Hi everybody!
Here it is finally the eleventh chapter of "Searching for a heart." I'm so sorry for making you guys wait all this time for a new chapter. Again, thanks to LunaSolTierra for helping with the translation and I hope you guys don't hate me (a lot) after reading this chapter. Remember as well that the fic has only 14 chapters, so there are only three more left.
Thank you all for leaving me those amazing reviews. It really means a lot to me you guys are still reading this story and waiting for the chapters to be translated.
I hope you like it, and don't forget to leave me a review telling me what you think about it.
As always, their thoughts are written in Italic.
The song played on this chapter is "Give into me" sung by Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester in the movie "Country Strong."
Disclaimer: Glee isn't mine. Just the truck.
Capítulo 11: Give into me:
You're gonna take my hand
Whisper the sweetest words
And if you're ever sad
I'll make you laugh
I'll chase the hurt
Come on, come on
Into my arms
Come on, come on
Give into me
As if he was on a cloud, Scott Evans walked slowly toward the table where his brothers were sitting. He still couldn't believe how lucky he had been just a few minutes ago outside that bar. He had not only managed to finally know what the real name of his beloved doctor was, but he also had been able to steal two kisses and a dinner from her.
Scott walked now towards them with a triumphant smile on his lips, while next to him; the veterinarian followed his steps still doubtful about what she had ended up accepting. What really irked Scott was the fact of having to share his dinner with his siblings. He would have liked to have been able to invite her to a restaurant, just the two of them. Or that she would have invited him to her home. But it did not matter, Scott would try to make sure that that night was perfect. Everything depended on his brothers and himself, trying not to be an incorrigible fool.
They arrived at the table, where Dave and Sam got up as true Southern gentlemen to greet the beautiful veterinarian.
"Doctor Harbor, glad to see you here at the Country Bar." Dave said, extending his hand.
"Thank you, David. The name was David, right?" The girl took his hand, gently.
"I prefer Dave." He answered, while Mary Ann snorted at his side. Was she jealous? Perfect! And more she would be!
Dave took the opportunity to introduce her to the others while Scott looked at him wanting to strangle him.
I had to do it!
"Doctor Harbor, meet Sam Evans and Mercedes Jones. I think you remember them. They were at yesterday's visit too."
"Yes, of course." She said, with a smile, as she offered her hand as greeting.
"I am Mary Ann Evans." She said, getting up as well and preventing Dave from introducing her too. "Nice to meet you."
Mary Ann held out her hand with a smile, causing all of them looked at her stunned.
It is her way to disguise jealousy.
Scott thought.
"Good! Now that introductions are over, shall we sit?"
All of them looked at each other. The table had only two booths, each with room for three people.
"Mary Ann, get up and sit with Sam and Mercedes. Let me have your spot." Asked his brother.
"No way." The girl laughed. "I'm already seated, you sit with them."
Scott glanced at his best friend, hoping he would get up and leave him his spot on the table, but Dave had no such plans on his head.
Reluctantly, Scott went to Sam and Mercedes' bench and waited for the doctor to sit down to do it. Now the boy shared the booth with the couple while Dave sat between the two girls. In just a few seconds, Dave McCain had taken the two favors Scott owed him. And Scott hoped he would realize it.
Everyone looked at each other feeling out of place. It was a strange, really weird situation. They had just met Doctor Harbor and Scott had already invited her to sit with them. Had it really been a good idea?
Sam leaned back in his seat uncomfortably. On one side sat his older brother and on the other, completely glued to him, was Mercedes. Even before there had been a space between them. A space that prevent their legs to touching. A space that had died from the moment in which his brother had pushed them to sit with them. Now his hands were free, on the table, where previously they had been together in that space. They had broken the contact the moment Scott had sat next to them and now Sam did not know how to grab it back below the table, without touching her beautiful legs.
Why had she had to put on a skirt? Sam doubted Stacy had convinced her to do so. Could she be jealous? Could Mercedes feel insecure? She didn't have to! He could never look at any girl that was not her. Not anymore.
He did not even remember the last time he had looked at another woman wanting to sleep with her. Not even Anna had been able to make him forget her by trying to make love to him. She could not do it then and she would never be able to do it. He only had eyes for her. Was she perhaps not seeing it clearly? Sam did not know what else to do to make her fall in love with him. He had done anything he could and there was nothing left for him to try. But he would not give up, he knew that someday, she would recognize her true feelings for him. And that day, Sam Evans's heart will burst with love.
More focused, he watched as the waitress approached them to write down their drinks. One by one they ordered, while Scott, beside him, fidgeted uneasily. Leaning to him later, Sam heard him whispering in his ear.
"Let Mercedes sit in the middle. It is not fair that only you can see her beautiful legs."
Sam clenched his fist, trying to calm down, to not lose it and hit his stomach with the elbow. Did he not get tired? Not even in front of his beloved doctor!
He wanted to strangle him, grab him by the collar of his shirt and ask him to stop that nonsense. But he did not do it. His angel had prevented him from doing so again. His guardian angel had grabbed his hand again, resting them both over her bare legs.
Sam turned to her, looking at her smile. That which drove him crazy and made him want to take her out of that bar, to the truck and lift the skirt and bury himself inside her.
Drinks finally arrived, bringing him back to reality. But unfortunately, they had not come alone.
"Oh oh." They heard Scott. "Dave, your ex-wife is approaching us."
"Ex wife?" Asked at once, Sam and Mercedes.
She observed Mary Ann's reaction, while Dave's ex-wife approached the table. Sam's sister grabbed her glass and took a sip, fixing her gaze to the wall of the bar. Apparently, the fact that Dave's ex-wife was going to make an appearance did not matter to her.
"David!" His ex-wife exclaimed, already reaching the table.
"Hello Lindsay." He replied without enthusiasm.
"When people told me you were here, I could not believe it."
"Why?" Scott asked. "Can't Dave have fun like everybody else?"
"Oh, Scott ... You're always "so" adorable. David can speak, you know?" She said, laying her hand on the boy's shoulder while Dave gave her a hateful look.
Mercedes opened her eyes, astonished. She was worse than Mary Ann! Had Dave really been married to that bitch?
"Do you want something, Lindsay?" Dave snapped, hoping his ex-wife left soon that table and their lives forever.
"Me? From you?" The girl burst out laughing, unable to stop. "No, David. I just came to see if what they said was true."
"Good. Now that you've checked. Can you go and let us enjoy the afternoon in peace?"
"Wow, David. Where did that bad mood come from? Your lover?"
"Is she talking about me?" Whispered Dr. Harbor to Scott. This would have being the second time that afternoon she was insulted. What the hell was wrong with the people in that town?
Scott shook his head, smiling briefly and pointed to his sister Mary Ann.
"You know? I thought you would look for something better when I left, but... I see that has not happened. Look at you, David. You have ended up with the village grump. Poor you, no one else noticed you? Did they? Of course not."
"Enough!" Mary Ann screamed, getting up from the bench and scaring Dave completely. "Get out of here now or I'll grab you by the hairs and drag you out of this bar!"
"Wow! The bitter has brought out the anger. What happens? He doesn't fuck you well? Oh, right. No, he does not. That is why I left."
"You did not leave him, you lying bitch. He was the one who left you."
"Mary Ann ..." Dave wanted to get up to calm her, but she pushed him to sit again.
"Lindsay, get out of here. You heard my sister, leave us alone." Scott asked, as politely as possible.
"Of course I will. I don't want to keep hearing a bunch of losers insulting me and calling me a liar. We all know what actually happened."
"Of course we do! You cheated! You made him believe that the child you were expecting was his to make him marry you. If you had not, you know he would have never married you. You were obsessed with him, do you remember? But Dave did not want you. He never did and that eats you. You resent him because you know he's the best man alive and you know you'll never have him. That's why you want to make his life miserable. His and mine. But I am nothing of his, Lindsay. Nothing. Dave deserves better than to share his life with a bitter person like me."
Everyone saw her run out of that table, trying in vain to confine her tears inside. Mary Evans, the strongest woman in town, had just collapsed in front of most of her family.
Dave quickly got up, pushing his ex-wife aside and ran after the woman he loved.
"Get out of here." Scott told the woman that was still at the table where all the laughter had become sad faces. "Be glad I'm a gentleman, Lindsay, because if I wasn't... " He got silent, trying to calm down. Trying to erase from his mind his little sister's tears and his best friend running after her. But it was impossible. The rage had reached him. Rage and fondness for those two who had run away from that table. Without thinking, he grabbed Sam's glass full of water and emptied it in her head, wetting it all.
"Well I guess I'm not, Lindsay. I'm not a gentleman." He said, leaving the empty glass on the table.
The woman had started screaming expletives and insults relentlessly.
"Get out of here!" Scott jumped back, losing patience, causing Sam to grab him by fear of what his brother could do.
"You're a stupid bastard!" Lindsay screamed, looking at him with hatred and hitting him in the shoulder with force.
"I know! You can insult me whenever you want! I'm used to it. But do not ever call my sister bitter again or the next thing I do will be to empty the glass of beer."
"Fuck you, Scott Evans!" She cried, breaking into a run to the exit.
"Do not be vulgar, Lindsay! It is called to make love!" He shouted, raising his voice enough so that everyone in the bar would listen.
And immediately, he fell on the booth. Tired, exhausted. Ducking his head and trying to hide his hands.
Suddenly he felt Sam's hand on his back trying to comfort him. Stroking him and giving him affection as when they were young and a girl rejected him.
How could she have spoiled the evening so much? How?
Everything had been ruined. Now the dinner that the doctor had promised would not to take place. How could she accept to have dinner with someone who had acted that way towards a woman? He had thrown a glass of water at her! What kind of person was he?
One that had suffered the tears of his sister and the sadness and despair of his best friend. He could not help it. He could not remain still. Anger and hatred for Lindsay had won the game, to the point of being like a bastard in front of his beloved doctor. He lamented, thinking of how he had managed to get her accepting that dinner by blackmailing her. And now, even after that blackmail he couldn't have that dinner with her.
"Scott ..." She called him, hoping he discovered his head and looked at her.
She was going to leave. Scott was completely sure she would leave that afternoon. He had screwed it up, he had ruined everything.
Why Lindsay? Why did you have to fuck it all today?
He raised his head slowly and looked at her with his sad blue eyes.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" He whispered.
"Leaving? No! Of course not. I was going to say if you wanted to sit next to me, so Sam and Mercedes can be more comfortable until they return."
Scott thought he was dreaming. Not only she would not leave, but she was offering him a seat beside her on the bench.
"You're not going to leave?" He asked again, thinking that at some point she would wake up and not be sitting in front of him anymore.
"Do you want me to go?" She said, frightened.
"No. I don't." He confessed, his cheeks flushing completely.
The doctor smiled, noticing the blush on his cheeks and moved to one side, standing in front of Sam and Mercedes, who gave her a look of affection. As if they were really thanking her what she was doing for his brother.
"I accepted a dinner and we have not dined yet." She reminded him, watching as he sat beside her.
"True." He answered, still looking at her.
"Are you okay?" Mercedes asked Sam, as she grabbed his hand again.
"I'm worried about my sister." He told her, sad.
"Dave is with her, Sam. He will be with her forever. As much as she rejects him, he will not leave her alone. He won't."
"I know." He said, kissing her cheek.
And neither will I, Beautiful. I won't leave you alone either.
Separating themselves, they saw as Scott was looking at them, worried, playing with his glass thoughtfully.
"What could be happening?" He asked, concerned.
Sam and Mercedes looked at each other, while their hands clenched tightly.
"Mary Ann, open the door, please." Dave begged again and again, in the hallway of the bathrooms.
"Go away!"
Dave leaned his forehead on the door, tired. Exhausted. She would not open it, and he would end up going crazy if she did not let him in to hold her and dry her tears. Mary Ann had collapsed. The strongest and most insensitive girl in town, as everyone called her, had ended up collapsing in front of everyone at the bar. All he wanted was to hold her, tell her how much she deserved him, that there would not be any woman in the world that deserved him more than her. To tell her that he loved her, that she had healed his wounded heart only to break it again. But what did his heart matter if hers was also broken? What did his unhappiness matter when she felt not worthy of him?
Why had his ex-wife had to appear? Why? Mary Ann was out of his life, and he wanted to get her out of his heart, but it was impossible. He loved her, as he had never loved a woman before. He did not even remember how long he had been in love with her. Perhaps even before he met Lindsay. Perhaps much earlier. He had fallen in love with her for her disdain and arrogance, for how beautiful she looked when she smiled, the few times she allowed herself to smile. For how she slept beside him when they made love, hugging him and breathing calm and carefree.
Mary Ann was right. Lindsay had deceived him by passing another's man son as his child. They had ended up marrying without love.
He could never leave a child without a father. But the secret had soon echoed in the town. And soon, everyone had thought she was leaving him because she had ended up falling in love with another man. When it was not. Dave himself had got her out of his home when he had learned the truth. She had begged him, but he hadn't given up until getting the divorce papers. In so little time he had gone from a wife and a child on the way to having nothing. Until Mary Ann had entered his life turning it completely upside down. To suffer again indifference and lack of confidence. To suffer again the rejection of the girl who was in his heart.
"Mary Ann, open the door. We need to talk."
"No!" The girl was sobbing inside, hating herself for it. Hating herself for having created a barrier for years and for having broken it in just one second. One second that had marked a before and an after. She would not leave that bathroom as much as she wished. As much as she needed his strong arms to hold her and protect her. She would not leave.
"Please, Mary Ann. Get out of there, let me see you."
"I can't."
"What's stopping you?"
"Dave..." The girl closed her eyes, trying to forget everything that had happened.
"Open the door, honey. Let me see you."
Don't call me that, it breaks me inside.
She thought, tired of everything. Tired of loving him with all her heart and not deserving his love. He loved her, he adored her. But she could not accept him, not knowing how unhappy he would end up being at her side. Lindsay was right, she was a bitter person and she would never be able to stop it.
"Open it, Mary Ann." Dave sighed deeply across the door. He had tried in vain to keep the tears inside, but they came out and stumbled, turning him vulnerable. Making him feel his heart was torn inside. "Honey, let me in."
"Dave, it's better if you leave." She lamented, hating herself for saying that.
"I'm not leaving. I don't care if you don't want to open it. I'm not leaving. You cannot make me."
"I know."
"Let me hold you, Mary Ann. Please."
"Dave..."
"Open the door."
Open your heart to me and let me be in it, please.
Dave felt the knob and the door opened slowly, seconds later. Slowly, too slowly for him. And without thinking, he entered the cubicle before she could regret having open. Mary Ann was still crying. Tears still staining her delicate face. Her eyes were red and tired and her hands were still shaking. Dave approached her, grabbing them and holding them tight.
"I love you." He whispered, feeling like a teardrop slid down his right cheek and disappeared into his neck. "I've never loved a woman like I love you. You know that."
She lowered her head in shame. She did not deserve him to keep loving her after all the damage she had caused him. After all those insults she had yelled to him.
"Don't do it."
"Why do you push me away, Mary Ann? We could be so happy." The boy left her hands and stroked her cheeks soaked in tears.
"No, Dave. You could never be happy with me. I don't know how to make anybody happy. I can't make anybody happy."
"Yes, you do, Mary Ann. You can. I'm happy when you smile, I'm happy when you kiss me. When we make love and you fall asleep in my arms. I miss you."
"Are you happy when I insult you? When I push you away over and over? When I break your heart and hurt you?"
"No, I'm not happy. You wreck me when you do that."
"Then why do you keep coming back Dave? Why?"
"Because I know I can make you happy, honey. I know that I can make you accept me. You love me. You do. We can't stay away from each other. You've tried but it doesn't work. The loneliness has not been done for you, Mary Ann. Do not you insist on holding on to it."
She was silent for a few seconds.
Dave wanted to make her happy. He wanted to see her smile. But how do it if all he wanted perhaps he could never get to have it? Perhaps she could never give it to him.
"Mary Ann..." Dave called, wiping her tears with one of their fingers. "Please accept me. Don't run away from me, not again. Let me be happy with you."
"You never could." She said, closing her eyes and hating herself for failing to stop her tears. "I cannot give you what you want, Dave. I can't."
"I want you! Why don't you understand?" The boy's hands left her face, helpless, traveling to his head and pulling his hair.
"You don't want me. You want a family with me and I can't give you that." One of her hands wiped her tears that bathed her right cheek. But they kept coming, as if she had not cried in years, and her eyes had retained an ocean inside.
"What do you mean? No... I don't understand."
"I can't give you children, Dave. I can't give you the family you desire so much. The family you've always wanted and Lindsay took it from you. She cheated you passing another man's child as your own. You wished so hard it was yours, you wished it with all your heart. You wanted to have it despite not feeling love for her. You wanted to have it because you thought it was yours. A son of yours coming into the world. You were happy. So happy for being able to fulfill your dreams.
"Honey..."
"No. I can't give you anything, Dave. I can't give you that family you desire."
Dave pulled her close to him, holding her in his arms and kissing her hair affectionately. Gradually, she was relaxing as she clutched her hands to his back.
A family, yes. He wanted to have a family with her. Not anyone else. Only with the woman he had loved with all his might. The woman who turned him crazy again and again with her rejections. Only with her. He could never find another. He could never forget her despite how hard she tried. He wanted to have a family, but above all, he wanted her by his side. Mary Ann would not push him out of her life. Not for that reason. Now he knew the real reason for her rejection. Now he knew why she continually pushed him away when he spoke of a life together. She could not bear children that was the real reason.
"I don't care." He said, separating and making her look him in the eye.
"Yes. Yes, you care."
"No! You don't want to understand! I don't want a family, I don't want to have children if it isn't with you. I don't."
"Dave..."
Why didn't he understand that she couldn't? That she might never conceive. He must get away, find another woman. Another one who did not hurt him again and again. Another one that made him happy giving birth to his children. Why he could not understand?
"I. love. you, Mary Ann. I love you, honey. You are all I need to be happy. You are my family. Understand that, please." Dave leaned over, holding her face in his hands and kissing her gently. Perhaps she understood with gestures what words were not able to make her see.
And she could not reject him, not this time. Perhaps she felt that this would be their last kiss, perhaps she thought they would never have a chance to love each other without worry. As they had done it for months, hiding from others. A secret love. A love that she had wanted to forget, but failed. For both it was more than an affair, it was more than just fun. They were in love, and they had ended up suffering for love. Then he had asked her for more and her, knowing she could never deserve him, she had turned away from him, breaking his heart and her own.
"Dave, I... I'm not enough." She said, breaking their kiss and stroking his cheeks. "I can't make you happy, I don' know how."
"We will learn together, M.A. I'll teach you and you will teach me. We can make it, honey. Really we can."
"You'll only have me. You know I cannot offer you anything other than myself." The girl lamented.
"I know. And you do not know how much I thank God that he allows me to have you by my side."
"Dave..." Mary Ann stifled a sob. She did not deserve the great love he had for her. She did not deserve it.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why pushing me away? I missed you so much. It hurt so much being away from you and not being able to touch you."
"I didn't want anybody to know. I didn't want them to find out the town's grump can't have children."
"Don't call yourself that."
"They're right, Dave. They are."
"No, they don't. And it hurts me to hear you saying it."
"I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm so sorry." Mary Ann turned to rest her head on his neck. "I thought pushing you away from me was for the best. I thought I could forget you. And that you'd forget me.
"Never." He said, stroking her beautiful blond hair. "No matter how much you insist to get away from you, I can't leave you. Don't you see?"
"We will be alone together, Dave." She insisted on reminding him all the time.
"Yeah. Promise me, honey. Tell me that we'll be together." The boy stroked her ears, waiting for her response.
She tried to refuse, closing her eyes. She had to deny or she would condemn him to a life of unhappiness at her side. But he would not let her, asking her to open them again and look at him.
"Don't, Mary Ann. Not again. You'll marry me and we'll live together, just us. Alone. We will be a family, you and me. I would kneel down now, but I'm in the bathroom of a bar and I have no ring, honey. But you do not need it, right? To give me a yes, you don't need it."
He waited for her response, uneasy. With his eyes fixed on her green ones. He waited too long and what he finally heard, he did not like it.
"Take me home, Dave."
The boy lowered his head, defeated. Tired of fighting. Tired of all rejections.
Why didn't she understand that he only needed her to be happy?
He closed his right fist in anger. Impotent. She did not listen to reason and nothing else mattered to her. Neither his prayers. Only her loneliness.
Mary Ann lifted his chin and made his hidden face look at her, whispering slowly.
"Take me to your house."
"To my house?" A silly smile was quickly formed in his mouth. "Does that mean you accept me?" He asked excitedly, as if he was a child.
"That means you're going to take me to your house, I'll tell you everything and then I'll beg you to stay away from me. You'll say no again and then, there, you will ask me again. There, Dave McCain. Not in one of the bathrooms of the Country Bar." She reproached him, angry.
"What if I don't ask you again?" He asked, defiantly.
"Then I'll be the one to do so. Because I know that if not today, another day would be. You're stubborn. I had never met someone as stubborn as you in my life."
Dave did not laugh. Contrary to what the girl was waiting, he remained serious.
"What if I refuse to accept you?" He asked, hoping not to see as she walked away again. Hoping she finally understood it would never happen, that he would never walk away from her. Mary Ann had to realize it. She had to know that neither one of them would be happy without the other.
"Then I'll convince you again and again of what you would lose if you didn't."
And they both knew what she meant.
She had done it. Mary Ann was the one who had asked him again, even without realizing it. Now the girl was who wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. As always it should have been.
Dave smiled, pulling her close and kissing her fondly, stroking her back with his big hands.
"I love you, Mary Ann. You're enough for me to be happy. I need nothing more."
So be it, please.
He thought as he hugged her.
"Let's go home, cowboy. We have much to talk." She said softly, giving him one of her kisses.
"After you, Miss." Dave had opened the toilet door and grabbed her hand to go outside. Intertwining their fingers, they both looked at the mirror before leaving.
"You look awful." She said, noting the brands that had left their tears on his face.
"You, however, look beautiful."
"It is not true!"
"Yes it is!" He laughed.
"Don't argue with me. You're wrong."
"No, I'm not."
"Shut up!"
Dave released his hand. Silencing her with a kiss.
A kiss that made her cling to his neck and raised her boots while Dave pulled her into his arms holding her tight.
"We don't know how to live without fighting." She said, once broken the kiss.
"Nope. We've always done it. But reconciliations are best, or so they say."
"And what are we waiting for?" She asked again, pulling him to leave the bathroom. "Just tell them and let's get out of here."
Dave laughed at her persistence and the force with which his lover, girlfriend, fiancée, bride or whatever she now was, did to him.
He would share his life with her. Only with her. David McCain had never thanked God so much.
Scott watched them walk out the door to the hall. They took nearly forty-five minutes waiting for one of the two come out. Her, him, or both together, although the latter Scott had seen it less and less possible.
But when he noticed how his sister's fingers intertwined his best friend's and saw them smile, Scott knew that everything had been resolved.
Thank God.
He thought, and then, he laughed. Not knowing who he should thank, God or Lindsay? She had made them the most damage to their lives and yet, she hadn't succeeded with it. She had finally reunited them, and this time, Scott hoped to be final.
"Sam..." Whispered his brother, pointing as the couple was approaching the table.
Mercedes and Sam turned to look, watching his sister with a smile on her face and Dave can not help looking at her, madly in love. Both holding hands, as Sam and Mercedes had always done. Sam could not help but think about how others would see them every time they did it. Perhaps the same way his sister and Dave were now. Mercedes with a beautiful smile on her face and him, in love, unable to stop looking at her.
Scott got up, watching them come and walked to his younger sister, showing her his support.
"Are you okay?" He said softly.
The girl nodded as she let go of Dave and hugged his brother.
"I'm going with Dave to his home. Will you tell Mom I'm fine and to not worry?" She asked to his ear as she held him tightly against her.
Maybe her brother was a complete stupid, but it was her older brother and she needed him.
"I'm sorry I ruined your date, Scott." She lowered her voice so that no one would hear her.
"If someone almost ruins it, it was definitely me after emptying a glass of water all over Lindsay's head."
"You emptied a glass of water over Lindsay?" Cried his sister, opening her eyes wide.
"Well done!" They heard Dave saying, causing the doctor and Mercedes erupting into laughter.
"He almost threw the beer too." Sam said, funny, while everyone else broke into laughter as well.
"We're leaving, guys. Mary Ann's coming with me." Told them Dave, grabbing her hand again. "I hope we can repeat this another day." His eyes fell on Mercedes, who gave him one of her smiles and then traveled to the doctor. "I'm sorry about what happened, Doctor Harbor. You'll believe that everyone in this family are totally crazy."
Sam and Scott looked, deciphering the words. Was Dave already part of their family? Had Mary Ann already accepted him?
"Do not worry, Dave. My afternoon has been the most entertaining thanks to you all."
"In that case, I hope your night is just as good, Doctor."
She nodded, watching as Scott spoke to the couple.
"You know, first dinner and then go to bed."
Everyone laughed, while Mary Ann snorted, tired of his impertinence.
"Have a goodnight guys." She told them.
"You too." They responded in unison.
It did not take long for things to be good again.
"Now what? Dinner or dance? Or dinner and dancing. Or dance and dinner. What do you prefer?" Scott asked, sitting again beside the doctor.
"Nobody is dancing." Mercedes answered quickly.
"And? It's not like we could not do it ourselves."
"There's no music." Reminded him Sam.
"That will be fixed in five seconds."
Said and done, Scott ran for the old local jukebox, lingering just seconds to choose the right song.
All the villagers who were at the bar turned when the song Give Into Me started to play.
Scott returned to the table triumphantly, winking at his brother and offering his hand to the doctor Harbor.
"I promise dinner will come next and then you may go" He said, asking God that she accepted him.
"If you promise me, then I cannot refuse."
She got up, linking her hand to his and heading both to the dance floor, where other couples had joined and were dancing.
Sideways, he watched as his little brother also invited his girlfriend to dance and she got up from the bench with a smile from ear to ear, accompanying him to the dance floor. Scott moved a few steps, giving them privacy.
"It's being a long time since we danced together." Reminded her Sam, stroking her waist with his left hand.
"I know."
One week, Mercedes thought. Just a week, but it also seemed an eternity.
That time had been different. That night they had danced to Unchained Melody with their bodies' close, while Sam was trying not to step on her and nervously feeling her fingers on his neck. This time would be different, this time she would be just his. They had made love, and although she had not opened her heart to him, Sam knew that Mercedes wanted him. Perhaps it was the fact that his grandfather, the wisest man he ever met, had revealed the fact to him or the fact that she trembled at his touch. Or from the smile hovering on her lips when he said any nonsense. He did not know what the reason was, but Sam hoped that someday, she was encouraged to declare her feelings for him. He could never do it. He wouldn't do it while fearing that she would prepare her suitcase and run away forever from his life. That afternoon he had believed that everything would be over, that he would never see her again. He had really believed it, but that hadn't happened.
She had decided to wear a skirt just to drive him crazy. Now Sam was completely sure about it. Mercedes wished he only had eyes for her. Perhaps she thought that skirt would work. But he could never stop watching her, wearing skirts, pants or the most awful dress somebody had ever made. And he would make her understand that in one way or another. Mercedes would eventually know that he did not want to leave her side anymore. Then she would confess her true feelings towards him and then... No one could know what would happen next, the only thing that really mattered was that they would never be separated.
"You've stepped on me, Sam." She laughed, amused.
"Oh God. Sorry." His cheeks turned red and his ears accompanied them.
Mercedes smiled with that beautiful smile that made his heart melt, and then she reached for a soft kiss on his lips.
The boy's heart filled with love, believing it could explode at any moment. She had kissed him in front of all the bar, in front of his brother and his date. A soft, quick kiss, but a kiss after all. A kiss that wasn't acted. One not hidden within the four walls of his room. A kiss that he had barely tasted and yet, it had been one of the best she had given him.
Happy, Sam pulled away, making her twirl while dancing, spinning her a few times, while she could not stop laughing.
Laughs that died instantly.
Laughs that would not be heard again that night.
"Move, fatty!" One of the men on the dance floor yelled at her.
Mercedes froze in place. Her hand still held Sam, while her dark eyes stared at the man who had made the comment.
"What did you say?" Sam asked, releasing her hand and standing in front of man.
"Do not you hear me? I have told your fat girlfriend to move aside." He said, making him rage.
"Take back right now what you have said." Sam clenched his fists, trying to calm down.
"Sam ... Leave it, please." Mercedes reached for his hand, but the boy did not accept it. Angry, he pushed the man, urging him to apologize.
"I could take it back all you want, kid. But that does not change the fact that she is fat. F-A-T."
Mercedes paled seeing as Sam pushed with all his might the man, mad.
"Scott!" The girl called him as the only option she had.
But he already was on his way. He had heard the whole conversation and he would not stay with his arms crossed. Coming between Sam and the man, he turned to his brother, putting his hand on his chest.
"Easy, Sam. Easy..." He said, relaxed, as if nothing had happened.
Sam looked at him for a moment, thinking that his brother had gone mad and a second later, he saw his brother throwing a punch to the man's nose who had dared to insult Mercedes.
"Ouch!" Scott complained, shaking his hand so it did not hurt too much, and turning to his brother. "You see, Sam? The calmer, the better."
Sam could not even respond. The man his brother had beaten turned now, dealing a blow to Scott in the eye and another one in his stomach.
"Damn!" Scott could say before tumbling and falling to the ground.
"Asshole!" Sam shouted, jumping on him and knocking the man. Both falling to the ground and quickly making a mess with their legs, arms and fists.
Mercedes, frightened, tried to separate them. But one of the men, who apparently accompanied the other, rolled her off. Moving her aside as she kicked to help Sam.
"Leave her!" The Dr. Harbor screamed, breaking a bottle of wine on the man's head. "Oh, my God!" She exclaimed, when the man fell to the ground like a dead weight.
Mercedes, released, returned to the fight, trying to let go of Sam and save him from the blows he was suffering, but Scott reached him first and a silence was suddenly made in the bar with a loud whistle.
"Get out of here!" Shouted the bar owner.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing who he had meant.
"Scott Evans, get out of here! Take your friends and do not ever set foot in my bar."
"But Dallas, we did nothing!" He tried to apologize, as he raised his brother from the ground and separated him from the fucking bastard who had insulted his brother's girlfriend.
"You started the fight, Scott. You go and you take them all with you."
"It's not fair!" He said, laying his hand on his aching stomach.
"Get out!"
Damn! Why the hell was he so unlucky? When he thought everything would be fine, that he finally could enjoy a nice dinner with his beloved doctor, again everything had been ruined. Was fate telling him that she was not the right woman for him?
He looked at her, expecting from her a look of anger, but she already walked toward him.
"Let's get out of here. It isn't worth trying to stay in a bar where it is allowed to bully people."
Scott looked as Sam leaned on Mercedes, while she held him lovingly stroking his bruised hands.
"Doctor, I remind you that you broke a bottle on the head of one of my clients." The owner said, watching Scott opened his eyes, surprised.
"You really did that?" He asked, amazed.
"He was attacking the girl. Everyone in this bar has seen it. But never mind, don't worry. I will never set foot in this bar again. Shall we go?" She asked Scott.
How had his luck been able to change in just a few seconds? Perhaps the doctor wasn't as different to him as Scott had thought.
He nodded, motioning to Mercedes that now embraced Sam, stroking his blond hair gently. She encouraged him to go outside, following Scott and the doctor. The cold night air hit them in the face and the moonlight showed them his wounds. They were horrible, especially Sam. It would be best that they return home to rest and sleep, but Scott did not want to give up on their dinner.
"I think it's better if we leave our dinner for another day. Is that ok?" Sadly, Scott Evans nodded at what the doctor offered. "I promise that I won't forget about it."
Scott touched his damaged eye with his hand, unable to avoid complaining of pain. She approached him, brushing with her fingers the eye that wouldn't take long to turn blue.
"Put ice on it and then go to sleep. Tomorrow everything will be better. I'm sorry I bit you."
Scott smiled, as he felt her fingers stroking his eye.
"This is the moment I would say I've had a great time, but I think it has not happened." He joked.
"Maybe next time you could say that." She laughed, kissing him on his healthy cheek and leaving him, after saying goodbye to Sam and Mercedes with her hand.
Scott watched her go, while his brother and Mercedes got into the car, both occupying the back seat. He also did the same, crawling in the driver's seat and starting the engine.
From time to time, he looked at them in the rearview mirror. Completely close, with their hands intertwined. His brother kept his eyes closed while his girlfriend stroked the bruise the bastard had caused. There was a connection between them. More than love. Complicity, care. Devotion. They loved and needed each other. It was all his fault. Everything. Because of him, Sam had ended up on the ground, taking punches from the man, when it should have been him, his older brother, who should have defended him. Because of him they had thrown them out of the Country Bar. Now they could never again set foot in there.
He focused on the road, looking forward to getting home as soon as possible to leave them alone. The next morning he would apologize to his brother, as he was already used to doing.
Carefully, Scott helped Mercedes take Sam to his room and she helped him laid down on the bed without removing his boots.
"Do you want me to help you?"
"No. I'll do it. Thanks, Scott. Thanks for everything."
"Do not thank me. It's my fault he's like this. Look, he can't even open his eyes."
"It is not true. You defended him."
"And he defended me, which led him to this."
"Shhh it wasn't like that. Okay? Go rest. Tomorrow we'll talk calmly. We all need to sleep."
"You're right. Good night, Mercedes." He said, leaving a soft kiss on her hair.
"Good night, Scott." Mercedes smiled, watching him leave and closing the door behind him.
She turned to Sam, who now slept on the bed with his boots on. He looked awful. With his face suffering the brunt from the blows, his knuckles smashed and his stomach damaged.
"This is all my fault," she began to say, sticking out the blond locks that fell over his eyes. "You did not have to do that, Sam. Again you have been beaten, again because of me."
She tried not to remember what had happened that night in the Rouge Bar, but it was impossible. Those blows on the man's face and his complaints about pain, did nothing but return it to her mind.
Sam breathed deeply, lost in dreams, as she pulled his boots and socks, leaving the jeans and shirt. She did not want to wake him, but she knew he wouldn't be comfortable that way either. But she left them on him, opening the blankets before covering him with them and laying down beside him.
"I never thought the night would end like this. I thought..." Checking that he was asleep for the umpteenth time, she continued. "I thought we'd get home and you finally would get me out of this skirt, and we'd make love. I thought tonight you would love me again. I wanted that so much. But that didn't happen. That won't happen because I'm an idiot that gets you into trouble all the time. That keeps getting you hurt. That loves you; that wants you." She said, lowering her voice, fearing he was going to wake up. "And that won't stop taking care of you. An idiot that won't get away from you, that will watch over you tonight. I love you." She whispered against his lips, without the courage to kiss him, for fear of waking him. "I love you."
I love you, beautiful.
Sam was not asleep. He was not. He had heard all that Mercedes had said, but he had not wanted to get up. H would not do it. She had said that because she believed he was asleep. He had wanted to get home and get her out of that skirt to make love to her again and again too. But instead, there he was, lying on the bed, his body beaten while Mercedes leaned next to him and dedicated him words of love. He could not get up and frighten her. He wanted her to say it again, he wanted her to gather the courage to tell him. Directly, without believing him asleep. He did not want her to leave him alone running scared from him. Because she would do it if she knew he really was not asleep. She would leave and he would lose her forever. Someday she would tell him, and that day, he would not be asleep. That day he would not be lying in a bed, beaten and defeated. That day, he would make love to her again and again, happy that she had finally confessed her feelings to him.
"I love you." She repeated, snuggling next to him, and falling asleep soon.
Later, he would cover her with his blanket, moving slightly pressing her body even closer to his.
A knock on the door ended up waking him. Mercedes was no longer at his side. The water in the shower ran in the bathroom.
He tried to move, to get up. The door kept ringing incessantly.
Carefully, Sam managed to stand, slowly walking toward there. He opened it slowly, meeting his little brother on the other side.
"God, Sam. What happened to you?" He asked, worried.
"What do you need, Stevie?" He said while rubbing his healthy eye.
"I need to talk to you."
"What time is it?"
"Eight in the morning."
"Eight in the morning! My God, eight in the morning! You've woken me up at eight in the morning." Sam complained of pain, by the fuss he had done, leaning on the door.
"I need to talk to you before I go to school."
"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing the worried face of his brother.
"I need to talk."
"You already said that."
"Sit down. You can barely stand."
Sam walked toward the bed, while Stevie closed the door behind him and followed him.
"What happened to you?" The boy looked at him sitting up in bed, complaining of pain.
"There will be time to talk about it. Tell me what's bothering you."
Stevie took a deep breath before speaking.
"I'm receiving anonymous messages."
"Anonymous messages? As in death threats?" Sam opened his eyes wide. Who would wish bad things to a good guy like Stevie? It made no sense.
"No. As in... Love letters."
"Love letters? Stevie ... Do you have an admirer? What about Abby?"
"I don't know. I don't know!" He screamed, covering his face with his hands, while the bathroom door opened slowly." Sam ... Brother. I'm confused. How... How did you know you were in love with Mercedes?"
The noise made by the toilet bag falling to ground, pulled them away from their conversation. Within seconds, Sam's ears and cheeks flushed like never before.
To be continued…
And that's it for now! I hope you liked it and sorry again for making you wait this long.
Don't forget to review, can't wait to know what you think of this chapter…
Thank you so much for your support
Hugs and kisses
Syl