I disclaim.

Chapter Eight: Take Care of You

"Yes. No. Maybe. Two. Thanks" She could count every word Reid Garwin had spoken to her in the last forty- eight hours on one hand. Ivy could only assume that since she was allowed to be in his presence, and sit at his royal highness's lunch table, that he was attempting to be friends with her again, someday. He continued on with his life as normal, seemingly unaware of the anguish that she assumed must be present on her face. He spoke to all his random girls in the hallway, slept through every class, and cruised around town in his shiny silver car whenever it wasn't raining. The "silver bullet," as he called it, did not get dirty. Tyler's Hummer, however, was allowed to get caked with slushy, grass filled mud. Reid Garwin was, as usual, being a dick. Nothing had changed.

Everything seemed different for Ivy, however. She felt as if she was walking on thin ice that was destined to crack, and the only person to see her fall through would not come to her rescue. He would just continue to stare with his cold indifferent eyes as she froze beneath the surface.

The Reid situation had been under control. Ivy had a distinct plan, a timeline. He would have been jealous, and then he would have been guilty, and then he would have been in love. And then her life would have been perfect. Fate was not on her side anymore, it was on his. Reid held all the cards. He was in control, and her timeline no longer existed.

She walked into Nicky's with Tyler, the only person willing to give her a ride and since only the Son's were guaranteed a parking spot in the tiny lot, unless she arrived as soon as school was over, there would be nowhere to leave her little black car. Ivy followed her chauffer over to their usual table where Sarah was already sitting on Caleb's lap, with an angry looking Kate in the seat next to them. She was complaining to Sarah about how "insanely jealous" Pogue always was, and that she could never "talk" to anybody. Kate didn't "talk." Kate batted her eyelashes and swayed her hips, practically begging for whomever she was speaking to at the moment to have their way with her. Kate was a trashy slut, and Ivy felt the need to inform her of such.

"You know Kate, when you flirt with everything that moves as soon as your boyfriend turns his back, that has a tendency to make him a little jealous," Ivy said as she took her seat across from Caleb, only just then noticing the smirking Reid sitting to the right of Caleb. He always did enjoy Kate and Ivy's thunderous arguments.

"I don't think anybody at this table, has anything to say to you. You're really not wanted here, so why don't you just mind your own business and get lost." Kate smiled in victory and turned back to her conversation.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll just go find Pogue, I'm sure he would love to talk to me. He's probably angry with you right now, isn't he? Maybe I could help."

"Don't you dare go run your mouth off to him. I don't need anymore problems, and all you ever do is cause problems." Kate's voice had reached a high pitched screech at the end of her sentence. Ivy was still in no hurry to raise her voice, but before she could respond, Reid got her attention.

"How about me and you go shoot some pool, Ivy?" He looked oddly amused and Ivy was stunned. He wanted to play pool, with her? Maybe he really was going to try and be her friend. She got up with a nod, ignoring a seething Kate, and followed Reid over to the pool tables. They played two games and eventually ended up sitting on the back steps outside Nicky's laughing and joking like old times, like nothing had ever changed.

Ivy was so beside herself with joy, she lost all control. He had said that he could not be in a relationship with her. She had worked so hard to get him to be her friend, but now she was getting ahead of herself. She said her next words without fully realizing what she was doing.

"Look, I thought we could just be friends, but I was wrong. I can't just be your friend, Reid." He never met her eyes; he just sat on the step and continued to kick the smooth gravel around in circles.

"I'm addicted, Ivy."

"What?"

"I'm addicted. We can't be more than friends." He still hadn't looked up, and Ivy was suddenly infuriated. How could he care so little about himself, to just give up like that?

"You are not addicted, Reid. You haven't even ascended yet! I can help you. We can get passed this and you'll be fine."

"But what if I don't get passed it. This thing is going to kill me one day, and then who's going to take care of you?"

"What do you mean 'take care of me'? I can take care of myself. Nothing is going to happen to you, Reid."

"I love you, Ivy. If we get back together, I will never be able to let you go again. But this, this thing, it will kill me one day, and that day is going to be far too soon for you. Who will take care of you then? Caleb? He's not going to give a damn. Pogue's going to have his own life, as far away from Ipswich, Massachusetts and his messed up parents as possible. And Tyler, Tyler's already so far gone, he'll be lucky to see twenty. You don't have a family to care about you. I'll be dead, and you'll be just like Evelyn; alone in some big empty house full of bad memories, and with a son who is doomed to repeat his father's mistakes. I will not do that to you. I love you too much. You deserve someone who can give you a real life, not one where you have to spend every second wondering just how many hours you have left with me. I love you too much to do that to you."

By the end of his speech he was standing directly in front of her with his hands locked tightly on her hips. He stared into her eyes for a long moment, before pulling her forward into a deep, searing kiss that was full of all his hidden emotions, and desperate good-byes. He pushed her away suddenly, and nearly sprinted around to the front of the building to where he was parked. Ivy heard the engine start, and the tires spin on the gravel, before pulling out onto the road and speeding away into the silent darkness, taking all of her hope with him.