His Fault [James]

[Jessica Pruitte]

There he was. The villain. The wicked sorcerer of Hammel. Seductor of perfectly hot men, and beguiler of... something. It didn't matter what the exact word was that Jess had been trying to remember, James Campbelle was a menace.

It wasn't as if she had been completely unaware of the entanglement between the recruiter and her trainer. She'd known about it within her first week at Hammel. Known, and chosen to ignore it believing in her heart of hearts that the Hotty McHawtHot properly named Chase would realize that she was the one. When that hadn't happened right away, Jessica had obligingly forgiven him and allowed more time.

But then Christmas happened and he'd gone and changed his name over the holiday as some sort of ridiculous gift to this family. Even that hadn't damped her love for the man. Her sixth, no fourth true love! There had been others before him, certainly, but his beauty, his grace, his sheer awesomeness had surpassed them all. He was, by all rights, hers. He just didn't realize it.

Neither, apparently, did James. From where she sat on the grass and behind her book, Jessica glared. Her eyes were narrowed into thin slits as she willed the ice of her soul to devour him. Sure, Chase would be sad for a while, but she could and would comfort him. They would live a happy life together. Just the two of them.

And maybe the really hot guy from One Direction.

[Dr. James Campbell]

Despite the fact that it was a gorgeous April morning, and he was outside, reading a fairly good book, in the sunlight, James was not exactly happy to be there.

However, he'd been banished from his own office after a recent recruit (magnetokinesis) accidentally messed up his computer. They'd sent someone to try to fix it, and the recruiter had hovered around until he'd been sure that everything important and sensitive had been recovered. Then he'd been asked to leave, because he wasn't helping the technopath by standing around being nervous.

It was a nice day though. And it wasn't so bad to be outside; James just preferred actually getting his work done during the day. He kept reading, completely unaware of exactly how much of an evil eye he was getting from across the courtyard.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, smiling at the text from his husband. James shot back a quick response, "No, he won't let me back in yet. I'm trying again in a little while."

[Jessica Pruitte]

Who did he think he was? Checking his phone like he owned it.

Stupid head.

It wasn't the most flattering of thoughts, and neither was the sour expression on Jessica's face. She couldn't take it. Couldn't be near him, even yards from him as she was, she just couldn't handle it. Shoving herself violently from where she sat, and closing the the book with more force than necessary, the sulky teen stormed away.

Jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk I don't even know what the Fine Hunk of Man Meat sees in him. Squinty rat eyes. Lips so thin they're barely there. Eyebrows that need a bushwhacker, and a mop of hair that just.... "UGH!"

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. And eventually, Jess held out hope, Chase of the Hotty McHotHawts would come around. Eventually.

[Chase Campbell]

After receiving confirmation that his husband was still temporarily evicted from his office, Chase flipped his phone closed and grinned to himself. He had nothing to do for another full period, and he was caught up on paperwork. If he couldn’t go and visit James in his office, he’d just have to go outside.

He did swing by his husband’s office for a moment, just long enough to grab one of the clean travel coffee mugs from on top of the filing cabinet and headed to the staff lounge. He knew James mainlined coffee like an addict, and if he was stressed about this computer thing, he wasn’t even going to be mean and bring him decaff.

Once the mug was full, he slipped his sunglasses out of his pocket and headed out to the courtyard. He was sure that was where James would be, because the benches were out there.

He greeted a few students as he walked by them, even grinning and sliding his shades down to look at Jessica. “Hey, Jessica. How’s it going?” Yes, he was still blissfully unaware of her crush, being that her dear uncle had never told him. Thanks, Hart.

He found James easily enough, and came to stand behind him. “Hey Jamie. Good book?” He asked with a little grin as he offered the mug out. “I brought you coffee.”