I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. School has been terrible. I've had so many paper's and exams, I just had to take a break from writing, but now it's summer and I plan to keep the updates regular. You should see a lot more from me now…I hope! Oh well, I disclaim. Oh, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed!

Chapter Four: What He's Become

It had been nearly a month since Ivy had returned to Ipswich, and she had done as she was told. She had kept as far away from Reid as possible. They had only been around each other a handful of times, and the few times their paths crossed, Ivy had kept her distance.

Her original plan after Reid's comments at Nicky's that night had been to do the exact opposite. She would be everywhere. She was going to make damn sure that she was always in his way. But after a heart to heart with Caleb on the way home, she changed her mind.

Ivy followed Caleb out to his car. She was beyond ticked off. She had done nothing to Reid, and she could not understand why he was still so angry.

"What'd he do now?"

"Why does he have to be such a jerk? Why can't he understand why I left? It hurt me too, ya know, not just him."

"So it is Reid," Caleb said as more of a statement, than a question. He had really been hoping that Reid would change his attitude when he saw her again, but apparently Ivy's arrival had only made Reid grumpier.

"He's not the same guy you left, Ivy. He's a different person."

"That's bull. He's pulling the same act he always does when things don't go his way. He turns into that big badass who could care less about what goes on around him. It's all an act, and I'm gonna make him stop playing if it's the last thing I do. He's nothing but a big ass baby." She was determined. After seeing him tonight, seeing that cold indifference in his eyes, all she wanted was to make it go away. She wanted him to look at her with the love that he used to. She wanted him to joke and laugh and be her best friend again. And there was nothing Caleb could say to change her mind. But she was wrong; there was something he could say.

Caleb began to tell Ivy of what Reid had become. He told her about the continuous fighting, which had escalated from the normal Aaron fights, to fighting with Caleb, and even the occasional punch in Pouge or even Tyler's direction. He told her about the alcohol every weekend, and the occasional drug use. He told her about the girls; about how Reid had slept with almost every available female in the Spencer population and even a few from the local public high school. None of these things surprised her. She had heard stories of a drunken Reid from Tyler on many occasions. She knew that Reid and Caleb argued a lot lately, and she knew better than anyone about his explosive temper. Ivy had also known from the moment she left, that Reid was going to sleep around. She never expected Reid to remain faithful to her; it was why she had broken up with him in the first place.

But the one thing that frightened her, the one thing that made her want to cry, the thing that made her change her mind about trying to make Reid forgive her, was when Caleb told Ivy about his addiction. Caleb detailed just how worried he was that Reid was addicted to the power. Caleb told Ivy that Reid's power use was what they fought the most about. He also told Ivy that it didn't get bad until she left. He had said that it might be better if she just left him alone. He was afraid that if Ivy pushed Reid to much, he might use the power even more.

So Ivy agreed. She felt guilty, so she decided that it would be best for everyone if she backed off and let them all continue their lives without her.

So she had spent nearly a month confined to her bedroom. She hung out with the boys whenever Reid wasn't going to be around, which was rare. She spent the most time with Tyler, who was quite the gossip queen. Tyler could never keep his mouth shut. He told her all the details of Caleb's rather uneventful life. He told her about Kate and Pouge's relationship, and how he was sure they really did love each other, no matter what went down freshman year. Bullshit. He told her about out all of Reid's antics; including a few lines he'd spilled during one of his drunken stupors about how much he really missed Ivy.

She'd hear things like that form all of them, but Tyler was the only one to just outright say it. Ivy knew that there was still something between her and Reid, and the longer she dwelled on it the less she could take. So she decided that no matter what conclusion she had come to in Caleb's car, she was going to fix this. She was tired of sitting around and letting him make a mess of himself.

Ivy decided that the only way to get Reid to see things her way was shock therapy. She knew that no matter how far he went to hide it, she was still his biggest weakness. So she knew that a shock in the form of jealousy, which Reid had a nice, long streak of, was her best way to snap him out of his pretending. If Reid was jealous, he wouldn't be able to control himself. He would have to act, and that would land him right into her trap.

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