~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, as well as anyone Scott knew when he was at home with his father.~
~There are also a few lines that I have taken from one of my other favorite shows, BTVS. I thought that Joss's words would fit better in this type of subtext. I am not changing the words in any way shape or form. They will also be returned when I'm done.~
*I'm gonna be mean and ask for 15 reviews again. Come on....You can do it. You can even make them short ones.
*The first two paragraphs are the end of the last section. I wanted to remind you what has already happened.
"The eyes are the window to ones soul." ~Unknown.
Alex nodded in Shelby's direction and smiled. He was finally close enough to touch her. She stood slowly and took careful steps to where he was standing. Everyone in the room was watching them very carefully, Scott was tensing rapidly, and Daisy scooted out from behind Jess and moved to sit behind him. She kept one hand on him at all times. But Alex noticed none of that. The only thing on his mind was Shelby. He let out his breath and that he didn't realize that he had been holding. "Slate." He said softly. "You look......." His throat caught again and he wasn't sure what his next words was going to be. "......."
"So do you." Shelby pulled him into a huge hug and he kissed her forehead. That was all it took for Scott to jump up from his place on the floor and rush to her side. Daisy collasped on top of his bag, she had been trying to hold him, but her efforts weren't enough. She silantly prayed that he wouldn't do something crazy. Then again, this was Scott she was talking about.
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Shelby put herself between Scott and Alex. She knew that he wouldn't risk hitting her on accident. "Scott!" She heard Auggie yell, before Juliet was unceremonously dumped on the floor. Juliet recovered though, grabbing a hold of Jess, so the younger wouldn't be tempted to get involved. Ezra and David stayed close to Daisy. Auggie got a hold of Scott by the back of his shirt and thrust him over to the couch. Beong the stubburn guy that Scott was, he tried to stand up immediately. Auggie just kept pushing him down until he noticed Shelby was still standing in front of Alex. "Why don't you take him outside until we get Meat under control?" He offered helpfully. After a few nods, Shelby agreed.
Once outside, Shelby looked up at Alex. "Sorry about that." She wasn't used to apologizing to Alex. "He's......" She ran her hands over her face and looked out over the campus. "He's just protective." She tried to explain. "I-" Alex knew that he shouldn't have kissed her, but he just felt the urge to. He some sort of feeling that Shelby was going to kill him when she broke the kiss. "What the HELL was that about?" She asked him, stunned.
"It was a kiss-"
"I know what it was." She smiled, she knew where he was coming from. He was just excited to see that she was still alive. A small laugh escaped her lips. "I...can't believe you just did that." She coughed between giggles. "Loser."
A tan hand came up as if he'd been shot in the chest. "You mark me with you're words." He laughed, pulling her into another hug. "I missed you, Slate." He kissed the top of her head again and sat down on the top step. "So tell me about this place. I don't see any bars around here? I thought they had sent you to a lock down facility?"
"I refused to go to Fern Cliff, so they put me up on this rock." Her jeans gathered at her knees as she slid down next to him. "It's not all that bad when you get used to it. You talk alot about you're 'feelings,' and one gets tons of exercise." Her voice wavered slightly, and she closed her eyes. "Why'd you come back?" Her words hit like a ton of bricks. She knew the wouldn't tell her the truth. That was written across his face. He was there for her, if only she could get him to admit it. "Alex?"
It was Alex's turn to laugh softly. "One of my father's associates has a son that goes here." He said simply. "I'm assuming the guy who wanted to take a few pieces out of me was Scott?" His smile was all knowing, as her look of confusion spread. "Martin Barringer is a longtime friend of my father's. They've been working together for years. Scott and I used to play ball together when we were kids. He never did like me much." Alex nodded as realization donned on her face. "I followed Martin up here so we could still talk business while he stayed and spent time with his son. He felt guilty about not giving him a proper good-bye."
"Oh."
"I was origionally just going to stay in town until I had lunch with Martin one day. He showed me a picture of Scott and some of his friends. Aparently they call themselves the Cliffhangers?" Alex's eyes were looking at her with so many emotions to count.
Shelby's face started to noticeablely redden. "Oh, God." Shelby put her hand up to her face to hide her embarrassment. "That's the name Peter gave our group. He gives us just enough rope to hang ourselves, but he doesn't let us drop off the mountain." The more she talked, the more she noticed that she babbled. "Something like that-"
"Well," he went on with his story. "I was looking at this picture that he showed me and guess who I saw?" He poked her on the nose, and steadied his gaze. "He tells me that you and Scott are some sort of item?"
"Some sort." Shelby tried to calm herself. Thankfully enough, Juliet came out and smiled at them.
"We've got Scott calmed down." She said happily. "Somewhat." She smiled whole heartedly at Alex. "Peter's sitting with him. I don't think you'll have a problem with him." Juliet watched as Alex stood and gingerly helped Shelby up. "Peter wanted me to ask you if you wouldn't mind introducing him to the group. He thinks it might help Scott calm down."
Shelby brushed the hair out of her eyes and straightened out her shirt. "I doubt it." She laughed. "He IS Scott after all." Juliet smiled and opened the door to the lodge. "Showtime." Shelby whispered to Alex on their way through the door. The entire room had been re-arranged, people wise. Peter and Scott sat on the couch, Sophie had taken her usual spot on the end of it. Closer to the fire. Auggie sat on the floor in front of Scott. Hampering any thought Scott might have of jumping at Alex again. Daisy sat next to Ezra on the floor next to the fireplace. Jess was laying across them, her head in Ezra's lap. David was the lone survivor that managed to obtain the chair. He had fought Juliet for it, she seemed to have given up and was now helping Auggie keep Scott in place. Everyone's eyes were on Shelby and what she was going to do next. "Okay, guys, this is the guy that I was telling you about. Cliffhangers, this is Alex Wallace." Everyone raised their hands in silant greeting, waiting to be introduced to him individually. "Alex." Shelby took another deep breath and regained her composure. She decided to start with Juliet's side of the room "This is Juliet Waybourne, Auggie Cieros, Peter Scarburrow," Shelby held onto herself long enough to let him shake their hands in turn.
"Waybourne?" Alex eyed her suspiciously. "Hal's step-daughter?" Juliet nodded happily. "He speaks very highly of you." He watched her smile grow and he smiled back. "Although I could have sworn that you're mother said that you were in a boarding school in New York?"
"My mother doesn't like me very much, right now." Juliet said while still maintaining her happy tone. "She doesn't want anyone to know that I ended up at Horizon." Alex nodded to Peter, who smiled at him to assure him that he was doing fine.
Shelby delibritly skipped over Scott. He was going to need everyone on his side if he were to survive Scott. "That's Peter's wife Sophie." She pointed to the end of the couch and let her finger glide over the three next to the fire. She was going to skip her sister too. "That's Daisy Lipenowski, and Ezra Friedkin."
Alex moved to shake Daisy's hand. "I was very sorry to hear about your mother's death." He shook Ezra's hand and smiled down at him.
David decided to make as much trouble as possible. "You seem to know everyone around here don't you?" He smirked as a pillow came in contact with his head,
"My father does business with Mr. Row," Alex explained calmly. "I work with Mr. Lipenowski on occassion. My father's firm is used to a very high clientell." Shelby was suprised how professional. "I take it you would be David Ruxton?" He asked firmly. Everyone in the room gasped. "Shelby told me about you when I called her this morning." The explenation would have to do seeing as though he didn't want to tell everyone that he had his secretary pull up the papers on everyone in Shelby's group. He turned to the little one between Ezra and Daisy. Nodding at Shelby, she realized that she almost forgot about her.
"Alex this is my sister, Jessica." Shelby filled in as Jessica climbed to her feet next to her sister. She looked his suit up and down before nodding her approval to her sister. Shelby's hand was planted firmly on her sister's butt, gently, but enough to keep her in line. Then she turned to Scott. "And this is Scott Barringer." Scott shook his hand formally. He opened his mouth as if to speak, only to be interupted.
"Alex?" Connie stood at the door of the lodge, her briefcase tucked under her left arm. She had changed into a pair of snug fitting jeans and a white turtleneck. She looked as if she belonged on the mountain, but totally out of place with the Cliffhangers. Shelby turned to face the new comer and Connie gasped. "Mr. Wallace." She corrected herself. She should have never called him by his first name. Hearing Connie say his name, Alex turned. He nodded to her, and she approached him cautiously. "Mr. Wallace, Jerry called again. He wanted you to look at the papers on Ms. Anansie's account. He said that if you want to seize the account you'd need Ms. Harding's signature on a few documents." She looked directly at Shelby when she said this, knowing full well that she was Ms. Harding.
Shelby turned and threw a look at Alex. "I thought you told me that Patty's files had been wiped when the cops traced the room back to her?" She was near tears to find out that there was still some money out there for her somewhere. Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her the truth. "Alex, what happened to Patty's account?"
"It had been seized by one of Patty's boyfriends." He was telling her the truth, or at least part of it. "Jonathan was to keep matching the amount that she would have put into it if she were still alive until you were able to get on you're feet and use it." He reached out for the file that Connie had in her hand. "Jonathan didn't have any of the access codes, so he decided to get gone until you were desperate enough to agree to give him half the account in exchange for opening it." He thumbed through some of the pictures until he came in contact with the newspaper clipping from the day Jonathan died. "When he died, the account was lost." He handed the paper to Shelby who scanned over it. "I talked to Jerry McConnel, my friend from school, you know the one that took you and Patty shopping the day after you got to the apartment? Well, Jerry located the account, and I asked him to see if I could get control of it." His eyes pleaded with hers to believe him. "I don't need the money, but if I could only get a hold of the account, I could do what Patty always wanted Jon to do." He tossed the folder back at Connie and took Shelby's chin in his hand. "I only wanted to do what I promised her I'd do."
The room became deathly quiet. Everyone wanted to know what she was going to do. Shelby bit her bottom lip in frustration. "How much is in it?" She asked harshly. She wasn't too keen on the idea of having other people messing with Patty's things. When Alex didn't respond, Shelby grabbed the file out of Connie's hand. Flipping through the file, she finally came accross the page that told her the amount. "Son of a Mother." She whispered quietly. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" She asked keeping her voice low. Alex didn't say a thing. "ALEX. Why didn't you tell me the day she died that she left me thirteen thou?"
The edge in her voice proved to him that she was once again Slate Harding, and that any minute she could snap. "I didn't know how much was in it until I had Jerry track down the funds. Truth is, you weren't even supposed to know about it until you're eighteenth birthday. I just wanted to stock it so you could have a nice landing pad when you got out of here."
Shelby knew that he was telling her the truth. She didn't want to believe it, but he was. So she decided to change the subject. She turned her attention to Connie. "Girlfriend?" She asked pointedly.
Alex shook his head. "Secretary." He took the file out of her hands and handed it back to Connie. "Constance Marks, this is Shelby Merrick." He looked around the room. "Or for all intents and LEGAL purposes Slate Harding-"
"Don't call me that." Shelby spat in Alex's face. "Just because you come to visit me after three years, does NOT mean that you get to go back to the way things used to be." She gave up and moved over to where the fire was. "It's Shelby now." She took a few deep breaths and looked over at Scott. "Where are you staying?" She was trying to hint to the fact that he was staying with Scott's father, but she knew full well that Alex wouldn't give anything away.
"This little bed and breakfast up next to Rusty's. It's really cute, you would like it."
That's when David got his idea. "Hey Peter, I've got a question?" He watched as Peter turned to look over at him and Daisy. "What do you say we let Alex here stay with us?" A look of confusion spread across Shelby's face. On some level she knew what he was doing. She just didn't know why. "I mean all we're doing is planning the Morp, and us guys have an extra bed in our bunk?" He was trying so hard to make it so difficult for Peter to say no. "It would save him from having to commute if he's gonna be up here anyway."
Daisy picked up on the vibe that David was sending out. He wanted to make Scott and Alex get used to each other. One way or the other. "Yeah Peter, or we could spend tonight in the lodge, then tomarrow, depending on how we act tonight, you can let us stay here again or whatever." Off of Sophie's look she pressed further. "It would be like we were at the Solo Cabin, without the non-supervision thing. You could even make us stick togeather the entire time. It would be EXACTLY like we were at the cabin." Her eyes pleaded with him to trust them. "Come on Peter, you know you want to say yes."
Peter thought for a moment. "Okay." He held up his hand to silance their cheers. "First," Peter turned to Alex, "You want to stay here with them? It's you're call." It took only a second before Alex nodded. "Second, I'm going to require you to have Group before me and Soph leave, and again right after everyone's awake. if you agree to my terms, we can start unloading sleeping bags." The Group cheered again and Sophie took Ezra and Scott to go bring in sleeping bags.
"Are you sure you want to do this sir?" Connie asked Alex after Shelby went to help Daisy move the couch so they had more room on the floor. "You don't know why these children are in here. I think you're getting a little too far in over you're head."
Alex was touched by her concern. "I DO know why they're in here remember? You got me the file." He played off of her pathetic look. That's how he realized that he really wanted to do this. It was for Shelby. "Just go get my bags out of the car, and go back to the B and B. Tell Martin that I'll be there to talk to him about some things tomarrow morning." He brushed past her and went to help them move a table from the dining room out into the main area. Connie had no choice but to comply with his orders. Even though she didn't like it.
Juliet created a huge sign, with Shelby's help, that read "Cliffhanger's Section," and Alex helped hang it over the couch. They had moved the couch and a few pieces of rope over to where it created a sort of path from the stairs, around the main section past the door, to the dining hall. Peter said that for the next week, that area was Cliffhanger property. Auggie and Scott cleared the floor and laid down sleeping bags after Jessica vaccumed the floor. Ezra and Daisy were working on the fire, and David was out with Sophie, chopping enouhg fire wood to last them the night. They would have to draw straws the next morning to see who would go out in the cool September air to get more.
After all the moving and redecorating, Peter pulled everyone into a small, spread out circle to hold Group. He told everyone that Alex could participate if he wanted, and not to push. Then he moved out of the circle and comanded that they were to start Group as they had when they were at the Cabin. Auggie took control immediately. "Okay..." He started cautiously, watching Scott's face. "Why don't we start simple." He took the small stick that Peter used for Group and turned it over in his hand. "I feel, fill in the blank. Jules?"
Juliet caught the stick and smiled over at Alex, who was lounging against the front of the couch. "Happy!" She squeeled, watching as half the group members put a finger to their ears. "Daisy?"
"Tired. Shells?"
Shelby looked from one guy to the next. Both Scott and Alex were trying to protect her from the other. Neither could understand that she didn't need saving, not yet anyway. "Confused. Ezra?" She hurled the stick across the room, and it landed in Ezra's lap.
"Angry." He looked between Scott and Alex, debating who to throw it to next. His curisoty got the best of him, and he threw it blindly. "Alex?"
Alex looked from Shelby to Scott. He could sense a major emotion between them, but he couldn't place it. Aparently Shelby had gotten better at hiding her feelings. "Ummm.....Confident. Scott?"
That was the last thing Shelby thought he'd do. Scott caught the stick and glared at Alex. "Amazingly enough calm." He said cooly. "Jess?"
Seeing as though Jessica was sitting next to him, he didn't have to throw it. "Blind." She handed the stick to David.
"Sheepish." He said jokingly. He handed the stick to Auggie.
"Tough." Auggie looked to Peter for guidence and got his inspiration. "Idstead of saying why, we're going to go around and give one sentence on why we're here." His dark eyes focased on David. "And we're ALL going to take this seriously." He turned to Shelby and handed the stick to her. "You're up first Shell. Don't rush it." Then everyone in the room fell silent.
~There are also a few lines that I have taken from one of my other favorite shows, BTVS. I thought that Joss's words would fit better in this type of subtext. I am not changing the words in any way shape or form. They will also be returned when I'm done.~
*I'm gonna be mean and ask for 15 reviews again. Come on....You can do it. You can even make them short ones.
*The first two paragraphs are the end of the last section. I wanted to remind you what has already happened.
"The eyes are the window to ones soul." ~Unknown.
Alex nodded in Shelby's direction and smiled. He was finally close enough to touch her. She stood slowly and took careful steps to where he was standing. Everyone in the room was watching them very carefully, Scott was tensing rapidly, and Daisy scooted out from behind Jess and moved to sit behind him. She kept one hand on him at all times. But Alex noticed none of that. The only thing on his mind was Shelby. He let out his breath and that he didn't realize that he had been holding. "Slate." He said softly. "You look......." His throat caught again and he wasn't sure what his next words was going to be. "......."
"So do you." Shelby pulled him into a huge hug and he kissed her forehead. That was all it took for Scott to jump up from his place on the floor and rush to her side. Daisy collasped on top of his bag, she had been trying to hold him, but her efforts weren't enough. She silantly prayed that he wouldn't do something crazy. Then again, this was Scott she was talking about.
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Shelby put herself between Scott and Alex. She knew that he wouldn't risk hitting her on accident. "Scott!" She heard Auggie yell, before Juliet was unceremonously dumped on the floor. Juliet recovered though, grabbing a hold of Jess, so the younger wouldn't be tempted to get involved. Ezra and David stayed close to Daisy. Auggie got a hold of Scott by the back of his shirt and thrust him over to the couch. Beong the stubburn guy that Scott was, he tried to stand up immediately. Auggie just kept pushing him down until he noticed Shelby was still standing in front of Alex. "Why don't you take him outside until we get Meat under control?" He offered helpfully. After a few nods, Shelby agreed.
Once outside, Shelby looked up at Alex. "Sorry about that." She wasn't used to apologizing to Alex. "He's......" She ran her hands over her face and looked out over the campus. "He's just protective." She tried to explain. "I-" Alex knew that he shouldn't have kissed her, but he just felt the urge to. He some sort of feeling that Shelby was going to kill him when she broke the kiss. "What the HELL was that about?" She asked him, stunned.
"It was a kiss-"
"I know what it was." She smiled, she knew where he was coming from. He was just excited to see that she was still alive. A small laugh escaped her lips. "I...can't believe you just did that." She coughed between giggles. "Loser."
A tan hand came up as if he'd been shot in the chest. "You mark me with you're words." He laughed, pulling her into another hug. "I missed you, Slate." He kissed the top of her head again and sat down on the top step. "So tell me about this place. I don't see any bars around here? I thought they had sent you to a lock down facility?"
"I refused to go to Fern Cliff, so they put me up on this rock." Her jeans gathered at her knees as she slid down next to him. "It's not all that bad when you get used to it. You talk alot about you're 'feelings,' and one gets tons of exercise." Her voice wavered slightly, and she closed her eyes. "Why'd you come back?" Her words hit like a ton of bricks. She knew the wouldn't tell her the truth. That was written across his face. He was there for her, if only she could get him to admit it. "Alex?"
It was Alex's turn to laugh softly. "One of my father's associates has a son that goes here." He said simply. "I'm assuming the guy who wanted to take a few pieces out of me was Scott?" His smile was all knowing, as her look of confusion spread. "Martin Barringer is a longtime friend of my father's. They've been working together for years. Scott and I used to play ball together when we were kids. He never did like me much." Alex nodded as realization donned on her face. "I followed Martin up here so we could still talk business while he stayed and spent time with his son. He felt guilty about not giving him a proper good-bye."
"Oh."
"I was origionally just going to stay in town until I had lunch with Martin one day. He showed me a picture of Scott and some of his friends. Aparently they call themselves the Cliffhangers?" Alex's eyes were looking at her with so many emotions to count.
Shelby's face started to noticeablely redden. "Oh, God." Shelby put her hand up to her face to hide her embarrassment. "That's the name Peter gave our group. He gives us just enough rope to hang ourselves, but he doesn't let us drop off the mountain." The more she talked, the more she noticed that she babbled. "Something like that-"
"Well," he went on with his story. "I was looking at this picture that he showed me and guess who I saw?" He poked her on the nose, and steadied his gaze. "He tells me that you and Scott are some sort of item?"
"Some sort." Shelby tried to calm herself. Thankfully enough, Juliet came out and smiled at them.
"We've got Scott calmed down." She said happily. "Somewhat." She smiled whole heartedly at Alex. "Peter's sitting with him. I don't think you'll have a problem with him." Juliet watched as Alex stood and gingerly helped Shelby up. "Peter wanted me to ask you if you wouldn't mind introducing him to the group. He thinks it might help Scott calm down."
Shelby brushed the hair out of her eyes and straightened out her shirt. "I doubt it." She laughed. "He IS Scott after all." Juliet smiled and opened the door to the lodge. "Showtime." Shelby whispered to Alex on their way through the door. The entire room had been re-arranged, people wise. Peter and Scott sat on the couch, Sophie had taken her usual spot on the end of it. Closer to the fire. Auggie sat on the floor in front of Scott. Hampering any thought Scott might have of jumping at Alex again. Daisy sat next to Ezra on the floor next to the fireplace. Jess was laying across them, her head in Ezra's lap. David was the lone survivor that managed to obtain the chair. He had fought Juliet for it, she seemed to have given up and was now helping Auggie keep Scott in place. Everyone's eyes were on Shelby and what she was going to do next. "Okay, guys, this is the guy that I was telling you about. Cliffhangers, this is Alex Wallace." Everyone raised their hands in silant greeting, waiting to be introduced to him individually. "Alex." Shelby took another deep breath and regained her composure. She decided to start with Juliet's side of the room "This is Juliet Waybourne, Auggie Cieros, Peter Scarburrow," Shelby held onto herself long enough to let him shake their hands in turn.
"Waybourne?" Alex eyed her suspiciously. "Hal's step-daughter?" Juliet nodded happily. "He speaks very highly of you." He watched her smile grow and he smiled back. "Although I could have sworn that you're mother said that you were in a boarding school in New York?"
"My mother doesn't like me very much, right now." Juliet said while still maintaining her happy tone. "She doesn't want anyone to know that I ended up at Horizon." Alex nodded to Peter, who smiled at him to assure him that he was doing fine.
Shelby delibritly skipped over Scott. He was going to need everyone on his side if he were to survive Scott. "That's Peter's wife Sophie." She pointed to the end of the couch and let her finger glide over the three next to the fire. She was going to skip her sister too. "That's Daisy Lipenowski, and Ezra Friedkin."
Alex moved to shake Daisy's hand. "I was very sorry to hear about your mother's death." He shook Ezra's hand and smiled down at him.
David decided to make as much trouble as possible. "You seem to know everyone around here don't you?" He smirked as a pillow came in contact with his head,
"My father does business with Mr. Row," Alex explained calmly. "I work with Mr. Lipenowski on occassion. My father's firm is used to a very high clientell." Shelby was suprised how professional. "I take it you would be David Ruxton?" He asked firmly. Everyone in the room gasped. "Shelby told me about you when I called her this morning." The explenation would have to do seeing as though he didn't want to tell everyone that he had his secretary pull up the papers on everyone in Shelby's group. He turned to the little one between Ezra and Daisy. Nodding at Shelby, she realized that she almost forgot about her.
"Alex this is my sister, Jessica." Shelby filled in as Jessica climbed to her feet next to her sister. She looked his suit up and down before nodding her approval to her sister. Shelby's hand was planted firmly on her sister's butt, gently, but enough to keep her in line. Then she turned to Scott. "And this is Scott Barringer." Scott shook his hand formally. He opened his mouth as if to speak, only to be interupted.
"Alex?" Connie stood at the door of the lodge, her briefcase tucked under her left arm. She had changed into a pair of snug fitting jeans and a white turtleneck. She looked as if she belonged on the mountain, but totally out of place with the Cliffhangers. Shelby turned to face the new comer and Connie gasped. "Mr. Wallace." She corrected herself. She should have never called him by his first name. Hearing Connie say his name, Alex turned. He nodded to her, and she approached him cautiously. "Mr. Wallace, Jerry called again. He wanted you to look at the papers on Ms. Anansie's account. He said that if you want to seize the account you'd need Ms. Harding's signature on a few documents." She looked directly at Shelby when she said this, knowing full well that she was Ms. Harding.
Shelby turned and threw a look at Alex. "I thought you told me that Patty's files had been wiped when the cops traced the room back to her?" She was near tears to find out that there was still some money out there for her somewhere. Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her the truth. "Alex, what happened to Patty's account?"
"It had been seized by one of Patty's boyfriends." He was telling her the truth, or at least part of it. "Jonathan was to keep matching the amount that she would have put into it if she were still alive until you were able to get on you're feet and use it." He reached out for the file that Connie had in her hand. "Jonathan didn't have any of the access codes, so he decided to get gone until you were desperate enough to agree to give him half the account in exchange for opening it." He thumbed through some of the pictures until he came in contact with the newspaper clipping from the day Jonathan died. "When he died, the account was lost." He handed the paper to Shelby who scanned over it. "I talked to Jerry McConnel, my friend from school, you know the one that took you and Patty shopping the day after you got to the apartment? Well, Jerry located the account, and I asked him to see if I could get control of it." His eyes pleaded with hers to believe him. "I don't need the money, but if I could only get a hold of the account, I could do what Patty always wanted Jon to do." He tossed the folder back at Connie and took Shelby's chin in his hand. "I only wanted to do what I promised her I'd do."
The room became deathly quiet. Everyone wanted to know what she was going to do. Shelby bit her bottom lip in frustration. "How much is in it?" She asked harshly. She wasn't too keen on the idea of having other people messing with Patty's things. When Alex didn't respond, Shelby grabbed the file out of Connie's hand. Flipping through the file, she finally came accross the page that told her the amount. "Son of a Mother." She whispered quietly. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" She asked keeping her voice low. Alex didn't say a thing. "ALEX. Why didn't you tell me the day she died that she left me thirteen thou?"
The edge in her voice proved to him that she was once again Slate Harding, and that any minute she could snap. "I didn't know how much was in it until I had Jerry track down the funds. Truth is, you weren't even supposed to know about it until you're eighteenth birthday. I just wanted to stock it so you could have a nice landing pad when you got out of here."
Shelby knew that he was telling her the truth. She didn't want to believe it, but he was. So she decided to change the subject. She turned her attention to Connie. "Girlfriend?" She asked pointedly.
Alex shook his head. "Secretary." He took the file out of her hands and handed it back to Connie. "Constance Marks, this is Shelby Merrick." He looked around the room. "Or for all intents and LEGAL purposes Slate Harding-"
"Don't call me that." Shelby spat in Alex's face. "Just because you come to visit me after three years, does NOT mean that you get to go back to the way things used to be." She gave up and moved over to where the fire was. "It's Shelby now." She took a few deep breaths and looked over at Scott. "Where are you staying?" She was trying to hint to the fact that he was staying with Scott's father, but she knew full well that Alex wouldn't give anything away.
"This little bed and breakfast up next to Rusty's. It's really cute, you would like it."
That's when David got his idea. "Hey Peter, I've got a question?" He watched as Peter turned to look over at him and Daisy. "What do you say we let Alex here stay with us?" A look of confusion spread across Shelby's face. On some level she knew what he was doing. She just didn't know why. "I mean all we're doing is planning the Morp, and us guys have an extra bed in our bunk?" He was trying so hard to make it so difficult for Peter to say no. "It would save him from having to commute if he's gonna be up here anyway."
Daisy picked up on the vibe that David was sending out. He wanted to make Scott and Alex get used to each other. One way or the other. "Yeah Peter, or we could spend tonight in the lodge, then tomarrow, depending on how we act tonight, you can let us stay here again or whatever." Off of Sophie's look she pressed further. "It would be like we were at the Solo Cabin, without the non-supervision thing. You could even make us stick togeather the entire time. It would be EXACTLY like we were at the cabin." Her eyes pleaded with him to trust them. "Come on Peter, you know you want to say yes."
Peter thought for a moment. "Okay." He held up his hand to silance their cheers. "First," Peter turned to Alex, "You want to stay here with them? It's you're call." It took only a second before Alex nodded. "Second, I'm going to require you to have Group before me and Soph leave, and again right after everyone's awake. if you agree to my terms, we can start unloading sleeping bags." The Group cheered again and Sophie took Ezra and Scott to go bring in sleeping bags.
"Are you sure you want to do this sir?" Connie asked Alex after Shelby went to help Daisy move the couch so they had more room on the floor. "You don't know why these children are in here. I think you're getting a little too far in over you're head."
Alex was touched by her concern. "I DO know why they're in here remember? You got me the file." He played off of her pathetic look. That's how he realized that he really wanted to do this. It was for Shelby. "Just go get my bags out of the car, and go back to the B and B. Tell Martin that I'll be there to talk to him about some things tomarrow morning." He brushed past her and went to help them move a table from the dining room out into the main area. Connie had no choice but to comply with his orders. Even though she didn't like it.
Juliet created a huge sign, with Shelby's help, that read "Cliffhanger's Section," and Alex helped hang it over the couch. They had moved the couch and a few pieces of rope over to where it created a sort of path from the stairs, around the main section past the door, to the dining hall. Peter said that for the next week, that area was Cliffhanger property. Auggie and Scott cleared the floor and laid down sleeping bags after Jessica vaccumed the floor. Ezra and Daisy were working on the fire, and David was out with Sophie, chopping enouhg fire wood to last them the night. They would have to draw straws the next morning to see who would go out in the cool September air to get more.
After all the moving and redecorating, Peter pulled everyone into a small, spread out circle to hold Group. He told everyone that Alex could participate if he wanted, and not to push. Then he moved out of the circle and comanded that they were to start Group as they had when they were at the Cabin. Auggie took control immediately. "Okay..." He started cautiously, watching Scott's face. "Why don't we start simple." He took the small stick that Peter used for Group and turned it over in his hand. "I feel, fill in the blank. Jules?"
Juliet caught the stick and smiled over at Alex, who was lounging against the front of the couch. "Happy!" She squeeled, watching as half the group members put a finger to their ears. "Daisy?"
"Tired. Shells?"
Shelby looked from one guy to the next. Both Scott and Alex were trying to protect her from the other. Neither could understand that she didn't need saving, not yet anyway. "Confused. Ezra?" She hurled the stick across the room, and it landed in Ezra's lap.
"Angry." He looked between Scott and Alex, debating who to throw it to next. His curisoty got the best of him, and he threw it blindly. "Alex?"
Alex looked from Shelby to Scott. He could sense a major emotion between them, but he couldn't place it. Aparently Shelby had gotten better at hiding her feelings. "Ummm.....Confident. Scott?"
That was the last thing Shelby thought he'd do. Scott caught the stick and glared at Alex. "Amazingly enough calm." He said cooly. "Jess?"
Seeing as though Jessica was sitting next to him, he didn't have to throw it. "Blind." She handed the stick to David.
"Sheepish." He said jokingly. He handed the stick to Auggie.
"Tough." Auggie looked to Peter for guidence and got his inspiration. "Idstead of saying why, we're going to go around and give one sentence on why we're here." His dark eyes focased on David. "And we're ALL going to take this seriously." He turned to Shelby and handed the stick to her. "You're up first Shell. Don't rush it." Then everyone in the room fell silent.
