Panting, Damian arrived at the nurses office just in time to see Bill gently lay Anya out on one of the beds. In the time it took for Bill to carry her there, she seemed to have lost consciousness, and he had taken off his Imperial cloak to wrap around her - there was so much fabric from the cape that it looked like she could drown in it. Damian leaned against the infirmary entrance, and helplessly watched as Bill adjusted the cape around her so that she was covered up.

That should have been him tucking her under the covers, making sure she was warm enough, making sure she was okay.

Damian had no idea that he had been glaring at Bill, until the giant casually looked up and waved him over, and Damian had to force his face to relax. Damian felt vaguely ashamed as he shuffled to Anya's side… next to Bill.

What could he do? What could he say? He couldn't very well explode at Bill now that he had helped Anya, even though he had actually taken the chance away from Damian to do it, and now he looked like her fucking knight in shining armour when it should have been him and he was too fucking slow to take her and carry her himself because he was still embarrassed about having a crush on her and getting red just from brushing up against her shoulder like an idiot -

"I'm not an idiot, Desmond."

"What?" Damian's thoughts stopped in their tracks.

"I can see you glaring at me. You hate me."

To Damian's utter surprise, Bill was completely calm. And, if he was being completely honest, this only worsened his mood. Bill should be fuming that Damian was being so unreasonable. He could at least have the decency to be a little irritated.

Damian felt his face flush as he thought about how immature he had acted, but he still tried to play it cool. "I don't hate you, Watkins. I'm just…"

He couldn't find the right words. So much for playing it cool.

But even without finishing his sentence, Bill seemed to understand, because he nodded sagely and added: "We're love rivals, it's only natural."

In pure relief that Bill was not angry with him, Damian started nodding before the words he spoke had fully sunk in.

Love…

Love?!

Surely it was not possible for Damian to get any redder than he already was. His complexion had reached a superhuman temperature. "L-l-l-love? Who said anything about love? I'm just looking out for a friend! We're just friends!"

An unmistakably haughty laugh erupted behind him, and Damian whirled to see Becky leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. He wondered how long she had been standing there. "If you say so, Desmond, but you could stand to show your friendly side a bit more. Poor Anya thinks you hate her."

"What? No, I don't, I could never -" Damian halted as he stopped himself from revealing too much. He was far too exposed. Too vulnerable. He found himself desperately wanting to be alone with Anya so that he didn't have to feel so much like he was being dissected.

Before he could embarrass himself further, Becky directed her attention at Bill. "By the way Watkins, you were missed at the roll call. The professor said you needed to go and report to them before they report you missing."

Bill nodded, but because of his height even his nod looked far more regal than it should have. As he headed towards the door, he looked back at Damian. "By the way, the nurse says Anya will be okay. She just needs rest."

With a sigh, a shuffle, and a very tight squeeze through the door frame, Damian suddenly found that he was alone in the nurse's office with a sleeping Anya, and a very intense-looking Becky. She put her hands on her hips and appraised him.

"Well? Aren't you going to thank me?"

"Um, for what?" said Damian stupidly.

She rolled her eyes. "I just got rid of Bill for you! Now's your chance! Someone has to be with Anya when she wakes up."

Damian had never consciously acknowledged that he and Becky could ever be friends, but at that moment he felt something in his heart warm towards the Blackbell heir. It could have been something like… gratitude? He swatted the thought away, embarrassed that he really owed her a lot.

He frowned as a question only just began to dawn on him.

"Blackbell… why do you do it?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. It seemed to be her signature move when she was annoyed at him for one reason or another. "Be a little more specific."

"I mean…" Damian stumbled over the words in his mind, and he tried not to show how embarrassed he really was. (It was obvious to Becky though, he couldn't hide it if he tried). "We're not friends, and yet for all these you've been trying to bring me and that shrimp closer. Why?"

Becky's breath caught in her throat, and she coughed as if trying to hide a splutter. "I don't need a reason! I just want Anya-chan to be happy, that's all!"

In a rare moment of confidence, Damian raised his eyebrows at her. It didn't make sense. She always tried to push them together, even though it was so obvious to him that Anya didn't like him in that way. It suddenly occurred to Damian that her meddling seemed like it was for Becky's benefit more than Anya's.

Damian levelled her with his gaze, waiting for her to speak.

Finally, Becky caved. "You're a second son, you wouldn't understand."

Damian winced. That stung for reasons he didn't want to think about. "Try me."

"Fine. You have to understand, Desmond, as the heir to the Blackbell estate, I won't be able to choose who I marry or get a happy ending of my own." Becky stated this in a tone that very much said I hate you for making me say this, but Damian tried not to flinch from her sudden envy. "You and Anya do. I'm really rooting for you, you know, if just to live vicariously through you!" Then Becky clamped her mouth shut. She had said too much.

Before Damian could respond (and let's be honest, he really was not equipped to unpack that), Becky hit him with a question of her own.

"How did you know Anya wasn't feeling well?"

"Huh?" Damian really needed to work on his articulation.

"You knew something was wrong before she had that reaction."

He shrugged. "Well you know, because she hates crowds?"

Now it was Becky's turn to be confused. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

"You haven't noticed?" Said Damian earnestly. "She gets really worn out and spacey at assembly."

"But she's always spaced out!"

If it wasn't Becky, he might have laughed, but he held himself back. "Yeah but in different ways! If she's thinking about Bondman, or eats her favourite foods, she spaces out with this really stupid dopey smile and if she's really enjoying herself she might even drool a bit which is kinda funny because she looks like a puppy having a nap, and if she's thinking about maths, or any subject she hates to be honest, she starts to fall asleep, and yeah in class she's just plain spaced out normally, except when she's doing something with her hands, but if she's in a crowd, she turns white and she spaces out like her heads just gone numb, and if it's really bad she can get those nosebleeds, they're not usually that bad, you just have to pay attention…"

Too late, Damian realised what he had just said and stopped short. Shit! Shit shit shit I've said too much!

A beat. Sweat prickled on Damian's neck as he held his breath. What could he do? How could he undo the damage?

Becky snickered, then made the worst noise he had ever heard.

"AWWWW!" She squealed, and buried her face in her hands. "You are SO CUTE! I should have known you were paying attention to her! You really do love her! "

Damian froze for a moment, then waved his hands frantically at her, as if it would also wave away what he had just revealed. "No! That's not… It's… argh! It's not what you think -"

Becky ignored his protests and only squealed even more.

—

Consciousness came to Anya in stages. She heard sounds, as if she was underwater, and slowly there were fragments of sounds that started to make sense to her.

… she's just plain spaced…. can get nosebleeds…. just have to pay attention…

And then a noise that sounded like Princess Honey had just seen a puppy… or was it a large balloon slowly deflating?

…love her!

Anya's eyes fluttered open and she groaned awake. Her head hurt like thousands of needles prickling all over her eyes and skull. Without thinking, she groaned aloud: "What is that noise?"

A gasp, then something crushed her from above. Black hair covered her vision and she puffed a few strands of it out of her mouth. "Becky…" she croaked out.

"Sorry! I'm just so happy you're okay! We were so worried about you!" Becky gave Anya's torso one last squeeze before she released her.

"We…?" Her voice still hurt, like sandpaper against her throat.

Anya's eyes landed on Damian, who for some reason had turned much redder than normal.

"Well! Would you look at the time!" Exclaimed Becky, looking at a blank space on her wrist. "I'd better get to class! See you lovebirds later!"

Before either Anya or Damian could correct her, Becky vanished from the room with efficient grace and a cheeky wink, leaving the two in each other's company. Anya's mind swam with the effects of having passed out and she bolted upright in a panic. "Oh no! The fire alarm! What happened, did I -"

A wave of nausea and dizziness rolled over Anya and she nearly toppled off of the bed, if not for a pair of hands on her shoulders.

Warm… She couldn't help but notice the warmth of him, it felt like the heat of his hands had left an imprint on the skin beneath her shirt.

"Try… try not to fall," he said in a whisper. It sounded like it was an effort for him to say it. Then, as if scorched by his own actions, Damian suddenly released his grip on her shoulders and took a step back. A tiny part of her wished he could keep her hands there and warm her up…

Anya furrowed her brow in confusion at her own traitorous thoughts. Where did that come from? She wondered, but tried to put it out of her mind. She needed to know what happened, and it looked like only one person was around to tell her. Her throat hurt for some unknown reason, so on instinct she tried to reach into his mind to save using her voice…

… and her mind went limp.

Numbly, she tried again, and once again it felt like her mind had gone limp like a fish. Anya started to panic. Reading minds was almost like breathing to her. Why couldn't she do it? What was wrong with her?

"Hey, hey! It's all right, it's all right… Just breathe…"

Anya took a deep shuddering breath, as a panicked Damian started to rub small circles into her back. She closed her eyes and focused on the sensation as she tried to steady her breathing.

It's all right, it's all right… Just breathe…

Why was he being so nice to her? The last time they spoke, he told her he would never be friends with her, and yet here he was silently rubbing her back as she tried to breathe. Surely he wouldn't do this unless…

Unless….

Maybe he did want to be friends with her after all?

Anya's heart leapt. Maybe Plan B (and the world) wasn't doomed after all!

She was strangely aware of how close he stood next to her, like her whole side tingled from just his presence. She wondered when he got so close to her, and realised that he must have moved closer to her to hold her shoulder, and again to rub her back, he had leaned down to get closer and reassure her, even though he had to lean down awkwardly to do it. She wondered if he was uncomfortable, leaning down towards her like that. Maybe she could do something to help him feel better.

Without really thinking about it, Anya reached out and tugged hard on Damian's sleeve.

Damian yelped and fell on the bed in the direction she had pulled him in, which ended up with him landing on his arm on the side of the bed, and his head right next to her legs. "What was that for, you dummy?!"

"You look uncomfortable, Sy-on. You should sit with Anya on the bed."

"Sit with you… on the…" And his face went completely red again. Did he have a fever? He frowned and seemed to wrestle with some internal thoughts (if only she could hear what they were!) before he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, but he had perched on the furthest corner away from her. "Whatever! It's not like it's… anything else…"

He petered off strangely and clenched his fists on his lap.

Anya wasn't sure how to progress with this. Here she was, alone with Damian, whatever plans she had to progress Plan B had been thrown out of the window, and she couldn't read his mind at that moment, for whatever reason. She really hoped her powers would come back soon, she wasn't really sure how to interact with him without them. Damian always presented like such an enigma to her - saying one thing and yet meaning another, without her powers, how was she supposed to know what he was truly thinking?

Think, Anya! She chided herself. This was the last year that she could try to follow Plan B and make Damian invite her to his house so that Papa could save the world. (She had built a bit of a better understanding of Loid's planning over the years, but she usually was just in the habit of simplifying the plan in her mind.) She still had some time, but how could she progress the friendship scheme?

Anya realised that she was too busy in her mind to consider that the atmosphere had become somewhat tense, and that Damian was clearly too awkward to even look at her. Was it because he was expecting something from her?

"Thank y-"

And at the same time: "I'm sorry."

Anya stopped and stared at Damian. His gaze remained solidly on his knees, and he couldn't look her in the eye, but even though he had slightly turned away, Anya tried to get a look at his face. She noticed that he was biting lip, and he fidgeted with his hands, probably some way to distract him?

"Oh uh, I didn't mean to speak over you. Sorry for that too, I guess. I've just been meaning to tell you… I just…"

Why, oh why couldn't she hear his thoughts? It seemed like he really wanted to say something, so she kept quiet, giving him space to speak if he needed to. It was so rare for Damian to say what was on his mind, she wanted to try and support him as much as she could - she knew better than anyone else how awkward he could be!

But it looked like it was still too hard for Damian, who whirled at her with a pained expression. "Are you really going to go on a date with Bill?"

His thoughts must have been really chaotic if he couldn't even keep track of his own conversation! More than ever, anya realised that she needed to know what was in his mind so that she could progress with the mission. She tried to concentrate, to block out all other noise, and the only thing she could hear was: Don't go don't go don't go

Anya tilted her head to examine him. "Well, he did ask me out." What did he have against Bill? Even Becky said that Bill was a perfectly decent guy, and she had seen Damian get on with him beforehand. She wondered what had happened to make him so against the date.

To her confusion, Damian looked crestfallen. An idea sparked in her mind and she added: "And unless someone else asks me out, I really have no reason to say no…" She looked up at him hopefully through her eyelashes. (She recalled seeing Princess Honey do this to get what she wanted, it couldn't have been a bad idea, right?)

Now, Damian may be an idiot, but even he can spot a hint when he sees one.

"Th-then," he spluttered, before his brain could catch up to his mouth, "I'll go with you!"

"Eh? Really? You'll go and see Spy Wars with Anya?" She beamed at him. Was plan B going to work after all?

Damian panicked and blurted: "You said you wanted to be friends… r-right?"

"So if I go with you to the cinema, we can be friends?"

He sighed in exasperation, and Anya couldn't tell if he was in some kind of pain or not. "Sure."

Anya's face lit up. This was perfect! She didn't even know how she had accomplished this, but Anya was going to take any victory she could get, even if she didn't really understand it. She chuckled to herself and pulled the blanket closer around her. "Sy-on boy can be nice after all."

"Stop saying weird stuff! Also I'll see you tonight at seven! And don't you dare buy the tickets if you get there before me!"

"Okay!" Anya let herself laugh now. It was so funny to see Damian so serious, and yet try to have fun with her, she comforted herself with the thought that she definitely didn't even need to have her mind reading powers to know that he was excited about it.

—

Damian stayed for as long as he could with Anya in the nurse's office, until the nurse came back and told him to get back to class. As he made his way over to his last class of the day, Damian's steps became bouncy and light, and he caught himself in the mirror…

… and he was smiling!

Damian was glad for a moment that there was nobody else in the hallways to see him acting like such a giddy idiot. He couldn't physically contain himself (was there something wrong with him? Wait, don't answer that…), and when he stood at the door of the classroom, he took a moment to compose himself. It was quite an effort before he considered himself "presentable" enough to walk back in.

(He was still so obviously happy though. Emile and Ewen shared a secret smile when he entered).