Songs for this chapter are:

I Should Go- Levi Krauss

Elastic Heart- Sia

Right Now- One Direction

I Know Places - Taylor Swift 

She was always stubborn from the beginning. She pushed buttons he didn't know he had and made him think of the world in a different way. He never expected anything to come from this game of his and he never knew how each glance from her, each smile she awarded him with, was changing him. He grew protective of her from early on and he didn't recognize when his protection turned to control. He tried to fight it but he wasn't strong enough until it was too late. 

"Have you seen Tessa around anywhere?" I ask Nate. He looks around the crowded room, shakes his head and looks back at me.

It's been twenty minutes since she stormed off and I can't find her anywhere. Why can't she be like Molly or any of the other girls I've hooked up with and come running back? Knowing her, the little bit that I do know about this girl leads me to believe she's going to shatter every preconceived thought I had about girls in general. 

Fucking yay.

"She left dude," Logan walks into the kitchen with a bottle of vodka in his hands. Left? She wouldn't actually leave. She doesn't even know how to get back to campus and her ancient phone couldn't be any help if she's lost.

"No way." I shake my head and reach for an empty cup. When I turn the sink on, Nate is looking at me with one brow raised and a stupid grin on his face. 

"What, fucker?" I ask him, chugging the water. 

"Nothing man," he laughs and shares a shitty look with Logan. 

"Am I missing something here?" My hand waves between the two of them. 

"Nope." Logan puts his hand on my shoulder and I move away. "Why are you looking for her exactly?"

I think quick. "Why do you think?" I deceive them. Yes, I'm still into the game, but at this moment, I just want to know where the fuck she went. 

That's all. 

"Right," Nate nudges Logan' are like we are in grade school. "Well she's gone anyway. I saw her walk out the front door."

"And you just let her?"

"Let her? Why would I care if she walked outside and left? You shouldn't care either, I thought." Nate says, his eyes meeting Logan'.

"Where's Zed?" I ask them.

They both shake their heads and shrug their shoulders. 

As I walk away from them, my hands ball into fists. Maybe she called a friend to pick her up? Does the girl even have any friends? She seems like the judgmental type that no one would actually want to be friends with. Like me, in that way. Except she's slightly more likeable. Slightly. 

I'm sure she isn't stupid enough to try to walk three miles back to her dorm. 

Stupid enough? No. 

Stubborn enough? Hell fucking yes she is. 

I walk through the halls upstairs one more time to be sure she actually left the house. My room is empty, I was hoping she would be annoying and break into my room again. I was kind of hoping I would catch her sitting on my bed with one of my books in her hand. 

But no, of course she had to be ridiculously difficult and leave the house. Alone. 

Alone. 

Fucking hell, she's walking the damn streets alone. 

What kind of.. God damn it, she pisses me off. 

"Nate!" I shout his name over the music as I rush down the stairs. 

"What? You in a hurry?" He says to me, a slow smirk rising onto his face. I slow down as I reach the bottom. 

"Nah, I just.." I push my hair back from my forehead. "Steph needs your help." I tell him.

"With?" 

"Her roommate. She told me to ask you to help me find her. She's worried or some shit." I look away from him as he reaches into his pocket. 

"Okay, I'll call her and let her know that I'll-" I grab his phone from his hand before he can finish. 

"No, she's busy with Tristan. She uh, she told me to not let you call her."

"Since when do you listen to anyone?" Logan appears behind me. 

"Not the point. For fuck's sake, just get in your damn car and drive around the block a few times." I brush my hair back again, "Fuck." 

I leave the house without looking back and get into my car. As I begin to circle the neighborhood, my phone rings. It's Ken again, he has impeccable timing, really. 

"What?" I answer with a growl. Some type of sport announcer's voice sounds in the background. 

"Hardin, hey. You answered." He says, sounding too surprised. 

"Yeah and you're making me regret it. What do you want?" 

"Nothing, I-"

"Ken, honey, dinner's ready!" A woman's voice, his lover I'm sure. 

I hang up before he can get another word in. 

The streets are empty. Completely fucking empty and she's no where to be found. After a few more circles around the block, I decide to just head to her dorm. She has to be there by now. Has to. 

The dorm room door opens without any hesitation and I find Steph and Tristan laying on her bed. Steph's shirt is off, her hands roaming his shirtless body. Steph removes her mouth from his and sits up. 

"Can I help you?" Her hand wipes over her mouth, smearing the last bit of lipstick down across her mouth. 

"Where's Theresa?" I ask them. Tristan reaches for his shirt and Steph grabs it from him, tossing it onto the floor. "Well?" I push them. 

"Not here. We passed her on the way." Steph latches her mouth onto Tristan's neck and I gag. 

"Passed her? You saw her walking and you didn't pick her up?" I bend down and grab Tristan's shirt, tossing it back to him. 

"Steph told me not to stop," he says while getting dressed. 

"What the fuck?" I turn to her. 

"She's fine, she could use some walking," she chuckles. 

"Hey," Tristan nudges her, a disapproving look clear on his face. Steph rolls her eyes.

"Get dressed, both of you, and leave. She should be here soon." I say to them. 

"This is my room, I'm not leaving." Steph says. 

"Come on," I scramble for a reason for her to leave. "I need some alone time with her," 

"For what? To fuck her?" She laughs. 

"To work toward that, yes." 

"Let's just go to my place. Nate probably won't be there." Tristan tucks Steph's hair behind her ear and she smiles, nodding in agreement. 

Once the room is empty, I sit down on Tessa's bed. As I'm trying to decide whether or not to look through her stuff out of curiosity, the door opens. 

"You've got to be kidding me!" Her voice is high and loud as she throws her hands into the air. 

"Where were you?" I calmly ask her. "I drove around trying to find you for almost two hours."

"Why the hell would you be looking for me?" She asks me. Her cheeks are blushed from the cool fall air and her hair is windblown, not the neatly curled mop I'm used to seeing on her. 

"Because," I struggle. "Because, I don't think it is a good idea for you to be walking around at night, alone."

She bursts into laughter. Laughter out of all things. What is wrong with her? 

"Get out, Hardin." She continues her soft laughter. 

"Theresa, I'm.." Someone pounding at the door interrupts me. 

"Tessa! Theresa Young, you open this door!" A woman's voice shrieks through the air. 

"Oh my god, Hardin get in the closet" Tessa whispers, grabbing my arm and yanking me from the bed. 

"I'm not hiding in the fucking closet, you're eighteen." I argue. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Tessa asks her mum and the boy next to her. Her mum comes straight toward me but I'm too focused on the boy. Tessa's boyfriend. 

"This is why you haven't been answering your phone? Because you have this.. this.. tattooed, troublemaker in your room at six am!" She shouts, throwing her hands around the way her daughter does. 

"Is this what you do in college young lady? You stay up all night and have boys in your room?" The woman fumes.

"Poor Noah was worried sick about you. We drive all this way to find you being dare I say it, slutty." So this is where Tessa gets her predetermined judgment of sexually active chicks.

"I just got here." I speak before Tessa does. "She wasn't doing anything wrong." I defend her. Tessa gapes at me like I'm insane to go up against this woman. The thought makes me laugh, she has no idea. 

"I was not speaking to you, I don't know what someone like you is doing hanging around my daughter anyway." The douche in the corner stays silent, as he should. 

"Mother." Tessa grits her teeth, attempting to be as threatening as possible. Her mum isn't phased. 

"Tessa, you are out of control." She speaks through her teeth, "I can smell the liquor on you from here. I can only assume that this is the influence of your lovely roommate and him." She says, looking directly at me. 

"I'm eighteen mother," Tessa sounds defeated. "I've never drank before and I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just doing what every other college student is doing. I'm sorry you drove all the way here but I'm fine." Tessa sits on the edge of her bed. I don't move. 

"Could you leave us for a minute?" Her mother asks me. 

I look over at Theresa, making sure she knows that I won't leave unless she's okay to face her mum and boyfriend alone. She nods but I can see the confusion in her gray eyes. 

 My chest is burning as I leave the room. 

(hey guys! thank  you for your patience with me updating! It's going to be more frequent soon ;) I have some more news soon and I've been traveling so much lately! I'll be in London April 19 for a signing,then Germany then Spain again, then South America. The info for signings are on my IG page.

 On a sadder note, I hope those of you in the fandom are holding up okay, stay strong babes, this will all somehow work out and we have to stand by the boys now more than ever. If you need to talk, I'm here. Love you guys so much<3