It was Friday.

Correction: It was Friday already, and Damian was up all night studying for a test, got no sleep because he was totally not thinking about Anya's date with Bill, and for some ironic reason only the universe will know, he started the day as Anya's assigned lab partner in Chemistry class.

If gods existed, they were laughing at him. As Damian simmered in nervous energy, his hands shook as he set up the Bunsen burner. He had taken to setting it all up himself, just so that he could speak to Anya as little as possible. He stared resolutely at the pieces of the burner in his hands as he fit them carefully together, avoiding all eye contact with her.

With Anya sitting next to him, Damian's heart rate skyrocketed, and so did his thoughts.

Of all the things, why does this have to happen to me today? Are the gods mocking me? There's no way I'll be able to concentrate next to her! Maybe I can still switch places -

A small voice cut across his thoughts. "Does Sy-on not want to work with Anya?"

Damian jumped, then looked across at his lab partner. His hands still shook, but he tried to breathe through it to calm down.

He couldn't tell if she was upset or not. She had tilted her head to the side when she asked him that question, which made her look so adorable. But - and this was a small but - he also wondered if her eyes looked shinier than usual. Surely that was a trick of the light?

Ever the conversationalist, Damian humphed. "Just help me with this, will you? It's a pain having to do this all by myself." Again, Damian mentally slapped himself.

Why, why, why for God's sake was it so difficult for him to just be nice?

A deep breath in. And out. And back in again. "I mean… Can you hold this while I set up the stand?" Another deep breath. "Please."

Anya visibly brightened and held the pieces for him, but Damian still sensed that a part of her was holding back.

Well, it was no wonder that she was a bit distanced from him, not after the way he treated her the other day, and he still hadn't apologised. Why was the word "sorry" so hard to say? He tried to bring it up to Anya just then, but when he opened his mouth the words got stuck in his throat.

She's right there, you idiot! Just apologise already!

Overcome with a wave of passion, Damian slammed his palm on the table. "Forger, there's something I need to -"

But he never got to finish his sentence.

Because the Bunsen burner tipped onto its side.

And lit his workbook on fire.

—

Students poured into the corridors as the fire alarm rang throughout Eden College, many of them with their hands over their ears to block out the noise. Among them were the senior class of Cecile Hall, with the professor leading the class and Damian following sheepishly behind. His ears burned red from the shame of causing the fire alarm, and forcing everyone to evacuate. He was sure to get a Tonitrus Bolt for this!

As they gathered in the main courtyard in their respective classes, Damian noticed just how many students there were. If they were normally in a class of about twenty students, and each year group had about five classes, and if the school had every year group between the ages of six to eighteen…

Damian gulped. That was a lot of people to gather in one place. Without thinking, he pinched Becky's sleeve in front of him, which forced her to turn to face him.

"Hey Desmond! What do you think you're -"

"Where's Anya?"

As soon as she saw the genuine worry in Damian's face, Becky joined him in looking for their friend (but not before gently brushing off his hand from her uniform, how rude!). The crowd only seemed to grow in size, and with more and more people surrounding them every minute it was even harder to pick out Anya's short stature, even with her pink hair.

"Do you think she will be okay?" he wondered aloud as he peered through the crowd.

Becky seemed taken aback. "Why wouldn't she be?" A part of her wondered when she had last seen Damian this worked up about her best friend - and now that Becky really thought about it, he seemed to be frantic in the last ten minutes worrying about her. What was that about?

As the students managed to form themselves into lines, Damian finally picked out the pinkette. Relieved, he made his way over to her, barely aware of Becky tagging along closely behind him. As he moved towards her, she became the centre of his vision, and the people around her blurred into abstract shapes in the background. There she stood - perfect, poised, with her arms at her sides and her face towards the sky, her pink hair like a halo at sunset. He felt completely pulled towards her, as if the crowd of hundreds around them didn't even exist.

But as Damian neared, the perfect picture in front of him began to change.

Anya stood completely still in the crowd, her eyes wide and unfocused, with her fists clenched tightly by her sides. Up close, he realised how pale her skin had become, and her complexion had taken on a sickly pallor.

In horror, Damian watched as blood dripped from her nose…

… and landed with a splat onto the courtyard.

Suddenly Damian's senses flooded once more with the noise around them - the chatter of the crowd, the alarms blaring in the distance - and over the noise he called out to her, but she didn't respond. She didn't even look at him.

"Hey stubby legs, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Anya's nose continued to drip with blood, and if anything, there seemed to be more of it.

"Anya! It's Becky, can you hear me? Can you walk?" Becky tried to grab Anya's shoulders and give her a small shake, but at Becky's touch Anya just groaned, scrunched up her eyes, and held her hands over her ears.

Becky turned to Damian. "This isn't good, we need to get her to the nurse, now."

"I can see that, idiot!" Damian snapped, then internally scolded himself. Why was it that when he was stressed, he started bickering with people? If he wasn't careful, he would end up pushing everyone away.

To his relief, Becky ignored him, even though she did roll her eyes. "You just get her to the infirmary, I'll let the professor know what happened so they don't think you were swallowed up by the fire."

"Uh -" said Damian, and before he could get a word out Becky had already disappeared into the crowd.

He couldn't believe how bustling it was. Did they really have this many students at Eden College? Damian almost found it impossible to try and keep his distance from Anya without bumping into her, since so many people around them jostled him, which pushed him in closer towards her. Heat spread through Damian's body as he realised he was pressed up against her side, even though she still covered her ears with her hands. It just made it all the more uncomfortable for him to try to communicate with her, since her elbow was almost up in his face.

"Oi! Move your elbow you dummy, you're gonna take someone's eye out!" said Damian (not unkindly), but he was still disheartened when Anya still didn't move. He half said it to try and get a reaction from her, but in this state she was almost paralysed by pain. "C'mon, c'mon, work with me here…"

Above the noise of the crowd around them, and the alarms that blared in the distance, Damian heart a small whimper, and his brain kicked into gear. In an instant, he knew that he couldn't stand around any longer wasting time thinking about what to do.

I can't move her like this, I think I have no choice…

With a gulp, Damian moved his arms to pick her up, and in the next five seconds, Anya was swept up into being carried princess-style.

But it wasn't Damian who picked her up, as he had only managed to grab at an empty space as she disappeared right before his eyes.

Damian's eyes snapped up into the face of Bill Watkins, who carried the still-bleeding Anya like a bride. She groaned, dropped her hands from her ears, and leaned into Bill's very muscular chest (not that Damian was staring at it). She was almost like a kitten in Bill's gigantic arms.

Damian felt exactly like he had been slapped.

The second son was almost rooted to the spot in surprise, but in one smooth movement, the giant had turned away from him, carrying his princess away, and waded a path through the crowd with ease.

Princess? Where did that come from?

It took every muscle in Damian's body to hold back from exploding with expletives, and he tried to forget having ever thought about Anya as his. How embarrassing, it's not like he owned her. In fact, he didn't even like her, and he certainly never thought about her…

Damian nearly slapped himself. Who was he kidding? He basically already admitted his crush to his friends, and to Becky. Why was he still so embarrassed?

He ran after Bill.