Foursome

I was in my room, organizing papers I had to get ready for the meeting Noelle was hosting in thirty minutes. It was going to be held in Pemberly's lobby, and all the Billings girls had to attend. It was only a day after the big confrontation, and I was busy as hell. I was Noelle's wingman, and I kind of felt like I was in The Devil Wears Prada; she was making me work extremely hard.

My task was to find hotels or halls in order to accommodate the biggest fundraiser ever held in Easton. Noelle insisted that it should be in New York. So instead of doing the homework that I needed to do, I was busy making calls and asking for prices, and seeing if there was any room in the near future.

I was so busy getting everything all together that I didn't hear a slight knock on my door. I snapped my head up at the third knock, feeling extremely stupid. "Coming!" I assured the person.

It was Sawyer, looking so out of place. He was wearing his black coat, which was tightly fastened around his chest, and his shoes seemed a little wet. I was surprised. What was he doing here?

"Sawyer, hey," I said. I glanced down at my attire, and wished I wore something else. I looked like crap with my battered Vanderbilt T-shirt (one of the many shirts I got from Upton), and my hair was a mess.

Sawyer smiled apologetically. "Sorry…was I interrupting you?" His eyes took a peek in my room, taking in the mess.

"Oh no! I was getting some stuff ready for the meeting today. Noelle's making me work like crazy so…" I stopped myself, realizing that I was rambling. "Come in," I invited. Sawyer nodded and I let him inside.

"Sit down," I told Sawyer while I gestured to the bed. He stood where he was at.

"I won't be here for long," he mentioned. "But, I should give you this." He took out a stack of blue little passes and handed them over to me. "My dad said if any of you guys lose it, he's not going to make another one. And if you are going out of town, you need to sign out in his office and tell him where you're going."

I flipped through the all of the passes, and saw names for all of the Billings girls. I was shocked; it was extremely generous. I looked up at Sawyer. "Wow, this is great! Tell your dad I said thanks." Now, we could go anywhere at any time and get our business done.

"Oh, and you can only use it during the weekends." Maybe not.

I nodded. "Sit down Sawyer, I want to know how schools going," I said. He smiled slightly and finally sat down on my bed. I removed some of the papers on it and sat down next to him.

"So," I started while sitting Indian style, "anything new?" I wondered if he had any new friends yet.

He shrugged. "No, not really. But all the teachers are extremely nice to me. Which is definitely a plus," he added. I laughed at his honesty.

"Even Mr. Barber?" If he was, then that meant he was doing some serious kissing up to Sawyer and Graham.

He frowned. "Yeah, but everyone said he was really mean. But then again, being the headmaster's son does have its advantages." I laughed again and pushed his arm a little. He joined in with the laughter.

"Yeah definitely. Especially since you knew where my room was at," I said jokingly.

He gave another laugh, and I instantly felt calm. This was the most I ever heard Sawyer laugh; in fact, it sounded pretty nice.

"You know, this is the most I've ever heard you laugh," I brought up. His smiled faded, and I felt stupid for making the conversation all sad.

Sawyer looked down at his hands. "It's still hard, but…what can I do? Should I keep myself tied down all the time? I'm not…Jen." He paused and looked up at me. "I'm Sawyer. I'm Sawyer…fucking Hathaway," he finished. He looked at me warily, as if the swearing wore him out.

As much as the speech was inspirational, I dissolved into a fit of laughter, and I couldn't stop laughing. I had never heard Sawyer swear before, and it sounded plain weird coming off of him.

Sawyer looked dismayed. "What happened? What was so funny?"

It took me a minute to stop giggling. "Oh, Sawyer. It's just," I managed to let a small laugh slip by, "I've never heard you swear before. So, it was kind of funny." I couldn't tell the difference what kind of expression he was making. It was a mixture of horror, amusement, and confusion all wrapped in one.

My tears started to fall and I rolled to my side, again laughing. This was so weird. But, it felt so good. There was nothing but tension, and more tension, and it felt absolutely great to let myself loose. Just laughing at stupid things felt well. I was free.

Sawyer joined in, laughing only because I was. He shook his head. "This isn't that funny. At all." Another round of laughter came by for both of us, and more tears started to fall. We were stupid, immature high school kids laughing at something really retarded. It was the best feeling I ever had.

A knock came on the door, and both of us stopped ourselves. Damn that person who ruined my happy time. Sawyer looked at me. "Who is it?" I shrugged and wiped the remaining tears from my eyes.

I sighed loudly. "I don't know." I tried to get up, but with no avail. "Oh God, all the laughing has made me so sore," I complained while I rubbed my stomach.

Sawyer gave a small chuckle. "You know what you should put on if you're sore? Head On. It works really well."

I got up and started to head towards the door. I scoffed. "Head On? Isn't that for your head?" I tripped on my way over to the door, when suddenly the door was flung open. It was Josh.

Goddammit! He just had to ruin one of the best times I've had so far this year by standing in front of my door. I looked at him deeply, and noticed some books on his side. He looked tired, and maybe a little mad. He wore a lazy sweatshirt and some old jeans, making the whole tired look complete.

I saw his eyes glitter of judgment, but they automatically went back to being indifferent. "Hey, Reed." Josh shifted his feet nervously. "I was looking for Ivy, and I heard some laughing, so I thought…" His eyes drifted over to my room, and they stopped at Sawyer. Josh looked at me and said "I see that she's not here. Sorry for bothering you," he said almost rudely. He turned to leave.

"Josh, wait! I want you to meet somebody," I said. Secretly, I wanted him to accept Sawyer. He had no reason to be mad at him. In addition, I wanted Josh to know that Sawyer was the one who saved me- twice. And I could have any guy in my room, if I wanted to. So ha.

Josh reluctantly stopped and came forward. I turned my head back to my room and saw Sawyer getting up to leave. He gave me a puzzled look and came by me. "Uh, I guess I'll leave," said Sawyer. He opened the door a little wider and saw Josh standing there. His eyes got a little wide, but they returned to their normal state.

Oh God, this was so awkward. Josh was as passive as ever, but this was…weird. Josh and I had history, and Sawyer and I were making history, in a way. He was a close friend of mine, and I felt like I could confide in him. Josh and I were complicated. Very complicated.

Sawyer cleared his throat. "Uh, hey man." He took out his hand to shake Josh's, but Josh only stood still, glaring at his hand. Damn bitch; he didn't even have the decency to shake his hand.

Sawyer sensed the tension, and he took his hand back. Say something, Reed! Like now!

"Uh, Josh, this is Sawyer. Sawyer, this is Josh." A second of awkward silence passed by, and I could feel the gazes of both men. It was making me all uncomfortable and I didn't like it one bit. Why did I invite Josh to stay over? I knew it was going to awkward.

Josh only nodded and Sawyer ran his hand through his blonde hair, trying to shake of the embarrassment. Now that I looked up at them, I saw how similar they looked. They both had blonde hair, they were tall, and they had the look of someone who hadn't slept in a long time. And they were…good-looking.

"Reed?" I turned to my side and saw Ivy coming up the stairs, books in hand. She eyed the three of us suspiciously, but regained her composure. "What's up guys?" Her eyes flickered at Josh, noticing his stiff position.

I hadn't really talked to Ivy in a long time. I was trying to avoid her, and the amount of work that was given to me paid off. I would occasionally see her in the hallways at school or before I retired to my room at night. What sucked was that she was extremely nice; it made everything a lot more complicated now.

"Hey, Ivy" I squeaked. Her eyes shot around, trying to discern what was going on.

"Um, I know you two," she said while she pointed at Josh and I, "but I don't know you," Ivy finished with a smile.

Sawyer smiled back, although he was slightly blushing. "I'm Sawyer."

"Oh, you're the headmaster's son! That's cool. How do you like Easton so far?" Ivy came around and wrapped an arm around Josh's waist; it seemed like he didn't notice. His eyes were fixed on me. They weren't accusing, but they posed the question why and how. Why Sawyer was here and how did I know him.

Let's just say he didn't need to know anything for now.

Sawyer shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's pretty good, but I still need to adjust." Everyone resumed going quiet after that. Awkward, awkward, awkward. This foursome was not going well.

"He saved me-twice on the island. If it wasn't for him, I'd be, like, gone," I blurted out. Ivy's eyes widened upon hearing the new revelation, and Josh was still as ever.

"Really? No wonder Reed's still here, alive." Sawyer blushed deeply, and a ripple of quiet laughter escaped our mouths. Mine, Ivy, and Sawyer's at least. Thank God Ivy was here.

"It's not a big deal…" he said quietly. I felt kind of bad for making him shy, but I had to say something. I owed him everything, and Josh needed to know that although he wasn't there, Sawyer was. I was a big girl, and he didn't need to judge Sawyer. He was a good guy.

"Well, I think we should get going. Talk to you later, Reed. And it was nice meeting you, Sawyer," Ivy finalized. She took Josh's hand, and led him inside the door. He took one last look at Sawyer and I before he let himself being taken in by Ivy.

Sawyer was standing on the opposite side of the door. We were less than a foot apart, and I could smell his intoxicating cologne. I looked at him nervously. God, what the hell was that? It was pure agony. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I…didn't think. I just wanted everyone to get along and I thought…" I sighed. "Sorry about the awkwardness. You deserve better."

He sighed. "Reed, don't torture yourself. Please. Everyone's well-being is not your responsibility." He paused and looked at me with a tortured expression. "It goes deeper." I swallowed. It did go deeper. Not only was I confused with my feelings and my actions, I was stuck. I didn't know how to move on when the person in front of me wasn't willing to move either.

Sawyer slowly brought up his hand. He hesitated, wondering if it was alright. I didn't say anything, because honestly, I didn't know what he was doing. In an excruciating pace, he finally brought his hand up to my cheek and brushed his smooth fingers over my face. I shivered against his touch; it brought forth a set of tingles through my body. I blushed and his hand lingered over my face.

His brow was still furrowed in concentration. "Good night, Reed." And just like that, he left without another word.


thank you for the reviews everyone! you guys are great. sorry for not updating for a week because i have so much work to do and i had a little writers block, i'm ashamed to admit.

i know this chapter sucks. it's basically a filler, but you got the first glimpse of sawyer/reed/josh interaction. more will come on the way, i assure you.

question time: what kind of ideas do you have for the fundraiser? i was thinking like...well, never mind. you guys tell me. i'm always open to them.

reviews please! you know how much i love them :)