Jade Pov

It was now November, and Cat wanted to go with Tori to pick dresses for the Winter dance. I had decided to hang out with Syn for the day. He was pretty cool for a boy. He knew martial arts, several languages and he was easy to talk to. He asked about how me and Tori were doing while he told about him and Cat. We just bounced stories about our over-cheery loves.

We had decided to head to a local sparring gym. He had told me he could never strike a woman for any reason unless she was sparring with him. In which case sex meant nothing. He still wouldn't remove that arm cover he always had on his right arm. I don't think I ever actually saw his right arm bare. I had asked Cat about it, but she told me he would tell me about it when he trusted me enough. She said it was something he didn't like speaking of with anyone whom he didn't trust. I had respected that up until now- I was going to rip it off "accidentally" during our sparring match.

"So which martial arts did you study? I studied military fighting." I asked.

"Tai chi. I have a black belt, but I don't like to show it off. I don't really need to use it often so why bother?"

"Good point. Now get ready for an ass kicking." We started by getting in our stances. He moved very quickly. His moves seemed to be more like dancing than fighting, each move bending into the next, flowing from one stance and move to another. After three hours, and many, many falls from me; we sat down and relaxed. I never even got a chance to grab his arm cover. So I decided to just ask.

"Why do you wear that thing? The arm cover. I know it's not a fashion statement because you even told me you don't like fashion."

"Do you really want to know?" he asked. I could tell he was dead serious. This had to be something he hid from everyone like Cat said.

"Yeah. I think if you're going to date my best friend I should know a lot about you."

"I trust you Jade, more than I think is safe. You still scare me a little, but I know you won't blab. I'll tell you, but you must swear never to tell anyone."

"I swear."

"There's a reason why I'm very skeptical of people, as well as shy. I don't like to trust anyone. These are why." He pulled off the cover, and I was so shocked, I think I actually pissed a little. His arm was covered in marks. I couldn't tell what most of them were, but I could see that many of them satanic symbols. Those symbols were scarred into his skin. All the others though were burned into his skin- deeply burned. They all looked very old, and they covered every part of his arm all the way up to his collarbone.

"What the fuck happened to you?"

"My father was a satan worshipper. I still am unsure what my mother worshipped. When I was four, their cults thought I was some kind of sign. I was to be some ritual sacrifice. That is why my name is Syn. They started by marking my arm all over; the pain was excruciating. They only got as far as my collarbone before they were stopped by the military. They had been tracking these cults for a while. They discovered what was happening and rescued me. I was raised by the family of the man who ripped me from the pentagram. Sergeant John Moskow. He asked if he could raise me instead of having me put in foster care. The general saw my arm, looked at the file of the cults, and never thought twice."

He had that kind of experience. His arm was so scarred and burned that I'm not surprised he hid it.

"Dad told me I could hide the marks if I wanted to. He told me he wouldn't force me. I knew I couldn't have the marks removed either. They had been burned and cut so deep into my flesh that the only why to remove them was to practically maim my arm more so than it is already. I decided when I was six to wear this arm cover. Alot of people ask why I only wore one, but I never told anyone other than Cat and you. I know I can trust you. I don't fully know why, it's just something I can feel." he told me.

"I promise. I won't tell anyone. I'm really glad you told me. I wish all of us could have been there for you though. All of us would have stood by you. Now I am glad you came to the Arts." I told him. He didn't have to tell me that because we were just friends, but the fact that he thought he could trust me with that moved even my heart of stone.

"It doesn't effect me anymore though. It's really just a reminder of the cruelty of some people. You guys are the first to really accept me though. Most people didn't really like me. I was never sure why. You guys opened up to me so fast, and not at all because I was rich or famous. I'm glad I met you and your friends. Especially Cat. Now, are you ready to get back at it?"

"Sure." We went at it without his arm cover for a another few hours. When we were done he slipped it back on. We got up and left the gym.

We had planned a double date with the girls earlier, as a surprise, and we were taking them to the movies at nine. It was eight. They would probably still be shopping. We had taken my car since he didn't have one, and headed for the mall.

Cat Pov

"How about this one? I think the color really makes my eyes shine." Tori asked. she still hadn't decided on her dress, but we had found plenty of other clothes. This one actually looked really nice. It was a hot pink dress, low cut and with a wave pattern at the bottom rim. It had a multiple pattern design, switching from floral to waves to vines and back again over the whole dress. It stopped halfway down her thighs, and fit very snugly. Not tightly, but enough to show every curve for all they were worth. This dress was going to make Jade crazy. It had no sleeves, but Tori had bought elbow length gloves for that.

"I think that's just perfect. I think Jade will love that. Especially the low cut on it." My dress was a bit simpler. Syn wasn't into alot of skin showing. Not because he didn't want other guys looking, but because he really enjoyed the simplicity. For him, less detail meant less to distract him from the girl in the dress. Mine was just a small white dress with a simple floral pattern over it. It was high cut and stopped just at my knees. It had sleeves but only covering the ends of my shoulders.

"Okay let's pay for these and get out of here." We headed to the register and paid for the dresses. Tori's was really expensive, being brand name, but mine wasn't alot at all. Syn wasn't impressed by name brand, and if that meant less money to spend on clothes that we would both like, I was all for it. Now that I was with him, I didn't have to try and impress someone with brand name clothing to show fashion sense, or with the latest fashion at all. He didn't care about any of that. He would be happy seeing me in pretty much anything that was decent. Maybe even a few things that weren't- if I had any say in what went on while we were at his house.

We saw Jade and Syn waiting by our car. We hadn't been expecting to see them till we got home. We were staying over at Tori's for a sleep over. Syn got to come only because he wasn't a perv in any way at all. He would turn beet red if he so much as saw our bra straps.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We're taking you to the movies. Jade and I planned a double date. We wanted to surprise you."

"Yay! What are we going to see?" I said in my usual quiet voice.

"We are going to see Breaking Dawn: Part One." They both knew Tori and I were fanatics about the Twilight saga. Even though his book was better, his wasn't going to be a movie for another two years. He and I hopped in my car, and Tori and Jade in Jade's car. We drove to the theatre just with enough time to grab a few snacks. I got skittles and a really big thing of nachos for us. Tori and Jade shared an oversized popcorn. Syn got us a soda to share. Jade did the same.

Jade never really like the Twilight saga, and Syn was known for his reviews saying that if the story hadn't been targeting teenage girls, the books wouldn't have done so well. He liked the story. he just didn't like the literary style used by the author. I, being a teenage girl, was still too caught up in the story to care.

Jade and Tori only made to the marriage scene before they started making out. Syn wasn't like that. He only did something if I was okay with it. He was chivalrous to an almost painful degree. However, with the airhead personality I showed, people often tried to use me or take advantage of me. He had grown very protective of me. He was also very skilled at reading people, so he could tell if a guy was just flirting or trying to make a move. That had happened twice, neither of which ended well for the other guy. He would never swing at the guy, never even hit him, but he would basically have the guys beat themselves up. It was kind of funny to watch. He wouldn't do it unless I gave him some sort of signal that the guy was really overstepping his boundaries.

Anyway, I could tell that he wanted to do the same as Tori and Jade, but he refused to do it without me saying I approved or kissing him first. I honestly appreciated this from him; I didn't wish he would make a move. I just hoped he wouldn't change. At least not till we were a bit farther along, about where Jade and Tori were with the whole engaged thing. I knew we would get that far, I just had to give it time.

We got to the scene where they were at Esme's Island, and at that point, we both really wanted to make out, so I gave in to desire. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him to me and started kissing. Jade and Tori had stopped just as we started. Jade seemed to be interested in watching us, and Tori wanted to see where the movie was going. It kind of irritated me that Jade had to watch, but I didn't let it stop me. We didn't do it with quite the same passion (or tongue) they had, but it was still really nice. I was satisfied, and from the look in Syn's eyes he was too. The movie ended, and we left to go to our cars.

When we got there, Syn asked me something that took me by surprise.

"Cat I just got a really nice house a lot closer to school, and I was kind of wondering..."

"Just ask her already." Jade said. I knew where this was going, but I wanted him to say it.

"Would you like to stay there with me? Live there with me?" Took him long enough.

"Absolutely. I'll tell my Mom and if the guys help, we can start moving my stuff tomorrow." I think he was still stuck on the part where I said I would because he got a starry look in his eyes. The guys would help. I had no doubt about that. We had school tomorrow so we could start afterwards. Life was going great for us all.

The next day we told the guys and Sikowitz about our plan. Sikowitz was actually willing to help. I'm not sure why, but we needed every hand so I didn't complain. It took us three days to move all my stuff over to his new house, except I wasn't allowed to actually go there until the day I moved in officially. I discovered why the moment I saw the place. He had really been hoping I would say yes because this house looked like my dream home. My real dream home. Not what the others thought it was.

"Hey Cat like the new place?" Jade asked me, but I couldn't answer. I was stunned. It was a medium sized house, it was not the size but how it looked that made it a dream come true. It wasn't really the outside either. It was the inside, there were: two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a full sized kitchen, and a large entertainment room. I couldn't believe he could afford this. The room that was for me was completely painted pink and red in a swirl pattern. It had a big 60" tv, a queen size bed, a full bedroom set, and still room for my stuff. Everything was made to around the theme of a princess mixed with a cheerleader. I don't know how he did it so fast. He had only been with me for a month, and he had just moved here, he was in a small one room house before.

His room was all military, right down to the sheets. The walls were desert camo, the floor had a grass motif that almost seemed to look like real grass, a queen sized bed, and another 60" tv.

Everything was pretty much camo except on part of the right wall. It had a long frame that held pictures of men in uniforms. Under each were several medals. I could tell these were the men in his adopted family. His father had two Silver Stars and six Purple Hearts. Thinking that it went in order of lineage, I saw his grandfather had four Purple Hearts, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. I really understood his dedication to the military now. All of the other men had several medals each. Each also had dates below their pictures and medals. His fathers was 1970-2011. He hadn't told me his father had passed.

"What happened to your father?"

"He died from a grenade blast. He was a Seal as of three years ago. He had been a Marine when he found me, but he had decided to become a Seal six years ago. It was his last day too. His squad was heading back from a mission, but someone had other plans. They threw a grenade into the middle of them. Dad jumped on it. That was two weeks ago. I didn't say anything because I didn't need to feel sad. He died saving his men. I couldn't ask for anything more." At that I saw a single tear fall down his cheek. I knew him very well at this point, and despite being very shy and timid, he never cried. Ever.

"Where's your Mom?"

"She died two months ago. She was helping build a school in the Middle East for girls. She was a Army Sergeant. Some local group of terrorists attacked the school. She was found with twenty four bullet wounds and seven bodies of the bastards around her. She had saved several girls from those men. Her picture is in your room. With her two medals of honor. She was a hero. They both were. Our family has been in the armed services dating back to the Revolutionary War. We have had at least two men in every war the U.S. has ever been in until now. This time we had a man and woman. Dad never found out. He was deep in the field, and they didn't want to send him that kind of news. It would have caused him to falter." He explained, audibly sniffling now.

He was crying more now so I walked over to him and brushed the tears away. This guy, no this man had gone through so much in his life, and now he had lost both his adopted parents in less than a quarter of a year, yet he still managed to keep a straight face all the time. I couldn't have asked for anything like this. He was truly a great man. He would follow in the footsteps of many great men and a great woman, who weren't even blood. I knew from that moment on that this was the man I would spend my life with. I gave him a deep hug.

"I'm not going to leave. Ever. I will stand by you through all of what your parents were going to. Don't forget that." I told him. I had started to cry.

"Thank you Catarina. I will follow in their footsteps. I've already made my choice too."

"Which branch?" we were both a bit teary now.

"The same my father was in. I'm going to be a Seal."