Hazel

"I can feel it in my bones." Leo grunts. "I just had the urge to go to him as soon as I laid eyes on him." He punches the air. "And then I saw him with her." He makes another disgusted face then looks at me and apologizes.

"Is that why you zapped their hands?" I wanted to laugh when I saw Amelia yank her hand back, for a second I thought I caused it but then I saw the look of horror on Leo's face. I wanted to throttle him for hurting Amelia in any way but I excused his actions, seeing as he's going through a tough time.

"I wanted to kill her." He shrugs, talking to himself.

I am on my feet in the blink of an eye. "Careful." I growl.

He puts his hands up and apologizes. "I won't hurt her again I promise. But we need to do something about them."

I take a breath to let my anger pass. I will never let anything happen to her. "Are you sure that's what you want?" I meant to ask if he is sure he wanted Jake. I am all for splitting them up so I can finally have my soul mate but Leo does not seem to want the same.

"I don't know." He admits. "But the thought of him with anyone else makes me sick to my stomach." He shakes his arms the way he does when he's getting ready to fight. He stays quiet staring at the floor, looking conflicted. Then his head snaps up. "Double date." He announces.

It's my turn to look conflicted. "You mean sit across from them as they make out and hold hands while we pretend to be a couple. How is that going to help us break them up?" I feel my blood boiling at the image of them together.

Leo growls at the image too. "We go out and throughout the night we each take our soul mates aside so we can plant of seed of doubt in their heads."

"What do you mean?" I sit at his nearby desk. There are a ton of books stacked all over it.

"We see if there is even a chance that Jake could ever want me." He sounds insecure and opposed at the same time. I at least know Amelia is somewhat attracted to me. I can't imagine how I would feel if I found out she could never be into me because of her sexual preference. "I will take him aside and...I don't know."

I nod. "Okay, let's plan this out right."

We spend the next couple of hours going over strategies. I also mostly watch him struggle to contain his emotions. He wants his soul mate, every molecule in his body wants to be with him and every nerve will be on edge until he is by his side. I feel the same way about Amelia but I never once denied my feelings for her from the beginning. Leo is going to struggle to accept this if he doesn't get his dislikes for humans out of the way. And he needs to get over the fact that Jake is a guy as well.

This was going to be tricky.

******

~Amelia~

"Amelia can you please see me after class?" Hazel smiles in my direction after she dismisses us. Crystal shoots me a look but stays behind to talk to her anyways.

Hazel is polite and answers her questions but I can tell she's just trying to get her out the door. That makes me feel good. I want to groan at how petty I am.

"Miss.Holt." I nod in her direction once Crystal leaves.

She waves to the last student and closes the door behind her. She then walks up to me and stands uncomfortably close.

She takes one of my hands in hers. "You know you can call me by my name."

I feel the electricity between us where our hands touch. My heartbeat quickens and so does my breathing. She hasn't touched me since we were alone in the library and my body is responding immediately. It is like I've been walking around numb but just one touch from her and I am on fire. I feel a blush settle high on my cheeks. She leans her face closer to mine.

"You have really beautiful eyes, Amelia."

The way she says my name leaves me dizzy. It is like a caress. I am under her spell.

"So I was thinking." She pushes a curl away from my face. I feel myself leaning into her and I can't help it. My body is screaming to get closer. "How does a double date sound?"

And just like that I snap out of my trance. It feels like she has just dropped a bucket of cold water down my back. I snatch my hand back and try to step out of her little bubble. "Thanks, but no thanks." The thought of her being near Leo makes my stomach turn. Why do I have this undeniable eagerness to be near her all the time? Why do I care so much that she has a boyfriend? I have a boyfriend.

She smiles ruefully and wraps her arm around my waist. "Don't be like that."

I smell her honeyed strawberry scent. Her arms around my waist make my breast tingle. I press my thighs together and curl my toes.

Her lips get closer to mine. "Please say yes." Her soft brown eyes stare into my soul.

I nod like an idiot. At this moment I will jump off a cliff if she asked me to.

She removes her hands from my hips and pulls away. "Great! I'll text you the details."

It's not until I am almost home that I realize I never gave her my number.

******

~Hazel~

'See you in a bit ;)' I text Amelia.

I'm standing in the middle of my room trying to calm my nerves. I wave my left hand in the air and the brush on top of my drawer floats towards me. It starts brushing my hair and once I am pleased it goes back where it came from. I step into my royal blue sneakers. I can't believe Leo decided bowling was the best double date option. I have never been bowling in my life. I prefer outdoor activities like hiking. He thought hiking would be too romantic and I couldn't help but agree. Too clearly I can picture Amelia and Jake holding hands as they point out the beautiful sights. Ugh. Once Amelia and I finally get together I will take her on my favorite trails.

I feel his presence before I see him.

"Well don't you look yummy?" I eye his red t-shirt and black jeans. He also decided to wear sneakers. His hair is messy but it works for him, he looks rugged. "Jake won't be able to resist you." I smile brightly.

"Yeah?" I do a double take. I've never seen him so vulnerable. If I am confident, Leo is egotistical. He is good looking enough that he has probably slept with half the girls in his coven. This soul mate thing is really doing a number on him. "Let's get going. My body has been so wound up tight. No amount of fighting has gotten me to loosen up. The worst part is I can't take care of my urges with anyone else."

I chuckle. He would be an idiot and even try sleeping with anyone else after he just met his soul mate. Again I wonder how some people have managed to keep their relationships platonic. "Oh yeah, you're going to want to be by Jake's side every minute of every day now. Wait till you see him tonight. It's going to feel like everything is right in the world, even if only for a minute." I picture Amelia's bright eyes. I can't wait to see her tonight.

He looks concerned. "How do you do it?"

"I pretend I am a TA so I at least have one day of the week where I get to see her. Then I have this neat trick," I pull my coffee mug in between us and look down. There's only water in it, I solely use it now just to keep tabs on her. And there she is. I smile brightly at how beautiful she looks. A black headband pushes her hair back with a small pink bow on it. Her full lips are covered by some shiny lip-gloss. The mood is ruined when I see the full picture and she is next to Jake in his car. He leans in to kiss her cheek. Leo splashes the water, making the image go away.

"Ready to go?" He asks, irritated.

******

~Amelia~

"I just think it's weird that you want to double date with your TA." Jake says before we get out of the car.

If he only knew, Hazel has become a big part of my life without me realizing it. I am constantly thinking about her. She is just so drop dead gorgeous and smart and sweet. During lectures I have given up on trying to focus and just go to see her. She has distanced herself from Crystal and any other person in class and I hate to say it but it gives me the peace of mind. And anytime she touches me I am weak at the knees. There is something in her touch that has screwed with my head. I think about her at random times throughout the day. But I can't say any of this to Jake. He has obviously noticed a difference in me and the way I act around him.

I can't keep dating him and thinking about her. The fact that she has a boyfriend is also another reason I can't think about her in that way. Maybe we can just be friends. She seems like she would be cool to hang out with. I should probably invite her over for a sleepover, I am sure Jules wouldn't mind. I just know I can't ignore that I want her to be part of my life anymore.

I look over at Jake. He's wearing a gray and white striped shirt with black jeans. He looks good. He plays for our football team so his body is mostly muscle. I love the rich color of his skin and his deep voice. All of this would drive me crazy in the past, but now I just keep picturing Hazel at my house with her PJs ready for a sleepover. Every girl on campus is about to judge me hard for this move.

"Jake, we need to talk, after this dumb double date." I pretend to wipe some dirt off my jeans. I can't even look him in the eyes.

I am met with silence. Then, "They're here." He points across the street. Hazel and her boyfriend are in front of the bowling alley.

I jump out of the car and wait for Jake. He takes my hand but I can see he is not happy.

"Hey guys!" Hazel pulls me into her arms for a second and I am in heaven. There is just a delicious feeling I get any time we make contact. The warmth spreads throughout my body. All too soon she pulls away and shakes Jake's hand.

Jake then turns and shakes Leo's hand.

"You guys ready to lose?" Leo says after he shakes my hand. I can tell he doesn't really think much about me. Maybe he secretly knows I like his girlfriend. I have to play nice with him. If he is part of Hazel's life and I want to be her friend I have to make an effort.

Jake's mood changes and they start to banter back and forth. Jake is super competitive. This will be fun for him. Me on the other hand, I hate bowling. I am not much of a team player and I don't get competitive. Jake always tries to get me to watch football games with him but I just can't get into them.

We head inside and wait in line to get shoes. Jake and Leo talk about our school's football team. Leo seems to know a lot about their records and plans to go to a lot of games this season. That is all it takes to win Jake over. He is all about football. His dad played in high school and college and he is following in his footsteps. He wants to go pro so he basically eats, breathes, and sleeps football.

"So how was your day today?" Hazel turns to me. The guys keep talking, ignoring us.

"Good. Not too much going on." I feel nervous. I don't want to say the wrong thing or make a fool out of myself.

"You look pretty tonight." She leans in, whispering in my ear. It feels like a caress.

I blush and move ahead in the line.

We pick out our shoes. Leo takes out his wallet. Jake does the same and they both argue about who pays.

"We invited you guys out so I will pay." Leo states. His deep red shirt fits him nice. He must be a sneaker guy too because he's wearing one of the latest styles. I can tell he also works out a lot. He and Jake will probably become gym buddies at the rate that they're going.

"Fine, we'll pay for the food and drinks." Jake insists.

Once we settle at the last lane, I move to sit at one side and Jake sits on the other. He is definitely not happy with me. I feel like he knows what's coming. I guess 'we need to talk' doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Leo sits next to him and Hazel sits next to me. "Guess its boys against girls." She chuckles.

"Just to warn you, I suck at bowling." I admit. She is going to think I am a loser.

She finishes tying her shoes and shrugs. "I'll be your good luck charm tonight."

I smile and want to say something witty back but I am not used to this. And I can feel Jake watching me. Maybe this is a very bad idea.

"Start the game up, I'll go get the drinks." Jake tells Leo. "Make my name 'King', because after this game, that's what I'll be."

Leo scoffs.

I get up from my seat and follow Jake. Once we reach the concession stand I grab his hand. I have to fix this. What the hell am I doing letting Hazel drag me into this double date? Everything was going right between Jake and me before she literally popped into my life.

He shrugs me off and orders a couple of pitchers and a pizza. "I see why you wanted to double date now." He doesn't look down at me.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly. This is not how I wanted this to happen. "But I promise you nothing has happened. She obviously has a boyfriend and I have you."

"Had," He corrects me. "You had a boyfriend. The only reason I'm not gone yet is because Leo seems like a cool dude. And Hazel obviously has more loyalty than you do."

I suck in a breath and step back. I have only seen Jake upset a handful of times and it has never been towards me. I feel like shit now.

"Hey man, let me help you with those beers." Leo comes out of the blue.

I blink back a couple of tears and clear my throat. It's not like he's lying.

Leo turns to me. "You got the pizza?" I can tell he's pretending not to notice anything wrong with me.

I nod eagerly and follow them back to our spot.

Hazel comes up to me and turns her head to the side. Her eyes show her concern but I just wave her away.

******

~Hazel~

We're in the middle of our second game when I can't take it anymore. I pull Leo aside when we all start refilling out drinks.

"You better get your soul mate in check. He's being a dick." I could tell as soon as they got out of the car that something was wrong between them. All throughout the night he has given Amelia the cold shoulder and I can tell she is miserable. I feel the slight dislike he has towards me but I couldn't care less about that.

"It's your soul mate you should be trying to lecture. I overheard them talking when I went to help him with the pitchers. Seems like you already got to her and he knows it. She's breaking his heart." I can see whose side Leo is on and I don't blame him. I will always be on Amelia's side.

I feel a slight thrill at the knowledge of Amelia finally realizing we're meant to be together. "Fine," I whisper. "I'm going to make some excuse to pull her aside. But please talk to him. If he keeps making her feel bad I will turn him into an frog."

Leo knows I'm serious so he nods.

"I need to use the bathroom." I turn to Amelia. She nods and follows me. I will never understand why human girls always have to go to the bathroom together. I am grateful for it now though.

Once we're both in the bathroom I double-check that no one is in there with us. Once I am sure I turn to Amelia and pull her close to me. I take a deep breath of her sweet rose scent and almost moan. My body has felt like it has been going through withdrawal. Any time we are apart I feel myself getting restless and constantly thinking about her.

Having her in my arms right now is doing wonders. Our breasts are pressed up against each other and I can see the swells of hers. Her breathing is coming out in shallow puffs and I press my pelvis even closer to hers. She sighs a little, almost as if she is just as relieved to be in my arms as I am to have her in mine. She looks up at me shyly.

"Why does this feel right?" She gasps when I cup her cheek.

I want to kiss her so bad. I smile at her question and open my mouth.

Just then Leo barges in with Jake behind him.

"Jesus, Hazel. I said talk to her not seduce her!" Leo hisses at me.

Amelia jumps at the sight of them and tries to put some distance between us. I firmly wrap an arm around her waist and hold her to me. "What's going on?" I can tell by the serious look on his face he's upset about something else.

"Seems like there are some Rebels raiding the place tonight."

I frown at the mention of Rebels. It's been a couple of weeks since we have heard anything about them. The last we heard they were hundreds of miles south of us planning something. What the hell were they doing here? They have to know this is a heavily witch and warlock populated area. "Call your coven. I will make sure they're safe." I instruct.

Jake speaks up for the first time. He looks pissed and he can't take his eyes off Amelia. I want to toss him across the room but Leo would probably fight me for it. "I don't know what is going on but I'm going home."

I can see the fear on Leo's face. Then he clenches his jaw. "It's not safe."

Jake looks at him confused. "Whatever man." He pulls his keys out of his pocket.

The lights above us start to flickers and I feel Amelia hug me closer.

Jake looks spooked out but tries to leave through the bathroom door.

Leo waves his hand and the door shuts and locks it before Jake gets to it.

I feel Amelia jump. I hope that with the lights flickering she didn't see him use his magic.

"We can't waste anymore time!" Leo sounds exasperated. He pulls on Jake's hand and guides him to me. "Take them to your place. I'm summoning the others now. Once we catch them and figure out why they're here I'll let you know." He looks at Jake's face, which looks really confused. "Listen to Hazel. She knows how to keep you safe."

Jake doesn't say anything and Leo bites his lip. I know it is going against his most basic instinct not to stay with his soul mate and take him to safety. If it were up to him he would take Jake to his place and not let him out of his sight. But as a Roderick he had to be here to take the Rebels down.

Leo squeezes Jake's hand.

"Wait." Jake says before Leo makes it to the door. "I don't know what's going on but stay safe." I can see the struggle on Jake's face. He suddenly has an urge to assure that Leo stays safe. Whether he knows that Leo is his soul mate or not, Jake feels protective over him. Maybe Leo won't have such a hard time convincing him that they are meant to be.

Leo leaves and the lights completely shut down.

Amelia squeaks and I take the distraction to grab Jake's hand. I say a quick spell that has us teleporting to my bedroom in less than three seconds.

******

~Amelia~

I gasp and begin to cough.

Hazel's hand rubs my back as I take deep breaths. We went from being in the women's restroom at the bowling alley to someone's bedroom. Hazel's I think. And in that transition I felt my breath shorten and it almost felt like I was suffocating.

"You're okay, you're safe." Hazel lifts me into her arms and sits on her bed. I shut my eyes and continue to focus on my breathing. I count backwards from 100. I have never felt anything like this before. I just try forgetting about that fact that we had magically traveled through space. This can't be real.

"Give her some water." I hear Jake say from the corner of the room.

I peak up at him. He doesn't look well either but Jake won't be one to ask for help. He looks at me with some concern. I think he's still mad.

I shake my head. "I'm fine." My breathing is slowly getting back to normal.

Hazel leans back and cups my cheek with one hand. She searches my eyes, really worried. "You scared me." She lets out a breath.

I pull away from her touch and almost fall to the floor in the process of trying to get off her lap. I can tell she is reluctant to let me go. But I need to get away from her and think.

"I scared you?" I start to sound hysterical. "You-" I point at her and try to gather my thoughts. My mind is like a blender full of nails. "We were at the bowling alley. And," I start to pace the room. "How did we end up here?" I put my hands on my hips and look at her.

She crosses her legs, one on top of the other. Her hands land on her knee. She looks calm and collected, the complete opposite of how I am feeling. "I did not want you to find out this way."