Chapter 11 - Don't Wake Me Up
Wings won't take me, heights don't phase me. So take a step. But don't look down. Take a step. Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall. I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong. I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall.
- - Rise Against "Ready To Fall"
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Karen sat at the kitchen table, papers spread out around her, covering every inch of the large table. She would randomly pick up a piece of paper, look it over and throw it down again in frustration. She sighed heavily as Andy walked into the kitchen.
"Hey. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," answer Karen. Andy sits down beside her and stares intently into her eyes. She sighs again and looks away. "I hate when you do that."
"What's wrong Karen."
She finally looks up. "It's just so much work and it makes me so frustrated that I might not be done in time for it."
"It's alright Karen. The wedding isn't until April."
- -flashback- -
Karen walked next to Andy as they left the little church in town. She grasped his hand and squeeze, showing that she was there for him. She was relieved when she felt him squeeze her back softly and look down at her and kiss her. "Thanks," he whispered lightly.
They left for Andy's mother's house, grabbing takeout Chinese food, as neither of them felt like cooking much. Karen curled up in her favourite chair eating, Andy sitting on the floor beside her.
"I wonder what I'm going to do with this house. Should I rent it or sell it?"
"Andy, you don't have to worry about that now."
"I guess." I long silence followed until he continued. "You want to know what my mother said to me before she died?" Karen looked at Andy sitting there with the fire crackling in his eyes.
"What?"
"Don't let her get away. She's a keeper."
"Really? That's so sweet."
"Yea. That's my mother though. I wish you could have had more time with her. And that she could have met Lucas."
"Me too." Karen smiled sweetly at Andy. She had tried for the last couple of days to be there for him whenever he needed her, to talk or for other things.
"Karen, I love you. You have been awesome the last couple of weeks, despite what has been going on here, and me spend hardly anytime with you. I fell so bad."
"Don't. I understand completely. It's hard having someone close to you so sick."
"It's not that. My mother had one wish for me."
Karen watches as Andy kneels on one knee and reaches into his coat pocket and pulling out a black case. "Oh-my-gosh, Andy!" She watches as he opens the case, reveling a diamond ring.
"Karen? Will you marry me."
"Andy." Karen can feel the tears coming to her eyes and she smiles at Andy. "I love you with all my heart. Yes, I will." Andy kisses her deeply and slips the finger on her left hand.
- -end flashback- -
"I know."
"So calm down. We have a lot of time. We could hire a wedding planner, we could do this together, what ever you want."
Karen reaches out and kisses Andy sweetly on the lips. "Thank you."
"No problem."
The back door opens, causing both Andy and Karen to jump and they look up to find Lucas standing in the doorway. "Thanks for that. Not that I disapprove, but could you keep the public displays of affection to a minimum?"
"I'm going to remind you of this once you bring a girlfriend home."
Lucas laughs sarcastically as he flips through the mail in his hands. He finds a letter and holds it out to his mother. "There isn't a name on it or even an address. What do you think it is?"
"Open it."
Lucas does what he is told and reads it quickly over. "It's from Marissa. She says 'thank you for everything, but I no longer wish to be a burden on you. I'll miss you.'" Lucas drops the letter on the table and races to Marissa's room to find it empty.
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Dan had to run to the dealership, leaving Marissa and Nathan alone at the beach house and an uncomfortable silence fell over the house. Marissa seemed to know her way around the house by now, making Nathan wonder how long she had been living here.
Finally he couldn't take the silence and walked up to Marissa, who was watching television on the sofa. "What are you doing here?"
"Watching T.V. What does it look like?" she responds coldly.
Nathan stares, wondering why this person that he doesn't know is being so cold to him. "No, I mean why are you here at the beach house with Dan?"
"Why are you here?" Nathan looks at her confused as she turns around in her seat. "Why is it okay that you are here and its not okay that I am here. He is my father too, you know. Just because you haven't acknowledged that I'm your sister, doesn't mean I'm not."
Nathan stared blankly. "What?"
"I moved in here with Dan because he told me that he would pay for my medical coverage if I did, so now Karen doesn't have to."
"Why would you do that?"
She sighed. "Karen and Lucas were already struggling as it was and she is also going to be paying for a wedding soon. I couldn't do that to them."
"What about Andy. That guy is loaded."
"Do you think Karen would ask him for money. I don't have anything to do with Andy."
"Fine, but there are other ways to pay for your medical bills then to move in with Dan and be victim of his ways."
"Why are you here then Nathan? If I can't be 'victim of his ways,'" she said using air quotes, "why the hell are you here to be? And don't lie and say you want quality time with Daddy. I'll know you're lying."
Nathan sighed. "Dan agreed to pay for your medical bills if I moved in with him."
Marissa didn't say anything. She just stared at Nathan standing in front of her and shallowed with difficulty.
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"Come on Mouth. We have to do something."
Mouth sat on his bed, staring up at Brooke standing in his doorway, pleading with him. "Come on Mouth. We haven't been out yet. Tonight is our first date so get up!"
She pulled the covers off of Mouth. "Get in the shower!" She pushed him off the bed and into the bathroom down the hall, closing the door. "I'm not letting you out until you have a shower!"
Mouth sighed and jumped into the shower, showered and got dressed. "Happy?"
"Yea. I actually am." She smiled at Mouth and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Alright Mouth. Let's paint the town red!"
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"So, Marissa moved out," asked Peyton from her seat in front of her computer as Lucas sat on the bed, looking at her. "Where would she go?"
"I have no idea, but I'm scared. What if something happens to her or she isn't getting her treatment? I don't know if I could live with myself if something happened to her."
Peyton moved across the room and sat down beside Lucas. She moved her arm around Lucas, trying hard to comfort him. "I don't know where she went, but I'm sure she wouldn't have left unless she found another way to pay for the medical treatments."
"Maybe."
Peyton surveyed Lucas, and all of a sudden her stomach growled. Lucas laughed, "hungry?"
Peyton nodded her head and they went downstairs and into the kitchen and made some popcorn before putting a movie in the livingroom.
"You better now?" asked Lucas.
Peyton nodded her head slightly. "Yea, I feel a whole lot better. I wish we could do something about Marissa and find her."
Greg, listening from the other room stuck his head in. "What do you mean find her, I just talked to her a few minutes ago. We are going out for a movie tonight with Winnie and their friend CeCe."
"You talked to Marissa? Where is she?"
"I don't know. I thought she was still living at your house. She called here and asked if I wanted to go out with them tonight to see a movie. And since we have no caller display," he said staring at Peyton, "I don't know where she called from. Anyway, we are meeting in about ten minutes. By the way, Peyton could you give me a ride?"
"Sure. We can see Marissa then and make sure she is okay."
A ring echoed through the house and Greg ran to answer it. A few seconds later he came back and jumped onto the sofa. "Never mind about the movies. Marissa just called to cancel. Said her brother got her upset."
"But I haven't seen her since this morning and all we did was exchange good mornings. I didn't do anything."
Peyton thought for a moment and then gasped. "What if she wasn't talking about you?"
Lucas looked at her confused until it dawned on him. "Nathan? Nathan's got her upset. When I see him I'm going to—"
"Lucas, chill. We know where Marissa is then!"
"But Nathan doesn't live at home anymore with his mom, he moved in with—" Lucas paused, assessing the situation. "Nathan moved in with Dan and so did Marissa."
"Why would Marissa move in with Dan," asked Greg.
Peyton nodded in agreement. "Yea, didn't Dan sign over custody of Marissa to your mom? Why would she move in with Dan?"
"The same reason Nathan did, to pay for her medical costs. I get her letter now. She meant a financial burden. We had trouble getting her to accept us paying for the treatments. She reluctantly agreed that my mom could pay, but Andy wasn't allowed."
"Okay, so we found her. Do we go to the Scott beach house?"
"Absolutely."
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"Mouth, are you regretting that day in the school? Do you regret saying that you love me?"
Mouth looked up from his hamburger in front of him on which he had picked at since they arrived at the small little burger joint. He looked into her big, bright, brown eyes and instantly replied, "no, of course not. I mean it. Do you regret that day, when you kissed me."
"No Mouth. It's just—" This was going to be harder then Brooke imagined. "It's just that since the shooting, all you want to do is mope around your bedroom."
"So?"
"So, I know the shooting changed you, but do you really think that you should be spending all your time in a small bedroom when you can experience life. That school shooting showed me that death isn't something you choose. You just have to live with the best of it. And I want that with you."
"Brooke, I'm sorry, but I'm having difficulty dealing with the whole thing. How can someone just decide one day to go to a school and shoot up the place. It doesn't make sense."
Brooke laid her hand over Mouth's on the table. "I know it's hard. I'm here for you."
Mouth smiled, one of the few Brooke has seen the shooting, and leaned over the table and placed his lips over hers. "Thanks."
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A knock echoed through the beach house and Marissa moved to the top of the stairs to watch as Nathan opened the door. There stood Lucas, Peyton and Greg. "How could you tell them!"
The all looked up to find Marissa as Greg replied, "I didn't. You told me that your brother had upset you and since it wasn't Lucas, we had only one other choice."
"Oh yea. That reminds me." Lucas put all of his weight into his swing as it collided with Nathan's jaw and left Nathan panting for air. "That's for being an ass to our sister. You are such a self-absorbed, arrogant, son of a—"
"Not helping Lucas. I'll talk to her." Peyton shooed Lucas outside and said, "can we talk?"
Marissa nodded her head slightly and led Peyton up the stairs to the guest room that Marissa was using as her own. "Make yourself comfortable."
Peyton sat down and looked Marissa in the eye. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't want Lucas and their mom to suffer anymore."
"That isn't it is it? Because instead of having Lucas and his mom pay for the medical coverage, I'm sure Karen's fiancé would pay for it. It isn't exactly poor."
"But he doesn't know me. I don't want to feel like a charity case."
"Then don't. Karen had you working in the café right?" Marissa nodded. "Then I'm sure Andy would do something like that with you. You just had to ask." Peyton paused a moment. "But this isn't about the money, is it. Not totally."
"What are you talking about?"
"You wanted to know Dan didn't you?" When Marissa looked down at her sock feet and didn't reply, Peyton continued. "I don't blame you. I'm adopted, you know. And I didn't want to know my real mother for the longest time. But I gave her a chance and everything was fine."
"But it's Dan. He's been fine since I moved in, but Lucas told me horror stories and Nathan looked pissed to be here, so I don't know."
"I do. Go home with Lucas and let Andy pay. They would make an awesome family for you, something you need right now."
"You think we could be a family."
Peyton smiled and nodded. "Yea, I do. Karen has a tendency to take in those who need the help, more emotional then physical. She is an awesome mother if you let her."
"Do you think I could go back then?"
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Haley held her stomach as the pains started to spread through her body. She screamed and collapsed to the floor, eyes closed from the pain. Haley felt her water break as the door opened, revealing Taylor.
"Oh my god Haley, the guy down the hall keeps hitting on me. He isn't even that—" she paused finally seeing Haley on the floor. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Where the hell have you been!?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm in labor Taylor. My water just broke and I need to go to the hospital! And you are standing there complaining about the guy down the hall flirting with you."
"Alright Haley. Bite my head off, now why don't you. I move here to keep you company before baby Naley is born and all you do—"
"TAYLOR!!"
"Oh, right. Lets go." Taylor helps Haley up and out of the room on their way to the hospital.
Don't Wake Me Up - The Hush Sound
Dedicated to 23NaleyLVR23, naley4ever323, snowqueen1213, bridgee101, elosie09, naley19 and Shelley. Thanks so much for the reviews!
