~Jem's POV~

I wasn't the best cleaner, and my packing skills seemed to be just as good. It wasn't that I had a lot of stuff, it was just that my stuff was everywhere. I kept working my way around the room, picking things up to bring back to the box as I went.

There were two knocks on my door, and for a brief second I panicked. I wasn't sure what was happening or why there would be a knock on my door. But that only lasted a second. Accompanying the sound was a call of, "Knock knock."

My heart settled. I knew that voice.

I dropped what I had to the floor and picked my way through the mess I had gradually created, as I had left myself no other path. It made the short walk across my apartment take twice as long.

I briefly unlocked the door and pulled to see my brother standing there. He looked bored as he stared off, leaning on the door frame. It looked as though I had kept him waiting for a bit, but I knew it was simply due to his impatient personality and not the extra thirty seconds.

He popped up once I opened the door, quickly grabbing his things. I calmly closed the door behind him, locking it again. As I turned, I saw he had set his things down just as quickly on this side of the door. He spun and caught me, trapping me in a hug.

"I missed you," he declared.

I patted his arm as I tried to return the hug. "I missed you, too," I reassured.

Jude released me and stepped back, now taking a second look at my apartment. "Damn, Jemmie," he began, focusing on the clothes and other items scattered over the floor. "I guess this counts as packing."

"Shut up," I said, brushing past him to return to the box. I scooped up what I had previously abandoned. After I carelessly tossed them in the box, I turned back to see his eyes fixed on me.

"When can you move in?"

"Anytime," I responded, my eagerness not reflecting in my voice like my brother's. I also knew that I had to be careful once Jude began to get excited, because if I returned his enthusiasm he would just feed off it and possibly become wild.

"You can? Well then, come on, let's go!" he said as he again gathered his things.

Jude looked around as he set his things down, again. "Not too shabby, sis," he complimented.

"I know," I replied. I struggled a bit through the door. I had a fair amount of stuff on me, but that was all I bothered to take from my apartment. I had confidence that Jude would take care of the rest.

I set my things down. I wouldn't bother with them until later. "The really nice thing about this," I began, "is that Max shouldn't be able to trace me back here."

"That'll be good," Jude replied. "I've tried to help too."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, closing the door.

"I've sung a lot of 'Boston' by Augustana rather loudly to try to help throw him off." Jude shuffled, now digging into his pocket.

"Thanks. Boston is about as far as it gets, good job."

"In fact," he said, "I made you something in my woodworking class."

I chuckled. "You took woodworking? What, have all your credits already?"

He made a face and didn't look at me. "Not exactly..."

Jude extracted a small box from his pocket with a crank and began to turn the handle. The tune of "Boston" began to play. He looked down, slowly stepping towards me as it played, looking down at the box and then back to me. It was very pretty.

"It's lovely," I replied. "Was this the assignment?"

"Nope," he answered, now close enough. He turned the box over to me, placing it in my hands.

I smiled. "Of course you found a way to make music out of the materials you had," I remarked, looking down at the box. He had always done that. He was incredibly talented when it came to that stuff. Nobody would ever be able to say he got as far as he did with his music because he had a famous dad. That reminded me. "What do you mean you don't have all your credits? Aren't you going on tour soon? How will you graduate?"

Jude looked to the upper corner of his eyes and nodded his head to the side. "Well, that's the thing..." he said, leaving it there.

I close my hands around the box and looked up to him. "What are you not telling me," I demanded, no longer enthralled by his gift.

He proceeded slowly. Cautiously. Nervously. "I didn't have enough credits to graduate because I skipped too much school... So... I kinda, just, dropped out a while ago."

"What?!" I asked accusingly.

"See, now I knew you'd be upset because you got all bent on the importance of education in these past few years. Probably because you read a book about it-"

"I read several," I interjected.

"Yeah, but Jemmie, come on. Give me one good reason why I should finish high school, knowing the life I'll have after anyway."

I opened my mouth, certain I would have a comeback. But I didn't, and my lips sealed.

"See? That's what I thought."

I huffed, defeated, then checked the time. I had to meet Seto. "Ok, I have to go-"

"What? Where could you possibly need to go?" Jude interrupted.

I looked at him. "Group work." It was kind of true.

Jude laughed, thinking I was probably upset about it. Probably thinking it was another testament to his win. "K. I'll try to get some shit in here while you're gone."

"Thanks," I replied, handing him my card. "Just remember, it's for me. This better not be a bachelor pad when I get back. People need more than beds."

"I know, Jemmie. I'm on it."

~Seto's POV~

Just as I had expected, there was a soft knock on my office door on Saturday afternoon.

"Come in," I beckoned from behind my computer screen. I heard the door click and it opened slowly. Jem entered and closed the door behind her, seemingly trying to be quiet, as if I wasn't perfectly aware of her presence.

She allowed herself to fall into the chair across from me, digging through to bag that she placed in her lap, and I took this opportunity to steal my first glance.

Along with the staple stilettos and headband, she wore lavender capris and a white knit sweater, which clung to her form due to her exposed shoulders. However, her platinum hair fell to cover a fair amount of skin that I wanted to see.

Finally, she looked at me and I casually looked down, back to my work. But still, I watched her. Leaning down, she set her bag down beside her, holding onto whatever our assigned reading was.

"Have you read any of this?" she asked.

"I have purposefully not bothered with it," I said. I clearly had better things to do.

She sighed. "All right, we'll start at the beginning then. Should I just start whenever?"

"Mm," I replied, partially paying attention.

"Ok," she prefaced, flipping through to find the first page. When she did, she took her palm and creased the paper to keep the book open. Before she began reading, she discarded her shoes and pulled her feet up on the chair, tucking them beside her with her free hand resting on her ankle. I didn't object to her getting comfortable. She began to read, and once she started, she was consumed. So consumed, that I glanced up at her.

I studied her as she read smoothly. It seemed she had already vanished into the world of the text. I watched her blue eyes dart across the page, enjoying her sight and sound, then let my eyes fall back to my work, her words becoming a constant rhythm that easily out-shined my keystrokes.

Thanks so much for the reviews! They are very, very, very much appreciated.

Next Chapter: The Difference

I choked up, far too many things running through my head. He had just broken my heart.