I wait patiently as the doctor and nurse both insist I get almost every inch of my body examined or scanned. They keep reminding me that at my speed of twenty miles an hour, my injuries could be so much worse. Twenty miles and hour seems slow until you ram into the back of a still car going that speed.

Nearly two hours pass when I am finally done being poked and x-rayed. I keep thinking that maybe Hardin will burst through the door and force his explanation on me. He will tell me that he didn't and wouldn't ever sleep with that girl, he loves me, and that he can see a future with me. He will hold me and kiss my bruises and scrapes and tell me how sorry he is for being so cruel. After another half hour passes, I begin to realize how unlikely and pathetic that is.

I didn't want to call Landon and have him leave school but I really don't want to be alone at the moment and he's the only person that will be there for me. He's my best friend.

"I am so glad you are okay! What happened?" Landon asks as he walks into the small hospital room.

"It wasn't that bad.. I wasn't paying attention I guess so when the guy in front of me stopped, I didn't notice." I explain.

"Everything looks fine, you will be pretty banged up for a little while. You have a slight concussion and a lot of bruising. You need to take this medication regularly for pain and apply the ointment to the cut above your eye, other than that you are good to go." The doctor tells me.

If only he could give me something for the throbbing hole in my chest.

"Can we go then?" I ask and he nods.

"Did you call Hardin?" Landon asks.

"He was there." I reply.

"What do you mean? In the car?"

"No, he was there afterwards. With another girl."

"What?"

"He stayed at her house last night, that's where he was." I stand from the hospital bed and wrap the robe around myself so that my gown doesn't open in front of Landon.

"No."

"Yes. I saw her and she told me. I don't know why I keep putting myself through this." My fingers run through my hair but I stop and wince.

"Everything hurts." I whine and Landon tries to smile but fails miserably.

I can tell he wants to say something else about Hardin, but he doesn't. Instead, he helps me stand and hands me my clothes so that I can change and get the hell out of here.

"I'll be right back." I tell him and go inside the small bathroom.

Once my clothes are on I take a look into the mirror. I don't know what to think right now and I can't think clearly even if I try because of all the pain mediation I have just taken. My image is distorted, lumps and bruises cover my face and neck. A welt from the seatbelt I was thankfully wearing shows on my shoulder and I scold myself for being so careless while driving. I will need to call my insurance company tomorrow and find a way to come up with the money for my deductible since the wreck was my fault. I have a good amount of money saved since Hardin insists on paying most of the bills. Hardin's infidelity tries to fight it's way to the surface of my mind but I push it back with all the strength that I can. I am sick of being the victim, or behaving like one. This happens to people all of the time and it's not like I couldn't see this coming, but it still hurts. I am always so quick to forgive him after everything he does to me, all the lies, the bet, the secrets, the hurtful comments, all of it. I always give in and he never does.

Who is Carly girl anyway? She said she was his friend but I've never heard him talk about her before and he doesn't have many "friends" anyway. She probably meant friends with benefits.

I don't know whether to go home or not, I don't even have a car. If my car wasn't an old car and I had full coverage insurance, I could get a rental through my insurance, but of course I can't. Hopefully the car will be fixed quickly. I still have no way to get to Vance tomorrow, or campus the next day. At lease it's Wednesday, only half the week to go.

I pull my hair back from my face and begin to tie a band around it, quickly changing my mind when I see how visible my injuries really are.

"I'm ready." I tell Landon when I emerge from the bathroom.

"Thank you again for coming, I literally have no one else to call. I know you don't like to miss class." I say.

"Don't be silly, I'm just glad you're okay." He smiles and holds his hand out to help me walk.

My knee hurts the worst I think, except my head, or my shoulder. Hell, I don't know, it all hurts.

"What were you doing anyway when you hit him?" Landon asks.

"Well phone went off.." I bite my busted lip in embarrassment.

"Tessa!" He scolds me.

"I know, but I hadn't heard from Hardin all day and I thought it would be him."

"Was it?"

"I don't know, hand me my phone." I say and he reaches into his pocket to hand me my phone and my bracelet.

I decline the bracelet for now but turn my cell phone on.

*I fell asleep in the car after drinking too much, I'll be home soon.* The message from Hardin reads.

"Wow." I whisper, reading the message over and over.

If he wasn't doing anything wrong, he wouldn't have sent me this text. This lie.  My heart sinks and I show Landon the text and he shakes his head before I turn the phone off and put it in my back pocket.

"Where to?" Landon asks.

"I don't know.. I don't have a car." I am beyond frustrated.

"Do you want to come to my house? You can stay there for a little while until.."

"Unitl what? I forgive Hardin and go crawling back to the apartment?" I ask, a little too harshly.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"That's what you meant though, isn't it?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me..but that's sort of what always happens." He says quietly.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad because I know you are right. " I sigh.

He doesn't say anything else as we walk into the cold air. It's refreshing really, the cold breeze feels great against my hot and torn skin.

"Can you just take me.."

"Theresa!" My mothers voice interrupts.

Not now.

"Oh my god Theresa are you okay?" When I look up my mother is rushing towards me, her heels clanking against the hard concrete.

"I'm fine, it was a minor accident." I answer.

I don't have the energy to deal with her right now.

"I was so worried, I got here as fast as I could." She wraps her arms around me, too tightly causing me to flinch.

"I'm sorry. I have just had the longest drive of my life. As soon as they called, I rushed out of the house." She tells me while wearing a wrinkle free dress, perfect hair, and full makeup.

"Okay." I respond.

"Who's this?" She turns her award winning smile to Landon.

"I'm Landon, it's nice to meet you." He politely answers. Traitor.

"It's very nice to meet you." She smiles at him, then looks at me.

"He's Hardin's stepbrother." I add, pouring water on her fire.

"Oh..where is Hardin?" She grimaces.

"Working." I lie.

"Hm.. okay, well anyway. Have you eaten? We should go get lunch before I take you back home."

"I'm not going to your house. I have my internship tomorrow."

"I know dear, I meant your house." She says, she is being way too nice.

"What do you say? The three of us can go get some lunch?" My mother asks.

"I actually.." Landon begins to try to get out of it.

"We will come." I say before he can finish.

He looks incredibly uncomfortable and I feel guilty but with Hardin spending the night with another girl and the accident, I can't face her alone. I just can't.

I mouth "sorry" to Landon as we walk further into the parking lot but he brushes it off with a roll of his eyes.

"Where would you like to go? How about Chinese?" She suggests.

"Sure." I groan.

When Hardin isn't standing in the parking lot to beg for my forgiveness, the disappointment is crushing me but maybe it's a good thing that he isn't. I can't keep going in circles with him. He have been through so much and I have forgiven him for so much. I may be irrational and emotional but at least I care about him, he literally never shows emotion. He says cold and hurtful things and appears completely unaffected. Even a few hours ago when Carly admitted he stayed with her, he just said that we can work it out, we always do. Basically what he meant was "You'll forgive me, you always do."

For a moment I thought I saw a hint of emotion, just a flicker before it disappeared, only to be replaced with a scowl.

If seeing me sitting in the back of an ambulance, regardless of my minor injuries, didn't do it for him then I suspect nothing will.

Hardin's POV.

By the time I walk back to the apartment, my head is pounding. I should have ignored Tessa's request and forced my way into the ambulance with her. Instead, I stood there like a dumbass and watched it pull away.

The apartment is cold and feels empty. There was something in her eyes when she wished me away that worries me. She always forgives me whether I deserve it or not. Granted, this time should be her last straw but I sure fucking hope it isn't. Carly just had to get out of her damn car.

I don't know whether she will listen to me or not but there's only one way to find out. I grab my keys and walk back out of the apartment.

I don't even know which hospital she is going to be at, or if she will even be there since I just sat at on the couch for an hour deciding what the hell I should do next.

Grandview, that's the closest hospital so I will go there first.

If I could go back and erase everything I did in the last twenty four hours I would. I shouldn't have been so harsh about the future but we just don't want the same things. I can't give her everything that she needs and I know it. She knows it, she is just hoping that someday I will. I love her more than breathing but I can't promise her anything.

I know that I'm not good enough for her and she will realize that sooner or later.

I don't know what I'm going to say when I see her but I hope she comes to me with open arms, I need her. I desperately need her to tell me everything is okay and she will listen to me. She should know that I would never fuck anyone else. I just had too much to drink, way too damn much to drink and Carly took me back to her place. Yes, Carly and I used to fuck on occasion and she was an incredible lay but that doesn't mean shit compared to Tess. Tessa is everything to me and I won't let her stubborn nature and my asshole tendencies get in the way of that.

If she would just stop trying to fight me all the time, if she would just agree to move with me and shut the hell up about Seattle we would be fine.

When I finally arrive at Grandview I park in the very back of the lot, I will pull the car up for Tessa so she doesn't have to walk far. If she even agrees to come with me, that is. As soon as I step out of the car that's when I see them. Landon, Tessa, and her mum.

Her mother hugs her and Tessa pulls away slightly. Why the fuck does her mother out of all people have to be here? I can't say shit in front of her mum, well I can but we will just end up fighting in front of Tessa, especially considering what my last words for her were before I slammed the door in her face.

And Landon, why does Landon always have to come to the rescue? Doesn't he have his own god damn girlfriend to take care of. I find myself wishing he would take his sappy ass to New York so I would stop looking like the bad guy all the damn time.

She trusts him, that's why he's here. Her trust for him is much stronger than her trust for me, and rightfully so. If Landon was her boyfriend he would be hugging her tight against his chest while whispering sweet words into her ear to comfort her. That's what she needs. Not me, the asshole who can't go a week without fucking up.

I need to take a second to decide what I'm going to do next. Should I run up to her and tell her how sorry I am in front of Landon and her mum? Or should I just get in the car and leave, pretending to never come here at all?

When Tess smiles at Landon I climb into my car and drive away before I risk them seeing me.

Tessa's POV.

Landon drives separately, leading the way and I stare out the window of my mother's car as we drive to lunch. This is the last thing I want to be doing right now yet I can't think of what I would be doing if I wasn't doing this.

I wish I had the type of mother who could take one look at me and tell something is wrong. The type who would coax me to tell her and hug me as I cry into her shoulder. The type that would tell me everything will be okay, even if it won't. Instead I have to pretend that nothing is going on so that she wont throw it in my face and remind me how foolish I am.

"Have you spoken to Noah lately?" She asks, proving my point.

"No mother, I have not."

"I thought he would want you to know he got accepted into WSU early admission for the summer semester, only a few months from now." She informs me.

"I thought he was going to San Francisco?" I turn to look at her.

"No, WSU offered him a full soccer scholarship."

"Oh."

If I would have stayed away from Hardin, Noah and I could be happy together at college just like we had planned in only a few short  months. If I loved him that is.

"He's seeing someone." She adds.

I wait for the slightest pang of jealousy to come but it doesn't.

"Really? Who?"

"I'm not sure but Mrs. Porter seems to really despise the girl. However, they are taking her on their ski trip this year, next week actually."

The Porters take a trip down to Mammoth Lake in California where they own a huge cabin, larger than my mother's house. I have never been but had always been invited.

"Do you mind that he is seeing someone?" She asks.

"No, not at all. As long as he is happy." I say and mean it.

"Landon seems like a nice boy."

"He is, so is Hardin." I know where she is going with this so I shut her down before she can start.

"I wouldn't say that."

"I have had a long enough day mother, if you are going to talk about Hardin all day then you can let me out of the car now."

"I'm not. You were never this disrespectful before."

"That's because I never stood up for myself and now I am. I'm sick of everyone thinking they can walk all over me. It's bullshit."

"Who's everyone? It doesn't sound like you're only referring to me."

"I'm just saying in general." I groan.

I refuse to give her the satisfaction of letting her know about Hardin and Carly.

She pulls into the lot behind Landon and parks the car. The hour that we are inside eating really isn't as bad as I thought, maybe because I am trying to focus on everything that Landon and my mother are talking about so I don't think about Hardin and what the hell I am going to do next. I turn on my phone for the slight chance that there will be a voicemail or text message from Hardin.

The thing that is bothering me the most is that he has me exactly where he wants me. I live with him, all of my friends are his, except Landon who is his step-brother, my classes revolve around him, my internship revolves around him. My entire life revolves around him and his life has been unaltered. If I left him, nothing would change for him but for me, everything would. I have nothing without him and I hate that. I hate him for continuing to hurt me and I hate myself for allowing it.

While Landon talks about Dakota's beautiful smile, I try to come up with a plan for my future. Without Hardin.

"Do you want to do some shopping after this?" My mother asks after she pays for lunch.

"I really just want to sleep." I tell her and she nods.

"Of course." She smiles.

What is with her being so nice today?

"I'm going to run to the restroom before we go. It was so nice to meet you Landon, I hope I see you again." She hugs him and I cringe.

"You too, maam." Landon responds. Why does he have to be so polite.

"Thank you for coming, I don't think I could have survived that alone." I say when she disappears.

"It's not like I had a choice." He tells me with a small smile.

"You seemed to get along." I tease.

"No, I just know how to work with parents." He brags and I laugh.

Laughing feels odd in comparison to how I feel on the inside.

"Where are you going to go?" He asks.

"I have no idea. I can't keep letting history repeats itself. He hasn't even tried to call me." I tell him, holding my phone in the air.

"You can stay with us, you know that."

"I know, I don't have a car though."

"We have plenty of cars, well Ken and my mother do." He offers.

"I'm not driving their cars! I already bug you guys enough." I tell him.

"Don't be silly, we would do anything for you. You know that." He says and I wrap my arms around him.

Hardin once told me that I was the only constant in his life, Landon is the only in mine.

"Maybe you should hang out with her for a little while before you decide, do you really have the energy to fight with Hardin right now?" Landon says.

"No, but I don't have the energy to keep up appearances with my mother either." I sigh.

"But I guess you are right." I say as she walks up to us.

My body is aching and so is my chest but I can't face Hardin right now, I'm not ready for what I know will happen.

Hardin's POV.

I crack open my fourth beer and spin the cap under my finger against the glossy wooden table. When is she going to be here? Is she going to be here?

Maybe I should just text her and tell her that I did have sex with Carly, just to end both of our misery.

A loud knock on the door breaks me from my plotting, I grab my beer, take another swig and head for the door. Here we go. I hope she is alone.

The knocking quickly shifts to pounding and I swing open the door to find Landon.

His hands grip the collar of my t-shirt and he slams me against the wall.

What the fuck?

He is much stronger than I ever expected and I am astounded by his aggressive behavior.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" He yells.

I didn't know his voice could even get that loud.

'What are you talking about? Get the fuck off of me!" I push back but he doesn't move.

Fuck he's strong.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"You don't know shit!" I yell back.

He lets go of me and for a second I think he is going to punch me but he doesn't.

"I know that you slept with another girl and you caused her to wreck her car!" He gets in my face again.

"I suggest you lower your fucking voice." I snap.

"I'm not afraid of you." He says through his teeth.

What the fuck.

"I already beat your ass before remember?" I remind him.

"I wasn't as angry then as I am now with you." He threatens.

"Why do you even care?" I shout.

"Because you can't just go around hurting her all the time!"

"I didn't even sleep with that girl. I just slept over at her house so mind your own damn business."

"Oh wow! Of course you are drinking!" He waves towards the empty beer bottles on the table and the one in my hand.

"Tessa is all banged up and has a concussion because of you and here you are getting drunk. You're such a prick!" He practically screams.

"That wasn't my fucking fault and I tried to talk to her!"

"Yes it was your fault! It was your damn text message that she was trying to read when she crashed. A text that was a lie may I add." He tells me and the breath is knocked out of me.

"What are you talking about?" I choke.

"You text her saying you fell asleep in your car and she was trying to read it when she wrecked."

I had forgotten about that text. This is my fault. How did I not put it together? And she read it, then found out the truth. She must be heartbroken. Once again.

"She's done with you, you know that don't you?" He adds.

"Yeah. I know."

 (I love everyone's comments during these intense chapters! Even the mean ones lol. I know (hope) they are just because you are frustrated with the story and not me but I'm glad that I can evoke that emotion from you! Ily! vote and comment please:) xo