"What about this one?" Chloe asked, holding a cropped top in front of her, looking at me. "Or this one?" She held up the same top in a different color. 

I looked at the two. "Or both?" 

She grinned. 

I laughed, grabbing a dress for myself. We both split up since she went to a different part of the store while I went to the men's section to buy some t-shirts and hoodies. I was looking around when I heard a familiar voice. 

"Man, are you serious? No way," he laughed. 

I blinked, staring at the rack I was looking through. I looked around, trying to spot him. I turned around and my eyes went wide immediately. I swiveled back around, staring at the rack of t-shirts. 

Why was I panicking? I can't be fucking scared of seeing him or him spotting me. Oh, fuck it. I'm leaving. 

I turned to walk back to the women's area but dropped a t-shirt from the rack. I cursed under my breath and bent down to pick it up but someone grabbed it for me. "Thanks," I mumbled without looking at them. 

"Indie?" 

I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh. I looked at him. "Landon," I sighed, putting the shirt back on the rack. 

"I've been trying to call you, why aren't you—" 

I looked behind him blinking once. Then twice. 

"Indigo," he grinned. 

Landon turned around and I spun on my heels, running the other way, back to the women's section. I went into the changing rooms, locking the door behind me. I hung up all the clothes on the hook behind the door and stared at myself in the mirror. "Why the hell is he here? Both of them," I groaned, dragging my hands down my face. I opened the door, sticking my head out. I don't see either of them. 

"Psst!" 

I to the right, seeing Reece coming out of the changing room next to mine. 

"Hey," he sang, smirking. 

"Indie!" I looked over, hearing Landon's voice again. 

"Come here for a sec," Reece said, grabbing my hand. 

I pulled it away. "No." 

"Fine," he huffed, pushing the door open and walking inside, locking it behind him. 

I blinked in surprise, watching as he leaned against the door, occupying the same changing room as me. 

"I saved you again, didn't I?" He smirked, stepping closer to me. 

I stepped back, my back clashing against the mirror. "Why are you here?" I asked, trying to ignore the way my voice wavered. 

"I knew you were here. He called me and he said he was here too. He was asking if Caleb and I wanted to come hang." 

"So?" 

"So, if you're here and he's here, the chances of you two running into each other are pretty high. And what do you know, I was right. So, you're welcome," he grinned, pressing his body into mine. 

I put my hands on his chest to push him off and he looked down at my hands. 

"I'll yell your name and he'll know where to find you. I dare you to push me." 

I glared at him and pulled my hands back down. 

"You should have just stuck to the women's section," he mumbled, staring at me. 

"It's not my fault I like bigger t-shirts and I haven't got anyone who gives them to me," I scoffed, poking his chest hard. 

His brows furrowed. "I'll give them to you." 

I frowned in confusion. "Why would you give them to me? You're not my boyfriend." 

"No, I'm your... fuck-friend," he smiled. 

"Let me go," I groaned. 

"Shh, we're hiding," he whispered, leaning in. 

"Chloe's—" 

"With Caleb," he cut me off. 

"She is?" 

He nodded. "You're not going to try those on, are you?" 

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. 

"Lan—" 

My eyes widened and I smacked my hand over his mouth. "Shh, shh, shh!" 

He smiled under my hand, grabbing onto my waist. "You're coming with me," he mumbled under my palm. 

I pulled my hand down while shaking my head at him. "Chloe and I—" 

"Chloe and Caleb are on a little date, don't ruin it. And if you want to avoid Landon, you either have to stick with me or leave with me. Choice is yours." 

"But I came here to shop," I whined, pointing at all the tops and dresses hanging on the back of the door. 

"Then shop. I'll keep you company. Then we'll go to my apartment. For the project, of course. But there's a bone I need to pick with you." 

"What bone?" I looked at him warily. 

"I'll tell you at my apartment. Go ahead, try them on." 

"Do you I look stupid to you?" 

"Do you really want me to answer that?" 

I rolled my eyes at him and tilted my head to one side. 

"Go ahead," he nodded, sitting on the stool in the corner of the room. 

"Reece." 

"It's nothing I haven't seen before. Plus, I'll probably see it tonight too. Go on." 

"No. I'm not buying these. Any of these." 

"Okay, here. I'll turn around." He turned, facing the mirror and watching me through that. I smacked the back of his head and he winced, rubbing it. "You're hiding from Landon, not me. If you want to try them on, try them. If you don't, let's get out of this store before he finds us." 

I looked at the clothes. I'll just buy them without trying them on. Or actually, I'll come back for them later, yeah, that sounds like a better idea. I gathered the clothes and unlocked the door. Reece left with me. I left the clothes where I had found them and we both left the store as fast as we could. The mall is huge, so we've got plenty of places we can go to without running into Landon. And then later, we'll just come back here. 

"Where are we headed?" he asked, draping an arm across my shoulders. 

I pushed it off and continued walking as he kept up with me. 

"We're going ice skating then." 

I stopped in my tracks, spinning around to face him before I stepped on the escalator. "Huh?" 

He grabbed my waist and pushed me back, placing me on one step of the escalator while he stood one step below me, looking at me. "The fifth floor here has an ice skating rink, doesn't it?" 

I nodded, still confused. 

"Let's go there. Then we can grab a bite. And then we can go back to the store to buy your clothes. Sound good?" 

"We?" I echoed. 

He nodded slowly. "And then we can go to my apartment, hmm?" 

I shook my head while he pushed me off as we reached the top floor. I spun around and started walking and he fell into step beside me. "We have to start on that project. All my notes and that packet is at my apartment. So, I'll go back with Chloe, and then like we planned, at midnight, I'll come to yours, hmm?" I looked at him. 

He frowned, "But if we can get out of here before Chloe and Caleb, why wait till midnight?" 

"What exactly are you waiting for? Starting that project or having sex with me?" 

"Both," he chuckled as we climbed onto the second escalator. 

"Aren't we doing this too often? Three nights in a row is a lot," I mumbled, fidgeting with my earring. 

"We won't be doing it forever. In a little while, we'll probably become strangers again." 

"Strangers?" 

"Yeah. The only common link we had was Landon. You have nothing to do with him now. So... why would you keep coming to me once you're over what he did to you?" 

I stopped as soon as we stepped off the escalator and I turned to him. "I am over what he did to me." 

"That quickly? It doesn't hurt you to know that your boyfriend cheated on you?" 

"It makes me angry," I scoffed. 

"That doesn't mean it can't hurt." 

"Well, it doesn't. It just makes me angry, that's all it does. At him for doing that to me, and at myself for falling for it. I should have seen it coming. He went out with so many girls before me. I've seen it since we came to this college. I saw him hopping from girl to girl. I should have known I would have been one of them." 

"He actually stayed with you for a long time. Comparatively." 

"I don't care how long it was. Look at how it ended." 

"But it hasn't ended, you know. You haven't called it quits and neither has he. You have to tell him," he scoffed. 

"You tell him," I snapped. "I don't want to see him again." 

"Then you say you aren't hurt." 

I glared at him, shoving all my shopping bags at his chest. He caught them while I spun around, climbing onto the next escalator. I heard him sigh and then jog to catch up to me. 

"All I'm saying is you should just end it now instead of dragging it on. Imagine what would happen if he found that we're screwing each other." 

I turned to look at him. "What would happen, huh? I don't owe him a fucking explanation. He isn't my boyfriend, he's nothing to me anymore. You owe him an explanation because you're his friend. And before you say you aren't, look at your behavior. You're asking me to end things with him for his sake." 

He stepped up so we were standing on the same step and he towered over me. I blinked rapidly while looking up at him. "I'm asking you to end things with him for your sake. And my sake. So we can have sex for as long as we want without worrying about your ex-boyfriend getting all up in our business. And stop calling me his friend. Just because he says we're friends, doesn't mean we are." 

"He shows up to your apartment unannounced, Reece." 

"So did you. And I let you in." 

I stared at him. "And look where that got us." I stumbled backward, a small gasp escaping my lips when my heels hit the floor as we reached the top of the escalator. 

He steadied me even with all the bags in his hand and stepped off on time, looking at me. "I don't want to keep doing this with someone's girlfriend. End it with him." 

"Or what?" I lifted a brow at him. 

He shrugged, letting go of me. "Or I'll be screwing someone's girlfriend, what else? And before you call me his friend next time, pay more attention to the way I behave with him. He thinks I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not. I thought you out of all people would realize that." 

I frowned. "Why?" 

"Because it's what we do too, isn't it?" 

Isn't it? No, it fucking isn't.

I shook my head, "No, Reece. We say and do things to get on each other's nerves. Not to intentionally hurt each other." I spun around and continued walking, deciding to ignore him for the rest of the day. I know he thinks he's getting sex tonight, but he isn't. All he's getting is a narcissist for psychology. So, have fun with that, Reece.

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Chapter 11