borrowing from my Nonna paired with my hair curled and parted to the side really did transform me into a pretty girl, instead of the plain one I saw in the mirror every day.

As I looked myself over in the mirror, my soulmate popped into my head with, "Somebody's excited. What's up, baby?"

"Oh, I'm just getting ready for prom. The dress my Nonna helped me pick out at Macy's is really pretty."

"Prom's tonight? I didn't know that." Brock sighed, sounding as if he was scratching his head trying to remember if I ever mentioned the date to him.

"Yea, it's tonight. I forgot to tell you about it; that's why you didn't know." I told him in a very nonchalant tone.

"Oh…" Brock trailed off in a dejected sigh. "So, you going with your friends?" HE asked even tho it sounded more like a statement.

"No, Geno's my prom date." I told him since I didn't see a reason to lie to him.

"Geno?! Geno, you're fucking ex, Geno!?" Brock exploded. Yea, maybe I should've lied and went with his assumption of me going with friends.

"Yea..well…he's kinda not my ex anymore…" I trailed off since, liked my Nonna always said, the horse was out of the barn now so no use in shutting the barn door.

"WHAT?!" Brock shouted so loud that I felt his 'angry voice' shaking in my very being.

"Um, yea, we've been talking and hanging out since Spring Break." I admitted to my soulmate in a very small tone, hoping that he'd stop yelling and reacting so badly. Shit, it wasn't like he wanted me, so…

"Jesus H. Christ, Gem. You know how much trouble I went thru to teach him a lesson after he laid hands on you? Huh?" Brock rhetorically snarled at me. His voice was loud and thundering with anger. It boomed and shook me to the core, even tho it was just his mental voice that echoed inside of my head. "You know how fucking stupid that is? Huh? How could you even start shit up with that no good goddamned fucker again?"

"Calm down, Brock." I ordered, feeling aggravated that my soulmate was yelling at me; berating me. Brock left out a disgruntled huff thru our bound, causing me to explain to him the important fact of, "I've known Geno all my life; it's nothing serious." Shaking my head and pursing my lips as I stood infront of my vanity mirror, I sneered, "We're not even together, Brock. Hell, we've never even met and prolly never will, so don't worry about who I do or don't see." I could feel the anger and frustration rolling off of him thru our bond, but I didn't care. I went for a low blow by telling him, "Since we're prolly never meeting, maybe I'll just tell people that I'm a soulless. I mean the soulless thing seems to help you keep your bed warm at night."

"Don't you fucking dare joke like that to me, Gem." Brock darkly and lowly seethed.

"Who says I'm joking? Seems like the soulless angle allows you to get plenty of hookups. Maybe the soulless angle will get me a few dates too."

"I know you're young and upset that we can't meet up and be together right now, but that doesn't mean you have to be a little bitch to me, baby."

"Tesoro, your prom date's here! Get your ass downstairs unless you want me to take him into the basement and test out my new silencer on him!" My Uncle Rocco shouted upstairs. I knew he was serious about testing the new silencer on him too. Like Brock, my uncle wasn't too pleased that I was 'seeing' my ex again either.

"My prom date's here. I gotta go." I told Brock before quickly turning off our soulmate bound and rushing out of my room and downstairs to meet my prom date.

At least this time Geno showed up with a corsage. A white rose corsage with white ribbons and a lace wristlet.

May 21st

My prom was eleven days ago and since then I had taken and passed my final exams, got my cap and gown, bought a yearbook, attended a few senior activities, and went to my graduation practice (which was held a couple of days ago). Today was my graduation and I was so excited. Especially since tomorrow I was moving to Willowdale for the summer semester at Culver since it started this week. In three days to be exact. My Facebook friend and future dorm roomie, Darcy, and her soulmate were actually up here for my graduation and to help me move to Culver since freshman weren't allowed to have cars on campus. Luckily, Billy (Darcy's soldier soulmate) was on leave and had a place in Hell's Kitchen so attending my graduation and helping me move wasn't an inconvenience. Darcy had just graduated from Willowdale High a few days earlier, so it wasn't a problem for her to be up here in New York either.

Of course, my family would be meeting my friends, Darcy and Billy, for the first time today at my post-graduation dinner. I was a bit nervous about that since the couple were trolls. I was hoping that my family would approve of my friends. Even tho Darcy and me (Billy too) only ever talked on social media we had grown close, especially since it was Darcy who I vented to about my situation with Geno and Brock. I just felt like I couldn't talk to Izzy and Tiffany about it, so that's why I talked to Darcy. Turns out that Darcy, even tho she was a quirky troll, was a great listener, didn't judge, and was a great friend.

I'd just gotten a text from Darcy saying that she and Billy were in the driveway (since they were taking me to my graduation, despite my Uncle Rocco's protests) whenever Brock's voice warmly popped into my head with, "Happy Graduation Day, baby girl."

"Thank you, Brock." I warmly replied, a large smile on my face.

"Still headed out to Culver tomorrow with your new college town friend?" He asked as I made my way downstairs and towards the front door.

"Yep." I mentally confirmed while exiting my uncle's house.

"Good, I'm glad you're attending the first summer semester. It'll give you a jumpstart on all those boring prereqs." My soulmate told me as I walked down the front porch steps.

"Yea. I'm just excited to get out of Bensonhurst; see something new." I honestly told Brock. "My college friend and her soulmate's here to take me to my graduation, so I gotta go." I explained to him while walking over to the generic black rental car that was parked on the curb in front of my house.

"I understand, baby. Have a great day. I'm proud of you."

"You look giddy as fuck. Talking to your soulmate or are you always this happy to see a rental car?" Billy asked me in a smartass tone while I slid into the backseat of the rental car.

"She's totally talking to her older and mysterious jack-booted thug soulmate." Darcy told Billy before turning around in the front seat and greeting me with a big smile. "Hey, my sister from another mister, you're looking great today. Are those real pearls?"

"Thanks, and yea, my Nonna gave me her pearls for today." I told my social media best friend and sister from another mister as her soulmate pulled away from the curb and rolled down the road.

"Too bad your lush mom won't give you jewelry. Maybe you should just swipe a few things when we move out your shit tomorrow." Billy told Darcy, giving her a mischievous smirk accompanied with a brow waggle.

"I'm not stealing my mom's jewelry, Billy." Darcy snipped, folding her arms over her chest in a shocked way.

"Too bad, some of that stuff's really nice."

"Oh, so you're a Marine and a jewel thief. Wow, aren't you a great friend to have?" I sarcastically remarked while giving an incredulous look.

"Yea, I'm a great brother to have on your side." Billy smirked. I swear, he had no shame.

Roughly An Hour Later…

The AC rattled in the gym of Bishop Kearney as I walked down the aisle of the packed building with my classmates to the sound of the Graduation March. Everyone's family and friends were in the blenchers, mine included. Except that there was one person missing from my entourage: Geno. Geno was down in Baltimore moving some cars for Salieri's chop shop with a few co-workers. He wouldn't be back til tomorrow; I'd be gone by time he rolled into the neighborhood.

It was for the best. I needed to go to college and he needed to realize that even tho I'm not with my soulmate, I can't love him and be with him the way that he wants. Maybe he'll give his soulmate a chance once I'm in Willowdale.

As the march loudly played, my class filed out into our assigned seats (just like we'd done in practice the other day). The Principal gave a speech and so did the Vice Principal, before the Valedictorian was called up to give a speech. Marcos Sandlipo was our class Valedictorian this year. He worked hard for it too since he was the smartest kid in school; was even 400 points away from a perfect score on his SATs. He had a full ride scholarship to MIT, that's how smart he was.

Marcos pushed his thick framed glasses up his nose, since they were falling down, after taking his spot at the podium on stage. With a smile, he started his speech with, "Bishop Kearney's Senior Class of 2008, friends, and family, I'm honored to accept the mantle of Valedictorian." Looking over the vast crowd, he carried on with, "Today, our time has ended with Bishop Kearny, but our life's journey is only just beginning. Some of us will go on to study in college, others will enlist in the Armed Forces to protect our country, while others will start working. Even tho we all have different paths to follow, we'll always have one thing in common: Bishop Kearney. We're apart of something bigger than us by being a graduating member of the 2008 class. We'll forever be Bishop Kearney Owls, will always share memories and experiences." He cleared his throat before ending his speech with, "When we leave this gymnasium today, we'll be graduates embarking on the next quest in life's journey, but we'll always be Owls from Bishop Kearney. We'll always be a bunch of Catholic school kids from Bensonhurst, kids that have to work hard and scrap the barrel to beat and overcome the odds."

"Thank you, Mr. Sandlipo, for your moving speech." Our Principal said once he reached the podium; sending Marcos to join the rest of us seated in the middle of the gym floor. "Now, I'll announce all of our scholarship recipients and then I'll begin the diploma ceremony that I know everyone's anxiously waiting for."

A slideshow played, showcasing everyone who received a scholarship for one thing or another, as the principal read thru a list of names. The list wasn't that long, many only a fourth of the graduating class, but my name was on it. I was proud to be acknowledged for my hard for; for getting a scholarship from the Knights Of Columbus. The scholarship paid a pretty hefty portion of my tution; the other half my Uncle Rocco said was graciously being covered by Don Salieri. The don was always helping out our family, especially when it came to me, but I think that's cause he felt bad about my situation (being abandoned on my uncle's doorstep by my deadbeat dad as a kid).

Of course, outside of the gym in the lobby where all the graduates were able to find their family and friends, I ran into a graduation crasher. My long-lost deadbeat dad showed up and had the balls to try and give me a hug and give me some good job speech. I cursed at him like a wet cat, causing Billy and Darcy to cheer me on. My entire family threatened bodily harm on my deadbeat dad, who claimed to have been invited by my great-uncle-in-law by marriage, Stevie. Nobody talked about Great-Auntie Sophia's husband, other then he wasn't Italian/Sicilian and was an asshole from Brooklyn Heights. Apparently, he was at the graduation too, but chose to lurk in the shadows. I never met the man before, prolly never would either.

Brock felt my tension and strife, only to use our bond to pop into my head and talk me down. Without him I prolly would've used my boxing training on my deadbeat dad; beat the living shit outta him.

Music loudly played over the radio, which Darcy had hooked Billy's iPod up to, as our rental car cruised down 95. The song that was currently playing was a mash-up of Disturbed and Taylor Swift; it was something that Darcy had bootlegged off of YouTube and sent to Billy as a joke since he was a Disturbed fan. Turns out he ended up liking the odd mashup; even let Darcy send him all kinds of weird rock shit for him to put on his iPod.

"Wanna listen to it again, boo?" Darcy asked, her finger just itching to press the loop button on her soulmate's black iPod.

"Sure." Billy nodded.

"Oh my god, we're really gonna listen to that shit again?" I asked in disbelief.

"It's not shit, it's an earworm." Billy said matter-of-factly.

"We should sing our hearts out and freak out the other drivers." Darcy suggested with excitement in her voice and wonder twinkling in her sapphire eyes.

"You down for some car karaoke?" Billy asked, giving me a 'you game' look thru the rearview mirror.

"Darcy, restart that horrible mash-up song so we can belt out off-key tunes." I relented in a half-sigh.

"You heard our sis, babe. Restart Disturbed Swifty and put it on loop." Billy ordered in a goofy tone while holding a finger up in the air.

A minute into the song, Brock popped into my head via our soulmate bond. "What the fuck are you listening to?"

"Disturbed and Taylor Swift mashup that's on Billy's iPod." I told Brock.

"What the fuck?"

"Darcy bootlegged the song for him from YouTube as a joke; turns out it's an earworm."

"That's fucking fantastic. Just what I need while doing paperwork, a weird earworm stuck in my head."

"Hey, if it's stuck in my head it better be stuck in yours. Consider it payback for all the times I'm studying and Toto or something like that starts playing in my head."

"Get down with the sickness!" Billy belted out on top of his lungs, a wide smile on his face as Darcy danced in the front seat, singing just as loudly and off key. A car passed us by and the people in it did a double take at us, that's how crazy we must look.

I felt happy and Brock must've sensed that thru our bond since he told me in a light and genuine tone, "I'm glad you're having fun with your new friends, baby."

"Me too." I honestly admitted to my other half.

"I'll let you enjoy your road trip. Bye baby; let me know when you're at Culver."

"I will, Brock. Bye." I said goodbye to my soulmate, only to rejoin the fun off-key and sour singing my friends were doing in the rental car. God, the Disturbed lyrics set to a Taylor Swift tune really was an earworm. Oh no…

A Few Hours Later…

"Shit, I didn't think your mom would be home." Billy sighed as he parked the rental car in front of a townhouse in the faculty housing section of Culver's campus.

"I didn't think she'd be home either. I swear, I thought she'd be in her classroom getting things ready for the summer semester." Darcy confessed, biting her lip in a worrisome way. From what little I knew about her mom; I knew that woman was a professor that clung onto Darcy like a lifeline after her divorce. Oh, and she also had an unhealthy love for vodka.

Billy looked out his window and then over his shoulder at me, only to warn me in a serious tone, "Gem, ready yourself, you're about to meet the crazy drunk in your life."

"Billy!" Darcy exclaimed, smacking Billy on the shoulder with her hand in a chastising way.

"What? It's true, babe." Billy defended himself while opening up his car door.

"Billy…" Darcy side as we exited the car. "I know it's true, but that doesn't mean I want to hear you say it." She told him, rounding the car to quickly join his side by the sidewalk.

"If it makes things better, my estranged deadbeat dad's a drunk too." I spoke up in an attempt to cut any brewing tension.

"And that's why you're my sister from another mister." Darcy announced while dragging Billy over to the front door of her mom's townhouse.

The townhouse itself looked like a typical one that somebody would find in any nice community. Only difference is that we weren't in a nice community, but were on the Culver Campus. According to Darcy, she grew up on the Culver Campus, since her mom's a 19th Century English Lit professor, so she's immune from all of the things that make other freshman starstruck (AKA keggers, Greek life, etc). The townhouse's white trim rivaled the paleness that overtook Billy's coloring. Clearly, he dreaded having to deal with Darcy's drunk mom. A drunk mom that shouldn't even be home.

The door squeaked as Darcy pushed it open. Her mom was passed out on the couch with a vodka dangling from her hand. None of us said a word as we tip-toed past her and over to the staircase. First Darcy scended the staircase, then me, and then Billy. He was letting us go first incase Darcy's mom woke up. He said that he'd rather he got hit in the head with a vodka bottle then one of us. Once we reached the top of the stairs, we all let out a breath we didn't realize we were holding and rushed down the hall to Darcy's room.

My friend's room was very bohemian styled. A mandala tapestry hung above her bed, twinkle lights were strung up around the mandala in a flowy way, her bed was full of colorful blankets, pillows, and accent pillows. A few pictures of her and Billly were tacked up too. Her bookcase, which looked like she got it at a garage sale and refurbished it, was full of books. Classic books. The room suited her eccentric, free spirited personality. It was the opposite of mine back at my uncle's, but then again, I wasn't as eccentric, free spirited, or outspoken as Darcy was.

"Let's just strip the room as fast as we can and get out before Mommy Dearest Lewis wakes up." Billy instructed us while making a beeline towards Darcy's bed.

"Did you really just refer to my mom as Joan Crawford?" Darcy asked as her soulmate began to quickly strip her bed.

"Yea, I did." Billy confirmed. "Now get those boxed you stashed in your closet and lets go." He ordered Darcy before looking at me and saying, "Just grab the books off the bookshelf or something."

"Okay." I simply said before rushing over to the bookcase.

"Here's the boxes, my hawt jack-booted thug soldier man." Darcy told Billy, merging from her closet with a few boxes.

"Okay, we're just gonna shove everything in the boxes and then get the hell outta here and over to the dorms."

"Good thing I packed my clothes the other day and brought them with me to New York." Darcy remarked while setting the boxes on the floor.

"All three of those suitcases in the trunk are your clothes?", I asked while tossing books into a box.

After we frantically packed up Darcy's room in a few boxes, we scurried downstairs as quietly as we could in hopes of getting out of the house unseen. Unfortunately, Billy's boots thumping against the stairs woke up Professor Lewis. She was like a banshee, cursing and crying as we bolted to the door. She swore up and down that everybody left her and that Darcy was no better then her father, who walked out on her mom when she was a toddler. Her mom also chucked her vodka bottle at us as we ran out the door; it nearly it Billy in the back of the head too.

After the excitement running away from Darcy's drunken mom, we went to the dorms and moved our stuff in. Billy made sure to grumble the entire time about how he was nearly able to dodge and duck the flying vodka bottle just in time too. He was trying to get some sympathy out of Darcy. It worked since after we were done decorating our dorm room, she took off to the local Norman Bates hotel with him.

Of course, the left me alone and bored in our dorm. A boredom that was cured by me reaching out to Brock and having to stick a sock on the doorknob (in case Darcy came back to the dorm). She never came back to the dorm; Brock kept me entertained all night too via our bond.

AN:

I know, I packed a few months' events into one chapter. Hope you guys didn't mind. This chapter took a while to write, but hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Next up will be a time jump to when Gem meets her college boyfriend (*cough* man slut ex *cough*) and how her relationship with him affects her soulmate bond with Brock.