I found Reid camped out outside my dorm when I emerged later that day. He was still wearing his costume from the night before and it was a fairly safe assumption that he'd spent the night where he sat. The moment I opened my door, he scrambled to his feet with an apology on his lips.

Not ready to hear it or make any admissions of my own, I pulled my door shut and locked it before brushing past him down the hall. Tears of regret and shame were burning my eyes, tears I didn't want him to see, tears I wasn't capable of explaining at that point. But trying to dodge Reid when he was determined to be heard was like shooting a BB gun at a freight train, pointless.

He caught up to me in the south stairwell. I suppose if I'd been truly determined to avoid him, I could have easily sifted to another location. Maybe part of me just wanted to get this over with and move on to the inevitable heartbreak that would follow. Hell, I was already there. Might as well have some company.

"What the fuck, Erin?" Reid asked, grabbing my elbow and spinning me around to face him. "I've been calling you all night. Where the hell were you?"

Forcing down my tears, I raised my head and said, "I was at my Dad's."

He blanched. "Oh shit. He's gonna kill me, isn't he?"

I shook my head. "No, he's not going to kill you, Reid. It's me he's angry with at the moment." At his puzzled look, I explained, "I did something really stupid, Reid. Really, really stupid."

Reid dropped my arm and sighed heavily. "Let me guess. Went for a little payback?"

The hurt in his voice went for my gut like a hot knife. I wrapped my arms around my middle and nodded. "How did you know?"

"It's what I would have done," he replied with a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders. "I don't want to know who, do I?"

Laughing bitterly, I answered, "No, you really don't."

"So," Reid began as he brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. "Where does that leave us?"

Where did that leave us? It had been obvious last night that he'd had every intention of fucking Chastity. The fact that she turned out to be Chase, whom I'd fucked, was of little consequence. The intention was what mattered. We'd both screwed up, royally. Now what? I couldn't very well tell him about Chase. I wasn't sure just how I was going to deal with that situation yet. He was a wild card and he was very, very dangerous. Couple that with the fact that he'd put his brat in my belly and I had a whole world of problems just piling up.

"I don't know," I said finally. "Where do you want us to be?"

Reid stepped closer to me and gripped my hips while lowering his forehead to touch mine. "I want to be with you. So we both fucked up last night. Big deal. It happens. I love you, Erin. You."

Closing my eyes, I prayed to Danu that I wasn't about to make the second biggest mistake of my life as I said, "Okay."

"Just tell me it wasn't Caleb," he teased playfully.

"Oh God," I managed to choke out. "No, it definitely wasn't Caleb." At least not exactly. But in all the ways that it mattered, it had been him. Or rather ain incubus disguised as Caleb. Inwardly I cringed. If I broke things down in the simplest of terms, I could convince myself I wasn't lying. I was simply omitting a few crucial facts.

"Good," he replied with a grin. It was that grin that did it. Sexy, lopsided and entirely Reid and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to wash away the memory of last night. I grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and tugged him closer before kissing him, deeply and desperately. He seemed to instinctively understand where this was headed, knew what it was I wanted and needed.

I don't remember how we got there, but somehow we made it back to my room. My back hit my mattress before I'd even registered the sound of the door closing. Then there was only Reid. He'd pulled off his jacket and sweatshirt by the time he joined me on my bed. Bare from the waist up, he was a delicious sight to behold. His torso was ripped with lithe muscle, carved like a Greek statue from an era long past. My hands, lips and tongue traced every groove I could find, stopping only when I met the waistband of his jeans.

Remember all that fooling around I told you we'd been doing? Well, here was where it paid off. There was no shyness in me as I unfastened his belt and pulled down his zipper. There was no hesitation as I tugged his pants over his hips. There was certainly no self-consciousness as I curled my fingers around him before licking my way down his length, from tip to base and back again.

He groaned and his back arched when I took him into my mouth. I didn't get far in my quest because the next thing I knew, Reid's hands were in my hair, tugging me up to straddle his hips. I whipped my shirt over my head and tossed it over my shoulder. My bra followed.

Somewhere between those sucking, drugging kisses and fingers that knew how to play my body like a finely tuned Baby Grand, Reid managed to help me out of my jeans and panties. I rose up over him on my knees and threading my fingers through his slowly sank down on him. Danu but he felt good, so incredibly good. I lifted myself up and slid back down, over and over until Reid let go of my hands to grip my hips, showing me how to move and helping me set the pace.

"Kiss me," he whispered and I did. I brushed my lips over his and then across his cheek and down to where his neck met his shoulder. I suckled the spot before nipping it with my teeth. He growled deep in his throat and flipped us, raising my leg to drape over his arm as he thrust harder. He hit something inside me, some new spot that sent me teetering over the edge. I screamed his name as I came.

Reid joined me a few moments later, pulling out and spilling himself on my stomach. I wasn't surprised. He wasn't wearing a condom and no doubt had reservations about becoming a father at eighteen. Since Chase had already knocked me up, I could have saved him the concern. Thoughts about my baby and the person who'd fathered him stole away my post-coital bliss leaving me feeling bereft and alone.

The ringing of my cell phone snapped me out of my thoughts. I shoved Reid off of me so that I could reach it. I didn't recognize the number but answered anyway.

"'Lo?" I said on a yawn.

"My, my we have been a busy girl," the voice on the other end chided. Chase. Just freaking perfect.

"What's it to you?" I countered as I sat up. "As far as I can tell, I haven't broken any rules."

"Not yet but I just don't know how long you'll be able to refrain from running that pretty mouth of yours so I took out a little insurance policy. Wouldn't want you letting it slip that I'm back in town now would we?"

My blood ran cold. "What did you do?" I hissed.

"Oh nothing much. Just decided to pay my future mother-in-law a visit. I have to say, Erin, she's much, much lovelier in person."

"You're making a huge mistake," I warned him. "You need to let her go, right now."

"Tsk, tsk. You're really in no position to be telling me what to do, lover. Mommy dearest is going to stay right where she is - with me."

I'd never been so scared in my life. Things were spiraling out of control faster than I believed possible.

"Who're you talking to?" Reid asked, his voice groggy with fatigue.

I didn't answer, instead I asked Chase if I could speak to my mother. In all honesty, I didn't expect him to agree but the next thing I knew she was on the line.

"Mom? Oh my God, Mom. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," I cried. "I'm so sorry."

"Erin, honey, don't you worry about me," she said. "I'm going to be fine. But I need you to do something for me. I need you to make a wish. Do it, Erin. Do it now."

I could hear Chase begin to yell in the background, demanding to know what she meant. I didn't have time to think twice. While she was still on the phone with me I said, "Mom, I wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now."