A/N: okay, so when i originally posted this, the spaces didn't insert the way i wanted them, it won't let me put in just spaces like i've done so many times before. i looked it over when i was told a couple of time it was confusing so i came and fixed it. now it should be a little better!

Chapter 15
Unexpected Surprise

Meckenzie slowly opened her eye, letting them take their time bringing things into focus. She put a hand to her forehead and groaned.

"I've got the freakin' mother load of headaches," she said to no one in particular. Looking around she noticed that she was alone.

She got off the bed and wandered around the room looking at all the stuff. Swimming medals hung from a nail on the wall, pictures lined the desk, and dirty clothes lay in a heap in the corner. It was Caleb's room. She picked up a picture and stood looking at it. It was the eight of them sitting on the bleachers by the pool. She had the same one in her dorm. After putting it down she turned and walked out the room.

Walking down the stairs, she realized just how much her body ached. She felt like she had been put threw a meat tenderizer. Now that she was up and moving her muscles and joints started feeling stiff. At the bottom of the stairs, Meckenzie stepped into the kitchen and found all of her friends sitting around the table eating take-out Chinese from the white boxes.

"Oh, look, Sleeping Beauty lives," Sofia said.

"Just barely, trust me," Meckenzie told her, taking Reid's fork and eating a bite of his broccoli. "What time is it?"

"It's about 5:30," Caleb told her looking at her watch. "You've been asleep for about five hours. You must be starved; sit, have something to eat." Meckenzie sat between Reid and Annalise, pulled a box of sesame shrimp to her, and started eating with chopsticks.

"Hey, Meck, what happened with you and Donovan? He took a shot at you and it rebounded back at him," Annalise told her. "It was kind of cool really."

"He was going to kill me," Meckenzie said sullenly. "The only thing I could think of was a deep sleep spell coupled with a protection spell. I was hoping it would have a good effect."

"What about Alex?" Sofia asked.

"I don't want to talk about him," Meckenzie said staring into her dinner. "Not yet."

Meckenzie sat on her bed in the dorm, waiting for Reid to return from taking a shower. Sitting staring off into space, thinking, she pulled the blankets up to her chin. Reid walked in rubbing a towel over his wet hair.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked sitting down next to her.

"No," she replied quietly. She held out the blanket and he crawled under with her. She rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. "I'm still a little shaken."

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"I've known all of those guys for years. Donovan was my tutor. Other than Sofia and Annalise, Alex was my best friend. We had history and there was talk of a future. He was so different today, not like he used to be. He was cold, almost uncaring. He used to be so nice, fun, adventurous. Like a brother to me only more. And I killed him. I actually ended a life. I'm just as bad as they made him."

"No, no, you're not. You're so much better."

"I knew if it wasn't him it would have been me."

"That's exactly what would have happened. They changed the man you used to know. From what I saw, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill you."

"I know, but I still miss him. You didn't see the look in his eyes when he realized it was all over. He told me he was sorry. He apologized and I still did it. I killed him and I feel so so…unnatural, ugly." Reid threw the blanket off, got out of bed, and stood facing the full body mirror the girls had brought in their room.

"Come here," he told her. Meckenzie got out of bed and stood in front of hij facing the mirror. "What do you see?"

Meckenzie stared at her reflection, looking herself up and down. "I look worn down, tired. Not myself."

"Well, when I look," he wrapped his arms around her waist, "I see nothing but you. And you're beautiful." He laid a soft kiss on her neck. "Every time I look at you," he kissed her again on the other side, "I love you that much more." Meckenzie turned around to face him.

"Do you really?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yes." He held her lips in a kiss. She ran her hands up his chest and around the back of his neck, pressing herself to him as close as possible. Reid pulled away slightly.

"Only if you want to," he told her quietly. She pulled his t-shirt up over his head.

"I wouldn't let you if I didn't." She pressed her lips against his again. Reid's hands roamed over her body and tugged off her shirt.

"Stop, just a second," she told him. She locked the door to the dorm room and pulled him down on the bed.

Meckenzie lay with her head on his chest tracing lines with her finger.

"I can hear your heartbeat," she told him.

"I should hope so," he chuckled. "Or else I'd be really sad and you'd look pretty strange laying here with a dead guy." He kissed the top of her head.

"You're so warm," she told him and snuggled closer.

"Go to sleep, I know you're tired. It's been a long day." Meckenzie closed her eyes and drifted peacefully to sleep.

Meckenzie and Reid ran down the hallway of the dorm laughing hysterically. He grabbed a hold of her outside of her room and swung her around.

"That was not funny," he told her.

"I think it was hilarious," she said laughing. The put her hand to the doorknob and opened the door. Turning to go into the room, both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who was sitting at the desk.

"Hello, cousin," Chase said grinning mischievously. "I believe that you have something I want."

ok, i know it's really really short but you get that sometimes. i'm probably going to work on a sequal whether or not one is warented. but i'd love to know what you all thought of this one and if another one would be read. so just let me know and i'll get the first chapter out as soon as i can!
-meghan