Chapter 7

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I can't believe him, Ella thought as starred at the blond haired boy, whose arms were currently wrapped around her naked waist. He had unspokenly convinced her to spend the rest of the morning with him as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. And though she really didn't need that much convincing in the first place, she still felt somehow she had been tricked. Although she had to admit she loved being able to wake up this way – to be more specific, waking up with this certain boy. The raven haired girl sighed heavily as she run her fingers through his hair. His hair was so soft – so different – that she felt herself smile as she once again ran her fingers through his silky mane. At the feel of her touch against him, his blue eyes slowly opened to greet her with a smirk.

"You were awake this whole time weren't you?" He carelessly shrugged in response and planted a soft kiss on her bare skin. The gesture made a shiver run through her, but she composed herself before he could notice. "Why didn't you wake me?" She asked while removing herself from the closeness of his body. It was strange how little resistance she had to this boy – even the smallest physical contact had her completely swooning over him.

"Didn't feel like it." He didn't even have to think twice about what he was going to say. It was after all the truth. Reid liked having her in his arms as he woke up from a session of hot sex – though he wasn't about to go tell her that so bluntly. But somehow he knew she got the message of his true words because next thing he knew he was being hit in the face with a pillow.

"Reid!"Ella squeaked, as she once again swung the pillow to hit the boy. "I have no go." Her heart suddenly felt heavy as she realized that their 'games' were now back on and though it should make her feel happy, it doesn't. Not the 'game' part at least – no – she certainly didn't want the 'game' part to have to continue.

"No." Ella frowned at his answer. "Don't go." He simply said with an imprint of innocence behind his words.

"I'm late."

"For what?!" He scoffed at the possibility of her having something more important to do than being here with him. "There is nothing to-"

"Reality," she stated cutting him off before standing up from his bed. "I'm late for reality." Ella didn't think she could even look him in the eye, so she settled for looking for something to wear.

The last words were said as a mumble, but he heard it nonetheless and more so regretted hearing it. He too was now due to reality – the reality that consisted of her belonging to Aaron and him being nothing more than a bystander. He hated having to be a bystander, to be nothing more than another boy while the person he hated the most claimed the right to be her lover. Blue eyes roamed over her naked form as she searched the room for something to put over herself. A smirk arose to his thin lips as he continued looking at her look through his room. She knew where everything was like if the things were her own, it seemed fitting somehow.

Reid continued scanning her body but his eyes frozen on her shoulder blade for an instant and it all suddenly came back to him. He had nearly forgotten - with the awry of emotions that had transpired the previous night – about the countless bruises her body was decorated in. There was no way so many could be deemed accidental, which only left one alternative.

Standing up from the unmade bed, he tentatively walked behind her until he was only inches away from engulfing her in an embrace. He slowly raised a hand – as if afraid she would flee like a frightened deer – and ran it over the darken purple mark along her shoulder.

"Did he do this to you?"

The article of clothing dropped immediately from her hand and she gapped her mouth at the question asked, but refused to turn around to face him. "Hmm…" Her voice trailed off in hopes of gaining a few seconds to think of an answer. Not the truth of course, but just an answer that could satisfy him.

"Answer me." His teeth clenched together in frustration. Though he didn't know towards what exactly he was feeling frustrated about: her indifference, the fact that Aaron was laying a hand on her, or his uselessness over the matter. He decided it was a combination of the three.

Ella, feeling his hand continue to linger over her bruised skin, grabbed the nearest shirt from his closet and slipped it over her head. It was bad enough he had to see it, she didn't want him touching her markings. Having him touch the bruises only served as a means to remind her of how they came to be and the last thing she wanted to do right now was think of Aaron. This was the only limited time she would probably have with the blond Son of Ipswich and she didn't want it to be tainted.

"Don't ruin this," Ella whispered almost a command but he knew it was more like a pleading request. She turned around, smiling, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "See you later?" The look her eyes transmitted to his begged for him to drop the subject and he unwillingly decided to let it go for now.

"Yeah." He let out a hefty sigh and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Definitely see you later."

She nodded her happily at the thought of seeing him again and returned a soft kiss before opening the door. Stepping through those doors seemed a lot harder than it should have been but she did it anyway. But she hadn't even walked two feet away when a hand grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Confused, she looked into his eyes hoping for an explanation, but what she got was nothing more than a smirk. Her silent question was answered when his lips pressed against hers, in a more intense – lip bruising – type of kiss. And as hot and utterly perfect as the moment was, Ella knew was being more than careless at the moment. Reminding herself that she was now in plain sight – in the middle of the hallway - with Reid, she was quick to end his kiss.

"Later," he said as he stepped back and watched her walk away without bothering to give him a second glance. Though he mentally thanked her for not turning back. Because if she had turned back, he didn't think he was going to be able to let her get away… at least not without taking her to his bed one more time.

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"You're in a good mood," Pogue noted as he watched his younger – usually moody - friend eat his breakfast. Reid raised an eyebrow at the statement and the biker chucked in response. "You're not killing the toast as usual." Sure enough the toast on the blonds' plate was in one piece, unlike other mornings where it laid in chucks as he would repeatedly stab his fork into it.

"He probably got a good lay is all," Tyler pitched in, also noticing the change in his usual behavior. "You better not have done it in my bed," he said narrowing his eyes as he watched the smirk appear on his roommates lips.

"Well as a matter of fact I-" Before his taunting of the youngster could begin he was cut off as Caleb approached their table and stood right beside him. It didn't take a genius to realize that there was something on the older boys' mind. Something that is probably my fault… again. "What can I do for you?" It took all his restrain not to add the 'golden boy' dub in his question.

"Reid." Caleb sighed with impatience. "We have to talk," his eyes darted to an empty table at the far corner of the room and the blond got the message.

"Are you breaking up with me Caleb?" Reid chuckled at this own remark as he stood up from the table and followed Caleb to the more deserted area of the cafeteria. Once they were away from prying ears, Reid waved his hand at the boy as a signal for him to begin talking. "Speak."

"I didn't think even you could be that stupid and irresponsible."

Somehow Reid wasn't surprised with this statement, though that probably having to do with the fact that he had heard it said so many times before. This time however, Reid had to admit he was rather intrigued with what Caleb was going off about.

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Ella entered her dorm room, towel wrapped around her hair while her robe hung loosely around her body. The smile on her face never fading or faltering. Everything is right… or as right as it could be given the situation. Either way she was content. More so she was just plain happy. Walking to her dresser the smile grew into a full out grin. It feels good to be happy; she thought as she brushed her fingers threw her wet hair.

Reaching over for the brush, her eyes fell on something she knew wasn't there before. A simple piece of folded paper with her name written across it. Eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Who could have… Her eyes widened as reality struck through her and she realized what exactly was that 'thing' she had forgotten about earlier. Aaron Abbot: her boyfriend.

How could I be so stupid?!

Forgetting about Aaron being in her dorm room was as stupid as stupid could possibly get. Aaron always had to come before Reid – it was just part of her unwritten rules. But last night… last night was the first time she had ever done otherwise. She willingly put everything on the line just so that one night Reid could come before Aaron. But it was just picking Reid over Aaron for that one night – it was much more than that. She had for the first time since this arrangement and affair began – whether selfish or not – chosen for herself over anyone else. Of course now came the consequences of her choice, which was in the form of a note sitting on her dresser.

The feeling of happiness that was previously running through her was replaced with a feeling of angst. What could the note possibly say? Sure the easy thing would be to read it and get it over with, but some things are easier said than done. What if he questioned her whereabouts? What if he was calling off the arrangement because he had somehow found out? What if… The 'what if' possibilities seemed endless and the weight of the world seemed on her shoulders as she reached for the note. The simple piece of paper was burning in her hand and she had half a mind to just toss it away. But that would fix nothing of course and would only leave her will for curiosity of wanting to know what it had said. So the only choice in the matter was to open and read it. With shaky hands, she reached to take the note but paused midway. The nerves were getting the better of her, she knew that but she also knew ignoring the note would get her nowhere.

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"Well if that was all you had to say," Reid made a move to leave but felt a hand on his shoulder turn him back around.

"Reid…" Caleb trailed off as his face furrowed in an emotion that Reid couldn't quite place, but seemed more of annoyance than anything else. Annoyance with me no doubt. "I don't know what to say to make you understand that-"

"Just spit it out!" Patience was never one of the boys' better virtues and Reid just shook his head with indifference as he waited but got no response. "Just forget it," he said and merely turned around to leave once again.

"I know," Was the immediate answer and the two words made the blond freeze on the spot. "I saw you and that girl." Reid turned around instantly at the words. "I know about you Aaron's girlfriend."

At the moment he didn't know what was causing him to feel his blood boiling: the fact that Caleb was butting into his life again or the fact that he referred to Ella as 'Aaron's girlfriend'. Either way he felt himself get angrier by the second at the mere thought. He didn't bother asking of how Caleb found him out as he turned and started walking away. In his mind there was no point in asking since he already knew what Caleb was suggesting be done of the situation.

"It won't end good." Caleb said as he watched, but made no move to stop Reid from leaving. "Just stay away from her. It's for your own good." The warning fell on deaf ears because the blond didn't bother to say anything as he walked out the doors from the cafeteria. The moment Reid set foot outside the room, the toast on his abandoned plate exploded into pieces.

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Author Notes:

No this isn't a dream… I have actually updated this fic. I can't say how sorry I am for not writing in months but my interest in it slipped. Anyway I swear this fic is going to be finished and actually done within the next couple of months, the estimation for this story is around 15-18 chapters – though I'll try to make it shorter than that since I really have lost interest in this fic. And I know this chapter was extremely short BUT I updated at least so I should get a cookie for that right?

Well right now I am actually wondering if anyone even still cares about this fic… if not it may be another discontinued one on my list… In case you want to know my review quota for each chapter is 10-15 reviews. Unless my quota is reached I'll just assume public interest in this has been dropped.

For all those people who leave a review you will get a sneak peek into the next chapter. Yup – all reviewers get a sneak peek into the next chapter. So please review!