Anna looked up as Anya walked in and frowned as Gunner pushed Anya towards her asking for help. She sighed softly, "Gunner... you should go find Seb. I think you'll know where he'll be. I'll take care of Anya."

As Anya sank into a chair Anna followed suit and wrapped an arm around her friend, "What happened? I'm guessing this is about Seb? What did he do?"

She hugged her friend a little, "Whatever it is, it'll be okay... I can kick his ass if you want? Just a little... just a light boot to the rear... a love tap to the jaw... a tickle to the..." She frowned, "I can't think of anything for that one but you know what I mean." She was trying to make Anya laugh a little. "Seb's thick sometimes, maybe it was a misunderstanding?"

Anya shook her head, "No... It wasn't him... It... was me," She looked at Anna and sighed, "I... Told him that he had to decide... Whether or not he wanted to be with me.... That... That I couldn't handle him flirting with him if he was going to just keep pushing me away... I said... that he had been toying with me...." Again, she buried her face again, "I should have said it... but I thought.... maybe if I made him decide that... he'd actually choose me..."

No she didn't, and she knew that. She knew from the moment that she said it that he was going to run away. She thought that being pushed away one last time wouldn't hurt as much as it did with him leading her on. She had been quite wrong. She felt like her heart had actually broken. Not the little bits that it did each time Sebastian let go of her hand while telling her that he couldn't be with her but full on shattered.
~
Gunner nodded, relieved to have a reason to walk away from the crying Anya. It wasn't that he didn't want to help his hurting friend, it was just that he didn't know how one went about doing that. He hoped there weren't many of these breakdowns when Anna wasn't on hand. So he set out to find the man behind the crying girl. He had a list of places to check for Sebastian. The amount of hiding spots and times Sebastian ran off to them was astonishing. However, there was one place that seemed to stand out and, finally, he found him by the spring. Gunner sighed when he saw him smoking and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Why is Anya in the cafeteria with Anna... crying?"

Anna grimaced, "Oh Anya... you said exactly the wrong thing. I think he'd finally started making a decision and when you said that... I think you just confirmed that he was hurting you by trying to be with you and he never does well when he's rushed on a choice... He panics, too much pressure."

She put her chin on top of Anya's head, "It'll be alright and you aren't stupid... just hurt." She couldn't help feeling it might have been her fault a bit. She'd encouraged Anya to keep chasing Seb, told her that he'd been close to a decision... Maybe if she'd stayed quiet this wouldn't have happened.

"Seb is so wrapped up in not wanting to hurt you that the fact that he hurt you by being that way means he loses either way... You have to show him that being with you isn't going to hurt you." She sighed, "But I understand how the flirting and pulling away could twist you up inside... Maybe just talk to him... ask him to try... or give him time. Maybe he'll come to that conclusion himself if you give him the chance."

~*~

Seb glanced over his shoulder and spotted Gunner before he gave a tired shake of his head, "I fucked up... What else is new?"

He leaned back on the rock again with a groan, "She thinks I was leading her on... I hurt her by trying not to hurt her... How talented am I?"

He took another drag from his cig, "The really screwed up thing? I really thought there for a minute that I could maybe actually be with her..."

Seb shook his head, "So, I closed her out. It's better for her that way... I'll go and flirt with other girls like I did before and stay away from her... let her move on so I don't hurt her again..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as a headache started, "She's the last person I wanted to hurt Gunner... and I just keep doing it... over and over."

Anya sighed, "I know... I shouldn't have said it... That's why I'm stupid. I knew it... and I did it anyways."

She looked up at Anna, "Do... you think we can skip class? Curl up on my bed... Watch some Netflix or something... I just... really don't want to go to class right now."

She gave her friend a pleading look, wanting so badly to just hide away in her room. The last thing she needed was Jenna or someone else to see her like this.
~
Gunner walked over to Sebastian calmly before hitting him upside the head, "You're an idiot," He pinched the bridge of his own nose before sighing. He looked at his friend, "Okay... So, you left without her and now she is crying in the cafeteria, do you really think completely ignoring her is going to do any good? That'd make it worse.... On the both of you because, here's a shocker, you. like. her. The sooner you admit that to yourself the sooner you can do something about it."

He crossed his arms, "Avoiding getting intimate with her not to hurt her or trying not to hurt her, hurt her... Maybe actually trying to be with her won't. You don't know. You are just assuming that it will... But you never actually tried it. The worst that happens is you hurt her and you two break up," He shrugged, "Sounds like that is already happening... but right now, the two of you want to be with each other... it isn't going to be easy on anyone."

He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and looked at Sebastian, "So, go get her."

Sebastian grimaced when Gunner smacked him, it hadn't really hurt as far as the swat went but the headache didn't appreciate it. What Gunner was saying made sense so he reluctantly stood up, crushing the cig under his shoe before shaking his head.

"Alright... alright... let's hope she doesn't just tell me to screw off after what I just did..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Lets go..."

~*~

Anna nodded, "Sure... let's go."

She took Anya and they both walked back towards her dorm. They were halfway there when Gunner and Seb started heading towards them. She looked at Anya reluctantly as Seb waved to them... "He looks nervous... do you want to talk to him?"

Seb stopped next to them and sighed, running a hand through his hair... "Can we talk?"

Gunner laughed, "She won't," He followed behind his friend.

Anya was grateful that Anna agreed and stood up with her. As they walked, she did her best to wipe away any signs of crying, not wanting anyone to see. They were almost to her dorm when Sebastian and Gunner were walking towards them. Anna looked at her and asked if she wanted to talk to him. Anya gave a small nod, "Ya..." was all she managed.

She looked at Sebastian when he stopped and spoke to her. She nodded again, "Ya..."

Gunner wrapped an arm around Anna and walked with her a little ways, giving the two some space.

Once they left, Anya looked at Sebastian, "I'm so sorry for what I said... I shouldn't have said any of it... It was mean and horrible for me to say it and... I understand if you are mad at me," She said as quickly as possible not wanting Sebastian to stop her.

Seb blinked, he hadn't expected her to apologize. He shook his head and scratched the back of it nervously... "No, you were right. It wasn't fair of me to keep stringing you along and I wasn't mad... I just... I wanted to let you be happy, give you a chance at someone else who could make you happy..."

He shook his head, "But I don't want to see you with someone else either..." He groaned, "I'm not saying this very well... I... I want to try and make you happy. I want to try and be with you... even if it might not work... I might hurt you... but I want to try..."

He grimaced, "If... if you still want to I mean..."

~*~

As Anna and Gunner walked away she sighed, "Those two are hopeless... If I ever fall in love I'm just going to tell the guy, kiss him like crazy, and get it over with... Either he likes it or doesn't..." She shrugged.

Anya's eyes widened when he explained himself. She nodded vigorously, "Yes, I do."

She bit her lip, she wasn't sure what she was really supposed to do. Hug him? Kiss him? Instead, she just took his hand in her own and smiled up at him, "You do make me happy... When you don't push me away," She added before she gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She blushed lightly and looked over to Anna and Gunner, "Anna and I were going to watch and movie in my room... instead of going to class... If.. you want to come with Gunner."
~
Gunner chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry. I handled it. Yes, that's right, all your time trying to get those two together," He turned her around to see Anya take Sebastian's hand and kiss his cheek, "It was one Mr. Gunner Marks, who actually managed it."

Anna gaped and punched him in the chest, "Shut up... how did you... they've been... ugh..."

She leaned against him and smiled, "Aww... they're so cute."

She elbowed him in the stomach lightly, "Now you just need to get a girlfriend so I can comment on how cute you two are... and probably hate her guts..." She considered, "Because you'd probably pick someone completely off the wall and I'd have to get along with her and she'd hate me because we're such good friends even though I'd keep telling her we're just friends. Then you'd get all distant cuz you didn't want to hurt her feelings and... Actually... maybe you shouldn't find a girlfriend. I like our uncomplicated friendship just the way it is... we can both be single Guardians too serious for relationships."

She nodded tersely before smiling at Anya, "Oh oh! Movie night! Skip classes day! We get to make Gunner break rules! I'm all for making Gunner break rules."

~*~

Sebastian smiled uncertainly at her but when she kissed his cheek and blushed like that he smiled. "You're adorable, of course I'll come watch movies with you."

He wrapped an arm around her and played with her hair a little as Anna got overly excited in her typical Anna fashion. "Watching Gunner breaking rules is one of my favorite pastimes too. He always goes so back and forth over having fun or being disapproving."

Gunner rubbed the spot she punched, "Hitting me, really? I though you would be praising, not punching."

He laughed when she leaned against him, awing about the cuteness of the new couple. That got him an elbow to the stomach though. He flinched slightly and looked at her, "Is this what I get for being matchmaker extraordinaire?"

He shook his head as she told him to get a girlfriend and then went on in a long rant about how everything would end up. Right down to him being distant because he didn't want to hurt his girlfriend. He laughed a little, "You think too much."
~
Anya smiled when he called her adorable, "I am?"

She leaned into him happily as he wrapped his arm around her, playing with her hair. She had imagined actually dating Sebastian for years, but the real thing, was just so much better. She started to walk toward her dorm and Gunner groaned, "You guys are killing me."

When they reached her room, she set up Netflix to play on her TV and they all tried to agree on a movie. Finally, when a decision was made, she turned it on and cuddled against Sebastian.

Anna laughed at Gunner and then as they all made themselves comfy she yanked Gunner down beside her on the floor and bumped shoulders with him. "I like this movie..." They'd settled on Blade, simply because their idea of vampires was... well... interesting. They were pretty close to Strigoi though, and the fight scenes were so over done they were kinda hilarious. It probably drove Gunner's knowledge of fighting crazy, half the stuff didn't work anything like the way they portrayed it. She yawned a little, "Huh... that stuff they use to make the guy explode at the end... it would be nice if that worked on Strigoi."

She leaned her head on Gunner's shoulder till the movie ended, "Well... if we go back to classes now we'll just get a write up. Any ideas on what else we could do?"

Seb considered, "Well, the whether is pretty warm so I bet the lake is warm. We could go swimming... It would kill some time and keep us away from the Guardians."

Gunner pursed his lips, "It probably would. I don't think a Strigoi could avoid decapitation or being set on fire with an explosion like that... But I also don't think the Guardian who survive the explosion either."

He let her lean against him, trying not to move in anyway to disturb her resting spot, "I'm pretty sure have the Strigoi he killed would come back though... Worst. Guardian. Ever."

When the movie end, he looked at Anna as she suggested that they still not go to class and sighed. Finally, he shrugged, "Sure whatever.... But.... I'm doubting that we are going to be able to sneak across campus to Novice dorms.... Meaning," he looked at Anna and rose an eyebrow, "You swimming in your clothes or...."

Anya shook her head and stood walking over to her dresser. She dug through one of them and tossed Anna a swim suit, "I forgot to give that back to you last year."

Gunner looked between them, "What on earth required you leaving a swimsuit here?"

Anna laughed, "Why? You hoping I'll go skinny dipping?"

As Anya tossed her the bathing suit she grinned at Gunner and wiggled her eyebrows, "Wouldn't you like to know."

She laughed and shrugged before she started heading towards the bathroom, "Relax pretty boy... Anya and I sneak off sometimes to swim when the whether is nice. We just don't always invite you boys. Girl time and all that."

She slipped in the bathroom and came back out wearing the bikini top and her shorts over the bottoms, "Your turn Anya... You guys will just have to wear your clothes, unless you planned just setting there."

Gunner shook his head and laughed, "No. I was just thinking of you in your underwear. Bikini is close enough, I guess."

Anya grabbed her own bathing suit out of her drawer as Anna got changed. She smiled when she came out and ducked in behind her. Gunner looked at Anna then pointed to his pants, "Boxers."

He laughed a little and not to long after, Anya stepped out in her bathing suit. She felt a little silly, which was funny. Before, being in a bikini wouldn't have phased her but now with Sebastian, she felt a lot more shy. Of course, she had always been a bit shy around him with her body but she also had kind of been showing it off, showing him just what he was missing. Now, there was no reason to show it off and she just wanted to cover up. Finally, she looked at him, "Shall we go?'

Anna stuck her tongue out at Gunner again and waited patiently for Anya who looked like she felt kinda sheepish. Anna slid up next to her and mussed her hair, "Hey there pretty lady... let's get a move on."

Sebastian was, for a moment, tongue tied. "Pretty lady indeed..." but he said no more than that. He didn't want to embarrass her. He took her hand and Anna slipped back to Gunner and chatted away at him as they all walked towards the lake. Once there, Anna was the first to jump in with a loud WOOP!

Sebastian shook his head, "That has to be cold... I prefer to ease in." He slipped out of everything but his boxers and folded them up on the nearest rock before glancing at Anya again. She really was beautiful... he couldn't quit looking at her. "How about you Anya? Feel like sunbathing with me a while?"

He stretched out on the big boulder like rock and watched Anna come up for air and tease them, "Sissys... come on Pretty Boy," she told Gunner. "Don't take all day."

Anya blushed a little as Sebastian's pretty lady comment, even if Anna had said it first. Just, hearing it from him... Was far different. She felt his fingers wrap around hers and grinned. This was all so crazy, that he'd actually given up on the I'm no good for you bit. That he was actually holding her hand with romantic intentions and intention to pull away. She stopped as the other two left the room and quickly grabbed a few towels, they'd be complaining later if she hadn't remember. She smiled up at Sebastian, she was curious as to what it would be like to kiss him. She could technically do that now. However, she wanted to leave that for a different moment, get used to the fact that he was indeed not going to change his mind when they reached the pond.

She laughed as Anna as she ran and jumped into the water. Sebastian released her hand to get out of his clothing, other than his boxers. When she looked at him, she blushed again, as shy as she felt in her bathing suit, the feeling multiplied when he stood before her in his boxers, both of them barely wearing anything. She nodded all the same when he asked her if she wanted to sunbath with him for a while. Dropping the towels except for two, she walked over to the boulder. She laid one out beside Sebastian and handed him the other before lying down. She smiled, "This was a nice idea."
~
Gunner kicked off his shoes when they got to the lake and Anna ran in. His socks quickly followed. He was pulling off his belt when Anna yelled at him from the water. He laughed, "I'm going as quickly as I can, Ross!"

He quickly pulled of his pants and tossed them on his shoes. A moment later, he pulled his shirt up and over his head and it joined the unkempt pile of clothing at his feet. Then he turned and jumped into the lake, coming up under Anna and lifting her on his shoulders and out of the water. He chuckled, "Happy now?!"

Anna eeped as Gunner lifted her onto his shoulders and then grinned, "For now..." She yanked herself backwards, attempting to spill them both back into the water.

~*~

Sebastian smiled at Anya as she lay next to him, yeah sure... they weren't really 'sunbathing' persay but it was still nice to just relax and watch Anna and Gunner play around. He glanced over at her again, "Sometimes Anna has a good idea or two..."

He glanced back at the two in the water and since they seemed distracted enough, he turned onto his side on his towl and propped himself up on an elbow so he could look down at Anya. "I said earlier you were pretty... that doesn't really cover it though. You're beautiful." He took her chin between his thumb and his fingers and hesitated before leaning down and brushing his lips against hers. It was a light kiss, as soft as a butterfly's wing and brief... but he didn't want to push it. They'd only just started seeing each other and even if he had known her for years, had wanted to do that for years, he didn't want to rush her... and he was still getting used to the idea that he could touch her without causing her some kind of harm.

Gunner laughed and quickly held his breath as he fell back into the water with her. When he surfaced again, he shook his head, his hair sending water flying. He grinned at her, "That was dirty, Anna."

He crouched in the water slightly, taking a fighting stance, "I can play dirty."
~
Anya laughed, "Sometimes."

She was watching Gunner and Anna when Sebastian rolled onto his side. She glanced him and blushed deeply as Sebastian called her beautiful. She was about to comment when Sebastian gently took hold of her chin and then she was at a loss for words. He leaned down and then they were kissing. They were actually kissing! Her heart pounded in her chest and despite the kiss lasting only moment, it seemed to drag on forever.

When he pulled away, she opened her eyes and looked at him, grinning. She was happy, incredibly happy. She rose onto her own elbows, meeting his lips again. It wasn't as gentle and soft as the one previous but it was also leagues from rough. After a few moments, she broke away from the kiss but didn't move herself far, "That... was nice," She said with a little giggle.

Sebastian's breath caught as she kissed him again, he hadn't been expecting that. His hand reached out to cradle the back of her neck as he kissed her back, deepening the kiss for a moment before she pulled away. He chuckled at her words, "More than nice... I've been wanting to do that for a while..."

He brushed a strand of her hair from her face and kissed her nose playfully, "I'm glad you didn't mind... my kissing you I mean."

Sebastian was usually quite the lady's man but when it came to Anya it was completely different. She was better than his usual lines and meant more to him than a one night stand and he wanted her to know that. So, despite raging hormones, he was determined to take his time courting her. He caught hold of her hand and lay back down, watching Anna and Gunner.

"Those two are like kids..."

~*~

Anna grinned and took a defensive one, "Oh really? Sure you aren't too pretty to get your hands dirty pretty boy," she teased good naturedly before sticking her tongue out at him. She splashed him in the face, using the water spray to give her time to get out of his reach. "Come on slow poke! Keep up," she joked.

Anya smiled at him, "Then you should have done it sooner," Just because he had finally given into the side that wanted to be with her didn't mean she wasn't still going to give him a hard time for the time wasted in his pulling away.

She laughed as Sebastian kissed her nose, "I don't mind one bit," And that she did not. The feeling when he held the back of her neck, pulling the kiss deeper, she wanted it to last forever. She wanted to kiss him over and over and over again. However, Anna and Gunner were both playing around in the pond and she was quite sure that she did not want them to see her and Sebastian making out.

She smiled at him as he grabbed hold of her hand before relaxing back. She looked at him and laughed, "Those two are kids."

She rested her head against his shoulder and smiled, "You're just an old man in a devilishly handsome boy's body."
~
Gunner looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, "You do know that despite how gorgeous I am," he ran a hand through his head, "It was hard work to get here.... So, yes."

He brushed the water off his face before looking at her, "Fine!"

He dove at her, hoping to tackle her into the water with him.