Popular Ch. 03

Hayden had meant his words to be comforting, but it only made Leo more upset and afraid. Leo had been able to put the wager with Noah out of his mind for some time, but it all came rushing back to him as Hayden had whispered in his ear. Their initial friendship wasn't based on honesty, and an intense guilt swept over Leo. He had to tell Hayden the truth, but by God he was so afraid. Leo wasn't sure if that kiss had meant as much to Hayden as it did to him, but Leo was sure that the bet would change everything. It was more than likely that Hayden wouldn't be by Leo's side after all was said and done.

"There's something I have to tell you." Leo quietly said to Hayden. "It's about…"

Leo wasn't given the opportunity to confess to Hayden as a pair of arms pulled them apart. Noah had separated them, and his face was twisted in fury. Lexie stood behind him and was trying to pull Noah back.

"What the FUCK is this all about?" Noah demanded. "Are you really a fag, Warner?"

"Damn it, Noah! You better lower your voice before you make a scene." Lexie snarled at him.

"Say that again, Noah, and I'll kick your ass all over the campus." Hayden growled at him. "Do you even realize how difficult this must be for Leo?"

"He didn't look all that upset as you shoved your tongue down his throat, Hayden." Noah lowered his voice, but the anger and hate was still there. "Unless you mean to tell me that you enjoyed it. Are you a homo too?"

"This is definitely one of the hottest rush parties we have ever had." Hayden recognized Adam's voice immediately. The group had turned to find him standing next to them. "I was a little afraid that Jared was going to ruin the party by that scene that he caused. Don't worry, his nasty ass has been evicted from the premises. That hot kiss the two of you shared is definitely the talk of the party. I'm Adam Packard by the way. I'm the Chapter President for Beta Kappa Gamma."

"I hope that their fag…little display won't hurt our chances at rushing here." Everyone knew that Noah was about to say faggy, but they didn't realize just how far Noah was planning on going. It seemed that having the frat president standing with them had flipped the snob switch in him. "We haven't known Hayden all that long. So we were surprised to say the least when he attacked Leo here." Noah laughed in an attempt to pass his comment off as a joke, but he wasn't fooling anyone.

Hayden could feel Leo's body completely tense up in anger, and he placed a hand on Leo's shoulder to calm him down. Hayden wasn't surprised that Noah would try to exclude him from their group. Noah was obviously hoping to rush BKG, but Hayden knew that Noah's words had sealed his fate. The frat would never accept someone like Noah into their fold, ever.

"Our frat is one of the most exclusive frats on campus, but that doesn't mean that we are close minded." The smile on Adam's face was the type of smile a person would give a small child. "A fairly decent percentage of our current brothers and alumni are gay. We do have a zero percent bigot rate though. Which we are pretty proud of."

"So you would let Hayden rush?" Noah asked incredulously. It seemed to be beyond Noah's grasp that not all people were homophobes.

Hayden could see the tension that was running through the group. Noah's mouth was definitely going before his brain was engaged. From the looks that Lexie was giving him this was a side she had never seen before. Which didn't surprise Hayden in the least. He was positive if Noah had shown his bigot tendencies before, Lexie would have gotten rid of him. Hayden could see a muscle in Adam's jaw begin to twitch.

Hayden realized that the moment of truth for him was at hand. Adam wouldn't back down from the bigotry he was seeing, and Hayden didn't blame him. If the situation was reversed Hayden would do the same. Adam carefully looked over at Hayden in question. He knew what Adam wanted to say, and he nodded once giving Adam permission.

"It doesn't matter what anyone in this frat thinks of Hayden, though they all like him." Adam said with a grin. "He would be given a bid just based on that, but he's guaranteed one no matter what anyone thinks."

"How could he be guaranteed a bid?" Noah demanded.

"I'm a legacy." Hayden quietly replied. Lexie glanced at him curiously, and Hayden continued to explain. "A legacy is when one of your relatives is either in the frat or if they're one of the alumni. My father is a Beta Kappa Gamma alumni."

"That's bullshit!" Noah exclaimed surprising the group. "I was talking to one of the brothers earlier in the week, and he had mentioned this year's legacy candidates. He never mentioned a Taylor."

"That's because Taylor isn't my last name." Hayden quietly said. "Taylor is my middle name."

Leo stepped back from Hayden, and he could see the shock in Leo's eyes. Noah and Lexie looked just as shocked as Leo. Guilt and pain ripped through Hayden with a power he had never known. He hadn't meant to lie to his new friends, and he could only hope they would understand.

"What's your last name?" Leo asked quietly.

"Chatham." Hayden's voice was low and raw.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Noah practically yelled. "Chatham as in the Chatham Chapter House? Chatham like Chatham Inc., the largest privately owned company in the country? You're father is Dale Chatham, the millionaire?"

Fury had replaced the fear that coursed through Hayden's body. Noah looked at Hayden with a great amount of distaste. Hayden knew that Noah couldn't believe that someone like himself had come from a great deal of money. Hayden knew that his family's wealth outweighed anything that all three of their families had put together, and Noah's attitude finally forced Hayden to the breaking point.

"No." Hayden tried to control his anger as well as he could. "My father is Dale Chatham, the billionaire." Leo and Lexie were looking at him with open-mouthed astonishment. He knew that they were hurt, and Hayden couldn't blame them for it. Noah was sputtering and obviously trying to figure out something to say. After a few moments of silence Hayden couldn't take it anymore. "I hope this didn't ruin the rush party, Adam. I'm think I'm going to head back to my dorm. I'll drop by the house soon, and we can talk."

Hayden didn't wait for anyone to respond, and he quickly left the deck. He made his way through the drunken partygoers and rushed from the house. Hayden had to stop himself from running as fast as he could away from the frat party. His entire world had been turned upside down in a matter of minutes. Hayden had hoped that Leo or Lexie would have tried to catch up with him, and when they didn't Hayden couldn't stop the tears that began to fall. He felt like his world was ending.



Hayden didn't sleep well that night at all. His dreams had turned into nasty nightmares. The fear of what would happen to his friendships was intense enough to make him think about leaving Reynolds. Hayden lay in bed in a pair of pajama pants and stared up at his ceiling. He had no clue what to fucking do, but he did plan on staying in bed all day. That plan was changed as someone knocked on his door. Hayden had ignored it at first, but the pounding got louder. He glanced over at his clock and saw that it was barely nine in the morning.

"I'm coming!" He called. Hayden stumbled out of bed and yanked the door open. He was surprised to find out who was standing there. "Lexie!"

"Morning!" She gave him a bright smile. Her eyes immediately began to roam over Hayden's bare chest. "I've always enjoyed meat in the morning, but it's normally bacon or sausage. I didn't expect to see any stud meat."

Hayden blushed at her comment, but he was surprised and definitely happy to see her.

"How did I get lucky enough to get a wake up call?" Hayden asked with a small smile.

"I brought breakfast." Lexie held up a bag that Hayden hadn't noticed before. "I figured you wouldn't be leaving your room today, and a cutie like you needs nourishment. Are you going to invite me in or do I have to stand here all day?"

"I'm sorry, come on in." Hayden stepped back and let Lexie into his room. She sat down on his bed and began digging through the bag as he shut the door. "I'm not really a morning person. So you'll have to excuse my rudeness."

"You think you're bad?" Lexie's laugh brightened the room. "You should have seen Leo's face when I stopped at his room an hour ago. He was so rude, I wonder why?"

Hayden sat down on the bed across from Lexie. She handed him a Styrofoam container, and they ate their breakfast quietly for a few moments. Hayden wasn't sure how to start a conversation, but he was feeling optimistic ever since Lexie showed up a few minutes ago.

"I'm sorry that I lied to you." Hayden quietly said.

"You don't have to apologize, Hayden." Lexie looked at him and smiled. "We totally understand why you did it. You weren't trying to hurt us. You just wanted to be liked for you, not your money. Trust me, sweetie, Leo and I have been there ourselves."

"Last night was so bad." Hayden said with a sigh. "I was planning on telling you both everything, I just wanted to find the right time."

"We know that." Lexie chewed thoughtfully on a piece of bacon. "I would have been here last night, but Leo was a total wreck after the whole coming out experience last night. Between finding out Noah was a big ole homophobe and that you had more money than God, it was a bit much for him on top of everything else."

"How is he handling things?" Hayden was very concerned about Leo.

"Leo is doing the best that he can." Lexie looked deep into Hayden's eyes. "He was okay once he realized that I was okay with everything, but he's still worried about you."

"Why?" Hayden couldn't believe that with everything going on Leo was concerned about him. "I told him last night that I would be there for him. I just wasn't sure if he'd want me there after the truth came out."

"Leo wasn't concerned about that. He was as surprised as I was, but I'm hoping you know that shit like that doesn't concern us." Lexie's voice was very serious. "With or without the money, we're your friends. I'm hoping that we can move past this."

"I was hoping for that too." Hayden said with a grin, but it quickly faded as he thought of something. "What about Noah?"

"Now that's a horse of a different color." Lexie sigh was a painful one. "We knew that he was snobby, and since we've known him forever we were just used to it. We had no idea of the hate he carried around inside of him. Needless to say, Leo and I are keeping our distance from him. I made it very clear to Noah last night that things were over between us."

"I'm sorry, Lexie." Hayden reached out and grabbed one of her hands. "This has to be so tough on you."

"It's tough, but it's not the end of the world." Lexie gave Hayden a small smile. "Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew Noah wasn't right for me, but I was so comfortable with him I was afraid to do anything about it. I can enjoy being single for a while before moving onto my next victim."

"God help that poor guy." Hayden joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. He was rewarded as Lexie laughed and punched him in the leg.

"Speaking of poor guys…" Lexie began. "Noah was Leo's roommate, so needless to say Noah moved out this morning. He went to the Student Affairs office and requested a room change. Leo might be looking for a roommate soon."

"If that's your idea of dropping hints, then you have no tact whatsoever." Hayden laughed. "I take it you want me to move in with him?"

"It was Leo's idea really, but of course I had the same thought. We do share a brain you know." Lexie's smile faded a bit. "Leo's worried though that you might not want to be his roommate or his friend actually."

"Why would he think that?" Shock ran through Hayden. He had figured they wouldn't want to be his friend. Hayden had never thought for one second they would think he wouldn't want to be around them.

"He's worried that between his coming out, and the fact the two of you shared one hell of a kiss together, that you might be uncomfortable around him." Lexie quietly said.

"He's worried about the kiss?" Hayden was surprised. "Does he remember that I'm the one that kissed him? The entire situation was my doing because I wanted to get Jared to back off and leave him alone. I told him after that whole kiss thing that I was still his friend, and that I'd be there for him."

"He's kinda fragile right now, and I know he's not thinking clearly." Lexie explained. "Leo wanted to come with me, but he wasn't sure if you'd want to see him or not."

"I'm going to kick his ass!" Hayden joked. "I can't believe that he would think that I wouldn't be his friend because he was gay. That's utterly ridiculous."

"It's totally ridiculous." Lexie agreed and paused for a moment before continuing. "Especially when he finds out that you're gay too."

"What?" Hayden was thankfully he had a mouthful of eggs, and not bacon. Otherwise he may have choked.

"Settle down!" Lexie quickly continued. "I could be totally wrong about this, and I may have just made a huge ass of myself, but I have a hunch that I'm not."

"How?" Hayden's voice was clipped, and he didn't look at her.

"How did I know?" Lexie asked. As Hayden nodded she continued. "Well I've had suspicions that Leo was gay for a few years now, and I saw some things in you that reminded me of him. Besides the fact that when we were wrestling in the Court you weren't…shall we say excited?"

"That doesn't…" Hayden began, but Lexie cut him off.

"I know, I know. That doesn't mean anything, but it just added to my suspicion." Lexie smiled comfortingly at Hayden. "Don't think I'm conceited or anything, but you and Leo are the only guys that have ever wrestled with me and haven't gotten hard. Remember I was a tomboy, so I've pinned quite a few guys in my time. Besides, I've seen the way you look at him. And as much as you may say that kiss was a cover, I could tell that there was something else going on there. Even the world's best actor couldn't fake what the two of you shared last night."

"Did you tell Leo?" Hayden quietly asked, as he finally looked her in the eye.

"No. That's not my place to do that." Lexie quietly said. "But I think it's a bit obvious how he feels about you."

"I know what you're thinking, Lexie." Hayden gave her a small smile. "I can see the wheels turning in your head. Trust me, I would love to be with Leo. He's beautiful, smart, funny, caring…"

"But?" Lexie added in for him.

"I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship." Hayden honestly replied. "I don't know if I could handle that. I've never really had true friends before. How do I know that I could even handle something like a boyfriend? I don't want to hurt Leo. I couldn't do that to him."

"All I'm going to ask of you is to not put the idea completely out of your head." Lexie moved next to Hayden and put her arm around his shoulder. "I honestly think the two of you are perfect for each other, but I agree that you have to be friends first." Lexie leaned her head on Hayden's shoulder. "I'm not going to tell Leo, or even hint around about it. The ball, so to speak, is in your court. This way there's no pressure. Okay?"

"Thanks, Lexie. I appreciate it." Hayden gave her a half hug and smiled.

"We need to have some fun." Lexie said with a giggle. "Adam told us last night that they are hosting a masquerade ball tonight over at the rec center as part of their rushing process. I told Leo earlier this morning that he had to go, and I'm telling you the same thing. We need to unwind and have fun, just the three of us."

"It's kinda short notice to get a costume don't you think?" Hayden asked her as he laughed. Lexie was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"There's a couple of costume places in town actually. They do a lot of the costuming for theaters in New England. So we are very fortunate indeed." Lexie said with a grin. She stood up and kissed Hayden on the forehead. "I'm going to go and run a few errands and pick up a costume. The party starts at eight. Be there or else mister!"

"Wait a second." Hayden stopped Lexie before she could leave. "What's your costume so I can find you?"

"Half the fun of tonight will be trying to find each other, Mister Chatham." Lexie winked at him and then took off.

Hayden finished up the rest of his breakfast and then quickly cleaned up the mess. He couldn't believe how almost an hour ago he had even thought about leaving his friends and Reynolds behind. Hayden smoked a quick cigarette out of his dorm window to try and ease his nerves. His mind centered around what Lexie had said earlier and around the kiss that he shared with Leo the previous night. Was it even a possibility that things could work out between the two of them and develop into something more? As Hayden threw on some clothes to run into town he pushed everything out of his mind. Only time would tell what the future had in store for all of them.



Lexie was standing by the punch bowl and tapped her foot impatiently. The masquerade ball had been in full swing for almost a half hour, and she still couldn't find Leo or Hayden. She cursed Leo as she stood there in her Wonder Woman costume. With her height, hair, and build, the woman at the costume shop claimed it was the perfect costume for her. Judging from the appraising looks Lexie was getting that night, it was a perfect choice. She needed to send that woman at the shop a thank you card.

She continued to curse Leo under her breath because it was his bright idea to try and find each other instead of just meeting up beforehand. Lexie considered using her lasso to hog tie and whip Leo the moment she saw him. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and she spun around ready to give Leo a good brow beating.

"What do you want?" Lexie spat at Noah. He was standing in front of her dressed as some type of English aristocrat, powdered white wig and all.

"Don't get all super hero strength on me." Even the sound of Noah's voice was enough to piss Lexie off. "There's something that I need to talk to you about. I'm really not the bad guy in all of this."

"The fuck you aren't." Lexie turned to walk away, but Noah grabbed her arm.

"Trust me, Lexie. I don't want to be talking to you either, but this is something you have to hear." Noah said as Lexie pulled her arm from his grasp.

"And what's that Noah?" Lexie decided to just hear the asshole out, and then she planned to get as far away from him as possible.

"The entire reason why Leo is friends with Hayden." Noah said with a grin. "I thought you might want to know the real truth behind it."

"Obviously it's because he felt bad for knocking him down." Lexie said with a sigh. "You know that Leo feels guilty when he hurts someone, whether it was on purpose or not."

"That is true, but that's not the real reason behind it." Noah carefully explained all the details of the bet he had with Leo. Lexie's eyes widened as Noah spilled his guts. "That's the truth."

"You're lying!" Lexie shook her head in disbelief. "Leo would never agree to anything like that."

"If you don't believe me then ask him yourself." Noah said with a shrug. "He's over there playing Zorro. I ran into him as we walked into the rec center. Leo's been trying to find you first."

Lexie's eyes scanned the crowd, and she finally did see Leo over in the corner of the room. His gaze was scanning the crowd as well. She didn't bother saying anything to Noah and immediately took off across the hall. Lexie was going to get some answers, and she was going to get them right then and there. Lexie kicked herself for not noticing Leo sooner. As she approached him she could see his thick, dark hair hanging out from under the bandana and hat that covered his face.