"Stop," I laughed as we pulled up to the mall just outside of Ipswich. "Stop it," I begged, clutching at my side. In the seat to my left, Reid Garwin was nearly red in the face, tears of laughter threatening to streak down his own face.

Since the first chuckle had escaped my lips after the notorious 'shark week' reference, I had hardly stopped laughing the entire ride. Somehow Reid had unlocked the box of all the things I found weirdly humor plus the things I hadn't even considered laughing about before.

My cheeks were flushed and my face hurt from smiling and laughing for so long. Reid was staring at me in a way that made my stomach twist into tense but exciting knots. It was like we were meeting for the first time but instead of a rude brush off, he was giving me all his attention and I wasn't nearly in tears from embarrassment.

My laughing had subsided into tiny spasms as he parked the car expertly and leaned back in his seat. I smiled as I turned my head to the side to look at him. I didn't want to get out. I didn't want this last hour or so to be ruined by shopping. For prom dresses, of all things! I wanted to stay here laughing until my belly ached and knowing he'd be laughing right next to me. It was so…nice.

Slowly but surely we both quieted down and the car grew silent again. Not a suffocating silence like the first few minutes of the drive but a friendly sort of silence where we were both struggling to catch our breath. Staring out the windshield, I noticed a cluster of familiar people and sighed. This wasn't going to last.

"Max," Reid called my attention to him with the nickname he had started to use more frequently as of thirty minutes ago.

"Yes?" I breathed, lips twitching to form a smile just thinking about the last hour.

"I was just wondering," He sighed, blue eyes piercing into mine, "if maybe now…that we've talked for a bit…"

"Yeah?" My voice was tight and shaky in anticipation. The almost-smile slipped from my lips.

I think I knew what was coming but tried to deny it. I didn't want him to ask me out. Not yet. Yes we'd been having fun, and yes I'd finally admitted that I liked him more than a little, but this seemed rushed. I knew that if we waited a while we could be great friends…maybe. I knew now that he really did like for some crazy reason. But I also knew that if he asked me out at this instant I'd say no and everything would be ruined.

"Would you-"

He was cute off as my door – that I had been subconsciously pushing myself against – was yanked open suddenly. I gasped as I fell backwards out of the car. The only thing that kept me from falling skull first onto the asphalt was my seatbelt which constricted and kept me suspended at an awkward angle. I glared up at Lilly who frowned at me, upside down.

"Finally!" she said in exasperation. "I thought we were gonna be waiting her all day for you two."

She placed her arms under my tilting shoulders and with a grunt, hoisted me back up int a sitting position. I was face to face with Reid again. Thankfully he wasn't looking at my painfully red face. Instead he was glaring at Lilly for interrupting him. I took his distraction as time to undo my troublesome safety belt – more like a strap 'o' death – and stumbled from the car.

"Erm, sorry," I mumbled, turning my head down so that my hair curtained most of my face. "I asked Reid to stop so I could talk to Megan."

"Megan?" Taylor frowned as the rest of the group came up to us, looking more awake now. "What'd she want?"

"She wasn't bothering you was she?" Tyler asked looking honestly concerned. I had to smile at him. What did he think she was capable of, really?

"Oh no, no," I waved them off as I heard Reid's door slam behind me. "I just told her that I hadn't mean to cause a rift between you guys and apologized-"

"You apologized to her?" Hannah asked, eyes wide behind her glasses. I frowned, starting to shrink slightly.

"Yes?" I asked more than stated. "Why not?"

"How about because she pretty much called you a slut?" Lilly asked sarcastically shaking her head at me. I frowned. Why did it matter what she called me? She'd been mad.

"Well yeah, but-"

"Plus," Kate cut in, "she said Reid just wanted to get into your pants."

This comment would have only embarrassed me greatly, but at that moment I sensed and heard Reid himself step over to stand slightly behind me. Because of this, Kate's comment embarrassment tremendously. My face heated up in that familiar way and I cast my eyes to the ground.

"Who said that?" I flinched away from Reid's voice. He was mad. That much was obvious. I turned to him now, hands wringing in front of me, hoping to defuse this explosive situation.

"No one!" I lied, terribly unconvincingly. I had always been awful at lying. Reid's steal blue eyes flashed down to me and I shrank some more. He obviously didn't believe that.

"Who said that?" he repeated turning to our friends. I turned away, head bowed again in a complete loss of hope. Darn it.

"Megan," Sarah huffed as if it were obvious. She rolled her eyes towards the cloudy sky and waved in my general direction. "She said the only reason you'd bother with Maxine is so you could sleep with her."

"She didn't say-"

"That's not true!" Reid snapped, interrupting my lame defense. He stepped forward and it felt like a brick wall had just been placed at my side.

"We know that man," Tyler assured, looking confused at his best friends tone. I was confused too to be honest. I tilted my head back as I way to look up at all the people surrounding me and huffed. No one was happy! I was ruining everything!

"Look," I huffed, finally catching their short attention. "It doesn't matter, I forgave her, she forgave me-"

"For what-" Lilly began but I soldiered on, speaking over her.

"And I really didn't feel like getting up for nothing this morning so are we going to go prom dress shopping or are we just going to stand here talking about Megan?!"

By the time my short lived rant had ended I was panting, my cheeks flushed for a totally different reason now. Reid reached out and rested a comforting hand on my shoulder and I was glad for the already present blush as my heart sputtered at the contact.

"Wow," Tyler chuckled, "I think that's the most I've ever heard Maxi say at once."

The others joined in laughing now and I felt my face burn as I dropped my eyes, becoming very interested in everyone's shoes. Reid laughed the loudest, probably because I had spoken to him a lot longer on the way here, and crushed me to the side of his body. I tensed. Glancing up I saw the eyes of every girl in our group on my, smiling knowingly. Everything slowed down for half a second and I could hear my heart thudding in my chest. But I could feel Reid's heart thumping in his. I looked up at him and our eyes locked before he looked away.

"Aw don't worry, Max," he laughed, "we don't care if you don't talk." He ruffled my hair once before moving away and starting to walk towards the mall entrance with Tyler.

"Max, huh?" Lilly waggled her eyebrows at me and my face grew hotter.

"Oh shut up," I mumbled, eyes trained to the ground as we followed after the other Sons of Ipswich.

I laid flat on my bed, twirling one strand of chocolate brown hair around my pale finger. Being back in the dorms was a definite cool down from the day. The mall had been a blur of new sights and sounds for me and I'd been exhausted after just three stores. Eventually Tyler and I seemed to switch places as he commented on Lilly's clothes and I walked behind them with Reid, Caleb, and Pogue. I think Lilly preferred this arrangement and picked out extra revealing dresses just for Tyler's benefit. I had to shake my head at her boldness.

After a huge scene in Macy's with Taylor refusing to be helped by a sales woman the hunt for prom dresses had come to an abrupt end and instead had turned into a hunt for bar clothes. Lilly had pouted openly about this for a while, but a few light nudges and encouraging smiles from Tyler were enough to brighten her mood.

Looking at clothes was one thing. I knew my size and I knew my taste so for me shopping was easy. Lilly however refused to let me buy anything without trying it on first and this argument had lead to a mass of blushing on my part as Lilly had removed my normal clothes from the door while I was trying on a cocktail dress. After that she'd had me at her mercy and I had been forced to come out and model every outfit.

Had it just been Lilly I would have lived. My shyness would have caused me to blush had she been joined by the other girls as well. But my delicate nature simply could not handle showing off party dresses in front of four boys! My heart would race every time I would see a certain look in Reid's eyes. I look that said he liked what I was wearing. The heart racing would be immediately followed by a deep blush and me retreating to my dressing room, ignoring all protests.

Worse than Reid was Tyler. I don't know when but he had somewhere from the time we'd met to now deemed himself my sort of brother figure and felt the need to embarrass me at every turn. Every other dress was 'dead sexy' or 'drool worthy'. Honestly I couldn't bear it. What was worse when he grumbled that he thought I was too exposed, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. This coming from a sophomore for God's sake! These comments, along with Reid's wondering eyes, sent me running for the hills every minute of the day.

When we had finally been released from Lilly Labor Camp, Reid had cut in and paid for all my news things. I'd been in quite a state after that. My fieryness seemed to return with a vengeance and I'd had quiet but firm words with him about how I could take care of myself and didn't need or want him buying me anything. Of course he'd only laughed. A four foot nine inch girl with her hands on her hips isn't really going to intimidate a six foot one inch boy. He simply said he wanted to buy me things and put all my bags into his trunk. There wasn't much I could do about it.

However when I'd gone to slip into the passenger seat, Caleb had come up and pulled Reid to the side. The two talked for a few minutes and I jumped as Reid suddenly cursed, looking irritated. Caleb, a wall of muscle, didn't flinch and just crossed his arms at his younger friend. Finally running a hand over his head –knocking off his beanie- Reid returned to the car and leaned down into the passenger side. We were practically nose to nose.

"Uh, I can't drive you back," he grumbled, eyes downcast. I frowned, disappointment slipping unpredictably into my chest.

"Oh," I said, blinking in confusion. "Alright." I moved to slip out of his car but he pushed me back in. I gave him a confused look.

"I have to go take care of something with Golden Boy and them-" he shot Caleb an annoyed look "-Sarah and Kate are gonna drive back with you in here." He motioned at the car I now sat in.

"How will you get back?" I asked, concerned for him. He smiled, almost like he knew I was worried.

"We're all traveling in Tyler's car so we'll all get back," he comforted, knowing smiled still on his face. I nodded, pulling my legs slowly into the car while giving him an 'are you sure?' look.

"Alright," I said raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded, tossing his beanie onto my lap.

"Alright," he repeated, "see ya later Max." He leaned in then and I sucked in a breath, stiffening. He froze.

He was close. Very close. So close that I could see strands of my hair brushing against his face. His eyes were still open, studying me. At the stricken look on my face he sighed, his breath swirling over my lips, and straightened up. He smacked the hood of the car roughly and I jumped again. Looking up at him from the seat I could see him clenching and unclenching his jaw. He looked down at me and nodded.

"Later," he said before shoving his hands in his pockets and stalking away. Almost immediately, Caleb, Sarah, Pogue, and Kate swarmed up to the car. I noticed the two girls give their respective boyfriends sweet goodbye-kisses. I frowned. Had Reid been about to give me a goodbye-kiss'? What had I done?

And so now I laid, on my stomach, in my dorm, kicking myself. Not literally but on the inside I was ripping myself a new one. How had I been so stupid? There I was with one of the most gorgeous guys in the world poised to kiss me and I go as stiff as a broom. It was no wonder he smacked the roof of the car. I was infuriating!

Truthfully, had Reid kissed me, even on the cheek, it would've been my first kiss. I blushed just thinking about it and flipped over onto my back. To have my first kiss be from Reid Garwin would be spectacular! Or it would have been spectacular. I groaned loudly and covered my face with a pillow. I didn't worry about Lilly hearing me.

She was currently held up in the bathroom prepping herself for Nicky's. I had promised I would go, so I was already obediently dressed and ready to go. I wore a pretty yet modest baby doll dress that Lilly had forced me to try on. The top was as simple as a black ribbed tank top and ended at a built in wide, shiny belt that wrapped around my waist. The bottom ballooned out slightly and was covered in little golden flecks. It was actually really pretty but I rarely wore dresses. My simple ballerina flats adorned my feet.

The bathroom door burst open with a wave of steam and hairspray. I looked up, half expecting Darth Vader to appear in the mist, but instead, out traipsed Lilly. Her hair was curled sweetly and she looked beautiful in a simple thigh length purple dress. My eyes were practically green with jealousy as I glanced at her impossibly long legs. Oh how I wished I was tall!

"Ready?" she asked, excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet which were strapped into silver gladiator sandals.

"Only for the last hour," I teased, standing up and smoothing out my dress. She rolled her eyes at me before hurrying to the door. I giggled as she slipped on a discarded sock and nearly toppled over.

"Let's go!!" she sang as if she had not just stumbled. I followed close behind her as we left to meet the others in the parking lot. This night should be promising.

We pushed our ways into Nicky's and I immediately spotted are large group over by the pool tables. Tyler was leaning over Reid's shoulder interestedly as he spoke with a larger, older man. Caleb looked ready to cut in while Pogue looked ready to hold someone back. Sarah, Kate, and Taylor were huddled at a nearby table, drinks in hand and Kimberly and Hannah were out on the dance floor.

We weaved our way through the crowd, Lilly dragging me along until we reached the tables. Caleb noticed us and smiled his radiant Golden Boy smile before turning back to Reid who now looked to be challenging the man across the pool table. I frowned. We weren't even supposed to be in here. Reid was going to get us all carded and thrown out if he caused a scene.

"Hola, ladies," Lilly shouted as we reached the table. Sarah, Kate and Taylor all happily shouted their greeting before dragging us down to the two empty seats of the table.

"It's about time you got here," Taylor laughed.

"What's going on?" I asked, pushing a thumb over my shoulder at the four standing alpha males behind me. They all rolled their eyes in unison. It was pretty freaky.

"Reid bet that guy he could beat him in pool," Sarah explained as if this were old news.

"And he won," Kate added on with a tilt of her head. "Of course."

"And now that guy's saying Reid cheated," Taylor finished, taking a long swig from her bottle. "If you ask me he's just a soar loser."

"No," Kate said, rolling her eyes. "Reid probably did cheat…somehow." I noticed that she shot a Sarah a careful look which she glared at before continuing to sip on her drink.

"Does this happen a lot?" I asked over the blare of the music.

"Just about every night," Sarah complained, rolling her eyes. She glanced over my shoulder and I did the same. I frowned as I noticed Caleb seeming to drag Reid out the back door of the bar.

"Now Caleb will give him that 'I'm super disappointed and you need to be more careful' speech," Sarah sighed, deepening her voice for Caleb effect. It didn't work.

"Let's dance," Kate said, bored with the current conversation. Reaching out she grabbed mine and Lilly's hand, dragging us to our feet. We all made a bee line to the dance floor and met up with Hannah and Kimberly.

Within ten minutes I could feel my hair starting to stick to my face and suddenly someone wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I glanced up and saw Tyler smiling down at me and smiled back in return. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Pogue sneak up behind Kate and soon the two were lip locked in a heavy make-out session.

"Where's Caleb and Reid?" I shouted over the thumping music as Tyler's eyes slid over to Lilly.

"Outside still," he answered, distracted by the way my roommate was snaking her way through the other dancers. I nodded as he slipped away from me and over to Lilly.

Smirking at my friends I started to ease my way off the dance floor. I wanted to at least greet Reid before he left in some angry huff over whatever Caleb had said. Bumping my way through the crowd I finally made it to the back door. Running a hand self-consciously through my hair I took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

The cold night air immediately swirled around me and I shivered, wishing I'd worn a cardigan or something tonight. Glancing down the few steps in front of me, I stepped out into the alley and jumped as the door slammed shut behind me. There was nothing out here. And insane number of alcohol filled crates yes, but nothing else. Definitely no Reid Garwin, or Caleb Danvers. I frowned. Had I missed them? Were they already back inside? Had they already left?

Sighing, I turned around to trudge back up the steps and into the bar. My heart dropped however as I grabbed the handle and the door didn't budge. Locked. I groaned loudly, tossing my head back, this was just unfair! How had Tyler and Pogue managed to get back in then? I really didn't want to walk all the way back around to the front of the bar alone.

With no better option I aimed an annoyed kick at the door before skipping back down the steps. The sooner I got back inside the better. Momentarily confused, I turned towards the mouth of the alley and froze. There were two men standing there, shadows twisted and scary in the darkness. Uselessly my mind grasped to the hope that these figures were Reid and Caleb but my gut knew that wasn't the case.

Glancing around I tried to think of what to do. I didn't want to march over there alone! The men were obviously much bigger than me and from the way they were now staggering down the alley, they were probably drunk too. Big and drunk. When matched against small and feeble, there wasn't really any competition. My breathing quickened as they got closer. Now it was even too late to hide myself. I stood, shaking under the only dim light in the alley. Practically serving myself to them on a silver platter

"Well," slurred one of the shadows. "What do we have here?" I flinched away from his voice as the two of them took to standing on either side of me, still hidden in shadow.

"You're a pretty one," he friend joined in. My skin crawled. The first shadow reached out and ran a greasy hand over my cheek. I froze in fear.

"How'd you like to go home with us?" he questioned suggestively. I shook my head, throat to closed up with terror to answer verbally. I kept shaking my head as they laughed.

"Aw, baby, don't be like that," shadow two drawled, moving closer. I could see now that this man toward over me as he pushed me into the wall. I whimpered as one of his hands grasped the back of my neck, the other stroking my face. "We can have some real fun together."

They laughed. They actually laughed. The sound was so deep and frightening that tears sprang to my eyes as I continued to shake my head. I wouldn't have fun with them. I wasn't having fun with them. I was scared out of my mind and regretting ever stepping foot out of my dorm tonight. A sob escaped my lips as his hand suddenly closed tightly around my throat. This was the end of my innocent life as I knew it!

Suddenly the man was yanked back and I gasped as I could breathe again. I watched as he was thrown backwards and crashed into the dozens of booze filled crates. The crash and shatter of glass made me tremble and I sunk to the ground n shock. The other shadow turned around blearily in confusion and was grabbed roughly by the front of his shirt.

"Don't you fuckin touch her," growled a blissfully familiar voice. My breath hitched as a fingerless gloved hand smashed into the shadows face.

"Reid?" I whispered as he continued to beat the man to a bloody pulp. The sound of facial bones cracking reached me and I winced, hands flying up to my ears. I didn't want to hear it. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled in on myself.

I could still here the offending 'thump' of skin and bone and it felt like I was crouched there for eternity. Suddenly the alley grew quiet but I stayed hunched over, too scared to move. Someone to a step towards me and I flinched away. The person stopped.

"Maxine?" came a concerned voice. Reid. I shuddered as a breath of relief escaped my lungs. "Are you alright?"

My hands shakily moved from my ears and I pushed them to the ground. My eyes creaked open almost painfully. One quick flick of my eyes let me know that both men that had come on to me were now down and out and the only one left standing was Reid. I turned my face up to him slowly, glassy eyes wide in visible terror. My lips trembled as I opened them to address him.

"Reid?" I croaked out before crumbling in on myself.

My hands, now balled into fists, pressed over my eyes as I sobbed. My shoulders heaved with the effort of my labored breathing and I shook in the chilly air. Two warm arms snaked around me and I fell into Reid's chest crying. He shushed me gently, whispering little words of nothing into my hair. I cried into his shoulder, clutching at his jacket. I couldn't let him leave me.

We sat like that for an immeasurable amount of time as I calmed down. My breathing evened out with some gentle coaching from the blonde holding me and my sobs turned to jerky hiccups. The whole time, one of his hands rubbed comforting circles into my back while the other cradled my head against his shoulder. Eventually I sighed, exhausted, and let my arms go limp around his shoulders. I was drained.

"I'll take you home," he murmured against my bare shoulder.

All I could do was nod in reply.