[Ok so i haven't been very active recently but promise i will be more now ]

Gary walked into the Entrance Hall, looking tired and drained. His normally pale skin had a grey tinge to it and was pulled tight against his cheeks. He hoped no one saw him like this, all he needed was some blood and then he would be fine again. 'Glad i picked such a late hour to return,' he thought, looking around the empty hallway. He missed Alex, missed holding him and kissing him. But he had left for his safety, for his protection, he could only hope that he wouldn't be mad at him. But he was in control now, he was certain of it. He sighed and sat down on the steps, not ready to face the common room yet. He scratched at his chin, feeling the rough smattering of stubble that had grown over the past few days. The last time he'd seen Alex was at Faith's party and that was over 2 weeks ago. 'He's going to hate me,' he thought, shaking his head slowly. He hoped with all his heart that that wasn't true, but who was he to know?

Alex ran down the corridor, it was almost the full moon and he was not in a particularly good mood. Slowing slightly he ran down the stairs, noticing someone sitting at the bottom. From the smell he could tell immediately who it was. Gary. Alex paused and bit his lip. Was he ready to see Gary again. After what he had done. He sighed inaudibly and decided that this wasn't the time. He would talk to him later. No doubt he wanted to see Rose too. Slowly he turned on the stairs and began walking back up them. Knowing then, that even if he did walk away Gary would have known he was there, from his smell. Alex rubbed his left arm absentmindedly his back still to Gary. What could he do now?

Gary breathed in and sat bolt up right, turning around to look at Alex. He stood up slowly and opened his mouth to say something, but what was he meant to say? 'I'm sorry for suddenly running off and not telling you anything about it,' what good would that do? He stretched out his arm, covered in fresh and healing scratches, towards Alex. "A....Alex.." he said, his voice quieted and choked. 'Please don't walk away, please don't walk away,' he kept chanting in his head.

Christabelle was walking back into the school from her long walk outside. She ran a hand through her hair quite tired from her early morning but still unable to sleep in this place. She saw two guys and immediately recognized one of them as Alex and she thought the other one was familiar. "G..Gary?" she said not quite sure if it was him or not.

Alex closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned to Gary. His eyes flashing open the moment he stopped. "Where have you been?" he asked, his voice somewhat hoarse from shouting and crying earlier that day. But his tone was soft, but he doubted it would last. His eyes flashed over the cuts on Gary's arms. Alex smirked to himself - he had his own marks to show Gary, but that would be later. For now he was just upset that he had been left behind so suddenly. He thought Gary was supposed to love him.

Gary's eyes flickered to the girl briefly, a small smile on his lips, he could never forget that face. "Hey Christy... Umm i'll talk to you later, ok? Kinda busy right now." He walked up the stairs to Alex and sighed softly. "I...I had to control Sammael... Please understand Alex... He wasn't happy and i couldn't keep control of him anymore. I had to go see my brother, he's the only one who really knows how to help. I'm sorry i didn't tell you where i was.... I just thought it would be safer for you..." He reached out a hand to stroke Alex's face, then drew it back as he saw the look in his eyes. Anger just bubbling under the surface. Anger which he had caused.

Alex stepped back from Gary, up a few of the stairs. "But you left me. I thought...I thought you didn't want me anymore. You didn't care. I didn't know anything. No note, nothing. Everyone knew you'd gone, it wasn't just one or two people. Everyone knew. Think how that made me feel when people asked me where you were and I couldn't answer." Alex sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry too Gary. For your inability to contact someone who you're supposed to love!" It was all too much. First the forest with Rose, and now this. Alex felt like he was being torn in two. It was insane.

Gary flinched back from his words, knowing with all his heart that they were true. "Alex...please! Of course i still want you, Alex, please listen to me. You don't understand! He wouldn't let me. He took control and didn't let me out! I only just managed to get to my brother in time.. He said that i shouldn't love a beast, a monster, like you but that's not true." Tears were flowing now, despite his best efforts to control them. "I love you, Alex, i do. Please forgive me."

Alex looked down at Gary, "No. I don't forgive you. Not yet. I will in time. But I can't. You keep telling me I don't understand but you never try and understand me. I love you Gary, more than anything, but so much has changed. I don't want to get my hopes up about you and then you just leave me. I am a monster Gary. I've become what I promised I wouldn't be. And no one was there to help." Alex sat down on the stairs, a few tears escaping but he didn't let them linger for long. Brushing them away with his sleeve he pulled his knees closer to him, "I'm the monster Sammael thinks I am. It's all true."

Gary whimpered softly and shook his head, "Then let me understand, let me help you, let me show you how much i love you. Just believe me, please! You will never be a monster to me, Alex, no matter what other people think of you. You are Alex and you always will be." He crouched down in front of him and took a hold of his hand, not caring whether he tried to pull away or not. "Please don't believe that. He's gone now and he isn't going to hurt us anymore. I tried to get rid of him before and i couldn't cope. But i can now. I can now i have you..."

Rose - ever the insomniac - had followed Alex downstairs due to a lack of anything better to do, and had hung back in the shadows until she could be sure who it was. Even when they called each other by name she didn't believe it; he looked so unlike any Gary she'd ever seen. But when he looked up in her vague direction and she saw his eyes, she knew immediately, and she was filled with hot anger, coursing through her burning veins. She barely even noticed that he was crying. "Gary," she stated, emerging from the shadows and walking a few steps closer to them, trying to hide how much she was shivering in her thin nightdress. "Get out." It was bold; she was unsure where the words or the ideas had come from, but she did know that she didn't want him in the castle that was her home.

Alex didn't say anything, he couldn't. He pulled up the sleeve of the hand Gary was holding slowly. Moments later a pain shot through his arm as the moving mark shone brighter than it had ever done before. He gasped as the pain went straight to his head. The mark squirmed on his skin as though the snake was really there, under his arm. Moving through his veins. The pain became almost unbearable, but he wouldn't put his sleeve down. No one was around, so no one would see it. For that was what the Dark Lord was worried about, people finding out and Dumbledore kicking him out of school. Aside from a Slytherin, Alex was the best person to have inside the school.
Suddenly a voice came from behind him and he hastily pulled down his sleeve. The pain stopped instantly as he turned and saw Rose. He shot her a dark look as she came closer. 'Great, just as I get him back you're going to force him away again,' he thought darkly. He didn't say anything but the hand Gary was holding locked their fingers together. "Don't leave me again," he whispered.

Gary's eyes widened at the sight of the mark on Alex's wrist, but instead of letting go, he just gripped Alex's hand harder. He looked up to Rose and frowned, confused by her sudden anger. He looked back at Alex and smiled softly, "I'm not leaving, Alex, i promise." It had only been two weeks at yet so much had changed. He wondered what it was that had caused Alex to go to the Dark Lord, whether it was something to do with him or not. But they could talk about that later.

She came closer still, glaring at Gary with what seemed to be pure hatred in her eyes. The mark was nothing - she already knew about it - and at this moment she was concerned only with Gary. "Did you hear what I said?" she asked, raising her voice and ignoring his previous statement. "I told you to get out! Why are you still here?" Her fists were clenched at her sides and she was standing in attack pose, ready to land a punch if he tried to resist.

Alex smiled, for the first time in what felt like forever. He stood and turned to Rose. Glaring at her, sure he may have been nice to her in the forest, but not now. How dare she order Gary around like that? What right did she have? He growled, the sound deep in his throat. He didn't need this, not now. Not when the moon was so close. His eyes narrowed as he pulled the sleeve over his arm again, making sure his whole arm was covered. He didn't say anything, he didn't need too. She knew what he was, what he was planning to do. But Gary didn't, he knew hardly anything. Would she be the one to tell him and a moment of extreme spite? Alex partly hoped she would, save him from telling. But the other parted wanted to do it in his own time. Slowly Alex stood directly in front of Gary, his height enabling him to stand over her, even if she was three steps up. "He's not going anywhere," he stated, his eyes flashing black and then brown.

Gary looked up at Rose and stood, his hand still tightly in Alex's. "Why do you want me to leave?" he asked, "And who are you to tell me what to do?" The anger radiating off them both seemed to be infectous as he felt it bubbling inside of him. His brother had warned him to keep control of his emotions, especially anger, but he was sure he could handle things now. He'd changed in these past two weeks. No longer would be feel sorry for himself, he could stand on his own feet now.

Christy sat and watched for a bit finally having something to say, "Rose he does make a point." she said, "They both do. He has every right to be here as the rest of us." she was confused as to why Rose was acting the way she was and confused as to why she hadn't said anything before now.

She looked helplessly at Christy - what she said was true - and then at her two supposed friends, both of whom had tried to kill her lately. She relaxed and folded her arms, leaning back on the wall. Again, she was confused. She knew that she didn't want Gary to be here, because in some way he'd hurt her - though how she wasn't sure - and she wanted to put Alex in his place, because he hated her so much. Above all, she wanted chaos, and she had an inkling of how to get it. "Alex," she began casually, examining the nails on her right hand. "Why don't you show Gary what you did to me in the forest? You know..."

Alex laughed coldly at her, "Oh Rose, I'm flattered you enjoyed it so much that you want me to do it again. But things like that aren't given out freely." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow at her. "I know what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work. What I did to you meant nothing. I needed information and that was the only way I was sure I was going to get it."

"I've got delusions about why you did it," she shot back coldly, sarcastically. "It's the fact that you did it that will hurt your dearly beloved, I believe." F*cking w*nkers, both of them - they suit each other perfectly, she thought bitterly, digging the nails of her left hand into her side to distract herself from saying anything before she'd fully considered it. "Remember, boys, honesty is the best policy, or so they tell me..."