Jim kicked the door.

No reply.

He kicked it harder, this time, it jolted in it's slot, the hinges making a groan against his force.

Still.

Jim gave up and moved away. He'd just turned around when Adrian opened his door, finally. He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What?"

Jim sighed and handed Adrian something. "Here, you keep dropping your cloudians." As he was holding it out, Jim noticed his hands still shook from last night.

Adrian reached out and took Jim's wrist instead. He pulled him close enough where his breath hissed across Jim's ear. "Don't you want to come inside."

It wasn't an invitation, it was a demand.

Jim closed his eyes and shuddered. He still felt cold hands on his back. Adrian wasn't kind at all.

---Jesse---

He stretched.

WHACK!

"ACK! Jaden!"

Jaden lay back on his bed.

Tyranno laughed. "KO, soldier! Up and at 'em, soldier!"

Jaden looked dead, but his hand was over his mouth. When he sat up, blood trickled out and dripped off his hands, staining the sheets and saturating Jaden's knee. "Mm. I'm awake now, Jesse," came Jaden's muffled reply.

Jesse sighed and then laughed. "Sorry."

Jaden and Tyranno left to go use the bathhouse and clean up. Jesse sat cross-legged on his bed. He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes.

That moonlight penetrated his closed eyes and it's darkness. He could still see it clearly.

---flashback---

Jim had found a stone and was learning to skip the stones. He'd found his way and had gotten it just as far as Jesse's. He seemed bored of it.

Adrian had somehow wormed into the conversation and Jim had shut up like a clam.

Jesse stood up. The moonlight reflected off the water as he stretched. Jesse tried not to turn around and look at Jim. He knew what he'd see. It wouldn't be pretty. Jim hadn't really liked Adrian when they'd started. Something had transpired between the two of them the day they left the "meeting" about the BioBands, something that had forced Jim's mouth shut about Adrian.

"Jesse?"

He didn't turn around. "Hm?"

"Jesse, look at me."

Jesse didn't. He moved along the pier, following a wave. He watched it smash to bits on the rough surface of the wall.

"Jesse...."

He had an idea. He did turn around and look at Jim, but just long enough to gauge his distance. With a dead-on run, he speared Jim and the two of them went splashing into the water. It wasn't that Jesse had meant to hurt Jim.

Of course, Jesse had forgotten, in the spur of the moment, he couldn't swim.

He managed to get close enough to the pier that he could grab onto the ledge.

Jim had gotten out and was stripping off his shirt and vest, squeezing out water. He noticed Jesse's hand slipped off the ledge. Being that he was halfway up, Jesse narrowly avoided hitting his forehead on the ledge.

It didn't stop Jim, he dove in after Jesse. The waves pulled Jesse off, into the ocean. Jim wouldn't reach him fast enough. He gave a noise and Shirley swam up near him. Jim grabbed on and held his breath. "Jesse!"

Jesse managed to spring out of the water so Jim could find him, but a wave swallowed him.

Jim looked down. Shirley didn't need to be told. She tucked in her legs and Jim took hold of her snout. She shot towards Jesse's last position. She was fast and Jim had to put his head down so he wouldn't get water up his nose. When she started to slow, Jim stuck his head over the water again. Jesse's hand broke the surface just to the left. Jim reached out and--

"Jesse!"

He was across Shirley's torso with Jim. He coughed and then smiled. "Heh, howdy, partner. Can I do that again?"

Jim had half a mind to drop Jesse off Shirley and make him swim back. Instead, he and Shirley helped Jesse swim back to the pier. Once on shore, Jim punched Jesse's knee. "Don't do something you can't save yourself from!" he scolded.

Jesse cracked a smile. "My hero!" He flung his arms around Jim's neck and rubbed his cheek against Jim's bandaged cheek. "Aw, ya'll saved my sorry hide." He gave Shirley a little rub between the eyes. He sprang up and stretched again. "Ah, that's cold. Time for something warm and something tiring."

---end---

Jim slowly opened his eye a fraction of an inch.

He'd fallen for Jesse then. Jesse had been so willing to be saved and so willing to have fun. He'd been carefree and even though it had almost cost him his life, Jesse could smile about it because someone cared enough to save him.

The white ceiling was suddenly painted with Jesse's smile as he'd come up to hug Jim.

Jim squeezed his eye shut. He didn't want that. Adrian would know. Adrian would tear that sweetness and Jim wouldn't have anything except....

"ADRIAN!! OPEN THE DOOR, ADRIAN!"

Jim's eye flew open wide and he looked to his left. He was in the wooden chair with his arm resting on the table. Adrian was monitoring how much he was putting into Jim. He slowly extracted the needle and put a piece of gauze on it.

"ADRIAN, YOU--!"

He opened the door. "What, Jesse?!"

"Oh, you are there! Well, erm, that is, have you seen Shirley? There's blood all over Jim's room...."

Shirley, who had her head on Jim's feet looked to the door.

"Yes, she's right here." Adrian opened the door.

Jim, by reaction, hid his arm. Jesse just smiled and beckoned for Shirley to come to him. When she didn't, he shrugged. "Ah, well, Jaden doesn't believe that Jim and Shirley didn't have a quarrel. Can you hang on a sec?"

Adrian sighed and went back to the table, leaving the door open. He sat on the edge of the table nearest Jim. "Tell me you weren't bleeding last night."

"Dragging Jesse onto the pier took too much energy," Jim lied.

Jim's stomach and right shoulder were scratched up real good from the jagged rocks he was protecting Jesse and Shirley from. It had cut just deep enough to draw blood. But when he'd gone to lift Shirley in the morning, he'd stretched the scabs free and paid for it with a bloody sheet.

"SEE!"

Jaden smiled at Jim. He'd done it on purpose. "Okay, okay, then let's go eat. I was hoping Jim would come and eat with us. I see he and Adrian are eating together today." He gave Jim a sad look, where Jesse couldn't see it. "Anyways, Adrian, Atticus Rhodes would like to speak with you, when you've got a moment. Jesse hates eating with strangers and Zane wanted to eat with him. Weird, right?"

"Whatever." Adrian waved a hand and the door closed. His smiling face turned cold and blank. He looked directly at Jim, who was still looking at the door. When Jim turned his eyes upon Adrian, he spoke. "Well, what have you done now? Could it be that Jesse is somehow taking you away from me? Remember, I own you, Jim. I branded you as my own, and only you know that. Don't think I'll let you go that easily."

---Jesse---

He wasn't eating.

No, more like he couldn't eat.

Who could eat in front of a menacing presence like Zane Trusedale? It was unthinkable.

He tried to make small talk, but Zane wasn't interested. He'd tried so much as asking Zane how he was. He just got a cold stare.

"What do you want?" Jesse finally asked.

Zane sat there in silence, his arms folded, for just about a lifetime. "Do you honestly think you stand a chance as you are?"

"Wh-what?!"

"Atticus told me." Zane looked down at Jesse's full tray of food. "Against Adrian for Jim's heart, is it really possible you could be so naive as to believe that as you are, Adrian will just back off?"

Jesse felt his heart lurch into his throat. "Wh-what?!"

"You heard me." Zane slammed a hand down. "I'm here to tell you that sitting pretty and wishing for something won't work. I've done that before. Trust me, it's best to just open the can of worms and take it. If Jim doesn't come to you, you go to him."

Jesse choked. "Why would I do that?! Jim's not.... interested."

Zane suddenly reached across and the old Zane shone through as he grabbed Jesse's nose and yanked lightly. "Then make him interested. If it doesn't work, then he doesn't want you. What do you want from him?"

"I dunno."

Zane slapped Jesse. "Think!"

Jesse blinked and remembered something. "AH! A smile! I want a smile."

Zane sat back. "Good. Now, how do you plan on getting that?"

Jesse was thinking about it when--

"YOU DUNG HEAP! Is it that hard to know that?!" Chazz said, interrupting. He put his face five centimeters from Jesse's. "Don't think about it! Do it! Go do something and make that special someone love you!"

Jesse didn't fall back. "You mean like you and Alexis?"

If Jesse could see it, he'd see the giant arrow stuck in the back of Chazz's head as he hit his forehead on the table. It would be spurted blood from the back of his head and would read "failure to collect Alexis" on it.

But Jesse just saw Chazz, gloomy and emo all over the place.

Zane sighed and closed his eyes. "What Chazz says is what I want you to understand. You can go, take on the world, but not Adrian? Take him on. Duel him if you must. But win over Jim's heart and see the thing you want."

Jesse nodded and left.

Zane reached over and pulled out one of Chazz's hairs. The boy yelped and sat up. "Get over yourself."

"Shut up! You old timer."

Jesse turned around as he heard arguing and dishes breaking and something like someone screaming "mercy" in a squeaky voice. He thought the "mercy" sounded like Chazz. He shrugged it off and went to find Jim.