I follow Landon to the stadium, I decided earlier to drive on my own so I could leave when I wanted without disrupting Landon and Dakota's night. I park my car in the spot next to Landon and text Zed to tell him that I have arrived. He tells me to meet him at the far left corner of the field.

"Zed is going to meet us in the back." I tell Landon as him and Dakota walk up.

"Sounds good." Landon says, he seems less than thrilled.

"Who's Zed?" Dakota asks.

"He's my.. friend. " He is just my friend.

"Hardin is your boyfriend right?" She asks. I look over at her. She doesn't seem to be implying anything, she just seems confused.

"No babe, neither of them are her boyfriend." Landon laughs.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." I laugh too. The school band begins to play and the field becomes more and more crowded, I am relieved when I spot Zed leaving against the fence.

"Oh." Dakota squeaks. I can't tell if she surprised by his tattoos and piercings or his good looks, maybe both.

"Hey beautiful." Zed beams and hugs me. I smile at him, returning the hug.

"I'm Zed, it's nice to meet you both." He nods towards Landon and Dakota. I know he has met Landon before but he is just trying to be polite.

"Have you been here long?" I ask him.

"Only about ten minutes, there are a lot more people here than I expected." he tells me. Landon leads the way to a less crowded area by the enormous mound of wood and we sit on the ground. Dakota sits between Landon's legs and leans back against his chest. The sun is going down and the breeze is picking up, I should have worn long sleeves. 

"Yea, have you been to one before?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No, this isn't my typical scene" he laughs. "but I am glad to be here tonight." he adds.

I smile at his compliment and someone begins to speak into a microphone talking about lighting the fire. Less than a minute later, the fire ignites and swallows the mound of wood fiercely. It's actually quite beautiful being this close to the flames.

"So how long are you here?' Zed asks Dakota.

"Only the weekend, I wish I could be here for the wedding next weekend." she frowns.

"What wedding?" Zed asks. I look at Landon and he answers.

"My mother's wedding." He tells him.

"Oh.." he seems to be thinking about something.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to remember who else is going to a wedding next weekend. Oh yea, Hardin I think. He was asking us what he should wear to a wedding." he says. My heart stops. "It's probably a different wedding though, right?" He asks. Hardin hasn't told any of his friends that his father is the chancellor or that he is marrying Landon's mother.

"No, they are.." Dakota begins.

"I'm sure it's a different wedding" I interrupt her and Landon says something in her ear. Hardin was actually considering going to the wedding? Why else would  he ask his friends what he should wear to a wedding?

"I can't imagine Hardin at anyone's wedding anyway." Zed laughs.

"Why not?" My tone is a little harsher than I meant it to be.

"I don't know, because he is Hardin. The only way to get him to go to a wedding would be if he knew he could have sex with all the bridesmaids." He says and rolls his eyes.

"I thought you and Hardin are friends?" I say.

"We are I am not saying anything bad about him, that's just how Hardin is. He has sex with a different girl every weekend, sometimes more than one." he informs me. My ears are buzzing and the fire feels too hot on my skin. I stand up before I realize what I am doing.

"Where are you going? What's wrong?" Zed asks.

"Nothing, I just.. I need some air. Some fresh air." I mumble. I know how stupid that sounds but I don't care. "I will be right back, I just need a second." I walk away quickly before any of them can follow me. What is wrong with me? Zed is sweet and he actually likes me, he enjoys my company and I can't stop thinking about Hardin. I take a few deep breathes and walk back over to them.

"Sorry, the fire was just.. to hot." I lie and sit back down. Zed has his phone out and turns the screen away from me as he slides it back into his pocket.

Zed tells me it's fine and we make small talk with Landon and Dakota for the next hour.

'I'm getting sort of tired, I had an early flight." Dakota tells Landon and he nods.

"Yea, I am tired too. We are going to get going." Landon stands up and helps Dakota to her feet.

 "Do you want to go too?" Zed asks me.

"No, I am okay. Unless you want to go?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Cool." he smiles. We say goodbye to Landon and Dakota and watch as the disappear into the crowd.

"So what is the reason behind the bonfire?" I ask Zed, I am unsure if he will know but I am curious.

"I think it's like to celebrate the end of the football season." he tells me. I look around and notice a lot of people are wearing jerseys. He must be right.

"Oh." I say and look over at Zed. "I see it now." I laugh.

"Is that Hardin?" He says and I snap my head in the direction that he is looking. Sure enough, Hardin is walking towards us with a short brunette wearing a skirt.

I scoot closer to Zed. This is exactly why I didn't listen to Hardin on the porch, he has already found some girl to bring here just to spite me.

"Hey Zed." The girl says in a high pitched voice.

"Hey Emma." Zed says and hooks his arm around my shoulder. Hardin glares at him and takes a seat.

I know I am being rude by not introducing myself to this girl, but I can't help but dislike her already.

"How's the bonfire so far?" Hardin asks.

"It's almost over I think." Zed replies. There is tension between the two of them, I can feel it. I don't know why there would be, Hardin made it clear to his friends that he doesn't give a shit about me.

"Do they have food here?" The girls voice is annoying.

"Yea, they have a consession stand." I tell her.

"Hardin, come with me to get some food." She demands and he rolls eyes but stands up.

"Bring me back a pretzel, yea?" Zed smiles and Hardin clenches his jaw. What is up with them?

As soon as Hardin and Emma disappear I turn to Zed. "Can we go? I don't really want to hang out with Hardin, we sort of hate each other in case you forgot." I tell him. I try to laugh but it doesn't happen.

"Yea, sure we can go." He says. We both stand up and he reaches for my hand. We hold hands as we walk, I find myself looking around for Hardin and hoping he won't see.

"Do you want to go to the party/" He asks as we reach the parking lot.

'No, I don't really want to go there either." That is the last place that I want to go.

"Okay, well we can just hang out another.." he begins.

"No, I still want to hang out. I just don't want to be here or that frat house." I say quickly. He looks surprised as his eyes meet mine.

"Okay.. well we can go to my place? If you want, if not we can go somewhere else? I don't really know where else to go." he laughs and I join him.

"Your place is fine. I will follow you there." I tell him.

During the drive I can't help but picture Hardin's face as he returned and we were gone. He brought a girl there with him so he has no right to be upset. Zed's apartment is right off campus and it is small but clean. He offers me a drink when I get inside, but I decline since I plan on driving back to my room tonight.

"You can have the remote, I don't know what you like to watch." he laughs and hands me the remote.

"Do you live alone?" I ask him and he nods. I feel a little nervous as he sits next to me and puts his arm around my waist but I hide my nervousness with a smile. Zed's phone buzzes in his pocket and he stand up to answer it, holding a finger up to tell me he will be back.

"We left." I hear him say from his small kitchen area.

"So.." "Fair." "Too bad." Are a few of the snippets of his conversation that I catch. None of it makes sense to me. Except 'we left' Is that Hardin on the phone? I stand up and walk towards the kitchen as he hangs up on who ever it was.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"No one important." He assures me and leads me back to the couch. "I am really glad we are getting to know each other, you're different from the rest of the girls here." he says sweetly.

"Me too." I tell him. "Do you know Emma?" I can't help but ask.

"Yea, her girlfriend is Nate's cousin." He tells me.

"Girlfriend?"

"Yea, they have been together a while. Emma is pretty cool." He says. So Hardin wasn't there with her, not in that way at least. Maybe he actually came there to try to talk to me again instead of hurting me by bringing another girl.

I look over to Zed and he leans in to kiss me. His lips are cool from his drink and taste like vodka. I know he isn't drunk, its his first drink. His hands are careful and smooth against my arms then my waist. Hardin's heartbroken face from earlier pops into my mind, the way he begged for one more chance and I didn't believe him, the way he watched me drive away, the outburst in class about Catherine and Heathcliff, the way he always shows up when I don't want him to, the way he never tells him mother that he loves her, the way he said he loved me in front of everyone, the hurtful way he took it back, the way he breaks things when he is angry, the way he came to his father's house tonight even though he hates it there, and the way he asked his friends what to wear to the wedding, it all makes perfect sense but no sense at the same time. He loves me. In his own damaged way, he does love me. The realization of this hits me like a truck.

"What?" Zed says and pulls away from the kiss.

"What?" I repeat his words.

"You just said Hardin."

"No I didn't." I defend.

"Yes, yes you did." He stands up and steps away from the couch.

"I have to go.. I am sorry." I say and grab my purse and rush out of the door before he can say anything else.