The songs for this chapter are:

 When we collide- Matt Cardle

Look after you- The Fray

Tessa's POV.

Five minutes before five o'clock I try to call Hardin but he doesnt pick up. Where has he been all day? Was Zed right when he said that Hardin was out late last night? It's possible that he could be on his way to Seattle and is planning to suprise me but I don't believe that's the case.  Agreeing to meet Zed has been weighing on my chest since the moment I did. I know Hardin hates my friendship with Zed. He hates it so much that it haunts him in his dreams and here I am instigating it.

I don't bother to check my hair or touch up my makeup before taking the elevator down to the lobby, ignoring Kimberly's judgmental gaze after I told her of my plans. Zed's truck is visible through the glass walls and I can't ignore the excitement I feel to see a familiar face. I'd rather it be Hardin's, but Zed is here and Hardin isn't.

Zed climbs out of his truck to greet me as soon as I step out of the building. His smile grows as he watches me walk across the sidewalk. Zed's face is covered in dark hair and he is dressed in black jeans a gray long sleeve shirt. He looks as handsome as ever and I look like death.

"Hey," he smiles, opening his arms for a hug.

Uncertainty floods through me but the need to be polite pushes me into his waiting arms.

"It's been a while," he says into my hair. I nod in agreement.

"How was your drive?" I ask him as I pull away from the embrace.

 "Long." He opens the passenger door for me and I hurry to get inside and out of the cold air. The cab of his truck is warm and smells like him.

"What made you decide to come today instead of tomorrow?" I begin the conversation as Zed hesitantly pulls into traffic.

"It was just.. a change of mind, nothing really." His eyes dart back and forth between the rearview mirror and the side mirrors.

"Driving in the city is intimidating," I say to him.

"Yes. Very," he smiles, still focused on the road.

"Do you know where you want to grab dinner? I haven't done much exploring yet so I don't know where the best spots are."

I check my phone, nothing.

Zed and I decide on a small Mongolian Style grille. I choose chicken and vegetables and watch in awe as the chef prepares the food in front of me. I've never been to a place like this before and Zed finds that amusing. We are seated in the very back of the small restaurant, Zed sits across from me and we are both too quiet for it to be comfortable.

"Is something wrong?" I ask him while picking at my food.

"I don't know if I should even bring it up, you seem like you have so much going on already and I want you to have a nice time." Zed's eyes are soft and full of worry.

"I'm fine. Tell me whatever it is that you need to." I brace myself for the unknown blow I'm sure is to come.

"Hardin came to my place yesterday,"

"What?" I can't hide the surprise in my voice. Why would Hardin go to Zed's apartment? And if he did, how is Zed sitting here in front of me without any visible marks or missing limbs?

"What did he want?" I ask.

"To tell me to stay away from you,"

I had mentioned Zed's text message to Hardin last night and he seemed so indifferent about the situation.

"What time?" I ask, hoping it was after we had talked about not keeping things from one another.

"Afternoon, around three."

I let out an exasperated breath. Hardin has no boundaries and his list of offenses is growing by the second.

"What did he say exactly?" I rub my temples, my appetite has disappeared.

"That he didn't care how I did it, or if I hurt your feelings, I just needed to stay away. He was being so calm, it was kinda freaky." He stabs his fork through a piece of broccoli and pops it into his mouth.

"And you came here anyway?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?" The testosterone filled battle between the two of them is wearing me out and I'm on the sidelines, trying to keep the peace but failing.

"Because his threats aren't going to work on me anymore. He can't tell me who to be friends with and I hope you feel the same way about that." His golden eyes meet mine.

I'm beyond irritated that Hardin went to Zed's apartment to threaten him. I'm even more irritated that he didn't think to mention it to me, he wanted Zed to hurt my feelings and end our friendship and he was going to keep his role in the whole exchange hidden from me.

"I feel the same about Hardin controlling who I am friends with," as the words leave my mouth Zed's eyes fill with triumph. It bothers me. "But, I also think he has good reasoning for not wanting us to be friends. Don't you?"

"Yes and no. I won't hide my feelings for you but you know that I don't push them onto you. I told you I will take what you can give me and if friendship is all I can get, I'll live with that."

"I know you don't," I choose to only respond to half of his statement. Zed never pushes me to do anything and he never tries to force me into anything but I hate the way he talks about Hardin.

"Can you say the same for him?" He challenges.

The urge to defend Hardin pushing me to speak, "No. I can't. I know how he is but that's just who he is."

"You're always so quick to defend him, I don't get it."

"You don't have to get it," I harshly remark.

"Really?" Zed says quietly and frowns.

"Yes." I straighten my back and sit up as straight as I can manage.

"It doesn't bother you how possessive he is? He tells you who you can be friends with.."

"It does bother me but-"

"You let him do it."

"Did you come all the way to Seattle to remind me that Hardin is controlling?"

Zed opens his mouth to speak but closes it.

"What?" I push him.

"He has a claim on you and I'm worried about you. You seem so stressed out."

I sigh in defeat. I am stressed, too stressed, but fighting with Zed isn't helping anything. It's only magnifying my frustrations.

"I'm not going to make excuses for him but you don't know anything about our relationship. You don't see how he is with me. You don't understand him the way that I do," I push my plate away and notice that the couple at the next table over has turned their attention to us.

I lower my voice, "I don't want to fight with you, I'm exhausted and I was really looking forward to spending this time with you." I tell him.

"I'm being such a jerk, aren't I?" He leans back against his chair. "I'm sorry Tessa. I would blame the drive.. but that's not an excuse. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I didn't mean to snap at you. I don't know what's gotten into me." My period is due any day now, that must be why I'm so on edge.

"It's my fault, really." He reaches across the table and squeezes my hand.

"How is everything else going?" I ask him. Tension still fills the air between us and I can't stop thinking of Hardin. He went to Zed's apartment to try to force him to stay away from me, this annoys me tremendously but my heart aches at his desperation.

Zed dives into conversation about his family and how warm Florida was the last time he visited. Conversation between us is so easy, and the tension leaves us, allowing me to finish my meal.

"Do you have more plans for the night?" Zed asks, leading me to the exit.

"Yes, I'm going to Christian's jazz club that he just opened."

"Christian?" Zed questions.

"Oh, my boss. That's who I'm staying with."

"You're staying with your boss?" His brow raises.

"Yes, but he went to college with Hardin's father and he's a long time friend of theirs," I explain. It hasn't  occurred to me that Zed doesn't know any of the details about my life. Zed picked me up from Vance's surprise engagement party for Kimberly but he doesn't know anything about them.

"Oh, so that's how you got a paid internship then?"

Ouch.

"Yes." I admit.

"Well it's awesome either way,"

"Thanks." I stare out the window and pull my cell phone from my purse.

Still nothing.

"What else do you plan on doing while you're in Seattle?" I ask in the middle of trying to explain which roads to take to lead to Vance's house. I give up after a few minutes and type the address into my phone. The screen freezes and the power shuts off twice before the device finally cooperates.

"I'm not sure. I'm going to see what my friends want to do. Maybe we could meet up again later tonight? Or before I leave on Saturday?"

"I'll let you know," I agree.

"When will Hardin be here?" The venom laced through his question doesn't go unnoticed.

"I'm not sure, maybe tonight." I glance at my phone again, this time out of habit.

"Are you guys together right now? I know we said we wouldn't talk about it anymore but I'm confused."

"So am I,' I admit. He smiles. "we have been putting some space between us lately."

"Is that working?"

"Yes." Until the last few days when Hardin started to pull away from me.

"That's good then."

"What?" I have to know what thought he's having, I can see it churning behind his eyes.

"Nothing, you don't want to hear it."

"Yes I do." I know I'll regret it but that doesn't stop my curiosity.

"I just don't see any space. You're in Seattle, staying with his family's friends who is also your boss. Even from Pullman, he's controlling you, trying to end the few friendships that you have and when he's not doing that, he's coming to Seattle to visit. That doesn't seem like much space to me."

I haven't thought about my living arrangement from that perspective until now. Is that another reason Hardin sabotaged my apartment? So that if I still decided to go to Seattle, I could be under the watchful eyes of his family friends?

"It's working for us. I know it doesn't make sense to you but it's working for us. I know-"

"He tried to pay me off to stay away from you." Zed interjects.

"What?"

"Yeah, he was threatening me and he told me to make him an offer. He told me to find another whore on campus to toy with,"

Whore?

"He said that no one else will ever have you and he was awfully proud of himself that you stuck around even after he told you about sleeping with Molly after the two of you started hanging out."

The mention of Hardin and Molly stings, Zed knew it would. That's exactly why he said it.

"We have already dealt with that. I don't want to talk about Hardin and Molly." I say through gritted teeth.

"I just want you to know what you're dealing with. He's not the same person when you're not around."

"That's not a bad thing." I fight back. "You don't know him." I'm relieved when we pull onto the access road and into the less populated sector of the city, signaling that we are less than five minutes away from my temporary home.

The sooner this care ride is over, the better.

"You don't either really. You spend all of your time fighting with him."

"What is your goal here?" I ask him. I hate the direction our conversation has turned but I don't know how to bring it back to neutral territory.

"Nothing. I just thought after all this time and all the shit he puts you through, you would see it."

A thought strikes me, "Did you tell him you were coming here?"

"No."

"You're not fighting fair here." I call him out.

"Neither is he." He sighs, desperately trying to keep his voice down. "Look, I know you'll defend him until you are blue in the face but you can't blame me for wanting to have what he has. I want to be the one you're defending, I want to be the one that you trust even though you shouldn't. I'm always there for you when he isn't."

He rubs his hand over his facial hair and takes another breath, "I'm not fighting fair but neither is he. He hasnt from the beginning. Sometimes I swear the only reason he's so attached to you is becasue he knows that I have feelings for you too."

This is exactly why we will never be able to have a friendship. Regardless of Zed's sweet understanding, it will never work. He hasn't given up and there is honor in that. However, I can't give him what he wants from me and I don't want to feel like I have to explain my relationship with Hardin every time I see him.

He has been there for me but only because I allowed him to be.

"I don't know if I have enough left of me to give to you, even as a friend."

"That's because he has drained you,"

I stay silent and stare out the window at the pine trees lining the road.

"I didn't want tonight to be this way, now you'll probably never want to see me again." He mutters without looking at me.

"It's this driveway,"  I point out the window, unsure what else to say to him.

An awkward and tense silence fills the cab until the massive house comes into view.

"This is even bigger than the other house, the one I picked you up from before." He points out, staring wide eyed at the impressive home. He's trying to ease the tension and I do the same.

I begin to tell him about the gym, the control panel that is connected to Christian's iPhone, the expansive kitchen, when my heart leaps into my throat.

Hardin's car is parked just behind Kimberly's sleek Audi. Zed spots it at the same time that I do but he doesn't appear affected. I can feel the color draining from my face and I can see it in Zed's eyes that he knows I'm getting anxious.

"I better get inside." I shutter.

"I'm sorry again, please don't go inside upset with me. You have enough going on, I shouldn't have made you feel any worse." He offers to come inside to be sure everything is okay but I brush it off. I know Hardin will be pissed, beyond pissed, but I created this mess so I need to be held responsible for cleaning it up.

"It's okay," I reassure him with a fake smile and climb out of his truck with a promise to text him when I can. "I can handle him."

 I'm aware of my slow strides as I walk to the door but I don't make an effort to move faster. I'm trying to go over what I should say, whether or not I should be angry with Hardin or apologize for seeing Zed again, when the door opens.

Hardin steps out wearing his dark blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Despite the fact that it has only been two days since I last saw him, my pulse quickens and I ache to be closer to him. I've missed him so much in the short days that we have been apart.

His face is set in stone and his icy gaze follows Zed's old truck as it disappears from view.

"Hardin, I-"

"Get inside," He scolds me.

"Don't tell-" I begin.

"It's cold, come inside." Hardin's eyes are blazing, the heat in them keeps me from arguing. He surprises me by gently resting his hand on the small of my back. He leads me inside the house, past Kimberly and Smith in the living room, and into my bedroom without a word.

He closes the door behind him and turns the lock. "Why?" He looks down at me and my heart nearly bursts.

"Nothing happened, I swear. He said he came in early and wanted to grab dinner. I didn't know how to say no."

"You never do." He spits, holding my gaze.

"I know you went to his apartment yesterday. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you didn't need to know." His breathing is harsh, barely controlled.

"You don't get to decide what I need to know." I challenge him. "You can't keep things from me. I know about your mother's wedding too." I quietly say.

He doesn't even flinch. "One thing at a time." The veins in his arms are visible under the scarce spots of white skin, soft blue laced with the black ink. His fists are tightly bawled.

"I won't see him again."

"You said that before."

"I know. I didn't get it before but after spending time with him today, I do."

"Why's that?" I look away from the intensity of him. "Look at me." He coolly demands.

"Because I know he's a trigger for you and I shouldn't keep pushing you by seeing him. I know how much it would hurt me if you saw Molly or any other female for that matter."

"Why now? What did he do to have you suddenly change your mind?"

"Nothing. He didn't do anything to me. I shouldn't have taken this long to get it."

"If you see him again, that will be it for us. I can't handle it. It has taken everything in me not to find you two at dinner, beat his face in, and drag you out of the place. I'm not kidding Tessa, this is too much for me and I'm trying here, really trying and you're fucking it up by bringing him around."

I take a step back from him and gather my thoughts. He's right, he's using the wrong words, but his point is valid. I expect him to keep his temper at bay, yet I do the one thing that I know will set him off.

"I'll tell him now. I'll call him in front of you and tell him that I don't want a friendship with him anymore. I know how much it bothers you. Between your dreams and whatever Steph said I know you've been having doubts and I shouldn't help make them come alive."

Hardin's eyes soften and he bows his head. He was expecting a fight from me, I know it.

"No, he's already stolen enough time from me today."

"I'm sorry." I plea with him. I am still angry that he has kept things from me but I owe him an apology for seeing Zed, again.

"Come here." He opens his arms for me the way he always does and I'm quick to wrap myself in them.

"How did you know that I was with him?" I press my cheek against his chest. His minty scent invades m senses, pushing all thoughts of Zed out.

"Kimberly told me." He says into my hair.

"She really doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut." I frown.

"You weren't going to tell me?" His thumb presses under my chin and lifts my head up.

"Yes, I was but I would rather have told you myself." I suppose that I'm grateful for Kimberly's honesty, it's hypocritical of me to only want her to be honest with me and not Hardin.

"I meant what I said about not seeing him again. Let this be the last time we have this discussion."

I ignore the demeaning tone he's using, "Why didn't you come find us?" I ask him. I assumed if he knew that I was with Zed, that's exactly what he would have done.

"Because," he breathes, staring into my eyes, "you kept going on about the cycle and I wanted to break it."

My heart swells at his honest and thoughtful answer. He really is trying and it means so much to me.

"I'm still pissed," he adds.

"I know." I touch his cheek with my fingertips and his arms tighten around me. "I'm pissed too. You didn't tell me about the wedding and I want to know why."

"Not tonight." He warns me.

"Yes tonight. You got to say your peace about Zed, now it's my turn."

"Tessa.." his lips press into a hard line.

"Hardin.."

"You're infuriating." He releases me and paces across the floor, putting a distance between us that I can't stand.

"So are you!" I fire back, following his movements to get closer to him again.

"I don't want to talk about the fucking wedding right now, I'm already livid and barely controlling myself as it is. Don't push me, okay?"

"Fine!" I give in. Not because I'm afraid of what he will say, but because I just spent two and a half hours with Zed and Hardin's anger is only masking the anxiety and pain I've caused him by doing so.

(Please vote<3 ily all! xo)