A/N: Happy new year, guys! Here's chapter 2 :)
Closer
You hear the knock, will you open the door?
You try and fight, but it's hard to ignore
Peyton turned the golden knob, opening the door that lead to the rather dirty bathroom of this cheap apartment they lived in. She sighed heavily, revolving the key; locking the door, before stepping out of her clothes, needing to feel hot water against her cold body.
She walked towards the shower to turn it on, before taking a glance of herself in the mirror and tried to stop herself from quivering, struggling to keep the tears at bay too. The sight of herself made her want to vomit her guts out until she puked blood, something which made Peyton laugh in distaste as she slowly let her eyes trail from her pale, unattractive face to her boney shoulders, collarbones that looked like they could poke a balloon and her skinny, bruised, horrendous body that is a testament to her suffering, just like her eyes.
She ran a hand through her tangled blonde locks, unable to stop herself from grasping it tightly and look herself in the eyes from the mirror, quietly saying things to herself that would make any bystander that would hear them look at her in pity.
She was told she was pretty by many guys, girls even, but Peyton knew it was lies. She wasn't pretty, really, they all just wanted to get in her bed for a good fuck, and after years of trying to keep her dignity, she just finally let go of it one day and just stopped caring.
Most of the compliments came after sleeping with some guy, telling her that she had a pretty good body and gave them some good fuck, and she'd pretend for some time that she appreciates it, but she would run to the bathroom after they leave, scrubbing their touches off her skin and vomiting their kisses away. That was just the way for her. She'd regret it, but then she'd do it again. It never changed.
Peyton shook her thoughts away before stepping inside the running shower, wishing that it could wash away all her problems, the same way it washes away her tears, hiding it from the world.
'Took you long enough,' Rachel muttered, handing Peyton her cell phone. The red head switched on the television, before glancing at the blonde who immediately took up another phone number and started dialing, making her sigh.
'Peyt, we've been calling Scotts for two days and we still have no luck finding Haley's husband, what makes you so sure she's even married to a Scott? What if she was visiting a Sco-'
'Back to you, Philip!'
'Rachel, there's nothing wrong if I try, right?' Peyton shook her head before ending the call, hair on her skin rising after hearing a creepy voice on the line. Definitely not Haley's husband.
'Bobcats' point guard, Nathan Scott seen walking with his family late last night, on their way to the supermarket. Store owner says they went to get ice cream and then left, but wife Haley James-Scott was caught sneaking her way in Tim Hortons' and bought Scott's favorite desert and surprised him! Lucky guy, I tell you. Meanwhile, back to Charles from some good ol' weather report.'
'Oh, I think we just found our guy,' Rachel smirked, watching Peyton's reaction carefully. The blonde seemed to be in a state of shock, seeing her cousin after years and it was funny how it had to be through an ugly piece of a cheap ass television. 'And to think, I told you it could've been one of them.'
Peyton wasted no time as she immediately pulled on her black leather jacket on and grabbed her aviators from the bed, looking at Rachel incredulously. 'Well, what are you waiting for, Gatina? The TV's not going to find their address for us!'
'Thought so,' Rachel laughed, grabbing her keys, following Peyton out the door.
'I can't believe they have to put that in the news!' Haley laughed, embarrassment flooding her whole body.
'Thank God you two weren't smooching down the block,' Lucas grinned, dodging the throw pillow that was chucked at him by Nathan.
'You're the same with Brooke,' Nathan scoffed, rolling his eyes. Sometimes, it seemed that Lucas was the younger one due to his imbecile actions, something which made Nathan groan in frustration. People also said he looked younger, well, he'll wait 'till the day Lucas gets a child and they'll all see who looks younger. That won't be for a very long time though, Nathan thought.
'But we like to keep it low,' Lucas smirked, leaning his head back on the white couch. 'Y'know, we rarely even go out.'
'And that is definitely not healthy for a relationship,' Nathan muttered, making Lucas glare at him. 'Dude, I get that you both are busy but you guys have to… never mind, it's none of my business.'
Lucas nodded, but he knew that his brother was right. Not that he was going to admit that though.
'Nate's right, Luke,' Haley smiled at him apologetically. They all knew he hated talking about how his relationship's going after his small depression because of his ex-fiancée's abrupt departure, without a word as to where she was going or if she's even going to return, but Lucas had lost hope after two years of looking for her, and waiting for her to come back.
'I know he is,' Lucas confessed, rolling his eyes when he saw Nathan smirking. 'It's just… Maybe I'm not ready to go out there yet and tell the world I'm in love, okay?'
'You love Brooke already?' Her eyes widened, startled by Lucas' confession.
'No!' Lucas took it back immediately, making Haley sigh in relief. 'I didn't mean to say love.'
'Yeah right,' Nathan laughed, earning a smack on his shoulder by Haley. 'Hey, I'm just saying that Lucas isn't the type of guy to use the wrong vocabulary.'
Lucas glared at his brother exasperatingly. 'People make mistakes, Nate.'
Haley thought about what Lucas said for a split second and couldn't help but think about her cousin, wondering where she was now and whether she was still trying to contact her. People do make mistakes, but it was one thing to make a couple of mistakes but another to keep doing the same thing over and over again. She silently pondered whether she was still the same badass rebel they all used to know, or if she's truly changed, albeit, something tells Haley that she was thinking of something that was just never going to happen.
She inwardly slapped herself, throwing away all her thoughts about Peyton.
'Yeah, I get that,' Nathan mumbled quietly. 'And they rarely ever get forgiven.'
'What?' Lucas narrowed his eyes at Nathan.
'Nothing, man,' Nathan shook his head, laughing.
Haley felt her stomach clench tightly at what Nathan said.
'And they rarely ever get forgiven.'
Haley wanted to literally slap herself right now, wondering why she was suddenly feeling guilty for not wanting to meet up with her long lost cousin. She knows it's not her fault, and Peyton was the one to blame, I mean, who the hell disappears after years and calls her expecting some kind of recognition for finally resurfacing on the face of the planet? Funny, Haley thought, but she wasn't going to get any of that from her.
Haley remembers hearing the news that Peyton had ran away from her grandmother's house for the umpteenth time, and at first, they all knew that the teen would come back, but Haley knew otherwise. Peyton had appeared on her doorstep the day before and acted as if everything was fine, they laughed their hearts out, just watching movies and Haley remembers trying to tell her cousin that if she needed anyone, she could go to her, like always, but something told Haley in the back of her mind that it was too late. The next day, Peyton disappears and after telling her relatives to just tell the police, they ignore her pleas and lecture her about how it's not good publicity for their family name. To hell with their last name! It doesn't matter, but apparently, it did to all of them, all of them but Peyton and her.
She's tried finding Peyton, even contemplated telling the police, but after years of trying to locate her missing cousin, she's lost hope and all the worries disappear, getting replaced by pure anger. How dare she disappear without telling Haley? Why? After all they've been through, all the promises they made about how they're going to show to their relatives that they didn't need their money, all the problems, tears and laughs they shared, was it all just nothing to Peyton? Maybe it was.
During her freshmen year, she got a call from her mother, telling her that they've found Peyton's body, informing her that she was dead, but Haley knew it was all a publicity stunt. She goes to the faux funeral when most of the guests have left and only her relatives remained and breaks down, telling them that all their tears were wasted crying for someone who wasn't really dead. Her grandmother had tried to tell her to stop, but she had bravely opened the casket to reveal no one inside. That was the end for Haley and her relatives. Since then, she has told them not to ever call her again or think of her as a family member.
It was before her graduation that she visits Peyton's 'grave' and leaves a letter, knowing that if Peyton does come back, she would find out about her fake tombstone and look for it, and she'd see a simple letter, and it would be a reminder of Haley, and an end to their relationship; a proof that Haley's finally bottled all their memories and everything they've been through and threw it across the sea, somewhere where nobody can find it, and for a long time, it would float, but like Haley's small hope that she would return, it will eventually get lost.
