Mark walked through the front doors of the high school, eyes fastened on the ground. His feet shuffled over the tiled floors and made strange sounds that echoed off of the walls of the empty hall. It had seemed like he really could start over, like he really had a chance to escape what had happened before. Now… he didn't know what to think. Even though he knew that none of this was his fault, he couldn't help but think that maybe… maybe he was just bad luck. Maybe this had happened to Astin and Angel and Roger because he arrived. Hell, he'd fucked up his own life enough to know that he just attracted bad things. Perhaps now his bad luck had decided to pass on to other people.

It was with these thoughts that Mark walked aimlessly through the school, not paying attention to where he was walking. As a consequence, Mark found himself running into a broad, warm male chest as he rounded a corner. "Oh, I'm…" The blond paused when he saw just who he had run into. Fuck. The second-to-last person he wanted to see in that moment. First would have been Benny, for obvious reasons. Second was… "C-Collins," he stuttered, reaching up to adjust his glasses nervously.

For reasons he couldn't understand, Collins seemed just as jittery as Mark suddenly did. "Good morning, Mark," he murmured in a low voice. God help him, but Mark found himself melting a little when he heard that voice. Ever since that night, he couldn't stop thinking about the teacher and how good he felt in his arms. Then, inevitably, his thoughts would drift to events later that night. Mark had watched Angel and Astin, and Maureen and Roger and how just the touch of one of them could comfort the other. Mark craved that. He wanted someone who could ease his state of mind with one brush of skin. He wanted… Collins.

Mark felt himself getting teary-eyed as he remembered Astin lying in that alley, broken and bleeding, Angel's cry of despair when they tried to take him away. Collins noticed and tilted his head, concerned. "Mark? Is everything okay?" Mark didn't notice the hand that raised an inch from Collins's side, as if he were going to touch the blond's cheek.

He shook his head. "No… something h-happened this weekend… I just need to talk about it." He looked up at Collins, blue eyes pleadingly wide behind his glasses. Collins's hand moved again, the motion stopped before it could get too far. The teacher nodded, much to Mark's relief. Wordlessly, he dropped a light arm around his shoulders, leading him back to his classroom.

Maureen sighed softly as she dropped down onto a patch of grass outside of the cafeteria, dropping her bag beside her, her lunch in her lap. Almost everyone was eating inside now, the chilly winds of autumn driving the short skirt wearing girls to the cafeteria tables and the short skirt chasing boys to follow. The large crowd of people inside didn't look too appealing and so she sat sipping her diet coke, the turkey wrap lying untouched beside her as Roger wandered over.

"Hey," he murmured softly, sitting down beside her. "I looked everywhere inside. What are you doing out here?"

She shrugged, eyes following the crisp brown leaves as they floated around the pavement a few feet away. "Didn't want to eat inside. It's crowded. No good tables."

Roger nodded, carefully wrapping an arm around her shoulder before kissing her temple. "It's nice out, anyway," he added.

"I was gonna drive Ang over to the hospital after school. Wanna come?"

Roger nodded, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Of course."

"Speak of the devil," Maureen grinned, looking up as Angel scuffed over. "Hi baby."

Angel nodded and smiled, though it was tight and brief, looking almost forced. Usually he would have at least giggled at Maureen's attempt at a joke, but today he was rather quiet.

"Hey, Rog is gonna come with us this afternoon, okay?"

Angel nodded, absent mindedly opening his salad and stirring it around with his fork. Roger coughed and tugged out a cigarette, trying to occupy himself while they ate - or didn't eat - in silence.

"Where's Mark?" Angel finally broke the silence.

Maureen and Roger shrugged simultaneously, Maureen picking at the wrap around her turkey, Roger taking the last puff before snuffing it out on the sidewalk beside him.

"He spends a lot of his time in the computer lab," Maureen pointed out.

Now both Roger and Angel nodded before the trio fell back into silence.

"I've gotta piss," Roger grunted before disappearing back into the building.

"How you doin' babe?" Maureen asked, reaching over and giving Angel's hand a squeeze.

"Johnson!"

Maureen groaned, rolling her eyes before taking a huge bite of her wrap. "What?" she shouted back, mouth full.

"Oh, that's real hot, babe," Benny grinned, abandoning his group of stooges over by the basket ball court and sauntering over towards her. "Bet that gets Davis all riled up."

"Go to hell," she grumbled, swallowing hard.

"Heard about the little incident this weekend," he continued, ignoring her last comment as he squatted down beside the pair.

Maureen glared up at him before taking another bite and chewing obnoxiously loud, mouth open. "Yeah?"

"Heard James got it pretty bad."

"Did you just come here to give me a play by play of the weekend from hell I just lived?"

"Woah, woah," he chuckled, waving his hands. "Calm down. You know who did it?"

"Kind of," she shrugged, looking over at Angel who hadn't moved since Benny arrived. His eyes were glued to the cucumber drenched in ranch that was balancing on his fork.

"What're you doing, Coffin?"

Maureen sighed as Roger wandered back, his hands forming fists, clenching and unclenching.

"Calm down," Benny instructed, returning to his feet. "Was just… talking."

Roger glanced over at Angel, who was still frozen, and then to Maureen, who rolled her eyes, before stepping toward Benny. "Why don't you run back to your stoolies, Coffin? They, for some God forsaken reason, seem to enjoy your company."

Benny exhaled slowly, his face dropping as he nodded and stepped backwards. "Right. Well, just wanted to say… I'm sorry about what happened. Hope everything works out…" he drifted off as Roger glared at him and turned quickly, walking back towards Mimi and the others.

"You okay Ang?" Roger asked, sitting back down beside Maureen.

Angel nodded quickly, gripping his fork tighter, trying to stab the cucumber that had fallen off. "I'm uh… gonna get to class. See you after last block, Maur."

And with that, Angel scooped up his plastic container of garden greens and his messenger bag and dashed off in the direction of the English wing.

Collins buried his head in his hands with a groan. What the fuck did he think he was doing? No. He couldn't even be thinking about this. There was no way in hell that any of this would work out without breaking someone's heart. Students and teachers were supposed to have good relationships in order to keep a good rapport in the classroom. They were not supposed to be so intrigued by new students that they wanted to find out more about them. They were not supposed to find them even remotely attractive. And they were definitely not supposed to dance with them in a darkened club.

Shit. Now he was back to thinking about that again. Every time he even thought about that night or anything remotely related to it, his mind wandered to that forbidden dance. Collins could recall in perfect detail the way that Mark's body felt against his, how the silk of his shirt made his skin shine, how his hair gel smelt of apples and how fucking much Collins wanted to lean down and capture those soft-looking lips with his own.

"No, a million times no…" he muttered against his arms. It happened again this morning. Mark had come to him, needing a sanctuary. He had resolved to keep the relationship between them purely platonic. But the moment he saw tears brimming in those gorgeous blue eyes, that resolution went straight out the window. He'd led him back to his classroom, arm around his shoulders. It was all he could do to keep from enfolding him in a hug and whispering that everything would be all right. Mark's expressive face kept peering at him, begging him to help resolve this confusion and turmoil swirling in his head.

But he couldn't. Didn't Mark understand that? This couldn't happen. "It can't happen…" he muttered.

"What can't happen?"

Collins's head shot up from his arms at the light, familiar voice. Angel stood in his doorway, a picked-at salad in his hands. He didn't look good at all, pale and drawn beneath his coffee-colored complexion. Fading tearstains decorated his cheeks and his brown eyes were rimmed with red. "Angel? Are you okay?"

He sniffed, a small ironic smile on his lips. "I'm sure you've heard what happened by now. You should know that I'm far from okay." Angel walked over to a front desk and slid into it, lacking any of his former grace. He sighed softly. "But I guess I'm surviving, considering the circumstances."

Collins nodded. "I'm impressed. It took a lot of strength for you to come here today, Ang. Has anyone said anything yet?"

Angel licked his lips, nodding slightly. "Benny."

"Say no more." Collins steepled his fingers, resting his chin on them. "You know Angel, I've never told you, but I admire your guts for being in such an open relationship. I know it's hard under any circumstance, especially high school. You and Ast have a lot of courage."

Angel sighed, a small smile curving his lips. "I love him. He loves me. I'd rather risk the abuse from assholes and everything we have to face than hiding what we share. And someday I hope people will see our relationship for what it is. Love. Something beautiful that everyone should have. It's not something that should be hidden."

Collins listened to the surprisingly wise eighteen-year-old attentively, doubt churning in his stomach. He had the feeling that someday he would need to remember this moment. He had an inkling why he would need to remember, but he couldn't allow himself to think of that. He just couldn't.

Roger groaned as he approached his History class. He hadn't finished the paper, done the homework, not to mention he'd slept through the past three meetings. He forgot momentarily about the unpleasantness of class when he saw the blond filmmaker rushing towards him, his head down, eyes staring at the floor.

"Mark!"

The kid nearly jumped out of his sneakers and did drop his History book, sending papers flying all over the floor. He squeaked and dropped to the floor quickly like an air raid alarm had just gone off, trying to cover all of his papers at once while the last of the students trampled over him trying to get to class before the bell rang. Roger groaned and hurried forward, dropping to his knees to help Mark pick up the papers just as the bell rang.

"Sorry," Roger chuckled, but Mark failed to find any of this funny. He grimaced as he shoved his papers into his binder.

"We're late," he pointed out very curtly.

"Yes, we are," Roger agreed, failing to find this piece of information important.

"We'll get detention."

"No, I'll get detention. This is only your first time being late. And it's not even that late."

Mark also failed to find this comforting as he scrambled to his feet.

"You alright?" Roger asked, studying his face curiously.

"M'fine," Mark snapped, brushing off his pants.

Roger nodded, not believing the kid for a minute, but didn't feel the need to press for more information. "Hey, I've got an idea."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"Let's skip class all together."

"Skip class?!"

"Yes, but it's not like you say, skip class?! It's not a big deal. I do it all the time. This way you're not in trouble for being late."

"No, you're in trouble for skipping!"

"Mark," Roger sighed, grabbing onto his arm. "You look like you could use a break. This class is complete bullshit anyway. Come on. Let's go grab lunch at Wendy's."

Mark paused, tempted by the offer. "I've already eaten lunch."

"So I'll buy you a Frosty. We'll get fries, you dunk 'em in. It's really good. Angel taught me that trick."

Before Mark could protest, Roger had grabbed him and was steering him in the direction of the back parking lot, out towards his beaten up Sundance.

Once Mark had gotten in, or Roger had forced him in and buckled him down rather, Roger peeled out of the lot as quick as possible before the traffic cop Mrs. MacDonald, or Big Mac as the kids so fondly called her, could say anything. Roger steered Mark inside as well, dropping him down in a booth and returning shortly, carrying two yellow cups and a brown paper bag.

"So how've you been holding up?"

Mark shrugged, taking a fry out of the bag and biting into it. "I dunno. Fine I guess. It's just another school, right?"

"No, I meant about Saturday night," Roger replied, dunking his fry into the thick chocolate shake.

Mark froze for a moment, unable to continue chewing the hot mashed potato. Did Roger know? How did Roger know? Roger knew about how he'd danced with Collins. He'd seen and was probably ready to announce it to the entire school. It would be on the front page of the newspaper, in the morning announcements, everyone in the cafeteria would be talking about how Mark Cohen was having a fling with Collins.

"You know, with Astin and all," Roger continued when he saw Mark was unable to respond.

"Oh," he cleared his throat, swallowing. "Oh, um, I'm alright. It's just kind of… scary, you know?"

"Yeah," Roger nodded. "I know. Maur and Ang and I are going over after school. You wanna come? I'm sure he'd love to have visitors."

"Sure," Mark nodded, picking up another fry.

"And uh… about earlier that night…" Roger paused. "Did you dance at all?"

Mark gulped, his stomach tightening. Just when he thought he was safe… "Uh, yeah, a little…" he shrugged, wiping his fingers on the napkin.

"Mark, Maur and I saw," he admitted, trying hard not to smile.

"Saw what?" he asked nervously, his voice raising as he tried to suck the thick shake up through the straw.

"You… and Collins… dancing…" he laughed.

"S'not funny, I didn't mean to, I didn't know it was him until we were dancing and I don't like him like that. It's not what you think at all."

"Whoa, whoah," Roger cut Mark off, still chuckling. "Calm down. You don't know what I think. Relax. It was probably an honest mistake. Neither of you were really paying attention, thinking it was somebody else… not a big deal."

Mark nodded slowly. "Yeah, right. Exactly."

"But, uh, how was it?"

He choked and nearly spat the contents of his mouth out all over the table. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on, Mark. I've see you around him… you liked it. A little. Right?"

Mark hung his head, closing his eyes. This had to have been one of the most awkward conversations he'd ever had. "Roger, please don't tell anyone, especially not Collins."

"My lips are sealed, Marky," Roger replied, pretending to zip his lips and throw away the key.

"I mean it, Rog, real- what? Really?"

"Really," Roger nodded. "It's none of my business and it's certainly no one else's business."

Mark sighed, rather relieved, and a grin formed on his lips. He picked up another fry and dunked it into the shake. "This is really good."

"Told ya," Roger grinned. "So isn't this better than History class?"

"Absolutely," Mark nodded. "Absolutely."

Astin sighed and rubbed his temples. These damn detectives had been in here for two hours, asking him the same questions over and over. He knew they were just trying to do their jobs, but was repeated questioning of the victim necessary? He contemplated crying uncle and begging for mercy. Maybe then they'd let him off the hook.

Detective Grey seemed to agree with his feelings. "All right, Astin, this is the last time, I promise. I'm really sorry we've had to ask you over and over again what happened, but we'll be done soon. Just… walk us through it again."

He rolled his eyes. They'd said that before too… twice. "The contest had just finished and we were announced as the winners. All of my friends went out to dance, including my boyfriend. I told him I needed a smoke and then went out to the back alley to have it. Once I was lit up, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I thought it was Angel -"

"Your boyfriend?" Lawrence interrupted, not even bothering to take notes at this point.

"Yes." He didn't like the way that Lawrence said that, or his tone of voice whenever he referred to Angel. "Anyway, I thought it was Angel but it was those dicks from Proceed With Caution. I'm pretty sure their names are Nico, Dan and Toby. Dan jumped me from behind and tackled me down. Then they started saying how a faggot, a pretty boy and a cross dresser didn't deserve to win the prize. They called me every name in the book while kicking the shit out of me. Then… I guess they got bored of hearing my sounds of pain, so they just laughed at me and left." Astin was staring hard at the end of the bed, retelling the story in a bored monotone.

Grey and Lawrence sensed his resentment in having to repeat himself. Grey got up from the chair by his bed, closing her little notebook as she moved. "Okay, I think we've heard plenty… Astin, we'll be giving you a call when everything gets sorted, okay?" The keyboardist nodded indifferently. The two detectives nodded and headed out the door, running into a group of people as they did so.

Astin grinned when he saw his boyfriend leading his friends in. "Hey, mon amour," he said softly, reaching for Angel. He tugged the smaller boy onto his bed beside him, kissing his temple. "And everyone else," he added with a grin. They all took their positions of the previous night: Mark in the chair by the door, Roger in the other chair and Maureen on his lap. "How was everyone's day?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice.

It worked. The other four grinned, albeit dimly. "That good, huh?" he provided.

Angel snuggled close to him. "I missed you. People were being dicks…" he murmured.

Astin looked at his boyfriend for a moment before turning concerned eyes to Roger. "What happened?"

"Benny. He wasn't trying to be a dick… for once. But it came out that way," Maureen piped up.

"Whoa… he wasn't trying to be a dick? That's a first…" Roger tightened his arms around his girl, kissing her neck gently.

Angel smirked softly, a hint of his playfulness returning to his face. "I think he just has a crush on Maureen," he murmured, anticipating the rocker's reaction. Astin squeezed his shoulder and held him closer, an amused smile on his lips.

Roger, on the other hand, just growled. "He better not be eyeing my girl…" he said lowly, still holding Maureen possessively. The pair on the bed just laughed when Maureen turned in Roger's lap to kiss him deeply, assuring him that she wasn't going anywhere. Mark joined in on their mirth, though there was a shadow in his eyes about something. Astin noted it and decided to ask him about it later, but for now, he was enjoying the company and laughter of his friends.