A/N: Wow... sorry 'bout the short chapter last chapter. You all seemed a little out of sorts about it. :) Thanks for the reviews though. Again, I appreciate them all. Well, I was in a bit of a hurry when I posted earlier today, so I thought I would come back with something a little longer for all of you. Unfortunately, I only have one more chapter left and I am having a bit of a struggle with the way everything is flowing, so give me a couple, few days to get it figured out. :) Keep reviewing!

Disclaimer: I only own original characters.

Caleb looked up as both Tyler and Reid walked up to him with alarmed looks on their faces. He looked at Sarah who gave him a look of understanding and a small smile.

"I'll be right back... I promise," he said before kissing her softly on the cheek. She nodded as the three boys walked off to a somewhat secluded corner of the building. "What's going on?"

"Braedon's here with Ave. We thought maybe you and Pogue would want to talk to him," Tyler said in hushed tones.

"Is Pogue even here yet? You know how long it takes Kate to get ready for anything," Caleb said as he lifted his brown eyes to the steadily crowding room.

"I haven't seen him yet," Reid said as he turned and saw Avery laughing with Nicki, Erin and Braedon. "Do you really need him to talk to this guy?"

"No, but I think we should all be there, don't you?"

"I guess." Tyler looked over and saw Pogue and Kate walk into the hall.

"Why are you by yourself?" Kate asked Sarah as she spotted her by the door. Sarah exhaled softly and looked over to the small huddle in the corner.

"Tyler and Reid dragged Caleb away for a conversation." Pogue looked over and then at Kate.

"I'll be right back," he said as he kissed her cheek.

"Hurry back baby." He smiled gently at her before walking off.

Reid and Caleb looked up as Pogue joined their small group. Caleb sighed deeply as he looked at his friend's smiling face.

"What's going on?" Pogue asked as his smile slowly faded.

"Braedon's here," Tyler said. "He's with Ave." They all looked over and Braedon lifted his head to the four boys. He smirked as their eyes all met. They turned to eachother.

"Have you talked to him, Caleb?"

"No, we were waiting 'til you got here," Caleb said.

"Well, I'm here, let's go." The four boys slowly made their way through the crowd of kids and to the table. The girl's and Braedon's eyes all found their way to the small group of boys.

"Hey, Caleb, Pogue," Avery said with a smile. "This is Braedon. Braedon, Caleb Danvers and Pogue Parry." Braedon got up and smiled at the two boys.

"Nice to meet you," he said as a smirk played on his lips.

"You too," Caleb said softly. "Um, can we talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Um, outside..." Braedon looked at Avery and smiled.

"I'll be right back." Avery nodded.

"Alright...," she said softly. He looked back to the four boys and they made their way out of the building.

Avery looked at Erin and smiled softly as she took in the young girl's appearance. She felt a small pang of jealousy pass through her heart as the girl smiled at her.

"So, where did you meet Reid?" she asked as she pulled her wrap off and laid it on the back of the chair she was sitting on.

"Um, we met last year in the library," Erin's soft southern lilt made Avery smile.

"What part of the South are you from?"

"Georgia."

"My father's from Atlanta." Erin smiled.

"I'm from around Savannah." Avery smiled and put her head in her hand.

"How long have you been seeing Reid?"

"I'm not actually." Nicki raised her eyebrow as she looked to the red-haired southern girl.

"You're not?" Nicki asked.

"No. He asked me to be his date to the dance. I was supposed to be going with Billy Thomas, but he came down with the flu."

"So, you two are just friends?"

"Yeah, basically. So, what's the deal with you two anyway?" Her eyes drifted to Avery's.

"What do you mean?" Avery asked as she sat back against her chair.

"Exactly what I said. What is the deal with you and Reid? It's obvious that he loves you and from your body language, I would say the feeling is mutual..."

"Things happened..." Avery shrugged. "We're on different pages now..."

"Not really... Same page, just writing a different story. Can I give you some advice?" Avery smiled and nodded slowly.

"Give him another chance. He's a good guy underneath everything." Erin laughed.

"You are the first girl I have ever heard, besides me, that has had nothing but nice things to say about him, you know that?" The three of them laughed.

"Well, he's always been sweet to me. I've heard stories about his reputation, but I have never seen that."

"You're one of the lucky ones then," Nicki said with a small smile. Avery narrowed her eyes at Nicki who shrugged. "What? It's true."

"Nic, don't be that way about him. He never hit on you..."

"Does it matter? We're just discussing how bad his reputation is..."

"How did the conversation go from getting to know Erin to us discussing how bad Reid's rep is? Please explain that to me."

"Just natural progression of conversation, I guess." Nicki smiled as Erin laughed and Avery flipped the bird at Nicki.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Braedon asked as he leaned against the wall. Caleb eyed him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who do you think I am?" Braedon smirked.

"No need to play games here. We're all in the same boat."

"No, see, that's where you're wrong. You four are in the same boat. What do you want from me?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm not here for you if that's what you're worried about."

"Then why are you here?" Pogue asked.

"I'm here for Avery." Reid visibly bristled as the words left Braedon's lips.

"Avery?" Tyler asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Avery. I think she would be the perfect woman to eventually have my children. Keep my bloodline alive."

"So, all you want with her is to breed?" Reid asked.

"You make it sound so clinical... scientific even." Braedon stood up from the wall and looked at Reid. "She's beautiful, comes from a good family... she's ideal to spend the rest of my life with... don't you feel the same way about her, Reid?" Braedon raised his eyebrows as he eyed Reid.

"No, that's not why I love her." Braedon looked down at his watch and took a deep breath.

"Well, if that's all... I need to get back to my date."

"No, that's not all," Caleb began, "How the hell do you know about us?"

"You would be amazed at what you can find in the library or on the internet these days. It's hard to keep secrets in the age of the information super highway, even ones like the one you have... you should know that." Braedon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Caleb. "Why would you think you were the only ones with the Power? How arrogant is that?"

"We're not here to discuss us... we're here to discuss you." Braedon walked over and stood toe to toe with Caleb.

"I'm done talking to you. I'm not here for you, that's all you need to worry about..." He began walking away, but stopped and looked over his shoulder. "But if I was, you could bet that I wouldn't go down as easily as Chase did." He winked and walked away.

"What're we going to do?" Pogue asked as Caleb visibly paled.

"I dunno," Caleb said as he looked up at Pogue. "What can we do? We take him at his word that he's not here for us..."

"What about Ave?" Reid asked.

"What about her? It's not really our place to say or do anything as far as she's concerned." Tyler put his hand on Reid's shoulder.

"Look Reid... if you want her back, you have to get her back. This has nothing to do with us," he said gently as Reid looked over at him. Reid sighed softly.

"I guess you're right." Reid looked up at Caleb. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah," Caleb said. "Just keep your eyes open, guys and be on your guard..."

"Why? You said yourself that we should take him at his word," Tyler said.

"Because you never know what could happen." The three boys nodded and Caleb and Pogue went back into the building. Tyler began to walk to the building, but stopped when he realized Reid was not going along as well.

"Something wrong, man?" he asked as Reid leaned against the wall. He lifted his blue eyes to Tyler as he walked over and stood next to him.

"I need to tell you something, but it can't go passed this spot." Tyler exhaled softly.

"What is it?" Reid took a deep breath.

"The using... it's been me." Tyler's eyes widened as the words fell from Reid's lips.

"What? Why... Why did you lie to me? I thought I was your best friend, man."

"I know. I was going to tell you before now, but I... I didn't want you to be worried that I was getting out of control with it." Tyler looked down at the ground as he leaned back against the wall.

"What the hell have you been doing?"

"Visiting Ave in her dreams. Gave her flowers..." Tyler looked over with disbelief filling his bright blue eyes.

"You did all that to get her back?"

"Yeah. She wouldn't have much to do with me beyond Chem class... it was the only way I could think of to be with her... like before."

"Reid... if Caleb knew he would go through the roof."

"Yeah, I know, that's why you can't say anything."

"So, the flowers in her locker?"

"Me. Just a reminder of the dream she had the night before." Reid sighed as she slowly stood up from the wall and played with a string unraveling from his glove. "I want to be the kind of man that she needs... that she deserves and after the ball I just couldn't think of another way to get close to her again." Tyler layed his hand on Reid's shoulder with a gentle sigh.

"Alright... it stays between us." Reid smiled a little as Tyler stood up from the wall.

"I think we should get back in there before the girls get worried."

"I doubt Ave would be too terribly worried if I don't come back in a timely manner." Tyler looked up at the sky and smirked.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, Reid." They smiled and walked back into the hall.

A/N: Well... so the truth finally comes out. I thought it was a bit romantic myself, but that's just me. :)