"Shit…Jason, you didn't. Was it?..." Stephen trailed off as Jason finally sat up in his seat, and he took a deep audible breath.

"I didn't mean for it to happen…" he whispered softly. "I didn't mean to leave her. I didn't."

"You ditched Kris for Raina?" he asked, as if trying to get it all straight, disbelief plain in his eyes. "Raina, the sadistic bitch of the West, you went with her, instead of your best friend, in pain?" Jason nodded his head a little, anger crossing his face in his own defense.

"It's not that simple Stephen, it really isn't. I was young…and she was so…" he looked up at the ceiling trying to find words. "So different from any other woman I'd ever met. And she wanted me…I didn't plan it! It just happened. It just happened…" Jason looked over at Stephen, and was suitably surprised at the anger that radiated from the normally quiet man.

"You took a date with Raina over helping Kristina?" he shook his head again. "Okay, I could see how it might be tempting…if you didn't know Raina's personality and had just met her. But you decided that going out with Raina was worth more than helping your best friend?"

Jason shook his head. "Not a date…" his hands rubbed across his eyes. "Not in the sense that you're thinking of anyways." Stephen seemed to stop and think a moment at that point.

"Do you mean…was that when…"

***

The sound rang out like a gunshot, and Jason jumped suitably, jarred awake with his eyes wide open. He turned to his right, and a redhead grinned back at him, waving a notebook in the air.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead. Week-end's here, it's time to head out and party. And I know just the place. You up for it?" the man rose, plodding his way through the mass of people all fighting to get to the doors, impatiently looking back at Jason.

"Jackass…" Jason muttered, shaking his head. "You scared the shit out of me Ryan." He used his small frame to his advantage, blonde hair bobbing up and down as he squeezed through the throng to catch up with his friend, giving him a hard shot to the shoulder as he did so. The other man laughed, and Jason sighed.

"So where's this place you want to go to?" Jason asked, squinting slightly as the sun hit both their faces. "I can't stay for long, I have to go pick a friend up from the airport later on." Ryan gave what seemed to be a disinterested, or maybe just disbelieving nod.

"You been to the Lunatic Café yet Jase? It's not too far from here," Ryan asked, turning to look at Jason, who shook his head.

"I think I've heard of it…it's just a restaurant, isn't it? I thought we were going for drinks." Jason stopped beside a relatively beat up Honda CRX and waited for Ryan to open the doors.

"It's a restaurant, yeah, but not just any restaurant. You'll like it, trust me." The way the words fell from Ryan's lips made an odd look cross Jason's face, but he didn't say anything. Rather, he just hopped into the passenger seat, his books tossed into the back. The two drove with little discussion, just inane chatter over who was cuter; the blonde or the brunette in front of them in English.

The Lunatic Café was in the college district of town, and as such, it took the pair less than ten minutes to pull into the surprisingly crowded parking lot. Ryan maneuvered his little Honda into a spot it shouldn't have fit in, and the two squeezed their way out of the car.

"I can't believe we're going to a restaurant on a Friday night." Jason mused, shaking his head. "This seems so…not us." Ryan just smirked.

"You won't say that when you get inside, just wait." The two walked up the stairs and entered the place. Jason's jaw dropped at the bustling crowd inside. Chatter and laughter assailed him from every side, and he shook his head. Restaurants like this weren't supposed to be packed on Friday nights.

"Come on, I see a table free over by the bar." Ryan's voice jarred Jason from his perusal of the place, and he nodded, once again making his way through a human sardine can. The two made it to the small round table, and plopped themselves down.

"Where did you find out about this place?" Jason asked, surveying the polished and pristine wood bar. Ryan just smiled.

"Friends." The word was punctuated with a prolonged wave of his arm, obviously trying to attract someone's attention. "There's someone I want to introduce you to. Just let me get her." Ryan waved a second time before finally resting his arm on the table again, obviously satisfied. "Like I said, trust me."

"Trust you about…" Jason trailed off as his eyes caught those of the woman Ryan had apparently called over. "…Holy shit…" he shook his head at the sight. The woman was tall and slim with an ample chest shown off by a shirt that left nothing to the imagination. There was only one word that could describe her: gorgeous.

"Hey handsome…" she cooed, in a voice that seemed better left for private nights and bedrooms. She dropped into the last seat available at the table, but not before shimmying it as close to Jason as possible, one hand floating through soft blonde curls. She turned towards Ryan, barely acknowledging him with a nod.

"Raina, this is Jason, the guy I told you about." Ryan replied, his voice somehow different from only moments before. It seemed more cautious, more reserved.

"Jason, so nice to meet you." she whispered, her voice sultry and teasing. "Ryan has told me oh so much about you. And after he did, I couldn't wait to get my hands on you..." the words were punctuated with just that, Raina's hands feathering down Jason's chest.

"It's nice to meet you too..." he managed to croak in reply, his voice cracking only slightly on the last word as her hand sank lower, finally resting in his lap. He turned to Ryan with a look of confusion on his face, and the other man just smiled and nodded reassuringly.

"Ryan, don't you have someplace else to be?" Raina asked, her voice more harsh then just moments before. It seemed to have some effect on Ryan, who shuddered and nodded, almost jumping from his seat.

"Yeah…yeah, I do. Jason, I forgot about some stuff. You mind? You don't mind. I'll see you later. Class on Monday, no doubt. Okay, going. Bye Jase." He seemed overly nervous as he made his way through the crowds, trying to get as far away from the two as he could.

"Just you and me now Jason…" Raina whispered, leaning in closer and closer still, until her lips touched his. "You don't mind, do you?" he suddenly found it hard to think as her warm tongue trailed along his lower lip. He managed to shake his head no, mind working overdrive.

There's an incredibly hot and sexy woman practically on my lap. She's touching me and kissing me… his eyes widened as her hands found someplace new. …Okay, and she's touching me there too. I am not going to say a word. I am going to run with this, lest it be a freaking dream. Raina's giggling drew Jason out of his thoughts.

"You seem to be thinking too hard hun," her fingers laced in his hair once more. "Tonight isn't for thinking. It's for acting. Would you like that?" Raina cocked her head to the side, full lips suddenly seeming even more alluring than before. Jason did the only thing he could think of. He nodded his head vigorously, which elicited a bright, almost devious smile from Raina.

"Just what I thought." She grabbed his hand and had them both on their feet amazingly quick. "Come on, we're going to go somewhere a little more…private."

***

"That night, that night I was supposed to spend with Kristina, that night that I was supposed to console her, be with her…I spent it with Raina. I thought I was just going to spend a few hours after classes with friends, have a couple drinks. But we ended up at the Lunatic Cafe. She was there. And damn, she looked so good. She was all over me, and that was just when I had started trying to be a different me. Cocky, good looking Jason, that's who I wanted to be. And she made me feel that way. Before I knew what was what, I was upstairs with her. And yeah, Kristina kind of disappeared from my thoughts."