A/N: Hey there! Big thanks go to beautifultragedyxxx, xHalosandwings, hardyrhodescenafan1 and Bubblyjayy for reviewing the last chapter, I love you all!

Here comes the next one. Once again it's a little short, but it's also pretty drama filled so it makes up for it. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Chapter 11

Tegan

"Nic, no, stop it!" I squealed happily as I ran around the hotel pool as best as I possibly could, trying to escape his grip as he tickled my ribs.

"That's what you get for pushing me into the pool," He smirked as he grabbed a hold of my hips and practically lifted me off my feet as he pulled me towards him. I laughed loudly, from both the feel of his hands and from the reminder of his face after he'd surfaced from the water. I wished I had had my camera to take a picture.

"I'm sorry, I really am," I giggled as he placed me down, my back resting against the side of the pool, "I'll make it up to you, please just... no more tickling," I pouted, causing him to grin. I sighed to myself, my own smile momentarily faulting at how amazing he looked dripping wet in front of me. If I hadn't been so stupid, then maybe he could have really been mine...

"Yeah? And how do you plan on doing that?" He tilted his head to the side as he reached out and planted his hands on either side of me, trapping me. His face lowered so that he was barely inches away from me, and his gorgeous eyes sparkled with a fire that made me bite my lip. I knew it was suicide, I knew I shouldn't have kept putting myself through kisses that weren't even necessary... but I couldn't help myself. Not when he looked at me like that.

"Like this," I whispered, before I closed the gap and kissed him.

It started off slow to begin with, nothing more than a few pecks, but it didn't take either of us long to get carried away. Nic pushed himself against me completely, and a groan left my lips at the feel of his body as it moulded against my own. I lifted one hand to wrap in his hair, my other trailing down to his hip bones that were only just visible above his swimming trunks. I ran my fingers across them gently, smiling against his mouth as he shuddered from my touch... but he wasn't the only one that felt that way. It was like a million electric shocks were running through my body when he locked one hand behind my neck to hold me close, his other exploring any part of my body that he could while we were in public.

But as his hand began to get lower and lower, trailing down my stomach, I was beginning to forget that we were in public.

"Jeez guys, get a room."

I felt my cheeks growing red by the second as Nic reluctantly pulled away from me, his arm snaking around my waist as we turned around to face Zack, John and Nattie who had decided to join us in the pool. Zack was grinning like a fool, so I guessed it had been him who had spoken, but the other two were just staring at us with confused expressions. I buried my head against Nic's bare chest, hating that I had let myself go in front of people like that – especially Nattie. She was already far too close at guessing the truth, and by the look on her face, I was wondering if she'd managed to work it out fully.

"You wanna go spend some time with Nattie for a while?" Nic mumbled, and I looked up to see that he was now watching me. It was crazy that I didn't want to leave his side, we'd barely been apart since the day before when we'd returned to work, but I knew he was right. I needed to go and speak to her, as I'm sure he did John and Zack.

Besides, if I didn't leave his side soon, I was pretty sure that we'd be doing a lot more than kissing in front of the others.

"Sure," I nodded, smiling quickly as I stood on my tiptoes to give him a peck before the pair of us swam off to our friends.

I reached my best friend within seconds, and I cringed as I stopped beside her, watching as she raised an eyebrow at me as if she was waiting for an explanation.

"Please don't look at me like that," I whined, eyeing Nic and the boys from the corner of my eye to make sure they weren't listening to our conversation. I let out a breath of relief as I realised they were nearly on the opposite side of the pool now.

"How can I not, Tegan?" She whispered harshly, throwing her hands in the air for extra effect, "You were practically having sex with Nic over there! Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Of course I do," I shot back, my anger quickly growing, "And so what if we were? Do you really expect me to leave the physical stuff out? Because I sure as hell doubt this bet would last another day if I did."

"This isn't about the bet anymore, Tee," She shook her head with a sigh, "You're my best friend, and I'm just trying to look out for you. This has nothing to do with the belt, or winning... it's to do with you, and the fact that if you don't get out soon then you're going to get hurt."

"No, that's not true..." I hated that my voice sounded nowhere near as confident as I wanted it to, but when I knew that I was only trying to kid myself, I couldn't help it. "I won't get hurt... I won't let him in enough to do that."

"Really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow again as she turned to look at Nic quickly, before her eyes found mine again, "I think it's a little too late for that."

Nattie simply shrugged my way before she left my side. I didn't know whether it was to leave, or to swim, or to do anything for that matter, because my eyes wouldn't leave Nic as he played around with John and Zack.

I couldn't get her words out of my mind as I watched him chatting with a huge smirk on his face. He was so beautiful, so perfect... and she was right. Even if I ended it now, I was still going to get hurt, but it would be better than waiting. It would be better than falling in love with him and then losing him because of a stupid bet and a shot at the title.

Nic

"Well played, man, well played," Zack held his hand out with a smirk as I swam over to him and John, and I grinned in return, punching my fist against his.

"What can I say?" I shrugged, leaning my elbows against the side as I smirked at the pair of them, John in particular. The pissed off look on his face had pretty much made my day... well, after the hot make out session with Tegan, of course.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything Nemeth, but you're doing way better than I ever thought you would," Zack lounged a few feet away from me, nodding his head, "I'd take my hat off to you if I was wearing one."

I chuckled at his words, shaking my head back and forth. Zack always came out with dumb stuff, but I had to give it to him there. I had thought the exact same when John had first picked Tegan. Never in a million years had I expected to do this well.

"I told you I could get any girl," I smirked again, turning back to look at Jomo, "And it's only a matter of time before the deal will be sealed... so I hope you have that five hundred bucks ready."

John looked at me for a few seconds like he was going to rip my throat out, and I was dying to rub it in his face even more... that was until he looked behind us, his eyes grew wide, and then a smirk wiped away all his anger.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, his god damn triumphant grin growing even wider as he pointed to where Tegan was.

I span around quickly, praying that she wasn't right behind me, but my eyes quickly narrowed in confusion at what I saw. Nothing. Both Tegan and Nattie were nowhere to be seen.

"What the..." I breathed, my stomach beginning to clench as my mind ran over hundreds of possibilities as to why they'd gone.

"Maybe what the two of you have isn't as perfect as you thought."

I turned around, my eyes boring into John's angrily as he grinned at me. I wanted to punch him. I wanted to knock his damn lights out... but what would that accomplish?

"Shut the fuck up, Jomo," I spat back, my eyes finding my other friend as I asked him without words what I was supposed to do.

"Go after her, man... maybe she just wanted to go back," He shrugged, although his expression told me that he didn't believe his own words in the slightest.

With a small sigh, I sent a quick nod his way, knowing that he was right. I shot John another glare before I turned away from them and swam over to the steps.

Within five minutes I was back in my hotel room, and within ten I had gotten changed in to more appropriate clothing and made my way towards Tegan's room. Once I knocked on the door, I stood outside pacing, having no idea what I was going to find.

Truthfully, I was terrified. What if she knew? What if she'd overheard? Just the thought of hurting her like that, of not getting to spend time with her again...

"Nic, what are you doing here?"

My eyes shot up to the door, and they grew wide when I noticed Tegan was now stood there, her arms folded across her chest. She had pulled her hair back in to a messy ponytail and she was dressed in sweat pants and a matching hoodie... but even now she took my breath away. I couldn't lose her, not yet, anyway.

"I wanted to know what happened," I spoke up finally, walking towards her and taking her hands in mine, "You just disappeared and I didn't know what was wrong..."

"Nothing's wrong," She shook her head quickly, her eyes guarded. I gulped, my insides twisting. She knew, she had to, "I just didn't want to stay there any longer – but you should go. Go spend some time with your friends."

"No," I shook my head, desperately trying to get her to admit that she'd overheard what John, Zack and I had been talking about, "I want to stay here with you."

Her eyes found mine then, and they suddenly filled with sadness. I stared back, more confused than I'd ever felt. If she did know, then why was she looking at me like that? Surely she wouldn't be anything more than pissed with me if she had found out the truth?

Was it something else that was bothering her?

"No, Nic... please, just go," She shook her head, pulling her hands away from me as she walked backwards into her room.

"Tegan, wait!" I pleaded, but by the time I had took one step forward, she had already slammed the door within inches of my face.

I stood there, not being able to get over the shock as I stared at the door that was nearly touching my nose. I could feel the anger filling me at what she had just done, I wanted to slam my hands on the door and scream her name until she opened it back up... but there was one thing that stopped me from doing so, the same thing that finally made me turn around and grudgingly make my way back to my own room.

And that thing was the fact that it was me that was in the wrong. Perhaps this wasn't even about the bet, maybe it was something else that had happened... but part of me knew that she was better off now. If she truly didn't want this anymore, then at least she wouldn't get hurt when the bet was over with.

But like the selfish person that I was, I knew I wasn't going to give up that easily. I had to find out what it was that was bothering her, because if it was something fixable, I was going to take that chance. I hated that it had happened to me, but she was far too important to me now to just throw away.