Hope you're still interested... sorry this took a long time. Forgive me?

IOU

dangerous-fox

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For the hundredth time that night, Jennifer glanced at her reflection in the mirror and wondered whether what she was wearing was okay. And, for the hundredth time, she tried to tell herself that she didn't really care either way. She was just going on this double-date because it meant that she no longer 'owed' Xavier Caffy anything.

Yeah, right. That was it.

I'm not attracted to Xavier. Not at all.

Liar.

She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

Lying, that is.

Ding-Dong.

Jennifer jumped as the doorbell rang. Alarmed, she shot a look at the living room clock on her way to answer the door. Had she really been staring at her reflection for ten minutes?

Flushing slightly at the thought of how vain she had become, she unlocked and opened the front door to find her 'saviour' standing there with a small frown on his face. However, as he lifted his eyes up to look at her, it was quickly erased and replaced with his usual charming grin.

"You actually answered the door"

Jennifer lifted a brow as she stepped aside to let him in, "and you sound surprised"

"Well, the girls I usually take out seem to find it amusing to leave their dates waiting for half an hour or so"

She responded with a pointed look, and he shrugged. "Okay, so many not quite half an hour," he admitted, following her upstairs, "the point is that you actually answered the door straight away… maybe you were just anxious to see me?"

Jennifer couldn't help it; she made a rude noise in her throat and stopped in front of her bedroom. "Ever think that it was just your poor choice in women?" she queried innocently, turning around to face him and splaying one hand across his chest to stop him from walking any further. "Wait here, I'm changing my dress".

He rolled his eyes, but took a step back anyway. "What you're wearing is fine, you know…" he commented as she closed the door in his face. While he was waiting, he reflected back on her previous words. "Are you calling your best friend a poor choice?"

As he knew it would, her bedroom door flew open almost straight away and Jennifer stuck her head around, brown hair falling around her bare shoulders. "What?" she demanded, eyes narrowed, "you and Luci were an item?"

How could she not have known this?!

Xavier was leaning back casually against the banister railing, and the moment her brown eyes met his laughing green ones, she frowned even more. "Bastard," she muttered, looking around for something to throw at him. Xavier grinned.

"Naw, I didn't go out with Luci, don't you worry. I know you hate me and all, sweetie, but really… did you have to go and look so appalled at the idea?" he asked, one hand on his heart and a feigned expression of hurt on his face. However, all supposed hurt and innocence quickly disappeared into a mischievous smirk as his gaze trickled down from her eyes to her mouth, and then further down to where she was hiding herself behind the door. "Jennifer, honey…" he asked in a deceptively mild tone, eyes glittering, "do you have anything on at all?"

The deep flush just about gave her away, and the sound of the door slamming was all the confirmation that he needed.

Jennifer frowned as she heard his muted laughter coming from behind the door, and she glanced around her room, looking for the dress that she wanted to change into. All the while, she cursed Xavier Caffy. Cursed him for being such a jerk, cursed him for being so arrogant and so sure of himself, cursed him for being so… so damn attractive.

And finally, she cursed him for making her fall for him.

The truth was that is wasn't disgust that immediately came to mind at the thought of him and Lucinda together. It had been jealousy. God, she had actually been envious at the thought of her bestfriend getting to spend time with him, to be held by him, to be kissed by him, to…

"Ow, damnit!" she swore loudly as she stubbed her toe against the one of the posts on the bed.

"Really now, Piper… can't you even get changed by yourself?" came the amused remark from the hallway. There was a short silence before he spoke again, his tone lowered and promising something wicked, "… sure you don't want me to come in there and help you…?"

It was amazing how much willpower it took for her to shout back a decline to his suggestive offer. "As tempting as that offer sounds-" and damn, was it ever… "- I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no…"

She could imagine his smug grin as he replied, "your loss, sweetheart"

Having slipped on the dress that she had worn to a relative's wedding sometime last month, she stopped to examine herself in the mirror. It wasn't full length, but it was large enough for her to make the decision that she liked what she was wearing much better than the skirt she had on before. Having seen Xavier at the door dressed up in a smart tux, she thought that her dress would probably be better suited to wherever it was that they were going. On her way upstairs, she had done her best to try and ignore how good he looked in a suit. While his clothing was neat and screamed 'rich boy', his straight black hair had been just as messy as it ever was, as though he had just woken up. Jennifer wondered idly if he ever brushed it.

Rummaging around in her dresser drawers, she pulled out a large mauve clip and swept her waved brown into a half-in, half-out style. The dress that she was wearing was of a similar shade of violet and tiny silver studs beaded the hem and caught the light whenever she moved. Over the dress, which was strapless and fell un-evenly around her knees, was a fine, soft transparent overlay that also reflected light and certain angles. Having applied make-up earlier, Jennifer stopped only to apply a quick coat on lip-gloss and to spray some of her favourite perfume before walking over and opening the door.

Xavier was nowhere in sight.

Odd… she had thought that he had been unnaturally quiet for the past few minutes.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, she glanced down the upstairs corridor to find it empty and quiet. Her parents had gone out for the evening and she had no brothers or sisters around. Normally, she loved the quiet, but the fact that she knew that Xavier was prowling around somewhere in the house set her on edge. It was just like those scary movies that she would watch with her dad. It wasn't necessarily the blood and gore that scared her… just the suspense, when the gripping music would start playing and you knew that the killer was hidden nearby… just waiting for the right moment… just…

"Ah!" Jennifer let out a startled cry as she walked down the stairs and spotted movement coming from the living room. Releasing her tight grip on the banister, she frowned as she realized that it was only her cat – Mufty – leaping gracefully onto the back of the armchair. Letting out her breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding, she continued down the rest of the steps and moved over to the front door where her dark silver strapped heels were. After slipping them on, she straightened and went into the living room.

"Xavier Adam Caffy, if you don't come out right now, I'll…" she threatened, one hand resting imperiously on her hip.

"You'll what?" came the annoyingly arrogant challenge.

Jennifer gave a yelp as she became aware of his presence directly behind her. Heating beating fast, she spun around quickly to find herself only inches away from Xavier. Aside from when he had pulled her away from the speeding car, she couldn't remember a time when she had been this close to him before. Frankly, it was disconcerting.

He seemed to tower over her, one brow cocked. "You know my middle name?" he asked, sounding amused.

Whatever spell had been cast, which had kept from taking a step back when she realized how close they were to each other, was quickly broken and she hastily increased the distance between them. "Shouldn't we be going now?" she asked, switching the subject.

He gave her a mock bow and pulled out a set of car keys from his pocket, "whatever you say, m'lady"

"Oh, stop it," she ordered him almost absently, shifting her stance slightly as he let his gaze trail appreciatively over her.

"You look nice"

Jennifer pretended to protest indignantly, "what? Only nice…?"

Xavier rolled his eyes and followed her through the living room and out the front door. "Fine, how's stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, striking, attractive, an-"

She turned to shoot him a piqued look over her shoulder, "okay, let's not overdo it there, hotshot. Use more than three adjectives and I know you're exaggerating"

"There's no pleasing you," he complained with a heavy sigh.

…

"Shit," Jennifer grumbled as the stylish black convertible came skidding to a stop. She had forgotten what a reckless driver Xavier was. "Please tell me that you're not my ride home…"

Flicking the engine off, he glanced over to her with one of his famous smirks, "unless you're planning to spend the night with my cousin… I'm afraid that I'm am, sugar"

"Shit," she muttered again under her breath, reaching for the handle of the car and letting herself out.

Now that she wasn't pre-occupied with fearing for her life, she actually took the time to look around and take note of her surrounding. The air was noticeably cooler and the sound of waves crashing against something hard gave away their location. "We're at the beach?" she queried, wrapping her arms around her middle and waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark.

"Close, but not quite," he said, locking the doors of his car and stepping around beside her, "the harbour"

Even as he was speaking, she could make out the wooden piers leading out a hundred metres or so into the water. There were all sorts of boats docked in the harbour, big ones, small fishing ones, rickety and unstable looking wooden ones, and… one fairly impressive and elegant looking yacht. "Is that…?" she began, unable to take her eyes away from it. Maybe because it was one of the few boats there that had its lights fully on.

Xavier nodded, a strangely tight smile now on his features as he glanced over to where she had indicated. "I hope you don't get seasick…" he murmured, leading the way down the path from the carpark and over to the yacht titled 'La Naufragée'.

"She's called The Castaway?"

"Good to see you know your French," he remarked, shooting her a sidelong glance, "you cold?"

"Nah… I'm fine," she lied, pulling her arms away from her middle and standing up straighter.

"Hm"

An energised shout caused them both to look up to the side of the yacht where a young man not much older than them stood with one hand holding a drink and the other resting lazily on the side rails. His hair was a lighter shade than Xavier's, but it still had the same messy quality to it. "Hey, I was wondering whether you were gonna show up tonight," he shouted over at Xavier, "figured that you may try getting out of it again"

"Just let us in," Xavier called back, gesturing to the blocked entrance and shielding his eyes against the glare of the fairy lights that were hanging over the side. The guy gave a sharp salute and disappeared from view.

"Isaiah?" Jennifer ventured a guess, following the eighteen-year-old over to where they could board La Naufragée.

"Yeah," came the muttered reply, and she glanced over at him curiously. All of sudden, he seemed rather moody and that frown she had seen earlier that night was back on his face. Before she could ask what the matter was, though, there was a metal clink and Xavier's cousin appeared before them, having just undone the chain to let them aboard.

"Welcome aboard the Castaway," Isaiah said with a broad grin, stepping to one side and waving them on. He closed off the entrance behind them and led the way down the side and to the back deck where more fairly lights were hung and people were gathered in small groups, laughing and chatting away. Faint music could be heard the background, though Jennifer couldn't quite make out what it was.

Isaiah disappeared for a minute, only to return with two glasses of expensive champagne. He handed one to Xavier and the other to Jennifer. "Uh, thanks…" she said, taking the glass automatically. She considered telling him that she didn't drink champagne, but figured that it would look too rude. Instead, she took a small sip and tried not to grimace at the taste. It wasn't really something she was used to.

"Ah... where are my manners? My name is Isaiah Caffy," he said with another smile that looked far too fake. He struck Jennifer as the type of person who would try and charm his way out of trouble… much like his younger cousin, actually. He let his eyes trail up and down her body, before they rested on hers. "You look lovely"

Once again, his actions reminded her of Xavier, only more… sleazy. "Thank-you," she murmured, plastering on a fake smile of her own. Oh God, why had she let Xavier talk her into coming? She didn't know if she could spend a whole evening 'playing nice' with people she barely knew.

Still, if it meant that she would no longer owe Xavier Caffy anything…

Jennifer accepted Isaiah's outstretched hand and shook it. "Jennifer Piper," she introduced herself, moving to hold her champagne glass in the other hand. The seventeen-year-old somehow managed not to jerk her hand back as he raised it to his lips in a gentlemanly fashion. No doubt, he thought it would impress her.

It didn't.

Far from it.

However, she kept up the phony smile as he straightened and flashed her a devilish grin. Well, fake or not… sleazy or not… she had to admit that good-looks seemed to run through the Caffy family. Still holding onto her hand lightly, Isaiah shifted his gaze to Xavier. He kept the same smile, but the look in his eyes changed to something almost wicked.

"Have you heard yet, who I brought with me tonight?" he asked, sounding offhand though obviously pleased with himself.

No longer frowning, though not quite smiling either, Xavier kept his tone bland, "actually, I have"

That seemed to shock Isaiah slightly, knocking the smirk off his face for a second. "You have?" he repeated, "well… there goes my surprise"

"Yeah, some surprise," came the dry reply.

Jennifer looked curiously between them, but didn't say anything. She wouldn't have had the time to anyway, as their conversation was soon interrupted by an overly sweet voice.

"Guess who…" a kitten like purr came from just beside Jennifer and back over Xavier's shoulder. She watched as his whole countenance stiffened for a moment, before he somehow forced himself to relax.

"Hey Gwen," he said, taking a sip of the champagne and not even bothering to turn back around and face the new girl. He didn't have to. The tall, leggy blonde pushed rudely past Jennifer to stand in front of him.

Jennifer couldn't help but stare as she had a good look at the girl. She was definitely pretty, though more stunning in a commercial kind of way. Even the sullen pout on her face looked put on. "Hey Gwen?" she repeated, slightly offended, "we haven't seen each other in months and I don't even get a proper greeting…?"

"Come on, let's leave the two of them alone for a while," Isaiah whispered in Jennifer's ear, standing a lot closer than she remembered him being before. With one hand around her upper arm, she was led gently to the side of the deck. The girl didn't even bother to acknowledge their departure. Xavier didn't really seem to care either. He had already finished his drink and was looking for another.

"Who was that?" Jennifer asked curiously.

"Gwendolyn Joules," Isaiah told her, finally letting go of her arm and leaning back casually against the railings, "she's pretty isn't she? She's only eighteen, but she models full-time"

Somehow, this didn't really surprise Jennifer all that much, "full-time? What about school?"

He shrugged, "I think she may have dropped out in Year Ten to do some shoots overseas"

"I don't know if I would have done that"

Once again, he shrugged. Jennifer had a feeling that their conversation was beginning to bore him just a bit. Though she didn't really like him, she didn't want to be left alone either, so she tried to come up with something else to talk about. "Uh, do you do this often?"

"Do what?"

"Get together and have a night out on the yacht?" she clarified.

Isaiah pulled his eyes away from Gwendolyn to look back at her, "you're much prettier than she is, you know…"

Jennifer shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He was probably a bad a liar as she was.

Shifting his own weight, he straightened and answered her previous question, "only sometimes, usually for a birthday or if we get bored".

"And which of the two is it tonight?"

He nodded over to where an average, but rather classy, looking girl was standing and laughing with some friends. "It's Margarita's nineteenth birthday," he told her, "I'm actually surprised Xavier turned up. He usually tries to avoid these sort of functions… even though they're pretty much tradition now.

"Margarita is my cousin… Xavier's too, obviously," he added on as an afterthought, realising that she would have no idea who the girl is.

Jennifer appeared slightly alarmed, "oh, I didn't know it was for a birthday… should I go over and say 'happy birthday'? I didn't even bring a present or anything..." Damn Xavier. Why hadn't he told her?

Isaiah seemed to find something funny in her reaction. "No need," he told her, looking amused, "most just use this as a chance to get drunk, catch up with old friends and family, and meet new people…"

His voice had lowered considerably as he spoke and she didn't realise how close he was until he reached up with one hand to brush back some hair out of her eyes. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. Damn, it was going to be a long night…

…

Surprisingly enough, Jennifer didn't have to put up with Isaiah for too long. After realising that she was not at all interested in returning his advances, he had made an excuse to go off in search of some other girl to play around with. This suited her just fine… except for the fact that she was now all alone.

It was only about two hours or so later when she realised that she had no idea where Xavier had gone. More people had turned up and the music had been turned up a little louder, and Jennifer found that she needed some fresh air. Walking up the steps and back onto the deck, she was quickly reminded of why she had gone down below in the first place. It was freezing up the top.

Still, she didn't bother going back down, and simply rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Moving aside from the steps to let others through, she wandered over to the front of La Naufragée where it was decidedly less crowded. Leaning her back against the rail, she let her eyes wander over the crowd of young adults that had gathered. Most were obviously made of money and quite openly boasting about whatever new possessions that they had recently acquired. With a roll of her eyes, she thought absently that Xavier would feel right at home here.

That thought made her wonder where he was again. The last that she had seen, he had been chatting to Gwendolyn and another girl. But that had been just over half an hour ago. Without realising it, the thought of him and the apparently superficial blonde-hair model brought a scowl to her face.

Jennifer had been determined not to jump to conclusions about Gwendolyn's personality before having met her first. However, when she had gone over to make some conversation, the other girl had proven herself to be both obnoxious and snobby. Two qualities that Jennifer couldn't stand in a person.

Why would Xavier be interested in a girl like that? She thought with a frown, I mean, true… she is incredibly pretty, but…

But who was she kidding?

Despite her rather superior attitude, Gwendolyn's looks alone would probably get her far. Wasn't that obvious already from her modelling career?

Brrr Brrr.

She started as she felt something vibrating from the small purse that she had brought with her. It was her mobile phone. Seconds later, American Idiot began playing. As the purse was so small, it didn't take her long to pull out her phone and answer it.

"Hey Luci," she answered, having seen the Caller ID flash up on screen before clicking to accept the call.

"Jen jen," her best-friend, Lucinda Kutcher, chirped into the phone, "how goes… well, whatever you're doing?"

Jennifer moved out of ear-shot of the others around her, before replying, "boring"

"Aw, come on… I'm sure it's not that bad. I mean, how bad can it be with Xavier there? Mm…"

"Stop drooling on the phone, Luci. And I wouldn't know… because he isn't here"

"Say what?"

"What," Jennifer said obediently.

Lucinda chose to ignore that, "what do you mean he's not there? He didn't go with you?"

"Well, he is here… somewhere," she sighed, "wouldn't have a clue where though…"

"Can you be anymore confusing? Where is here anyway?"

"Here would be on a yacht that someone related to him owns. Can't remember who-"

Jennifer found that she had to pull the phone away from her ear as her friend started squealing. "A yacht?" came the dreamy exclamation, "no way! I'd love to go on a yacht"

"You get seasick"

"Yeah, but…" unable to come up with anything else to say on the topic, Lucinda decided to switch it, "so tell me, any hot guys there? Besides Xavier, of course…"

"Well, -"

"How's this Isaiah guy, any good? Cute?"

"Mm… cute, yeah… but a bit of a sleaze"

"So…? He's cute"

Of course, this was said as though it would solve any concerns that Jennifer may have. Lucinda could be extremely superficial sometimes.

After fifteen more minutes of chatting, Jennifer hung up the phone and slipped it back into her purse.

Tired of standing, she glanced around for somewhere to sit. However, the only comfortable chairs were back inside and she didn't really feel like being sociable just yet. All she really wanted to do, was to go home and curl up with a nice book. She found partying on a yacht surprisingly boring. Looking back over her shoulder at the dark water, she considered jumping up and sitting on the rail.

Well, there's a stupid idea… she thought, quickly dismissing that plan. Unless she wanted to fall head first into the icy water, she'd be best to keep away from the rails.

Looks like she'll just have to head back inside…

"Hey there, pretty"

… or not.

Turning around fully, she found herself staring at two guys and a girl – all looking to be around Isaiah's age. Jennifer sighed, the smirks on their faces already telling her that she was in for some trouble. The guy, who had just spoken before, spoke again. "What are you doing out here, all on your lonesome?"

Not liking the leering looks on their faces, Jennifer forced a tense smile onto her face. "And that would be my cue to get out of here…" she muttered tightly under her breath. For some strange reason, something about intoxicated teens made her a tiny bit nervous. She went to step past them, but apparently the two guys had different plans. She soon found herself surrounded – one guy on both sides of her, and the girl in front.

"Aw, come on, honey," the girl slurred with a crooked grin, "nothin' to be worried about, we jus' – oops!"

Before she could fully understand what had just happened, Jennifer found herself knocked backwards. Hard. "Ah! What the-" she cried out, arms flailing out to steady herself. While advancing towards Jennifer, the other girl had apparently tripped on the hem of her ridiculously long gown – sending herself flying forward and creating a domino effect. The two guys immediately departed from Jennifer's side to catch their friend as she fell. Unfortunately, this meant that Jennifer was left to recover herself. Unfortunately, it was proving to be a lot harder than she thought it would be. Unfortunately, her back hit the cool, metal railing behind her. Unfortunately, she felt herself start to go over backwards…

Oh, you're kidding me! She thought to herself, eyes wide in shock. She was going to go over the side of the bloody yacht!

Shutting her eyes tight as she waved her arms about, grabbing uselessly at thin air, she braced herself for the long fall back into the icy water. However, she felt a sudden lurch in her stomach as she came to an abrupt stop. She felt a steady grip around her right wrist and a strong arm encircle her waist. With a small grunt, she was pulled forwards again. When her feet finally hit the deck again, her knees buckled and she collapsed against her rescuer.

"Woah…" the guy breathed, catching her before she could fall ungraciously in a heap on the ground.

Eyelids still closed, Jennifer stiffened as she recognised the voice. Oh damn…

Having assumed she had been saved by the one of the two guys outside with her, she reluctantly opened her eyes o stare up into the once again serious gaze of Xavier Caffy. Her heart sank and skipped a beat at the same time. That can't be too healthy… damn, damn, damn…

"Are you okay?" he murmured, still holding tightly against him so that she wouldn't fall. She ignored his question.

"Xavier Caffy… my knight in shining armour," she muttered dryly under her breath – having meant to say the thought in her head. The dark hair boy rolled his eyes as if to say 'why do I bother?'

"Well, you certainly seem your usual self," he stated with a wry smile, "think you can stand on your own…?"

All too aware of how close they were, Jennifer laid her hands on his flat chest and pushed herself away from him. Only… she pushed too hard. Braking out of his hold suddenly, she started to slip backwards again. "Oh, for Christ sake, Piper!" Xavier exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing her by the arms again – this time before she actually had to time fall over the side.

Once she was steady and able to stand up properly, she swatted his arm away. Before he could say anything, she noticed the girl and two guys still standing behind Xavier… just staring at them. "What do you want?" Jennifer all but growled at them. The girl blinked a couple of times, looking paler than she had been before.

"I—I'm sorry," she stammered, one hand on the boy beside her for support, "I din' meant to knock into ya… I jus'-"

Not in the mood to play nice, Jennifer glared at the girl. "Just go away," she growled.

More than slightly taken aback, the girl shut up and just looked at her. The blinking didn't cease. "Hey now, listen here," one of the boys frowned, taking a step forward and sounding surprisingly lucid, "she said that she was sorry, there's no need to get all snippy and-"

"Take a hike, Jay," Xavier sighed, not even bothering to turn his head. Though she refused to look directly at him, she could feel his dark green eyes on her. They had been the whole time, and it was starting to unnerve her just a bit. He had his hands resting on his hips, and from the corner of her eyes she could see a frown cross his face.

The boy named Jay hesitated. In the end, he just shook his head and wrapped an arm passively around the girl next to him. "Whatever, Xav," he muttered and stalked off around the corner. The other boy followed after the couple without saying a word. Within a few seconds, Jennifer realised that she was now alone with Xavier.

A minute of silence passed.

Jennifer was the first to break it.

"Uh… thanks for – you know…" she began, looking anywhere but at him.

He shot her a smirk, obviously taking pleasure in her discomfort. Taking pleasure on the effect he seemed to have on her. "No, I don't know," he lied, hand moving from his waist to stroke his chin in what was meant to be a thoughtful gesture.

Jennifer made a scoffing noise at the back of her throat. "Bullshit," she said, taking an absent step back as he moved forward, "you know full well wh-"

"Fine, I do," he shrugged, grinning that Cheshire cat grin of his, "but I want to hear you say it anyway"

She glared at him, but figured she owed him something. "Fine. Thanks for saving my life, you egotistical, sadistic son of a-"

Xavier's laugh cut her off. "A simple thank-you would suffice, Jen…"

There was a pause, another glare and finally a reluctantly mumbled, "thanks".

"My pleasure…" came the low reply. Jennifer's heart rate picked up as she registered just how close he was to her. The eighteen year old boy had closed the distance between them so smoothly, she hadn't even noticed until the small of her back pressed up against the cool railing… again.

With one hand leaning against the rail on either side of her, it was safe to say that Xavier had her trapped. While Jennifer was definitely reacting to his closeness, it was not in the way that she had thought she would react. And that was the frightening thing. She got a light feeling in her stomach and her breath caught as he leaned down towards her. His thigh brushed against hers and she could smell his cologne and the faint scent of alcohol on his breath. However, one look in his sharp eyes was enough to tell her that he was sober. It was also enough to tell her that he could tell exactly what sort of an effect he was having on her. If the look in his eyes didn't, then his sly smile certainly did.

She knew that she should've just pushed him away like she would usually, but as he leaned his face down to hers – his messy, black hair flopping over his forehead – she found herself lifting her own up to meet his. He was so close that she could feel the heat rising off him and –

"Xavier!"

Both of them jerked back at the same time. Irritated, Xavier turned to glance back over his shoulder and whoever was shouting his name. Someone Jennifer didn't recognise was standing just outside the doorway that led down the main yacht cabin. She barely listened to their curt conversation. Instead, she was wondering what the hell she had been thinking.

Damn it, Jen... you're supposed to have more sense than that! She admonished herself silently, flushing at the thought of how close she had come to kissing Xavier Caffy – rich, cocky and a player… not to mention disgustingly sexy. No, that was not the sort of guy she would normally fall for. Biting down on her lip, she ducked under Xavier's arm, which was still leaning against the rail beside her.

Without a word or backwards glance, she darted past the guy in the doorway and hurried down the steps. She heard Xavier call after her, but didn't stop. I need a drink…or maybe that was what was wrong in the first place? Maybe she had had too much to drink? Maybe that was why she had let Caffy get as close as he did?

Even as she was thinking the excuses, she knew that they weren't true. She had drunk no way near enough to lose her inhibitions. Damn. Jennifer wove her way through the crowd and guests, to the other side of the rather large cabin. From the other corner, she watched as Xavier walked down the steps – one hand running back through his dark hair. He started to scan the floor, but before he could spot her, a tall, leggy blonde sidled up to his side. Jennifer's heart dropped as she watched Gwendolyn smile and link arms with him, whispering something coyly into his ear. Xavier showed no expression on his face, but allowed himself to be led over to the bar.

Though she tried to tell herself that she didn't care whether Xavier was with another girl, her mind and heart just had one word for her.

Liar.

…

…

« -fox.- - please review

…

Blah. This took me… woah. A looong time to update. I'm so sorry. I've been really busy this year and my muse seems to have gone on a nice long trip. Actually, I think it has been non-existent for about five months now. Since April. Jeez.

It's nearly 1am and I have school tomorrow morning. Oh joy. I hope you're all still interested in this story. Thank you so much to all my reviewers, I love you so much. This chapter was 9 pages long. So, hope you enjoyed it. P There are probably about two more chapters left.

Review, review, review!

Nic. aka dangerous-fox