"Ray, wake up."

"No." She mumbled, trying to snuggle further into the couch.

"Come on Raleigh, wake up." Turning over, Raleigh finally looked at Dan, through her one opened eye she could see how great he looked even this early.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I have a meeting with Dean Farsely in half an hour. All the way across town. You know normally I wouldn't be kicking you out so early."

Yawning and stretching, Raleigh decided it was best that she leave so early anyway. "Alright." Standing up, she got her purse and put on her shoes before turning back to the man who should be nothing more than her instructor.

"Thank you for last night, Dan."

"Anytime." Raleigh gave Dan a kiss on the cheek and after feeling like she had lingered a bit too long, she muttered a quick "bye" before practically running out the door.

This isn't right. I shouldn't be feeling this way.

Watching Raleigh go, Dan fought hard not to touch his cheek where her lips had just been. Her boyfriend had just left, she was upset. She even said herself that she hadn't wanted to be alone. She had come to him only because she didn't know what else to do. She didn't feel everything he felt when he was with her. Last night all he had wanted was to take her in his arms and make love to her over and over, bringing her to the most pleasurable release she'd ever known. When she looked up at him with those big lilac eyes he felt like an open window, begging her to come just a little closer and take a better look at who he really was. To see what he felt, pleading for her to feel the same. He'd known many women in his lifetime, had many students. Sure he'd been hit on quite a few times and even had some students bold enough to advance on him right after class. But he'd always turned them down gently and sent them on their way. Most forgot about the encounter by the next day. Not once did he ever indulge himself with even a little taste of the forbidden fruit.

But then Raleigh Jean Coons came into his life, bringing back emotions he hadn't known in years. A hunger built inside him from every shy glance, every blush when he caught her looking at him, every brush of her long, slender fingers on his bare flesh. He'd never known a longing like this before. It was nearly overwhelming, the want he felt for her. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. He wanted nothing more than to make her his.

But Daniel Cooper was neither stupid nor blind. He'd have to be to miss the rock she was now wearing on one very important finger.

Of course he had known the history Raleigh shared with Josh, but seeing it firsthand had hurt him more than he cared to admit. Which was why he was backing off. No more late night rendezvous‘, no more take-out, no more sex, no more bad jokes. No more relationship of any kind aside from student-teacher.

Realizing he was now running late, Dan grabbed his car keys and ran out the door. He made it to the restaurant a record breaking sixteen minutes later and went in, finding the dean with no difficulty.

"Daniel, nice of you to join me."

"I apologize for keeping you waiting, Scott."

"You're six minutes late, not a big deal. Please, sit." He motioned to the seat across from him and Dan sat down. Dean Farsely was an ex-marine. A man completely capable of killing someone without much force, but he was also one of the nicest men Dan had ever known.

"So, it's been a while since we've been able to actually sit down and catch up. How's everything?"

"Uh, great. Everything's going great."

"Good. How about that cousin of yours? Staying out of trouble?"

Feeling himself smile, Dan shook his head at the older man. "She'll never stay out of trouble. You know that as well as I do. She called me to bail her out again last night."

"Please tell me you didn't." His silence was enough of an answer for him. "Daniel, when are you going to learn?"

"She's family, Scott. My only family. I'm not gonna turn her away just because she's made some bad choices. And I told her it was the last time."

"Good. So I asked you here to congratulate you on the amazing show you put together."

"You forget I wasn't the only one behind it."

Scott waved his hand dismissively before speaking again. "It was your show whether you want to believe it or not. It was your idea and you are the one who put the cast together and worked with them to perfect the songs and steps. Like I've told you many times before, you could do great things. Why you continue to work at the college is beyond me."

"I love my job. How many people can honestly say that?"

"Not many." He agreed.

As they at their breakfast and continued conversing, Dan found his mind once again filled with thoughts of Raleigh. He silently berated himself for wondering where she was, what she was doing. Was she thinking of him?

"Daniel!"

"What?" Snapping back to reality, Dan felt the embarrassment of having been caught drifting off seep onto his face.

"Where'd you go, just now?"

"Nowhere. I'm here."

"Physically, yes."

Sighing, Dan ran his hand through his growing hair before looking back up to his old friend. If he didn't tell him he'd guess anyway. He never could hide anything from him, what's the point in trying to now?

"I've been seeing this girl and like so many others she has a past filled with pain and love. She always said she and her childhood/high school sweetheart were going to be married one day when they could be together. I knew this from the beginning and was completely fine with it because we weren't serious. We were just having fun I guess. But when he came here to visit her last week, I felt so unbelievably enraged when I saw them together. I mean, don't get me wrong he's a great guy, and while I hope she gets what she's always wanted, a part of me is screaming that they've already have their chance." For the first time in a long time, Dan felt the urge to punch something, then get completely obliviated.

"You fell in love with her." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I think I did." There was a short silence before he spoke again. "He left yesterday and she came over a few hours later. Said she didn't want to be alone. I don't think she realized that I saw the very small skating rink now occupying her left ring finger.

"Seems like you've found yourself in quite a tangled web."

Taking a sip of his coffee, Dan nodded. He couldn't agree more. "Scot, you've been like a father to me since my parents died. What should I do? Should I pursue her in hopes that she chooses me or back off, let her live her life with him?"

Chuckling to himself, Scot couldn't help but to find the situation ironic. About twenty years ago he'd found himself in the same predicament. So, he gave Dan the same advice his father had given him.

"I think you should give her space. Don't call her, don't answer her calls. Don't see her. Let her find out how she truly feels when you're not there. I'm sure she'll realize within a few days that its you she wants. Like you said, they had their chance. Unfortunately, you can't ever go back to the way things once were."

Just shut her out of your life.

The words echoed in his mind like a chant. Could it really be that simple? Could he actually do it? He had come to really enjoy her surprise visits, now he was dreading the next one. He'd have to tell her something. But something else plagued his mind.

What if she didn't choose him?

After leaving his breakfast meeting with Scot, Dan went to the grocery store and for the first time in nearly two months he bought more than enough food to fill his kitchen. After getting home and putting away all the groceries, Dan decided to call Leslie to see how she was doing. After some friendly conversation, and assuring her for about the hundredth time that he didn‘t hate her, he hung up and busied himself with cleaning. He tried to focus on anything but Raleigh and what he had to do. He felt like he was back in school, lusting after the popular girl while he was a nobody.

You're pathetic. A grown man practically crying because she's engaged to her childhood sweetheart.

"I don't even know that she's engaged. What am I doing?"

Oh come on! You saw that rock.

Putting his hands to his forehead, Dan tried to rub away the headache that had begun to creep up on him.

There had to be something he could do to keep his mind off Raleigh. But what?

The guest house. He'd wanted to finish it months ago but he got too busy to think much of it lately. Working on it would take his mind off everything.

---

Going up to the front door, she didn't even hesitate to ring the bell. She wanted to see him. Wanted to see his reaction when he saw her. She felt like an entirely new person. Hopefully he liked this new woman.

After ringing twice with still no answer, Raleigh looked through the window. The lights were on and his car was in the driveway, he had to be home. Raleigh rang once more and when he still didn't answer she decided to try the door. To her surprise it was unlocked and she let herself in, shutting the door behind her.

"Dan?" Raleigh swallowed the uneasy feeling she got and went room to room to see if he had fallen asleep. She hoped that's all it was. He never left the front door opened at night. He knew how the people of LA were.

"Dan?" She called out a little louder, this time the sound of a saw followed her voice.

Going through the kitchen, Raleigh went out the back door and was relieved to see him outside the rather larger guest house. Slowly walking up behind him, Raleigh stopped a few feet away to just look at him for a minute. All her wore was a pair of blue jeans held up by his favorite brown leather belt. His tan muscular back glistened with sweat and she wanted nothing more than to reach out and run her hands all over his delicious body. But that probably wasn't the best idea. The man did have a saw.

She waited until he was done cutting the board before announcing her presence.

"Hey there hot stuff." Dan started and jumped around, not prepared for a visitor.

"Raleigh, don't you know not to sneak up a man holding a saw?" turning away from her, Dan set down the saw and took off his goggles and gloves.

"Well, I waited until you turned it off to say anything." She defended. She heard the small chuckle leave his throat and she found herself smiling, and wishing he'd look at her.

Damn it. Why did she have to come here tonight? Just to scare the hell out of me?

He didn't want to look at her. If he looked at her he might not be able to do what he knew he had to. But he had to look at her. No matter what, he refused to be rude.

As soon as he turned around he wished he hadn't.

Good lord. How was he ever going to get through this conversation? Not only was she standing there smiling up at him looking damn good in her tube top, skirt and heels, but she had cut her hair. There were multiple layers and the longest fell about an inch below her chin. Her bangs slanted mainly to the right covering a small portion of her eye. The slight curl to her dark hair, that was now highlighted with blond and red, blew gently in the wind.

Dan knew his mouth was open unattractively so he forced himself to close it before drool began to stream out. "You're hair..."

Self consciously, Raleigh reached up and touched her much shorter strands. "Yeah, I was ready for a change. Do you like it?"

"Yeah I do. You look great." That was an understatement if he ever heard one. What he wanted to say was that she looked damn sexy and he wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there. But he couldn't. Instead he cleared his throat and said, "Are you going out?"

Shrugging, Raleigh took a few steps closer to him. "Maybe. You bought me dinner last night so I'd like to buy you dinner tonight." Smiling, Raleigh ran a hand down his naked, sweaty chest, reveling in the feel of his muscles twitching beneath her touch. "Though you may want to put on a shirt."

As much as he liked the feel of her hand on him, she made the mistake of using her left hand. As soon as he saw the large ring, he remembered what he had to say to her. Grabbing her hand before it went any lower, Dan pushed it away but didn't let go.

"Ray, we need to talk."

"Ok, what about?" He got the distinct impression she knew exactly what this was about.

"I think it'd be best if we continued on as nothing more than teacher-student."

Ripping her hand out of his grasp, Raleigh took a few steps back, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Why? What's this about?"

Meeting her wide eyes, Dan decided right then, he felt like complete shit. "I think you know what this is about." He made it a point to look down at her hand.

Following his gaze, Raleigh looked down at the ring that sat on her finger. What did she really want?

"Raleigh, I like you, but I can't pretend that there's anything more here between us. I think it's for the best that we no longer see one another outside of class."

Looking back up into his emerald eyes, Raleigh hardened her face. "Fine. If that's what you want." He just nodded in response.

"Goodnight, Mr. Cooper." Without another word, Raleigh turned around and went back through the house to get out and head back to the dorm.

As soon as Raleigh got out to the street, she wasted no time in pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, taking a long drag. Leaning her head back, Raleigh let the smoke fill her, relaxing her.

What the hell just happened?

Getting back to the dorm, Raleigh went through the door and slammed it shut, causing Autumn to jump off the bed.

"What the hell, Raleigh?"

Raleigh didn't respond. Instead she just paced back and forth, tapping her lips with her finger for a few minutes, completely ignoring Autumn's sighs of annoyance. Suddenly she stopped wearing a hole in the rug and faced Autumn.

"Let's go out."

"What? Raleigh, we have a class at eight thirty tomorrow morning."

"So? Since when do you let that stop you form going out and having a good time?" Contemplating her words, Autumn had to agree with her. She was known for partying late when she had early classes.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Um, how about that new one? Crimson?"

"Crimson? I've been dying to go there!"

Smiling, Raleigh pointed to the bathroom. "Then you better go get ready." Autumn ran into the bathroom and started the shower. "You have a half hour!" Plopping down on her bed, Raleigh took out her cell phone and made a few calls to Ember, Davey and yes, even Effron to invite them out. Well, technically she told them they were going out and to be ready in a half hour. Effron just said he'd meet them all there since he didn't live at the dorm.

Exactly half an hour later, Autumn was ready to go and Ember and Davey were knocking on the door. They came inside and Davey whistled.

"Damn Raleigh, you look hella fine."

"Thanks Davey. Ya'll ready to go?"

"In a minute." Ember said before pulling out a small baggy with a white powder on it. This time when they passed around the small tube, Raleigh didn't hesitate. She put it to her nose and quickly did two lines, loving the burning sensation as it worked its way into her system. Who did she have to impress anymore?

"Alright, let's go." Not cleaning up the table, the small group left the dorms and got into Autumn's car and headed to the brand new club that had just opened up. By the time they got there Effron was already waiting outside for them and they had no trouble getting inside. They found a private table off to the side of the dance floor and when their waitress came over they ordered two shots of tequila each and a beer. Once she came back with their order, they each held up one of the shots.

"To being free to live our own lives." Effron said and Raleigh couldn't help but to say "Shit I'll drink to that!" and they all downed both shots. Beer in hand, Raleigh stood up and asked Effron to dance with her. If she thought he'd say no she was seriously mistaken. He'd been waiting for this for a while now. No more Josh, and it seemed like she was crawling back to him, just like he told her she would.

Raleigh felt great. Sure she already had nearly an eight ball of cocaine and enough alcohol in her system to light up the city park, but who cared? She was having the time of her life and Effron felt too damn good grinding up against her back side.

The beat suddenly slowed down immensely and Raleigh turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I have a confession to make."

"What's that?" His hot breath was right on her ear and it sent a chill down her spine, she could feel the heat pooling between her legs.

"When Josh was here, I became a bitch to you to hope you would stay away, so he wouldn't find out what I've been doing. But I told him and he didn't care." Raising her head so her mouth was level with his ear, she whispered, "But I never stopped liking..." She ran her tongue slowly along the lobe of his ear, liking how he took a sharp intake of breath. "Or wanting you."

Grabbing onto her hair, Effron pulled her head back so he could look in her eyes, not even blinking when she flinched in pain. "If you're trying to trick me right now, I won't fall for it. Don't fuck with me."

"Eff, I'm not fucking with you. You told me you were falling in love with me. I'm not the kind of person to toy with your emotions like that." Reading nothing but the truth in her eyes, Effron pushed her head forward and met her hot lips with the kiss he'd been waiting for. She slowly ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he sucked it into his mouth.

Raleigh could feel him growing hard against her and she smiled against his mouth. "Wanna get out of here?"

"You have no idea."