WHOAHHH.

Disclaimer: I own no one familiar to the movie. End of disclaimer.

Never thought that Lash and Layla had a past relationship beyond the movie? What? You never thought they could have been friends? Are you kidding me? Here! Have the story! My goodness, you've been missing out.

Past

"Why did you refuse? You've got a great power!" He whispered, and Speed snickered, muttering beneath his breath. Layla heard the word 'pansy' be released from it, and she rolled her eyes as Lash ducked to her height.

"I only believe in using my powers only when the situation demands it - you know that." She hissed, speaking the words she said only hours before. He sighed, taking a finger and playing with her pigtails.

"Yeah, yeah." Giving her a small shove against the lockers, he smirked as she protested his hips against hers. He gave her a peck on the forehead in the deserted corridor, and she giggled, her anger from the morning disappearing. Like old times.

"You're such a kid, Lash. Go home." Speed grasped his shoulder as they took a walk down the hall, leaving Layla to walk the opposite way, to the entrance of the school to go home.

--

Their encounters were merely just waves as they passed, evil glares exchanged between Lash and Will, even though Layla tried to ignore them. By the end of the week, the two boys that were frozen at the first day were still frozen, and Magenta enjoyed knocking on their heads as they passed them, taking their usual route outside for their bus.

----

Lash got a call on his cellphone, during dinner. Thinking it was Speed, he ignored his pocket, avoiding his mother's eyes as he dug back into his ravioli. It stopped ringing, and he sighed, happy that Speed didn't bother showing up at the door instead. But it rang again. "Sorry Mum." He whispered, standing up and leaving the room before sifting through his pocket to retrieve his cellphone.

Layla

Immediately he flipped open the top, answering her call. "Layla?"

"Why did you do that?!" She cried shrilly, and he took the phone away from his ear to blink repeatedly. "Well?"

"Do what?" he asked quietly, stretching his legs to get to his room. "Not pick up the first time?"

"No!" She cried, and he heard a terracotta pot smash.

"Okay, Lay, calm down." He heard her grumbling as she picked up pieces.

"I'm trying. But that was so stupid of you, Lash! How could you trip Will! That was horrible!" He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Layla, it was only fun, that was all."

"Ooh, you're lucky he got his powers, Lash - he really could have been seriously hurt today." She said, her voice lowering into a whisper. He sighed again.

"Layla, I'm...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Lash Livingston." She growled, hanging up the phone. He heard her struggle with the phone, slamming it to the charger before it really shut off. He felt horrible. He didn't want her mad at him.

Struggling his face into his pillow, he breathed deeply, his eyes closing harshly against the fabric.

He groaned against the pavement, trying to smash his head against the hard cement. An arm hit his shoulder, and he knew who it was.

"Would you quit moping?"

"She hates me." The other one scoffed loudly.

"She does not." Lash lifted his face to raise it to his other self.

"She hates me." He repeated, and the other Lash smacked his cheek, rubbing his own.

"Gotta not do that. Hurts both of us." Lash smirked, and then twisted his own nipple, watching his other self cringe wildly. "Ow, do you fucking mind?!"

"N-Actually, I do." He shoved his hands into his mirrored self's neck, tossing him to the ground, feeling the cement gash open his own back. Toppling over onto his other self, he growled.

"She doesn't hate you yet."

"When will she?"

"God, will you shut up yet? Gees I didn't know how annoying I sounded." He sighed, and pushed Lash off him. "I can't tell you. You have to let time roll out."

Lash kicked his other self in the shin, and growled again as he stood still and the other one bent over to groan in pain. "Tell me. Why can't you tell me?!"

"Because then things wouldn't work the way they are now."

"I don't get what you're saying."

"Well get used to it, cause you're the one saying it." The other one smirked, and Lash rolled his eyes.

"This is impossible."

"I just wanted to say that she wasn't mad at you. What causes her to be who she is right now, isn't from what happened today at the lunchroom."

Lash sighed. "Whatever." He hit himself in the head and he groaned when the other one glared at him.

"Lash? You alright?"

"Yeah Mum, fine."

----

The next morning the gang was talking about how Will was breaking down barriers, how he was the 'hero-type' and still staying in the sidekick line. Layla was proud.

But then Magenta made the comment of Will dunking Ethan's head in the toilet, and she became eerily silent, thinking of Lash. But she encouraged him to leave. "Just go, already." She knew that he'd be able to sit with them during lunch.

When that time came, he didn't sit with them. He invited them over, though. That made Layla smile a bit more. Yet Penny took this chance to multiply and laugh in their faces. This, was painful.

--

After she finished her lunch, she moped out of the cafeteria, seeing Lash at his locker on the way to her own. He was sticking up a new drawing, and she breathed deeply before stepping close. "Hey, that's cool." she whispered, and he gave her a smirk.

"I've got more at home." She tilted her head to the side, and he nudged his face forward towards to her ear. "Some are of you, too."

"When did you ever take the time to draw me?"

"Whenever I got the chance." He chuckled huskily in to her ear, and she shook it off, shrugging her shoulders as she took a step back. He pulled out a drawing of Layla's green eye from the top shelf, and she blushed deeply. "It's a bit bad, though." He muttered, frowning. "I don't think I do so good from memory."

She gasped. "This is from memory?" He merely nodded, slowly placing it back on the shelf above a library book. "Think it's really great, Lash." She gave his arm a squeeze before she saw Will run from the lunchroom. "But I gotta go." Speed showed up behind them from nowhere, chewing on a bit of licorice.

Lash smirked. "See yah." Will tried to grasp her arm as she walked quickly away, Ethan and Zack following close behind.

With a swift move, Lash grasped a hold of Zack's bright shirt and shoved him into his locker. In the distance he heard Ethan gasp, calling out to Will. In a flash his arms stretched to grab the black boy, and tried to get him into Speed's locker before Stronghold had turned around the corner once again.

----

Lash watched her stand there quietly, her mouth moving silently to herself as Speed did most of the talking. He kept wanting to just take a step and punch the daylights out of Stronghold, but he was indestructible, unable to be bruised. It made him shake, how badly he wanted to hurt these stupid freshmen. But Layla continued to watch the verbal fight, and gave him a pleading look. What did she want from him? Did she really think he could calm down right now?

----

She changed quickly and took a seat in front on the bleachers, watching Lash walk around the floor with a smug look on his face. Oh please, she thought, Please, Lash, I can't tend to your wounds.

Sighing, she looked over at Will, who was chatting rather peeved with Zack, who was smiling widely. She gave Lash a worried look, but he only smiled at her, suiting up. "What are you thinking?" Will asked her, touching her arm. It sent shivers down her spine, and she tilted her head towards the center of the gym.

"I'm worried." She whispered, looking over at Lash.

"Don't - I'm sure that when they decide to call me up, I won't be hurt." He stuck up an arm. "I'm indestructible." She gave him a weak smile, but she rolled her eyes as she looked away. He could be so clueless sometimes. She knew not to worry as much for him than for Lash.

But once Speed called out Will's name, she froze up, watching his body roll right along with his eyes.

--

It took her a minute or two to realize that the battle was already going on, that she needed to stop looking at her lap and actually watch the battle in front of her. Yet now that her eyes were up to the field, she couldn't help but dart them back and forth from Lash to Will, Will to Lash. She didn't really care if Warren or Speed got hurt, because they weren't two people she really had a mind over. That actually thought of her as a somebody, rather than just someone that was just...there.

But it was horrible. She hid her face in her hands for moments at a time, and when Warren had thrown that fireball at Lash she almost cried out in horror, make him run away. But he was okay. He was okay.

And then Will had the audacity to tie him to the streetpole.

----

"I'm gunna do everything in my power to make her stop being friends with you, Lash. I don't even know why she was in the first place." He stretched another arm around the pole as Lash protested. "Layla's my friend - she can't be yours too." He snickered at Lash's position now. "I'm going to make sure of that."

"You are so dead!" Lash growled loudly, fidgeting beneath his own grasp. He felt drained, helpless. What the fuck was Stronghold planning?!

--

He took a 15-minute shower afterwards, he grumbled as he left the locker room, seeing Gwen sitting patiently in the bleachers. With a skipping smile, she sauntered over to him, waving him over. Lash tried his best to exit without her arm around his, but he couldn't shove her away. "I know how to get back at Will." She smiled wider at his irritated expression. "And how you can have Layla all to yourself again." He turned his face as he reached for the door, his steps frozen.

"She never was mine." He growled as he muttered darkly, turning away.

"She could." Gwen whispered, a singsong voice. He was in the process of opening the door when he flew to her side.

"Talk to me."

----

Oh, what's going to happen?

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