A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I really think it's what keeps us writers well...writing :p. Again, sorry that I always take it down and up again for the people who have my story on alert but I've finally discovered how to just replace it so it won't happen anymore. Cross my heart lol. Anyway, enjoy!
Dressed in merely a towel, Haley opens the door and sees Chris, who immediately walks to the kitchen without giving her a second glance. Her jaw almost drops. Did Chris Keller just pass her by while she was practically naked? Where were the sexual innuendos? Has he become gay? Or a woman?
"Nathan," he begins while plumping himself down. "I need advice."
Huh? Since when is Nathan Chris' confidant?
"Please don't tell m-"
"No, no, it's something else."
"Wh-."
Chris briefly hits Nathan's arm and turns his head to Haley, who's staring sheepishly at the scene.
"What's going on here?" she asks. The girl was in complete confusion; didn't these two hate each other?
"We're trying to have a serious man-to-man- conversation here. Make us some coffee and cookies. And give me the towel."
Immediately, Nathan punches Chris.
"Honey…What Chris meant to ask you," he then quickly adresses his wife when he sees the anger in her eyes "is if he could talk to me in private. It'll only be minute, I promise."
"OK," she reluctantly gives in; she has to put on some real clothes anyway.
"'Honey'? ' I promise'? I didn't know marriage involved castration."
"Well, if I talked to her like you did, we'd be divorced in no time, you pervert" Nathan snapped back. "Just tell me what's up so we can get this over and done with.
Chris stares down at his fingers thoughtful.
"You know that problem I told you about last week?"
"I try not to think about it. But," he admitted while rolling his eyes "Yes."
"I found a girl who ummmm... fixed it."
"Well, that's good, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm angry with her."
"Why? I'd be happy if I were you. That was a big problem. Like HU-"
"I know!" Chris sniped. "Anyway, she kissed someone else."
"Are you guys exclusive?"
"What? No! Djeezes, Nathan, I came here for help, not a heart-attack."
"Alright, alright...Well, do you miss her? When she's not around?"
"Yeah," he admitted with a troubled sigh "Now, how do I get rid off that feeling?"
"You can't. It's called being in love you dumbass."
"No," he firmly said.
"How do you mean 'no'?"
"Because Chris Keller doesn't fall in love."
"Stop addressing yourself in the third person," he ordered. "And everyone falls in love. You'll just have to live with it."
"Why are you trying to scare me?"
"I'm not trying to scare you, Chris," Nathan said while rolling his eyes "I'm just saying there's nothing you can do about a crush. So... who's the girl?"
"Peyton." A voice at the door opening gasped out.
"What?!? No!"
"Yes, it is," Haley persisted "I was wondering why you left the stage yesterday. But it's because you saw her and Lucas kissing! You looked so sad, awww that's so cute…You've got a crush on Peyton. You want Peyton. You'll love her forever and ever and e-"
"Stop saying that!"
"Yeah, stop saying that," Nathan backed him up. "You're creeping me out."
"Sorry…" she laughed as she joined them "I just thought I'd never live to see Chris Keller fall in love. This is like the end of an era."
"It's Peyton?" Nathan again asks to be sure.
"Yeah…"
"So she probably kept sleeping with you behind or backs, right?"
"What can I say…" he shortly shrugs "I'm irresistible."
"Oh djeez…" Nathan sighs. "Does Luke now?"
"I think they fought because of it. But we weren't talking about him here. This is about me and I feel horrible!" Chris sighed while bowing his head. "I can't stop thinking about her. I need a cure…"
"Damn right I'll cure you!" Nathan said. "She's in love with Lucas, my brother, and he's in love with her. They've been pining over each other for ages and you'll never live up t-"
"Don't be so mean…" she lays her arm caring around Chris' shoulder. "Can't you see he's got it bad? Do you want some coffee now, Chris?"
"Yes," he accepts her offer in a pathetic-sounding voice. Haley stands up and disappears to the coffee machine.
"Cookies too?"
"Shouldn't you support your best friend instead of him?" Nathan asks a bit annoyed.
"But he looks so sad!" she insists. "Besides, I know how it feels; when I fell in love with you, I was upset too."
"Haley!" Nathan almost squeals. "The only reason he's sad is because he can't screw a new girl every day like before he had this...this thing for Peyton."
"Hey..." Chris weakly protests. "Not every day."
"I'm just saying… What comes around goes around. It's called karma and in your case, it's a bitch."
Nervously, I walk into Tric. I couldn't sleep yesterday. My fight with Peyton kept spooking through my mind until I couldn't understand why I had gotten so angry at her. And jealous. She and Chris were over and everything she did or said told me how much she loved me, not him. If she says he was just comfort, why shouldn't I believe her? After all that we've been through, we can now finally have it. Us. I shouldn't let it be taken away by someone like Chris Keller.
Speaking of the devil…there he is, playing his guitar by the stairs. I maturely chose to ignore him and lean on the bar with my elbows. Outside of us, there's nobody here, even not Peyton. I feel Chris' eyes burning a hole in my back and turn around to face him but he keeps his gaze fixed on me. Provoking. Instinctively, I walk over to him; he stands up and puts his guitar down. For a moment, we just stand there, shooting fire at each other.
"Your red shirt goes well with your eyes." It just leaves my mouth, as if I have no control over myself. I really, intensely, hate this guy.
"Thanks. It went well with Peyton's too.''
Asshole.
"She wore it after the second time we did it, and the seventh, and the twentieth and…well, I could go on until a hundred-something."
As if in an outer body experience, I see my fist flying into his face. Shaking the pain off my hand, I see a spurt of blood runs off the corner of his mouth. His fingers color red when he touches it. When he realizes what has just happened, he jumps from the floor and attacks me; we both fall on the ground.
"It scares you, doesn't it?" he says as we battle for the upper hand. "Her confusion?"
"Shut up!"
Just when my fist is about to fall into his face again, he rolls away. Damn… he's lean and quick. Compensate that with my strength and you understand why neither of us is able to win this fight. A few minutes later, I feel my arms weaken and his movements slackening. Finally, we break apart and fall down on the floor. Even though heavily breathing, we manage to shuffle away from each other. In a couple of hours, my face will look like a blowfish.
"I first saw her when I was about seven," I say after a while. "First grade of elementary school. Three rows in front of me. Everybody who sat behind her couldn't see the blackboard because of her hair; it was in a ponytail."
"Why are you telling me this?" he asks and turns his head my way.
"I was immediately in love. It took nine years before we first kissed."
"So?"
"I'm just asking you to leave her alone."
"You know what; I'm sick and tired of being the bad guy here. You've only got yourself to blame for this."
"What?"
"After every day she spent together with you and that dumbass-brunette, she came to me for comfort. I just gave her what she wanted. Over... and over ...and over again."
"You're the devil."
"At least I don't pretend to be something I'm not." He gets up and walks to the back. "I'm going to get ice."
The wise face of Oprah. That will be my company for the coming day. Except for tonight. It's Theresa's birthday bash and she's my friend so I have to go, right? Anyway, after I spent the whole night crying -with a brief sleep break- I decided to swear off love. After what Lucas did to me...Leave me there on the streets. How could he? I gave him my heart and he stepped on it. Again.
Oprah's speech about constant weight loss is soon interrupted by a stumbling in my kitchen. Cautiously, I take the poker and step slowly around the corner. Suddenly a figure appears in front of me; my heart almost jumps out of my chest.
"Peyt...I'm sorry about last night," Lucas began "I shouldn't have treated you like that."
"You scared me to death!"
A short silence follows.
"I'm sorry..." he then softly says.
"I'm sorry too. Yesterday should've never happened. None of it."
His deep-blue eyes drop and gaze at me with so much sadness, that I feel the urge to wrap my arms around him. Just kiss and make up. But I don't. I know I'm being cold but I want to make him feel like I did last night. Hurt. Bitchy? Yes, maybe but it's just that...he knows I love him so much and I begged him not to leave me yet he simply didn't care. His pride was more important. More important than me.
"I love you, Peyt..."
I try to give him my very best death-glare but it's hard.
"You're lying. You wouldn't have left me if you did."
He sighs. "Are you going to Theresa's party tonight?"
"I don't know." What does this matter? I really don't see the relevance of this question. Does he expect I have forgiven him by then?
"I won't leave it like this. I'll fight for you. For us and we'll get through this."
When he steps closer, I turn my head away. "Don't..." I softly order, suppressing a tear.
Then he turns around visibly agonized and walks to the door. Before he steps through, he glances over his shoulder.
"You're my world. My everything. Don't ever think that I don't love you. "
I melt and when he has left my porch, I realize that by tonight, I will have forgiven him. This revenge I'm seeking...it's not worth to lose him over. He's my world too. My everything.
I'm in the corner of the big beach house Theresa has rented for her party. Since it's a beach house, it's logically by the sea, near the sea-dyke. Unfortunately, the amazing view is waisted at this bunch of drunken teenagers. There's a lot of hard liquor here. For the moment, I'm waiting for Peyton but I don't know if she'll come. It's like two steps forward, one back with us. Why can't we ever just be happy, without third parties?
My heart takes a little jump when she walks in. A feather-light, red summer dress dances around her sun-kissed body, pronouncing her curves; she looks even more gorgeous than usual. She doesn't immediately see me and walks into another room. Just as I'm about to follow her, a thoroughly plastered Brooke stumbles my way.
"You know, Lucas," she begins with an awful breath "you're so hot. I don't know why I broke up with you." I sigh and try to get her to stand up straight but I'm failing horribly. Finally, I succeed but then, before I realize it, she's eating my lips. I try to get away but she clutches onto my head. She's like a piston, sucking all the air out of me. When I manage to screw her face off mine, I quickly look around the room to see if Peyton's hasn't 'beheld' this. Luckily, she's nowhere to be seen.
I quickly run outside to escape the crowd, the image. My heart is shattered. Once again. By him. Was this why he wanted me to come? To watch him kiss Brooke? Like some kind of... sick payback for what I did with Chris? Hanging over the barricade of the dyke, I watch the sea. It's sort of like me. Dark and intense.
"Hi."
I recognize the voice.
"What are you doing here, Chris?"
"I was just...walking."
I turn my head his way. My eyes begin to water when I'm pulled back into the real world. I could pour my heart out but I'm not going to bother him with my problems now; he doesn't seem very happy either. While suppressing a sob, I smash my mouth into his. Strangely enough, I don't feel him responding the kiss; I hope he doesn't notice I'm holding back from crying into his mouth. When I lower my lips to kiss his neck, he grabs my arms and pulls me away.
"Peyton..." he says while I gaze at him confused. "You have to know something... You were right; I'm in love with you." Briefly I hesitate if I should go through with this, if this is fair towards him but I need something to dull my pain.
"I don't care...Just make me feel good." I pull his lips back against mine and kiss him greedily. Not long after, I feel he's giving in but almost with sadness; he must realize I'm using him to ease my hurt. Maybe I'm a bad person for that, heartless, but I need him now. I need something to get my mind of Lucas. "We're going home," I say and tug his clothes; he follows me to my car.
I found her. By the sea-wall. With him. I can't take this anymore; it's killing me inside. Maybe I should just let her go.