AN: So here it is! As I promised! Before Christmas! Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you guys like this chapter.

I have taken into account all your guys' opinions on the matter of Liika's pairing. I appreciate the input I just wanted to know what you guys thought, even though I have a plan already.

For those that wanted to know, MILF means Mother I'd Like to Fuck, it's what they call hot middle aged women at bars. That and cougars XD

Also, for those that asked why Bryan was not in the running… well that will be revealed in time D Not giving too much away!

xxxxx

Nobody said anything about Thursday's occurrences, not even to ask the two captains how they were doing. Somehow it was sensed that they needed to act as if nothing had ever happened, which is what they did, for the most part.

There was a fuss, however, Monday morning, when Bryan showed up at practice and at school. At morning practice there were the usual exclamations of welfare, some glares, and some snickers. Bryan ignored them, of course, and took it rather well when Judy informed him that he would not be able to compete in the world tournament. It helped that Liika told him he was welcome to come to Japan with them as their trainer, as trainers did not need to pass drug tests.

School was sluggish for the two beyblading teams. There was an increase of gossip, both about the new Hiwatari siblings, as well as Bryan getting out of rehab, but there were also whispers in the hall about the obvious tension between Tala and Mariah and Rei. Their friends ignored the tension (Tala actively ignored Mariah, and snarled at Rei, Rei snarling back, Mariah teary eyed and mopey when confronted with both of them at once).

Kai had to pull Tala aside after morning practice and lecture him again, asking him to at least just ignore Rei. Lack of team unity could mean their loss at worlds. Tala agreed to try to ignore the black haired teen. Kai subsequently had the same talk with Rei. Liika, was lost at what to do with Mariah, who was visibly saddened, and torn. Thus, life was still a soap opera for the small town high school, but it was a soap opera that was put on the back burner for the sake of worlds.

Things were still awkward between Kai and Liika, but they did their best to push the awkwardness aside. Neither of them had ever had a sibling before, but they picked up rather quickly the fundamentals of the relationship. The bickering commenced as they distracted each other from the real problem. It worked for everyone else too.

By the time school was over, all were eager to get to afternoon practice. It put them one step closer to worlds.

Kai pushed on Liika's back, allowing her to stretch her muscles further than if she were reaching herself. Liika exhaled as she touched her toes, her nose only inches from the ground. "So," she started as Kai let her up between reps, "Who are you bringing to the shindig on Friday?"

Kai raised an eyebrow, pushing again. "You mean to our father's poor excuse to parade his children around his rich bastard friends? Red."

"Hot date."

"I know aren't I?" Tala chirped with a sneer, stepping up to stand beside Kai. "Personally, I think you should be jealous your brother could snag someone as fine as me."

Liika and Kai snorted in laughter, pushing at the red head – Kai on his shoulder, Liika on his knee. Tala just smirked back, his hands on his hips. "Aren't you supposed to be stretching Tala?" Liika shot, pulling herself to her feet to stretch her thigh muscles.

"Done," teeth flashed as a hand shot out and pushed her, knocking her completely off balance.

Luckily Enrique happened to be walking up to them as well, and he caught her before she could fall ungracefully on her behind. He squeezed her shoulders with a smile, and shot a face in Tala and Kai's direction.

The two teens returned it with an inappropriate gesture, identical egotistical smirks slapped on their faces. Liika muttered, returning their gestures with one of her own.

"Who are you bringing?" Kai asked, shoving his hands into his pockets, his auburn eyes flicking over to where Judy had just walked in the small gym.

Liika merely inclined her head at Enrique who perked up a bit, earning raised eyebrows. "Him," she said, "And Mariah. Rei couldn't come."

Tala's smirk seemed to darken a bit as he mocked spitting off to one side. "Good. His kind doesn't belong there."

Liika rolled her eyes. "Save it."

Judy called for their attention then, cutting off any response Tala may have had to the petit blue haired girl's scorn. The four teenagers quickly made their way to the front of the group that had converged in front of the teacher, sitting down at the head of the group.

"Yesterday," Judy started, opening her clipboard folder, "The beyblade team from Eton College won the British Nationals. Now you may ask why I bring this up," she paused, running her eyes over the group of teenagers. "Well, today the world newspapers were singing the praises of the Etonians -- apparently they are unbeatable."

At this Liika scoffed, making a face. Kai shot her a look of agreement, his lips half tilted upwards. The rest of the group started to murmur. It was Riley speaking that settled the room again.

"Eton… wait, isn't Eton captained by a guy that was on the British team that won the last World's?"

Judy sighed, jerking her head in a nod. "Yes, Brooklyn Kingston – son of the Earl of Kingston, which makes him Viscount of Kingston. Coincidently his father owns Zomba Records, but that is neither here nor there. Brooklyn Kingston is a genius beyblader, and between him and the Japanese 1 team, we have significant cause to worry."

The group was silent for a moment, all of them reflecting on the new information. So, England was considered unbeatable? That would… put a kink in things.

"Well, not to sound too cheesy or cliché here, but we aren't going to beat them if we don't practice!" Liika stated, the first to speak. She was on her feet in a flash, her knuckles cracking. "If that Kingston thinks he can walk all over us, he's in for a rude awakening. We may not be able to watch any of his team's previous battles per BBA rules, but that doesn't mean we can't train to defeat him."

"The witch is right," Kai spoke up, also standing, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Moaning about how good they are isn't going to get us anywhere. The only thing we can do is practice."

Judy smiled, inwardly proud. The two captains had grown over the past year, and she was glad that they seemed to have work out their problems. "Alright then. Since Sakura and the rest of our Abbey teammates aren't here, I'll leave the opening drills to Kenny and Riley."

Riley grinned mischievously. "Better get ready to work!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Don't look so sour," Mariah chastised sharply, sweeping her carefully styled out of her eyes. "You look beautiful, get over it."

Liika shifted in the limo seat, running her hands over the velvet of her dress. A bright red flush colored her cheeks, and one of her feet twitched nervously. "You have to say that, you're my best friend. But that's not why I look sour. I hate dresses, and I hate my stupid father's pathetic attempt to flaunt me like a new toy."

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't like. Besides, it won't be that bad. I won't leave your side, and neither will Sakura," Mariah's smile changed a little bit, though Liika couldn't figure out what the change meant. "And I'm sure, that even if someone took a chisel to Enrique, he couldn't be separated from you."

The blue and silver haired girl looked at her best friend in a funny manner. She wasn't sure what the pink haired girl was trying to say, though she was sure she didn't like it. "Whatever you are insinuating, stop."

"I'm not insinuating anything," Mariah replied innocently. "Enrique's one of your best friends… why would he leave you alone?"

Liika was saved from replying when the window separating the driver and the two girls lowered and the voice of the middle aged driver floated back to them. "Young Miss, we have reached the hotel."

"Thank you!" Liika took in a big gulp of air, steadying herself. "Ok Liika, you can do this. There are just a couple of hundred people staring at you, way less than at Nationals…"

Mariah sighed dramatically, shaking her head. "Just remember that we're all here for you – you aren't alone." She patted one of Liika's shaking hands. "You have to go first I'm afraid, no one's here to see me." She winked.

Liika let the breath she had been holding out in a whoosh just as the door beside her opened. A hand appeared in the opening, though she couldn't see who it was through the bright lights of the five star hotel entrance. Settling her face into a tight smile, Liika took the hand and allowed it to pull her out of the dim limo interior.

There were multiple flashes as she stepped out of the car, and she blinked, white spots appearing before her eyes. It was Kai that pulled her out of the car, and he offered her a half cheeky-half sympathetic smile as well as a squeeze of her hand. He bent over close to her ear. "The media needs to take our picture, together and then you alone, then with the old men. Smile, look happy and then we'll seclude ourselves in some dark corner while the snobby bastards of our father's society talk about us like we aren't even there. You look beautiful by the way." His last words were accompanied by his hand that held hers shifting to the small of her back. "Now smile properly."

Though she wanted to make a rather rude face at him, the calling of the media photographers forced her to smile prettily at the unknown people. She could feel Kai at her elbow, his hand remaining on her back – which, due to the cut of the dress, was bare.

The flashes went on for what seemed like forever to Liika. Kai disappeared for a few minutes and she was forced to change positions, then Kai reappeared, their father with him. She was placed between the two and the flashes continued. Then Voltaire appeared behind her, his large, callused hand falling on her shoulder. It was getting to the point that Liika's face was hurting from smiling too much.

And then suddenly Enrique appeared at her side, his fingers lacing with hers, squeezing gently. His soft smile shone down at her, his eyes reflecting something she hadn't seen before. However, it didn't matter, she barely noticed. She was much too focused on the relief that flooded through her at the sight of him.

"I am here to escort you inside, my lady." He teased, placing her hand on the crook of his arm.

Liika hugged his arm gratefully, laying her head on his shoulder. "Thank you lord, you couldn't have appeared at a better time. Where is Mariah? I lost track of her in the flashes."

"Tala escorted her inside, though both of them looked rather uncomfortable. One day I will make you tell me what exactly happened between those two."

The blue and silver haired girl made a noise of understanding, though she really had no intention of telling him… unless of course he forced her. Which was entirely possible, but she didn't dwell on it. It wasn't overly important.

Her eyes ran over his formally dressed form as they followed the parade of people into the high-class hotel. He looked really good, better than she had expected. He wasn't wearing a tie – which she was sure that her father was cringing at – and the first button of his white dress shirt that was under his navy sport's jacket was undone, giving him an adorable tousled look that matched his hair. Overall he looked rather hot, which was weird for her to admit seeing as he was her best friend, but the sight of him made her want to smile, and smile she did.

"You can say it you know," Enrique spoke up, leading her through the door to the ballroom. His eyes flashed.

Liika rolled her eyes, smacking him softly in the stomach. "I'm not saying anything."

He laughed. "I look good, though not as good as you." His face grew serious then, his eyes softening. "You're gorgeous, you know that right?"

Heat spread over her face, and Liika looked away. The intensity in his words threw her off, and she didn't know how to respond. Both Kai and Mariah had told her she looked great, but she had been able to wave them off. However, something in the way Enrique had said it made it impossible for her to pass it off as him just being her best friend. Somehow it made her insides squirm and a blush to over take her face.

"What did you say to her? She looks like her head is going to explode," Sakura's voice giggled.

Liika looked up to see Sakura in a beautiful pastel green dress hanging off the arm of Gaara who looked comfortable but unsettled in his black suit. She made a face at the pink haired girl, even though she was happy to see her. "He said nothing, nothing at all."

Enrique smiled, moving her hand from his elbow so that he could circle her waist and pull her close to his side. "I merely told her she looked beautiful, which she does. She just has a low self-esteem." He winked at the couple and fondly patted her waist. "Just ignore her."

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. "Shall we go get something to drink? I saw Mariah, I think she is desperately needing our company."

Liika almost sighed in relief. "Let's."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Man, I thought our drama was bad, but hell, the drama between Tala and Mariah will kill us all I think."

Kai sent his sister a sidelong, understanding look. "Tell me about it. This event is uncomfortable enough; the tension between those two will drive me insane."

"But can we really blame them? They have been dancing around each other since they broke up three years ago. It's clear that they still care deeply about each other, but Tala went around getting her back all wrong, and Mariah… well," Liika sighed sadly, "Going to him and sleeping with him when her and Rei were having problems was probably not the best idea on the planet."

"Colossally stupid is what I would call it, not to mention cruel. Can you really blame Tala for being pissed? She used him."

Liika scowled, crossing her arms. "She was hurting, and she loves Tala. How do you think it feels to be in love with two men and not know what to do? I'm not saying what she did was right, but to condemn her like that is unfair."

Kai shrugged, taking a sip of his non-alcoholic champagne. "I just see what she's doing to him, it's killing Tala. He loves her beyond a high school boy. He accepted her in the first place believing she was coming back to him. Instead she sleeps with him and is back with Kon the next day."

Liika sighed, her shoulders slumping, her eyes sad. "It's a horrible situation for both of them, and I hope they will get over it together." Her gaze moved from Kai around the room to where her friend was sitting with Sakura chatting somewhat animatedly. "My heart breaks for both of them."

Suddenly Kai stiffened, drawing Liika's attention once more. In an instant his entire countenance changed, hostility rolling off him in waves. "What is your-"

"Hello, Liika."

The blue and silver haired young woman turned her head to the new voice, and all of a sudden had an enlightenment as to what her brother's problem was. "Neji!" Liika greeted the new arrival with a smile, pushing some of her bangs behind one of her ears.

The dark haired man's smile was narrower than Liika's but it was still welcoming. His hand extended and Liika took it, squeezing gently. His pale eyes flickered towards the tall blue haired young man, inclining his head in greeting. He could see the antagonism in the younger man's eyes and thus ignored him, seeing that it was pointless to try to be friendly to him. "Liika, you look beautiful tonight." He said smoothly, turning back to the petite girl.

Liika blushed lightly, laughing nervously, pushing back her bangs again. "Thank you. What are you doing here anyway?"

Neji smile became more amused and his eyebrows raised a fraction. "I suppose it didn't come up the other night. My family owns this hotel." He answered mildly, sipping his drink. "My father thought it would be prudent if we made an appearance at such a prominent event. It's not every day the Hiwatari family has a new member."

Kai was still scowling. He didn't like the Hyuga, and he tried to convince himself it had always been that way. However, he knew that when he had gone to Abbey he hadn't really had a problem with the boy. Of course, this just made him even more annoyed, it made him realize just how much he still felt for his sister, which was obviously a problem. "Hyuga owns all Royal Park Hotels, its one of the largest five star hotel chains in the world." He couldn't help but interject smugly, knowing the information would affect Liika.

"Really?" Amazement flooded her voice, her eyes widening to saucer-like proportions.

Neji shot Kai a sour look, making it clear that he realized what he was doing. "My grandfather owns them technically," he replied dryly to Kai before turning his attention back to Liika. "Besides, I said we would meet again didn't I?"

Liika laughed again, waving her hand. "That's true. I had forgotten to be honest." She shrugged. "Oh well, now we have something more in common besides beyblading right?"

Neji tilted his head with a smile. Setting down his drink on the nearby table, he held out his hand to Liika again. "Would you like to dance?"

Surprise flittered across her face, and she shifted nervously. "Sure, I guess."

The dark haired man led Liika off without so much as a look at Kai. Kai of course noticed, and seethed silently. He could see the potential emotions in his little sister and he didn't know how he felt about it. He knew that she was still hurting over him… but that she had promised herself to move on. Just because she was nervous and giggly around the Hyuga didn't mean she liked him romantically. Did it?

"Who was that?"

Kai snorted, eyeing the blond that had suddenly appeared behind him. He had noticed, with some amusement, some annoyance, that Sattiay had been hovering over Liika all night, and he recognized the look in the blond's eyes. It was the same way he looked at Liika… or had anyway. Kai had his suspicions that Enrique Sattiay felt more for his best friend than he was admitting. It wasn't horribly noticeable, but Kai was watching as possessive boyfriends generally did.

Kai gave a one-shouldered shrug, sipping his drink. "Hyuga Neji. She met him again last week at the club, apparently they hit it off." He rolled his eyes.

Enrique's expression soured, not unlike Kai's own had when he had seen the Hyuga approach. "Again? She's met him before?"

"States and Nationals, Sattiay." Kai stated dryly, locking his auburn eyes with Enrique's blue ones. "He bladed for Abbey last year."

Recognition dawned in Enrique's eyes and his eyebrows rose. "The arrogant jackass that hurt Bryan? Why would she bother to associate with him?"

"You're her best friend, you tell me."

Enrique fell silent, scowling at Kai. He then turned back to look across the room to watch his best friend.

Neither boy noticed the approach of the sulky red head, dressed spiffily in a black tuxedo. Tala eyed the two, his head shaking as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're pathetic." He said, tilting his head.

Kai and Enrique looked at Tala, almost identical looks on their faces, which caused Tala to snicker. Glancing off to where the two boys were looking, he rolled his eyes, scoffing silently. Girls weren't worth it. They were trouble, causing nothing but heartbreak and anger. "Her life can't revolve around you two all the time. Anyway, girls aren't worth all the problems."

This cracked a smile from Kai, who then jabbed Tala lightly in the stomach. "Hypocrite. You're just as pathetic, and you're moaning over a girl as well!"

"Tche," Tala scoffed again, making a face at his best friend. "I'm not moaning over anyone."

"Cause you are going to convince us," Enrique interjected with a cheeky smirk and a fake roll of his eyes. "You have been conspicuously absent all night."

"Oh cram it lover boy. You're in love with your best friend and yet you're dating the guy who loves her's sister. I have nothing on you!" Tala stated with a flash temper in his eyes.

Enrique flushed, stiffening. "W-What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded slightly brokenly, an objecting scowl over taking his face.

Tala snorted, flicking a few strands of hair out of his eyes. "Play stupid if you want Sattiay, but I've known you since birth."

Kai studied the suddenly uncomfortable blond, his theory proved correct. He hadn't realized that Tala had caught the emotion in the blonde's actions as well. It made sense however, if anyone could tell when Enrique Sattiay liked a girl, it would be Tala Valkov, a boy he had known for going on 18 years. Well, anyone besides Liika anyway. But Liika was dense. Kai smiled at this thought. He doubted that even if Sattiay was forthcoming with his emotions and showed them clearly, Liika would get them. That was just her way.

"Whatever," Enrique sighed finally, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't know what you're talking about. I love Iki, but as a friend: my best friend."

"Uh huh," Tala waved him off, gulping down the last of his drink. "Man, this thing is boring. I need to get drunk." He truly looked miserable.

"Sucks to be you. I'm going to cut in on tall, dark and handsome and Iki," Enrique muttered as he wandered away towards the opposite side of the dance floor.

"Sad." Kai sighed, leaning against the wall. "Only another hour, then we'll blow this place, go find a hotel room and get plastered."

Tala laughed. "I'm there. I need to forget I exist for a night."

The two fell silent, content in each other's company, and to just watch the people mingle or dance, talking about nothing and everything.

xxxxxxx

There were at least five hundred people populating the large, upscale ballroom. It was the buzz of Denver high society, and indeed of national high society. How often did the co-owner of the largest pharmaceutical company in the country find a long lost daughter? Everyone was talking about it, and most of the high society had been invited to her coming out party.

Mariah had never been to such a ritzy event, and it nearly overwhelmed her. There were so many beautiful women wearing beautiful dresses, and men wearing thousand dollar suits and tuxedos. She felt incredibly poor in amongst so much glamour.

It didn't help that Tala had made every effort to let her know that he was pissed off at her, making whatever interaction taking place between them was filled with chronic tension and anger. It both exhausted and saddened her.

Sure what she did was horrible, and she hated herself for it. But what else was she supposed to do? She made a mistake. Going to your ex-boyfriend, whom you still have feelings for, when you are extremely upset was a no-no at the best of times. It wasn't like she had gone with the intent of sleeping with him and leaving. Things had just happened.

She had never believed that things could just happen before. Whenever her older cousins had told stories of "things" just happening she had scoffed. After all, people made choices, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but they were choices. Now, after experiencing it for herself, she could identify with her cousins. Mistakes were made, and sometimes things happened that you hadn't expected, or necessarily wanted.

That wasn't to say that Tala had raped her, because he hadn't. Far from it. She wasn't quite sure who had initiated it, but somewhere along the line they had moved from the living room couch to his bedroom. It was an accident.

However, as much as she deemed it as a mistake, and an accident, she didn't know if she would take it back given the chance. It had been a wonderful experience, and she truly loved Tala. She just wished it had happened under better circumstances.

Part of her also blamed him for it. He had been thinking clearly. She had been distraught. In a way it could be said that he had taken advantage of her. She wasn't mad, but she was a bit annoyed that he was so pissed off at her, when he was just as much at fault.

"Mari? Hey, where did you go?"

Sakura's voice shook Mariah out of her thoughts and the pretty pink haired girl blinked her gold eyes, settling her gaze on the other pink haired girl. "Pardon?"

Sakura laughed, tilting her head a bit. "You spaced out for a bit, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Mariah replied, looking at the floor. Her voice was filled with a sadness that matched the look in her eyes.

"Have you tried talking to him?"

The words caused Mariah to blink again, returning her gaze to the other girl. "Who?"

Sakura glanced off to the corner where Tala and Kai were lurking. "Tala. He's what you're thinking about right? Only a guy could put that kind of sadness into a girl's eyes."

Mariah sighed. "That obvious huh?" she said, her shoulders slumping a bit. "I don't know what to do about him. Things can't keep going on the way they are. I'll go nuts."

"Go ask him to dance, don't take no for an answer. It will force him to talk to you."

Mariah considered the suggestion. She had a point. He wasn't likely to make a huge scene at this event, which would practically force him to dance with her, and he couldn't avoid talking to her if he was dancing with her. She smiled at Sakura, standing and brushing off her pale pink spaghetti strap dress. "Thanks. I think I'll do that. Hopefully I don't chicken out."

Sakura smiled back. "I believe you can do it. Just don't let him walk all over you. Stand up for yourself, and make it clear that it is every bit as much his fault as yours." She reached out and squeezed the standing girl's hand. "I'll be fine here. Gaara will be back soon anyway."

"Okay," Mariah's smile shook as she turned away and began to make her way across the room.

It wasn't easy. She was scared as hell, and wasn't exactly looking forward to the confrontation that she was sure was about to happen. Not to mention, she had to keep her back straight, her chin up, and her walk steady so that she appeared that she belonged at the high society event, even if she didn't. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Enrique trying to cut in on a dance Liika was having with a dark haired, pale eyed, familiar looking man. It did nothing for her fear, it just meant that Liika wouldn't be helping her out at that particular moment.

She could tell he could see her coming. As she approached his back stiffened ramrod straight, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. Turquoise orbs practically demanded how she dared to approach him.

"Tala?"

Tala said nothing, his lips thinning into an angry line. He took a sip of his drink in attempt to calm himself down, and prevent a nasty slur of words from escaping his throat.

It irked her that she had put out the effort to approach him and he couldn't even so much as acknowledge her. A scowl over took her face as well. "I'd like to talk to you," she said, raising her chin a bit, "Would you dance with me?"

"It's not really a question is it?" He finally replied after watching her for a good, uncomfortable minute. "You'll demand until you make a scene and embarrass us all. Fine." His words were stilted, angry, and Mariah could practically hear his teeth grinding together. "Let's go."

He practically snatched her hand up with his, tightening his grip until they were well onto the dance floor and she was in his arms. His eyes were flashing with anger by the time they were swaying to the string quartet that was providing the music for the event. "What do you want Low? To rub more salt in the wound?"

She glared back at him. "What I want is to work this out between us. It's getting in the way of the beyblading teams, and its affecting everyone around us."

He scoffed, adding a sneer for a good measure. "What's the matter? Is Kon getting suspicious? Maybe we should just let him know. We both know how understanding he would be."

"Lose the attitude, jackass." She hissed, purposely stepping on his foot. "What we did was stupid Tala, you know that. It was a mistake, and you are just as much to blame for it as I am. You knew what would happen in the morning, and you let it happen anyway."

"Maybe a part of me did." He growled back, twirling her gallantly. "But another even larger part of me thought that maybe this was our shot. That you had finally come to your senses and seen what a complete loser Kon is, and how much you belong with me."

Her heart broke with those words. Her gaze fell from his, to his chest and filled with tears. She hadn't really known how attached to her he really was, and it destroyed her to know that she had hurt him that badly. She hadn't meant to. But then, most things that hurt the most weren't things that had been meant to hurt.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, tears spilling from her eyes as she leaned her forehead against his collarbone. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Tala was silent for a long time, and both of them went through the motions of dancing almost mechanically. Mariah found that the longer he held her, the more it hurt. The more life became unfair.

No one ever told her that it was possible to love two boys, two very different boys. No one, not even cynical writers on love said that it happened all the time; that life was never easy that way. Why should she suffer, they suffer, when so many others didn't seem to?

After a few minutes of tense silence, Tala spoke again, this time his words were soft, tired, weary and above all hurt. "What do you want from me Mariah?"

Mariah didn't answer. In truth she couldn't answer. Emotions flooded her system, drowning out any logic, or reason that would have stopped her crying. She loved him, but she loved Rei also. She was with Rei, and she owed it to him to remain with him, however badly she wanted for Tala never to stop holding her.

"Do you expect me to wait around forever? To wait until you're tired of Kon, or he's tired of you so that you can come running back to me, again?" He sighed in frustration, his grip on her hand and waist squeezing. "It's not fair Mari."

She shook her head against him, clenching her eyes shut. "No. I never expected you to wait for me. I guess I expected you to move on."

Tala laughed mirthlessly, his movements becoming jerky. "You don't understand do you? You don't get it," he stopped moving, forcing her to look up at him. "You're it for me. I don't fucking care how young everyone tells us we are, it's how I feel. I don't want to move on. I don't want to wait. I want you."

Mariah squeezed her eyes shut again, the tears pouring in torrents down her streaked cheeks. "I'm sorry." God, it was all so romantic. So, romance-novel like. How many girls just like her dreamed some guy, the guy she loved, would say words like that to her?

She was so lucky. And she was about to throw it away.

Tala knew what those two words meant. He wasn't stupid, lovesick and heartbroken, but not stupid. His eyes closed for a moment, trying to hold back the raging inundation of pain that threaten to destroy him, or his image by making him break down crying in the middle of high society. Now he knew what it felt like to be rejected. He would never laugh at another for it again. He wasn't even sure he would feel anything again.

Taking a deep breath, Tala did what he considered to be the strongest act he had ever performed. He let her go. Rage simmered just underneath the pain, and he knew that if he didn't leave that moment someone was going to get hurt, or he was going to embarrass his best friend. "So am I." Was all he said before turning and striding briskly away.

"Tala! Wait!" Mariah called after him, her vision blurred by tears. "Can't we at least be friends again?"

Tala paused slightly, but did not turn around. "It's all or nothing Low," he said tonelessly, ignoring the stares him and Mariah were getting from those around them. "All or nothing." And then he disappeared.

Mariah turned as well, walking as quickly as decorum would allow her towards the ladies' bathroom. She would never be the same.

Life hurt more than it should ever have to.