Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction, there's no resemblance to actual persons or events or places. If so it is utterly not intended. I do NOT own Monster High or anything to do with it, thank you.

A / n: Awww, you guys! You're just so damn amazing. The support on this story is astounding. I do have other ideas that are in development so don't forget to watch out for those if you enjoy this story. Thanks again! None of this is really possible without the continuous support. Hope you guys are all around if I ever get published xD I figured I'd treat you guys with another speedy update though. Enjoy the chapter!

Cast In Stone

Chapter Eighteen

As the respectful guy Deuce Gorgon was, he didn't want to break anything to Cleo in front of the school. That unknown blogger was vicious and he didn't want his ghoulfriend, or potential former ghoulfriend, to be attacked. She wouldn't need anything else to bother her, this would be sufficient enough. He'd thought long and hard about this and the discussion he'd had with Heath and Clawd just yesterday. They were right. He couldn't continue to put Cleo second best any longer.

On one hand, he felt that he'd been put on the back burner to her Queen Bee ways – but he didn't want to hurt Cleo. He did care for her, he just didn't think they had the spark they once did and it was all the fault of lacking in communication to thank. "Hi boyfriend!" Cleo greeted him kindly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him.

All this did was make him feel worse. Every second he saw her smile, he felt like a very horrible person. Only she could go from making him feel warm and fuzzy, to vile and horrible. "Cleo… I'm sorry to say that this isn't what you think. We have to seriously talk and I don't know what you're going to walk away feeling like, but I'm doing this because I really care about us, about you." Of course she stepped back from Deuce, looking at him with the beginnings of emotion in her eyes. She held back.

"Deuce… what's this about?" She asked him, not being able to feel anything other than helplessness for what she thought was probably going to happen next.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Cleo, there's a few things that have been really frustrating me that I think we need to talk about. First off… I feel like I'm being put on the second line while you're busy ruling the halls of Monster High just like your sister did. You're becoming obsessed with doing so, just like she did. I know you're better than that Cleo, but I'm afraid I couldn't point it out though."

Despite the comment about Nefera, Cleo was holding it together quite well. She folded her arms, bedazzled with golden bangles, over her chest.

He sighed, "Cleo… this is my point. Don't just listen – talk to me too. Don't just stand there and agree, I want to hear your opinion. I don't feel we talk as much as we used to and in turn, it has us drifting apart." He pulled her into a hug, which she didn't resist. "Remember when we'd be at my place, alone for the night… and we'd talk and talk for hours? We haven't done that in forever. I miss that. I miss you Cleo, you're not the ghoul I fell for anymore. At first it was all about us – in your eyes. Now it's all about us – in everyone else's eyes. You've become so obsessive with us being the 'it couple' of the school, you've forgotten that you and I make the couple, not you, me and everyone else Cleo. I really care for you, but I don't want to go any further with these thoughts on my mind. You understand, don't you?"

Cleo nodded, still lingering in his arms. Now burying her face into his shoulder.

He ran a hand through her soft hair, his fingers intertwined in its beautiful luster. "Cleo, you'd also make plans for us – the whole school knew about it, always, every single time before I knew myself. It's like you forgot I was your boyfriend. You're in a relationship with me – not the entire school. I think… that we should take a break from one another. Maybe see other people."

Cleo backed away from him shaking her head, making this about one thousand, million times harder than Deuce thought it would be – and he figured it would not be easy. "But Deuce…"

He put his index finger upon her soft lips, which in turn she kissed gently. "Cleo, please. If during our separation, you can prove to me that you want to be together, that you've listened to me and considered us thoroughly – maybe we can still be."

Cleo sniffled ever so slightly. "How do I prove it to you, Deuce? How do I prove that it's you I want? How do I truly prove, we can make this work?"

Deuce adverted his gaze, "It wouldn't be purely you trying if I told you how to do it, right?"

She gave a nod and looking at him, her bottom lip quivered gently. That was the sign she was going to burst into tears soon. Deuce had seen quite a few tears of Cleo's in the time they'd been together, so he knew this all too well. She turned on her heels and walked away as quickly as they'd let her do so.

Deuce felt bad for her walking off the way she did. But he did get his point across to her. He wasn't just doing this because he wanted to see how things would be with Jackson for shits and giggles. No he was doing this, to test Cleo. To see if she truly cared about him and if she'd listen to what he told her and also if she'd bother trying to prove it.

He watched as she walked back to the school, hugging herself the entire way. He never felt like such a bad person in his entire life. But he did the right thing, didn't he?

Today had been a good day for Jackson, it was his first day back at school and he surprisingly wasn't extremely far behind in school work - wasn't anything a few hours of homework wouldn't fix. It was now the second half of the day. Jackson had the pleasure of tutoring the grade just underneath him right after lunch in Mad Science. The period after that was his own Mad Science class that he shared with his direct peers and last class of the day was Dead Languages, which he shared with again, directly the peers his own age.

He always got to the Mad Science class earlier than planned, just in case Hack needed something prepared and didn't get to it or whatever the reason – if he needed help, he was there. "Hi sir," he greeted cheerily.

"Jackson!" Mr. Hackington turned around right away and hugged Jackson.

The normie disguised his pain to hide behind a smile. His lower abdomen would certainly be killing him for the rest of the day after that hug. "Hey." He greeted, struggling to get away from the hug, which parted right after that.

"You're alright, I'm so glad to see that. You have no idea. Jackson, what happened?" This was the part he'd been looking forward to the most – telling Hack what happened. He truly understood Jackson and it wasn't hard for him to be utmost honest with his feelings and not be reprimanded or feel ashamed for doing so. "No wait, I'd rather you not say it… these walls have more than just ears. Write it down if you can. Do it during this period, there's really nothing for you to do – we're just taking notes today."

Had Jackson known he'd spend the period writing out everything that happened to Hack, he'd have had the letter ready. But he gave a curt nod, "Sure, I can do that." He took out a spare notebook and his pencil case, grabbing a freshly sharpened pencil and writing the date at the top right of the page, taking out a red pen and perfectly underlining it – then starting the entry.

Here you go guys! Another speedy update for you!

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