I'm late, again. Sorry. This one's long, so hopefully it makes up for being tardy.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment, share, and vote (if you choose to). 

-VIVKELLER23

-------------------

Rain

She couldn't shake the feeling that something had been seriously off about Teagan. Was it just fanciful thinking or had his eyes turned ominously dark just before she got up to leave? It was almost like he had switched something off inside him, made the light go out in those exquisite green-grey eyes.

It was unnerving, this connection she had to him that she could sense the changes in him. It was insane that being so attuned to him could completely affect her. They weren't even close enough to be considered good friends, even if he had been the one to save her and comfort her after Timothy's attack. She knew all of this, and still she hadn't gotten much sleep worrying about what the reason for his change had been.

Rain wasn't any closer to figuring out what had set him off yesterday. That was why she was sitting in Tilden's class on a Monday morning, with her head on top of her desk. Ten minutes into the class, and she'd given up trying to keep her head up when all she wanted to do was get some sleep...

"Sullivan!" the eccentric Doctor Tilden bellowed.

Rain sat upright in her chair. "Yes, Dr. Tilden?"

"Is this vital information putting you to sleep?" he asked her, his arms crossed over his chest while he glared at her through narrowed eyes. But his disapproving manner lost something since he was standing barefoot on top of a stool.

Sometimes she wondered if he'd gotten his Doctorate simply because the instructors in the program had given up all hope in helping the guy.

Should she answer him honestly and risk the unpredictability of his response? The danger with a professor like Tilden was that you couldn't put him in a box. Everytime you thought you had him figured out, he'd throw you a curveball, literally, though the guy was as uncoordinated as he was bonkers. He'd knocked more than a few football players off their chairs in the span of a couple of months.

No. Perhaps it was best to nod and let him continue his life lessons.

Rain shook her head and offered an apologetic smile to placate him. "I'm sorry. Of course, I'd love nothing more than for you to continue spouting your wisdom." Spouting? Really, Rain? She could have kicked herself. What good was attending a college, paying thousands of dollars in tuition, if she couldn't use some of the knowledge she gained for moments like these?

And a hundred audience members said: "Nothing, Rain. You're screwed." Shoot.

But she'd forgotten Dr. Tilden had a special sense of intelligence that caught things no one else could even see. He also completely missed some. "Why, thank you, Rain. I do say, I quite like the fact that you find me the ever flowing fountain of knowledge."

She hadn't said that at all, yet she nodded. "Of course."

Tilden gave her a knowing smile that only served to cement her suspicions that he was seeing something she couldn't. "You would do well to look into the things you can learn from Miller, too."

Well, that wasn't cryptic at all, was it? She was starting to hate the constant back and forth. One teacher warned her to keep her distance while the other all but encouraged her to look deeper. Tilden's suggestion wouldn't have bothered her, if she could be absolutely certain that digging into the hidden depths of Teagan's soul wouldn't tear at her own defenses.

Looking deeper isn't the only thing you wanna do, either.

Darn it. She couldn't even deny that. She liked to pretend in her mind that Teagan was the one who had approached her and set off this crazy game of touch and go. There was no other way to describe it. One minute they were good, laughing, friends even. And the next? The next she was fighting the temptation to curse his name while she lost sleep over stupid things.

But deep down, she knew. She knew she was fooling herself and failing miserably. Because no matter how many times she closed her eyes, the truth was there. It had all started the one fateful night she decided to break the rules. The night the Ice Queen went to a party she had no business attending in the first place. The night her demons had very nearly gotten the best of her.

The party hadn't been impulsive. It had been a calculated move on her part to keep her from drowning.

No one would believe that though. No one understood. They had no reason to.

Sighing heavily, Rain shook off her depressing thoughts and tried to focus on Tilden's lesson about humanity. That was nearly impossible to do when her eyes kept wandering to the empty seat beside her.

But no one noticed, and that was just fine.

xXx

It was well past lunchtime when Rain finally noticed what had kept Teagan from class that morning. And the reason hadn't been so much a 'what' but a 'who.'

Her name: Gia Dyer, formerly known as Rain's best friend.

The greater shock was that despite having felt betrayed and angry when she'd thought Teagan had slept with Crue Gilles, she hadn't felt the pain down to her bones. This time though, it was personal because despite knowing that Teagan Miller would not change his sleazy scales simply because they now hung out, she hadn't expected him to go back to someone she'd once loved as a sister.

Wasn't it the unofficial rule for Teagan to sleep with a girl for one night and never come back for more? The only time he'd ever gone back on that rule had been with Crue, but that had ended the day he stumbled upon her and Timothy in her father's study.

She knew Gia and Teagan had hooked up before after a wild night of drinking because Gia had made certain Rain heard all the juicy details the very next day. While she hadn't known Teagan well enough to feel anything concrete back then, it had stung to know that while everyone saw her as the frigid Ice Queen, Gia and loads of other girls like her were seen as desirable. If life had dealt her different cards, she could have been normal and attracted the kind of attention these girls thrived on.

No matter how many times Teagan took one to bed and left with a 'see ya later,' these girls had one thing Rain envied. They could experience intimacy without fear. To a bruised and scarred woman who constantly worked to keep the demons at bay, that was a miracle.

A miracle she wanted to experience all for herself.

Was that so wrong? Well, can't say it's right so.... Maybe a toss up?

But whether her reasons for going to that party and picking him as the guy she wanted to help her push all the nightmares back were right or wrong, it shouldn't have hurt this bad. To see him hanging around Gia with a satisfied smirk on his stupid face, it was like he was a complete stranger. A stranger who cared for nothing and no one but the instant pleasure he found with whoever was willing to give him the time of day. Sad, that for one night she'd been willing to make herself just one in a string of faceless lovers just for a chance to feel whole again.

Sadder still, she didn't know for certain she wouldn't make the same mistake if she was given a chance to do it over.

She shivered as the wind picked up suddenly while the sun shone proudly in the sky to offer its warmth. As per usual, she was dressed to the nines in a rusty orange shirtwaist dress with a slim black belt at the waist. The yellow cashmere sweater she wore over it did little to protect her from the chill in the October wind, but it completed her fall toned outfit. Her legs were covered in thick black tights that were both flattering and practical. On her feet were black wedge heeled boots that offered style and sensibility. Despite the wind's blowing, not a hair was out of place on her head thanks to the tight ponytail she sported.

She was the picture of fashion and propriety. And, right now, she wanted to scream.

She couldn't, of course, she couldn't. Years of strict self-restraint had made it impossible for Rain to give into her wild emotions. She didn't know how to just let go. For her, there were only two choices. The first, keep fighting the feelings back until they no longer threatened to overflow. The second, snap.

But snapping had led her to this.

Swallowing the need to give it all up when she knew no one would care, Rain straightened her shoulders and forced her feet to descend the brick steps just outside the library. She wasn't going to crumble just because Teagan preferred ex-friends who saw her as nothing more than a slab of ice and blamed her for the way they'd drifted apart. She'd survived so much more. He wasn't going to get the satisfaction of breaking her.

As she'd told him the night of the party, he wasn't the only guy who could offer her the relief she so desperately searched for. She could look elsewhere for a willing companion to get her mind off the pain.

Just like it had happened at the party, she felt his eyes on her before she raised her face to look. He stood rooted in place at the center fountain while Gia continued to blabber on, oblivious to the fact that his attention had already strayed. Like before, she felt that shock of awareness course through her as their gazes locked. Violet-blue meeting green-grey flames. That much power and heat just from looking at each other with eyes that wanted to do so much more than just look. It was catastrophic to her fragile control.

Rain raised an eyebrow at him, trying to appear unfazed by his disheveled appearance and the fact that Gia Dyer had climbed out of his pick up truck this morning. Just a few days ago, it had been Rain who sat in the passenger seat of the old truck.

Teagan frowned at her and took a step in her direction. That's when he seemed to recall he hadn't arrived on campus alone. Gia's slender musician's fingers wrapped around Teagan's forearm and pulled him back into her. Her pink and blue colored hair came loose from the messy bun she'd tied it in, as she went up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his mouth.

Rain didn't have the stomach to watch the entire make-out session play out. She was sure the two love birds of the day would have enough of an audience with half of Gray's campus looking on anyway.

She hoisted the strap on her book bag up on her shoulder and fled with as much dignity as she could muster. But she doubted her ability to pull it off. When had a girl looked cool and composed while speed walking to her car in heels? It just wasn't a feasible combination. She was the Ice Queen not a Victoria Secret model after all.

Her sensible, eco-friendly batmobile wasn't parked too far so she was able to reach it without falling on her face. Frantically, she yanked her book bag off and searched inside for her car keys. It only took a minute for her fingers to find the cool metal, and another to get the key into the lock to yank the door open. But that proved to be a minute too long.

"Rainy Day?"

She lost her grip on the keys. Seemed her gracefulness had a limit, too. "Look, Tee, I've got things to do, so I'd really appreciate it if you left me alone to do them before you decide to pick up where you left off." She said all of this while facing her car because it was the only way she could trust herself to get the words out.

"Could you at least turn around to say that to my face?" Teagan asked, the light teasing tone of his voice sounding forced.

And risk seeing that awful shade of plumb lipstick on his face? No, thank you. She shook her head. "Nope. I think you can understand what I'm saying just fine."

"I can hear your words perfectly, but your eyes can't lie to me," he told her.

He was getting better. His replies were more original, smoother even. She felt his hands on her shoulders a second before he turned her around to face him. At least there wasn't lipstick on his face. "Good morning. Oh, right, no, you missed the morning, didn't you?" She was rambling even to her own ears, but she couldn't stop herself. "Tilden's very disappointed in you, by the way. Why sign up for the class if you know it's going to interfere with your personal schedule? Seems counterproductive to me."

His sexy, idiotic mouth quirked in a slight smile. "Are you done?"

"I never even began," she told him. "Now, please, excuse me, but-"

"No."

What?

"I said no. I won't excuse you." His warm hands left her shoulders to trail down her cashmere covered arms. "We need to talk."

Talking was the last thing she wanted. She hardly needed it. What she needed was another cup of spiked lemonade so she could get through the day without losing her mind! "Nah, don't think so."

"Nah? Rainy, are you alright?" He reached a hand to touch her forehead, but she smacked it away.

"Don't touch me!" She tried not to feel too disappointed when he took a step back, his hands lifted in front of him. "I'm peachy, but if you don't let me go, you're going to ruin a stellar opportunity to impress the ladies of Gray's College with your love 'em and leave 'em philosophy. Being seen with me immediately after that hot episode with Gia isn't going to get you many points."

He winced. "I can explain."

"No need. What you do is your own business. Perhaps you could give me a list of the old flames you're thinking about rekindling so I can use it as research material for Tilden's project? You know, a day in the life of Mr. Hot Tee Miller?" Rain couldn't stop the words from flowing out of her mouth. She'd lost the connection between her brain and her mouth.

Green stormy eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're being overdramatic which is uncharacteristic of you."

She could think of a few, not so nice names he would have liked to call her. But he didn't, and that just meant he had more control than she did. Imagine that! "How would you know, Tee? We don't have the kind of relationship that allows you to make judgements like that." He was close enough that she could see the dark stubble on his cheekbones, a stark contrast to his usual clean-shaven look. "You know, Gia and I used to be friends? We don't talk much these days, but I'm sure her tastes still run to insecure players who don't ask for too much."

"Stop it. Whatever you think I did, just tell me before it eats you alive."

Rain smiled, lost in mind-numbing emotions. "What's your type, Tee?" she asked. "Do you want a girl who isn't going to make demands when the sun comes up? One who can easily look away when you go around with someone new just days after you slept together? One who isn't ice and serious and hurt easily because she built dreams around the one guy she's never even liked?"

"What are you saying, Rain?" He forgot her request that he not touch her as he stepped forward and closed her in with his hands on her car door beside her head. "You telling me the high and mighty Ice Queen isn't opposed to filling Gia's place?"

How in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks was she supposed to know? And why did she want to slap him and draw him closer at the same time? She'd never been so unstable. "I don't want forever. I don't even like you really, but if you're going to go around repeating women, why won't you look at me?"

There it was. She'd said it. She'd managed to humiliate herself in front of Gray's Casanova. Game over.

Teagan blinked. "No."

She flinched. You'd think she would have been better prepared this time for his rejection after the way he'd turned her down at the party. Rain laughed, forcefully trying to get the sound out before it strangled her. "Fine. Are you still friends with that Leslie fool? Maybe he's not as picky?"

The mention of the other man's- she used the term lightly- name made Teagan tense. "You won't go near him. You couldn't even stand him."

"Standing isn't what I had in mind so that shouldn't be a problem." Ooooh, that wasn't half bad.

It was definitely gross, though. She didn't even understand why the fool's name had come up, but it had struck a nerve with Teagan so she was going to run with it.

"This isn't some game, Your Majesty," Teagan hissed through clenched teeth. All trace of amusement and cool control had disappeared from his face.

Rain snorted. "Not a game? You're the king of playing games, Tee. You set the rules, you calculate the score, you plan the necessary steps before you even look at a girl." She tossed her head back, leaning against the car door. "You simply refuse to play with me."

"Because it would never be just a game with you."

Well. "Bull, Tee. How many times have you used that one?"

"You don't know what you want," he told her, shaking his head. He pushed himself off the car and away from her. "I think it's best you go home. Try to clear your mind."

"Name your price."

"What the hell, Rain?!" Teagan looked furious that she'd even suggested it, but at least he wasn't planning on walking away anymore.

She swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. "I'm telling you, I'm willing to-"

"I'm not someone you can buy!" he shouted, fists clenched at his sides though she knew instinctively that he would never raise them to her. "Why are you doing this now? Before, when I asked you for a kiss you ran off. Why now?"

That was the million dollar question. She wasn't ready to reveal her reasons. "Why did it have to be Gia?" she asked in a small voice. Then, realizing the futility of the situation, she shrugged. "It's not so much that I was trying to buy you, Tee," she tried to clarify. "I only wanted to see what it would take to convince you I could be desirable. I'm sorry I upset you."

How quickly she'd managed to shatter the image of civility she showed the world. How utterly pathetic. Rain turned back to her car door, fighting tears, as she crouched down to pick up her keys. Once they were in her hand, she sprang back to her feet, stumbling a bit because of the wedge heeled boots.

"Rain."

Oh, God. She could hear the pity in his voice. "I'm good, Tee."

He pushed a hand out from behind her, effectively making it impossible for her to open the car door to make her escape. "Don't lie to me."

"Please, leave me alone."

"I can't do that-"

Rain spun around. Today was just the day for snapping, wasn't it? "Either leave me alone or make up your mind to take me because I'm losing mine trying to keep up!"

She hadn't really expected a reaction out of him. All she was going for was a bit of surprise. If he was taken aback long enough, she could make her escape.

But Teagan didn't follow the plan.

In the movies, the scene was usually set. Everything was perfect, and usually the two main characters weren't staring each other down like fighters rather than lovers. But she'd learned long ago that her life wasn't a movie. Teagan proved that. His mouth was angry when it crashed down to claim hers. He wasn't gentle, but she was fine with that. Where someone else would have lazily explored her lips, Teagan conquered, leaving nothing behind but the burning inferno she had always secretly craved.

He kissed with the same passion he did everything else. Wholeheartedly. She could feel her veins ignite, feel the ice fall away with every sweep of his teasing tongue, every pull at her bottom lip. His hands buried themselves in her hair, snapping the elastic that had held it in place just like his mouth had snapped her out of the ice. With a deep sigh of relief, Rain stopped fighting herself and gave into the firestorm Teagan promised her.

He used his hands in her hair to tug her head back while his lips continued coaxing hers to respond, to follow his lead and burn them both. So she did. She dropped her keys when she wrapped her arms around his neck and strained closer into the hard expanse of muscle he had for a chest. She used her tongue and teeth to draw him in, to pull them deeper into the void of heat and pleasure, away from the reality of their cold existence.

Teagan groaned, pulling back just enough to search her eyes. "There's no way in hell you're doing that with Leslie."

Rain smiled. She could agree to that.

--