I'm late again, what's new? But this chapter is long so that's cool. Right? No? Okay.

Anyway, thank you to @BixbixAeney for the lovely cover (up top). Check her out!

Please hit that lovely star button to vote if you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to comment. 

--VIVKELLER23

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Teagan

"You're no one if you don't have one bed partner or another..."

There was a time when he'd believed he could be anyone at all, but his father laughed in his face. When you grew up with someone's disapproval constantly taunting you, it took a toll on the dreams you thought you could afford.

When you were the byproduct of a torrid affair that had inadvertently caused the death of a beloved parent, you realized dreams and fickle lies like love cost a hell of a lot more than they were worth. When the woman who raised you from birth to the age of fifteen suddenly gave up trying to hold onto a family that was not hers, you lost faith in your own sense of belonging.

If he was no one, it was because even his family had been a made up farce that fell apart under the fierce reality of life.

At fifteen, he watched his mother, the woman who raised him, the only woman worthy of the name, slowly fade to a shadow of who she once was with cancer claiming the fragile breath from her lungs. His father? The poor excuse of a man spent his nights drinking, mumbling about the woman he'd given up to stay married to someone who wasn't even going to live to see the next season.

He'd been fifteen. But even then, he had wanted to kill the bastard.

His father laughed, telling him that if he was good, he'd introduce him to his real mother someday. Seemed his father had another family he desperately wanted with a woman he addressed as Mary. The son she had, the one she didn't give up after ending her year long affair with a married man, wasn't a disappointment.

His half-brother was a Popstar.

And Teagan could only dream of becoming something other than the trash his father proved to be.

The day his mother died, his father was sleeping off the wild night he'd spent with his wife's sister. Teagan had called him, and when his father failed to answer, Teagan went home to find his father and aunt getting it on while his mother's body turned cold. He'd nearly killed his father in a blind rage then. The hurt his mother had endured because she'd loved a man who didn't deserve her made him care about nothing but giving some of that pain back.

When the red curtain of fury finally lifted, he found himself handcuffed and transported to a jail cell in the back of a patrol car. The incident had resulted in a warning, a hundred hours of community service, and a formal investigation into Teagan's home life by Child Protective Services.

The whole process was nothing more than an expensive cycle of crap the way he saw it. The system placed him in a foster home on the nicer part of Granite Woods, but the folks who took him in hadn't trusted him with their teenage girl around. They sent him right back and he bounced back and forth between "the slums" and the ritzy homes of the wealthier residents of Granite Woods for the better part of two years. The cycle continued until his father cleaned up his act and convinced the courts he was a fit father. By then, no one could be convinced to take in a boy who was closer to adulthood than boyhood, so they didn't really care.

But going home to his father proved to be hell. The old man went right back to his drinking, this time with a vengeance, and he didn't even pretend to care about how his son managed to survive. So Teagan learned to fend for himself because to rely on his father for anything would see both of them on the streets.

It got worse as the days went by, and Teagan got closer to graduation. By then, his Popstar brother had risen to the top of the pop charts so Teagan had no choice but to see his face plastered on signs and magazines. They'd never met, but it seemed he knew everything he needed to know about his brother from the number of times he'd been featured in the media.

He knew his brother wasn't all that different. They both really enjoyed the company of ladies according to the most recent picture he'd come across. Apparently, the Popstar liked it too much since he was rumored to be dating a fellow singer while being caught in an embrace with another woman. Maybe they didn't have different fathers after all? Wouldn't really surprise him since scruples wasn't something any of the men in the twisted, tangled family shared.

The only difference was that his brother's indiscretions were usually monitored under the public eye.

That and Teagan was beginning to lose his appetite for bed hopping. Though, if you asked the Ice Queen, he was a shameless beast for hooking up with Crue even after the way Her Royal Highness had run out on him during their date.

Yes, date. Teagan couldn't recall the names of every fling he'd had, but he knew for a fact he'd never planned an outing the way he'd planned to go out with Rain Sullivan. He'd never cared so much about making an impression, about making a girl laugh just because. If their little trip to the trampoline park wasn't considered a date, then he was doomed to go to his grave not knowing a thing.

Which was stupid because everyone knew that when a guy liked a girl enough to plan to go out, the actual act of going out was a date.

But whatever. If she wanted to pretend it wasn't, that was fine with him. Just as long as she didn't pretend to be hurt by something he didn't do. He didn't know how she'd gotten it into her head that he was back with Crue, but he was going to find out.

He knew the truth even if Rain chose not to believe him. He also knew what kind of person Crue was, and he wouldn't put it past her to use drastic measures to get back at him for ditching her. He meant to find out what she'd sent Rain to make her refuse to answer his calls. From the way she'd made it sound before she told him to basically get lost, Crue had managed to get Rain's phone number to send something that gave her the impression Teagan was getting hot and heavy with Crue.

Whatever it was, Crue was going to realize she wasn't going to be able to play for keeps where he was concerned.

With that made up in his mind, Teagan skipped out on his first two classes of the day to wait for Crue.

Surprisingly he found her walking out of the Arts and Humanities building. Crue Gilles didn't have a single artistic bone in her body. Not so surprising was the fact that right behind her was the green eyed fool with the thing for bowties. The poor fellow was trying unsuccessfully to rebutton his crisp, white shirt. Teagan felt a twinge of sympathy for the guy since he looked the type to get hung up on a hot firecracker like Crue. But Crue wasn't the forever type, she just liked the attention men lavished on her to try to keep her.

Which was why he didn't understand how Crue could have forgotten their agreement to not get possessive with each other. From the start, they'd made the arrangement to hook up whenever they wanted to, with the specific goal of keeping things light and fun.

Crue had thrown that agreement out the window the minute she decided to go after Rain.

Teagan pushed himself off the freshly painted wall he'd been leaning on while he waited, making sure to keep an absent looking smile on his face. "Looks like you've been busy starting your own fires this morning," he mused with a raised eyebrow. His eyes settled on the weak kneed pansy who looked guilty as all hell after being caught fraternizing with Gray's Redheaded Siren. "Enjoyed yourselves, didn't you?" he taunted.

Crue snorted and flipped her flaming hair over one bare shoulder. "Now don't be jealous, Tee. I'm always open to bonding with more than one partner." She bit her bottom lip, effectively staining her teeth with the cherry red lipstick she wore. "You know that."

Teagan felt like he could be sick. She thought that excited him? What threw him off even more was the fact that she could make a pass at him while the young buck she'd just finished entertaining stood two feet behind her with his shirt buttoned wrong and the ends untucked. No, thank you. "Not interested, Crue, but you've definitely got points for enthusiasm."

Mr. Bow Tie smirked at that, looking amused that the girl who'd been making him feel good a few minutes ago had been turned down. "I don't share," he said with a pointed look at Crue.

Teagan could admit the guy had to be confident in himself to say that when his hair was standing up atop his head like the ruffled feathers of a peacock. And still he couldn't possibly have enough self-respect for himself if he was willing to allow Crue of all people to be the one to make him lose his bow tie. "Course you don't. You just try to impress women out of your league with your future aspirations. Tell me how you plan to become a renowned doctor while you can't keep track of your bow ties?"

It was Crue's turn to smirk as the idiot she'd chosen for the day sputtered. "I'm keeping it for tonight."

Teagan winced at the mental image that bit of information conjured up in his overactive imagination. "One piece of advice, Doc," Teagan offered with a shake of his head. "If you're wise, you won't take it back when she's done with you. Burn it."

"That's a frigging stupid way to let me know you don't want me going home with him tonight!"

Lord, the girl thought she was Venus in the flesh, didn't she? "Probably because it's not meant to be that. It's a warning for the oblivious fool who doesn't know what you're really like."

Those gem green eyes narrowed at him in warning, much like a snake's before it strikes. "What would you say I'm really like?"

"I'd say you're the kind of crazy that pours milk into a bowl before the cereal." Freaking psychotic.

Even Future Doc understood how messed up that was. "Uh-" he pulled nervously at the collar of his shirt- "I'm just going to head over to class."

Crue hardly glanced his way as he scurried off. "What's this really about, Tee?"

Teagan shrugged. "I'm trying to figure out if you're actually crazy enough to have scrolled through my phone just to get a certain lady's number." He rolled his head from side to side, trying to pop his neck and release some of the tension there. "Just checking to see if you're stupid enough to have used that number to give off the impression I'm even remotely interested in picking up where we left off."

The smile that came over her made up face was eerily similar to that of Batman's nemesis. "So the Frigid Witch came crying to you over that photo?" she asked.

A photo. Christ, what kind of photo had she taken? "You know her name," he said simply, instead of half of the curses he wanted to throw at her for being so petty. "I'd be careful with the names you choose to call her, Crue. I can assure you she's got a better vocabulary than you do, and I doubt you'd like to have her come up with words to describe you." As if the Ice Queen would ever lower herself to Crue's level.

"I'm not afraid of the Iceberg."

"It's a good thing your stupidity isn't contagious," Teagan muttered.

That appeared to tick her off. "But apparently the Frozen Queen of Granite Woods' chilly disposition is!" Crue raged. Then, as if understanding that despite her rendezvous with Mr. Bow Tie in a secluded corner Gray's was still bustling with dedicated students trying to get to class, she froze. She lowered her eyelashes and sighed, trying to regroup. "I liked you better when you needed me."

Teagan would have cringed, but he was a mature college student now. He was made of tougher stuff. So he simply gave her a sympathetic look. "If you ever built dreams with that in mind, I'm sorry. What we had was convenient and fun. But we both knew it wasn't gonna last."

"And you think this thing with the Iceberg will?" Crue hissed.

Did he? Was he hoping for something more this time? He knew that he enjoyed having someone to talk to, someone who wasn't looking at him like a fun experience, a patch to add to the banner of rebellion loads of good girls raised high sooner or later. That's what he had first suspected, but he'd been proven wrong.

In fact, it was like the night of the party had never happened. At least for the Queen, that was the case. For him, that night had only escalated his obsession for her.

Crue stomped her foot. "Un-frigging-believable! You can't even have this conversation with me and not think about her!" So, whether or not there were witnesses to her hysteria, Crue didn't care anymore.

She was the picture of a woman scorned. God help us all.

Teagan squared his shoulders and clenched his fists. Play time was over. She wasn't even remotely sorry for what she'd done. "I suggest you stop with the melodrama before you become the stereotypical desperate second lead everybody secretly wishes would die in every chick-flick."

"You as-"

"Here's my only bit of advice for you. If you're smart, you'll do it and all will go smoothly." The way she placed her hands on her hips and pouted at him did nothing now that he could see the moves for what they were. An attempt to distract him enough to give in to her charms. "You're gonna lose Rain's number and leave her be."

"Or what?" she taunted.

Teagan smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile. "Or everyone at Gray's will know you were the only mistake I've ever made." Her hard emerald eyes widened in disbelief. Crue had sense it seemed, if she could understand how that would reflect on her. "That, and the fact that you have an interesting collection of clothing items you've kept from every one of your conquests. Wouldn't that be an interesting story?"

"You're a heartless bastard, Tee. You and the Frigid Witch will make the perfect couple." Crue made sure to snarl at him before she turned on her spiky heeled boots.

"Crue," he called patiently. When she spun around to face him again, he held out his hand. "Your phone," he told her. He knew if he wanted things to go his way, he had to make sure she deleted the number in his presence.

Crue didn't fight him. She yanked her phone from her jean pockets and dropped it into the palm of his hand.

There wasn't a passcode to lock her phone, so he had ready access to everything on it. Quickly he went to her messages, took a wild guess, and pressed on the conversation addressed to Cold B**ch. The photo there made him want to rage at Crue.

It was a picture of him half carrying an intoxicated Crue into a shady motel room. Anyone with two eyes could look at the picture and assume the worst. Hell, if it had been any other man with Crue heading into a room, he'd have thought the same thing. But it wasn't anyone else. It was him, and he knew he hadn't done anything to be ashamed of with the redhead. Angry with Crue for the damage she'd made to his brittle friendship with the Ice Queen, and more angry at himself for being so careless, Teagan deleted the conversation. Next, he deleted the photo from her gallery for good measure.

At last, he managed to delete Rain from Crue's contact list before handing the phone back to a fuming Crue. "We're done here."

"Freaking good-for-nothing womanizer!"

Teagan simply waved as he continued his way to his car. He had a stubborn Queen to win back.

xXx

She didn't answer any of his calls.

Teagan's frustration simmered just under the surface the entire drive out to the Ice Queen's grand palace. How could she simply ignore his calls after the way she'd gone off? She had to realize she'd done most of the talking then. She also had to know it wasn't right to make accusations without allowing the accused to make a defense.

Actually, the justice system didn't work that way, but nothing went the way it should where Miss Sullivan was concerned.

He was so wrapped up in how he was going to approach her when they were finally face to face, that he didn't stop to contemplate how he was going to explain his arrival at her door step. He couldn't tell her the truth. From what he'd overheard the night she'd walked out to talk to her mother, her relationship with Randolf Sullivan wasn't the best.

She'd hate to know her father played a big part in the way they'd met. The day after the party.

Now there was an explosive episode he wasn't looking forward to.

By the time he realized he didn't have a good story to give her as explanation, he'd already turned into the gravel driveway. He didn't have the kind of money to leave without saying what he'd come here to say. Gas was becoming a precious luxury as prices kept rising.

That's why God gave you legs.

While true, Teagan didn't want to listen to his five-year-old voice of reason. Not now, bud.

We're not friends!

Teagan sighed and climbed out of his rust colored truck, wincing at the creak of the metal door as it slammed shut behind him. A glance down at his pocket watch told him it was just after the lunch hour so he wouldn't be interrupting a meal by knocking on the door.

He whistled as he walked up the driveway. The few times he'd come over, his mind was preoccupied on other things, so he hadn't taken in the intricate design of the home. Now, he could look his fill. There were picturesque sky blue shutters on the windows that gave the grand estate an almost homey appearance. The neatly trimmed shrubs lined the stone walkway up to the front porch and its swinging bench. The front door was a heavy cherrywood color with intricate glass paneling right down the center adding a bit of flair. The walls were a pristine white so the house stood out no matter what the season was, a castle on the hill.

Compared to the dump he lived in, the house was every inch a palace. He had difficulty understanding how anyone could ever want to leave it, but Rain preferred to be out of the grand house for as long as she could.

Teagan reached the front steps and climbed them, straightening to his full height before he knocked. The door opened immediately, revealing a short blonde haired, blue eyed beauty in her late forties. The blue of her eyes was made even more striking with the glistening tears in them.

Whoever she was, she didn't look like she was up for visitors. So where was Rain? Teagan opened his mouth to tell the woman who he was and ask for Rain, but she cut him off before he could make a sound.

"Please, help!"

Teagan blinked. "What's that?"

But the woman had already pushed away from the front door and fled into the house. He had little choice but to follow behind. "You are a friend of Rain?" she asked over her shoulder as she led him towards Randolf's Den.

Hardly think you can consider yourselves on friendly terms right now. "Yes. I'm a friend."

"Miss Sullivan went into her father's study half an hour ago when Mr. Jeffers came by to pay a visit," the woman explained in between breaths. "I heard shouting, like they were exchanging hard words, but then when I tried to go inside to try to delegate, the door was locked."

He didn't like the sound of that. Teagan could vaguely remember Rain referencing becoming a Jeffers the night of she spent talking to her mother, so he instantly disliked the name. "Her future husband?"

"Good lord, no!" The woman shivered as she froze in place. "Even her father wouldn't be so heartless as to allow her to marry that animal after what he pulled!"

He wasn't following, but he felt a little better knowing the fellow in the study wasn't her intended. That relief was short lived though, because in the next instant he heard her scream.

Cursing, Teagan brushed past the blonde woman and hurried the rest of the way to the Den. A quick twist of the doorknob told him the door was locked, but that didn't stop him. He banged on the tough wood, shaking it with the force of his fists.

"Rain!" he called, frantic to get her out of there. "Open this door."

He heard a crash and a man's growl come from inside. The blood hummed in his veins as he felt a surge of murderous rage. When he got his hands around the bastard in there...

He managed to break the door open after alternating between kicking the doorknob and shoving all his weight into the door. There was a splintering of wood that would no doubt cost him a pretty penny, but at least he was inside now.

The Den was a mess. Broken glass covered the floor and red roses lay scattered in a pool of water. He assumed the glass had once been a vase before his lovely, fierce Queen had taken hold of it and shattered it on Jeffers' thick-skulled head. He would have smiled, but he couldn't muster up the strength to do it when his gaze settled on her shaking form as she shrank against the corner beside the bookcases.

He'd never seen her so frightened that her eyes couldn't even focus.

"The little witch hit me!" Jeffers roared, clutching a frilly handkerchief to his forehead.

Teagan didn't think twice. He reared his clenched fist back and slammed it into the bastard's aristocratic nose. The fresh bloom of blood that ran down in two streams on his face set him off like a red flag placed in front of a bull's eyes. Teagan threw himself over the older man, using his fists to pummel his face. His knuckles throbbed with the repeated banging against bone, but he didn't slow in his attack. All he saw was red.

He'd tried to hurt her. If he hadn't knocked when he did, if he hadn't been fast enough...

"Stop it!" the woman from before pulled desperately at his arm, clearing the blinding haze of anger enough to allow him to breathe. "You'll kill him and that won't help Rain at all."

Not help her? He thought killing the sleaze bag was the perfect way to make sure he never threatened Rain again.

Sure would make him feel better to know the rotten piece of trash wouldn't be breathing the same air.

Nope. Killing him is definitely the answer.

Teagan turned back to the bruised and bloodied face, but he didn't hit him again. He couldn't. Not when he could hear Rain's little cries in the eerily silent room. With a groan, Teagan hoisted himself up to his feet, making sure to give the bastard one last kick in the ribs before he walked to her. She flinched when he touched her, the bare skin of her arms covered in goosebumps.

Teagan yanked open his denim shirt, scattering buttons about the floor, and shrugged it off. Gently he drew her arms into the sleeves being careful not to dislodge her hold on the delicate straps of her torn dress. As he closed the ends together and secured them by knotting the ends of the shirt, he noticed an angry red mark on her right shoulder. It would bruise no thanks to the brute force with which the unconscious Jeffers had handled her.

"Hey, Rainy Day," he whispered, taking a hold of her trembling chin. He turned her frightened eyes to look at him and offered his best smile. "You're okay now. I've got you."

Those beautiful violet eyes of hers closed as she nodded weakly and lowered her head to his shoulder.

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