Songs for this chapter are:

Wildest Dreams- Taylor Swift

Blank Space- Taylor Swift

Night Changes- One Direction

Change Your Ticket- One Direction (these don''t really match what's happening but this album is just perfect so go with it okay? lol.)

Cherry Wine- Hozier

He woke up one night, months after he met her. He rolled over to find her cradled against him, her legs wrapped around his. He had never felt anything like this before, his pain felt so dimmed but his heart and mind so electric at once and he had no history with anything of the sort. He wanted to wake her, he wanted to confess his sins to his angel that night but she woke at the exact moment he was going to ask for forgiveness and he didn't have the strength. He was a coward and a liar and he knew it. He could only hope that she would have mercy on him. Her eyes fluttered and searched for him and he felt a crushing weight on him. He couldn't ruin who she thought he was but he was terrified of their future for he learned as a child that every lie made in the dark becomes an evil truth in the light.

The sound of laughing and a dog barking wakes me from my three hour sleep. I never get much sleep anyway, but I would appreciate a little peace in the hallways, considering it's a Monday morning and I have class in, I reach for my phone and check the time.

8:43.

Fuck, I have less than thirty minutes to get to my Literature class and why the hell is there a dog in this house anyway?

Grabbing last night's black jeans from the floor, I pull them over my legs, stumbling slightly and cursing at the tight fabric. My legs are just too damn long to wear baggy jeans without looking like fucking Gumbo.

I tossed my keys onto the flloor last night so I'm subjected to rummage through the clutter of shit to find them. Black t-shirts, dirty black jeans, and filthy socks crowd the floor.

I make my way through the house, ignoring the tell-tale signs of last night's party. Logan waves to me, bags under his eyes and an energy drink in his hands.

"I feel like shit, man." He groans, trying to smile. He's always smiling and I catch myself wondering what that would feel like. To be happy all the time like he is.

"You've got the right idea, not drinking." Logan says and walks over to the fridge. He pulls out a half gallon of milk and drinks it straight from the plastic.

"Nice." I shake my head at him and he smiles, drinking more milk. The kitchen starts to fill up with other member of the fraternity and since I'm not in their clique, I grab a peice of pizza from last night's drunken decision to order ten pizzas at four a.m.

As I'm leaving the room, I hear Neil asking everyone if they want to go to some restaraunt tonight before the party. I didn't expect them to invite me, they never do. It's not that I woud ever be caught dead hanging out with a bunch of dumbass frat boys with too much gel in their hair.

My mum's always giving me a hard time about "making friends" but she doesn't get it. It's not that fucking easy or remotely entertaining.

Why would I put myself out there to get the approval of people I can't stand, just to feel slightly more important in life. I don't need friends. I have a small group of people I can slightly tolerate and that's more than enough for me.

By the time I get to campus, the parking lot is almost full and I have to cut some douche-bag in a beamer off to take his spot.

The Professor is already blabbing when I enter the lecture room. I look around the space, searching for an empty seat and immediately notice the girl in the front row. Her long blond hair is mildly recongziable, it's the long skirt touching the floor that confirms it. It's Tessa, Steph's prudish roommate.

She's sitting next to Landon Gibson. Of course she is. As I get closer, she looks back at me and her eyes go wide. She turns around quickly and I walk faster to sit next to her. Just like I knew she would, she ignores me. She's wearing a blue button up shirt that has to be at least two sizes too big and her hair is pinned back away from her face.

I wait for Landon to say something to me, but he doesn't. So much for "blending our family." Fucker.

"I think this will be favorite class," Tessa says to Landon. Weirdly, it may be my favorite too, even though I'm sitting in the class for fun really, I got away with classifying it as an elective even though I've taken it before.

"What do you want Hardin?" She turns to me when she realizes that I'm following them. I smile at her, an Innocent smile as if I'm not trying to get under her skin.

"Nothing at all. I am so glad we have a class together," my tone is mocking and she rewards my sarcasm with an eye roll.

"I'll see you later, Tessa," Landon says without a word to me.

"You would find the lamest kid in class to befriend," I tease her.

I picture Landon's mum and my dad, holding hands in a cheery, look at how much we love eachother, way. His mum's hand in my father, Ken Scott, AKA father of the fucking year, makes me cringe. I can't remember a single time when he held my mum's hand like that.

"Don't say that about him, he is sweet and smart. Unlike you," she snaps. I turn to her, surprised by her immediate loyalty to him. Does she know him already? Does he know her?

Why the fuck would I care?

"You're becoming more feisty with each chat we have, Theresa," I know she hates being called Theresa. That's exactly why I make it a point to do it so often. She begins to walk faster to get away from me so I speed up to match her pace.

"If you call me Theresa one more time.." her full lips purse together and she attempts a glare at me. Her eyes warm mid glare, shifting into an icy blue from gray and the tension slips from my shoulders. I feel it, something creeping up my spine as my body starts to relax.

I shake it off, this weird feeling. She's still staring.

"Stop staring at me," I demand and walk away. I turn the corner and feel breathless, like I've smoked too many cigarettes, only I don't smoke anymore. I lean against the brick wall and catch my breath.

She's odd, that blond girl with too much attitude.

Later that night, I delete the text message from Ken.

*Karen's making a nice dinner, you should come by.*

Has he lost his damn mind? Like I would ever, ever go to his shiny new house for dinner with his perfect wife and Landon. Perfect little Landon who loves sports and kisses everyone's ass to be the nicest, most respectful boy in the land. Bleh.

..

The entire week was shit. Party after party, noise after noise.

I've slept a total of twenty hours in the past week, at most., and I'm exhausted today. I can barely see straight through my throbbing headache and I can't find my keys this morning. I'm irritated as fuck and I'm in a fighting mood.

While I'm turning my room upside down, there's a knock at the door. I consider ignoring it, but the knock comes again, this time louder.

When I answer, a girl in a WSU jersey is standing in my doorway, her eyes red and her cheeks flushed.

"Can I come in?" She asks, her hands are shaking.

"No. Sorry." I close the door in her face. Seconds later another knock. Damn it. I don't know who the chick is but she needs to find another door to knock on. She continues tapping away at my door and I yank it open.

Neil, one of the biggest of the douche bags in the fraternity is standing there. His blond hair is ruffled, messy and he smells like beer and pussy.

"What the fuck do you want?" I ask him and walk back into the room, tossing a pair of jeans his way.

"Have you seen Cady?" His tone is off, words slurred.

"Who?"

"The girl I was with last night? Have you seen her?" I think back to her red eyes, the way she was desperate to come into my room and shake my head. I thought she was high at first, maybe she was, but I'm not getting in the middle of this shit.

"Nope. Get out." I grab a book from my shelf and throw it at him. He groans, calls me a dick and leaves my room.

I'm still pissed as I drive back to campus and I continue my newly found pattern of annoying Steph's roomate.

"I am leaving about thirty minutes into class today, I am flying home for the weekend." Landon tells her before class starts. They must be closer friends than I thought. Her voice is quiet when she responds to him and he smiles at her. Her smile is warm, so warm that I look away for a moment.

Do they like each other? He has a girlfriend as far as I know. They must have broken up by the way he's looking at Tessa.

Halfway through, Landon leaves and Tessa literally moves her chair further away from me.

"We will begin our week long discussion of Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice starting tomorrow!" Professor something-or-other announces to the class. I glance over at Tessa and she's smiling. Not just smiling, she's grinning from ear to ear.

Of course she is. Chicks love Pride and Prejudice. They can't get enough of Darcy and his pride turned charm shit.

I watch Tessa gather her things, a massive planner and every text book this campus carries, and follow her outside.

"Let me guess, you just love Mr. Darcy," I have to tease her over this. Have to.

"Actually," she barely looks at me, "yes, I do." I follow her still and watch her look both ways before she crosses the street at the intersection.

"Of course you do." I laugh. Damn she walks fast.

"I'm sure you aren't able to comprehend Mr. Darcy's appeal." Tessa tries to insult me. I laugh again.

"A man who is rude and intolerable being made into a romantic hero? It's ridiculous. If Elizabeth had any sense she would have told him to fuck off," I argue with the girl I barely know.

She turns to face me and I hear the soft sound of a giggle. As in, the innocent and unintentional giggles that have seemingly disappeared from the world today. She covers her mouth the moment the sound hits the air but I heard it.

"So you do agree that Elizabeth is an idiot?" I question her.

"No, she is one of the strongest, most complex characters ever written." She defends Elizabeth Bennet in a way that most eighteen year old's would never be able to. I find myself laughing, genuinely laughing and she joins in. Her laugh is soft, like cotton.

What the fuck did I just..

I immediately stop laughing and I look away from her. This is too damn weird.

She's weird and obnoxious.

"I will see you around Theresa." I dismiss her and walk the other way.

Soft like cotton? What the fuck was that?

I push that bullshit to the back of my mind and walk to my car. Tonight there's another party, as always, and I'll get my mind away from this shit by burying myself into a tight, wet...

My phone vibrating in my pocket distracts me from my plans. Jace's name pops up on the screen and I quickly answer. He's been gone for a while and I'll be glad to have him back.

Everyone has that one person they hang out with who makes them feel better about themselves. That's Jace for me. He's an asshole, Grade A fucking dickhead, ask anyone, but he's entertaining and he always makes for a good time.

..

"Why does she have to come again?" Molly asked the small group as she took a drag of her cigarette.

"Because she is Steph's roommate and Steph likes her for some reason so she is bringing her along." Nate explains.

"She's a total bitch though, super fucking obnoxious." I groan, rubbing my head. She irritates me even when she's not around. Molly must like my reaction toward the blond girl because she leans into me. I move away before she touches me, pretending that I didn't realize her intention.

I spent the afternoon fucking her, burying my cock inside of her and thinking of someone else. I could feel the soft curves of hip, the full breasts. I could hear her voice saying my name. I wrapped my hands in pink hair while imagining blond and I came hard, into the condom. Molly was so proud of herself for finally getting me off without her mouth wrapped around my cock.

If only she knew.

"She's hot though." Nate adds.

Has everyone noticed how hot Tessa is by now?

"Hot? No, she's not." I lie.

"She is definitely hot dude, I would fuck her in a heart beat." Zed's determination surprises me.

"You wish. She's a total prude, obviously. I mean who is a virgin in college?" Molly mocks Tessa.

"Maybe that's why she is such a bitch because she hasn't been fucked properly." I say and moved a few inches away from Molly, hoping she won't follow.

"I may need to do that then." Zed says, trying to make everyone laugh. He fails.

"Yeah right. You couldn't even if you tried." I taunt him.

"And you could? I would have a better chance than you!" He counters.

He can't be serious. Does he not remember his precious Samantha?

"What did I miss?" Jace sits down on the concrete and pulls a joint from his pocket.

"Steph has a total snob of a roommate and Zed and Hardin here are arguing over who could fuck her first." Molly informs him with a growl.

"You know.. we could make this much more interesting. You up for it?" I turn to Zed.

"Depends." Zed smiles.

"Hmm.. okay so lets see who can hook up with her first."

What's the point of this? I ask myself the moment I say the words.

It could be fun. At least it will give me something to do and a reason to annoy her further.

"I don't know.. " Zed's voice is full of doubt. I figured he would be all for beating me at something, given our past and the unspoken grudge he holds against me.

"Come on, don't be a pussy. It wont be that hard, we will play another game of truth or dare. That will open it all up, it will be simple." I explain to them.

"This is stupid, who gives a shit who can take some random girls virginity?" Molly huffs, whining like usual.

"If you're so convinced you can do it, I will give you a week." Jace chokes on the smoke in his lungs and passes the joint to Molly.

"A week? Dude, she is super bitchy and we already don't get along. I need longer than a week." They don't know how stubborn this chick is. She's rude and fucking pushy.

"How long? Two weeks? Look, if you get it within a month I will give you five hundred." Zed says, leaning back against the concrete.

"Five hundred dollars?" Molly gapes. Her fury is amusing. She's an attention whore, through and through and she hates Tessa for stealing it from her.

"And I will add three. Eight hundred bucks. You think you can do it?" Jace questions with bloodshot eyes.

"Yea, of course I can do it. I just hope she doesn't go all psycho and clingy." I say, deciding whether or not to brag about the times I've won games like this in the past. I decide against it.

"Doubt it." Nate laughs, lighting another cigarette.

"She isn't going to go for you, she doesn't seem that stupid." Zed glares at me.

"Yea, so we need proof when you hit it." Jace laughs, looking directly at me.

Proof? That shouldn't be too hard. I can be creative.

"I've never fucked a virgin, this should be fun." I smile a fake smile and bring my fingers to my lip ring to hide it.

The party is crowded, even more than last week and I'm sober, like always. I stayed in my room until the music got louder and louder, then decided to come down.

As I'm wandering around the living room to find Nate, I stop walking when I see Tessa sitting on the couch. Well at least i think it's Tessa. She's dressed differently. Way differently. Her eyes are a deeper blue-gray when they are lined with makeup and her clothes are snug on her curves.

She's fucking hot. I won't tell her that, but god damn, she's fucking hot.

"You look.. different." I can't stop looking at her as she stands to her feet. Her hips, damn those fucking hips should have my fingers imprinted into the skin.

"Your clothes actually fit you tonight." The sound comes out as a laugh but I didnt mean for it to be. She rolls her eyes at me and pulls the top of her shirt up to cover her incredible cleavage.

"I'm surprised to see you here." I say to her, still checking her out.

"Yeah," she sighs. "I'm surprised that I ended up here again." She walks away from me without a warning and I hesitate for a moment, deciding whether or not to follow her. I know the plan and now that she's dressed like this, I'm even more ready to get the ball rolling on this shit.

I'm leaning against the counter in the kitchen when Molly approaches me. "Are you ready for this bullshit or what?" She asks.

She's irritated and jealous of the new center of attention. I get it. She's used to getting attention from the opposite sex, it's how she feels needed.

I understand that more than anyone.

"Are you?" I raise a brow to her. She rolls her heavily lined eyes at me.

"I'll have Steph find her and bring her to the living room since you obviously aren't going to be of any help."

By the time I sit down, water cup in hand, Tessa is joining the group. I feel uneasy but excited for some reason as they game begins. I try not to think of Natalie or Melissa or any of the others.

"Lets play truth or dare" Zed starts/ and their small group of tattooed friends gather around the couch. Molly is passing around a bottle of vodka and I look away from it, drinking my water as if it was burning my throat in that familiar way.

Steph, Nate, Nate's roommate Tristan, Zed and Molly take turns drinking from the bottle. Tessa watches them but doesn't have any. I don't take her as an addict like me, maybe she just doesn't like to drink. Even in college, at a party.

"You should play, Tessa" Molly smiles at Tessa. I know that smile. It's no good.

"No, I'd rather not." Tessa picks at her finger nails and I glance at Zed. He doesn't look worried at all but I can tell by the short encounters that I've had with this girl that she's stubborn as hell.

"Like she would actually play." I goad her. "She would have to stop being a prude for five minutes." The group laughs, except Steph who's putting on a good show. She's not fooling me, I know her ass better than that.

I look at Tessa who's ready to give into my peer pressure then lean into Zed, "This will be easy. You may as well pay me now." I tell him.

During the first few turns Zed chugs a beer, Molly shows of her nipple piercings. I got a kick out of watching Tessa's eyes bulge and her cheeks turn a deep red. I can't help but imagine Tessa's full tits, perky and soft, decorated with small barbells.

"Truth or dare, Theresa?" Nate asks, getting this show on the road. Finally.

"Truth?" She sounds unsure. I don't miss that she didn't correct Nate when he called her Theresa but every time I do it, she acts as if she wants to chop my balls off.

"Of course." I taunt her. She glares at me as Nate rubs his hands together while trying to pretend he doesn't know what he's supposed to ask.

"Are you a virgin?" Nate finally asks her. Her eyes go wide, as usual, and she makes a light choking noise.

She's quiet, embarrassed I'm sure.

"Well?" Zed presses her while I picture her naked body under mine. Her voice, soft and subtle, would be making noises that no man has ever heard before. The thought is beyond fucking intriguing.

"So you have been dating Noah for two years and you haven't had sex?" Steph asks and Tessa shakes her head back and forth.

"Hardin's turn" She tries to move the attention to me but it's too late. Every one of us is thinking about our game and how this sweet, innocent, and crumpling naive girl just became the main piece.

(Gahhhh HI guys! Don't kill me for taking so long! It honestly was so hard to get back to the beginning while I was writing the epilogue and editing the last book. Yes, you heard me, epilogue! The end of the fourth book has a new and better, (In my opinion, I felt rushed and didn't do what I should have with the ending of the book) so luckily I have a second chance! So you have to wait to Feb hah, sorry! But I'm excited and anxious for you to read it!

For those of you wondering, the fourth book is the second half of After 3 and new material. I wanted to add and change things. After We Fell and After Ever Happy are the most changed! I'm doing a live video chat on the App OkayHello for the release of After We Fell on Dec 30th at 5pm! I'll post a link to my page if you want to join! It's an open chat room as of now and it's fun to talk to other After readers!

If you have read both this version and the published version, what was the biggest change you noticed so far?!

Thank you all for being patient, I wanted to make sure the new ending was perfect and writing Before messed me up haha. I love you guys!! xo!