Author Note: Well unexpectedly I am home today. Plans changed because I forgot it is Fathers Day tomorrow, so I had to come home instead of spending the night at my friends. So here I am, bored and just home from a voice recital. So I am going to write this chapter and keep to my promise of updating ASDSL on Tuesday, when I don't have plans...I think.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 3

"Skip. It's just art." I just stared at him and pondered this in my mind. I had skipped a few times before. Once, on my birthday when Soraya and Matt snuck me out to bring me to a concert that started during school. And once when I had gotten sick and just left, not telling anyone. It wasn't new, but this school was more important. It was a boarding school for Christ's sake. But as I looked at him I realized we were talking. I had been wanting to talk to him for weeks, ever since that day in class. Was I willing to ruin this for art, for a drawing of a few flowers? I looked at the clock. I could plead sickness, or say I had cramps and just went back to my dorm. Finally I pulled my hand away,

"Fine, but I can't stay here. The librarian knows I was only supposed to be here for one period, I told her." I paused, "Do you have a computer?"

He smiled at me, standing up and packing his bag, "Follow me." And I did.

Friday, September 12th- Same Day.

We passed the librarian as at a slow leisurely walk, trying to show no signs of what we were actually doing.When we got out of the door I started to walk left, towards the girls dorms, a knee jerk reaction. A few steps away from the library and I felt a hand grab the back of my shirt, pulling me backwards. I stumbled and then regained my balance, turning around and ignoring the cheeky smile Ty was giving me as I walked past. I got to the halls containing the boys dorms and stopped, not accustomed to being down in this area of the school.Ty, who had been walking right behind me, stepped in front grabbing my hand and looking around the corner. He turned to me and raised a finger to his lips, when I nodded he slipped around the corner, dropping my hand.I followed as he lead me down a long hall, and around a corner. All the while we stuck our heads around corners and made sure the coast was clear. Finally near the end of a short hall Ty stopped at a door, 49B, and opened the door.

"Your roommate isn't here right?"I asked, suddenly realizing how us sneaking into his room looked.

"No, he's a brain. Never misses a class," I just nodded as he said this and I stepped into his room as he held the door open. The room was large for a double, a little bigger than mine and had, if a room can, split personalities. One half, the left half, of the room was spick and span. The bed, pushed into the corner was made neatly, covers folded and everything. A desk situated the opposite corner, right to the left of the door. It held a reading lamp, a stack of books, and a little shelf full of paper and writing utensils. A laundry basket was in-between the bed and the desk, clothes neatly stuffed in it.

Now the left side of the room was clean, but the right side was nothing of the sort. I guessed this was Ty's. The bed was in the corner like his roommates, but it was unmade, a pillow drooping off of the side. The desk was along the wall at the end of his bed, the contents scattered ac. The computer stood out the most, a Dell flatscreen laptop.The rest of the desk contained random objects, an empty bottle of Smirnoff evident. Whether he drank it or not wasn't positive.

"Nice." I smiled at him as I glanced around the room.

He laughed and threw his book bag on the floor near his bed, "I don't like liars, but thanks anyways."

"And who," I asked sitting on his bed with a dramatic bounce, feeling the it, "said I was lying?"

He stared at me for a moment, searching me. "I did."

"Well that just goes to show how much you know me." I decided his bed was the most comfy thing I'd ever had the good fortune to feel and spread myself along it. I lay on my side and propped my head up on my hand, staring up at him, "Doesn't it?"

"So what your saying is that you like a messy, disorganized bedroom?" He sat down in the computer chair at the end of the bed, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Mmm," I crooned, laying on my stomach, pushing my face into his pillow, inhaling his scent. "Exactly." I lifted my face from his pillow and sat up. I was near the head of the bed and so I stood up, walked to the end, and sat down. I could see the computer from here, and Ty was only a matter of inches away. I felt my heart flutter as he leaned towards me, closer and closer, and then took a beeline towards the speakers near my feet. He picked them up and plugged them into the laptop, then he clicked on iTunes and turned on a song I didn't recognize. The low rhythm soothed me.

I felt a crash of disappointment in my stomach and leaned back on my hands letting out a long sigh. I didn't know why I had thought he was leaning in for me, to be near me, to kiss me.

When had I started wanting this...I'd barely even spoken to the guy.

As I sighed Ty looked at me, then turned back to the computer, "Is your room messy then?" he turned the volume down on the computer more, only background music now.

I turned my thoughts to my room. I had made a place for everything when I first moved in, everything neat and orderly. But over the course of a few weeks, it had become the total opposite. Clothes littered the floor in heaps, not to mention the objects randomly strewn among them. My bed was always unmade, I just crawled under the covers however they were and fell asleep, I wasn't picky about where I slept. And then there was my cosmetic corner, brushes in piles around it, hair ties everywhere (one, somehow, is stuck on the end of the antenna for my stereo..), and the little bit of makeup I owned all opened and scattered.

I smiled at him widely and nodded, "Worse than this." At this his eyes went wide, surveying his part of the room,

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't." I leaned towards him, our faces a mere four inches apart, "But I don't lie." His lips were parted slightly and his breath came evenly through those soft mounds. We were so close I could smell him, his hair, his body, his breath. His emerald eyes were focused on my gray ones, our gazes never wavering. He leaned a little closer and I felt light headed as his warm breath hit my face, an aroma of cinnamon mixed with apples intoxicated my mind and made me blink, breaking the spell. He leaned away, confusion written all over his face. So he had felt it too. I blinked more, wetting my now dry eyes. I looked at him and saw he was logging onto the internet, his eyes still set in a V form in concentration and frustration.

"So, um." my voice came out in little more than a whisper, I cleared my throat. "Mine or yours first?"

"Yours, you were almost done weren't you?" I rummaged through my bag, finding my rough draft. All I needed was two more body paragraphs and a conclusion.

"Yeah, not much left." I leaned over to place my hands on the keyboard and my arm brushed his, I felt him stiffen. I looked at him and once again we were close, his face right there. He leaned away and pushed the laptop towards me, and I began to type.

Twenty Minutes Later

"Done." I announced, writing the last sentence of my essay onto my rough draft. Ty, who had been playing basketball with a pair of socks and his roommates laundry basket, looked at me. He glanced at his clock, and then at the door.

"Cal is going to be back soon, class ends in two minutes." I looked at the clock myself and panicked.

"Will he tell?" Ty looked concerned and just looked at the clock again, then at me.

"Probably, we don't get along. We better go." We, not you.

"We?" I looked at him, locking my eyes with his.

"Yeah, I made you do this, I'm not going to let you get into trouble." he sighed, "But the teachers are going to be coming out now, were going to have to take the back way to your dorm."

"Back way?" I packed my bag.

"Yeah, the way we got in that night," he was talking about Mark and Charlie. I walked towards him standing at the door, his head peaking out. He looked at me and nodded, I passed him in the doorframe, brushing against him in the close quarters,

"You didn't make me do this," I shook my head, "I wanted to."

Ty walked towards the right, the opposite of the way we came and led me down three more halls, the last on ending with an Emergency Exit door. He pushed this open and held it out for me to walk through. We were on the right side of the school, facing the woods that surrounded the school. He quietly shut the door and took my hand lightly, pulling me around the corner of the building, glancing around then skimming the wall with me, ducking past the courtyard, and then rounding to the left side of the school. Right when you turned the corner was another Emergency Exit door, and when we neared it Ty dropped my hand. He walked up to it and tugged on it lightly, looking in before waving a hand, gesturing for me to follow him.

We were in the dim part of the girls dorms, where my room was. I pawed my way to the wall and then along it, stopping at my door where Ty already stood. I smiled slightly and opened my door, suddenly embarrassed at the mess, not proud.

I walked in and kicked all the clothes and objects towards the back wall, successfully clearing the floor. I expected to hear the door shut, and when I didn't I turned around. Ty stood just outside the door, looking at me.

"What's wrong, the mess too much?" I smiled playfully, throwing a shirt at him.

"No, I just don't want to..." he searched for a word, "intrude." I stared in shock and then burst out laughing,

"Intrude?" I gasped, holding my stomach. "Get your ass in here," I managed as I fell onto my bed, still laughing animatedly. When I finally stopped gasping for air I propped myself up on my elbows, looking at Ty who now stood looking at the pictures on my walls. I stood up and walked quietly to his side, looking at the pictures with him.

Along the wall over my stereo were 5 pictures. The first one was of my mom, standing at the paddock fence and caressing the head of Pegasus, when he was still alive. She was smiling and laughing, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.

The second was a picture of Heartland from the trail view, rolling hills surrounding it.

The third was of Soraya, Matt, and I. We are all on horses, side by side, riding in from a trail ride. Lou had snapped the photo when we weren't looking. Matt is on the left, looking at me on the right. Were both laughing lightly while Soraya, in the middle, is laughing hysterically, one hand holding her stomach.

The fourth is of Lou, Grandpa, and Scott. They are all at the kitchen table playing cards, Lou smirking as she rubs her pregnant belly and gazing at Scott.

The fifth is of my now five month old niece, Hailey, who my mother had adored.

I smiled at the pictures, loving and cherishing each one. As I stand, lost in memories, Ty talks to me in a low, soft voice.

"Is this your farm?" he asks, pointing at the picture of Heartland.

"Yeah, and that's my mom, Soraya, Matt, my sister, her husband, my Grandpa, and my niece." I point at each picture as I name the people occupying them.

"How old are these?" he asks, staring pointedly at the picture of me Soraya and Matt.

"Well the one of my mom is about three months before she..." I paused, tears welling in my eyes, "died."

Ty turned to me, shock displayed on his perfect features, "I'm so sorry," I nodded, tears starting to leak out from between my eyes. I wiped them away and forced myself to stop, hating it.

"Thank you." I babble to keep my forced calm, "The one with Soraya and Matt is from last year, and the rest are only a few months old."

I turn away from his apologetic face and walk towards his laptop bag, "Can I open this?" my voice cracks and I force down more tears.

"Yeah," his voice is soft, and sympathetic. "Amy...if you ever need to talk, I'm here. I know you probably hear that all the time, but" he paused and I heard him fumble with something, "I know what your going through." I turn to him, fast, and glare at him.

"No one knows what I'm going through." he doesn't flinch, just comes closer. He stands a foot in front of me and nods.

"Yes. I do." I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes again. "Amy, yes I do. My dad died a year ago a week from tomorrow." He hangs his head and won't look at me. I feel horrible, denying that he had any idea of what I was going through. But he did. I brush away now streaming tears and place my hand under his chin, lifting it until his eyes meet mine,

"I'm sorry." I search his face, search it for understanding. I see pain and hurt, sorrow and agony. It is like seeing my soul in front of me, the same feelings flowing through my own body. Tears litter my face as I hold his eyes steady, not willing to break this for anything. His eyes, which had started to tear, cleared and took on a hard look. I shiver as I look at him, my body somehow migrating towards his. My hand, still situated on his chin moved to the back of his neck as his hands cupped my face, pulling me to him. Our lips met and an instant fire crackled to life in my stomach and I pressed myself to him. I found myself moving my lips beneath his, opening as he sought entrance. We stood there for what seemed like hours but in realitywas seconds. We searched each other and then, without warning, he pulled away. Wewere both gasping for breath, our eyes met. He shook his head slowly,

"I can't." his voicewas husky, a clear wanton evident in his breathless statement.

"Why?" we are still pressed against each other, closer than I had realized. My hand that is around his neck rubs him there, coaxing him forward, towards me. He started to relent, his face nearing mine, when he grabbed my hand and pulled it away, his body moving away from mine.

"I'm sorry." he walked towards his stuff, picked it up and went to the door. He looked back once at me and then left, the door slowlyshutting behind him, inch by inch until it closed away the one thing that had excited me since my mother died.

Author Note: Well I totally just butchered my original idea. But whatever, I can't hold off on romance for more than two chapters, it's a curse. I'll just have to work with it. Adds more drama though. Sorry for any mistakes, I don't have time to spell check.