Yawning, Cale followed the rest of the class out of the classroom. The last class of the day had just ended, and Cale was exhausted. He had only been back in school for about a week, and already all the energy that he had been storing up was gone, lost with the wind. Stumbling a little on his tired feet, Cale frowned down at them.

"Mr. Frosthaze," the teacher said and Cale reluctantly turned around. Valerio the Villain faced him head-on, looking at him as if he was severely disappointed. "If you need more time to recover from your illness, you should take the next week off. It wouldn't do for you to fall ill again so soon, after all."

Valerio looked serious — as if he actually meant it. Like he wasn't the ultimate villain, the hidden boss, of this whole novel. Cale frowned and his eyes drifted away from the uncomfortably intense blue of the villain's eyes.

"I'm fine," Cale insisted. Truly, it didn't matter if he was fine or not, he had things to get done and it wouldn't wait for him to get better.

For months now, he had managed to stay out of the Sayer's and the plot's way, a success that he didn't intend to squander. He never ate with Sayer, never spent any time around him, had successfully managed to remove himself from all association with him — Cale had thought that he was doing pretty well so far. If only Calla's frail body wouldn't betray him.

Valerio sent him a questioning look, and Cale ducked his head, "I'll rest over the weekend," he promised, feeling chastised for some reason.

He wondered where Julius was right now, what he was doing? As far as Cale could remember, Julius' last class for the day — and the entire week, as it was Friday now — had already ended. They hadn't seen each other for this whole week and while Cale didn't begrudge Julius getting his due rest, he had found himself missing the younger teenager. He wet his dry lips and nodded his head at Valerio, "I promise to take better care of myself."

Then he left the classroom after Valerio nodded at him. It still left him reeling, after all this time, how good a teacher Valerio actually was. Cale's best grade was in Valerio's class and that wasn't an accident.

His feet took him toward the library, toward the corner where Julius often waited for him. He hadn't seen him there for the whole week, but habits were hard to break.

Still, Cale's steps faltered when he caught sight of the teenage boy leaning against the wall.

"Frosthaze," Julius nodded coldly at him and pushed off from the wall with his foot, straightening himself and standing tall. Cale's eyes drifted over Julius' body and his eyes lingered on the bright blond hair. It looked longer, reaching Julius' shoulders.

He smiled, "Julius."

Julius looked him over, from the bottom of his toes all the way up to Cale's hair that was, once again, slipping out of the hastily made braid, and his gaze finally stopped on Cale's face. He frowned and Cale found himself taking a step back out of reflex. He knew that look. He had been subjected to it many times while he was sick.

"You haven't been resting enough," Julius declared like it was obvious.

Cale gulped. "I've been busy with homework and studying," he defended himself. Seeing the look on Julius' face, Cale took hold of his satchel and gripped it tightly to his bosom, warily looking back at Julius. Julius' green eyes glanced at the bag that Cale was defending and then the boy sighed.

"Stop looking at me like that. I'm not going to attack you," Julius said and took a step closer. He was now within arm's length of Cale.

Cale looked down on him. Though Julius had maybe grown a little bit since they had first met, Cale was still taller. Cale didn't expect that to last, but for now, he could look down on Julius and be met with steely eyes looking back at him. Julius had probably never even noticed the height difference, had he? The same way that he apparently hadn't given any thought to the age difference.

Cale sighed and let his bag go, "I know you're not. I'm sorry," he apologized and watched the frown on Julius' face melt away.

"Good," Julius nodded. "Where are you going? You're going to rest now, right?"

Cale nodded, seeing no reason to argue with him. Besides, if he went to bed early tonight, he would have more energy to study over the weekend, when he had no classes to distract him from his homework. When looking at it that way, going back to his room now and taking it easy this evening seemed like a sensible choice.

He was well aware that his frantic studying wasn't sensible in the least. He knew full well that not resting so soon after he had been sick precisely because of this issue was stupid of him, but he didn't see any other options. He had to graduate this year.

They started walking toward the dorms and Cale gracefully didn't ask why Julius was following him. The teenager probably just wanted to make sure that Cale wasn't lying, that he would actually get some rest tonight and take it easy. Understandable, considering how Cale had spent his time the last week.

As they walked next to each other and got closer and closer to Cale's room, Cale was privy to the sight of Julius' eyes starting to glare. Everything and everyone that they passed by, Julius would glare into submission and their fellow students hurriedly moved out of their way. Cale didn't blame them, Julius' glare was a frightening thing, the kind of thing that belonged in a horror movie on a wronged ghost.

Amused despite himself, Cale's lips twitched into a smile as he watched a student let out a squeak when catching sight of Julius and abruptly turning the other way, blatantly running away.

Cale laughed softly, turning it into a cough when Julius turned that infamous glare on him.

They reached Cale's room safe and sound. Julius' foot tapped impatiently on the ground while Cale unlocked and opened the door and Cale sent him another amused glance over his shoulder as he entered his room. Cale threw the satchel full of books on the bed and then sat himself down next to it, watching as Julius immediately started to inspect the room.

Julius dragged his finger along one of the shelves, frowning at the tip of it when he brought it back. "You didn't clean at all," Julius clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

Cale fiddled with the pillows on his bed, over half of them having been given to him by Julius during the time he was sick. He settled them against the headboard and then sat with his back to them, leaning back against the softness and sighing in pleasure. Cale closed his eyes as his body reacted to the restful position by instantly relaxing. With his eyes closed, it didn't take him long to start dozing; he really hadn't been getting enough sleep lately.

He didn't know how long he dozed, half-asleep, and unaware of what was going on around him. But when he finally blinked his eyes open again, the sun had set and Julius was entering the room again with a tray full of food.

"You didn't have to," Cale said as he hurried out of the bed and moved to take the tray. Julius ignored him and walked over to the desk, setting the tray down on it after Cale quickly moved the notebooks, scattered papers, and books on it to the side. Cale continued to say, "You could have woken me up."

"You need the rest," Julius stated and stepped back from the table. He waved his arm toward the tray and stared at Cale in silence until Cale sighed and sat down on the desk chair.

Picking up the utensils, Cale at the food and drank the milk in record time. He hadn't eaten since lunch and he was hungrier than he thought. He guessed that his body must be trying to recover some of his energy by eating, now when he wasn't sleeping as much as he should. It made sense, he thought.

He leaned back on his chair and glanced over at Julius. While Cale had been eating, Julius had gotten a book from Cale's shelves and sat down on his bed to read it.

Observing the young man, Cale's eyes drifted from his hair slipping forward over his face, to his intense green eyes and to the gentle slope of his neck. Cale gave himself permission to look for a minute before he abruptly turned his gaze away and closed his eyes. He rubbed his eyes harshly, disgusted with himself for giving in to his baser urges.

When he peeked out at Julius between his fingers, Julius was staring at him. Cale swallowed uneasily and asked, "What?"

"We need to talk," Julius said and closed the book with a loud thump.

Cale brought his hands down from his face to his lap, crossed his leg over the other, and tried to look approachable. Had Julius discovered that Cale was... lusting after him? Had he figured out where Cale looked so often? What Cale felt for him, the disgusting truth of his lacking morality? Frowning, Cale questioned, "About what?"

"I've talked with your parents," Julius started. Julius moved so that he leaned back on his hands and looked at Cale from under half-lidded eyes.

It was too much for Cale's heart, "What about?"

"About your marriage," Julius licked his lips and then stated imperiously, "About me marrying you."

...What?

Cale's heart stopped in the chest and he stared with wide eyes at the younger man. "What?" he managed to squeeze out through his suddenly dry mouth. He licked his dry lips and clenched his hands together, squeezing them together on his lap. He closed his eyes and took a controlling breath before he opened them again and demanded, "What?"

"They've agreed to let me court you," Julius stated as if it was that simple. Like he wasn't walking all over Cale's heart; like he wasn't trampling over all of his beliefs. Julius continued, "We've agreed that should the courting go well, my family will pay for the wedding. Of course, we won't get married until I graduate, but we can discuss that when you're less overwhelmed."

"What?" Cale asked again, still unable to really understand what was going on.

Julius sighed. Then he stood and walked over to Cale. He patted Cale's shoulder gently and said, kinder than Cale had ever heard him speak, "If you don't want this, tell your parents. Nothing is set in stone."

He stepped back and his lips were quirked just slightly at the edges. It was probably the first time that Cale had ever seen him actually smile, tiny as it was. Cale dragged in a rough breath, frowning harshly. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, but it was still loud, so loud that he could barely hear himself think.

It was all happening so fast.

"We hardly know each other. Are you sure you're fine with me?" Cale asked, then he frowned. That wasn't what he wanted to ask. "You're fine with the age difference? I'm almost five years older than you."

Julius shrugged. "That's what the courting is for. Besides, we won't be getting married before I graduate anyway, your parents insisted."

Staring down at his lap, Cale turned the idea around in his head. Was it truly that easy? It didn't feel like it should be. "Do you even like me?" Cale asked, unable to keep the words from leaving him.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't have asked your parents for permission to court you otherwise," Julius stated simply.

Cale looked up at him. It couldn't be this easy, but when he saw the intense and determined look on Julius' face, he found that he didn't have any objections. He would panic soon, he knew, but when Julius looked at him like, he couldn't remember why.