Royal Pain in the Ass

Chapter XXVII

"I know, Jules. I'll make it up to you, baby. I swear I will."

"Don't call me baby."

"Sorry, old habits die hard I guess."

"Let go of me, Chase."

"Oh shit, sorry." Chase let his hand drop and Loki relaxed.

"I'm leaving, don't follow." I growled as I turned and went straight back home.

"Absolutely not! This is ludicrous! You should not be within one hundred miles of that cretin." Xavier was nearly shouting by this point. I told him what had happened and what I had agreed to.

"Xavier,"

"He nearly murders you and you agree to see him for an apology? Are you mad?"

"Xavier,"

"What were you thinking, Juliet? He could have hurt you! I already can see the bruise on your arm!"

"Xavier,"

"What if he hurts you again? I will not stand idly by and watch this happen!"

"Xavier!"

"What?"

"You need to calm down!"

"I need to calm down? Oh no, my dear, I most certainly do not,"

"Xavier, shut up and listen to me! I am not a child, so do not speak to me like I am one. I'm a grown woman, I can tie my own shoelaces and everything. Shut up and let me tell you the whole story, okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not doing this for Chase, I'm doing it for the rest of his family. Come sit down and I'll tell you everything from the beginning."

It started my freshman year. I was terrified, I was going to the University, and it was huge. Physically, it was the largest campus in the States. It had a way of making you feel small. I had Comm I just like every other freshman, and I just so happened to have it with Chase. I didn't even notice him at first to be honest. I was so absorbed in class, I wanted to do well. I was in the front row and he sat towards the back. There were about three hundred people in this class. I don't even know how he saw me. Right around midterms he started sitting next to me. I still remember our first conversation, if you can call it that.

"Hello there," he smiled at me flashing his perfect teeth. This was a smile that made me melt for him for a while there.

"Um, hi?" I wasn't sure who he was talking to me, it certainly couldn't be me. Quiet, nerdy, little me.

"What's your name?"

"Juliet. You?"

"Chase."

"Um, cool?" I had no idea what to make of him.

"So, how are you doing in this class?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Really? Cause I'm totally bombing."

"Oh no, do you know why?"

Chase crossed him arms on the desk and rested his head on his arms. "I supposed it's because I'm a lazy good for nothing as my father likes to put it." He smiled languidly up at me.

"That's terrible. Why would he say something like that?"

"Because he's probably right." Chase shrugged lazily. "But I'm the least of his concerns. He wants me to try to find someone to study with. Want to come study with me?"

"Um, I'm already in a study group. Do you want to join us?"

"So long as you'll be there I'm game."

Little did I know Chase had access to the best of everything, including tutors. He started regularly attending with me and he would always stay late and we would talk. I didn't really believe he liked me at first. At first I thought he really just wanted a better grade, or at least to not fail, but we always were talking. He always found a way to be touching me. He would bump into me, lean up against me, whatever, and he wasn't exactly subtle about it either. Eventually I figured it out, or rather he asked me out on a date. Chase made me feel special. Out of all the girls at school he chose me. I'd never had a boy take an interest in me before. It was nice. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the world when I was with him. It didn't take long before we were inseparable. Thing were really good for about a year or so, then about halfway through sophomore year, Mom started to get sick.