Title: Cleaning the Karma

Author: Juana

He had been unable to get her out of his mind since their chance meeting at Romy's door, he knew who she was now though – Ruthie Camden, Romy's friend and roommate.

It couldn't have been a more impossible situation, unless of course you also counted in the fact that she apparently had some boyfriend that she was super committed to.

He didn't care though – committed relationship or not Tad was going to get to know Ruthie and to convince her to go out with him.

And he wasn't above using whatever or whoever it took to make that happen, which was why he had followed Romy to the library and now purposefully sat down across from her at the table where she sat reading.

Romy didn't notice him at first her mind centered on studying and the other thing that had been clouding it lately – Derek's letter.

It was so completely unlike Derek to make such an effort that she had actually begun contemplating meeting up with him like he had asked her to in the letter.

Bored with waiting for her to notice him Tad cleared his throat to try and get Romy's attention and she immediately looked up her face scrunching in disgust at the sight of him.

"What ever it is you want…I'm not interested." Romy said annoyed.

'Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Tad said trying to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

"You suck Tad and you are not my friend. I know what you were telling other guys about me after Derek and I broke up." Romy said calling him out now for his past behavior.

"I only did what Derek asked me to do." Tad informed her hoping it would get him off the hook and Derek on it – kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore, so if you're here on Derek's behalf you can tell him to just forget it…I don't want anything to do with him." Romy said trying to dismiss Tad as quickly as possible since she knew Mac, Martin and Ruthie were on their way to meet her.

"I'm not here for Derek – I was hoping maybe we could mend our differences and maybe be friends." Tad suggested.

Romy couldn't help it as she busted out laughing at such a ridiculous thought.

"I'm sorry…you were serious?" Romy said wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes realizing for the first time that he might not be joking.

"I'm not sure if I get why that's so funny." Tad said annoyed with her now.

Clearly he didn't and clearly he was up to something. Tad had been Derek's lackey for as long as Romy could remember and now here he was bad mouthing him – something was definitely backwards.

"What's your angle Tad? What is it you really want from me?" Romy said done with the little game he was playing.

Tad contemplated telling her the truth that he wanted her to put in a good word with Ruthie about him, but he quickly realized the ridiculousness of that thought.

Romy would never forgive him or forget what he'd done and actually he didn't blame her.

"I just feel bad for what I did –saying all those things about you." Tad started but Romy quickly cut him off.

"Then say you're sorry and move on because were done here." Romy told him with finality.

With the realization that Romy wasn't going to be any help Tad pushed away from the table and was about to get up when Ruthie walked in and started over towards Romy.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered and he silently applauded himself for the perfect timing.

"Hey Romy sorry I'm a little late…" Ruthie began her thought cut off by the realization that someone was sitting at the table with her.

"Hi." Tad said smiling at her.

"Hi." Ruthie said a little surprised to see the same guy she had run into at the apartment sitting at the table with Romy.

'Aren't you going to introduce us?" Tad prompted Romy.

"Yea…no." Romy informed Tad spitefully.

Tad had to be the most transparent person Romy had ever met. It was so obvious that he was attracted to Ruthie and every protective instinct that Romy had kicked in.

Ruthie was a little unsure what was going on but she sensed the immediate tension between Romy and the guy with the mesmerizing eyes.

Completely annoyed now with Romy, Tad got up from the table and extended his hand out to Ruthie to shake. "Tad Kelley." He said in introduction.

"Ruthie Camden" Ruthie said returning the handshake before sitting down next to Romy.

Tad took his seat again not taking his eyes off Ruthie.

"So what do you do for fun Ruthie?" Tad asked trying to keep a conversation going with her.

"She goes out with her hunky baseball player boyfriend, who is 6ft tall and gorgeous." Romy said giving Tad an evil glare."

'Thanks for the update Roms…but I was talking to Ruthie." Tad said in reprimand.

"My name is not Roms…and she is not interested in you so buy a vowel and get a clue Tads." Romy shot back annoyed beyond words now.

Ruthie felt like she should intervene and stop Romy and Tad from biting each others heads off, but thankfully she didn't have to as Mac and Martin picked that very moment to show up.

Romy was relieved to see Martin and Mac so that Tad would go the hell away – she didn't know what he wanted but she knew it couldn't have been good for anyone else but him.

It was time for him to get a dose of reality, seeing Martin and Ruthie together would show even thick headed Tad that they were the perfect couple.

But it was Romy who got the dose of reality instead as Mac greeted Tad with the enthusiasm of seeing a long lost friend.

"Hey buddy! How's it going?" Mac said giving him a pat on the back.

Suddenly Tad saw his luck begin to turn, if Romy wasn't going to help him there were ways around her and he had just found one.

"Mac…it's going good…just hanging out with a friend." Tad said motioning towards Romy in explanation.

"You know Romy?" Mac asked a little curious now.

"Yea…we're old friends." Tad offered giving Romy a smile that said it all – he held the upper hand now.

"So how do you two know each other? Romy said between gritted teeth.

"We have a couple of classes together." Mac told her. "English and weight lifting."

Karma really did have a way of coming back around to bite you in the ass thought Romy.

Martin hadn't said anything after sitting down to take the seat next to Ruthie because he was trying to remember where he might have seen this guy before, he looked so familiar.

Leaning over Ruthie gave Martin a kiss on the cheek.

"You okay?" She asked wondering why he had yet to say anything.

"Yea…the guy Mac is talking to just looks so familiar." Martin whispered not wanting the guy to know he was talking about him.

Tad was having the same sort of dejà vu feeling about Ruthie's boyfriend, he had met the guy somewhere before…but where?

Interrupting both Martin and Tad's contemplative moment Mac spoke up. "You should join us for the movie Tad."

"Tad?" Martin found himself repeating out loud which immediately garnered Tad's attention.

Like a bolt of lightening it hit them both at the same time where they had met each other and while Martin became immediately leery of Tad, Tad realized that these two, meaning Mac and Ruthie's boyfriend, were just making things easier.

"That's right and you are?" Tad said waiting for Martin to fill in the blank because he knew now who he was but he couldn't remember his name.

Martin felt sick to his stomach, he didn't really believe in Karma but if he had he suspected it would be something very similar to this feeling he had now.

"That's my buddy Martin." Mac said believing he was being helpful.

"Martin…right, I thought I knew you…we were in physics class together once." Tad said.

'We're we?" Martin said trying to pretend now that he had no idea who Tad was.

Tad actually remembered Martin more from the party, the same party where he had seen Martin and Romy leave together and knowing Romy she had given him the ride of his life – how awkward for him it must have been to be keeping such a big secret from his girlfriend.

And looking at Martin squirming uncomfortably in his seat Tad knew his instincts were correct.

Ruthie was clueless to the fact that Martin and Romy had been bed buddies.

Damn this day was just getting sweeter.

"So are you up for the movie?" Mac repeated to Tad as Romy resisted the urge to kick him under the table.

"Count me in. What are we seeing?" Tad questioned as both Romy and Martin cringed at the thought of him joining them.

Romy was so mad at Mac by the time they got home from the movie that she refused to let him stay over or to go with him to his place and Mac was more than a little confused.

"I don't understand – What did I do?" Mac questioned.

"You ruined the night, that's what you did!" Romy said slamming the bedroom door in his face.

Mac turned flabbergasted towards Ruthie and Martin as they sat on the couch.

"Help?" He pleaded.

"I don't think she actually likes that Tad guy too much." Martin offered.

"Then why didn't she say so? I mean Tad's a cool guy and all but so not worth what she subjected me to during the ride home. She's mean when she's mad." Mac informed them.

"I don't understand what did Tad do?" Ruthie asked not sure why Romy didn't like him he seemed pretty cool to her.

Martin wished he could tell Ruthie what he knew and that he could warn her to stay away from Tad but he knew the better route would just be to talk to Mac later and keep him from bringing Tad around.

"Nothing as far as I could see." Mac said agreeing with Ruthie just as the bedroom door opened and Romy entered into the living room.

"Are you still here?!" Romy said shooting Mac an evil glare.

'We were just leaving." Mac said silently signaling for Martin to join him.

Annoyed with Mac, Martin got up and gave Ruthie a quick kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Martin promised her before joining his exiled buddy in leaving the apartment.

Ruthie turned to Romy as soon as the door closed.

"Care to tell me why you're mad?" Ruthie inquired of her friend.

"Not really." Romy said grabbing a bottle of water and heading back into her bedroom leaving Ruthie to wonder just what exactly was going on with her.

Tad had been gifted with good looks and charm, two qualities which successfully hid the less than honorable intentions he might have on occasion.

This was just such an occasion.

He kept Marissa on stand-by, making sure she never felt used, because of the invaluable resource she had become to him.

It wasn't like sleeping with her was his favorite thing to do – she was borderline homely, but she worried more about pleasing him then herself so when the occasion called for it he made the sacrifice.

Marissa worked in the admissions office and had changed more than one grade for him to help keep his grade point average up, comparatively what he needed from her now would get her in a lot less trouble if she ever got caught.

"Did you get me what I asked you for babe?" Derek asked as he rolled over and laid his head back on the pillow, having fulfilled his part of the deal – he gave her sex, she did him favors.

Marissa sat up in bed pulling the sheet over her as she reached for her purse and extracted the papers to hand to him.

Tad opened the papers and smiled – bingo! Marissa had come through, in his possession he now had Ruthie's class schedule and with Marissa's help he could be transferred into one of her classes in a heartbeat.

As he perused the schedule looking for his in Marissa snuggled up next to him and he resisted the urge to shrug her off – for better or worse he still needed her.

"So tell me again why you needed this girl's schedule." Marissa asked a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"It's for Derek." He lied. "She turned him down for a date so he asked me to get her back."

"And how exactly are you supposed to get her back?" Marissa asked her curiosity peaked.

Marissa knew that Tad would do pretty much anything for Derek, so his explanation didn't really surprise her but the thought that he might be going after this girl in a romantic way, just so he could dump her did.

Marissa had been dumped enough times to know she didn't like how it felt.

Tad knew he could tell Marissa at least part of the truth, so he did.

"I'll get her interested in me and then when she is I'll tell her I'm not interested, that way Derek gets the last laugh." Tad admitted knowing the only truth to that was his intention to get Ruthie interested in him.

Marissa however bought it hook, line and sinker. "Okay…so long as you don't really date her I guess I can live with the flirting." She said clearly deluded if she thought she had any power or say over what Tad did.

"So this drama class looks interesting get me in there." Tad said pointing it out on the paper.

"And what will you give me if I do?" Marissa said trying to look seductive but failing miserably.

Tad choked a little at the sight of Marissa trying to seduce him. "Anything you want babe.' he said drawing her into his arms and closing his eyes trying to imagine she was someone else.

Martin was early picking up Ruthie for a reason, he needed to talk to Romy things were no longer unable to be connected and he was afraid now.

Ruthie however had been the one to open the door and greet him; Romy apparently didn't have a class until later that day and was still asleep.

"I was just getting ready to take a shower did you want to come in and wait for me in the bedroom?" Ruthie hinted suggestively.

The thought of Ruthie taking a shower when he was just a few feet away began that slow ache in Martin and for a moment he started thinking crazy thoughts.

Thoughts like if he slept with Ruthie she'd be less likely to leave if...no…when she found out the truth, because Martin was one-hundred percent sure now that there were too many people who potentially knew.

Taking Martin's non-answer as a sign of acceptance Ruthie took his hand in hers and led him into the bedroom shutting the door behind him.

Martin willing followed her to the bed their mouths already melded together as he laid her down beneath him but as he looked into her eyes he knew he couldn't do it.

He loved Ruthie and she deserved much better than a relationship heavy with deceit and lies.

If he slept with her now he would only be making things worse not better.

Martin just wanted things back to normal and he knew of only one way to do that.

He knew that Romy would hate him but he had to do it.

Getting up off the bed Martin took Ruthie's hand and pulled her up with him until she was standing in directly in front of him.

" I need to tell you something…something I've been keeping from you." Martin admitted.

Ruthie looked at Martin concerned, conversations that started out with such an ominous tone never ended good.

"Go ahead…I'm listening." Ruthie said sitting back down on the bed.

Martin sat back down too and took Ruthie's hand in his. He knew this conversation wasn't going to be easy but he was ready for it now.