Across any Divide

Chapter 2

"Casey!" Dallas's voice echoed up the stairs. "Babe - are you coming or not?"

Casey jerked out of the reverie she'd been in, buried underneath the piles of homework she'd been studying. Her head swiveled to the clock. 8:48. Shit - had she already been studying for six hours? She heaved a sigh - her high ambitions would be the death of her. No one had said that joining a surgical program would be easy, but no one had prepared her for the five hours of homework and studying every night either.

"Case?" Dallas's head poked through the door to find her sitting cross legged on their bed, books and papers strewn around them. "Babe, we have to go. The party starts in less than an hour and you aren't even ready."

"I'm sorry," Casey glanced up to meet her boyfriends dark brown eyes. "I don't think I can go. I have my hemostasis exam tomorrow and I -"

"And you need to study," Dallas rolled his eyes, giving her an affectionate but exasperated glance. "You do realize you need actual human interaction, right? You can't hole yourself up in here when you're not at school."

"If I don't study then I won't make it out of this program," Casey argued stubbornly, "And this is all I've wanted -"

"This is the only thing you've ever wanted besides attending Hogwarts. I know - you've said it every day for the last four years," Dallas chuckled as he pushed open the door and strode towards their bed. He braced himself on the edge, leaning in to give her a peck on the lips. "That doesn't mean that you can just abandon your social life."

Casey laughed, pushing aside her notebooks and leaning forward to embrace her boyfriend. "You're the social one in this dynamic anyways - go say hi to everyone for me. I'll make it to the next one."

"The infamous last words," Dallas groaned, embracing her and placing chaste kisses on the top of her head. "You know I hate going to these things without you. It just isn't the same."

"I know," Casey whined mournfully as she pulled away. "But I have to -"

"Study, I know," Dallas kissed the top of her nose, giving her a knowing look. "I'll tell the girls you said hey, and that you miss them."

"Please," Casey said with a regretful smile. "They'll manage without me. They always do."

"They do it with a whole lot of complaints that frankly all of us guys are tired of hearing," Dallas said pointedly.

"Fall break is coming up in a few weeks - I'll make sure I see them then," Casey promised with another kiss on Dallas's lips. "Besides, don't you want a hot, successful surgeon for a wife?"

"I'll settle for you being my wife," Dallas murmured against her lips. "Your career doesn't matter to me - although I won't say no to you buying me a Viper one day."

Casey snorted, cupping his face and kissing him back deeply, "Of course that would be your motivation."

Dallas pulled away, winking at her as he did so. "I'll be back around midnight."

"Okay," Casey blew him a kiss as he retreated to the door. "I love you."

"I love you too. Happy studying."
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"Draco!"

The Slytherin boy barely stifled his groan as Theo's shout echoed down the hallway. He slowed his brisk pace down to a begrudging walk, glancing over his shoulder as Theo jogged up to him. "What is it?"

"Did you check your mirror yet?"

"Nope. I broke the damn thing."

"You broke it?!" Theo skittered to a halt, pulling Draco to a stop with him. His incredulous look spoke volumes about how astronomically stupid that could be. "You're fucking joking right? Are you trying to get thrown into Azkaban?"