"What the hell? Boss, we better go!"

I slowly came to, trying to piece together what the hell had just happened. The last clear memory I had was of Luke's dad landing a pretty strong punch right on my jaw. After that? Nothing but darkness.

But here I was, feet rooted firmly to the ground, and somehow still breathing. And, for some reason, my attackers were limping away—like, seriously limping, as if they'd just taken a major beatdown, but I hadn't the foggiest idea who could have done that to them.

"We'll get you for this, kid!" Luke's dad shouted over his shoulder, already halfway down the street.

Wait. What?

I glanced around. There was no one else in sight—just me, the pavement, and a big, empty, 'What the hell happened here?' kind of vibe hanging in the air.

That was when I remembered my hand. You know, the one that had that nasty dagger through it? Yeah, well when I looked at it, expecting to see a mess of blood and shredded skin, there was nothing. No wound, no scar. It was like the whole thing had never happened.

What. The. Hell.

Before I could make my brain ache thinking about it any longer, a familiar sharp, searing pain shot through my head. It felt like a brain freeze but about a thousand times worse, like something clawing at the insides of my skull. With a groan, I clutched my temples as if that would help, spoiler: it didn't. The world began to blur, hazing over as I landed on my knees, and the next thing I knew, I was out cold.

***

When my heavy eyes finally opened, what had been the ultimate headache had thankfully subsided into a dull throb. I blinked against the bright lights, which really didn't help the pain in my head, and looked around. It wasn't really a surprise to find myself in the school infirmary, though I had no memory of who found me or how I had got here.

"Nathan?"

I recognised Luke's voice the moment he spoke, the softness with which he spoke my name helping to slow my racing thoughts. He was sitting at my side, looking as though he had been there for quite some time, his hand holding onto mine like I would float away if he let go.

"Luke?" I croaked, still groggy. He immediately let go of my hand, looking sheepish, only to yank me into a hug so tight it felt like he was trying to crack my ribs.

"I'm really sorry, Nate. This whole mess with my dad... I should've stopped him. Should've known he'd be back." His voice cracked a little, but he swallowed it down, doing that brave face thing that made me want to punch him and hug him at the same time.

I squeezed him back, though my muscles still felt like jelly. "Luke, I'm fine."

"Nice to see you up and about, Mr Mercia." Miss Reid stood at the foot of my bed, arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"What... happened? Why did they run off like that?"

Luke and Miss Reid exchanged glances, like I'd just said something stupid. Luke raised his eyebrows at me like, Seriously?

"You don't remember?" Miss Reid asked.

I shook my head.

She sighed and pulled out a tablet. "Well, you better see this."

She held up the screen, and I stared at the footage. It was CCTV of the fight, or at least, what should have been the fight. Except, instead of me getting pummelled into the ground like I was expecting to see, the video showed me going full action hero—fending off Luke's dad and his goons with nothing but my fists. It was insane, like I was looking at someone who looked an awful lot like me but definitely not myself. But there I was flipping, dodging, disarming them like I was in some kind of martial arts movie.

The weirdest part? I wasn't using Caladorn, my sword. It was all me. But how? I could barely handle a school fight, let alone that.

I stared at my hand again, still unscathed. "My hand... it healed."

"How did you do that?" Luke said, still looking like he was trying to figure out if he should be impressed or terrified. "You took them out on your own without even drawing your sword."

Miss Reid gave me a pointed look. "We'll discuss the specifics later. For now, you need to rest. This little stunt doesn't mean you're skipping school."

And with that, she left. Classic Miss Reid—barely blinked an eye at the whole thing.

***

By the time we got back to our room, I was knackered and about ready to collapse. But before I could flop onto my bed, Luke stopped me, still looking guilty.

Nate... I'm sorry."

I frowned. "What for?"

He wouldn't look at me, just kept staring at the ceiling as if it would collapse on top of us if he moved his gaze. "For everything. For what happened today, with my dad, with Mara... all of it."

Sighing, I walked over to his bed and gave him a nudge. "Budge up."

He blinked, confused, but moved over, and I slipped in next to him. "This time, I'm the big spoon."

Luke snorted, immediately rolling over and flipping me around like a ragdoll. "Not a chance," he mumbled, pulling me back into his chest. I laughed as his face pressed into the crook of my neck, his breath warm against my skin.

"See, much better," he muttered, already half asleep. Within minutes, we were both out.

That should've been the end of it, at least for now. Just a chance to crash and maybe finally catch a break. Then again, who was I kidding? Even having Luke by my side couldn't ward off every nightmare that came my way, sooner or later another one was bound to slip through.

It was with a startle that I woke up, completely breathless and drenched through, like I'd just taken a dip in a pool of my own sweat. My heart pounded like roaring thunder in my chest. Not the nice kind that came with butterflies in your stomach, the kind I'd grown used to spending these past few weeks around Luke. No, this one came only with a deep feeling of dread.

I didn't jump or move, too scared the world would start to spin if I sat up. Instead, I tried to focus on this one particular crack in the wall, hoping it would calm me somehow as I tried to stop the tears that spilled down my cheeks. 

Luke stirred behind me and rolled over to face me, as if he'd sensed my turmoil even in his sleep. "Nate?" he asked softly, groggily. "What's wrong?"

"I... don't know," I mumbled as I began to wipe the tears from my face. I don't know why I was even trying to hide them. I had cried in front of him before, so why was it that I couldn't bear the thought of him seeing me like this now?

I guess, as silly as it sounds, it was probably because I didn't even know why I was so upset. I felt like there was no reason for it, no explanation. Like I was just crying for the sake of crying, but I knew that wasn't the case. Yet it was embarrassing to me, somehow—the thought of him seeing me like this and thinking me pathetic for crying over nothing.

Luke didn't hesitate to slip his arms around me, pulling me into the warmth of his chest. It was more comforting that he could have known, even though my breaths still came out shaky. "Not the usual nightmare?" he asked quietly, his breath brushing my neck.

I shook my head, trying to calm my racing mind. "No... I don't think so, but whatever it was... it wasn't good."

We stayed there like that for a while, his arms tight around me as the steady rise and fall of his breathing helped me relax. But after a while, I couldn't help but grab my phone off the nightstand. 5:20 AM. Great. Just wonderful. Too early to be up, but too late to bother trying to fall back asleep. Not that I think I'd be able to anymore anyway.

I sighed. "Well, we've got a couple hours before class. Wanna do something?"

Luke raised an eyebrow, an easy grin sliding across his face. "Like what?"

I glanced at him, feeling the edges of a smile tug at my lips. "I might have some ideas..."

Luke leaned in a little closer, his voice dropping to a playful murmur. "Oh yeah? I bet you do."

***

"Ow! Okay, this is not what I had in mind!" Luke yelped, rubbing his arm after I smacked him with my training sword.

"What did you expect?" I grinned, catching my breath. "Proelium's next week, we need all the practice we can get."

He pouted. "Yeah, but can't we do something more fun? Like... I dunno, breakfast?"

Before I could respond, Luke slipped behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist in a sudden, playful hug. His chin found a resting spot on my shoulder as he squeezed me tight, the warmth of his chest pressing into my back.

"Luke," I said, trying to suppress a laugh. "What are you doing?"

He just grinned mischievously against my shoulder, his infectious warmth almost overwhelming. "Am I not allowed to hug my boyfriend?"

The word 'boyfriend' seemed to hang in the air for a moment, as if everything that had been happening between us was finally made real when he spoke that one magic word.

Luke's teasing grin faltered just slightly, and I could feel him tense behind me, suddenly shy.

I leaned back into him, feeling his grip tighten just a little. "Yeah" I said softly, tilting my head to catch his eye. "You're definitely allowed to hug your boyfriend." I turned my head and kissed him gently, feeling the nervous tension between us melt away as our lips met.

But, of course, the universe once again had other plans. Just as we settled into the moment, the door creaked open. We sprang apart so fast it was like we'd been zapped by lightning.

"You guys couldn't wait for an audience?" Alec grinned, while Mara raised an eyebrow, clearly trying to decide which one of us most deserved a smack. "What are you doing here so early anyway?"

"Just training," I said with a casual shrug, trying to ignore the warmth filling into my cheeks. "You?"

That was when Mara went red—like, more than me after being caught red handed—and mumbled something about training too, quickly dragging Alec across the room before either of us could ask any more questions. I couldn't help but wonder what was really going on between them. I mean, was something happening there, or was I imagining things?

Luke leaned in and snickered into my ear, his breath warm against my skin as he whispered, "Guess we weren't the only ones up to no good."

Alec called us over, "Come on then you two, we might as well train together."

Luke sighed dramatically. "Just when it was starting to get fun," he muttered, sneaking a quick kiss on my cheek before we joined them in the ring.

"Nice to see you two have made up," Alec said with a grin as he got into his fighting stance.

My cheeks were burning at the realisation that everyone could see through us, as though they could feel the very thing that pulsed through my body every time I saw his smile or felt his warmth. But it wasn't the bad kind of embarrassing. Actually, it felt so natural, this boyfriend thing.

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