Jace shut the door after Xander got in and hurried over to his side of the car. He turned the key and the station the radio was on had a song from Breaking Benjamin just finishing and a song from Black Veil Brides turning on. "Is this good enough?" he asked the boy as he put his seat belt on.

(Omfgcopter! BVB x3)


Xander watched as Jace went to the driver's side of the car, and got in. When he turned they key, he was pleased to hear the remains of a song from Breaking Benjamin. When he heard the beginnings of a Black Veil Brides song, he smiled at the other boy and nodded. BVB was one of his favorite bands. He patted his thighs lightly, in tune to the drum beat. Had he been able to talk, he would've been singing along. He knew almost every word to every one of their songs.

(DO you listen to BVB, and like, Breaking Benjamin and stuff like that? And, I obsess over BVB. If you haven't noticed xD I know every single word to every one of their songs. Every. Single. One. 83 )

(I love Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, BOTDF, and I've just started listening to BVB. lol )

Jace smiled at Xander, glad the boy liked the music. He checked the road before pulling out. The party was in the neighboring town and it would take a while to get there. He was a rather fast driver, but he was careful. "We'll be there shortly. Do you want to stop somewhere and get something to eat before or just eat at the party?" he asked.

(Haven't listened to BODTF yet, but I plan on doing it sometime soon. :3 )


Xander continued drumming along to the music as he stared at his knees for the next few moments. When he looked up, he noticed that Jace had pulled away from the curb, and was driving away from his home. He smiled lightly again, the corners up his mouth turning up ever so slightly. He stilled his hands, and rested them in his lap as he watched the scenery go by through the window. When Jace said something about eating, he turning his head. How was he going to answer him? He didn't want to distract him from his driving. He took a minute to figure it out. Not able to think of anything that wouldn't take Jace's eyes off the road, he settled for raising two fingers, indicating he wanted the second choice. Since he'd already eaten, and didn't feel like having to throw up again. (Yeah...He's got problems T-T *Huggles Xandy*)

(Awww...poor little raven! Group hug!!! X3 *big hugs*)

Jace noticed the small smile our of the corner of his eye and one twice as big found its way onto his own. He noticed Xander had raised two fingers and the meaning suddenly made sense. "Eat at the party. Got it." he said with a grin. He turned onto the interstate and after a while turned off on an exit. It took a while until he finally turned onto a rougher road that led out of the town. About twenty minutes later a large house came into view up on a hill. Almost every single light was on at the house as well as the large barn behind it. Jace's friend had inherited a rather large horse farm from his grandfather and was known for throwing large parties and inviting just about anyone from the neighboring high schools. Jace drove up the long driveway and parked the car under some large oak trees. He turned off the car and smile at Xander. "We're here." he told him happily.

( :3 He feels loved . *huggles snipey too*)

Xander turned his attention back to his window watching the trees and houses disappear as they neared the interstate. Once Jace turned onto it, he looked out he windshield. He stared at the other cars that passed, at the people hidden away inside them. Some of them stared back, and Xander had to keep himself from giggling. It was funny how people stared at each other with nothing else to do. He barely noticed as the road changed, and that he was bouncing slightly in his seat. He was too busy thinking excited thoughts about the party, and about meeting Julian.

When Jace pulled in and parked the car, Xander smiled brightly at him. Wow. Only a few hours and he was already a new person. After Jace spoke, he jumped out of the car and scurried around the front, pulling open Jace's door. He smiled, excited about being helpful. He bounced on his toes as he waited, eager to get inside and meet Jace's fried. (D'awww. He's so adorable x3 )

Jace's eyes widened in surprise when Xander got out of the car and went around to open his door. He smiled at the boy and got out. He shut the door behind him and locked the car before turning and wrapping his arms around Xander in a quick hug. "Thank you little raven." he told him, ducking his head to place a quick kiss on his nose. He grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him toward the house. "Julian should already be here." he told him, grinning.

Xander grinned, greatly enjoyed being in Jace's arms, even of it was only for a short time. When the boy called him Raven, and touched his lips to his nose, he nearly fainted from joy. Had it been possible, he would've purred. When Jace grabbed his hand, he laced his fingers with the other boys, and hurried along behind him, looking around for people he may need to hide from. When Jacce said something about Julian, he got a bit more excited as Jace pulled him along.

Jace led him to the house and held the door open for Xander. "We should be able to find him towards the center of the party." he told the boy with a grin.

Xander beamed, and stepped into the house. His eyes widened as he saw all of the people, and immediately turned and grabbed Jace's hand, clinging to it with severe nervousness. He looked up at the other boy, fear dancing in his eyes. What if the people in there were mean to him? What if they picked on him, or beat him up? What if they taunted Jace, and shouted crude remarks at them, like the football team had? He scooted closer to the boy, much like a shy child would try to hide behind his mother. He chewed on his bottom lip, unsure if he was really ready for this.

Jace felt Xander's grip tighten and looked back at the boy. He took a step back towards him and leaned closer so that he could be heard. "Calm down. I won't let anyone harm you." he told the boy. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar blond teen weaving through the crowd, dancing with one person before moving to another. "Ah! Found him." he said cheerfully.

Xander, reassured, turned back toward the room full of people. He realized he didn't recognize a bunch of them. As he saw the boy he was supposed to meet coming to them, he lowered his eyes. He'd learned not to give direct eye contact. It meant bad things would happen. He shifted, in excitement, and also in nervousness. When Jace gave the cheerful comment, he looked up again, pressing closer into Jace. He gazed at the boy, but his expression remained tense.

Jace felt Xander move closer and smiled. He was about to call out to Julian when the blond boy looked up, his blue eyes spotting Jace. Jace had a moments warning before Julian came running at him through the people and wrapped him in a bear hug around the neck. It was so tight he could barely breath, but he couldn't help the choked laughter. "I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why didn't you call, write, or e-mail me?" Julian exclaimed after releasing Jace, questions flying out of his mouth. His bright blue eyes suddenly locked on the boy at his friend's side. "He's sooo cute! Where did you find him? Are you going to keep him? Can I have him?" he asked, all but jumping up in down. Jace laughed and wrapped an arm around Xander's shoulders, pulling him close. "Sorry Julian, but this little raven is all mine and don't treat him like a puppy." he told his friend, amused. Julian crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, his lower lip sticking out in a childish pout.

(This all reminds me of a story I read on dA...)

Xander's eyes widened as Julian suddenly flew toward Jace. He gasped in surprise, and stepped back to avoid being smushed as the blond headed boy wrapped his arms around Jace, nearly strangling him. Xander cowered, unsure if he really liked this boy. He backed up slightly, and pulled his hood up. He knew his efforts to hide were pointless, however, when Julian's eyes caught sight of him. He shrunk back, afraid that the extremely excited boy would try to hug him to. When he didn't Xander relaxed a little. He felt more and more uncomfortable as Julian spit-fired questions. As he felt Jace's arm settle around his shoulders, he snuggled right into him, looking up nervously at the blond boy. He felt his face flush slightly as Jace spoke, and he gave the tiniest of smiles. At the sight of the blond's pouting, he almost smiled wider, though he felt a little bad. (Arg. My muse is dead today Dx)

Jace grinned happily when Xander snuggled against his side. "Xander attends the school you'll be going to." he told Julian. Julian's pout dropped immediately and a bright smile replaced it. "That's wonderful! Now I'll already have a friend there." he said with a kind smile at Xander. "What's it like there? What are the people like?" he asked, curious. Jace instantly spoke up when his friend started asking questions. "He won't be able to answer all of your questions. He can't talk, his throat is damaged somehow." he told Julian quickly. Julian looked slightly shocked, but didn't let it phase him. "Oh, well don't worry. I'll talk enough for the both of us. Most of my conversations are one-sided anyways. No one can keep up with all my rambling." he laughed.

Xander smiled slightly when Jace mentioned that they were to be attending the same school. Which started...he couldn't remember. He'd ask someone later. His grinned widened slightly at Julian's babbling about the school. As he asked the questions, Xander pulled up his sleeve and detached the tiny notebook from the bracelet. He pulled his pen from his pocket, and used Jace's arm as a table. He listened to the boy say something about his not being able to talk all the time as he wrote. When finished, he held out the notebook once the blond headed boy was finished talking. He gave a breathy giggle as Julian spoke again. He was starting to like this boy a bit more. He could probably get used to how energetic he was. He hoped the note didn't scare Julian too much, once he thought about it. Well, the classes are good, slightly challenging, but I don't know much about about the people there. The ones that aren't bullying me are ignoring me. He'd written in his elegant script. He looked up at Jace, and smiled brightly.

Julian caught sight of Xander writing in a small notebook as he talked and was about to ask more questions when the boy held out the notebook to him. He read over what was written and his eyes widened slightly before narrowing. He crossed his arms over his chest and a rather determined smile appeared on his face. "No one is going to mess with my new friend while I'm around. I'll make sure of that myself." he said, his blue eyes hard. Jace immediately frowned disapprovingly. "Don't you dare Julian. Your parents will send you straight back to your classes if you get in another fight. You're lucky they let you move in with your brother and didn't put you in military school. Standing up for someone is fine, but I don't want you fighting." he told his friend sternly. Julian pouted and rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'd start anything. Those last idiots did and it wasn't that bad. I was only helping that girl out." he grumbled like a child. "You broke a boy's nose!" he exclaimed before sighing heavily. He smiled softly at Xander and shook his head. "He's rather protective of his friends and people he thinks can't defend themselves." he explained.

Xander's eyes widened as Julian's eyes hardened. Did he write something wrong? Was the boy mad at him? He shrunk away slightly, staring at the blond boy with large, round eyes. His black contacts contrasted greatly with the whites of his eyes, especially because of the heavily applied eyeliner and small amount of eye shadow. He chewed lightly on his lower lip, unsure of what to do to fix the situation. And then, Julian began to speak and Xander's fears were washed away. So Julian would protect him? And then, Jace seemed to get angry too. He frowned, and had he been younger, it might've looked like he was about to cry. But, no. He was just afraid.



At the news of Julian's fighting, Xander frowned even more. He didn't like violence. He got enough of it. He also hated it when people argued, which it seemed like these two were doing. Even if they weren't, it sure looked as if they were. Stop. He said, but his voice barely came above a low whisper, and he was quite sure that neither of them would have heard him, so he stood by and watched. At Jace's smile, he brightened slightly, his frown turning upward a little. He gave Jace a worried look, and flicked his gaze to Julian. When Jace started speaking, Xander relaxed. Until Jace finished speaking. Can't defend themselves? He crossed his arms and raised a brow. It wasn't that he was defenseless. He just chose not to fight back. It was pointless.

Julian and Jace both shut up once they heard Xander's voice. Jace noticed Xander's raised eyebrow and his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. "That's not what I meant! I would never think you're defenseless. I didn't mean you. I just meant to say that if someone is in an argument and they aren't strong enough to defend themselves Julian has a bad habit of placing himself in front of them." he rushed to explain. Julian listened to Jace's hurried words and burst into laughter. "You are so whipped!" he teased, laughing happily. Jace glared at him, but it was obvious he wasn't truly mad.

Xander was actually surprised that the boys had heard him. His throat hurt a bit, but at least they had stopped the...whatever they were doing. He gave an amused smile as Jace tried to explain. He did his breathy chuckle, and shook his head. He patted the boys arms, and gave him a grin. He glanced over at Julian when the blond boy erupted into laughter. When the boy teased Julian, his smile widened, and he would've laughed too if he could have. He found he was liking Julian more and more. He was glad that he'd have a friend. His first one in almost two years. He would no longer have to be alone.

Jace smiled softly when Xander patted him on the arm and wrapped his arm around the boy. Julian noticed Xander's smile and his own grew. He suddenly reached forward and grabbed onto Jace's free hand. "Let's go get a drink." he exclaimed before pulling the two other boys after him toward the kitchen.

Xander smiled, and grabbed Jace's hand (the one that's one his shoulder), linking their fingers together. He had to let go, however, when Julian suddenly grabbed Jace and pulled them toward the kitchen. Xander grabbed Jace's hand, and followed behind them, glancing warily at the people. He sped up, and pressed lightly up against the boy's side. He felt safe when he was close to the other boy. At the mention of drinks, his eyes widened slightly. What kind of 'drink' was he talking about? He was distracted from his thoughts when he thought he recognized someone from school. He turned his head quickly, hoping the person, whether he actually knew them or not, wouldn't notice him. It must have worked, because no one came up behind him.

Julian let go of Jace once they reached the kitchen. There were several different kinds of pop on the center counter as well as alcoholic beverages. "What would you like?" Julian asked Xander curiously.

Xander came up beside Jace, his hand still grasping the boy's. He glanced quickly at the assorted drinks, before returning his gaze to Julian. He gave a quick shrug, not really feeling like pulling out his note book and writing. Besides. He didn't really want anything to drink, even if his throat was a little sore from speaking. He found it odd that he couldn't even whisper a tiny word without pain. He would have laughed, but figured the boys would be confused as hell, and it would be weird to explain what he'd found so funny. He leaned lightly against Jase, and rested his head on his upper arm, staring off into space.

Jace smiled down at Xander when he leaned against his arm. He reached over and snatched a bottle of water off of the counter, handing it to Xander. "Here you go little raven." he told him before reaching over and grabbing a bottle of beer. He had been to plenty of parties and he had quickly built up a high tolerance to alcohol. Jace had just been about to take a drink when Julian let out a high pitched yelp of surprise. Jace spun around, but immediately started laughing at what he saw. A dark haired man a few years older than Jace had Julian lifted off the ground by his waist. The blonde boy was struggling to get lose, but stopped when the man started laughing. He twisted around to look behind him and a huge grin appeared on his face. "Talon!" he exclaimed as he threw his arms around the man's neck and kissed his cheek happily.