"Ross, come on. Lay down." I shake my head and try to get up again.

"Rydel, stop. I need to talk to her."

She huffs and looks down at me on my bed in my dorm room. "It has been two days now. You need rest. She would have reached out, if she wanted to talk."

I look up at her, "Rydel, I am not losing my mind. I know she was at the hospital and I know what we said. I need to go see her."

After a minute she throws her hands up, "Whatever. I tried. Don't injure yourself anymore than you are."

She stomps out the door and slams it shut. I know she is frustrated but I know what I need to do. She has been fighting with me over it since I got home.

Grabbing my phone and slipping it in my pocket, I start walking out the door.

I walk down the hallways until I get to her room. I knock and hear shuffling inside the room. I wait patiently before the door opens.

She is shocked but nods, "Ross."

I sigh, "Laura, don't act like that. I remember everything we said in the hospital and I want to know what you were going to say."

She sighs and moves back letting me in.

I walk over to her desk chair and sit down with a small grimace as the pain shots through my body. She must have noticed because she starts to move towards me before she stops and crosses her legs as she sits back on her bed.

"How are you feeling?"

I shake my head, "Pain shots everywhere but nothing matters besides you, right now."

She sighs and looks around the room, "You weren't supposed to remember any of that."

I shrug and look at her trying to look anywhere but me, "Well, I do. Laura, look at me. Just talk to me, for once. Me and you, just talk to me. I can't take this anymore."

She sighs and stares at me slowly before looking down then back at me. "Ross, I don't know what to say. I heard everything from you the other day at the hospital. I feel bad, I do. You are torturing yourself so much but honestly, I don't see how we can be together after what happened. I love you and a part of me will always love you. But even understanding why you did it, and I do understand it. I know how much fighting means to you and I know how much your family accepting it would mean, but to honestly not know how I fit into it. I second guess everything that happened now. Did you talk to me only because of the bet? Did you only joke with me because of it? What about the fight, was it to let me in, hoping I would feel closer and fall for you? What about getting me in bed? All of these run through my head and I second guess every moment we were together now. I don't see how it can be better."

I move her chair closer to her and grab her hand with my good one, "Laura, I understand I do. I understand if you never want to see me again, but if I don't try I will regret it for the rest of my life. You were the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't just easily give that up. I Love you. I don't expect us to just move forward like nothing happened but I would love to try again from the beginning, if you are willing. Start the way we should have. I never lied to you, it may feel like I did, but I never lied to you. Everything I did, was strictly me falling for you and wanting to make you laugh and hang out with you."

"Yes, the only reason I talked to you that day was because of the bet. Yes, I probably would have eventually seen you around and tried to sleep with you, maybe would have but I never would have joked with you if it wasn't the bet. I never would have tried to make you smile and laugh. I never would have taken you on dates to just show you off. I never ever would have taken you to fights just for a bet, no one gets to see my do that. The only people I would ever want to watch that would be my family, but I just wanted you to know me for me and accept me."

" I was scared to death you would run screaming when you saw me fight but you accepted me and I knew I was a goner from that moment. I never wanted to sleep with you. I was hoping it wouldn't go that far because I knew it would make me fall more and make it all more complicated when the truth came out. Everything I did and we did together was real. It was those first few minutes where I talked to you in the center when I wanted to make you like me but I learned quickly you were so much more than that and I wanted to know you not for the bet, but for me."

I watch her gulp and I look at her, "Laura, I love you more than anything. I would love to start over from the beginning. Woe you the way I should have. What do you say? Give me a chance, give us a chance."

She looks around and sighs. I can see her wheels turning. I bit my lip and feel the stitch there.

She looks down at her hands and after what feels like forever she looks up and smiles, "Okay. But you better try right. I mean it. I must be crazy to even be considering this. I can't believe I am but its something about you sitting there so broken that is letting me consider a second chance. But I am asking you right here, right now, is there anything else? "

I look into her eyes and seriously think for a minute, "No. You know it all. You know my reputation. You know why I started the bet. You know the struggles during it. You know how it ended. You know I was loyal to you and only you. I gave up my reputation when I was with you and I haven't wanted anyone else since you."

She looks at me, "Speaking of how it ended, Did you win?"

I look into her eyes and can see her anger in her eyes, I have to tell the truth if I want this chance, "Yes. I did."

She goes to stand up and throw me out but I place a hand on her thigh, "But, I turned the winnings down. I told Rydel I didn't want any of it. I didn't take the homework, the coffee, or her coming to my fights. I told her winning was the worst thing in the world and I didn't want the rewards. She was shocked but accepted and acknowledged why I was doing it."

She relaxes and looks at me, "You really didn't take any of it?"

I shake my head, "You can even ask Rydel. I took none of it. "

She nods and I move closer to her, "I am going to go now before I screw up this second chance and kiss you."

She laughs and shakes her head, "We don't have to start at the very beginning, Ross."

I stand and nod, "Oh but we do."

I smile and hug her before walking on the door, excited for how I am going to get this back on track.