Chapter Five

"Hello?"

"Reid, hey, this is Karli."

"I know." He didn't sound happy, but I didn't care.

"Where are you? We need to talk."

"Wow, you're actually talking to me. You're obviously not with Caleb." He said it in a very sarcastic manner, and I really didn't appreciate it.

"You're being so stupid and immature right now, I can't even believe it." Awkward moment of silence.

"It's true, though."

"So, what? I still have feelings for him, okay?" I paused to let out a sad sigh. "But, there's nothing I can do about it. He's got Sarah and they're happy together and I'd never do anything to jeopardize our friendship. Or mine and Sarah's friendship. If I can be an adult about it, why can't you?" I heard a knock on the door so I stood up and walked to the door. On the other side was Reid, his cell phone still firmly planted against his ear.

"Because I don't like it." He moved the phone away from his ear before he closed it and put it in his pocket. I moved so that he could walk through the door.

"The fact that you were right outside my dorm is really creepy," I told him as he reclined on my bed and put his hands behind his head. I shoved one of his legs off the bed and sat at the foot of it, facing him. He just stared at me and so I stared back.

"You said we needed to talk."

"You need to quit being such an asshole."

"You need to quit pining away over Caleb."

"I most certainly don't pine for Caleb."

"Whatever."

"No, not whatever. Talk to me, Reid."

"What do you want me to say, Karli? It bothers me that you still feel like you do."

"Why?"

"Because he treated you like shit so many times and yet you went back to him every time." I looked down at my hands in my lap and sighed. He was right about that one. Caleb had been so awful to me so many times when we were kids. And every time I'd run to Reid. But Caleb had grown up so very much since then, right? I looked back up at him and shrugged. "Still having feelings for him makes you look like a fool."

"No one knows that I still have feelings for him. Except you and Celeste."

"I noticed, don't you think others will, too?"

"No. Reid, you've always known me so much better than everyone else."

"In more than one way. That's my whole damn point." I was confused and I told him as much. "God, if you can't figure out what I'm saying here then I don't know what to do." He folded the leg that was on the bed so that I had more room. Since Caleb had said that thing about Reid being in love with me, I'd started questioning the little things that Reid said and did. I started noticing how differently he treated me than other girls, or hell, anyone. I looked in his eyes and what Caleb had said was confirmed. I looked at his nose and those lips before looking back at his eyes and seeing that look still there.

"You've lost your mind," I muttered, starting to climb off the bed. He leaned forward lightening fast and grabbed my arm to keep me from moving.

"Don't you fucking dare throw my feelings aside like that. I'm putting myself out there and confessing something to you that I've never told anyone before. You know how I am about girls. I just don't do this." His voice was strong, but there was a pleading look in his eyes. Oh, those eyes. I always could read this boy by his eyes. He couldn't hide anything from me. Well, anything except the fact that he was madly in love with me.

"Reid, I'm not the same girl I was two years ago. I've changed and grown so much. How can you know that you still feel the same way?"

"All it took was seeing you, again."

"But you might not be able to stand my personality. The entire time I've been back I've been arguing with you. No. Just, no." I tried to get off the bed, again, and this time he let me. He sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed as I paced back and forth across the room, chewing on my fingers.

"Will you at least give me a chance?" I couldn't look at him. The tone in his voice was fragile. I'd heard that tone once and only once before: the night that I slept with him for the first time. I wasn't his first, but he was mine, and he was oh so gentle. He spoke to me in hushed, concerned tones the whole time to comfort and soothe me. I'd stopped pacing and was standing directly in front of him. He stared at me before he rubbed his hands down his face and through his hair. "Don't go there."

"It's kind of hard not to, Reid."

"But sex just complicates things." My eyes widened as I stared at him.

"Can I hear that again, please?" He rolled his eyes at me and laid back on the bed. "So, are you telling me to ignore everything that happened between us before?"

"No, I just want you to treat me like you treat the others instead of acting like I have the plague."

"I've never done that."

"Whatever. You were barely talking to me when you left."

"I was, too."

"It's because you were with Caleb."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you attached yourself to me when you guys broke up."

"Okay, so I'm a co-dependent and clingy." I meant it sarcastically, but it came out bordering bitter.

"And you fuck people over."

"Excuse me?" I asked, getting pissed. "Who the hell do you think you are coming in here and insulting me?"

"I'm not insulting you, I'm talking to you, isn't that what you asked of me?"

"This definitely isn't talking." He ignored my statement and launched right back into his previous train of thought.

"You used me every time, Karli. You'd date Caleb, he'd treat you like crap, you'd come running to me, sleep with me, Caleb would apologize, and you'd go back to him. Did you ever stop to think how I felt about it?"

"You always acted like you didn't have feelings, Reid. The fact that you do is quite a shocker."

"That's not fair."

"How?"

"Just because I didn't let you in doesn't mean there wasn't anything to let you into."

"And how was I supposed to know that?"

"Because I'm human." I had nothing to say to that, so I said nothing. I just stared at him while he purposely didn't meet my eyes.

"So, where does that leave us?"

"That's a damn good question."