Chapter Two: The Start of a New Friendship… Maybe

A/N: Not much to say, except that ROMAN, YOUR FANS (no matter how few there are left) WILL HUNT YOU DOWN FOR THIS, and that this continues where chapter one left off. Also, did any other WhatCulture fans catch the first episode of WCPW? How dare you, Adam Blampied… The original belt was special. How dareth you?!

The tour of the school wasn't too bad. There were three floors to the building. The first floor was for underclassmen, freshmen and sophomores, but also contained the front office (including the counselor's office and such), cafeteria, and gym. The second floor was for elective classes, like art, music classes, technology and computer classes, and also held the offices for the heads of sports/clubs along with, strangely, the auditorium. "Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know. Don't care either. This place is just as screwed up as the rest of the city." Seth didn't know how to respond to that. The third floor was the for upperclassmen, library, and study hall. "What really sucks, is if you have, like, AP and advanced classes. Runnin' up those stairs is a pain, let me tell ya."

"And you know this from experience?" Seth questioned. Dean looked at him all serious before he burst out laughing. It was a touch on the maniacal side, but it made Seth smile to know he'd caused a positive reaction in the teen. He didn't want to judge a book by its cover. Certainly not Dean, who wasn't as bad as he originally appeared.

"Me? Be in the advanced classes? Pfft. You'll find out soon enough just what kinda guy I am in a classroom. You'll never think that again," the brunette told him, still laughing a bit. 'I'll never think a lot of things about you again,' Seth thought, remembering his last encounter with Dean before school started. When Seth said it was not a pleasant experience, he meant it.

XxX

Well, now that he as done drooling over Mr.- the hot new guy two doors down, Seth had one more pie to deliver. He made his way back into his kitchen, still blushing after the conversation of sorts with his crush. However, he was thinking about what he was about to do and wondering if he was crazy. Jonathan didn't exactly look very friendly… He pushed the thought aside. He'd baked the pie for a reason, might as well go through with it, right? It didn't stop him from having doubts. "Are you going to actually deliver that pie, or do we have to eat it ourselves?" Seth whirled around and nearly knocked some silverware off the counter. His dad had to have been a ninja back in his day because he had a really bad habit of being able to pop up out of nowhere without a sound. It freaked him out sometimes. Seth blushed and picked up the pie, heading out the front door.

He looked across the street at the eery house. It seemed to radiate more and more bad vibes the closer he got. He crossed the street quickly after looking both ways and slowly walked up to the front door. He stopped his hand in midair, hesitating to alert his new neighbors of his presence. 'All you have to do is give them the pie and leave. It's not that hard,' Seth thought to himself. Determined to see this through, Seth rang the doorbell and waited. He heard two sets of footsteps. One seemed to be coming from a set of stairs while the other seemed to come from a hardwood floor. Seth had lived in so many different houses it was almost impossible not to know how your feet sounded on different types of floors, whether it was carpet, hardwood, tile, glass, stairs, concrete, marble, etc. The door cracked open slightly and a pair of bright, beautiful sapphire eyes peered back at him. Seth tilted his head in confusion like a lost puppy.

"Um…" was all Seth could get out before he saw movement behind the door. A set of fists swung out at him and he leaped back, forgetting there were stairs behind him, stumbling and falling on his ass with a hard thud. Luckily, Seth was able to save the pie, which went sailing through the air after that. He knew that this was a bad idea.

"What the- What the fuck are you doing here?" Dean asked. When Seth observed him more closely, he noticed that Dean was wearing a pair of brass knuckles. Thank God he'd avoided those. Dean was dressed in a pair of loose basketball shorts that hung low on his hips and a ripped, faded t shirt a few sizes too small. Seth did not stare at his slim waist. Nope. He walked over to Seth and glared at him. "Get lost," he growled. Seth gingerly got up, all confidence gone, replaced by anger, and looked down at the pie in his hands. He could easily walk home and eat it with his dad… Or throw it in Dean's face…

"Dude, you could've put me in the hospital with those!" he yelled alarmed, trying not to let his anger show. Dean just glared at him and shoved him back.

"Leave," he said, voice threatening. "Now. Or else. Don't you have better places to be?" The two toned teen held his tongue before he could respond with some snarky comment. Seth would defend himself if this situation called for it, but now was not the time. And judging by the muscles straining against Dean's shirt, he'd probably lose. He shot a hurt look Dean's way and took a few steps back. Before he could act on that, a beautiful woman walked up behind Dean and scowled at the brunette. She had eyes just like him, but redder hair, smaller facial features, and was a few inches shorter than him.

"Are you wearing your brass knuckles? You were expecting Roy, weren't you?" Dean tensed and nodded slowly, putting his head down in shame. Who the heck was Roy? "You must be Colby. I met Shane earlier. I'm Angie, and you've just met my son, Jonathan." Seth held out his free hand to her and they shook.

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said with a weak smile. She was still looking at Dean with a frown. Dean shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. His fingers were twitching, seemingly unable to keep still. His posture radiated guilt. Dean looked at him with teary eyes, which Seth didn't understand. Just a minute ago, Dean was sending him death glares and yelling at him to get lost. What's with the heartbroken look?

"… Sorry 'bout that…" Dean muttered brokenly before running back inside and out of sight. Seth looked confuzzled at the reaction. What was that? Dean's mom sighed and shook her head.

"You'll have to excuse my son. He's very protective of me because of the life we've lived. He's too tough for his own good if you ask me… So, what did you come by for?" Seth held the pie out to her and her eyes lit up instantly. Food. Dessert no less. That was a rare delicacy in the Good household. "I- thank you. You have no idea how helpful this is," she said to him quietly. Seth smiled at her.

"It's no problem, really. Thought you might appreciate it." The two toned teen turned to leave before feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Before you go, can I ask something of you?" Seth turned back towards her with a curious look.

"Of course you can," he replied.

"Jonathan, he can… He's not the friendliest boy around let's say. He had a rough childhood, doesn't trust a soul but me, doesn't live close to his only friends anymore. He pushes people away and beats himself up about it because he can't get anyone to like him. He bullies others because they bully him. Can you look out for him in school? Maybe become a friend, someone he can talk with and open up to?" Her tone bordered on pleading. Dean must've really had it bad back then. Dean did not sound like someone he'd want to be around everyday though. He didn't want to find out how much truth was in those high school movies and cartoons. Seeing the desperate look on her face and the tone of her voice is what convinced him. That, and the personality flaw of always putting others before himself. Having the capacity to be kind was something Seth wished didn't exist for him sometimes.

"Sure I can. I'll try my best. Promise." Angie squeezed his shoulder.

"Thank you," she told him, before heading back inside and closing the door behind her. Seth stared at it for a bit. Be friends. With the guy who looked ready to punch his lights out at the sight of him. With the guy who picked on other people and only cared about himself. With the guy who had virtually no one. And he'd just promised the boy's mom to do his best to fix all that. What had he just agreed to?

XxX

Dean was not the same person he had been that day. Dean was more easy going, willing to tolerate his presence, albeit rather reluctantly, and seemed to have a touch, just barely, of kindness in him. Never again would he think of Dean as nothing more than a boy who hated the world, though he probably did, or someone who didn't care about the people around him. "So," Seth said, trying to start up a conversation, "You hang out with anyone around here?" Dean gave him a look.

"Ain't no one stupid enough to try," Dean replied. They continued walking, trying to find their first classroom. "Besides, don't you need friends to be able to hang out?" It couldn't be that bad for him, could it? Room 105 for homeroom.

"What about after school stuff? Are you in anything? Clubs, sports, groups, anything?"

"What's with all the questions about me?" Dean asked annoyed. Seth put his hands up.

"I'm just wondering. Maybe it's something I'll be interested in." Dean snorted. 'Or something we have in common that makes this whole friends thing easier.'

"I doubt you'll be interested in anything I do. But if you're gonna keep botherin' me about it, I'm on the wrestling team." Seth stopped in his tracks. Another wrestling fan. Finally, after six different schools and three different states (consisting of Iowa, Indiana, and currently Ohio), he'd found someone. Dean looked back at him, puzzled, and stopped as well. "What?" he asked.

"You're a wrestling fan? What promotion do you watch?" was all Seth could ask. Dean looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"WWF, ECW, CZW, a little bit of ROH. What else would I-"

"Who's your favorite superstar?"

"Uh, The Undertaker. Why are you so concerned with-"

"How'd you end up becoming a fan? Did you see it on tv, go to a live show-"

"Enough with the questions!" Dean shouted at him. Seth shut his mouth, looking away embarrassed. Of course he would go into full blown fanboy mode around someone he was trying to be friends with. Good grief. "Yes, I'm a huge fan. Wrestling is everything to me. Can we move on, please?" he said exasperatedly. Seth nodded, cheeks a bit red for the second time that morning.

"Sorry. Not many people seem to be fans around here, and I just-"

"No. It's fine. I just… I didn't mean to snap at you… And I'm, uh, sorry… about Saturday." Seth gawked at him. He's about to rip his head off one moment and asking for forgiveness the next. Dean was a mystery to him. "Was uncalled for…" After a tour of the first floor, Seth and Dean headed upstairs into the electives hallway.

"Into any of this stuff?" Seth asked. Dean looked around at the different classrooms.

"Nope. Can't draw, paint, make a single good sound on an instrument, dance, none of that. Trying to teach me about technology is a lost cause no matter how simple it is. I can't afford the home ec class, even though I can cook and do house stuff and all that. I'm not half bad at singing, but I'm not gonna sit in class and learn songs no one's heard of and put on some monkey suit to perform in front of people who don't care. Coach Thatcher's office is over there though," Dean told him, pointing to the first door on the left. The hallway was covered in posters, paintings, murals, sheet music, choreography sheets, etc. all along the walls. They peaked inside a few classrooms before heading up to the third floor.

Seth's eyes instantly went to the library doors, practically begging Dean to take him there. Dean rolled his eyes, but took him there anyway. Seth was instantly in love, eyes roaming around the huge room. Bookshelves upon bookshelves upon computers upon comics upon manga upon magazines upon study rooms were there. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all. "Oh no. You're not one of the nerds, are you?" The younger teen looked at him with an innocent smile.

"Heh, maybe?" He pulled a fantasy book off a shelf and read the summary on the inside cover. Dragon riders, elves, magic, wherever the book takes place. He made a mental note to check it out later when he got the chance. "It's mostly comics for me, but I won't say no to a good book."

"So, you'd do my homework if I asked you to?" Dean asked hopefully with a toothy grin. Seth frowned at him.

"Not a chance. I've known you for, what, a few days? When we met, you tried to kill me."

"By accident."

"You still tried to. Besides, it's gonna take a lot more than showing me around to get me to do anything for you." Okay, that came out a little harsher than intended. Dean's look darkened and the grin disappeared from his face. Ouch. He didn't mean it like that, he didn't.

"C'mon, don't want the pretty boy to be late on the first day now, do we?" Dean said icily, almost teasing him. All the warmth, the very tiny amount of it, in his voice had disappeared. The amusement in his eyes had been replaced by malice. Seth looked away, following a few steps Dean back to their first class. The bell was set to ring in a few minutes. Seth noticed the rest of the students crowded in the hallways throw funny looks at Dean. Some were in fear while others were in disgust, anger, hate, etc. He could feel the negative emotions rolling off the students in waves. They parted to let him through, not wanting to be anywhere near him. The two toned teen hurried to catch up with him, trying not to get lost. He headed inside their classroom, taking the desk next to Dean. The brunette threw him an annoyed look before leaning back in his chair.

"Psst… Lopez," Seth heard someone whisper. He looked around until his eyes fell on Roman, who was beckoning him over. Seth hoped nobody noticed the blush threatening to show on his cheeks. The dude was taken, Seth. Get over it and move on with your life. Next to him sat his girlfriend he'd seen earlier. The seat on his other side was empty. It was until a swooning blonde stole it before Seth could move. Seth gave Roman an apologetic shrug before turning back around. On the board was their teacher's name, something he couldn't pronounce, the supplies they needed for the class, and their first assignment. On the first day?

"Settle down, everyone," she said with boredom. The rest of the class looked up at her for a moment. "It's so nice to see such lovely young faces here." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she scowled at Dean. The Cincinnati native waved and gave her a cold smirk. "I'm Mrs. (Name with at least twenty letters that was definitely not easy to say)- Who?! What country is that from? Why are there so many letters in that name?- and this is your homeroom. There's your instructions on the board. Ugh, go ahead and start." Meet and greet? Introduction worksheets? Really? What were they, five? No one really moved to get the rest of the assignment. Friends went and sat by friends, couples sat together, cliques assembled. Seth grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him towards Roman and Galina. Dean protested and tried to wrench his arm from Seth's iron grip. No dice.

"Hey, Joe," Seth greeted. He finally let go of Dean's arm, who was grimacing at him. "This is my, uh, friend, Jon. Jonathan Good. He lives on our street." Roman looked at Dean, face stoic and eyes calculating. That boy who'd glared at him the day he moved in. Jon looked like trouble, but he was willing to give him a chance after what he heard about him. He held out his hand. Dean stared at it confused before slowly extending his hand to shake it.

"Good to meet ya, man." Dean told him.

"Nice to meet you too, Jon. I'm Joe Anoa'i. And this *pulls Galina onto his lap* is my beautiful girlfriend, Galina Becker."

"Hi, boys." She winked at Seth, who smiled politely in return. She was a beautiful girl, no doubt, but he just didn't swing that way at the moment, especially with Roman sitting right there. Dean noticed this and gave him a confuzzled look. Seth shrugged, hand reaching out and touching Dean's thigh. The brunette flinched a little before relaxing when Seth's hand didn't move. He moved his hand until it hovered right over Dean's crotch before pulling his hand back. Luckily, no one had noticed. Dean's eyes went wide at the realization (how he understood that, he had no idea), staring at the other boy like he was some weird specimen in a zoo. Then, he smiled at him softly and nodded. So he wasn't alone.

The four talked about their summers, their friends their home lives. Dean didn't really contribute much to the conversation, seeing as how he had a really ify past. Roman and Galina basically told them everything, as did Seth. Roman's dad was Sika, the professional wrestler, which Dean instantly looked wowed at. Roman noticed the reactions. Both of them were wrestling fans? Oy vey. He played football for the school. Galina came from a pretty normal family, led a tomboy life, nothing significant. Seth was the world's biggest nerd who loved wrestling. Enough said. Dean was a bad boy. He didn't do much at home except workout or laze around his house. He was on the school's wrestling team and didn't really say much about his home life. By the time they'd finished, their teacher had tried to get their attention for roll call.

Someone Allen. Someone Andrews. "Lea- Hmm…"

"Oh boy," Roman whispered sadly. He sighed before speaking up. "Leati Anoa'i. Just call me Joe." He raised his hand. Mrs. What's Her Face made a note on her clipboard and continued.

Someone Bailey. Someone Banks. Someone Beech. "Galina Becker?" Galina raised her hand and shouted, "Here!" from the back of the room. Five letters later… Someone Gainey. "Jonothan? Ugh. Here, unfortunately." Dean put on his best trademark grin and put his feet up on the desk in front of him, chair tipped back on two legs and arms tucked under his head. Seth scowled at how she addressed him.

" 'Sup teach? Have a nice summer back home with your seven cats? Or was it six? I think I ran Mr. Paws over with my car last week." The rest of the class started laughing. Roman shook his head while trying not to smile. Galina facepalmed while Seth smirked. The forty year looked baffled and looked down.

"Mr. Paws is fine. You hit Penny…" she said quietly, apparently embarrassed. Everyone cracked up even more, banging fists on desks and falling on each other. She tried getting through the rest of the list without her voice shaking. Five more letters later. Someone Lane. Someone Lacy. Someone Lexus. Someone London. Someone Long. "Colby Lopez?"

"Present, ma'am," Seth said from the back. She smiled kindly at him before finishing attendance. Some of the other boys snickered at his politeness. Galina and Roman smiled at him while Dean elbowed him lightly in his side.

"Teacher's pet." Seth shot him a look.

"Am not!" he protested. The bell rung at that point, signaling for everyone to leave. As he made his way out, one of the other boys tried tripping him with his foot. Dean caught him as he stumbled forward. They both shot icy glances at them before heading to their math class. "Thanks," said Seth. Dean shrugged. The rest of the day went about as good as the first class. Seth and Dean sat by each other, attracting weird looks from everyone but the teachers, talked a bit, tried surviving their first day back. At lunch, the four sat together and talked, Galina still not convinced that Dean wasn't such a bad guy. Seth was a healthy eater, Dean ate everything that wasn't, and Roman and Galina were somewhere in the middle. Gym class rolled around and Seth was surprised that Dean actually participated. He was one of the only guys left standing by the end of class. There were a group of jocks, this one girl who looked skinnier than a toothpick, Seth, Roman, and himself. English was the last class of the day, and everyone got a copy of some 500 page book no one had heard of and was told that they should be doing nightly reading logs about the amount of pages they read. Everyone groaned, nerds, jocks, slackers, and all.

The final bell rung and everyone was eager to get home, relax, see some old friends. Dean looked anything but happy that school was out. "You okay, man?" Seth asked him. Dean grunted an inaudible answer and started walking down the street. "Wait wait wait. My dad could give you a ride home. You're just across the street after all." Dean shook his head.

"Thanks, pretty boy, but no thanks. I'll walk." Seth didn't know why, but he was determined not to let him walk home alone. He grabbed Dean's hand and instantly felt electricity flow through his veins. Every nerve was set ablaze and he felt like he was flying. Everything and nothing made sense all at the same time. Time slowed to a stop and, for a moment, it was just those two. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. Sparks flew between their fingertips and when they locked eyes… They couldn't look away even if they wanted to. What was this feeling? Seth seemed surprised while Dean seemed scared, though they didn't show it. Luckily, Seth's dad pulled up and interrupted the awkward moment. Seth dragged him into the back seat with him and finally let go of his hand. Shane smiled at the two.

"Anyone up for pizza on the way home?" Seth eagerly grinned and nodded his head. Dean smiled in amusement before agreeing as well. His dad was even considerate enough to buy Dean his own pizza while he and Seth shared. Dean looked like he just won the lottery. He ate a few slices and decided to save the rest for his mom and tomorrow. All the while, he couldn't make eye contact with Seth. Why was everyone being so nice? It should've felt good, but it sickened him. They only acted this way for so long until they got tired of being nice and showed their true colors. As much as the brunette wished he could get rid of his trust issues, it wasn't happening. He wouldn't let another person in only to have them destroy him and leave him high and dry in the end. When they finally got home, Dean stepped out of the car, quietly thanked Shane, and trudged across the street and into his house. He hadn't said one word to Seth since the end of the school day. Seth sighed and headed inside behind his dad. What had he done wrong now? This wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.