Bet You Can't!

- Chapter 14 -

Tanya yawned and pulled the blanket higher as her body began shivering in the cold. As she did, she felt her arm run over a warm surface, and she lifted her head to see Kyrian snuggled up against her.

She dropped her head back onto the pillow, thinking back to the events of the night before.

- - - - -
After the wedding reception, Nick had taken over the wheel and driven Tanya, Kyrian, and Aria back to campus. The fact that Kyrian had given up control over his car was a big deal in itself, but the fact that Tanya and Kyrian had spent the entire evening practically glued to each other - when dancing, eating, and even socializing - made the other couple give each other knowing looks.

So, without bothering to ask, Nick had stopped the car at the fraternity House, handed his room key to Kyrian, and then took Aria's arm and walked over to the sorority House.

Tanya watched her two best friends walk away, and then turned to see Kyrian staring at her. "What?"

"You can-"

"-come inside? Thanks." She brushed past him and into the House.

It was around 3am, but she still heard the sounds of a game being played in the common room. Making sure Kyrian was still behind her, she walked up the stairs and over to Nick's room.

Kyrian stepped up to the door, making sure he didn't touch her, and unlocked it using the key Nick had given him.

The room was a wreck, showing exactly how anxious Nick had been that morning while preparing for the wedding.

"You would think he was the bride," Kyrian muttered, kicking aside an empty tube of hair gel.

Tanya laughed softly and shut the door before beginning to straighten up the mess. "I don't think even Nessa was this paranoid for the wedding," she agreed.

Kyrian walked over to the bed to begin making it, and then paused. "Um...our clothing bags are all in the trunk of my car," he said. "Do you want me to grab yours?"

Tanya shook her head, looking down at herself. "No, we already changed out of our dressy clothes. I don't have anything else in there anyway."

"Okay."

She watched as he pulled back the comforter and shook it out. "What are you doing?"

He shot her a look over his shoulder. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"But why? It's going to get messed up in the next few minutes anyway."

Kyrian dropped the comforter back on the bed. "If you insist," he said drably. "Do you need anything before you head to bed? I'm going to go upstairs otherwise."

Tanya ran her tongue over her upper teeth. "A toothbrush would be nice," she said with a sigh, "but...why are you talking as if you're not spending the night...with me?"

He groaned. "This is too fast Tanya."

"It's actually a few years too slow," she countered, walking over to him.

"Tanya-"

She raised herself onto tie-toes, steadying herself using his shoulders, and let her nose touch his. "Don't tell me you don't want this."

"I do," he simply stated, his fingers curving around her waist. "For God's sake, I definitely do, but until a few days ago you hated me with a passion and now-"

"You can't hate someone with a passion," Tanya said. She pressed her lips to his gently, and then pulled back a degree. "Passion is best spent doing something else entirely." This time her mouth touched his with urgency, and his resolved melted enough to respond eagerly.

"We shouldn't-"

Her hands left his shoulders and began the task of unbuttoning his shirt. "We will."

Kyrian's hands were trembling as they closed over her fingers. "You'll hate me."

"I've never hated you." Her eyes locked on and pinned his. "There's no way I can start now."

And his resolved crumbled entirely at the vehemence with which she'd said those words. "I love you Tanya," he said, before capturing her lips again and falling onto the bed with her tight between his arms.
- - - - -

Tanya shook her head as the memory left, and another began to replace it. Only, this one was from years ago.

- - - - -
The winter ball had been quite standard, what with the 'Winter Wonderland' theme (snowflakes and all), scantily-dressed girls, too-cool-for-school jocks, wallflowers that came with friends and spent their time wishing somebody would ask them to dance, and teachers that looked like they'd rather shoot themselves rather than chaperon the rowdy bunch.

Although what they were chaperoning, nobody knew, since the ones who made trouble had already done things much beyond what the chaperon's job-descriptions covered.

Tanya and Kyrian stepping in together had caused quite a stir - he being one of the most sought-after males in the school, and she being the one girl that no guy could approach. Especially that year, since her bet with Kyrian meant she couldn't date any others.

Due to the presence of teachers, the ball went quite smoothly - barring the moment when Ella Yurrick dumped her punch on Ming Chow for kissing her boyfriend. Other than that, the two friends stayed by each others sides, mingled with other friends, mingled with those that were less-than-friends, and only danced with each other the entire night.

And at midnight, Kyrian slid a firm arm around Tanya's waist and began making his way towards the door. Taking that as a cue, the rest of the room cleared up and, soon, everyone ended up at the after-party, which took place at the house of one of the jocks.

Once there, Tanya began to move away to speak to her friends, but a hand closed around her wrist to stop her.

Kyrian.

"Tanya...we need to talk."

She frowned at how serious he sounded, and it deepened when she saw the full bottle of beer in his hand. So full that, in fact, it wasn't even opened.

"Okay? What's up?"

He looked around him at his friends, and then back at her. "Not here...let's go upstairs."

His friends, who had been listening without shame, let out a series of whistles and wolf-calls at his words. Kyrian gave them the finger as he pulled Tanya to the stairs that led up.

On the landing of the second floor, Kyrian had looked both ways before turning to the right and trying one of the doors. It opened, revealing a tidy room with few personal effects - probably the guest room.

He motioned for Tanya to enter, and then closed the door behind them and latched it shut.

"What's wrong Ky?" Tanya asked the moment the lock fell in place.

In response, Kyrian covered the small distance between them and pressed his lips over hers.

It was a natural instinct for Tanya to respond - the attraction between them had been simmering for the past few months, and it had finally come to a boil. There was no way she was going to reject his advances.

And the bet was the last thing on both of their minds.

Ky pulled away slowly, peering carefully at Tanya's face.

"Ky..." she whispered, taking in the pain evident in his eyes. She misinterpreted the look, thinking it was pain caused by lust, rather than just solid pain. "Ky?"

He jerked his eyes away from hers and turned to the bottle he still clutched between his fingers. The pattern of the cap was outlined on his fingers from the pressure with which he'd squeezed, and he focused his attention on trying to pull off the lid with his bare fingers.

"Kyrian Miller," Tanya snapped, albeit gently. She grabbed the bottle from his fumbling fingers and shoved it on the dresser. "Tell me why we're up here instead of enjoying the party."

He let out a rugged breath and took her in his arms. "That was a stupid bet," he muttered into her hair.

Tanya stilled. "This is about the bet?" she asked, pushing him away. "What, are you trying to make things 'easier' on me?" This time her voice was loud. "You're going to 'let' me seduce you?"

"No!" he shot back angrily. "I hate that I even made this bet! I hate that I'm forcing you to...to be this person. This person who has no choice but to go after me because of some stupid tradition we came up with when we were barely out of diapers!"

She laughed in his face. "What do you take me for?" Her hand came up to stop his response. "You know me well enough to know I'm not going to do something I'm not comfortable with. If I didn't want to go through with this bet, I wouldn't." She shoved him with her right palm. "And I'm not the type of person who'd lose their virginity over a stupid bet!"

The word 'virginity' ran through his head. "You-"

"Yes," Tanya cut him off, "I'm a frickin' virgin. And do you know why?" Again, she didn't let him respond. "I didn't even figure it out until recently, but it's because I've been comparing every single one of my boyfriends to you. None of them are as fun, as caring, as kind and - hell - even as good-looking as you!" She stepped into his personal space, so that they were almost chest-to-chest. "And the reason why that matters?" Her hands threaded through his hair and yanked so that his lips hovered over hers. "It matters because I - 'Ice Queen Sanchez - am in love with you."

That was all the incentive needed for Kyrian to capture her lips again. And when they fell onto the bed together, she was the one who pushed to take things further.

She was the one who waved away his mutter about protection.

She was the one to whisper, again, that she loved him.

She was the one to wake up the next morning to an empty room, the door still latched from the inside, but the window wide open.

And she was the one crying as she dressed and realized one thing - he had not said those words back to her. He did not love her.
- - - - -

Tanya turned to look at Kyrian, smiling wryly at the realization that this was their first morning-after.

As if probed by her thoughts, Kyrian stirred and opened his eyes. They were unfocused as he tried to remember where he was and how they'd gotten there.

"Good morning," Tanya whispered, leaning over to quickly brush her lips over his.

Kyrian's eyes widened as he finally realized where he was. They drifted down from her face to where the blanket had pooled at her waist.

Lust punched him in the stomach, causing what was definitely a brain-freeze because of what came out of his mouth next.

"Well...you won that bet."

Tanya's hand, which had reached out to touch his stubble, froze before she jerked back and stood up, taking the blanket with her.

Kyrian sat up and put his face in his hands. "Tanya, I-"

"Shut up Kyrian. I completely deserve this treatment for thinking things could change." Without bothering to look for her clothes, she wrapped the comforter around her body and made for the door.

"Tanya...I'm a fool. I'm a damn fool who says the wrong things at the wrong times." He stood up as her hand reached for the doorknob. "I'm a damn fool who loves you."

She snorted and shot a look over her shoulder. "Well you have a damn foolish way of showing it."

He stared at the door as it slammed behind her, the sound echoing through the room. With a bout of curses aimed at himself, he found his clothes and pulled them on.

Finding her clothes, Kyrian folded and put them on the dresser, knowing Tanya was stubborn enough to walk to her own House wearing nothing but a blanket.

He had just finished setting the room straight, thinking all the while how to apologize, when the door flew open so hard that it slammed into the wall.

"How do you manage to fuck things up with her every single time you're near her?" Nick wanted to know. He was seething, his hands clenched at his sides.

Kyrian sighed. "She puts me on the defensive...and there are things she's not strong enough to handle yet."

Nick snorted and stalked into the room. "You might be underestimating her - Tanya is very strong, and can probably handle what you throw at her."

Kyrian shook his head. "Glendon - my brother - was like a son to her, as lame as that sounds. Tanya knew him since he was born...his first word was "mommy", and it was directed at her. We were only twelve at that time, and she cried when he called her that and wouldn't let go of him for hours!" He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose to try and hold back his own emotions. "How was I supposed to tell her that her little boy was diagnosed with cancer, or that he was going to die if we didn't get him immediate trial treatment? I tried to tell her, I really did, but..."

He trailed off, and in the silence he heard sobbing. His head whipped around towards the door and he could, barely, see the edge of a shoulder against the outer wall.

"Tanya?" Kyrian rose and was at the door faster than imaginable.

She sat in the hallway, her back against the wall and her face buried into her knees as she cried. She was still wrapped in Nick's comforter.

Kyrian dropped to his knees and touched her arm lightly. "Tanya?"

Tanya lifted her head and looked at him. "I came to get my clothes...I heard Nick come and I-" Her eye make-up from the night before had run, leaving long black trails down her cheeks, and her lips were trembling. "Where is he?" she demanded harshly. "Where is Glen?"

He shook his head. "Tanya-"

"Where is he?" she demanded again. "Stop avoiding answering!"

Kyrian closed his eyes and told her the truth. "He's gone."

Silence met his words, and then he heard thumping sounds. Opening his eyes, he saw Tanya repeatedly banging the back of her head against the wall. "No...no...no, no, no..." she whispered continuously.

He grabbed her then, and pulled her into his arms.

"You're lying," she insisted into his chest. "The treatment-"

"-didn't work. It was just being tested, and it was too late for Glen..."

Tanya sobbed into his shirt, letting him support her weight. When he shifted and picked her up, she didn't protest, but instead curled into him.

Nick, who had been standing behind Kyrian, waited until he placed Tanya on the bed before whispering that he'd get Aria. Kyrian nodded absently as the other man left the room.

She cried until her chest hurt, and then turned her red eyes on Kyrian. "What happened?"

"Tanya-"

She shook her head quickly. "No, don't baby me Ky. It's been years - I want to know everything." Another tear made its way down her cheek. "At least that way I can cry over everything at once and get over it."

The clicking of the door closing made them look up. Aria approached the bed as Nick locked the door for privacy.

"Are you okay?" she asked, climbing into bed to put an arm around her friend.

Tanya nodded and leaned against Aria, taking the offered support. "Ky's about to tell me exactly what happened."

They looked questioningly at Kyrian, who nodded in resignation.

"Glendon was...he was starting to get tired a lot. He couldn't focus on school and his teacher's started complaining. At first my parents thought he wasn't eating right, so they made appointments with our family doctor and took him in. She didn't find anything wrong with his diet, so they did a blood test. The results indicated that his body was fighting off something, but they couldn't figure out what it was without getting more testing done." Kyrian took Tanya's hand in his. "By the way, at this point even I didn't know they were getting him checked up. My parents didn't want us to know until anything was a definite."

Tanya nodded. "Go on," she whispered.

"So they tested him further, and they found the cancer. It was rare, and harder to battle than even the normal types of cancer...so Glendon was referred to a team of doctors based in New York who were doing trial treatments for this particular type. I swear Tanya," he said, gripping her hand tighter, "I didn't know we were moving until the night before the winter ball. I was going to tell you at the after-party...that's why I took you upstairs that night-"

"And we got side-tracked," Tanya mused.

"No," Kyrian said, "I chickened out. When I woke up the next morning...what was I supposed to say? 'Gee thanks for trusting me like this Tanya. Last night was great and - oh, didn't I tell you? - I'm moving tomorrow.' So I-"

"So you walked out of there without a word?" Nick snapped.

"Nick," Aria said in warning.

Tanya smiled sadly at Nick. "Actually, he climbed out the window."

Kyrian avoided her eyes. "I didn't want to leave through the door because it locks from the inside and...I didn't want somebody to stumble in there and-"

"Yes, I know. Go on."

"He lived two more months, but we'd lost hope a week after moving. Our family literally fell apart - in fact, I don't even know where Lucas is now."

Aria nodded. "That's just how your brother's coping. It's not unusual for families to go through a hard time when a member is deathly ill-"

Kyrian snorted. "No. I mean, I'm sure you're right about that, but our reasons were different." He cracked his knuckles and stood to look out the window. "You see, Glendon's disease was genetic, and the mutation had to have been passed down from one of our parents." He turned around to meet Tanya's eyes. "None of my parents had the mutation."

Understanding dawned in Tanya. "Glendon-"

"-was the result of my mother's affair with another man. Dad...he loved the kid, so he stuck around and pretended in front of Glendon that things were fine. But when the doctors informed us Glendon had taken his final breath, the first thing dad did was to see a lawyer to put the divorce process in motion." He walked back to crouch beside the bed. "How was I supposed to barge into your perfect life and dump all this on you, Tanya?"

Tears were running down her cheeks again, only this time they were not over Glendon's death. This time, her tears were for the man who had to go through everything without a solid figure of support by his side. "We were by each other for everything...you just had to tell me."

"I know that now," he said quietly, "but I was younger and thought myself almighty back when it happened. I thought I could handle it like a 'man'," he chuckled without humour, "and then come back and get you to forgive me."

"You're forgiven," Tanya readily admitted. "It was a lot to go through...but I can't accept that you couldn't depend on me. And I can't accept that you felt the need to keep it from me all this time since you returned." She pressed a finger against his lips to silence his reasons. "No, Ky. I'm not some delicate piece of porcelain that'll crumble under pressure. And until you understand and accept that I want to be there at your side, especially during those hard times when you need a shoulder, this isn't going to go anywhere."

"I know." Kyrian smiled and stood from his crouch. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kyrian Miller, but you're going to have to work harder than that to make this work," she said with a watery laugh. "Now get out of here while I get out of these sheets."

"Looks hot though," Nick said, trying to break the tension.

Aria grabbed the first thing she saw - Nick's sunglasses, sitting on the table beside his bed - and flung it at him.

It hit him on the ear and managed to hang off it.

"We're going to have to enroll you in the softball team, kitten," Kyrian mused as the two guys left the room.

A/N: I know I'm going to get a lot of "What? Did we miss something? Why so fast? YOU'RE RUSHING REBEKAH!" reviews (well, assuming people will actually bother to review) but, in my defense, this was how it was supposed to go since I planned this story. My planning for the last few chapters pretty much went (a) Chad/Nessa's wedding, (b) more of Chad/Nessa's wedding, (c) sex. (Except, instead of 'sex', it really said 'flashback'.) I needed the sex-scene to do the winter-ball flashback, and the flashback was needed to get Kyrian to 'fess up.

Now I'm at a cross-roads, because I just went over my plans for the ending and it's...not resounding with me. So chances are, I'll be shredding my (virtual) plan and coming up with one I like better.

And that, my FP buddies, was your cue to throw your sunglasses (and reviews!) at me.

P.S. Story rating has been switched from M to T because I decided I can't do the whole detailed sex-scene thing. (But, oddly enough, I was checking out the FP rating system and explicit sex-scenes aren't even allowed in the first place - even when rated M! Apparently M starts from age 16, so only 'strong but non-explicit adult themes' are allowed. Heh.)