~Disclaimer: I own none of them, I'm just playing with them, and I'll be returning them when I get through. I also stake no claim to any episodes that I use for the Flashbacks. They belong to the writers and FFC. I do however own Alex Wallace, his father and his secretary Connie.~
~The song I put in here isn't mine either. It belongs to LeAnne Rimes.~
*The song is outlined in (*) And memories are still in (~)
*I warned you about the Happily Ever After stuff. I'm going along with the phrase "it's gonna get worse before it gets better."
~If you haven't found anything worth dying for, then you have never truly lived.~ Unknown
Time passed quickly with the two on the porch. As for the rest of them, time passed a little slower.....
"Aug? Do you have any......" David thought for a moment, looking around the room. "Any.......two's?"
Daisy laughed and threw a pillow at David. "I cleaned out all the two's remember? They're in MY stack." The group had been playing Go Fish for about half an hour now. Daisy had most of the cards, but everyone else were still dead set on beating her. Daisy was glad that they could do something as dumb as playing Go Fish. It served two purposes. One was that the group needed to be young again, without any problems, and two, if everyone were trying to find who had all the five's they wouldn't be paying attention to the fact that Shelby and Scott weren't back yet. Daisy took Davids cards out of his hand and looked at them. "And all you have are seven's. Why the hell do you want a two anyway?"
David just shrugged. "I have NO idea. I just wanted a two."
The front door opened and Scott walked in stunned. Shelby came in after him and went straight into the girls' room. No one on the floor knew what to make of the scene. After watching helplessly as Shelby slammed the door, Scott plopped himself on the couch to wallow in his misery.
Auggie shifted his gaze from the door to Scott to Daisy. The rest of the group had already made themselves busy bustling around the cabin making dinner and helping each other put the games that Peter had bought them away. Auggie knew what he and Daisy had to do. He stood and helped Daisy off the floor. "I'll take Shelby if you want Meat?" He said quietly. He knew that she wanted to talk to Shelby, but he wanted to make it look like he was giving her a choice.
"Can I have Shelby?" Daisy saw how hurt Scott was, and she wasn't suffeciently matched if his temper got the best of him. "Health reasons," she offered Auggie a smile. "If he goes psycho, I think you can hold him better than I could." She stiffled a laugh and headed into the dark room that Shelby had retreated into. Auggie just smiled as he plopped himself on the couch next to a distraught Scott.
Daisy noticed the knife the second she entered the room. Shelby was sitting with her back to the door, and her silver knife in her right hand. She didn't know what to do. "Shell?" Shelby flinched and dropped the knife. "Don't pick it up Shell." Daisy was walking steadily over to Shelby's bunk. Dropping herself onto the bed, Daisy looked up into Shelby's eyes. "Just tell me what happened."
Shelby's form shook a few times, and her hands came up to guard her face. "He doesn't want me." She huffed as Daisy pulled her into her head into her lap. "I told him to ask me anything, and this time it wasn't that I wasn't ready for the questions, he wasn't ready for the answers." She sobbed a few more times as Daisy just sat there. She could just tell Shelby that everything was going to be all right. Both of them knew better than than. The frightened girl in her arms wasn't just the outer shell of Shelby Merrick. It had mixed with the core, Shelby's soul to create this girl. She was no longer a harsh immitation of the girl she was on the streets, nor was she the delicate little girl that Walt had destroyed. This girl was broken and she kept lifting herself back up. Dasiy wasn't sure she could fix the damage of Scott rejecting Shelby this time. She just hoped that Auggie could talk to Scott about this. Or maybe beat some sense into him.
In the kitchen, Juliet found a boom box and a few CDs. Thumbing threw them, she reached into Shelby's drawer for some of hers. "Hey Ezra, pick a CD."
Ezra looked through all of the CDs that were availiable and pulled out the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. Shoving it into the CD player, He turned to song number two. After a second, LeAnne Rimes flooded the room. The song was one that Shelby used to put into her CD player when they were staying at Peter's over the summer. "Please Remember." He whispered to the door that seperated Shelby and Daisy from the rest of the world.
*Time.
Sometimes the time just slips away.
And your left with yesterday,
Left with the memories.
I.
I'll always think of you and smile,
And be happy for the time I had you with me.*
~ Ezra watched Shelby unpack her things into Peter's guest room. They were the only two kids from Horizon that weren't leaveing for the summer, and Peter had opted for them to stay with him and Sophie. Shelby looked so placid after she had watched Scott leave. The next few days after the Morp, Shelby seemed to be going through the motions of her life without really living it. And to watch her pack was just killing him. She missed Scott so much it wasn't funny. At the bottom of her pack, Shelby located a picture of her and Scott at the lunch table. Juliet had taken it the week before the Morp, and they all thought Shleby needed it more than Kat did. Shleby saw the picture and stopped. The tears came running down her cheeks, and seh dropped to the floor. Ezra was at her side in an instant, holding her until her tears stopped ~
Shelby sat up and listened to the words to the song that Ezra had put on. They seemed so fitting now. Now that Scott wanted nothing to do with her. The song brought back so many things that Shelby would just as soon as forget. The memories were painful, but Shelby had become accustomed to the pain. She calmed down a bit, and just let Daisy hold her while the memories swept over her like rain.
*Though we go our seperate ways....
I won't forget, so don't forget,
The memories we made.*
~ Shelby looked deep into Scott's eyes and she could feel her pulse quicken. She had forgiven him for not telling her sooner that he was leaving. At least she had convinced herself she had. 'I'm okay.' She kept telling herself. 'Scott will come visit. You know he'll still be a part of your life.'
The entire group stood around them. Bidding Scott farewell, and making sure he knew when he was allowed to call and come to visit. The only person Scott cared about was the person in front of him. He couldn't hold his feelings any longer, and he swept her into his arms. Shelby looked so fragile against him. "It'll be okay, Shell." He whispered into her hair. "It's not the end of the world." He knew how bad that sounded, but he needed her to know that he was till there for her.
Shelby looked over at Peter and Sophie. She didn't care how long she was on shuns for, she needed to kiss him. The kiss was pasisonate, and laced with fear and uncertianty. She didn't want to let go of him. Saying good-bye was killing her. "Please remember me?" She asked him hopefully. ~
*Please Remember. Please Remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me
Please Remember, our time togeather.
The time was yours and mine and we were wild and free.
Please remember. Please remember....me.*
Scott caught the last phrase of the song and held onto it. Those were Shelby's last words when he left Horizon the second time. Those were the words that kept him awake at night. He loved her more than anything on the Earth, and he had hurt her more deeply than anyone could ever imagine. He didn't know how he was going to get her back, now that Alex was coming to town. Everything she had told him about Alex was like a punch in the gut. He didn't even want to think about all the things Alex had access to when Shelby was living with him. She had told him everything without him having to ask. Then when Shelby told him about the kiss.....That was the one thing Scott couldn't handle.
*Good-bye.
There's just no sadder word to say.
And it's sad to walk away,
With just the memory. *
Alex sat alone in his hotel room, replaying the song in his CD player. He tried to remember Shelby as she was, but he couldn't do it. The only image that would come to his head was the one of Shelby when the police took her away. She was deadly calm and her head never looked down. He had kissed her that day. The first kiss that set his mind in motion. He had always cared about Shelby, he knew that he always will.
*Who's to know what might have been?
If we leave behind the life and time,
We'll never know again.*
~ Shelby laid on her bed at Peter's with her journal in front of her. She wrote in it everyday now. She felt so isolated from everyone now that Scott was gone. She had sent Jess to visit they're father for the holiday. She didn't want to see her father after what he did to her. True, he wasn't the one that abused her, but he refused to help her when she ran. He refused to take her calls when she was arrested before she was sent back to the same house as Walt. He wouldn't even open her letters after she had gotten to Horizon. Scott had been the one that made all that pain bareable. Scott had a way to make her forget everything, and he didn't need sex for him to help her. That pain was back now that Scott wasn't there. It pounded on her head and her heart like a steel drum.
Ezra tapped lightly on the door and then he watched her turn. "Peter wanted you to know that dinner would be ready in half an hour." He sat down on the bed and pick up the fuzzy bear that Kat had sent her. The bear that she had attectionatly called Scott. Missing him was tearing her apart, and Ezra wasn't the only one who could see it. Shelby stared at him until he put the bear down next to her. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked her gently.
She nodded gently, laying her journal on the nightstand. "Only if you want to listen." Everyone at Horizon would have listened to Shelby's problem, but she only wanted to talk with those that would take her seriously. "I only want to talk to someone that actually wants to listen." She told him, suddenly feeling small.
"I'll listen." Ezra pulled her into his lap an kissed her on the top of her head. Shelby was a sister to him. He wanted to help her because she had no one else. "I'll listen." That's how they sat for most of the night. Ezra listening while Shelby told her tale. ~
*Please remember. Please remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me.
And remember. Please remember......Me.
Daisy sat with Shelby until she fell asleep. Then she sat with her throughout most of the night. Juliet had come in there once or twice. To make sure Shelby was okay, and to get Daisy and extra pillow and bring her a few snacks. Daisy refused drinks however. She didn't want to wake Shelby just so she could go to the restroom. That was the true test of friendship, staying with your friend through all of it. Being there when the nightmares came. Daisy smiled to herself. That was where Scott had failed. Scott couldn't be there 'just because' Shelby needed him. He had always been catered to as the football hero. He didn't know how to handle someone elses pain. Even after he had been told what it was like for her on the streets, he had never been prepared to ask what he was thinking. Daisy felt lucky hat she didn't have to ask. Shelby just told her.
Scott watched as Juliet curled up in Auggie's lap to fall asleep. He never knew how empty one could feel just watching two people in love. Remembering how he felt lying in his bed back at Peter's house, thinking about holding Shelby. Never once did he think that she would finally cave and tell him about her past. Never once did he pretend that he only loved Shelby as long as he didn't know what Walt had driven her to. When he was at home that was what he had forgotten. He had remembered the parts of Shelby that were convienent for him to keep going day after day, but he had forgotten the most improtant thing. He had forgotten what made Shelby Shelby. That was the thing he should have remembered.
*Please remember. Please remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me.
Please remember, our time togeather.
When time was yours and mine and we were wild and free.
And remember. Please remember.....me
~ Alex laid on the oversized windowsill of Shelby's new apartment. He had bought the apartment for her three days ago. Patty OD'd four days ago. He never left Shelby's alone for the first few nights. He had told his father that he was at a friend's house. Better than to tell him the truth. He didn't know how to say: "Hey Dad, I'm taking care of a hooker by putting her up in one of the expensinve apartments on third that the company owns." He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. Not to his dad, and definately not to Shelby. He couldn't do that to Shelby. Slowly he stood and walked over to the CD player. He didn't want to wake her with one of her harder CDs, so he slid something soft into the player.
Shelby waited for the first few chords of Ricky Martin's song 'Private Emotion' to sound before she climbed out of bed. Slowly she made her way across the large room and glanced at herself in the full legnth mirror. Her skin was pale and all the baby fat she once posessed was no gone. The thin material of her sweat pants hung loose around her hips, and her white tank top clung to her chest as if it were wet. She had bought herself all new clothes with some of the money that Patty had left her. She didn't use much. Mostly beacuse she was afraid of the fact that someone might be monitoring the account. She opened the door slightly and watched Alex's tall form get a beer out of the fridge. "Get me one too." She said gently.
He had to admit that her voice startled him. He wasn't expecting her to get up any time soon. Obeying her order, Alex popped the top off of another beer and handed it to her. Then something crazy popped into his head. "You care to dance?" He asked her, only half joking. Shelby set her beer on the counter and held her arms out to him. Alex lifted her gently off the floor, and danced around the room. Then he slowed, and set her on her own feet. Neither one of them would ever forget that night. Alex got his first taste at love, and Shelby got her first chance to relax. ~
*And how we laughed.
And how we smiled.
And how each morn was yours and mine.
And when each dream was out of reach...
I stood by you, you stood by me.*
Auggie was fully aware of himself falling asleep, Juliet in his arms. Scott hadn't moved from his place on the couch. Before he allowed himself to sleep, however, he made himself think of a happier time with all the Cliffhangers. His favorite thing that had happened in all his years at Horizon. The Morp. Everyone was so happy there. Even Shelby, once Scott had returned. That was the night that Scott had first told her he loved her. That was the night before the entire situation between Scott and Shelby sarted. That was the last night they all could honestly calim that they were happy.
*We took each day and made it shine.
We wrote our names across the sky.
We ran so fast, we ran so free.
I had you and you had me.*
~ The two sat in silance on the porch. Neither wanting to start the round of questions. Finally Shelby could take no more of the silance. "Ask away." She repeated. In her mind she was hoping that he would decide not to ask any questions and wait until she was ready to give the answers willingly. "Come on Scott. It doesn't take that long to think up a question."
"Okay." Scott was trying to buy himself some time. He didn't want to know the answers to his questions just yet. He wanted the questions themselves to settle. "When you were....you know, on the street..." He kept stalling. His mind told him to spit the question out, but he couldn't make himself do it. "How much did you make a night?" He decided to start off easy. No need to go further than he had to in that much time.
"Depended on the night." Shelby was being totally serious. It felt as if she were talking to Peter. "I could usually make about six to seven hundred a night. Enough to pay my half of the rent for a couple months and stock the fridge every other week." She watched for Scott's reaction. He was holding himself togeather pretty well all things considering. "Alex covered Patty's side of the rent a lot. He was always around when we needed him. He kept us pretty well stocked." That was when she was sure she had said something that should have gone unsaid.
"He was your supplier." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. One that Scott wished he could have held in. The conversation went from bad to worse over those four words. The rest of the conversation was held with hushed tones and held back anger. Neither one wanted to hurt the other, but it was inevidible. Scott just had to hear it. No matter what. ~
*Please remember. Please remember.*
And that's how they spent they're first night in the Solo Cabin. Auggie and Juliet took the floor next to the couch. Juliet felt so protected against Auggie's chest. Ezra, and Jess fell asleep on the table in the kitchen, and after he knew they were asleep, David carried both of them into the boys' section of the cabin. He tenderly placed them in two seperate beds, hoping neither of them would remember that it was David that had done it. David himself fell asleep in the girls' room, after bringing Daisy in a pillow. Daisy and Shelby shared on of the full beds in the room. Shelby never moved during the night, and Daisy sat up talking to David until sleep took them both. Then there was Scott. Scott didn't sleep that night. He kept replaying the scene between him and Shelby on the porch in his head. He wanted to figure out where he went wrong. Occasionally he turned to watch Juliet and Auggie on the floor. Praying that he could, once again, have what they had. Love.
*So what did you think??????? REVIEW PLEASE
*Want more long ones??? Then review. The more reviews, the longer they are.
~The song I put in here isn't mine either. It belongs to LeAnne Rimes.~
*The song is outlined in (*) And memories are still in (~)
*I warned you about the Happily Ever After stuff. I'm going along with the phrase "it's gonna get worse before it gets better."
~If you haven't found anything worth dying for, then you have never truly lived.~ Unknown
Time passed quickly with the two on the porch. As for the rest of them, time passed a little slower.....
"Aug? Do you have any......" David thought for a moment, looking around the room. "Any.......two's?"
Daisy laughed and threw a pillow at David. "I cleaned out all the two's remember? They're in MY stack." The group had been playing Go Fish for about half an hour now. Daisy had most of the cards, but everyone else were still dead set on beating her. Daisy was glad that they could do something as dumb as playing Go Fish. It served two purposes. One was that the group needed to be young again, without any problems, and two, if everyone were trying to find who had all the five's they wouldn't be paying attention to the fact that Shelby and Scott weren't back yet. Daisy took Davids cards out of his hand and looked at them. "And all you have are seven's. Why the hell do you want a two anyway?"
David just shrugged. "I have NO idea. I just wanted a two."
The front door opened and Scott walked in stunned. Shelby came in after him and went straight into the girls' room. No one on the floor knew what to make of the scene. After watching helplessly as Shelby slammed the door, Scott plopped himself on the couch to wallow in his misery.
Auggie shifted his gaze from the door to Scott to Daisy. The rest of the group had already made themselves busy bustling around the cabin making dinner and helping each other put the games that Peter had bought them away. Auggie knew what he and Daisy had to do. He stood and helped Daisy off the floor. "I'll take Shelby if you want Meat?" He said quietly. He knew that she wanted to talk to Shelby, but he wanted to make it look like he was giving her a choice.
"Can I have Shelby?" Daisy saw how hurt Scott was, and she wasn't suffeciently matched if his temper got the best of him. "Health reasons," she offered Auggie a smile. "If he goes psycho, I think you can hold him better than I could." She stiffled a laugh and headed into the dark room that Shelby had retreated into. Auggie just smiled as he plopped himself on the couch next to a distraught Scott.
Daisy noticed the knife the second she entered the room. Shelby was sitting with her back to the door, and her silver knife in her right hand. She didn't know what to do. "Shell?" Shelby flinched and dropped the knife. "Don't pick it up Shell." Daisy was walking steadily over to Shelby's bunk. Dropping herself onto the bed, Daisy looked up into Shelby's eyes. "Just tell me what happened."
Shelby's form shook a few times, and her hands came up to guard her face. "He doesn't want me." She huffed as Daisy pulled her into her head into her lap. "I told him to ask me anything, and this time it wasn't that I wasn't ready for the questions, he wasn't ready for the answers." She sobbed a few more times as Daisy just sat there. She could just tell Shelby that everything was going to be all right. Both of them knew better than than. The frightened girl in her arms wasn't just the outer shell of Shelby Merrick. It had mixed with the core, Shelby's soul to create this girl. She was no longer a harsh immitation of the girl she was on the streets, nor was she the delicate little girl that Walt had destroyed. This girl was broken and she kept lifting herself back up. Dasiy wasn't sure she could fix the damage of Scott rejecting Shelby this time. She just hoped that Auggie could talk to Scott about this. Or maybe beat some sense into him.
In the kitchen, Juliet found a boom box and a few CDs. Thumbing threw them, she reached into Shelby's drawer for some of hers. "Hey Ezra, pick a CD."
Ezra looked through all of the CDs that were availiable and pulled out the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. Shoving it into the CD player, He turned to song number two. After a second, LeAnne Rimes flooded the room. The song was one that Shelby used to put into her CD player when they were staying at Peter's over the summer. "Please Remember." He whispered to the door that seperated Shelby and Daisy from the rest of the world.
*Time.
Sometimes the time just slips away.
And your left with yesterday,
Left with the memories.
I.
I'll always think of you and smile,
And be happy for the time I had you with me.*
~ Ezra watched Shelby unpack her things into Peter's guest room. They were the only two kids from Horizon that weren't leaveing for the summer, and Peter had opted for them to stay with him and Sophie. Shelby looked so placid after she had watched Scott leave. The next few days after the Morp, Shelby seemed to be going through the motions of her life without really living it. And to watch her pack was just killing him. She missed Scott so much it wasn't funny. At the bottom of her pack, Shelby located a picture of her and Scott at the lunch table. Juliet had taken it the week before the Morp, and they all thought Shleby needed it more than Kat did. Shleby saw the picture and stopped. The tears came running down her cheeks, and seh dropped to the floor. Ezra was at her side in an instant, holding her until her tears stopped ~
Shelby sat up and listened to the words to the song that Ezra had put on. They seemed so fitting now. Now that Scott wanted nothing to do with her. The song brought back so many things that Shelby would just as soon as forget. The memories were painful, but Shelby had become accustomed to the pain. She calmed down a bit, and just let Daisy hold her while the memories swept over her like rain.
*Though we go our seperate ways....
I won't forget, so don't forget,
The memories we made.*
~ Shelby looked deep into Scott's eyes and she could feel her pulse quicken. She had forgiven him for not telling her sooner that he was leaving. At least she had convinced herself she had. 'I'm okay.' She kept telling herself. 'Scott will come visit. You know he'll still be a part of your life.'
The entire group stood around them. Bidding Scott farewell, and making sure he knew when he was allowed to call and come to visit. The only person Scott cared about was the person in front of him. He couldn't hold his feelings any longer, and he swept her into his arms. Shelby looked so fragile against him. "It'll be okay, Shell." He whispered into her hair. "It's not the end of the world." He knew how bad that sounded, but he needed her to know that he was till there for her.
Shelby looked over at Peter and Sophie. She didn't care how long she was on shuns for, she needed to kiss him. The kiss was pasisonate, and laced with fear and uncertianty. She didn't want to let go of him. Saying good-bye was killing her. "Please remember me?" She asked him hopefully. ~
*Please Remember. Please Remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me
Please Remember, our time togeather.
The time was yours and mine and we were wild and free.
Please remember. Please remember....me.*
Scott caught the last phrase of the song and held onto it. Those were Shelby's last words when he left Horizon the second time. Those were the words that kept him awake at night. He loved her more than anything on the Earth, and he had hurt her more deeply than anyone could ever imagine. He didn't know how he was going to get her back, now that Alex was coming to town. Everything she had told him about Alex was like a punch in the gut. He didn't even want to think about all the things Alex had access to when Shelby was living with him. She had told him everything without him having to ask. Then when Shelby told him about the kiss.....That was the one thing Scott couldn't handle.
*Good-bye.
There's just no sadder word to say.
And it's sad to walk away,
With just the memory. *
Alex sat alone in his hotel room, replaying the song in his CD player. He tried to remember Shelby as she was, but he couldn't do it. The only image that would come to his head was the one of Shelby when the police took her away. She was deadly calm and her head never looked down. He had kissed her that day. The first kiss that set his mind in motion. He had always cared about Shelby, he knew that he always will.
*Who's to know what might have been?
If we leave behind the life and time,
We'll never know again.*
~ Shelby laid on her bed at Peter's with her journal in front of her. She wrote in it everyday now. She felt so isolated from everyone now that Scott was gone. She had sent Jess to visit they're father for the holiday. She didn't want to see her father after what he did to her. True, he wasn't the one that abused her, but he refused to help her when she ran. He refused to take her calls when she was arrested before she was sent back to the same house as Walt. He wouldn't even open her letters after she had gotten to Horizon. Scott had been the one that made all that pain bareable. Scott had a way to make her forget everything, and he didn't need sex for him to help her. That pain was back now that Scott wasn't there. It pounded on her head and her heart like a steel drum.
Ezra tapped lightly on the door and then he watched her turn. "Peter wanted you to know that dinner would be ready in half an hour." He sat down on the bed and pick up the fuzzy bear that Kat had sent her. The bear that she had attectionatly called Scott. Missing him was tearing her apart, and Ezra wasn't the only one who could see it. Shelby stared at him until he put the bear down next to her. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked her gently.
She nodded gently, laying her journal on the nightstand. "Only if you want to listen." Everyone at Horizon would have listened to Shelby's problem, but she only wanted to talk with those that would take her seriously. "I only want to talk to someone that actually wants to listen." She told him, suddenly feeling small.
"I'll listen." Ezra pulled her into his lap an kissed her on the top of her head. Shelby was a sister to him. He wanted to help her because she had no one else. "I'll listen." That's how they sat for most of the night. Ezra listening while Shelby told her tale. ~
*Please remember. Please remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me.
And remember. Please remember......Me.
Daisy sat with Shelby until she fell asleep. Then she sat with her throughout most of the night. Juliet had come in there once or twice. To make sure Shelby was okay, and to get Daisy and extra pillow and bring her a few snacks. Daisy refused drinks however. She didn't want to wake Shelby just so she could go to the restroom. That was the true test of friendship, staying with your friend through all of it. Being there when the nightmares came. Daisy smiled to herself. That was where Scott had failed. Scott couldn't be there 'just because' Shelby needed him. He had always been catered to as the football hero. He didn't know how to handle someone elses pain. Even after he had been told what it was like for her on the streets, he had never been prepared to ask what he was thinking. Daisy felt lucky hat she didn't have to ask. Shelby just told her.
Scott watched as Juliet curled up in Auggie's lap to fall asleep. He never knew how empty one could feel just watching two people in love. Remembering how he felt lying in his bed back at Peter's house, thinking about holding Shelby. Never once did he think that she would finally cave and tell him about her past. Never once did he pretend that he only loved Shelby as long as he didn't know what Walt had driven her to. When he was at home that was what he had forgotten. He had remembered the parts of Shelby that were convienent for him to keep going day after day, but he had forgotten the most improtant thing. He had forgotten what made Shelby Shelby. That was the thing he should have remembered.
*Please remember. Please remember.
I was there for you and you were there for me.
Please remember, our time togeather.
When time was yours and mine and we were wild and free.
And remember. Please remember.....me
~ Alex laid on the oversized windowsill of Shelby's new apartment. He had bought the apartment for her three days ago. Patty OD'd four days ago. He never left Shelby's alone for the first few nights. He had told his father that he was at a friend's house. Better than to tell him the truth. He didn't know how to say: "Hey Dad, I'm taking care of a hooker by putting her up in one of the expensinve apartments on third that the company owns." He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. Not to his dad, and definately not to Shelby. He couldn't do that to Shelby. Slowly he stood and walked over to the CD player. He didn't want to wake her with one of her harder CDs, so he slid something soft into the player.
Shelby waited for the first few chords of Ricky Martin's song 'Private Emotion' to sound before she climbed out of bed. Slowly she made her way across the large room and glanced at herself in the full legnth mirror. Her skin was pale and all the baby fat she once posessed was no gone. The thin material of her sweat pants hung loose around her hips, and her white tank top clung to her chest as if it were wet. She had bought herself all new clothes with some of the money that Patty had left her. She didn't use much. Mostly beacuse she was afraid of the fact that someone might be monitoring the account. She opened the door slightly and watched Alex's tall form get a beer out of the fridge. "Get me one too." She said gently.
He had to admit that her voice startled him. He wasn't expecting her to get up any time soon. Obeying her order, Alex popped the top off of another beer and handed it to her. Then something crazy popped into his head. "You care to dance?" He asked her, only half joking. Shelby set her beer on the counter and held her arms out to him. Alex lifted her gently off the floor, and danced around the room. Then he slowed, and set her on her own feet. Neither one of them would ever forget that night. Alex got his first taste at love, and Shelby got her first chance to relax. ~
*And how we laughed.
And how we smiled.
And how each morn was yours and mine.
And when each dream was out of reach...
I stood by you, you stood by me.*
Auggie was fully aware of himself falling asleep, Juliet in his arms. Scott hadn't moved from his place on the couch. Before he allowed himself to sleep, however, he made himself think of a happier time with all the Cliffhangers. His favorite thing that had happened in all his years at Horizon. The Morp. Everyone was so happy there. Even Shelby, once Scott had returned. That was the night that Scott had first told her he loved her. That was the night before the entire situation between Scott and Shelby sarted. That was the last night they all could honestly calim that they were happy.
*We took each day and made it shine.
We wrote our names across the sky.
We ran so fast, we ran so free.
I had you and you had me.*
~ The two sat in silance on the porch. Neither wanting to start the round of questions. Finally Shelby could take no more of the silance. "Ask away." She repeated. In her mind she was hoping that he would decide not to ask any questions and wait until she was ready to give the answers willingly. "Come on Scott. It doesn't take that long to think up a question."
"Okay." Scott was trying to buy himself some time. He didn't want to know the answers to his questions just yet. He wanted the questions themselves to settle. "When you were....you know, on the street..." He kept stalling. His mind told him to spit the question out, but he couldn't make himself do it. "How much did you make a night?" He decided to start off easy. No need to go further than he had to in that much time.
"Depended on the night." Shelby was being totally serious. It felt as if she were talking to Peter. "I could usually make about six to seven hundred a night. Enough to pay my half of the rent for a couple months and stock the fridge every other week." She watched for Scott's reaction. He was holding himself togeather pretty well all things considering. "Alex covered Patty's side of the rent a lot. He was always around when we needed him. He kept us pretty well stocked." That was when she was sure she had said something that should have gone unsaid.
"He was your supplier." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. One that Scott wished he could have held in. The conversation went from bad to worse over those four words. The rest of the conversation was held with hushed tones and held back anger. Neither one wanted to hurt the other, but it was inevidible. Scott just had to hear it. No matter what. ~
*Please remember. Please remember.*
And that's how they spent they're first night in the Solo Cabin. Auggie and Juliet took the floor next to the couch. Juliet felt so protected against Auggie's chest. Ezra, and Jess fell asleep on the table in the kitchen, and after he knew they were asleep, David carried both of them into the boys' section of the cabin. He tenderly placed them in two seperate beds, hoping neither of them would remember that it was David that had done it. David himself fell asleep in the girls' room, after bringing Daisy in a pillow. Daisy and Shelby shared on of the full beds in the room. Shelby never moved during the night, and Daisy sat up talking to David until sleep took them both. Then there was Scott. Scott didn't sleep that night. He kept replaying the scene between him and Shelby on the porch in his head. He wanted to figure out where he went wrong. Occasionally he turned to watch Juliet and Auggie on the floor. Praying that he could, once again, have what they had. Love.
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