"This?" The look on Steph's face as she looks down to look at her dress tells me how she feels about the brown dress.

"Yes, don't you like it?" I ask her.

"It's okay..It just looks so..."

"Nice. It looks lovely."

"It's just so..."

"If you don't like it we can try something else." I offer.

"It's not that I don't like it, it looks really good on me, I just feel weird as hell in it. Like I should cut the sleeves or tear the extra five inches off the hem."

"You can do that, but not until after the dinner. You only have twenty minutes until you have to be on your way."

She continues to stare at herself and I watch as her lips turn into a smile. She really does looks so pretty. Different, but very pretty.

"I should wear a wig." She flips her crimson hair over her shoulder.

"That's exactly what Hardin said!" I laugh and she rolls her eyes.

"He's such a dick!" She laughs along and heads back into the dressing room.

"How are you and Hardin doing? You're still living together?" She says from inside.

"We're good." I look down at my feet, thankful she can't see me.

I don't feel like getting into the mechanics of my back and forth relationship with Hardin right now.

"I thought maybe you were seeing that Landon guy because you're literally always with him and I saw you riding home with him."

"Landon is my best friend, nothing more."

"How does Hardin feel about that?" She opens the door and hands me the dress, still on the hanger, while she adjusts her messenger bag on her shoulder.

"Well he's starting to like Landon a little more, I mean they are finally sort of behaving like step-brothers which makes everything much easier on their parents." I smile at the thought.

I can tell Hardin is really warming up to Landon and that makes me so happy. My bliss is short lived because I remember Landon is leaving soon and even worse, the look on Steph's face reminds me that she had no idea Landon and Hardin's parents are married to one another.

"What? Wait..Hardin and Landon? Parents? Married? But Hardin's parents are in England? His dad's dead right?"

"Uhm.. not exactly." I don't see why it matters if people know Hardin and Landon are related by the marriage of their parents now.

Why would Hardin tell his friends his father died?

"They aren't step-brothers then? You're confusing me." She laughs.

"Okay, they are but Hardin's dad is here. He's the chancellor."

"Chancellor? Of WSU?" Her eyes are wide.

If I disclosed this information months ago Hardin would have cursed me to Canada and back but so much has changed, he has changed, since then. He doesn't seem as concerned to keep his bad boy who doesn't give a shit about anyone persona up anymore. What difference does it make?

"Yeah." I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

"Holy shit!" She is full on cackling.

"Yeah.." I don't know what to say, I feel like I should text Hardin and tell him.

"That's too funny, I bet his dad is pissed how he turned out!" Steph is laughing but the instinct to defend Hardin is too prominent to ignore.

"Hardin hasn't turned out in a way that his father should be pissed about."

"He is getting expelled and probably thrown into jail and his dad's the damn chancellor! He's pissed, he has to be." She grins.

"He's not going to jail and his father is trying his best to keep him from being expelled." The edge in my voice is clear.

"I'm joking.. well sort of. Hardin has been my friend for over a year now, I'm only giving him shit because that's what he always does to me, so no need to turn into his attack dog." She wraps her arm around my shoulder.

I know she doesn't mean anything by her words but I'm getting really tired of people talking about Hardin in a negative way. He already puts himself down enough and I don't see the humor in assuming his father has a reason to be upset about the way he turned out.

My headache is back in full force thanks to my outspoken friend.

"I'm not." I huff and we finally reach the counter to checkout.

"You so were! You looked like you were about to take my head off. You've come a long way since you walked into that dorm room with your nose stuck in the air. I'm proud of you." She digs in the bottom of her purse and pulls out a handful of wadded up cash to pay for her dress.

"I have." I smile back at her, choosing to ignore her comment about me being stuck up.

"Being around Hardin will do that, toughen a girl up."

"Anyway, how are you and Tristan?" I change the subject.

"Good! Really good, we are talking about moving to Baton Rouge next year."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we could both finish up at LSU and they have an art program I'm looking into."

"And he's just going to go with you?"

"Yeah, I mean if we are still dating by then of course he will."

"Oh."

"Are you okay?" Her hand reaches out and touches my shoulder.

"Yeah." I already told her too much about Hardin's father and Landon, there's no way I'm telling her about Seattle.

I haven't told anyone about Seattle, not even Landon. The only people that know are my co-workers at Vance... and Zed. I told Zed.

"Do you have something against LSU or something because you are being weird."

"No, I was just thinking about an assignment that I need to start." I am terrible at lying on the spot.

"Hmm.." She smirks but is nice enough to let it go.

I listen to her talk about Tristan's new tattoo and how she has an appointment to get a tattoo on her back tomorrow before she goes to a party.

"You should come with me to get the tattoo, you could get one yourself." She teases.

"Uhmm.. no thanks." I laugh.

"Why not! You would look good with a tattoo, maybe a smiley face?"

I vaguely recall making that comment once, but I don't think it was to Steph. I was drunk, so drunk the night I said that. Who was I talking to?

"No, no smiley faces for me."

"You should still come, I miss hanging out with you. Bring Hardin, Tris will be with me."

The way she calls him Tris makes me smile and I nod in agreement.

"I'll ask Hardin."

"No, you tell Hardin. You tell him that you're meeting us there." She smiles and hugs me.

"Okay." I agree and pull away.

"Thank you for saving me, I'll text you and tell you how it goes."

She disappears in the crowd and I call Hardin as I walk around the mall to look for new clothes. I wish I would have brought him along and had him wait in the car until Steph was finished, not that he would have listened.

Hardin doesn't answer so I tuck my phone into my bag and go back into Macy's.

Hardin's POV.

"Where's Tessa?" Landon asks me the moment I step through the door at my father's.

"Mall, it's nice to see you too." I roll my eyes and sit down on the opposite end of the couch.

He ignores me and looks back at his textbook. Big fucking shock there.

"Is my dad here?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs I think."

I nod and stand to my feet, my boots left a mark on the hideous white rug so I attempt to wipe it, with my boot which makes it worse. After debating whether to properly clean it or not, I decide to forget about it because, really who the fuck has a white rug in their living room? People who want a dirty ass rug, that's who.

I check my father's office first and I'm glad to see him sitting behind his desk. Not because I'm glad to see him but because I sure as hell don't want to search this house for him.

"Hardin?" Surprise fills his voice.

"Who else?" I sit in the chair in front of him and he clicks the mouse on his computer a few times before turning his attention to me.

"Do you need something?"

"No, not exactly. I came to get Tessa's shit. She's coming home." I tell him, being sure to emphasize each word.

"That's good to hear, I'll miss having her around here."

"It is good to hear, you're not going to try to stop her are you?"

"Why would you think that?" He leans back against the leather chair.

"Because you seem pretty keen on keeping her here, away from me."

"That's not true, son."

"Yes it is, you always have something to say about our relationship."

"I only say things that need to be said for your own good. I'm not a threat to your relationship with her and that's one of your biggest problems. You see everyone as a threat when it comes to her."

"Because it's true, most of the time."

"Well not in this case, I would never try to come between you. I let her stay here because everyone in this house has grown to love that girl and she doesn't have any family here to lean on when you mess up."

"She doesn't need anyone except me."

Who the fuck is he to give anyone relationship advice?

"You're wrong. She does need other people, she needs friends and family. She has spoken to Karen a little bit about her relationship with her mother and how terrible her father was.."

"Why would she tell Karen that?"

"Because Hardin, she needs a support system. It's not healthy for you to be the only person she is interacting with."

"What the fuck do you know about healthy? You fuc...." I stop myself from lashing out on him.

"I have learned a lot from my mistakes, you should learn from yours as well." He says, ignoring my momentary outburst.

"I'm trying to." I came up here to ask about the expulsion but somehow ended up in the middle of a heart-to-heart with my father.

This is uncomfortable, really fucking uncomfortable.

"Well when you thinking you're trying as hard as you can, try harder."

A ping sounds from his computer and he turns to look at the screen.

"Have you heard anything.. you know about the expulsion?"

"No, not yet. I'm doing my best."

"You're best has never been good enough." The words fall before I can catch them, my eyes dart to the floor to try to pick them up.

"Sorry." I mutter and he nods.

For an asshole, he has alot of patience.

"I'm going to get Tessa's stuff now." I dismiss myself from the room that has seemed to shrink in the last thirty seconds.

When I reach the doorway I turn around to apologize again but the disappointed frown etched into my father's face pulls the words from me and I walk down the hallway as fast as I can.

Where the hell is Tessa? I left an hour after her and she still isn't here.

"It's not healthy for you to be the only person she is interacting with."

That's bullshit anyway, she interacts with Landon all the time and right now she's with Steph shopping and doing girl shit so my father doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

It irritates me that she would talk to Karen about her parents when she barely talks to me about them. Has something happened with her father recently? Her mother said he lived closer now, has he tried to contact her? He better not have, I swear to..

My thoughts are interrupted by Tessa's laugh coming from downstairs. She's here, and like a child on Christmas, I take two steps at a time to get to her. It hasn't been long since I've seen her but with this weird in between shit we are doing every second that we are separated is multiplied.

"Are you okay?" She asks mid-laugh.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." I hadn't planned on her seeing me rush down the stairs like a fucking idiot.

"It was so funny! And they chased the man outside and everything." She giggles and Landon laughs with her.

I wish Landon would go away so I can be the one to make her giggle that way. Not go away for good like he is soon, but just leave the room. He's annoying me.

Christ, my father is right. Here I am getting pissed because she's laughing with Landon, her friend. It's not that I see him as a threat, I just want all of her attention.

Maybe I should work on that.

"Did you get new clothes?" I ask her.

"Yeah, a lot actually. Most of them I can wear when I get to.." Her eyes dart to the wall and she shifts her bag from one shoulder to another.

"When you get where? Work?"

"Yeah." She half smiles and looks over at Landon who is back to staring at his textbook.

"Let's get your shit so we can go home."

"Isn't that what you were supposed to be doing?' She teases.

She's in a really good mood for someone who just spent hours shopping. I won't question it, I want to see her full lips turn into the smile that I can't get enough of and I want to hear her laugh and watch the way she clamps her eyelids shut when she laughs really hard.

"No comeback?" She raises a brow.

"Uhm.. not at the moment." I reply and walk back up the stairs to the room she was staying in.

"What is up with him?" I hear Landon ask her, she gives him a quick, "I don't know," and follows me up the stairs.

"I need to talk to you." She frowns and closes the door behind her.

She was just giggling a few minutes ago, did I do something wrong?

"Okay.. about what?" I grab the suitcase from the closet and begin to shove her clothes inside.

"I don't want you to be upset with me, okay?"

What the fuck..

"Did you see him?" I try to keep my voice low but it comes out strained, stressed to the max.

"Who? .. No! I was with Steph, then I shopped for clothes, alone."

"Then why would I be upset with you?" The zipper catches and I yank at it until she walks over and tugs lightly, fixing it.

"Because I was talking to Steph and I told her some things that I don't know how you feel about me telling her."

"Things like what.." I gaze down at her and she flushes under my intense stare.

"That you and Landon are step-brothers."

"That's it?" Relief floods through me.

I don't give a shit if she knows that, I don't give a shit what they think. Not anymore.

"And that your father's the chancellor." She squeaks.

"Tess..." I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed.

"I know, I'm sorry! I forgot she didn't know and we were talking about it, I didn't know how to lie."

I'm irritated that she told Steph because telling Steph is just like telling Tristan, Logan, Nate, Zed, and Jace all at once. I don't like anyone knowing anything too personal about me and this is way too personal.

"Why were you even talking about me? You know I don't like people in my business."

She walks over to stand between my legs and hooks her arms around my neck. I nearly forget why I'm supposed to be pissed at her.

"I know but she was asking all these questions, I didn't know how to answer them except to just tell her the truth."

"Why was she asking questions?"

"I don't know.. because we were shopping and that's what women do while they shop." She shrugs and I bring my hands to the back of her thighs, just below her ass, and lift her onto my lap.

She yelps and laughs at the same time and we fall back onto the mattress. Her hair covers my face and I bat at it before she finally gathers it into one hand and wraps her hairband around to secure it.

"You aren't mad at me?" She questions softly.

"Yes, I'm a little pissed but I can't expect you to lie about it either I guess."

"I was worried the whole way here that you would blow up when I told you." Tessa admits.

"I'm trying to stop doing that." I tell her while resting my hands on her lower back as she straddles my waist.

"I can tell." I'm rewarded with a beautiful smile.

"I have something else I want to talk about." She adds, her demeanor changing instantly.

"Is it about him?" She knows exactly who I'm referring to.

"No! Gosh, will you stop assuming everything is about him?" She scowls at me.

"Okay.. sorry! Let's talk about it later."

"You keep saying that but it's.." I interrupt her with a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, dissolving her frown.

"Shhh baby, we can talk when we get home."

If it doesn't involve her seeing Zed then it's not urgent and right now I want to kiss her, to enjoy the way she is sitting on top of me.

"What do you suppose we do instead of talk then?" She asks with a mischievous grin.

"I was talking about packing you pervert." I tease her while lifting my hips to press myself against her.

"So was I." She smiles and begins to climb off of me.

Not happening Tess.

I pull her gently by her arm to join me back on the bed but she wiggles out of my grip.

"Tess.." I whine, literally.

"Hardin.." She mocks me, she is in quite the smart ass mood and I fucking love it.

"Get on the bed."

"No." She takes a step back.

"Tessa, get on the bed and take your clothes off."

"That is no way to talk to a lady, Mr. Scott." The humor in her eyes is contagious.

This is what she does to me, she drives me fucking insane one minute and the next she makes me laugh like a god damn school boy,

"I haven't seen one, sadly." I shrug and continue, "So take your jeans off or I'll be forced to do it for you."

I really want her on the bed, now.

"Nope, you can wait until we get home. I'm not having sex with you when your father is right down the hall, you already took a condom from him this week." She whispers.

"Why are you whispering?" I say, equally as quietly.

"Would you just help me finish packing so we can go home."

"Eager?"

"No, but you are." She smiles and looks down at my expanding zipper.

I ignore her protests  and comments as I continue to shove the rest of her shit into the tiny ass suitcases. I don't care how damn annoying she is over her stuff being neat, I'm just glad she's coming home to me.

(Sorry it's so late! I'll be updating again tomorrow (today since it's midnight here) I hope you guys are enjoying the calm before the storm ;) jk. maybe :) I love you all, goodnight<3