The songs for this chapter are:

All you ever: Hunter Hayes

Happiness- The Fray

Hundred- The Fray

(Sometimes the songs repeat from different chapters because I'm listing what I listened to while writing)

Hardin's POV.

"I won't give up Seattle for you so you turn on me?" She blinks, "you show up with her and say all these hateful things to me, I thought we were past this. What happened to you not being able to live without me? What happened to you trying your best to treat me the way you should?"

I want to hurt her, to make her feel like shit, the way that I felt when I looked out to see her laughing. She was fucking laughing while she should have been sitting across from me vying for my attention. It was like she didn't give a fuck about me getting close to Lillian. She was too focused on the fucking waiter and whatever the hell he said.

My mind sifts through hateful thoughts to pick one that I'm sure will break her down. Lillian's statement from this morning pops in and I say it before I can stop myself, "There is a big difference in not being able to live without someone and loving them," she steps back from me as the words hit her. I almost want to take them back, almost. She deserves them, she really does. She shouldn't have said that she didn't want me to go to Seattle with her.

I turn and leave her standing there alone. She said I turned on her, I didn't turn on her. I'm here for her, on her side. She's the one trying to leave me every damn chance she gets. Lillian advised me to follow Tessa outside and tell her about Lillian's sexual orientation but she didn't realize was Tessa was outside flirting with our douchebag waiter.

"I'm leaving," I announce when I reach the table. Six sets of eyes look up and Landon rolls his before looking over to the door. "She's outside," I tell him sarcastically. He can go out there and put on fucking kitten gloves for her, I'm sure as hell not going to.

"What did you do now?" He has the nerve to ask me in front of everyone.

"Mind your own fucking business." I glare at him.

"Hardin," my father warns. Not him too, everyone is fucking against me apparently. If my father wants to start shit with me I fucking dare him.

"I'll go too," Lillian says, standing from the table.

"No," I snap but she ignores me and follows me as I make my way through the restaurant and out the front door.

"What the heck happened?" She asks when we get outside.

"She was out there with that fucking guy, that's what happened."

"Then what? What did she say when you told her that I'm not a threat?" She stumbles slightly in her high heels but I don't stop to help her as I try to decide where the hell I'm actually going. I knew I should have fucking driven my own car here but no, Tessa had to get her way. Big surprise there.

"I didn't tell her,"

"Why not? Do you know what she's probably thinking right now?"

"I don't give a shit what she thinks, I hope she is thinking that I'm going to fuck you," She stops walking.

"Why? If you love her why would you want her to think that?"

Oh lovely, now Lillian is turning on me too. "Because she needs to learn that.."

"Stop, just stop there because she doesn't need to learn anything. It seems to me that you're the one who needs to be learning something, what did you say to her?"

"I said what you said to me this morning about there being a difference between not being able to live without someone and loving them." I tell her and begin to walk again.

"You said that to her as in you can't live without her but don't love her?"

"Yes, did I not just tell you that." She needs to just go away because she's getting on my last fucking nerve just like Tessa.

"Wow," she laughs. She's laughing at me too?

"What? What's so funny?" I nearly yell at the girl.

"You are so clueless," she continues to mock me. "When I said that to you this morning I wasn't referring to you, I was talking about her. I meant that just because you think she can't live without you doesn't mean that she's in love with you."

"What?"

"You assume that you have her so wrapped around your finger that she won't leave you because she can't live without you when in reality it seems like you have her trapped and that's why she won't leave you, not because she loves you, because you have made her feel that she can't be without you."

"No, she loves me." I know she does and that's why she will be following me out here any moment.

"Does she? Why would she when you do things to hurt her on purpose?"

I've had enough of this shit. I turn to face her, "You are in no place to be giving anyone a god damned lecture, your girlfriend is probably fucking someone else right now while you're here trying to play matchmaker between Tessa and I," I growl, throwing my hands in the air.

Her eyes widen and she takes a step back from me, the way Tessa did only minutes ago. Her blue eyes begin to water, shining in the darkness. Lillian shakes her head and begins to walk back toward the restaurant parking lot.

"Where are you going?" I call to her through the wind.

"Back inside. Tessa may be stupid enough to put up with your crap but I'm not." For a moment I almost follow the girl who I thought was my.. friend? I don't know but I felt like I could trust her despite only knowing her for two days.

Fuck that, I'm not following anyone. Tessa or Tessa number two. They can both go to hell, I don't need either of them.

Tessa's POV.

I watch as he strides through the crowded dining room and back to the table. Every nerve of mine is on edge, ready to ignite as everyone's attention is set on Hardin. I hold my breath, praying that he won't  sit back down next to Lillian and kiss her to spite me.

My chest is aching, my throat is dry, and my head is spinning. Hardin basically just told me that he doesn't love me and he chases me so he can have sex with me. The worst thing about what he said to me is that I know he didn't mean them. I know he loves me, he does. In his own way he loves me more than anything, he's shown me that time and time again in the last six months. But he's also shown me that he will stop at nothing to hurt me, to make me feel weak just because his ego is bruised.  If he loved me the way he should, he wouldn't purposely hurt me.

He couldn't have meant that he only wants sex from me. He doesn't really see me as a toy, does he? Of course not.

But he said it with such conviction, he didn't even blink. I honestly don't know anymore. Through all of the fights, tears, holes in our walls, I have always held onto the small certainty that he loves me, without that we have nothing. I have nothing, without him.

"There's a difference in not being able to live without someone and loving them," the words slice through me again.

Inside the restaurant Lillian frowns and looks up at Hardin who is now talking to Ken, or Landon, I can't tell. My nails press into my palm and I welcome the pain, I am not going to break down and follow him. His words were hateful and he said them to get a reaction from me.

I don't notice the door to the deck opening until Robert is next to me. 

"Brought you something, " he holds up the bottle of wine in his hands, shaking it playfully. He dips his shoulder to one side and a grin spreads across his handsome face.

I surprise myself by smiling, a real smile, despite the fact that I'm screaming, huddled in a corner crying, on the inside. 

"Pity wine?" I question, holding my hands out for the white labeled bottle. I recognise it as the same bottle Max ordered, it must have cost a fortune.

"What other type of wine is there?" He grins, placing it in my hands. The bottle is cold but my hands are nearly numb from the February air.

"Glasses," he smiles, dipping his hands into the deep pockets of his apron. "I couldn't fit actual wine glasses so I grabbed these," he hands me a white Styrofoam cup and I hold it up while he uncorks the bottle.

"Thank you," the wine fills the small cup and I bring it to my lips the moment he pulls away.

"We can go inside you know? There are a few sections that are closed down already so we can sit there." Robert says then takes a drink.

"I don't know," I sigh, shifting my gaze to the table.

"He left," I can hear the sympathy in his voice, "so did she," he adds.

Oh.

"Oh," He left with her. "Of course he did,"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really." I shrug, "Tell me about this wine." I grasp for a neutral, non-depressing subject.

'The wine? Okay, well the wine is old and aged to perfection," he laughs and I join him.

"Okay, not the wine then." I tip my cup back to finish the rest as quickly as possible.

"Uhm," he says, looking behind me. My stomach drops at his nervous expression and I hope Hardin isn't back to spit more venom at me. When I turn around, Lillian is standing in the doorway seemingly unsure whether to come out or not.

"What do you want?" I ask her. I'm trying to control my jealousy but the wine coursing through me isn't working in my favor. Robert grabs my empty cup as the wind knocks it over and begins to fill it again. I get the feeling he's trying to keep himself busy to avoid whatever dramatic or awkward situation is ahead.

"Can I talk to you?" The girl asks.

"What is there for us to talk about? Everything is pretty clear to me," the cold wine fills my mouth and she sighs, walking closer to us.

"I'm gay,"

What?

If Robert's clear blue eyes weren't focused on me I would have spit the wine back into my cup.

"It's true, I have a girlfriend. Hardin and I are only friends, if you would even call us that." She frowns. I know that look. He must have just cursed her out.

"Then why.." Is she being honest? "but you guys were all over each other," I'm so confused.

"No, he was being a little.. touchy I guess like when he put his arm around my chair but he was only doing it to make you jealous,"

"Why would he do that? On purpose?" I ask, I know he would but what the point? Other than to hurt me of course.

"I told him to tell you, I'm sorry if you thought something was going on between us. It's not, I'm in a relationship and I'm not a threat to yours."

"You seemed pretty comfortable going along with it." I harshly remark.

"That wasn't my intention, I'm really sorry if you were hurt in all this." She says. I'm fumbling for reasons to tell her off but I can't come up with any.

Lillian being gay is a huge relief to me and I wish that I would have known sooner but it really doesn't change much with Hardin. If anything it makes his behavior worse because he was purposely trying to make me jealous and worse than that he said the most hateful things to me. Watching him flirt with her didn't hurt nearly as bad as hearing him tell me that he doesn't love me.

"So what changed your mind and made you tell me? He went off on you didn't he?" I raise my brow and Robert fills my cup again.

"Yeah, he did." She half smiles.

"He's good at that." I say and she nods. I can tell she's slightly nervous and I keep reminding myself that she isn't the problem here, Hardin is.

"Do you have anymore cups?" I ask Robert and he nods, giving me a proud smile. My stomach flutters lightly from the wine, I'm sure.

"Not in my pocket but I can grab another from inside," he offers politely. "We should go inside anyway, your lips are turning blue,"

I look up at him and look at his lips. They are full and pink, they look so soft. Why am I staring at his lips? This is what wine does to me. I want to be staring at Hardin's lips but he only uses them to yell at me lately it seems.

"Is he inside?" I ask her and she shakes her head. "Okay, let's go in then. I have to save Landon from that table anyway, especially from that Max guy," I say without thinking. "Shit, sorry,"

She surprises me by laughing. "It's fine, trust me. I know my dad's an asshole."

I don't respond, she may not be a threat to my relationship with Hardin but that doesn't mean that I like her. She does seem sweet though, but still.

"Are we going inside or.." Robert rocks on the heel of his black dress shoes.

"Yeah," I gulp down the rest of my wine and head inside. "I'll get Landon, are you sure you can drink here? In your uniform?" I ask my new friend. I don't want him to get in trouble. My head is fuzzy and the thought of him getting arrested by his father makes me giggle.

"What?" He asks, his eyes search my face.

"Nothing," I lie.

Lillian and I walk over to the table. I put my hands on the back of Landon's chair and he turns to look up at me.

"You okay?" He asks quietly while Lillian speaks to her parents.

"Yeah, sort of." I shrug. I wouldn't be if I wasn't borderline drunk from downing cups of wine. "Do you want to hang out with us? We are going to hang out here and have some wine.. some more wine." I smile.

"Who? Her too?" He glances across the table at Lillian.

"Yeah, she's.. well she's okay." I don't want to blurt out the girl's person business in front of everyone.

"I told Ken that I'd watch the game with them at Max's cabin but if you want me to stay here I will."

"No," I do want him to stay but I don't want him to alter his plans for me. "It's okay, I just thought you might want to get away from them," I whisper and he smiles.

"I do, but Ken is excited for me to come because Max likes the opposing team. Are you sure about hanging out with that guy? He seems nice but Hardin will probably try to murder him," Landon says so only I can hear him.

"I think he can hold his own," I assure him. "Have fun watching the game," I lean down and my lips press against Landon's cheek. I jerk away quickly and cover my mouth. "I'm sorry. I have no idea why.."

"It's okay," Landon laughs, I look around the table and I'm relieved to see that everyone seems to be in their own conversation, thankfully my embarrassing affection went unnoticed. "Be careful, okay? And call me if you need me."

"I will, if you get bored come back here."

"Will do," he smiles. I know he won't get bored watching the game with Ken. He loves spending time with the only father figure in his life.

"Dad, I'm an adult." I hear Lillian huff from across the table.

"There is absolutely no need for you to be out running the streets here, you'll go back to the cabin with us. That's final." Max says. It's obvious that he's one of those men who loves have complete control over everyone in his life. The nasty smirk on his hard face confirms it.

"Fine," his frustrated daughter responds. She looks to her mother but the woman stays silent. If I had another glass of wine I would call the jerk out but I don't want to upset Ken and Karen.

"Tessa are you coming back with us?" Karen asks me.

"No, I'm going to stay here for a little while if that's okay?" I hope she doesn't mind. I watch as she looks behind me to Robert then to Lillian. I get the feeling she has no clue about Lillian's sexual orientation and she holds ill feelings towards her for the way Hardin was behaving with her. I love Karen.

"That's fine with us, you have fun," she smiles approvingly.

"Okay," I return her smile and walk away from the table without saying goodbye to Max and his wife.

"We are good to go, she's not allowed to stay," I tell Robert when I reach him.

"Not allowed?"

"Her father is a jerk, I'm sort of glad though because I'm not sure how I feel about her. She reminds me of someone, I can't quite put my finger on who," I trail off and follow him to an empty section of the restaurant. A few tables sit in the closed off section, all empty except salt and pepper shakers.

"Are you sure you're okay with hanging out with me? He may come back and he has a tendency to assault people," Zed's mutilated face flashes through my mind.

Robert pulls a chair out for me and laughs, "I'm sure," he answers, taking the seat across from me and refilling our Styrofoam cups with white wine.

Hardin's POV.

I've called every damn taxi company between here and Pullman trying to get a ride back home. No one excepted of course, it's too far of a distance. I could take a bus but public transportation really isn't my thing. I remember the way I used to cringe when Steph would mention Tessa taking the bus to the mall or to Target, even when I disliked Tessa.. well I thought I did, I would still panic at the thought of her sitting alone on the bus with a bunch of fucking creeps.

Everything has changed since then, since those days when I would tease and taunt Tessa just to get a rise out of her. Her face when I left her on the balcony.. maybe it hasn't changed at all. I haven't changed.

Is that what I'm doing? I'm torturing the girl I love. That's exactly what I'm doing and I can't seem to stop. This isn't all my fault though, it's her fault too. She keeps pushing me to go to Seattle and I have made it clear that I'm not going to give in. Instead of battling me over Seattle she should just pack her shit and come to England with me. I'm not staying here whether I'm expelled or not, I'm bored here and it's been nothing but shit for me. I'm sick of seeing my dad all the time, I'm sick of everything here.

"Watch where you are going dick," A female voice in the dark startles me and I sidestep before I run into her.

"You watch where you're going," I fire back. Why the hell is she out here in front of Max's cabin anyway? She turns around to look at me and I get a good look at her under the streetlamp. Brown skin, curly hair, ripped jeans, biker boots. "Let me guess, Riley right?" I roll my eyes at the irony.

"Who the hell are you?" She puts a hand on her hip.

"Yep, you're Riley. If you're looking for Lillian she isn't here."

"Where is she? And how do you know that?" The feisty girl challenges.

"Because I just fucked her,"

"What did you just say?" She steps forward.

"Christ, I'm fucking with you. She's at the restaurant down the road with her parents,"

"Oh, how do you know her?"

"I only met her yesterday. Her dad went to college with mine I guess. Does she know you're here?"

"No, I've been trying to get ahold of her but since she's out in the middle of fucking no where she hasn't been answering."

"Yeah he is, is he even going to let you see her?"

"You're nosey as hell," she scowls at me. "But yeah he will, he's a dick but he's afraid of me." She smirks proudly.

Headlights flash in the darkness and I step onto the grass. "That's them," I tell her as the car pulls into the driveway and comes to a halt. Lillian practically jumps out of the car and into Riley's arms.

"How did you get here?" Lillian practically squeals.

"I drove," her girlfriend answers dryly.

"How did you find me? I haven't had service all week," she nuzzles into Riley's neck and I watch as the tough -girl exterior begins to crack. Riley's hand moves up and down against Lillian's back.

"It's a small place baby, it wasn't too hard," Riley responds. "Is your dad going to give me shit for coming?"

"No, well maybe but you know he won't make you leave,"

"Well I'm uhm, going to go," I begin to walk down the driveway.

"Bye," Riley comments. Lillian doesn't say anything to me as I reach my father's gate and walk up the driveway.

Tessa will be here any minute and I want to be inside before the SUV pulls into the driveway. She will be crying I'm sure, and I will have to come up with an apology to give her to make her stop crying and listen to me.

I barely make it to the porch when Karen and Lillian's mother step out of the car.

"Where is everyone else?"  I ask her, my eyes searching for Tess.

"Oh, well your dad and Landon rode back with Max to watch some game on television,"

"Where is Tessa?" Panic rises in my chest.

"She's back at the restaurant,"

"What?"

What the fuck. This isn't how this is supposed to go.

"She's with him isn't she?" I ask the two women even though I already know the answer. She's with the blonde asshole with the sheriff for a father.

"Yeah, she is." Karen says and if I wasn't stuck out in the middle of no where with her I would cuss her out for the small smile she's trying to hide.

(I hope everyone had a much better weekend than I did! Thank you so much for 8 million reads on this book so far! I love you guys so much and I love interacting with you and reading all your comments and theories! Sorry if there are more typos than usual, I've had a hell of a weekend. xo)