**Gabriel**

Stupid brothers. Stupid packing. Of course, I have to be the one to get up at the ass crack of dawn because none of my idiot brothers could bother with packing beforehand. I had Luke and I packed up as soon as we took our last final! I left out a few outfits for each of us for the last few days and the various activities we'd have, but all that shit is going straight into the laundry bag and getting thrown in the trunk tomorrow morning.

I wonder if Trouble needs me to pack her stuff. That I wouldn't mind doing. Her and Victor never made it to the party last night, not that I can blame them. If I had Sang all to myself I wouldn't want to bring her to a party where other guys would be all over her either. Even if those guys happened to be her other boyfriends...and my brothers.

Knowing that it'd be easier to start with North and Silas and get them while they're still sleep, I throw on some clothes and head up to the fourth floor. Letting myself in with my spare key, I get to work on the closets first, before tackling the desks and drawers. I'm halfway done with Silas's desk when North wakes up and beams me with a pillow for making "too much fucking noise". After a rather lively debate on who can swear the loudest, I finish up their room, and head downstairs to grab something to eat.

After stopping by my room to grab Luke and some cash, we head downstairs to the cafe and snack on the leftover breakfast. It's around 11 when we head back to the dorms for me to go pack up Nathan, Victor and Kota. Victor and Kota aren't really a problem, but Nathan will take some time. After I'm finished with them, I'm planning on going over to the house to get Sean packed up before we all have to get ready for the banquet tonight. Owen can pack his own shit. He doesn't even let me buy him anything, he'd never let me pack for him.

When we get up to the guys room, Kota lets us in and Luke lounges on Vic's bed while Nathan watches me and Kota start to pack. I'm about throw some junk in the trash when something on the floor makes me stop cold.

"Holy fuck," I exclaim, as the items in my hand drop to the floor.

"Gabe?" Luke asks. "You alright?"

"I think my heart just fucking stopped," I mumble in reply.

By now, I've caught the attention of Kota and Nathan as well, and they're both looking at me with curious eyes.

"Tell me one of you fuckers has taken to jacking off into a condom so that there's less mess?"

"Nope," Nate replies. "I usually just take care of that in the shower."

"Dude, gross," Kota says with an eye roll.

His cheeks turn pink as he tells me that he hasn't done that either.

"Gabe, what's going on?" Kota asks.

I run my hands through my hair, tugging at the ends a bit before answering. "Either Vic's taken up a new disposal method, or he had sex last night."

"What!?"

"Hey guys, what's up?" Victor asks as he comes strolling into the room.

I have no idea how I got across the room so fast, but all I see is red as I launch myself at Victor. He's laid out on the floor clutching his jaw as I gear back for another hit, Luke pulls me away before I can follow through with the swing.

"You mother fucker!" I shout. "How could you!? Sang trusts us to be faithful to her and you go and pull this shit!"

"Ah, Gabe, what the hell are you talking about!?" he yells, clutching his mouth while Nathan helps him up.

"I saw the fucking condom wrapper! What the fuck Vic!? You never had a problem with being a virgin before, what the hell was so important this time!?"

"You idiot! I didn't cheat on Sang!"

"Then what the fuck did you do!?"

"I was with Sang!"

I stop struggling in Luke's arms as his words hit me. "You what?"

"I was with Sang," he repeats in a calmer tone. "I brought her back here after dinner last night to change so we could head to the party, and one thing lead to another. Next thing I know, I'm having the best fucking experience of my life, and you just fucking burst my bubble. Thanks for jumping to conclusions bro."

"Oh fuck," I sigh. "Ah shit, Vic-"

"Forget it, it's cool," he waves me off, moving his jaw around. "Just try not to think the worst of me, alright."

"Shit, I'm sorry man. I just lost it. She drives me fucking crazy. I don't think straight when it comes to her, but that's no excuse, I know you're not like that. Fuck, I fucked up!"

"Gabe, man, it's cool. Seriously. That was a helluva right hook though." he chuckles.

"Yeah it was," Nate laughs. "Damn Vic, that's gonna leave a mark."

"Shit, Sang's gonna be pissed," Luke sing-songs.

"What makes you say that?" Kota asks.

"She hates it when we fight. And Vic's gonna bruise. Gabe, man, you gotta find something to cover that up."

"Shit, the closest coverup I have is for Sang's complexion," I groan. "Ugh, I don't have time for this shit! I still have to pack up Doc before we have to get ready for this banquet tonight."

"It's fine," Kota says, taking charge. "Gabe, you go pack up the Doc, we'll finish up in here and find something for Vic."

"Grr, alright. Just don't fuck it up or she'll notice."

Running my hands through my hair, I head out of the room and off to the Academy house. Shit! I really hope they don't fuck up the color. The last thing I need is Sang mad at me.

**Sang**

"Alright everyone, take your places, the ceremony is about to begin!"

I'm standing backstage, next to Kayli with my fellow initiates, in a beautiful pink and white ball gown, and my hands will not stop shaking! After Victor walked me back to my room this morning, he gave me his credit card and his car keys and told me to go out with Kayli for a girl's day. We got our hair and nails done at the mall the guys took us to what seems like ages ago, and when we got back to our room, two white garment bags were waiting for us.

Our dresses are styled the same, just different in color. The corset of my dress is a soft pink that fades into the white of the full skirt; Kayli's corset is red with the same fading pattern. We have on white peep toe heels, and our hair is done in elegant chignon buns, with a few stray hairs framing our face.

We stand at attention behind the curtains as Mr. Buble goes through the opening ceremony. All of this was explained to us earlier when we arrived. Mr. Buble will do his opening announcement, and then Dr. Roberts will call us across the stage and introduce us to the Academy body. After which, we will mingle with the members, dance, eat, and generally enjoy ourselves before giving him our final answer on whether we'd like to join an existing team, or create our own.

I smile brightly as my name is called, and I walk across the stage to stand by the others. There are multiple gasps heard throughout the room, most likely because of my dress, as I stand and stare at the back of the room, waiting for this part of the evening to be over. Once Kayli's name is called, she gets a similar reaction as she comes and stands next to me. Wolf whistles can be heard as we stand side by side, causing my cheeks to flush as I look up to the heavens, praying that this will be over soon.

Now that we're all on stage, Mr. Buble introduces us as full-fledged Academy members and tells us to enjoy our evening. I try not to make it look too obvious as I subtly rush off the stage, but Mr. Buble catches me before I can reach the stairs. Kayli gives me an apologetic glance as she gets swept away by her guys, and I give her a tight smile as I redirect my attention to the Academy Elder in front of me.

"Mr. Buble," I greet. "What can I do for you?"

"Just remember what we talked about dear," he says cryptically. "That's all I ask. Enjoy the festivities."

He walks away and gets swallowed by the crowd before I can even think of a response. Shaking my head lightly, I walk down the stairs and look around the room for my boys. I spot them all standing together in the middle of the ballroom, and walk over to them as fast as these heels will let me.

"Congratulations, Miss Sorenson," Owen says, being the first to spot me.

"Thank you Mr. Blackbourne," I chuckle with a small curtsy before roaming my eyes over my handsome group of men.

I come to a stop when my eyes land on Victor. There's something wrong with his face.

"Victor?" I ask while walking closer to him to try and figure it out. "Victor what's wrong with your mouth?"

"Nothing's wrong Princess," he says while trying to smile, but the wince gives him away.

"Bullshit, your lip is puffy," I frown. I take a step closer and wipe by the corner of his mouth. The concealer comes off on my finger, showing a small piece of a nasty purplish bruise. "Who did this to you?"

I look around at my boys, knowing that one of them must know something, but none of them will meet my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gabriel putting his hands behind his back. Moving over to him, I pull his hands out in front of him. There's a bandage wrapped around his right hand covering the knuckles. My eyes widen as I take a step back.

"Princess -"

"Gabriel?" I ask shocked.

"Trouble-"

"You hit him?" I ask, my brow furrowing as I frown. "Why would you do that?"

"Trouble, fuck-" he sighs. "I didn't mean to. I just got so pissed-"

"You were pissed? Pissed at what? What could Victor have possibly done to piss you off so much?" Confusion and agitation war in my brain as I try to understand what could've possibly happened between them between when I last saw Victor and now.

"Princess it's not his fault. He didn't mean-"

"Not his fault? Victor he hit you! I want to know why," I cut Victor off as he tries to defend his brother's actions.

"Miss Sorenson -" Owen starts before I cut him off as well.

"No Owen. I want to know. Somebody better tell me why."

"Princess, they know," Victor sighs in defeat.

"They know what?" I ask with a slight shake to my head, as if trying to recall what they could possibly be talking about.

And that's when it hits me. My eyes widen as Gabriel mumbles, "I found the condom wrapper by Vic's bed." He hurries to continue as my hand flies to my mouth and I take a step back. "But I didn't know it was you! All I saw was an empty wrapper and I knew you were still a virgin, and I didn't know that you were at that stage with Vic, and I didn't think. Trouble, I swear I wasn't thinking! I didn't mean it, and I am so sorry. I apologized to him as soon as he explained it, Trouble, I didn't mean it."

Is he serious? He hit Victor because he didn't know it was me he had sex with? Who else would it have been!? Victor isn't that type of person! Gabriel's known him longer than I have, he should've known that Victor wouldn't cheat on me.

But isn't that what I'm doing to them? I'm cheating on them with each other, and they know about it. They said they understood, that they wanted this, but how can they want this when cheating is the first conclusion they jump to when I finally move to the next stage with one of them. It's not like it can all happen at the same time. Someone has to be first.

They said they all agreed! Hell, they came to me with the idea for me to date all of them. They said that they would work out any arguments. This doesn't look like working it out to me! This is the exact opposite! This is why I was on the fence about this whole thing. They said that they could handle it! If this is how they handle things, then I don't know if I can handle it. I can't have them tearing themselves apart because of me. Maybe Mr. Buble was right...

"Are you kidding me?" I ask while taking another step back.

"Princess -" Victor tried to reach out to me, but I pull my arm away from him, trying to ignore the hurt in his eyes.

"Gabriel hit you because he thought you cheated on me?" I ask him sadly.

"Trouble, I-"

I cut him off when I see Dr. Roberts walk by.

"Dr. Roberts," I call out to him.

"Yes Sang?" He says with a smile while approaching, which quickly disappears when he sees the boys faces.

"We can give you our answer in the morning, right?"

"Of course, Sang. Is everything alright?" He asks me, his voice laced with concern.

"Yes. Everything's fine." I say while pasting on a smile.

"10?"

"If you'll excuse me," I mutter while walking to find Kayli.

"Sang congr-" Corey starts, but quickly gets cut off by me.

"Kay? I'm gonna head back to the room ok?" I tell her in a rush.

"Sure, is everything ok?" She asks while furrowing her brow.

"Everything's fine," I tell her, walking off to the exit.

"Princess," I hear Victor call out to me. "Princess, wait." He says as he gets in front of me.

"Victor, please, just give me some time. I need some time." I tell him while moving my hair behind my ear.

"Time for what?" he asks with a frown, taking my hand in his.

"Victoryou promised!" I say while taking my hand back. "You all promised that thingswould be different. You said you could handle it. Victor he hit you because hethought you cheated on me. When in reality, we just had sex. Gabriel is yourbrother! He knows you better than I do, and yet he still thought that itcouldn't have been me. I feel like I'm tearing you guys apart, and Victorbelieve me, I wouldn't trade last night for anything in the world. But I'm notworth you guys fighting over. You're jumping to illogical conclusions insteadof just hearing each other out. You weren't like this before me. Just, give mesome time to think this over ok?" I place my hand over his heart, leaning incloser to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you," I whisper sadly beforetaking a deep breath and walking out of the ballroom.