A/N- Justified doesn't do flashbacks, so I felt a prologue was necessary. In this chapter, the characters are in high school, so if they seem slightly out of tune, it was intentional.
Prologue
"C'mon Raylan will you just talk to her?" Melanie Davenport begged. Raylan Givens shook his head with a coy smirk. "Why not?" she persisted, growing agaited.
"Cause. I like someone else." Raylan answered, crossing his arms with ease.
"Who? Is she as crazy about you as Ava is?" Melanie pressed.
"I don't know...why don't you tell me..." Raylan replied. Melanie merely blinked as Raylan smiled expectantly. "Well? Do you like me as much as Ava?" he persisted, as Melanie continued to gawk.
"I'm...dating Dickie..." Melanie said slowly, as if reminding herself as well as him.
"Not much of an answer." Raylan countered with a shrug. "More like a statement.."
"GIVENS." hollered Coach McGraw, stepping out of the dugout to squint underneath the bleachers where Melanie and Raylan stood. "Huddle in Givens, thought I warned you 'bout waitin' last minute..." he scolded.
"Comin' Coach." Raylan called back, unfurling his baseball cap and pulling it over his head. "You think of an actual answer, lemme know won't ya? In the meantime.." Raylan swiftly leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. "For good luck." he explained with a grin, as he shouldered past her.
Unbeknown to the duo, Coaver Bennett, who was already seated on the bleachers, had been peering down at Melanie to glimpse her budding bossom. Not only did Coaver witness Raylan kiss her, he also saw the pink hue that consumed Melanie's cheeks afterward. Shaking his head in dismay, Coaver stood and barrelled down the steps. Hopping free of the bleachers, Coaver made a beeline for the opposite dugout.
"Where you goin' Coav?" called Doyle Bennett.
Coaver turned about-face and began to walk backwards. "Did you see that shit?" he asked. Doyle shook his head. "I'll be right back, gotta tell Dickie somethin'."
Dickie Bennett was stretching his hamstrings when his younger brother Coaver bounded up to him. "Here to wish me luck Coav? Ain't you usually feelin' up Beth 'bout now?" he greeted, with a subtle chuckle.
"She's out sick. Dickie listen, when I was staring down Melanie's shirt..."
"My Melanie? Christ I told you, you really wanna see her tits, just walk in on us when we're making out. She loves second base...I'll let ya sneak a peek."
Dickie's interruption momentarily froze Coaver's train of thought. "...Might be Raylan's the one to get to second base from now on...I saw him makin' out with Mel beneath the bleachers."
"MY Mel?" Dickie growled. A whistle was blown, signaling the start of the game. "That voiceless hounddog...I'mma learn 'im a lesson, just you watch Coav." he swore. "Go on back to the stands...I appreciate the heads-up brother, I truly do. I'll git Raylan, you'll see." Dickie said dismissively patting his brother on the shoulder.
Anger thrashed throughout Dickie's mind, his head automatically nodding in acknowledgement to Coach Everrett's order for him to pitch first. His grey eyes already honed in on Raylan who was up to bat, Dickie accepted the picther's mit from a fellow teammate and marched out to pit. Muttering mindlessly to himself, Dickie threw the first ball. It sailed cleanly past Raylan's head. "STRIKE ONE." shouted the catcher, Bowman Crowder, lobbing the ball back to Dickie. Relinquishing some of his angst by exhaling, Dickie rolled his shoulders and tossed again. This time Raylan's bat connected with the ball but it bounced off at an improper angle and was ruled as another strike. As the ball was thrown back to him, Dickie's eyes trailed to the bleachers, where Melanie was lounging against the fence beside her best friend Ava.
"C'mon Dickie, we ain't got all night." Raylan taunted.
The sound of Raylan's voice was enough to make the last strand of Dickie's restraint to snap. Tucking his baseball cap tighter against his brow, Dickie winded up and thrusted the ball from his grasp. It soared through the air and smacked Raylan straight in the forehead. The crowd gasped as Raylan buckled, face-first into the dirt. Sneering, Dickie advanced forward, deaf to the protesting shouts of the coaches. Dazed, Raylan lifted his head to see Dickie raising his cleave. In mere seconds, Raylan's hand had fumbled for the basebat, found it, and cracked the bat against Dickie's raised calf. A heartstopping scream bellowed from Dickie's throat as he crumbled sideways.
Time seemed to crawl to a stop as Melanie climbed over the fence with Ava. Her gaze darted from the shouting match between Arlo Givens and Mags Bennett, to the Bennett boys swarming around Dickie while Boyd Crowder hunched down beside Raylan. Melanie grimaced as she caught sight of Dickie's contorted leg. Turning slightly she saw Helen Givens examining the bloated knot on Raylan's forehead. A sick feeling cloated Melanie's heart, as she wondered if perhaps this had little to do with their family rivarly, and more to do with what had just occurred between her and Raylan.
Mags finally separated herself from Arlos's fury. "Coaver, pick up your brother." Mags ordered. "Doyle," she tossed her keys to her eldest son. "Go start the car, bring it 'round. We ain't waitin' for no ambulance."
Knowing Coaver to be brutish, Melanie stepped forward to help him carry Dickie. However, the venomous leer Coaver shot her froze Melanie in her tracks. 'He saw.' Melanie thought soberly. 'Christ he saw Raylan and me.'
Without looking back, Mags called over her shoulder. "Davenport! Let's git a move on." she urged.
The emergency room was reserved for immediate family, leaving Melanie to wander the halls in search of the Givens. She spotted Arlo striding towards an exit with a lit cigerattee between his lips, grumbling to himself. Melanie quickened her pace, pausing only when she heard Helen's voice. Raylan was sitting up on his bed, wincing slightly as he proded the lump on his forehead.
"I didn't corrose 'im, and I didn't do anything to his brothers, he did this shit at random." Raylan was insisting.
Noticing Melanie hovering in the doorway, Helen forced a smile. "How's Dickie doin'?" she greeted.
"Don't know yet." Melanie answered with a sheepish shrug. "How are ya Raylan?"
"Fine. 'Cept neither my father or my aunt believe me when I say, this wasn't my fault." Raylan responded crossly.
"...Mighta been." Melanie admitted hestiantly.
"...'cuse me?" Raylan responded, furrowing his brow.
"I think Coaver saw you kiss me." Melanie explained.
"You kissin' other boy's girlfriends now?" Helen asked sternly, although her tone implied she wasn't surprised.
"It was a peck! She kept botherin' me 'bout Ava." Raylan replied defensively. Slumping slightly under the stern gaze of Helen, Raylan added in a mumble."Never had you pegged as a tattletale Mel."
"...I know how Arlo can be." Melanie said softly. Raylan's bittersweet glower, clouded into an undreadable stare.
Doyle's voice rattled down the hall. "Davenport!"
When Melanie glanced at him, Doyle gestured for her to come. "I've gotta go. I'm glad you're alright Raylan..." Melanie responded.
"Yeah..be seein' you Mel..." Raylan dismissed, cloaking his disappointment as indifference.
With a half-smile, Melanie retreated down the hall. The expression on Doyle's face as she approached, made Melanie immediately uncomfortable. "What?" she muttered in greeting.
"He your new boyfriend now?" Doyle tutted, with a smirk.
"Shut up and take me to Dickie." Melanie scowled with a glare. Doyle continued to jeer silently as he led the way. They passed Coaver in the niche of a hallway, his attention devoted to a vending machine. Melanie rolled her eyes in disgust.
Dickie's hositpal gown was a faint yellow, an oddly flattering color on him. His left leg was propped in mid-air casted with various rods and widgits. Dickie himself appeared pale, weak and groggy. Mags Bennett sat beside him, worry scribbled clearly on her face. "Your parents still out of town child?" she greeted, as Melanie clasped her hand around Dickie's. "Don't do that." she requested and Melanie swiftly released Dickie.
"Yes Ma'am, they've business with Mr. Crowder." Melanie answered anxiously.
"I wish the timin' were better then. Melanie, you're not welcome 'round our family anymore. I don't want you anywhere near Dickie, not now, not ever, you understand?" Mags responded.
Although Mags had clearly never been fond of Melanie, her mouth was agap. "Wh-why?" she stammered.
"The kind of girl that'd go 'round kissing boys under bleachers, is the kind of girl not welcome 'round my boys. If you were any sort of decent, you'd have pushed Raylan away, maybe smacked him...not stand there blushin'.." Mags responded.
Melanie's paniced gaze darted from Mags to Dickie. "I-It happened quick, I-I..." she stammered uselessly.
"Not the way I heard it." Mags retorted. As if on cue, Coaver entered the room munching on a Snickers bar.
Melanie took a deep breath, in an attempt to ease her mounting anxiety. "Ma'am. I have no interest in Raylan, I'm Dickie's girl." she said firmly.
"You were Dickie's girl," Mags corrected with a shake of her head. "You're not anymore. I'd like you to leave."
"Ma'am, please..." Melanie murmured, looking to Dickie for support. Dickie merely stared back at her, his hands tightly clenched into fists, from the pain or his newfound hatred for her, it was hard to say.
"If you're already bored of Raylan, I can hardly say I'm surprised...you Davenports are greedy folk, and it'll be your undoing. Now run along." Mags dismissed.
A cold feeling was swelling in Melanie's core, as she backed out of the room. Drudging down the hall, back to where she'd last seen Raylan, Melanie's mind was dominated by a numbness that could only be classified as disbelief.
During the car-ride home, Raylan repeatedly attempted to speak to Melanie to no avail. Each time, his voice shattered her mental warding like a siren, but Melanie continued to ignore him. Eventually, she found her voice and when she did, she didn't direct it at Raylan. "Ma'am?" she began, addressing Helen. Helen gazed in the rearview mirror. "Do you know what kind of business trip my parents went on?" she asked.
"...Even if I did, I wouldn't be in a position to say..." Helen answered truthfully. "What brought this on hun?"
"Mags bad-talking the Davenports?" Arlo guessed with a backward glance. Melanie nodded sullenly. "Fuckin' bitch." he cursed, in an aggiated tone.
"What Arlo means to say is, don't take it to heart Mel..." Helen explained. It was then that Raylan reached out a condoling hand, and Melanie shifted in her seat, presenting her back to him. Helen pretended she hadn't seen the crestfallen look on Raylan's face.
Eyeing the icepack, mulched between his hands, Raylan sighed in exaspharetion. "Mel..keep ignorin' a fella like this, you might make him start to worry he's crossed over the mortal plain..." he baited. Melanie remained stationary. "Alright..you've left me no choice..." Raylan murmured. He reached as far as his seatbelt allowed and pressed his icepack against her exposed neck.
"Christ Raylan!" Melanie gasped, squirming.
"Oh so you do still know how to talk. Thought maybe you'd been shocked into silence."
"Argh don't be so dramatic."
"Me? You're the one being dramatic...actin' like the world's endin' all because I broke Dickie's leg." Raylan scowled. "Fucker tried to stomp my face in, he got what he deserved..."
"That mighta not happened if you hadn't kissed me! Now, thanks to you, Mrs. Bennett has forbid us from bein' together...So I have the right to be a little standoffish Raylan." Melanie rambled.
Silence filled the car for a full minute, during which Melanie returned her gaze outside, and Raylan shifted his focus onto the icepack again. Finally, he spoke. "Dickie didn't deserve you anyway.." Raylan glanced up at Melanie just as she fixed him with a glower. "He didn't.." Raylan insisted.
"You know what I deserve do you?" Melanie growled. "Let's get somethin' straight – after all this, I'd sooner date Boyd Crowder than you."
"You hate Boyd."
"I don't hate him, Ava does! I happen to like Boyd."
Several seconds of dead air passed. "...You like Boyd?" Raylan repeated.
In a bout of annoyance, Melanie briefly closed her eyes. "...I didn't mean it like that." she rebuttled.
"You sure? You're lookin' a lil rosy around the edges." Raylan challenged, thumbing around his own cheeks. Melanie responded by rolling her eyes and slinking into her seat. "That the lay of the land then? Ava likes me, I like you, you like Boyd and Boyd likes Ava...that what I'm supposed to believe?"
Melanie shrugged. "Believe whatever you want Raylan...could be this whole conversation was an illusion you dreamed up on account of your concussion." she said.
More silence. Then Raylan smirked. "...You like Boyd..."
"Shut up Raylan." Melanie scowled.
"You know I gotta tell 'im..."
"What?"
"What concern of it is yours?" Raylan mocked.
"Big, a big concern Raylan, it ain't true!" Melanie moaned.
"Then you shouldn't have a problem denyin' it!" Raylan jeered.
Melanie stared at Raylan's smug face with an angry quiver on her lips. "...I'm never speaking to you again Raylan Givens..." she declared.
Ava's cheery face contorted into a sneer. "See that Mel? We ain't been playin' horseshoes for 10 minutes before Boyd Crowder come around to pester me..."
Melanie had noticed Boyd approaching before Ava spoke, and oddly enough Boyd's attention had been directed right back at her. However Melanie had immediately broken eyecontact in an effort to subdue the spark of joy threatening to ignite. Her crush was a mystery even to herself, one Mel had no interest in solving.
"Actually Ava, I'm here to speak to Mel..." Boyd announced.
Ava made a noise of disbelief. "You're here to speak to Mel.." she echoed.
Boyd nodded. "Privately, if you don't mind..." he added.
Ava darted her eyes onto Melanie who had busied herself with throwing her horseshoe. "Fine, talk to Mel. I'm gonna go check the television..." Ava decided. As she walked away, Ava cast a backward glance over her shoulder, and had Melanie or Boyd been paying attention, either one of them might've suspected Ava looked disappointed.
Melanie retrieved her horseshoe with a sideways glance at Boyd. "You here because of Raylan?" she guessed.
"I am." Boyd confirmed.
"Then you should know he's a fuckin' liar.." Melanie said firmly.
Boyd's face clouded in confusion. "...You haven't been givin' Raylan the silent treatment?" he asked in his usual casual fashion.
"...Well..yes.." Melanie admitted.
"Then..what were you talkin' 'bout?" Boyd pressed.
Melanie's face grew warm and a hasty smile sprang to her lips. "Um nothin'. Nevermind...why's Raylan sendin' you to fight his battles? Doesn't seem like 'im..." she responded.
"He didn't send me, I came myself. Hoped I might talk some sense into you.."
"Look, your best friend cost me my boyfriend. I can be mad at him as long as I damn well please."
"If Dickie still wanted to be your boyfriend, he'd be your boyfriend." Boyd told her. "Mama's boy or not - and we all know them Bennett boys are - Dickie's old enough to make his own decisions. You're a smart girl Mel, deep down you know that's the truth of the matter is he didn't like you as much as you thought."
Pursuing her lips, Melanie tried in vain to keep her tone even. "Thank you for the compliment Boyd, but don't stand there tellin' me how I think. If you're done givin' me your two cents, Ava's waitin' inside for you to fawn over her." she curtly replied.
Boyd cocked his head a bit. "Not jealous I like Ava are you?"
A dry, nervous laugh rumbled from Melanie's throat. "Here I thought you were done talkin' nonsense..."
"Hm." Boyd murmured, retrieving something from the inside of his jacket. "This book a pack of lies then?" he asked, holding up a leatherbound journal.
Melanie's mouth gaped open, her eyes wide and lifeless, as if she'd suddenly been struck dumb. "That's...mine..." she stammered. Then just as suddenly, anger, panic and terror overwhelmed Melanie. "Where did you get that?!" she cried, trying to lunge for her journal. Boyd, who was taller than her, held it just out of her grasp, studying her face. "Boyd goddamnit, give it to me!" she persisted as he lowered her journal from the air to behind his back.
"I believe I asked you a question." Boyd reminded her, barring her attempts at side-stepping.
The close proximity to Boyd flustered Melanie in more ways than one and she was sorely tempted to kick him in the shin. "...No okay? Nothing in that journal 'cept my honest thoughts about people." she softly said, keeping her dishelved gaze free of Boyd. "And fuck you for readin' it." she added haughtily.
"I had to. Your name wasn't written anywhere on it." Boyd pointed out, as he offered it to her. "..'sides, your handwritting ain't that dainty." he continued, as Melanie dejectedly accepted it. "A thank you seems in order." Melanie leered up at him, but Boyd remained unphased. "What if it hadn't been me who found it? What if it'd been someone who hoped to exploit it? Blackmail you even...I mean," Boyd stepped a little closer. "Does Ava know you're the reason Raylan doesn't pay her any mind?" he asked quietly.
"Of course not."
"So all things considered, it's forunate I was the one to discover your journal now isn't it?"
A parallel knot was twisting itself uncomfortably between Melanie's heart and stomach. "...Thank you..Boyd.." she begrudging replied.
"You're welcome Melanie. Now if you'll allow me to put in my final two cents, I'll be on my way. One," Boyd held up a finger for effect. "You spent far more time in that journal of yours, talkin' 'bout how you miss hangin' with Raylan than makin' out with Dickie."
"...And the second thing?" Melanie asked shortly.
"I would love to dance with you at the ho-down..." Boyd answered with a small smile, stepping past her.
His words left Melanie rooted to the spot. Meanwhile, Boyd journeyed to his father's car, waiting on the street. The minute the car door closed behind him, Bo berated his son. "You were supposed to return the damnable journal, not stand around playin' grab ass."
"Sorry father." Boyd said simply, his smile unaffected by Bo's irriated tone.