A/N: Thanks to Love.Always.Alice.and.Jasper, and Niffer01 for their reviews of Ch. 09. Thanks to everyone has added me or this story to their favs or alert list! This is the longest chapter yet, I hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure if I'll manage a chapter tomorrow, but I'll try. Enjoy and Review!

Reid was getting antsy. It was ten o'clock already and there was no sign of her. He still hadn't gotten Baby Boy to tell him what he'd done, and he was starting to worry. He knew that his attention or lack there of would annoy her, but when she had snapped at him after school, there had been something furious in her eyes, and he had no clue what.

The party had officially begun at nine and barring police intervention, would probably go on till the wee hours of the morning. The party was for both the male and female swim teams, but the reality was, anyone would turn up. Reid Garwin's parties were known for being all-out, non-stop good times. Mostly because he didn't care what damage was done or what trouble he got in. Pissing of the senior Garwins was, for Reid, an art form, and as far as he was concerned, it wasn't a real party until something got broken.

Just as he was about to go and ask Sarah again if she knew where Talia was, he saw something that took his breath away. She was standing in the doorway, looking around, trying to find something familiar.

She was beautiful. She was wearing a tight, red, long sleeved top that showed off her curves, black cowboy boots and a short black flirty skirt and that made her legs look a mile long. Her hair was done in big, shining curls that bounced around her face, and her eyes were outlined in black, making her grey eyes stand out even more.

"Wow," Tyler breathed. Reid nodded. "That must be Jess," he said in an awed voice. Reid followed his friend's admiring gaze to the petite redhead standing next to Tal. She was maybe a couple inches over 5', with pretty Asian features and a slim body. She was wearing a short, dark blue strapless dress that matched her eye make-up. She was definitely hot, but Reid felt his gaze moving back to Talia.

She finally seemed to spot them, and elbowing her friend, she made her way towards them.

"Hi guys, this is Jess," she said nodding towards her companion. "Jess this is Reid and Tyler," gesturing to each in turn. Reid nodded a greeting.

"Hi," Jess said quietly, giving a small wave.

"Hi," Tyler replied smiling at her. They stared at each other for a moment, then a blush spread across Jess' cheeks and she looked away.

It looks like Baby Boy's not the only one interested!

Deciding it was time to break the slightly awkward atmosphere, he spread his arms wide, saying, "Well the party's pretty much everywhere. So are the drinks. There's a pool out back, if you want to go swimming."

Both girls looked at each other in surprise. "Oh. I didn't know it was a pool party. We didn't bring our suits." Tal said sadly.

Reid burst out laughing.

Tyler replied, "Uh, no one brought suits, but there still seems to be a pool party going on." He was smiling, but looked a little embarrassed.

It was Tal's turn to blush. "Oh. Well. Um. Are the others here yet?" she said, rapidly changing the subject.

"Yeah. Pogue's in the front room, and I think Sarah and Caleb are in the kitchen." Reid replied. Talia just looked lost.

"Come on, I'll show you," offered Tyler, smiling.

"See you later Reid," Talia said as Baby Boy led her and her friend away.

Well, at least she's talking to me now.

As the cute guy, Tyler, led them through room after room, Jess began to relax. This was like ever other teenage party she'd been too, and she didn't feel as out of place as she thought she would. She remembered what Tal had told her countless times as they had been getting ready.

"Stick as close to the truth as you can, just leave out the parts that don't fit. That way you're less likely to get caught in a lie. The more elaborate the lie, the more difficult to remember. Be yourself as much as you can – at least you get to. There's no way in hell I'm wearing a skirt."

She thought about the two she had met already. I wasn't as though she had much experience in dealing face-to-face with psychotic killers, but they didn't seem the type. Reid definitely was interested in Tal, but Jess' eyes had been drawn to his quiet friend. His eyes were fascinating, and he had the cutest dimples. Definitely do-able. I hope he's not a bad guy. She was starting to see Talia's dilemma.

Tyler led them into a high-ceilinged room with a giant fireplace and gilded gold everywhere. Talk about overkill.

"Hey! Hey, Pogue!" he yelled over the pulse-pounding music to a tall guy drinking a beer in the corner with some other guys. He turned, waving, and began to push his way through the crowd.

He finally reached them and did the whole 'guy hug' thing. "Hey man," he said in a low voice.

"Hey. This is Tal's friend, Jess," Tyler said, placing his hand on the small of her back.

"Nice to meet you. Tal told me some interesting stories," Pogue smiled warmly.

"Nothing too embarrassing I hope!" Jess laughed. At the nervous look on Tal's face, she frowned, turning to her friend. "You didn't!"

"Something about dancing on a table and having to go to the ER for stitches," Pogue grinned.

"What happened?" Tyler asked curiously.

"I smashed my head on the light fixture," Jess muttered.

"She was drunk," Tal added, helpfully. Jess glared at her friend. It was the truth, mostly. She had gone to the pack healer instead of the ER though. Shifting forms with glass in your head was not a good idea.

The guys in the corner began to call Pogue back over. "Well, it was nice meeting you. We should talk sometime, you can tell me some embarrassing stories about Tal," he grinned walking away.

Jess's eyes lit at the idea, and Tal began to look worried.

Pogue seemed nice; he was as hot as his photo too. If it weren't for his long hair, he'd look like a pretty boy, but bad boys weren't her type. She was kind of surprised Tal hadn't gone for him, but she had felt the tension between her and Reid earlier. She wondered what Caleb and Sarah were like.

"Let's go find the others, shall we?" Tyler said, echoing her thoughts.

Tyler introduced Jess to Caleb and Sarah. Caleb gave her a big, warm smile and Sarah began to gush about how beautiful they both looked. Tyler had to agree. Jess was stunning, and he had seen the look in Reid's eyes as he saw Talia earlier.

He wondered how long it would be until Talia had had enough of Reid's crap and give him a tongue-lashing. She had already proved that first night that she wasn't fooled by Reid's charm, and although Reid seemed to have gained the upper hand somehow, Ty was pretty sure she'd make a good comeback. Reid needed someone who would stand up to him, put him in his place once in a while, and give him boundaries. Reid's parents had always let him run wild, seemingly uncaring, and Reid had paid the price.

His powers had gone unchecked and in wasn't long until his Ascension. Tyler was worried about his friend, he had tried talking to him about it, but Reid had just brushed him off like he did when Caleb tried to get through to Reid. The problem was neither he nor Caleb had any leverage on Reid and he didn't listen to them. But Talia might be enough of a distraction to keep Reid from going off the deep end.

Joan Jett started playing over the speakers and Caleb laughed as Sarah grinned and began to lead him to the dance floor. Jess whispered something to Tal that made her smile.

"Can I get you two something to drink?" Tyler asked, smiling at the two girls.

Talia looked at Jess and answered, "Jess'll take a Bud, and I'd love a water. I'm driving," she shrugged. "Short straw."

"No problem," he smiled, pushing through the crowd to get to the refrigerator. By the time he got back, Jess was standing alone, and he spotted Reid dragging a grumpy-looking Talia out to the dance floor. "So she's talking to him again?" he asked Jess when he got close enough.

"There wasn't much talking involved. He asked her to dance and then dragged her off before she could answer," Jess answered, smiling at her friend's discomfort.

"I'm amazed she let him. The way she was acting earlier, I'm surprised she hasn't decked him yet," he remarked, handing her the freshly opened bottle.

Jess looked at him, her eyes wide. "Tal w-would n-never hit someone, sh-she's got the mildest temper I've ever seen." Tyler just raised an eyebrow, not buying it. "She just wants him to kiss her again," she blurted nervously.

"He's kissed her already?" Tyler asked.

Jess nodded. "It's nice to know he isn't the bragging type, at least,"

Tyler just shrugged. Sometimes he was, sometime he wasn't.

"He'd better not hurt her," she frowned at the thought, "Tal doesn't act like it, but she really doesn't have that much experience with guys."

"And you do?" Tyler asked, grinning. She pursed her lips, trying to hold back a smile. "Don't worry, I'll keep and eye on them. It was kinda rude to leave you here alone though," he remarked.

"Oh, I don't know, it gives us time to get to know each other," she said smiling sweetly at him.

Tyler grinned.

"Reid, I don't want to dance with you!" she said again as he dragged her through to the makeshift dance floor. She was tugging on his hand, and although she could have easily broken his grip, she hadn't yet. I wonder why.

"Sure you do," he replied grinning back at her.

She just sighed, giving up and letting him pull her into his arms.

"You look amazing," he said, swaying her back and forth to Emiliana Torrini's 'Summerbreeze'.

"Thanks," she muttered, not meeting his eyes. He was looking pretty hot himself. He was wearing faded jeans with a crinkled black shirt unbuttoned over a black t-shirt and raggedy black fingerless gloves. He was dressed a lot more casual than most people around, her self included, but the dark outfit set off his pale blond hair and vivid blue eyes. And it was hard to stay mad at him when he was looking so tempting.

"I had been getting worried that you weren't coming. I've been bugging Sarah for the last hour," he admitted. She made the mistake of looking into his eyes and felt momentarily off-balance.

"I said I was coming didn't I? It's just that Jess insisted on curling my hair at the last minute. Don't you dare make any comments about girls taking hours to get ready," she said frowning and looking away.

"I think it looks nice," he whispered, taking a curl and tugging slightly, looking her in the eyes. She looked up at him, entrance by the honesty in his eyes and the genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Why haven't you kissed me again?" she whispered back before she could think.

He looked her for a moment. "I guess I wanted to take things slowly, see if you really wanted it," he answered.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked quietly, still unsure why he had been doing.

His head snapped up to hers, "It wasn't you first kiss was it?" he exclaimed, sounding horrified.

She laughed, drawing attention during the quiet song. "No, definitely not. It's just, we kissed, and then you spent the rest of the week acting so bizarrely, I didn't know if I did something wrong,"

"Bizarre? I don't what you're talking about." Reid replied.

Tal saw red. She had been about to forgive him again, but he was still playing whatever game he found oh-so-amusing.

"Yeah, you do. And I've had enough. Just say away from me Garwin!" she yelled, pulling away from him and disappearing into the crowd.

After she'd run off, leaving him alone on the dance floor, he'd made a beeline for the beer. Now, slightly buzzed, he found Tyler and convinced him they could fleece Abbot out a few dollars at the pool table in the basement.

Aaron was being his usual arrogant, pain-in-the-ass self, but Reid was too tired to argue with him. He had been mouthing off the provost for a while, Reid was happy enough, it was distracting Aaron, he had lost two games already and Reid hadn't even used yet. They had attracted quite a crowd, practically the whole men's team was there, except for Pogue and Caleb.

"So I heard that Talia tore you a new one earlier. Trouble in paradise?" Aaron sneered, expecting to get a rise out of Reid. Reid was too pissed off at Talia to care though. Instead, he just wanted to be mean.

"Nah, she's just PMS-ing," He replied, taking his shot. The mostly-male crowd laughed at his remark.

"Reid," Tyler said warningly, only to be ignored. He got Aaron's attention though.

"What about that sweet piece of ass with her? I like the look of her. I bet the curtains don't meet the carpets though, if you know what I mean!" he laughed.

"Shut up, Abbot," Tyler growled.

"I wouldn't know, but I'm sure Ty will, if we give him time," Reid remarked, not noticing exactly how angry Tyler was beside him. "I think Tal dyes her hair, trying to be exotic," he continued, frustrated and angry and confused at why.

"I think you should shut the fuck up Reid!" Tyler yelled, getting in Reid's face.

"Maybe you should see your little girlfriend there, he seems kinda upset. Maybe he'd PMS-ing too." Aaron sneered.

Reid turned his anger towards Aaron, "Maybe you should mind your own business, Abbot!"

"Get the fuck out my face Garwin," Aaron replied, shoving Reid. Normally he would have only needed to take a step back, but because he was a little tipsy, he feel back into Tyler and sent them both flying backwards.

"Shit!" Tyler yelled as his arm made a loud crack against a nearby table.

Suddenly Jess was there, kneeling next too him, and taking his arm and gently examining it. Tyler hissed in pain. "I think it's broken, we should get him to the hospital," she said, looking up at Talia.

She nodded, "I'll drive,"

"Hold on, I'm coming too," Reid added, stopping when Talia whirled to look at him. It was obvious from the rage in her eyes that she had heard everything.

"No way. You stay and play with you friends. I'll take care of mine." She turned following Jess and Tyler back upstairs. None of them looked back.