Sy groaned as Jim's alarm blared its morning salutations. He buried his face further into Jim's chest and squeezed him a little tighter. Jim stretched as far as he could and flopped his hand onto the alarm, silencing it for a couple more minutes. He'd learned quickly that Sy needed at least one snooze before he could get up in the mornings. Jim didn't mind, though. Gave him just a little longer to enjoy holding him.

Today was a two snooze morning. Jim suspected it might have turned into a three snooze morning, but he wasn't able to lay still for that long today.

"Come on, Sy. We can do this. Up."

Sy reluctantly sat up and blinked at him disapprovingly. Jim stole a kiss to make up for it.

"You are lucky I like you," Sy mumbled as he stood up.

"Yeah, I am." Jim wrapped his arms around Sy and pulled him back into his chest. He kissed the side of his neck and smiled. "I am very lucky you like me."

"Flatterer." Even so, Sy smiled. "Alright. Let me go. I should get back to my room."

"Unfortunately." Jim kissed his cheek one final time. "I'll see you at breakfast."

Sy slid on his slippers. He grabbed his badge off the hooks on the wall, but paused before opening the door. He glanced over his shoulder and offered a smile. "Hey Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"If you want to tell your friends, it's alright. It's just…you know, my friends and family I don't want to know. Besides, our usual table already's got it worked out. None of them even reacted yesterday when I said I liked you. As long as we aren't shouting it from the rafters, I'm alright if you want to share."

Jim lit up with a bright smile. "Alright! Bragging rights!"

Sy's laughter was better than a cup of fresh coffee.

Jim dressed quickly, not wanting to waste any time. No matter how merry his mornings with Sy, today he didn't have the time to relish in the afterglow of playful banter. If today was his last day with Braxton, he wasn't going to squander it.

He surprised himself when he found himself running down the halls. His legs were moving without his say so, rushing him towards the dining hall so he wouldn't lose a single moment of his time with his friend.

He and Braxton hadn't always had the best start. Braxton had been, well….Braxton at the start. Fiercely protective of Matt, unafraid to show he didn't think Jim was good enough for his friend. A bit abrasive, sinfully proud, a showboat and loose cannon.

But he'd also been Braxton.

Outspoken for justice, even when his idea of it was a touch skewed. The life of the party, always making everyone laugh. Writing unnecessary essays to help Jim practice his Russian and Matt practice reading. Always there with a hint or a tip to help them fight a little better, strive a little further, achieve a little more.

Braxton was his friend, and he couldn't let him be alone.

Braxton was not alone. He sat dead center of table 8-B, Matt on one side and 628 on the other. Varian was settled across from Matt. And Hogarth sat on the same side of the table as Varian, two seats between them, and a stack of books on either chair.

Every other available chair was occupied by a fairly random assortment of students. Jim hardly recognized half of them, and a few he wasn't even positive were students here at all. It appeared word of what time Braxton's hearing would be had gotten around, and everyone wanted one last chance to say goodbye.

Varian moved his books off the chair beside him as Jim approached.

"Thanks man." Jim offered a hesitant smile. "Never seen the table this packed before."

Another student passed behind Braxton, clasping him briefly on the shoulder before moving on.

"Yeah. Our weirdo is a bit more popular than we realized." Matt agreed affectionately.

A heavy black paw slammed onto the table beside a third year seated next to 628. "Move."

The smaller third year scampered off with a yelp.

Stalkenew sunk into the newly freed seat and set his tray on the table before him. "You don't have food, Jim."

"Uh, I was waiting for Sy."

"The boy you're not dating."

"Oh, right." Jim sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, about that. Yeah, you were right. I'm dating him. We just hadn't discussed going public yet."

"You'd better have his permission to be saying it now," Braxton frowned at Jim. "I'm not above a second fight before I get jettisoned off this planet."

"Yeah. We chatted this morning. He said I can tell people that are close to me."

"And so you picked Stalkenew to be the first person you told. Wow. I am hurt. My mortal enemy and you picked him over myself or Matt."

"Like you didn't already know." Jim rolled his eyes.

"Know what?" Sy asked from behind Jim.

Jim pivoted towards him, lighting up at the sight of his boyfriend. "That we're dating. Boooyfriend."

"Okay, now you're just being weird intentionally," Braxton muttered.

Sy sat down in the seat Hogarth cleared of books. "I guess you weren't wasting any time telling people then." He chuckled nervously and glanced around. After a moment his shoulders relaxed. "Alright, so, shall we go get ourselves breakfast?"

"Yeah." Jim stood up again. "Don't go anywhere, Braxton. We'll be right back."

Braxton leaned back in his seat and folded his hands behind his head. "My hearing isn't until dinnertime. I've got a whole day before I go anywhere."

AN: Hey friends! So, I officially only have one chapter left before I run out of prewritten stuff. I'm going to be doing my best to make sure my posting schedule doesn't suffer, but I seriously need to kick my fingers into gear. I'll be doing all I can to make sure I update every Friday like usual. Promise. 3

As always, love to hear from you! Concrit is always welcome, or even just a quick message to say hello. I love you all. Thanks for reading with me. 3