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Period five and six seemed the shortest yet longest classes I had ever taken. Time was warped, with each minute ticking by with agonising slowness until suddenly,

It was time to go. As soon as I heard the first clang of the bell, I rushed out of the door to my locker, ignoring the surprised looks on the faces I passed; I was always calm and collected, never flushed and frantic like I was now. I packed up as quickly as possible and headed to the gym just as students started to trickle into the locker rooms. When I was almost at the arranged spot, I slowed down to catch my breath before striding forward. But when I rounded the corner, I found Jay already sitting on the bench. How had he gotten here so fast? He looked up at my approach and stood, moving forward to stand directly in front of me. I was suddenly conscious of how alone we were, and the thought made me tingle with excitement. Jay took one small step forward, just enough to invade my personal space, and I was acutely aware of the way his biking leathers hugged every muscle and of the heat pouring off him in waves. The hairs on my arms stood up and reached towards him, drawn as if by static. My eyes were level with his chest, and he leaned down until his mouth was close to my ear. His breath ghosted over the shell of my ear, and my back arched instinctively. When he spoke, my toes curled at the husky quality his voice had adopted.

"How long have you known who I am?" he purred. It took me a minute to comprehend the question, too focused on his breath on my ear.

"I-I heard you speaking to Snotlout and Eret. After the fight," I stammered. A look of comprehension and disappointment crossed Jay's face.

"Ah." He pulled away and I almost whined at the loss of heat. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Astrid. You-" Jay started, then suddenly he stopped and went ridged as he had at lunch.

"J-jay?" I whispered. He started trembling and his eyes turned glassy and unfocused. What was happening? I was about to try to say something when I heard a sound. I paused, then realised it was coming from the man standing in front of me. Jay whimpered again, shrinking back into himself and his trembling increased until he was shaking, a thin sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead. With a trembling hand, I reached out and touched him. The contact seemed to startle Jay out of whatever had seized him, and he collapsed onto the floor. I let out a cry and knelt beside him. Then I realised; Jay had just had a panic attack.

Panting, Jay opened his eyes. They were shadowed with memories and I could see the anguish and terror. He slowly sat up and took a deep breath.

"Astrid," he murmured as if checking it was me. He kept chanting my name like a prayer.

"Hic-Jay," I reassured him, stroking his shoulder soothingly. He let out a sigh and sagged against me, warm body pressed against mine. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around his torso in a comforting embrace, murmuring soothing words in his ear until his breathing had evened out again. The steady thump-thump of his heart vibrated through me, and the tension rose between us once more. Jay suddenly straightened, looking at me wildly before his cool mask slid over and he rose an eyebrow.

"My, aren't we getting cosy."

It was my turn to look at him incredulously. Had he forgotten his attack? His arms loosened around me and I became aware that I was still holding him. I released him with a start, muttering apologies and ducking my head.

"Astrid blushing! Quite the show. One I certainly never thought I would see," he said, leaning forward. Jay looked down on me, deliberately pressing against me until there was no space between us. A strangled noise came from my throat. Holding eye-contact, he leaned down and once again whispered in my ear. "Oh, Asssstriddddd."

I started out of my trance, moving away and punching him on the arm with a red face.

"I-I gotta go," I stammered and sprinted away. I needed to clear my head.

I ran all the way home, the cool air refreshing on my heated skin, and slowly entered my house. No-one was home. Good. Creeping up to my room, I readied my phone to tell the girls what had happened, before deciding against it. I fell back on my bed, checking the time; 6 o'clock.

Later that night as I lay in bed, I was once again unable to go to sleep. My phone pinged on my bedside table and I leaned over to check it. The text was from Ruffnut. 'Hey girl, have you checked the surprise we sent? Heather and I are filming Jay whenever we can and will send them to you so you can 'not do anything.' Go get him Astrid!' I opened the video they sent me and sighed. It was from PE class. I remembered looking up at him and- now I had to open the video. With a sigh, I adopted the position I had used last night, under my blanket, and pressed play.

A/N: Hey All, here is the next chapter, I'm sorry It's so late, I've had heaps of work to do. Some bad news: I'm going camping for the next week and a half, so won't have any time to update at all. However, the week after that I will probably update two or three times. Please comment, I love reading them all.

Challenge #1: What's the shot count of a Gronkle?

Challenge #2: Dagur has lines tattooed over his eye. How many are there? (Don't cheat- it's fine if you get the answer wrong!)

See you soon,

DeathlyGummyAlpha