Feel This
A/N: Hey, guys. I know it's been forever but there have been a lot of issues the past year including my own coming out and the problems surrounding that. I hope you enjoy this installment and as always, leave a review! I've intentionally changed the names and attitudes to fit the needs of my universe. Michael is loosely based upon my stepfather who is an ordained minister…
Disclaimer: I own nothing that is seen in the show.
Recap: Brooke and Haley went up against several cheerleaders from the Raven's squad and won. In the interest of her squad and her girl, Brooke drops the trouble makers and holds open auditions for new replacements.
The next couple of days passed in a blur of hurtful words and comforting supports. Most of the school seemed to be indifferent but there were a handful (case in point, the cheerleaders from Monday) that seemed to have an issue with the girls; even without knowing them or their story. Brooke and Haley, however, did not really care. They had each other and their friends and that was all that really mattered.
Hurtful words aside, Brooke was ready to start with her tryouts. She gathered the remaining girls on her squad and the 16 new hopefuls in the gym. All of them looked nervous in their work out clothes, something that Brooke and Peyton picked up on right away. Haley sat in the bleachers to watch, homework out and ready to compete while the tedious process wore on. After all, she had things to do when this whole thing was over with.
"Ok, here's the deal. I'm in need of six new girls for my squad. For those of you who don't know, I forcibly ejected a group from my squad on Monday. This means that there are several things that you must be aware of if you wish to make it onto the squad. Number one, if you have an issue with the fact that I have a girlfriend, you should leave right now," the brunette co-captain stated. Several girls looked around uneasily before hurriedly grabbing their bags and leaving the gym. Peyton smirked.
"Number two, there's a zero tolerance for bullying on this squad. If we find out about such an incidence, you're gone with no questions asked," the blonde stated. One girl with familiarly red hair sneered.
"Who died and made you the boss of us?" she asked. Peyton's eye twitched and she scanned the roster in front of her before sighing.
"Ally Idol?" she asked causing Brooke and Haley to look up. The other girl nodded with a questioning look on her face. Several of the girls who had been on the squad took a few steps back.
"Out," Brooke said, pointing to the door. The redhead scowled before picking up her bag and leaving. There were only 9 potentials remaining. Brooke sighed; this was going to be a long day.
A few hours passed, ending up Brooke barely restraining herself from hitting her head on the table. Peyton looked as though she was feeling the same way while Haley was stifling a yawn, having finished her homework an hour ago. She took out her phone to check the time and got up, stretching as she went. Brooke happened to be watching her at the time and stared hungrily at her girl as the tiny shirt rode up, revealing a strip of skin. Peyton rolled her eyes and slapped the other girl on the back of the head.
"Brooke! Pay attention. You've dropped 4 of the girls and we still need one more to be able to pull off our routine," the blonde scolded. Her brunette counterpart sighed and mumbled something under her breath. A few moments passed before her eyes lit up and she turned to the light haired girl standing in the bleachers. Said girl stared at her girlfriend with a look of trepidation. She knew that look. It usually meant trouble…
"Oh Tutor Girl!" the taller girl sing-songed. Haley began to gulp and walked forward slightly. The new girls on the squad laughed lightly at the sight. Brooke waited impatiently for the other girl to get down the stairs. Haley stopped in front of her and sighed before raising a brow.
"Please oh please be on the squad!" the older girl said, getting down on her knees and grabbing hold of the other girl. Haley blushed bright red and looked at Peyton with a panicky look. The blonde haired girl pouted at her before joining her co-captain on the ground, begging the shorter girl to help them out.
"Ok! I'll help you, just get off the floor or I swear to God Brooke I will not make you food tonight!" Haley threatened, pointing a finger at the darker haired girl. Brooke gasped.
"Does that mean no Magic Shell?" she cried out in fake horror. Haley winked at a gob smacked Peyton.
"I make an amazing sundae Peyton. Mind…Out of gutter," she laughed as she pulled the two girls up off the floor. Brooke grabbed the other girl into a hug.
"Brooke! Haley needs air!" she gasped out. Brooke blushed and let the other girl go. Hearing laughter, she turned to the other girls in the gym with a teasing smile.
"Ok guys, welcome to the Ravens squad. Practices are every day after school until 5. If you need a ride, get up with someone and let them know. Thanks, you can leave now," she said with a dimple filled smile. The girls shyly waved and retreated from the gym, giddy from making the squad. Haley stared at Brooke for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.
"I gotta go let Carlin and Aiden out of the back yard and into the house. See you later darling," she said, kissing the girl on the cheek before heading out of the gym to drive home. Brooke watched her leave, a gentle smile playing about her lips. Peyton rolled her eyes and smacked the girl on the back of the head.
"Come on Romeo, we have things to do," she said, dragging the other girl out of the room by an arm, a smile on both of their faces.
A few moments after leaving the high school, Haley James arrived home to an interesting site. There was a bright green RV in her driveway. That could only mean one thing, and the implication caused a lump to form in the studious girl's throat. Her parents couldn't be home…they weren't due back for several more months! And yet, there they sat in the driveway. She shuddered and took a deep breath. She could do this. The teen walked into the house.
"Hello?" she called into the usually empty house. She heard them moments before being attacked by two flying furrballs. She giggled as the two puppies licked her cheek in greeting. Hearing a throat clearing in front of her, she looked up to see her parents, Michael and Allison, standing in front of her wearing the look of disappointment that seemed to be reserved especially for her. Michael towered over his small daughter at 6'2'' and had dark brown hair and dull brown eyes. Allison was around 5'6'' with inky black hair and gray eyes. Haley gulped and stood up with one dog under each arm.
"Let me just put them upstairs," she mumbled before running up the stairs to her room .She opened the door to the overly large kennel in one corner and let the two settle in on top of each other. Leaning against the door, she pulled out her phone and texted Brooke.
Change of plans. Rain check ? She sent before sticking her phone back in her pocket. She felt it vibrate a few seconds later.
Wats wrong baby? Haley read. Taking a deep breath, she turned her phone off and stuck it back in her pocket before going down stairs. She noticed her parents sitting side-by-side on the couch facing the empty chair in the room. The light brunette took a seat hesitantly and resisted the urge to swing her legs.
"So what have you been up to Haley?" her mother asked, clearly struggling to get the words out of tightly-pressed lips. Haley's eyes flicked left and right of their own accord, trying to find a way out or something to tell her parents.
"Nothing really. Just school, work, tutoring. You know…the usual," she finally muttered, looking into her mother's eyes. She saw her mother's lips twist into a smile before a slight shake of the head and a touch from her husband changed that.
"Now why don't you tell us what you've really been up to? Where did you get those filthy mongrels?" her father said. Michael was normally a very calm man but the information that he knew of went against everything that he had been taught growing up. He watched as his daughter tried to calm herself down and a wave of doubt began to work through him before the image of his daughter living in sin entered his mind.
"Wh-wh-what do you m-m-mean?" Haley stuttered, tapping her hands nervously on her legs. She had a feeling what her father meant and it had to do with a certain hazel-eyed brunette cheerleader with a bright smile and a sunny disposition. Looking into her father's eyes confirmed what she had believed. She saw contempt and a twisted sense of self-righteousness. Haley drew in a deep breath and steeled herself. She knew what she had to do…
"Mom, dad, I'm dating the most wonderful girl in the world. Her name is Brooke Davis and she's the captain of the cheerleading squad at school. She bought me Carlin and Aiden for my birthday," she told them without a hint of her earlier stutter.
While Haley was confronting her parents, a very confused Brooke was finishing her homework at Peyton's house. Her girlfriend had never responded after her last text, indicating that there was an issue at the James abode. While Haley may not text during school, she always responded to any text message promptly unless she was in the shower. However, it was too early in the day for that to be the case, seeing as it was around 6. She turned to the blonde haired artist and bit her lip.
"I think I need to go to Haley's."
"Why? Because she hasn't texted you back?
"No. I think something is wrong and I want to reassure myself." The blonde sighed and shut her laptop down. The two walked out of the room and got into Brooke's car. The brunette girl played with the ends of her hair while periodically (Read: Obsessively) checking her phone for messages from Haley. Peyton rolled her eyes at her friend's behavior, though she was secretly just as worried. This worry doubled as she pulled up to the James' house to see the bright green RV in the driveway. The two exchanged a worried look.
"Are you sure you want to go in?" the blonde asked her brunette counterpoint. Said brunette nodded and got out of the car, gently shutting the door. She told Peyton that she would text her as she went along about what was going on. Brooke proceeded around to the back of the yard and scaled the fence with moderate difficulty. She snuck around and opened the unlocked sliding glass door. She made a mental note to tell Haley to keep it locked from now on. She crept inside the darkened kitchen and heard voices coming from the living room. She took a single step and peeked.
Following Haley's announcement, Michael sat up rigidly in his seat and her mother wrung her hands. Haley watched these movements and felt very nervous about the outcome. She knew that both her parents had grown up in very conservative families and that there was a high probability that this would not turn out well for her.
"What about that Nathan boy? Dan's son," her mother asked her. Haley shook her head and informed her mother that the blue eyed boy was a friend only and very much interested in someone else. A smile threatened to overcome her face as she remembered Nathan's embarrassing attempts to flirt with Rachel one night.
"Haley, you know that I do not approve of such behaviors," her father said, his eyes softening as he gazed at his youngest daughter. Out of seven children, only one had strayed from His path in such a manner.
"I want you to dump this Brooke girl and start seeing a therapist. She's obviously a bad influence on you," Michael told her. He watched Haley's eyes widen and her face turn a bright red color. He noticed anger welling up in her eyes at the same moment a brunette girl clad in shorts and a tank top appeared from the kitchen, anger bubbling in her eyes.
Haley saw the questioning look in her parent's eyes and turned around to see her girlfriend standing in the doorway. She was not really surprised; Brooke was a naturally curious person. She stood up and walked over to her girlfriend, the rage barely contained in her small body. She grabbed the brunette's hand and turned to her parents.
"How dare you? How dare you come in here after being gone for months, missing Christmas, Thanksgiving, and my birthday and tell me that? Brooke has been there to support me, to love me, to help me out when I felt like I could not go to others; first as a friend and later as my girlfriend. You tell me she's the bad influence in my life? Do you see me drinking? Smoking? Doing drugs? I have no bad influences in my life except for you and your Bible thumping ways," she seethed, her voice low and steady. She internally winced; she had never been good at angry diatribes.
Brooke smiled at her girlfriend gently, trying to hide her anger to support the shorter girl. She squeezed the hand holding hers and watched their eyes widen slightly; the father's in shock and the mother's in support. The black haired woman grabbed her husband's arm and turned to him.
"Michael, let's go. We did what we needed to do and you've said your piece. If this is what she wants then let her have it. Come, we have the world to see and Michael Jr. is expecting us in a few days," she told him firmly. He turned to look at her, his eyes blazing. She stared him down and he finally conceded.
"Fine, live your sinful life Haley," was the last thing he said to her as her parents pulled out of the driveway, Brooke's arms wrapped around the shorter girl's waist. A kiss was laid upon Haley's cheek, producing a smile. Turning to Brooke, the older girl began to get excited. She dragged her girl into the house by her hand.
"I have a surprise for you Brookie," the lighter haired girl said, gently pushing her girl onto the couch as she grabbed her guitar.
"I wrote this for you a few weeks ago and I just finished it last night," Haley said with a shy smile as she absently strummed the instrument. Brooke smiled in encouragement and leaned back against the cushion, gesturing for the other girl to start.
"It's gotta be this one
Don't have to fake it
You know I can take it
What if I told you your tears haven't been ignored
And everything that is taken can be restored
Feel this
Can you feel this
My heart beating out of my chest
Feel this
Can you feel this
Salvation under my breath
It's gotta be just right
Soul and spirit
Chords and lyrics
What if I told you that innocence is yours
And the beauty you have now is brighter than before, before
Feel this
Can you feel this
My heart beating out of my chest
Feel this
Can you feel this
Salvation under my breath
Let go, Let go and believe,
Let go, Let go and believe,
Let go, Let go and believe, Let go
Feel this
Can you feel this
My heart beating out of my chest
Feel this
Can you feel this
Salvation under my breath."
As the last chord filled the house, the two girls shared a smile full of love. They could certainly Feel This.
A/N: The song is property of Bethany Joy Galeotti, who actually sings this song in real life. Hope you enjoyed.