Your new classmate is an excellent lab partner, and turns out to be a resourceful ally at parties as well. Especially if someone tries to mug you...

2. Lab Partner and Party Protector

The next morning you hauled out your cleanest jeans and best t-shirt, and spent far too long in front of the mirror before you rode your bike to campus. But when you arrived at the lecture hall you found that Catrine and Martin had already monopolized Drake, taking the seats on either side of him.

Feeling defeated, you realized he was probably a lost case, and felt embarrassed for dressing up like you had. As if he would ever notice you when there were attractive, fun people like them to hang out with.

Morosely you took a seat in the row behind the trio. You knew you were overly dramatic and silly for feeling so jealous and left out, but couldn't help doing it anyway.

During lunch break, Drake went to a nearby restaurant while the rest of you sat in a student lounge to eat your packed lunches.

"I wish I could afford to eat out every day too." Catrine took a bite of her dry cheese sandwich.

"It's not very healthy though," said Filip, the only vegan in the class.

You had brought leftover macaroni and meatballs and ate them in silence, still feeling a bit low. When you had finished you decided to indulge yourself and bought a chocolate bar in the vending machine to cheer you up.

It didn't help.

Drake returned in the afternoon when it was time for labs, and to your surprise and delight he chose you as his lab partner. You tried not to look smug when Catrine and Martin gave you long, jealous looks.

"Whew, saved by the bell," he murmured. "Is Catrine silent, like, ever?"

You grinned. "Rarely." Just like that, your mood had changed from glum to cheerful.

"Even if I had understood Swedish I wouldn't have caught one word of today's lecture with her prattling in my ear the entire morning."

"I still don't get why you attend lectures."

He shrugged. "Bored, I guess."

It was time to begin and you tried to translate the lab instructions. Drake turned out to be adept at practical chemistry as well – except for a few very strange instances. The first one was when you had to help him turn on the light and the fan in the fume hood. Apparently he didn't understand that he had to press the red button with 'on' printed on it.

His next difficulty was with the magnetic stirrer. This time he found the power switch, but didn't put the plug in the socket.

"You need to plug it in," you said, trying not to smile.

"Oh." He turned the appliance over with a perplexed look.

"Here." You helped him again.

First when you began the titration, Drake showed how talented he really was. He claimed to have never done it before, yet managed to create perfect solutions every time, and his calculations – written down with the neatest handwriting you ever saw from a guy – were made with ease. Though you wondered a bit why he used an old-fashioned ink pen.

A gleam drew your attention. From under the lab coat, Drake's shirt sleeves peeked through, and you saw he wore actual cufflinks.

Seriously?

He had a matching silver ring on his index finger, with a serpentine pattern. It struck you he had really nice hands. Large but with a soft touch; he had no problem handling the fragile equipment.

"Wow, we're already finished," you exclaimed, looking around and finding that nobody else was done by far. "Can I always be your lab partner?"

He just grinned and shrugged.

"Let's go make the lab report now." You figured it would be a win-win combination; he knew what to write in it, you knew Swedish.

As you went to a study area and sat around the small, round table, Drake removed his suit jacket and loosened the tie so he could open the top button of his shirt.

Your stomach flipped and filled with flutters. Damn, what a body he had! He must work out a lot. You wondered why he kept hiding it under suits and dress coats – all muscular guys you knew wore tight t-shirts to make it show.

Then you began on the report, leaning your heads over the paper. His semi-long hair fell forward and made his face look softer, less controlled.

Sitting so close, his pleasant perfume filled your nostrils and you had to refrain from sniffing him like an enthusiastic dog. It was increasingly hard to focus on the report.

There was no denying it anymore; you had to admit to yourself you were getting a huge crush on this guy. He was just so perfect in every way!

You were nearly finished when Catrine and Martin joined you. Like you, they hadn't quite understood the lab and had many questions, which Drake seemed glad to answer. In the end, both the reports became mostly his doing, but since you others had translated and written them you figured you weren't really cheating. Much.

Unsurprisingly, after that, Drake became everyone's favorite lab partner. He took turns and changed partners each time, and though you were disappointed, you weren't really expecting anything else. He had no reason to single you out.

A couple of weeks passed and Halloween was coming up. The following Friday there would be a big costume Halloween party hosted by Chalmers, the city's famous university of technology. Since it was open to other academic departments as well, Catrine, Martin and you decided to go, and she managed to convince Drake to tag along.

"But remember this will be Swedish Halloween, not American," said Martin. "Here we only dress up as evil and nasty things, like vampires, ghosts, witches and stuff."

"Ah. Then I can dress as a dark wizard," said Drake with a wry smile you couldn't quite interpret.

The evening came, and as arranged you went to the Karl IX statue which was where everyone met up in this city. You had spent a long time picking your outfit – wanting to wear something that both matched the Halloween theme and made you look good – and at last settled on a bat face mask and a wide, black cloak that flowed around you dramatically as you walked.

Shortly afterwards, Drake arrived. "Neat!" He indicated your cape. "You look a bit like a dungeon bat I know, but much cuter."

The compliment filled you with a pleasant warmth.

Drake also wore a black cloak, his with wide sleeves, and held an old-fashioned broomstick in one hand. He had used makeup to make his face paler, except for dark red shades around his eyes, and with his blond hair snugly combed back it gave the impression of a skull. His attractive smile took away part of the effect though.

"You look great too," you said, meaning it wholeheartedly. He was exceedingly handsome no matter what he did. "Only a bit too nice for a dark wizard."

"Nice?" His smile disappeared and he lowered his eyebrows, piercing you with a dangerous, sharp look. He loomed over you, a hand menacingly hovering near his sleeve like he prepared to draw a gun from it.

You took a step backwards, a nervous throb in your chest. The transformation was uncanny. Drake suddenly looked lethal.

He relaxed and grinned widely, his face perfectly friendly again. "Were you afraid?" he teased.

"Of course not!" you lied, laughing sheepishly.

Now the others had arrived and the four of you walked up the Avenyn boulevard. Along the way, you passed a beggar with a cup in front of him.

Drake stopped, pulling out his wallet.

"Don't," whispered Catrine. "He will just buy booze."

He shrugged and put a hundred-crown note in the cup. "Then so be it."

The beggar's eyes became round and he grinned toothlessly, quickly snatching up the note. "Tack så mycket," he repeated several times.

"It means 'thanks a lot'," you translated.

Drake chuckled. "I figured."

"Are you always this generous?" asked Catrine, giving his thick wallet a speculative look as he put it away. You were all poor students and she probably hoped he would offer to share with you also.

"Nowadays I am."

"But not before?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Shall we continue?"

The Halloween party was held in a large student union building and the loud music met you already outside. Drake got that same pained look you had seen at the pub the other week.

"Don't you like pop music?" you asked.

"It's just a bit loud. But I suppose I'll get used to it."

Soon your group was swept along by the many cheerful partygoers, each more scarily dressed than the other, and it didn't take long until you got separated. Catrine and Martin wanted to dance, and you too, but Drake disappeared before you could invite him.

Biting down the disappointment, you danced with your friends instead. At least you felt unusually cool and interesting in your outfit. You were not used to drawing others' looks, but tonight a random guy even bought you a drink unprompted.

It had become quite late when you finally saw Drake again. He was standing outside the entrance, talking with your classmate Andreas who was a bit of a lone wolf.

"There you are!" you said.

"The volume was more bearable here," Drake explained. "Is it time to leave soon, you think?" He had a longing tone in his voice.

You immediately decided it was. "I'll fetch Catrine and Martin."

Catrine was easy to find, dancing like there was no tomorrow in her demon costume, and after a while you found Martin too, closely embracing a handsome ginger guy.

"We're going home. You coming?"

"Don't wait for me; I'll be sleeping elsewhere tonight," he said with a proud grin.

Secretly very pleased, you returned to Drake. Martin had always appeared to be your most serious rival for the object of your crush, so it was a relief he had found himself another guy.

A few blocks away, the silence was nearly deafening after the noisy, crowded hall. The fresh fall air was cool against your heated face, with a light drizzle making the dark streets glisten.

Andreas had been tagging along, now he fell into step with you. "He is such a nice guy," he murmured in Swedish, nodding discreetly at Drake. "I didn't see anyone I knew at the party and felt out of place at first, but then he came. He kept me company all evening, and even tried to match me with a girl I found pretty."

"He's super nice," you agreed. "How did it go?"

"Well, she only had eyes for him, so not good unfortunately." He smiled wistfully. "Still, I had a lot of fun for a change."

His words gave you a pang of bad conscience. Andreas had been nearby when Catrine and you others asked Drake to come with you to the party – why had neither of you thought to ask Andreas too? Perhaps he wasn't a lone wolf, just lonely and left out.

You decided to be more like Drake and be kinder to fellow students from now on.

After a while, you noticed two strangers following you. Something about them made you uneasy, and you involuntarily increased your step.

The strangers did likewise.

Drake had seen them too, and cast many nervous glances across his shoulder. He had become tense and alert.

Suddenly he stopped, turning to face them. "What do you want?" he asked in a low, threatening voice very different from his usual one. He looked dangerous. Like a tiger ready to pounce.

"Oo an English tourist," sneered the bigger of the two. He wore a frayed leather vest and his bare arms were covered in tattoos. A biker.

"We just want to talk," said his companion. You suddenly noticed he had a knife in his hand.

Cold to the marrow with fear, you tugged at Drake's sleeve. "Let's go!"

"Don't worry," he said calmly. "These gentlemen were just going to leave." For some strange reason his stance had become less taut, as if he found a couple of professional criminals no big deal at all. As if he had expected someone worse.

"No we aren't, you little shit." The big one drew a knife too. It looked nasty.

"I'm calling the police," said Catrine in a trembling voice. She was fumbling with the buttons of her Nokia.

"Don't." Drake didn't take his eyes off the thugs. "You go ahead. I will catch up with you."

When you hesitated, heart pounding, he swiftly turned around. "I said go." There was a steely edge to his tone.

"But–"

"Get the hell out of here," he growled, looking so stern and intimidating you didn't dare disobey.

Together with Catrine and Andreas you scrambled away a few meters, but then stopped again. You couldn't just cowardly flee when your friend was in danger!

One of the bikers charged and Drake caught his knife with his bare hand. Blood trickled between his fingers.

You yelped, hands flying to your mouth.

Drake said something in a foreign language and his other hand moved too fast for you to see what he did.

The bikers cried out and dropped their knives with a clatter of steel against asphalt. Their voices changed pitch, becoming shrill as they turned around, stumbling over each other in their hurry to run away.

You dashed to Drake's side, shaking with excess adrenaline. "How are you?"

"Fine. They were just bullies."

"Your hand..." Your voice trailed off, breath hitching. His hand was uninjured. No blood, nothing... but you had seen it!

"What about it?" He calmly flexed his fingers. There was not a mark on them.

"I can't believe you scared them away," said Catrine, joining you. "How did you do it?"

"Oh, I just... what's that technique called, uh..."

"Martial art? Karate?" Andreas suggested.

"That's it, yes. That's how I scared them."

You shook your head, trying to clear it. You had a few drinks at the party, perhaps you had seen wrong... the injury and the blood must be your imagination.

Warm relief filled you then, making your legs go weak. Drake was alright! You were all safe!

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said, voice again soft and kind. "I was afraid they would go for you too if you stayed."

You looked at him mutely, at the same time immensely grateful and awed over how heroic and selfless he was. Your throat constricted with emotions and you couldn't stop yourself from giving him an impulsive hug. "Thank you," you mumbled against his cloak. "That was so brave."

At first he stiffened, then he hugged you back. "It was nothing. I've trained for this, you haven't."

You shyly drew back, wiping your eyes from tears that had appeared out of nowhere.

He patted your shoulder soothingly. "It's alright." The motion made his cloak sleeve slide up, exposing the cuff of the black shirt he wore underneath.

That was when you saw it: there was a drop of fresh blood on his silver cufflink.

A/N:

Oops hehe. He should have been more thorough with his scourgify, but I suppose he was a bit in a hurry...

Many thanks (or 'tack så mycket!') for the votes and comments of the previous chapter. I'll definitely continue this. :)