Woohoo, I'm on a roll with this story... I'm proud of myself.

Even more proud because you guys are enjoying it. I hope the last few chapters are ok, and that I'm relaying the emotions the group is feeling, etc... ok...

Chapter 18 – I Owe It to Him

The next week of school was pure hell for Hailey. She received dirty looks on top of snickers, stares and more rumors. She should have known better when she originally made the bet with Aaron. She knew that everything Aaron was behind would backfire.

Hailey stopped at her locker and slowly put in her combination. She heard the girls next to her snicker and glare at her, "What did Tyler see in her anyway, she's so ugly… he can do so much better than that tramp…"

She held back another string of tears; she knew she looked like hell. She felt like hell. Crying hurt her as much physically as it did emotionally. She probably looked like she got ran over by a Mack truck.

She slid out her books for her first period and flinched feeling someone's hand clamp over her elbow.

She looked up and saw the pale blue eyes of her ex-boyfriend's best friend; she forced a smile and glanced at him. "Hey Reid," She said softly.

"How you holdin' up?" He asked carefully.

"I still want to crawl in to my bed and die…" She shrugged looking around seeing people whisper about the two talking.

"I tried to talk to Tyler yesterday…" Reid stated running a gloved hand through his hair. "He was just too upset to listen to anything I had to say, so I think I'll try again today… you should try and talk to him…"

"I can't…." Hailey shook her head.

"Why not?" Reid asked.

"I'm terrified to talk to him, Reid…" Hailey whispered. "I feel like a complete asshole…"

"You should," Reid stated shrugging his shoulders.

"You're not helping…" She stated as Reid laughed with her, she smiled and he grinned.

"I knew I could get you to smile…" The blonde retorted.

"You're soiling your reputation talking to me here, blondie…"

"What's there to soil?" Reid stated.

Hailey shook her head; she never thought that she would be talking to Reid like this after what he did to her last year. But after the other day she understood him a little bit better, and things seemed to be in perspective. Everything, that was except for Tyler.

"I'll catch you later, ok?"

The first class of the day she would be sitting next to her ex best friend; just what she needed. She took her seat and Aaron was reclining back in his chair. She glared at him, hoping that he would fall, or humiliate himself some how.

"Good Morning, Hailey Gregory…" Aaron grinned at her.

"Go to hell Aaron…" She muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"Awe, don't be such a sour puss…" Aaron continued to probe her. Hailey ignored his comment until he got close to her and whispered to her, "Your tragic little break up nearly broke my heart…"

Hailey jumped out of her seat, she was almost seeing red, she hated him… she never thought she would feel that way about Aaron, but she wanted to see him in pain.

"Don't fucking talk to me, you prick…" She yelled catching the attention of everyone in class including Tyler and Reid.

"Is there a problem, Miss Gregory?" Professor Gardener asked.

"Yes, yes there is a big problem…" Hailey stated walking down the stairs to the teacher. "I can no longer sit next to that jerk…" She tried to say it as quietly as possible as she shot daggers in Aaron's direction and he just sat back smirking, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"You can go ahead and take the empty seat next to your boyfriend then Miss Gregory…" Professor Gardener stated. She had seen the two together and knew that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but she must not have gotten the update.

"But Professor…" Hailey started to say.

"Just take a seat Miss Gregory," the Professor stated loosing her patience with Hailey.

Hailey hung her head and slowly walked up the stairs eying Reid who looked at her in shock. Reid nudged Tyler who was lying on his desk. The brunette looked up and it broke Hailey's heart to seem him like she did.

His hair was all disheveled, his eyes were blood shot and puffy, he had bags under his eyes, and he looked like a complete mess. His eyes narrowed at her and she swallowed loudly. She gave him her best sympathetic smile and leaned down to Reid.

"Gardener thinks we're still together, I asked to move, and so she's sitting me here…" She stated.

"What's wrong?" Reid asked.

"Aaron was bothering me," She retorted trying to be quiet and not disturb Tyler.

Reid nodded and sent a glare up in Aaron's direction. Soon class ended and Hailey ran out of class as fast as she could. She was too close to Tyler in that class, too close for their own good. She tried her best to avoid the Sons of Ipswich and Aaron for the rest of the day, thankful that it was almost Friday.

"You should go talk to him after school…" A voice said from behind her.

Hailey turned around to see Sarah and Caleb standing behind her, "Sarah I can't…"

"You can," Sarah nodded. "He deserves to hear the full truth…everything… just like you told me…"

She left with Caleb sending her an empathetic smile. She bit her bottom lip and realized that Sarah was right. She hurriedly grabbed her things and walked out to the parking lot; she spotted Tyler's parking spot and noticed he was no longer parked there.

Cursing she fled across campus and to the dorms. She had to get to Tyler before she talked herself out of talking to him. She ran up the stairs nearly knocking over several students on the way up.

She heard them make smart comments about her, but she ignored them and kept running. She got to the fourth floor and stopped in front of Reid and Tyler's room. Clearing her throat, she raised her hand to knock on the door just as it was opening.

She swallowed loudly, her heart beating a mile a minute as Reid nearly ran in to her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her in shock.

"Hails, what are you doing here?" He asked quietly.

He closed the door slightly when Tyler asked who was at the door, "I came to talk to Tyler…"

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Reid asked closing the door again as he avoided Tyler's questions.

"I have to do it now before I talk myself out of it again…" Hailey stated.

"Reid, why are you ignoring me? Who is at the door?" She heard Tyler's voice as the door swung open and Tyler glared at Reid and diverted his attention to her. Tyler didn't say anything his face just fell as he looked at Reid and then back at Hailey. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," Hailey stated, giving Tyler a pleading look.

She felt the familiar sting in her nose that came just before the tears started; she fought them back as Tyler began to shut the door, "I really don't want to talk to you, Hailey…"

The way he said her name stabbed her deep. It was cold, and hollow, without any emotion at all. His face was cold stone and he didn't flinch as Reid stopped him from shutting the door.

"You should just talk to her," Reid stated as he exited the room.

Hailey stood watching Reid walk away and then turned back to Tyler who was missing parts of his school uniform. His eyes weren't nearly as blood shot as they were, and the swelling had gone down. She could see it in his eyes though, and it pained her to even look at him.

"Can we please talk…" She asked him as nicely as possible.

Tyler didn't say anything he opened the door and stepped aside so that Hailey could enter the room. She took a step in and he closed the door behind her, she swallowed and fidgeted with her hands nervously.

She looked up at him, chewing on her bottom lip as if it were the last piece of nutrition she would ever get, "I wanted to say firstly, that I'm sorry about everything…" She whispered. "I'm mostly sorry about how you found out…"

Tyler looked away from her and took a seat on his bed, and then pointed to Reid's messy, unmade bed. Hailey quickly took a seat before Tyler changed his mind.

"But I want to tell you everything. I want to be a hundred percent honest with you, exactly how it should have been…"

"I think it's a little late for honesty," Tyler barked.

"Tyler, please…" Hailey leaned forward her hands outstretching to his. Tyler pulled his hands away and situated himself, Hailey swallowed hard; rejection was hard for her, especially from Tyler.

"You want to explain yourself, so do it…" Tyler stated calmly.

"That night at Nicky's Aaron and I were playing pool, and we were wagering a couple dollars here and there. I really thought I had the game in the bag, so I told him we should up the stakes…" Hailey took a deep breath and glanced down at her trembling hands. "I told him that he would have to be at my beck and call, and he would have to tell Kira about us…" She swallowed. "He told me if he won, I'd have to make one of you four fall for me…" She took in a deep breath. "Pogue and Caleb were out of the question because they were both seeing someone, and I thought it was going to be Reid, until Aaron switched it up on me and said you…"

Tyler tilted his head to the side and looked at her, "So there was something going on between you and Aaron before us?" He asked.

"Kind of," Hailey answered. "I've never seen Aaron in a 'boyfriend' kind of way, and we were just kind of fooling around, we never actually went further than kissing… but I guess I never realized that he actually liked me in that way…"

Tyler gave her a small smirk, "How many times did I tell you?" He shook his head.

"I guess I was a bit oblivious to it, but anyway…" Hailey shrugged her shoulders forward. "As you know I went to the bar, and flirted with you… and then took you home that night…" He nodded his head shortly waiting for her to continue.

"Well right after that I didn't want to go through with the bet, because I found out that you were really a great guy…"

"Why'd you agree to it in the first place?" Tyler asked.

"I only agreed because at first I thought it would be Garwin, so I could make him feel like I did when he dumped me…" Hailey looked down at the ground. "After I found out it was you, I had always thought you were good looking Tyler, but I never had a reason to just go up and talk to you…"

"You could have…" He answered back.

"I know," Hailey sighed heavily shaking her head. "I'm an idiot for not just doing that, but Aaron was my best friend, and he hated you all with a passion, and I just felt like I'd betray him if I did that on my own accord…"

"That's stupid,"

Hailey nodded her head, "Well Aaron told me what the consequences were if I backed out of our bet… and I wasn't going to let that happen…" She bit her bottom lip, it was already red from her previous chewing and she wouldn't be surprised if it started bleeding.

"What were the consequences?" Tyler asked.

"That's not important…" Hailey stated as she tried to continue.

"Hailey, what were the consequences?" Tyler inquired glaring over at her.

"I would have to give Aaron the one thing he's been wanting for over a year now…" The brunette girl looked down at her hands. "And I didn't want to be the next Kira for him or his next one-nighter… I couldn't see that side of Aaron…"

"He actually said that?" Tyler asked appalled. "What kind of friend is he?"

"The manipulative kind…"

Tyler shook his head and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"After that it wasn't about the bet anymore…" Hailey shook her head. "To me I wasn't playing along with his stupid bet… it was about you and me…" She felt that sting in her nose and the tears slipped from her eyes. "I didn't care about the bet after the night we were together…"

"I just told Aaron I was still in the game, but I wasn't…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Everything during our relationship was real…" She opened her eyes and stared at him. "Everything…"

"That doesn't change the fact that you made the bet…" Tyler stated calmly, his hand reached out and wiped the stray tears from her cheeks.

Hailey's entire body fluttered at his touch, "I know," She whispered. "And I regret it more than you know Tyler…" She pursed her lips together. "I never felt for anyone what I feel for you…" The young girl looked down at her hands, "I never thought I'd throw something like this away like I did… and I'm sorry Tyler…" She could barely finish what she was saying before she was out of her seat and throwing herself out of the room.

Tyler stood up as soon as she said her last words, and before he could even react she fled the room. He stood with his mouth agape looking like a fish out of water. It hurt him to look at her, but to hear her words, to hear the actual story from the lips of the girl he loved.

Though it was wrong, it fell in to place. He had done things he regretted because he felt pressure from his so called "brothers". Could he really hold this against her, could he really throw what he felt for her away, like she had just said?

Would he jeopardize his happiness because of some stupid bet she had with Aaron Abbott? Tyler fell back on to his bed and held his hands over his face. He had a lot of thinking to do, a lot.

Hailey had just made it to her room, when she opened her door she wasn't expecting to see who she saw sitting in her room. Reid was sitting on her bed Indian Style. He looked up at her expectantly, as if he had been waiting to hear the good news.

"What?" She asked noticing his questioning look.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I told him everything, and I left…"

"You left?" Reid asked.

"I just blurted out that I was sorry, started balling and here I am…" Hailey motioned down to her body and wiped her face clean with the sleeve of her jacket.

"You didn't even give him a chance to say anything back?" Reid asked.

"No," Hailey shook her head. "He's put up with so much shit for me, that he shouldn't have to put up with mine too… it's not like I'm going to apologize and suddenly everything's ok…"

"You never know…" Reid shrugged his shoulders.

"Reid, I'm trying to be realistic… ok…"

"I am too, Tyler is incredibly understanding… he's the kind of person that forgives and forgets…"

"I don't expect him to forgive me for this Reid, I totally fucked up and that's on me…"

"I know, but you love him… don't you?" Reid asked getting up from the bed.

"More than you can imagine…" Hailey stated closing her eyes and leaning against the door.

"And I know my best friend; he loves you more than he loves himself…" Reid grabbed her shoulders.

"Did someone put some kind of spell on you Reid Garwin?" Hailey glanced up at him.

Reid's eyes went wide and he looked at her, "No why would you say that?" He asked a bit uneasy.

"Relax," Hailey smiled a little bit. "I just meant, that you're not acting like your normal bad boy, player self…"

"With my friends I'm different…" He stated giving her jaw a light tap with his knuckles. "We'll figure this out…"

"We?" She asked looking up at him.

"I owe it to Tyler to help him get his shit straight, after all the fucked up shit I've done to that kid… he deserves me to do something for him for a change…" Reid smirked.

"That's real sweet of you Garwin…"

"I try," He grinned again. "But if he decides he's done with you, I'll come by and sweep you off your feet again…"

Hailey gawked at him, "Reid…."

"I was just kidding," He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Trying to get anything out of you but tears…"

"That'll be hard for a while…"

Reid gave her a small squeeze before leaving her room. Hailey fell back on to her bed and thought about what Reid said. He owed it to Tyler, and so did she. She loved him, and she wasn't going to let him get away… not if she had anything to do with it.

Don't click the blue button, don't do it!! (Hey you can't blame me, it's been working:))