The boys started eating until Julius' friends arrived carrying their plates of food. They gave Julius a look of shock upon noticing Jakob sitting beside him and Ross even opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Julius, 'Jakob will be joining us from now on' he simply announced, not letting any of the boys to speak. The boys remained silent, still looking confused and Julius stared at each of them with his piercing, green eyes. Ross looked very uncertain but knew he had no choice in this. Julius had always been the leader of his group of friends and they'd always follow his word, no matter what he said. The boys took their seats quietly around Julius and it didn't take long until they had completely forgotten about Jakob's presence. They cracked jokes, laughed and discussed Ross' party which Julius knew would be taking place on Thursday. Apparently he had booked one of the sports halls for the night and had invited all the students at East Mount Academy.

Ross roughly nudged Julius in the shoulder, making Julius glare at him. 'You're coming, right?' he asked, grinning. Julius hadn't really thought about it but they didn't have parties very often and he was sure they'd all have a good time. He nodded, 'sure, why not?' he smirked.

Jakob shrank into himself a little when Julius' friends approached, but relaxed when they didn't protest his presence. He just remained quiet throughout dinner, listening to their discussions, but staying out of them. He looked up at the mention of a party. Apparently 'everyone' at the academy e cluded him, since he hadn't got an invite. Not that he cared- he never was much one for the party scene anyways.

Julius turned to Jakob, 'you should come too' he suggested as he used his knife and fork to cut his fish into small, bite-sized pieces. Jakob looked nervous and he hadn't spoken a word since they had settled down to eat.

He shrugged a little. "I dunno... I'm not much of a partier... I'd probably just end up sitting alone in a corner the whole time..." He said, taking a bite of his pasta.

Julius looked around at his friends to make sure they weren't looking at them, sure enough, they were busy chatting amongst eachother, so he leaned into Jakob, who was sitting beside the wall, 'but I'll be with you' he whispered in his ear. He wasn't sure if he heard him with all the noise around them so he took his hand and squeezed it from under the table.

Jakob heard Julius, and flushed slightly at his words. A faint smile graced his features when Julius took his hand and he gave it a small squeez in return. "D'you really wanna spend the whole party with someone who's probably just going to either sit there and be boring, or complain?" He asked, glancing up at The redhead, curious about his response.

'You'll loosen up eventually, there's plenty of alcohol around' he chuckled, turning his attention back to his food. Once everyone had finished eating, the boys got up to leave to their dorms. Julius' friends said their goodbyes and left the dinner hall, discarding their empty plates on a pile over each other.

Jakob shrugged slightly. He still didn't really want to go, even less now that it'd been confirmed that people would be drunk. He decided to ignore it for now, and come up with some excuse later to not go.

The boys went up to their dorms and Julius changed into a red t shirt and black pyjamas. He spent the rest of the evening completing various pieces of homework assignments and munching on some chocolate. Once he was done, he brushed his teeth and got into bed but he couldn't fall asleep. It was the first night he was to have someone else sleep in the same room as him since his previous roommate had left a few months ago. Even after the boys had switched off their light, Julius lay awake, staring at Jakob. Was he really falling for him? Was it even possible for Julius to fall in love? All his previous relationships had ended in a disaster. He had a terrible time trusting people and was usually too controlling for people's liking. He hoped that this time it might be different. The red haired boy eventually dozed off thinking about Jakob.

Normally Jakob would've just stripped down and crawled into bed. Being in a shared dorm now, he thought better of that.

He grabbed a pair of black pajama bottoms with the Slytherin crest on the left thigh, and a green tanktop to match, heading for the bathroom to change. It was one thhing to change in front of a whole group of guys in the locker room- no one wanted to be caught staring at someone else's junk or ass. In the privacy of the dorm room with only one other person who'd made it clear earlier that he was into him, well... That made Jakob feel a little awkward. He took a quick shower while he was in there, and Julius was preoccupied with homework, and came back out in his pajamas, hanging his jeans over the back of his chair, tossing the tee back in the dresser.
He'd stayed up a while, playing a game on his laptop, shutting it down when Julius turned out the light, and reaching for his phone instead. He usually talked with his old friends until one of them passed out. None of them seemed to be online though. Sighing softly, he turned the screen off, and rolled over, looking across the room, only to find Julius already seemingly asleep. He decided to follow his example, and shut his eyes, curling up and falling asleep rather quick.

Julius woke up early the next morning and climbed out of bed, grabbing his grey towel from his closet and disappearing into the bathroom where he stripped down and stepped into the shower. He allowed the water to glide gently down his body for a few minutes before he began washing his hair and body. Ten minutes later he reappeared, towel wrapped around his waist, small water droplets covered his toned body. He grabbed another towel and settled on his bed, drying his hair.

Jakob woke while Julius was still in the shower. Glancing at the clock, he groaned and rolled over, burying his face in he pillow. He peeked out when the door opened, taking in the sight of a damp and nearly naked redhead. He flushed, shifting slightly, rolling over to the other side, facing away.

Julius noticed Jakob looking in his direction, 'oh you're awake' he said, cheerfully 'the bathroom is free if you wanna use it.' Julius finished towel-drying his hair and patted his body dry, grabbing his white button up shirt and putting it on, buttoning it halfway. He rummaged through his closet for his red school tie and found it lying at the bottom near his shoes. He grabbed them both and started fiddling with his tie as he tried to put it around his neck.

Jakob rolled back over once he heard Julius rummaging around for clothes. "S'too early..." He whined, but he got out of bed anyways, grabbing an outfit on his way into the bathroom.

As soon as Jakob went inside the bathroom, the red-haired boy unwrapped the towel around his waist and slipped on a pair of underwear, pulling on his school trousers hurriedly. He then stuffed a few textbooks in his bag, zipping it closed. He put on a pair of new socks and retrieved his sports bag from inside his closet. He wasn't sure if he had taken it home to wash the week before so he opened the bag and took a whiff. The scent of fresh lavender wafted its way up his nostrils and he smiled, zipping the bag closed. Lavender was his favourite scent and ever since he was a young boy, his mother would order the servants to only buy lavender scented detergent. But that was the old days. Ever since his mother's crappy novels began sweeping off the shelves of bookstores, she never had time for him anymore. All she'd do is spend her days inside her cold, dark room, writing away on her desktop computer. His father was never home, either. Being the lawyer of a top corporate company, he would leave home at the break of dawn and only return late in the evenings when Julius and his siblings were asleep. It was hard at first, when you spent everyday without the company of your parents. Of course, there was lots of entertainment placed for their leisure and Julius had everything he wanted, from the latest video games to the newest fashions. But what he wanted the most was his parent's love, something he knew was unobtainable.

Julius closed the closet door and sat on his bed, picking up his phone and staring at the passcode screen. He input his passcode and fell back on his bed, swiping through old photos as he waited for Jakob to get dressed.

Jakob came out a little while later, looking more awake. He'd washed his face and brushed his teeth, doing his hair quickly after pulling on a black tanktop and his underwear and jeans. Glasses in place, he left the bathroom, heading back to his dresser for a buttonup shirt and some socks.

Julius noticed Jakob coming out of the bathroom and he quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket and stood up, reaching down to take his bags. 'Don't forget we have sports class together' he told Jakob who was still busy getting dressed. Julius looked at the door and then back at Jakob, 'I think I'm going to go down' he announced, fiddling with his bags. 'I'll meet you down later?' he asked, giving him a tight smile.

"Ugh... Why do they make us take sports class beyond first year? You know, normal schools only make you do it in grade nine... And who's idea was it to put it first thing in the morning?" He said, grabbing his gym uniform out of the bottom drawer and tossing that into his bag along with his running shoes, sitting on his bed to pull on his socks and boots. "Yeah, I'll meet you down there for class." He said, looking up and smiling at Julius.

Julius simply laughed at Jakob grumbling and left the room, closing the door behind him. He really had no idea what it was like to be at a boarding school. He was quite early so he walked leisurely down the spiralling staircase and down the landing into the cafeteria where he grabbed a croissant and made his way to the fields. He found the benches to be unoccupied so he settled on one and ate his breakfast, pulling out his phone. He was greeted to several messages, yet again. He grumbled, swiping right to view them. He had been added to Ross' group chat where he had been discussing the party with the others. Several students were asking if Julius would be attending, which was not unusual considering his popularity. He quickly replied with a yes followed by several emojis and tapped on the 'send' button. Once he was done eating, he lit a cigarette. It was a slightly chilly morning so he tried hard to keep warm by hopping from one foot to another, one hand stuffed into his pocket. There was a layer of frost covering the emerald green grass and he seemed to be the only person outside. He took a few drags from his cigarette before disposing of it in the trash bin and running briskly inside.

Jakob opened up his laptop when Julius left, glancing to the clock first to make sure he had time. He smiled. Plenty of time, since he didn't have to drive. He checked his emails first, then his little chat sites, replying to people when necessary. He opened up his facebook, checking who was online- nobody. Frowning, he glanced up at the clock again, surprised just how much time he'd wasted. Shutting down his laptop, he shoved it into his bag, making sure he had everything, then left the dorm, heading for the gym. He'd be a bit early, but oh well. Gave him time to change in peace.

Sports class was a breeze for Julius. Their coach took them to the indoor tennis courts and paired them up randomly before the students walked to their appropriate courts. Julius and Jakob weren't paired together so Julius watched the other boy from afar as he played with his partner. His own partner turned out to be Rina and as much as he wanted to avoid her, he couldn't anymore. She made Julius run all over the court to return her serves. He knew it was on purpose. After the first half of the lesson was over, the students had a little break and ran off to take a swig of water from their water bottles. Julius collapsed onto the floor, clutching his chest as he panted heavily, 'gosh you're evil' he muttered under his breath, knowing she wouldn't hear. Julius was fit and incredibly fast but it was still too much for him. Beads of perspiration covered his forehead, causing his hair to cling to it. He grabbed his water bottle and gulped down the water, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand once he had enough.

Jakob hated gym class. Especially when he had to put out any level of effort at anything. Like today, with tennis. His partner seemed determined to make him sweat. When they finally got a break, Jakob grabbed his water bottle, going over to Julius. "Have I mentioned that I hate gym class?"

Julius looked to his left and noticed Jakob beside him, he laughed at his statement and shook his head, 'it's not so bad, it kinda gives you a rush.' He noticed Rina on the other side of the court, she twirled her racket in the air, sashaying slowly towards them. Julius tensed up and attempted to look in the other direction, pushing his damp hair out of his forehead, trying to remain cool. Rina stopped right in front of the boys, the red-haired boy slowly gazed up at her, raising an eyebrow, 'something you want?' he asked, irritated at her persistent attitude. Yeah, he knew he was attractive but he was clearly uninterested in her, why couldn't she just drop it?

"Pfft. All it does is make you sweat... Which is gross." He replied, looking up when Rina approached. "C'we help you?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. Couldn't Rina see they were talking? A quick glance showed the rest of the class still on break as well, so it couldn't be that.

Rina rudely ignored Jakob and smiled sweetly at Julius, 'we need to talk about us, Julius' she uttered in a velvety smooth voice, her lips curving into a smile. Julius frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, 'can we not do it later?' he muttered, avoiding any eye contact with her. Rina pouted, extending her arm out for him 'I need to tell you something now' putting a great emphasis on the last word, as if it were an order. Julius gave Jakob an apologetic look before getting up to his feet and following Rina to the other end of the court.