"That's not even remotely true, Jax." Hades exclaims, rolling his eyes at the last boy's comment.

"It so is. I even looked it up!" Jax defends himself, causing a chorus of groans to sound around the table at his words.

"Yeah? Have you seen where the internet's got you in the past? You are such an imbecile sometimes, I'm lucky if I don't lose a good half of my brain cells each time I speak to you." hades states, which causes Jax to frown at his words.

"That arguments invalid. If you were to lose half your brain cells each time we interacted, you'd had lost them all by now. Hell, you'd be dead!" Jax fights back, and Hades just drops his head into his hands sighing.

"Better off dead rather to sitting and listening to you talk out of your arse on no end!" Hades fires back at Jax launching the two into an extremely vulgar argument, to say the least.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only mature one here. So disappointing seeing them act like such children. Wouldn't you agree, Dimitri?" Maxim says as he shakes his head mockingly at the scene in front of him.

"Oh, and you're any better?" Dimitri barks out, laughing at the boy across the table from him. "If anything, I'm the only mature one of us." He says, causing Xander to whip his head in order to face Dimitri, who is sitting beside him.

"Are you joking? Or have you really lost it this time." He snaps at him, which riles up an argument amongst the two while Maxim just sits with a wide smile on his face at the chaos he has created between his friends.

I feel a tug on my arm and turn towards the right to see Zanthus who's looking at me with a timid smile on his face, and I raise my eyebrows in question as to why he caught my attention. When he doesn't say anything for a bit, I can't help but start to become a bit lost by his antics.

"What is it?" I ask him, hoping to maybe get some sort of conversation out of him. He gives me a sort of embarrassed look as he shrugs his shoulders and just continues to look at me. Despite my slight annoyance to the fact that he hasn't said a thing to me so far at lunch, I can't help but smile at how adorable he is.

His gaze never wavers from mine as he scoots a bit closer to me so were no longer separated as much by the previously well-sized gap between us. I can't help but blush as he stares so intently at me. I see him reach his hand up towards his face like he had done earlier in the hall, and I feel him tuck another loose strand of hair behind my ear before his arm retreats back to his side quickly.

"Y-you're-" Zanthus cuts himself off with a shaky sigh as he clothes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he goes to speak again. "You're beautiful." He exclaims softly, causing my heart to skip a beat.

I think I've just died.

I rock back and forth on the palms of my hands that are placed to my sides, taking a peek at Zanthus every few seconds. I know I'm redder than ever before right now, but can't find myself caring all too much as I replay Zanthus' words over in my head. I take a few breaths in hopes to help bring myself back down to a normal state.

"I-uh, I'm-" I shut my eyes and squeeze them tight while I shake my head side to side a bit in the embarrassment of my sailed sentence. "Thank you." I settle on quietly, sending a shy smile towards Zanthus who appears to be just as red as I.

Zanthus nods his head up and down in acknowledgment to my appreciation, glancing anywhere but me. As we are enveloped in silence again, I steal a few glances at him every now and then. I feel the blood rush through my cheeks again when Zanthus turns to look at me ending in our eyes locking, ultimately with him catching me staring his way. I am surprised when I see him flush a bit too at this exchange.

The sight of Zanthus in such a soft form, to put it best, was completely peculiar to me still. He has acted in such on multiple encounters between us, though it still odd to me considering I had grown up with him being the prick in primary school. I don't know rather it's a good thing or a bad thing, to have him acting in such a manner towards me, though I don't take the time to dwell on it at this moment as I know it will lead me to doubt my choice of sitting myself here with him.

"Would you like to you know, talk?" I offer up into the air, directing my words path to Zanthus who is faced towards me like he was earlier.

His eyebrows furrow a bit and he opens his mouth just a bit in a hesitant manner, though clamps it shut after a few seconds as he points his gaze down a bit. I watch him confusedly as he runs a hand through his hair and ruffles it out in a way that messes it up but somehow makes it look even better too before.

"Uh, it's cool if you don't you know. I mean I don't want to force you to or anything." I say in a disheartened way, not very fond of the fact that Zanthus isn't much interested in speaking with me.

Why did he even invite me then?

He shakes his head at my words and then holds his hand up in a way of saying 'catch me a second' as I assume he sorted out whatever was going on in his head. Lord knows it's probably some sad excuse as to why we shouldn't talk, or moreover why we shouldn't have dinner together again.

"I d-do." Zanthus surprises me as the sound of his delightful voice rings through my ears and disrupts my thoughts. "Want to ta-ta...to talk I m-mean. I'm s-sorry for being imp-impudent." He spoke to me and closed his eyes once he was done.

I can't help but ponder on the way he stutters as he speaks. He has done so previously and even when he complimented me just minutes ago, but I've never heard a proper sentence from him until now, so I have never been able to decipher whether or not it was just in those moments that his thoughts were jumbled like what happens to me many times.

Though now that he's actually spoken in full to me, it seems as though his stutter is something fluent to him. My guess is that he's extremely nervous, especially with the way he seems to be clenching his fists by his side at the moment, but I can't help but wonder what for. If anything, I should be the one who is most nervous in this situation.

Oh well.

"Uhm, alright," I respond to him, yet I can't help but feel unsure and as if he's only saying that because I first brought up the fact that he wasn't talking. Indirectly, of course.

Zanthus smiles at me softly, though doesn't make a move to speak and neither do I which leaves us back at square one. I do believe I have initiated every single vocal interaction between the two of us, and I must say I don't exactly fancy always being the first one to speak up. My nerves are already on edge around him and having him sit silently just leaves me to think of all the reasons why he doesn't want to be around me truly.

"So...the weather's nice today?" I present as a conversation starter, but cringe at myself for how plainly idiotic my statement sounded.'placed thereafter my train wreck of an icebreaker.

"Do you fancy the cold weather? Or are you more one of the sun season." I ask him in attempt to somewhat salvage the dry beginner I'd rather move on from. He simply shrugs at me, causing me to huff in a somewhat annoyed manner at his seeming disinterest in the conversation that has merely begun.

It may be about the weather but hey, it's greater to nothing.

"Okay." I simply state, and wreck my excuse of a brain for anything other than weather chat. "Do you find your courses hard?" I ask politely and scold myself for not using the substantial generic question in the first place.

I receive yet another shrug from an uncomfortable-looking Zanthus and feel my shoulders deflate at this. He says he wants to talk, yet doesn't talk when the time comes? What am supposed to do about that? All I've done so far is embarrass myself and I feel as if this is all some big joke on me that I'm not in the loop of. Did he invite me here just so I could make a fool of myself? That claim has more reasoning to it rather to him being actually interested in me. I'm guessing the likings of the former are more probable to the latter, which makes me a bit emotional, to say the least.

"Uhm, we don't really have to talk. I can even go, if you'd like. I don't mean to make you feel out of your element or anything of the sort." I say quietly, which his eyes widen in response to.

"I-I, uhm-" He was cut off by his name ringing through both of our ears, causing us to turn and see who had been the culprit of the exclamation.

"Zanthus, yeah. Come on lad! Tell the lad how I destroyed that guy in footie the other day!" Xander basically shouts at the boy sitting next to me, and I can't help but laugh a bit at the older boys childish antics.

"What on earth has that got to do with whether or not you're responsible with children?"

"Hush, Maxim," Xander says in a dismissive tone before focusing his attention back in Zanthus. "Now come on, tell them!" He chirped out.

"U-uhm, he des-destroyed them?" Zanthus speaks out hesitantly, a confused smile on his face as he does what his restless friend has asked him to.

"Oh make it less believable, would you?' Xander shoots out, though the harshness in his tone all for play.

"S-sorry," Zanthus says in response, which receives him a light punch on the shoulder from Xander.

"Now what would you say, Angel. Which one of us would you put your child in trust of?" Xander turns to me, causing my eyes to widen as I'm out on the spot.

"Uhm, I don't have a child?" I say, causing the boys around the table who are now all focused on me to laugh a bit, well besides Dimitri of course.

I am yet to figure out what his issue is with me.

"You'll have one soon if Zanthus would just shape himself up soon enough," Jax states, his eyebrows wiggling in amusement as Hades smacks him across the chest.

"Shut up, you dolt." Hades sets him straight, and I can't help the heat that builds up in my cheeks as I think over his teasing statement.

"Anyways, back to the question. Out of the lot of us, who would you leave your hypothetical child in the hands of?" Xander preps again, attention not wavering in the slightest from me as he awaits an answer.

"I-uhm, I mean I don't really know any of you all too well, but I'd have to say..." I pause as I evaluate the group of boys in front of me, before settling on my final choice. "Zanthus?" I state though it comes out of more as a question.

"What! I thought we were friends, cherry. How could you bruise my ego like that?" Xander breathes out, exaggerating hurt as he brings a hand up to his heart.

"She's just sucking up to you so she can get in his pants." Dimitri snaps, his piercing glare shooting my way as he states this.

What?

"Shut the hell up, mate." Hades says, sending a pointed look towards Dimitri, who just shakes his head in response.

"It's true. She's just like any other girl looking for a good fuck from Zanthus so she can-" Dimitri stops speaking when a hand lands on the table, quite loudly must I add.

I look to my right to see Zanthus who is glowering in Dimitri's direction, and I swear I see Dimitri gulp in what appears to be fear as he looks anywhere but Zanthus' eyes. I don't blame him, I would be afraid for my own life if I was to be on the receiving end of Zanthus's black look. The table is pin droppingly silent, and I can't help but be reminded of the last time I had lunch with them. Though it seems to be that this time it won't be ending in absurd pasta catapulting and laughs in the corridors.

My hypothesis is proven true when Zanthus stands up rigidly, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he breaks his stare over Dimitri to look down at me. His eyes appear notedly softer, though still a bit on edge as he glances down at me. He offers out a hand to me, which I look at as if it's the most insane thing on earth before he gets bored of waiting for me to respond and reaches down to grab my hand on his own.

It's only right to say my stomach just exploded.

I watch as he leans down to grab my rucksack, slinging it over his shoulder as he did to his own before stepping back and tugging my hand up a bit in a gesture for me to stand up. I do so, willing my knees not to give out as all I could truly focus on was Zanthus's large hand engulfing my small one entirely. His skin was warm to mine, I could all but melt into him if there were more to touch, though I instantly force those thoughts out of my head as I began to follow Zanthus towards wherever he was leading us.

"That wasn't fucking cool." I hear who I believe is Maxim say as me and the beautiful brooding boy exit the premises.

"You're truly a bloody idiot, Dimitri." I hear Xander exclaim, followed by a groan of the rude boy who had insulted me just moments ago.

It isn't until when Zanthus and I are out of hearing range of the lad's conversation that I let the comments Dimitri had made sink in. Did I really appear as a girl who just wanted to get with one of them? I certainly have never thought highly of myself, but I never believed I came off in such a manner as Dimitri made me out to seem like. I always thought I held a sense of respect, even with my quiet and invisible personality, though it appears not.

Is that why Zanthus doesn't want to talk to me? Or worse, does he want to do things other than talk to me? He probably thinks I'm cheap. I cringe at the thought of Zanthus only trying to get close to me in order to take me as something for well, pleasure to say the least. I mean with what Dimitri said, there are only two reasons why he doesn't speak much to me. He's either noticed how distasteful I am like the other boy did, or he's got other plans. Neither of the two options seem to sit well with me.

My thoughts are forced to halt as Zanthus comes to a stop in front of me. I stop as well and look up at him with confusion written all over my face, as we now stood in the middle of the flower garden that was placed on the campus. I'm not necessarily mad that he brought me here, I rather enjoy spending time here, though Zanthus doesn't really seem to be one who would spend time wandering around fields of flowers.

I look to see Zanthus is not seated on a bench I had failed to recognize and took note of Zanthus who pulled on my hand which he was still yet to let go of, though I don't really mind. I take the unspoken message and sit next to him, waiting for him to make his next move. It's silent for a bit as expected, though soon enough Zanthus turns in his position on the bench so we are facing each other.

"I'm sorry." He tells me softly, his gentle eyes catching my own as he squeezes my hand a bit in a way of reassuring me that he truly means what he's saying.

"For what?" I question, a bit confused at what he's apologizing for.

"F-f-" He cuts himself off as he shakes his head before taking a breath. "For w-what Dimitri sa-said." He tells me, and I feel my shoulders slump a bit at the reminder of the hurtful words spoken by his friend minutes ago.

"It's fine." I say quietly in response, darting my eyes to focus on the floor as I do my best not to fall down another rabbit hole of self-destructive thoughts.

"No i-it's not." He shoots back, a little more forceful to what I expected, and I believe he realizes that as he shakes his head a bit at himself. "S-sorry." He tells me which I just send a small smile in response to say it's alright, without truly saying it.

It stays quiet for a bit, both of us seemingly lost in our thoughts before I decide to voice my anxious thoughts.

"Is that how you see me?" I ask in almost a whisper forcing myself to meet the eyes of the incredibly handsome boy in front of me, who's next words I was waiting with a pit of anxiety in my stomach.

"No!" Zanthus quite literally shouts at me, holding my hand tightly in his as he shakes his head to and fro frantically to accompany his response. "I-I promise I d-don't." I-It's not tr-true." He rushes out, stumbling over his words as he does so.

I nod my head at his words and allow a light hum to fall from my lips in approval yo his statement, though I can't decide whether or not I trust his words. I decide to scrap the idea for the time being and do my bask to bask in the present.

I focus my attention back on our adjoined hands and feel a smile creep its way onto my face as I do so. Zanthus's hand makes mine look tiny in contrast to his, though it's comforting in a way that I can't explain. I blush a bit as I watch his thumb run over the skin of my hand softly, and feel my stomach do flips at the small gesture.

I can barely process the fact that he's yet to break the physical interaction which he commended between the two of us, considering he can barely talk to me. I must admit though, I do enjoy this sort of physical communication, even though it's small and I am very much overreacting to it, it's still there.

"Wo-Would you l-like to," Zanthus starts catching my attention, but cuts himself off and takes a breath before beginning to speak again, "Would you fancy co-coming to m-mine?" He asks me, and my air gets caught in my throat as I take in his proposition. "After s-school, of c-course." He adds on, and I look up to see a blush painted across his finely formed cheeks, and feel one of my own spread across my face as I think of spending time outside of school with the beautiful boy in front of me.

I push all thoughts and speculations aside as I think. I will myself not to think of Dimitri's hit at me, or my own lacking of self-confidence and focus on the unlawfully attractive boy named Zanthus who is sat in front of me, a shy smile gracing his lips as he looks at me bashfully upon his request. I feel a warm tug at my heart in response to the unexplainably adorable sight in front of me and decide alas to give an answer to the soft awaiting boy. Just as I am about to speak, I see the smile fall from Zanthus's face as he speaks up.

"So-sorry." He lets out dropping my hand from his as he speaks, and I can't help the frown that forms on my own face in the mirror to his at the empty feeling now in place of the warm one I felt just minutes ago.

Did I do something wrong?

"I-It was a st-stupid ques-question." Zanthus stutters out, and I shake my head quickly as he speaks, realizing he must think by my lack of response that I was silently rejecting his offer.

"No! No, it wasn't." I reassure him and tentatively reach over to grab his hand like he had done to me earlier. "I think I'd quite like that." I tell him softly and see the heart-stopping smile he has shown to me before appear on his face.

"Really?" He asks me, and I nod as I feel a wild blush run it's way across my cheeks as his attention is fully set on me.

"Of course." I respond, and I feel a small squeeze to my hand as Zanthus's smile grows even wider than before.

"O-okay," Zanthus states shyly, his contagious smile reaching my own lips as he looks down at our conjoined hands like I had done minutes ago.

I feel myself begin to overthink what had just gone down between us but force the edging thoughts back down into the archives of my brain as I take I focus on Zanthus, something I've been doing quite a lot when I think about it. I always thought of him as some rigid soul, a monster of some sort, and no matter how hard I still want to believe that I can't help but feel myself being tugged towards rejection of those thoughts each time I see his soft side.

I feel myself grow even redder as Zanthus continues to rub his thumb over my knuckles like he had done before, though this time his eyes focused on me as he did so. His smile was still wide as ever, and I shy my eyes away from his as I feel a tad overwhelmed at all the attention he is handing to me.

I am screaming on the inside, I can tell you that for sure.

"S-so I'll pi-pick you up af-after psych, then?"