New Beginning

Justin held up the clothing curiously, frowning at the material, though it wasn't from negativity.

"What's it made of?"

James stared at the clothes for a minute.

"Cotton, I think. Maybe a mix of cotton and polyester or something. There's usually little tags on the inside that say."

He turned and went back to the dresser, pulling out his black sweatpants and a blue shirt.

"What's that?" Justinn asked curiously, turning the "polli-ester" and "cotton" over in his hands. An odd pattern too. It wasn't anything like he'd ever seen, truthfully.

"How do I put them on? Like pants and stuff? Is it just like my garbs?"

He knew he was asking too many questions, but once they had started, he just couldn't find a way to stop.

James smiled to himself as he walked back over to Justin and held up his own pajamas to demonstrate.

"You put the pants on so that the tag's in the back and the drawstrings are in the front. Same with the shirt, the tag faces the back. You just sort of pull the shirt over your head and fit your arms through the holes."

He couldn't get much more specific than that without actually changing in front of the guy, and he really wasn't sure how he'd feel about that.

"So, like my garbs..." Justin mumbled to himself to reiterate the directions, looking back at the cloth in his hands. "... And the bathroom is where?"

"Right over there," James said, pointing a finger at the door on the right.

Justin nodded obediently, and stood, walking slowly to the bathroom with a respectfully ducked head.

he pushed open the door and stepped inside, still looking at the tile. It was oddly cold, yet warm at the same time. Colder than the carpet, but warmer than the hospital. Weird. Then he looked in the mirror.

"Oh my God!" He shrieked in horror, falling back against the wall and slipping to the floorl

James leaped up at Justin's cry and sprinted for the bathroom. He pulled the door open, too worried to bother with knocking. Justin was huddled against the wall opposite the mirror, shaking violently.

James crouched down next to him.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Justin stared at the mirror in horror, to scared to move up and get a second glance.

"I can't look like that... I look wrong, that can't be what I look like..."

James winced. He should have expected this as well...

"We're going to help you get better, I promise. And you'll get plenty to eat now. You'll start looking healthier after you get a few square meals and time to relax. I promise."

He held out his hand to Justin.

"We can take down the mirror in here for you, and a few around the house I'll bet. No point in you freaking out every time you pass a mirror just because my mom's anal about decorating."

Justin looked up at him hopelessly, but took the hand nonetheless and let himself be lifted from from the floor. Not like he weighed much, anyways. He looked like the bodies he'd seen wheeled around on the gurneys back at the Institute.

"Aren't you worried you'll catch it?" he asked meekly, not wanting to scare the other boy off. He wasn't sure if he was contagious or not, they'd never really figured it out.

"The nurses who worked with me were already dying so they're okay, in a way. But you're not sick, you could catch it and then what would I do then?"

A very serious question to him, though he wasn't exactly referring to the now. He wasn't sure what he'd do the in "dream world" since apparently, James was his partner. And, you know, generally, if you needed a partner to begin with, things were probably pretty hectic out there. He needed someone by his side, especially someone like Camden. But in real life, he'd just go back to the Institute. Which was something he should do now but he suspected the Director would get mad at him, which he didn't want.

James scoffed at the question.

"You think I really care? You're still a human being, I won't let you be cut off from all contact like you probably were before. It's not right. We're going to try to help you, we're not letting you go back there. It'll probably take a while to sink in, but you're gonna be living here from now on, and you don't have to suffer anymore. Really. Half the reason you look so sickly is probably because you haven't been given a square meal in your life."

He led Justin back into his room, carrying the clothes that Justin had dropped in his shock.

"You can just change in here then. I won't look." He handed back Justin's pjs.

James pulled off his shirt and reached for the blue shirt he had grabbed before, slipping into it quickly.

Justin nodded numbly, slipping his shirt over his head and fumbling to put the other, ofter material on. It was weird. Practically foreign to him. He had only ever known the itchy cotton of hospital attire. The cotton/polyester of this shirt, though, this was something completely new. Oddly soft and... flowy. Not stiff, would be a better way to describe it, he guess. It felt good on his bare skin, really, though he would never say that out loud.

Struggling with the rest of his clothing, he discovered similar results, though the pants seemed much more soft and warm, adding up to be the most comfortable thing he'd ever worn in his life.

"Thanks" he mumbled, though it was absolutely sincere. This was probably the best gift he'd ever had. And gifts weren't much in his upbringing so this was fantastic.

James smiled warmly, dimly noting that this was the most he had smiled in several years, and it was all just to attempt to put the kid more at ease.
"No problem. My mom will take you clothes shopping tomorrow so

Kind of weird that he kept thinking of Justin as a fragile little kid when they were probably only a few months apart in age. But he coudln't help it. Those terrified eyes sort of demanded sympathy without even meaning to.

And it was really cute how he was so clearly trying to hide his awe at the feel of soft fabric over his skin.

...Cute? Where had that come from?

Justin continued to feel at the fabric in his hands when he heard the blond stumble. Alarmed, he looked up quickly, already moving forward to catch him, just in case. But James was fine, only looking a bit surprised, but over what, he didn't know. Justin cleared this throat.

"I... I don't mean to intrude, or anything, but... where am I sleeping again?"

He hoped that wasn't too bold of him to ask...

(....woah I have no idea what happened with the words stopping like that...weird... ._.)

"I brought out a mattress for you to sleep on. We can set it on the floor of my room for tonight, until my mom gets your room all set up. I'm warning you, she's going to be throwing furniture catalogues and all sorts of clothing magazines at you. It's kind of overwhelming, even for me when she let me redesign my room...."

He trailed off, then quickly got his thoughts back on track.

"Anyway, I'll bring the mattress in for you and we can go to sleep, since it's really late and all..."

Justin nodded.

"Alright, sounds... yeah."

God, he was so awkward!

James left the room and dragged the mattress in, crushing a few scattered papers here and there. He hoped there weren't any homework assignments under there. They were goners now.

"I'll grab some sheets and covers for you, "James called over his shoulder as he again left the room, heading for the linens closet a few doors down the hall. He grabbed a set of pale blue sheets and a thick black comforter. As an afterthought, he grabbed a pillow as well.

James set them by the mattress and made the bed, pretty sure that Justin wouldn't know how to do it himself anyway.

"Alright, I hope that'll be comfortable enough. If you're hungry or need some water, the kitchen is downstairs near the hall where you entered the house. We keep a few nightlights on downstairs in case people need stuff down there. And you saw where my bathroom is. I have school tomorrow so my alarm goes off at six. You can stay in bed if you want, I'll try not to wake you. My mom's will be up around seven and she's usually downstairs making breakfast for herself by eight. So go down there when you're ready," James said, trying to be helpful.

Taking in the expression on Justin's face, he added, "Just try to relax and get some sleep."

He then turned off the lights and climbed into his bed.

*DO THE TIME WARP*


Justin looked up at the brick school building in a semblance of awe, completely shocked that kids actually learned in a building that was so easy to confuse with a prison.

He turned to glance at James, who was beside him. The Larsons were with them, wanting to support poor, quivering Justin on his first day of school. And it was his fault entirely, he had insisted. He hated that James would leave him in the morning and not come back for hours, leaving him alone in that monster of a house. He figured he would feel safer wherever James went.

Obviously, he had assumed wrong.

Because, of course, this place was filled with Reals. And he was so screwed.

"You'll do great, Justin. We made sure you're in all of James' classes, so he'll help you adjust. Just be friendly and don't give the other kids any reason to make it bad for you and you'll be fine," Mr. Larson encouraged as they began walking in the direction of the front gate.

James raised an eyebrow at his dad. Of all the times for the man to give a word of encouragement he just had to say something like that. Really.

Mrs. Larson sniffled and reached out to give Justin a hug, whispering in his ear, "You've come so far already, you'll do great. Make us proud Justin."

James glanced around nervously, praying that nobody was around to see this. No such luck. Lots of students milling around, laughing at each other, shouting, gossiping, doing what normal teenagers did. And a few were looking in their direction. He sighed. Well so much for that.

Only able to give a stiff nod in reply, Justin moved out of the embrace once Mrs. Larson had given him leeway. He quickly moved to practically attach himself to James' side, nervously surveying the Reals. A bunch were staring. He couldn't help the shudder that ran up his spine.

"Just...try to look like you know exactly what you're doing and you'll be fine," James muttered to the brunet as they entered the school.

"If it helps you can imagine that you're Saint right now. You're a hell of a better Lucid than I am."

He glared down a few of the more curious stares and was glad that they actually backed off a bit. Only maybe half the people in the general area were staring now. A slight improvement.

Maybe.

"Yeah, well, I'm asleep then!" Justin muttered back, though with much more vigor. "Big difference, in case you haven't noticed!"

He fought to avoid eye contact with the curious Reals. It was like the knew what he was!

"Because for one, Saint doesn't look like afreagin' zombie!"

"Look, I know what you're thinking and that's not why they're staring. They do this with like every new student. It's even more interesting to them that you're coming in the middle of the year. They want to know who you are and why you're here and if you'd be good boyfriend material. Trust me. And a few girls might be wondering how you keep so skinny and if they should work up the courage to ask you for your secret diet."

James took them through the main doors of the school.

"We have like fifteen minutes before classes start. I'm going to take you to all our classes and introduce you to the teachers beforehand so you'll at least have a good idea of the classrooms and teachers before we have to deal with the students."

"How do you know they don't know?" Justin demanded, panic seeping back into his voice. He had gotten over most of his fears and irrational thoughts. But they were beginning to resurface as he stepped into the school, wary of being surrounded on all sides.

"What if they know someone?"