Allie

I didn't really talk to Lucas the rest of the weekend. He came over and took Jadon for a few hours so I could catch up with Charity.

She has blue hair now. Well, blue underneath and her sandy blonde on top again.

She hasn't seen her brother and I am no longer waiting on him.

This is abandonment. He obviously doesn't care, so neither do I.

I came into the office this morning to a bouquet of flowers in a vase on my desk as well as a bunch of balloons that say Congratulations! on them.

The vase has long stem red roses in it. They're pretty...

There's a note and I've been holding it for a while. I'm not sure if I want to know who it's from but that's just absurd, isn't it?

Immediately I figure that one out.

Congratulations on a self-induced O. Happy to help you push your buttons again, or push them for you. And yes, I heard and I hope to hear it again. Soon.

"What are those for?" John, the principal and my boss, comes out of his office and reaches for the card before I snatch it back.

He lifts his brows but doesn't say anything.

"Uh..." I know my cheeks are blushing or something and I probably look like one of those giddy idiots over this. "I finished my summer class."

"Oh, congratulations," John smiles and pokes at one of the colorful balloons that happen to have a remote shape and image on it. I didn't even know they could get those. "If I knew, I would have brought you balloons, too. You want me to grab you something?"

Oh my god, no. "No, that's fine. Thank you, John."

"Alright." He's in tan shorts and has some kind of sporty polo on. "I'll be watching the team this morning. Call my cell if you need anything."

He's going to be around Lucas...

"Okay. See you."

He leaves the office and heads for the field, I assume.

I look back at the card from Lucas once more before holding it to the tip of my nose. I need to get rid of this stupid feeling. I'm too obvious.

He is the worst guy friend ever. Guy friends don't listen to a girl press her buttons and then proceed to... well, stroke his own I guess.

I hear footsteps in the hall and wonder if it's Lucas coming to see if I got his "gift."

With a big goofy grin on my face and a stupid racing heart, I don't know what to say, but I'm sure I'll just fumble my way through it.

Ted walks in and my face falls.

He's dressed in his nice suit, as usual, and looks perfectly normal.

"Allie," he drawls like we're in some sort of country western film from the 1970s.

Maybe I'm just used to Lucas' relaxed demeanor, but there's something different in Ted now. Maybe it was always there and I just never noticed.

He comes up to me and kisses my cheek before I even think to react. "What's all this?" He focuses on the flowers with a deep frown.

"They're from Lucas." I don't even care. I don't care about the way his eye twitches at the mention of Lucas.

"What's he congratulating you for?"

I am definitely not sharing that personal and private information. It's not like he ever tried to get anything like this out of me. He only ever wanted to have sex and have me move in with him. He never forced anything, thankfully, but still.

"Finishing my summer class."

He flicks at the petals of one of the roses and sighs. "Listen, we both have done some shitty things to one another this summer, Allie." His hands are on my arms while he gently pulls me closer to him. I have always loved his cologne, but now it's just making me a little bit angry. "You did what you did with him and I did what I did."

"You mean when you left me stranded? I'm over it."

"Good," he says. "Then I forgive you for what you did with Lucas." He lets one of my arms go and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black velvet box. "I was trying to give you this on your birthday, but you were so distracted that you didn't see what I was trying to do. It's fine, though."

He puts the box in my shaking hand and I feel sick to my stomach. My throat feels dry and I try to swallow. "Ted... no."

"No, you need to see it first." He opens the box and I am face-to-face with the biggest diamond ring I've ever seen.

"How... how did you..."

"Afford it? It's called savings, Allie."

Yeah, but that's... this is... it's way too nice. And this is not okay.

I shut the box. "No, Ted."

He doesn't accept it when I try to hand it back, so I put it back in his pocket. He's angry and I understand.

But so am I.

"I don't know if it's Lucas or not, but I think we both know something has been missing here all along. Maybe if things started sooner or if circumstances were different—"

"You're seriously choosing him over me? We've known each other our entire lives, Allie."

"That's the thing, Ted. You've always had me, yet all you ever wanted were other girls. You have always chosen others over me." I don't mean to sound high school, but it's important right now. "If you wanted me, you could have asked me to your prom. You could have taken me out on dates instead of every other girl in school. I mean, come on, Ted, you had to know all along. I'm not exactly good at hiding things."

His jawline strains and I can't believe what I'm doing. I never thought this was going to happen.

An entire lifetime of a crush is disappearing. But that's just it. It was a crush and never really turned into anything else.

He leans in close to my ear and I feel his hot breath against me. "You honestly think he's going to leave her for you? Whatever this is," he waves his hand at the flowers and balloons on my desk dismissively. "It's not real, Allie. Her dad is loaded and Lucas just has to pop the question and he's set for life. She's a perfect fucking ten, Allie, and what are you? The prude next door with a gullible streak."

"I know you're angry—"

"I'm not angry, Allie. I'm disappointed that you would be so stupid. You're throwing this away for a guy that will never leave her. Whether he's made some sort of promise or you just think you'll get your happy little family in the end, it's all going to turn out the same. You'll end up alone, and probably with another one of his bastards to take care of while he's off doing whatever he wants with her."

His words cut deep and hurt. Has he always thought that about Jadon? "How dare you call Jadon that. You sat there in the hospital with me while he was struggling for his life. You've been there for everything, Ted."

His lips wrinkle together and he doesn't say anything.

"You didn't just abandon me, Ted. You're the one that always wanted to be part of his life and you just left him, too, without a care in the world."

"Why would he care? He has Lucas now."

"So what? He still asks about you! He's known you since he was born." I'm trying my best not to raise my voice, but no one else is here, so my whisper-yell is all I can manage right now. "I never made you into a father figure since he's not your responsibility, but you've always been important to him. From the beginning, you made it clear you wanted to be part of this. You can't just come in and out of his life and not expect him to notice." I try to step back from him, but he's back to holding onto my arm and doesn't let me go.

"Ted," I warn him, "let go." The look in his eyes is scaring me.

"You'll see, Allie. Lucas might play the nice guy now, but that's not who he is. He'll leave you all alone in the end while he and Kat have their perfect little family with a big fancy house on the lake. You'll remember this conversation when you're raising the kid all alone in your dad's house. You'll be just another bitter, irresponsible mom that made stupid decisions and threw away the best opportunity of escaping her misery because of Lucas-fucking-Kennedy."

He releases my arm and my hand goes to where his nails dug into the skin. I didn't notice. My breathing is coming out fast and I feel dizzy. My cheeks feel wet and I think I'm crying, but... is this shock?

"I'll be waiting, Allie, but not for long."

He turns on his heel and walks toward the door going out of the office when Lucas steps into the doorway.

Ted stops.

Lucas stands still with his arms crossed over his chest, blocking the way out.

I can't breathe.

"Don't you ever go near her or my son again. This is your only warning."

Ted shoves past Lucas, hitting his shoulder into Lucas' without a backward glance at me.