Hello! Just quickly, I've rewritten a lot of the previous chapters, it's probably a good idea for you all to go and read through them all again. (From memory, there's most change in chapter 5, so at least read that one, there's a nice Katy-Anna chat in there) Otherwise, enjoy!

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The rest of the night went relatively quickly. Katy and I headed downstairs (once she'd freshened up a little), and she went straight for Justin, as if nothing was wrong. Or maybe it was the fact he was holding pizza, which she immediately stole, I'm not too sure. I, of course, headed straight for Beau, plopping myself down on his lap, throwing my arms around his neck, and kissing him.

He looked at me, amused. "And what was that for, miss?"

I shrugged. "Because I wanted to. And I can."

He laughed and pulled me back to him, kissing me in retaliation. "Because I can," he said, before I could even ask.

I rolled my eyes.

We spent the rest of the night in couple cuteness, giving Matt and Trey plenty of ammunition to tease us with. Although we weren't the only ones being teased, Katy and Justin were getting it too.

After about half an hour debating what to do, we finally just settled on watching movies. Beau and I cuddled on the couch, Justin and Katy kicked Matt off the other one and followed suit, so Matt was left on a beanbag on the floor, and Trey in the armchair.

"I can't believe I got kicked off my own couch," Matt grumbled jokingly.

"Justin's house too now, brother, remember?" I pointed out happily.

"Exactly, so, you know, technically, this couch is mine too," Justin laughed.

"Details."

I don't even remember what movie it was to be perfectly honest – I fell asleep pretty much straight away. Which, I maintain, was not my fault. I'd been kept up the night before by crazy (but incredible) girls, and besides. I was lying next to a pretty spectacular guy, his arms around me, getting kisses all over. You can't blame me for being so comfortable I slept, can you?

Anyway. Beau shook me awake while the end credits were rolling, and we all headed up to bed.

"Night guys," Justin and Katy said on their way to their room.

I smiled. "Night."

Matt, Beau and Trey managed some sort of grunt that I supposed served as a goodnight. I rolled my eyes. Boys.

The door closed behind the departing couple.

"Well," I said, stretching. "I'm heading to bed too. Night boys."

I turned away. Before I could take even a step towards my door, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. Spun around, Beau's face smiled down at me.

"You didn't think you were getting away that easily, did you?"

I rolled my eyes. "And just what do you think you're doing?"

He pulled me into him. "You're not getting away without saying a proper goodnight," he told me, his face inching closer to mine.

"Oh really?" I asked. "Is that so?" My voice was little more than a whisper. "What did you have in mind?"

I could barely breathe now, his scent all over me, around me, intoxicating. His face was mere centimetres from my own now. He moved in slowly, until all of a sudden his lips were on mine, kissing me softly. I could feel him smiling as we stood there, him kissing me, me kissing him back without any hesitation.

Matt cleared his throat and we broke apart, both grinning like sugar affected kids. "You two done now?" he asked teasingly.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Yes. Yes I believe we are." I wrapped my arms around Beau, taking him in one last time before we went to separate beds. In one fluid motion, he scooped me up, literally sweeping me off my feet. I laughed and wriggled in his arms as he carried me towards my room, kicking the door open.

He carried me all the way to my bed, placing me gently down on the pillows, tucking me in and everything. He bent down and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Comfy?" he asked, grinning.

I sighed. "You know, I'm never going to get used to you doing that."

He laughed. "I'm counting on it. If you ever did, half the fun would be gone."

I shook my head. "You're awful. But come here for a second."

He looked at me suspiciously "Only if you promise not to harm me in any way," he joked, coming back to the bedside.

I pulled him down to my level and kissed him once more, a long, gentle goodnight kiss. "Night," I said, smiling softly.

He winked at me as he headed out the door. "Night babe."

Trey walked in as Beau was walking out.

"Hey," Beau said, stopping Trey in the doorway. "You keep your hands off my girl, alright?"

Trey and I laughed.

"I'll see what I can do, man," Trey joked, pushing easily past Beau and taking a seat on my bed.

"Well alright then. Night you two," he called over his shoulder as he joined Matt in his room.

Trey got up and closed the door. "So, Anna. Sleep, or gossip?" he asked. "And, where am I sleeping tonight?"

"Well, there's the spare mattress, I suppose. Or I guess you could share my bed. Now that I know that I don't have to worry about you trying anything, I mean," I laughed.

"As much as I would love to share the comfortable bed," he began, "somehow I don't think that your boyfriend would be too thrilled with that. I'll just take the mattress."

"You really want the super thin and uncomfortable spare mattress?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "Come on, Trey, it's just a bed. And you're gay. And besides, Beau doesn't really seem like the jealous type to me, especially not over something like this." I patted the bed beside me. "You know you want to…"

He rolled his eyes and headed over to the bed, jumping in next to me. Literally. I think I might have nearly fallen out, if it weren't for the blankets that had been so tightly tucked around me.

"But if we get in trouble for this," he warned, wriggling onto his side to face me. "I want the record to show clearly that I was against this at first."

I laughed. "Consider it done."

"So you never answered my other question," he said, flipping back onto his back. I followed his example. "Sleep or gossip?"

I just looked at him. "Is that really even a question? You already know my answer. Gossip, obviously." I remembered something. "Oh, and do I have news for you. You, uh, remember your little crush on a certain boy?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "No, Anna, I've completely forgotten about it, what crush could you possibly be talking about?"

I giggled. "Alright, alright, calm down Captain Sarcasm. I ask because I happened to get a visit from Jenna today. Jenna who happens to be friends with Jason. The exact same Jason that you have a thing for. And, as it would happen, the exact same Jason that seems to have a little bit of a thing for you." I looked at him, grinning, and sat up against the headboard.

He looked shocked, and sat up next to me. "Are you serious? Anna you better not kidding…"

"Completely serious, honey." My grin widened. "She came over before you got here and told me that Jason had a thing for you, and that they were wondering if I could find out if he had a chance with you."

"And?" he asked curiously. "What did you tell her?"

"Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything. I told her that I could try and find out for her, and that was it. Your secret's still safe."

He hugged me excitedly. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"…Foooor not telling your secret? Of course."

He shook his head. "No, not that. Well, yeah, that too, but for telling me about Jason. It makes it so much more real to know that there's actually a chance with him now." He couldn't contain his grin.

"So am I guessing that after you reveal your big secret to the friends tomorrow, your next destination will be the rather attractive MC? Or would you prefer that I relay messages to Jenna for her to relay to Jason, like we're in primary school?"

"Actually," he said sheepishly. "I was kind of hoping that you would. Just at the beginning, though, I'm not asking you to do it forever… just maybe if you could tell Jenna that I am very, very interested, that would be a massive help. Please?"

I rested my head on his shoulder. "Of course, love." I looked up at him with excited, teasing eyes. "You know, if you and Jason get together, we could double date and everything. You know, we'd be so cute, all four of us out on the town together…"

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah. Sounds like a wicked time."

I giggled and poked my tongue out at him. "Shut up, you."

We lay in silence for a while.

"I'm really happy for you, you know," he said quietly, startling me. I thought he'd fallen asleep, to be honest.

"Happy about what?" I asked. My eyes were closed, and I was drifting closer and closer to sleep.

"You and Beau," he replied. "I know I've probably said it before, but I want to say it again. We were all just waiting for it to happen. You're good for each other. I see the way he lights up when you're around. You deserve to be happy... I haven't seen you this way since you and Justin..."

I didn't hear anything after that, finally giving in to sleep.

A creaking noise woke me, hours later. I rolled over to check the time. Three am.
I groaned and got out of bed, smiling as I replaced the blanket that had fallen off Trey before I headed downstairs to check it out. Maybe my parents had come back early.

I followed the noise into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes as I did so.

"Justin?" I asked unsurely. His head was half inside the fridge, searching for food, I assumed.

He gave me a guilty look as he emerged with a pizza box. "Sorry," he apologised. "Did I wake you?"

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Why are you awake?"

He sighed as he walked towards the cupboard to grab a plate. "Couldn't sleep. Katy. You want some?" he added, gesturing towards the pizza. I nodded and took a seat at the counter.

"What about Katy?" I enquired gently as he put the food in the microwave.

He didn't answer me until he took a seat next to me, sliding me my food. I picked it up and took a bite as he spoke.

"She..." he sighed again, deeper this time, like he was tired. "She asked to see... everything. My dad..." he broke off.

I nodded understandingly. "I guess she didn't take it too well."

He shook his head. "It's not that. I just... I just don't think she knows how to take it, you know? It's not an everyday thing, seeing a body as messed up as mine is. The bruises, and the burns... not everyone knows how to react to it. She just cried. Didn't say a word. Just cried and cried. I couldn't sleep next to it, hearing her sob, feeling her whole body just shudder with every breath."

"She just needs time, Jus," I said comfortingly, placing a hand on his bare arm. He was dressed in only a singlet and boxer shorts. "It's a lot for anybody to handle, especially someone who hasn't necessarily been exposed to anything like that before. Just give it time."

"It's not just that, An. I don't want her to look at me the way I know she will. Like I'm some sort of wounded animal that needs to be nursed back to health. The pity in her eyes, I can't stand it. Every time she looks at me like that, it'll be like letting him win. It's like reliving it all over again."

"Oh, Justin," I said sympathetically, moving over to lay my head on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. She'll be alright, she just needs time to adjust to it all. It's a big thing to find out. But she loves you, hon. You'll make it work."

He sighed. "I know. I know she loves me. And I want it to work. I really do. I can't imagine my life without her in it, but I can't have her looking at me like that for the rest of our lives. It'll drive me crazy."

I smiled gently at him, looking straight into his tortured grey eyes. "I wish there was more I could do. Do you want me to talk to her tomorrow?"

He shook his head. "No. I'll do it. I just need to make her understand where I'm coming from. I need her to know that I'm okay now, that I don't need a nurse, and that I can take care of myself."

I nodded. "Good idea. It's best coming from you anyway."

"If she comes to you, though, Anna..."

I smiled. "I know. I'll talk her through it."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pressed a long kiss to my head. "You know, you're the only person who's ever managed to do this. Who will talk to me like I'm person, not a kicked puppy. You're the only one who's ever really managed to understand. Who can deal with this. Thank you, for that. I don't think I can ever say it enough. Thank you, Anna."

"Don't thank me, Jus. It's what people do. It's what I do. Helping you helped me, and I was more than happy to do it." I grabbed his empty plate and mine, and walked over to dump them in the sink.

Resting my hip against the counter, I looked at him. "Don't do this to yourself. Don't destroy something good, maybe the best thing, in your life, over something awful. It's just what he wants. Don't let it happen, babe."

He just smiled sadly to himself. I walked back over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm going to head back to bed, hon. Will you be okay?"

He yawned as he nodded. "I'll be fine. Night, Anna."

I ruffled his messy hair fondly and smiled down at him. "Night Jus. I'll see you in the morning."

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heyhihello! I'm baaaaaack! I actually can't believe how long it's been since I updated this, I am so sorry! Anyway. My inspiration for this is well back, I have a chapter plan written up this time and everything, so no excuses for losing focus. The next chapter is already underway, so that should be up soon enough :) On a side note, if any of you were reading Rogue Academy, I took it down for a little while to rewrite it all, it's back up and better than ever, so definitely make sure to check it out. That should be updated in the next few days as well. ANYWAY i hope you enjoyed this chapter, or didn't hate it at the very least, make sure you review etc etc. love love love, ash.

xx.