I can't Believe

Disclaimer- As if I hadn't made it clear the first few times, I own no one.

Alex leaned over the table as Daisy and Shelby turned the corner to go to the restroom. "As promised." He slid the check across the table. Brittany's eyebrows rose when she saw the amount on the check. There must have been some mistake.

"Um…Alex?" Brittany folded the check and stuck it into her handbag. "There was one too many zeros on that check." She took a sip of her water and glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching them. "We agreed on five thou, not fifty."

"So you got a little bonus." He waved his hand as if it was nothing but a minor point. "You did a good job. You deserve it." He took a sip of his champagne and smiled at Jessica, who was coming back from the restroom. "Hey you." He laughed as she slid into a seat near him.

Brittany shook her head and made a decision. The tossing in her stomach was horrible as she thought about what she had just done. Getting paid five thousand wouldn't have made her feel that bad. Where she came from, everyone could afford that kind of cash. It just seemed dirtier when it was fifty. "I'm going to powder my nose." She said clearly, barely receiving a nod from Alex as he talked with Shelby's little sister about what she wanted to do with her life. Standing quickly, she moved over to where Peter stood in the corner of the room. "Mister Scarburrow?" She asked him attentively. "May I have a word with you?"

Peter looked confused for a second before he nodded at her. "Sure Britt." She slid into a nearby chair and Peter looked at her squarely. "I assume this has something to do with what happened a few minutes ago." Looking at the girl now, Peter realized how young she really looked. With just a little bit of lip-gloss, and some minor blush and mascara, Brittany looked nothing like she did when he first met her.

"What would you do to me if I told you that I didn't want to do what I did out in the lobby?" She watched as he turned to look into her eyes abruptly. She knew that she risked a lot by telling him that Alex paid her to seduce Scott. That would tear his entire image of the Golden Boy to bits, and even with the check, there was a very large chance that he wouldn't believe her. "It wasn't my idea to…" She couldn't figure out how to put what was in her mind into words.

"Come between Scott and Shelby?" His voice sounded so sure of himself. "But that's why you came up here isn't it?" He wasn't being the nicest guy to her, and for that he was only partially sorry. When she looked away, he turned from her. "Brittany?"

"I came up here to see what was so good about this place." She said evenly. "I wanted to see why Scott found it so easy to give up the lifestyle that he'd been living." That part was true enough, at least she could tell most of the truth. "Scott would have given up on me if it wasn't for Alex being there with Shelby. Even you know that much." Peter nodded, and she felt compelled to finish what she started. "Shelby would have given up Alex if she thought that Scott would take her back. She just wanted someone to feel safe with, and for a reason that's beyond me, she felt safe with Alex." Brittany pulled her handbag into her lap and fumbled with the clasp. Then she reached in and pulled out the folded check. "But back to my beginning statement." She handed it to Peter and his eyes widened at the sight of the amount. "Alex became threatened when Scott and Shelby got Prom-I mean Morp king and queen. He told me to get between them." She stopped and watched as Shelby came back to the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "At first it seemed harmless enough. I felt jealous of what they had, and it was-"

"A challenge." Peter said smoothly.

Brittany nodded and closed her eyes tightly. "He originally offered me five thou to do it." She said shamefully. "Then a few minutes ago he handed me that. It just felt wrong." Wiping her trembling hands on her dress to smooth it down, she coughed. "It just felt wrong."

Peter looked at the crying girl and frowned. For once, he didn't know what to do about this. "Would you be willing to tell this to Scott and Shelby?" He asked gently, handing Brittany a napkin off of the table. Brittany nodded smoothly, and Peter looked over at the table where all the Cliffhangers had joined again. His eyes connected with Scott's, and Peter nodded. He did the same with Shelby.

Scott and Shelby rose smoothly, and made their way over to Peter and Brittany. They looked at each other in alarm when they say that Brittany was crying. Kneeling down in front of Brittany, Scott turned her face to his. "What's the matter?" He asked her, and then Peter.

"Brittany has something that she has to tell you two." Peter said, nodding them into chairs around the table. "And neither of you are going to like her for it." Peter placed a hand on Britt's shoulder, and she started to cough. "Go on."

Brittany took a deep breath, and looked into Scott's eyes. He would understand why she did what she did. He had seen football players at their old high school do the exact same thing to get the girl they want. Smoothing her face with her hands, Brittany looked up at Shelby. "Alex isn't the kind of guy you think he is." She started easily. "I know you don't want to admit this, but he's your typical rich guy."

"What are you talking about?" Shelby crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned to Peter. "What is she talking about?" Already, she didn't like where this was going.

"Let her finish." Peter slid into the chair next to Brittany.

Time stood still for a few moments as Brittany tried to calm herself down. "Alex couldn't stand to see you and Scott get closer, so he asked me to do something about it. He told me that it would be worth my while-"

"She's lying." Shelby barked, cutting Brittany off. "Alex would never do that."

The check switched hands smoothly, and Shelby's eyes widened. "Then why did he write me a fifty thousand dollar check?" She squared her jaw and looked at Scott. "At first it was only supposed to for a couple thou. Then after I did it, he handed me that. He told me that it was worth it."

Shelby covered her mouth with her hand and Scott put his hands on Brittany's knees. "Why'd you do it Britt?" He asked her quickly, before Shelby could form the words she was thinking of. The last thing they needed was a chick fight. "Why'd you take the money?"

"The same reasons I did it back at Hemery." Brittany put her hands on Scott's and looked into his eyes. "I was jealous of what you two had. And misery loves company, remember?" Shaking her head, Brittany pushed Scott's hands away from her. "I truly am sorry. You've got to believe me." Tears escaped her eyes and she watched Scott and Shelby exchange looks.

"Yeah," Shelby said slowly. "I believe you." Scott stood and put his hand on Shelby's arm. Shaking her head, Shelby looked him directly in the eyes. She took her room key out of her handbag and handed it to Scott. "Why don't you take her up to my suite?" She said softly nodding to Scott that everything would be okay. "I doubt she brought any clothes up with her, so she can borrow some of mine." Scott whispered something that Brittany couldn't make out, and Shelby shook her head. "No. Let me deal with Alex." She kissed him gently on the cheek and turned to see that Alex had left he room and was now in the lobby with a few chaperones.

Shelby grabbed Alex's arm and leaned into his shoulder. "I need to speak to you for a moment." She said as pleasantly as she could. Alex looked at her with questioning eyes, and she smiled at the two Horizon counselors that were standing next to him. "Alone." She stated quickly, looking into his eyes. Alex nodded, and Shelby turned to the chaperones. "If you'll excuse us…" She slowly pulled him away from the group, and the second they were around the corner she whirled on him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She asked him angrily.

Alex looked confused for a second. "Say that one again?" He whipped his brow with the back of his hand and watched as Shelby pulled a folded white paper out of her handbag. He recognized it immediately, and his mind spun. "Shell-"

"No." She spat out harshly. "I don't want to hear anymore of your lame ass excuses. This time Alex, I want the truth."

Looking around the room, Alex motioned for her to lower her voice. "Could we have this conversation somewhere else?" He asked smoothly, knowing all too well that if he could get her alone, he could make her see that he did it for her. Shelby's gaze never wavered, and he lowered his head to look more clearly into her eyes. "Please Shelby?"

"I can't believe that you of all people could do something like this!" Shelby shouted as Alex turned away from her. They had been arguing back and forth for at least twenty minutes already, and she still couldn't see how Alex couldn't see that what he did was wrong. She wasn't even sure why she had agreed to have this conversation up in Alex's room, but she was glad for a little privacy. She couldn't believe how confident he was, how arrogant. Rage consumed her body, twisting her emotions of pain and sorrow until there was nothing left but hate and indifference. Once again she was Slate Harding. "I thought you cared for me?" She asked him softly.

"I loved you." Alex said bluntly. "Then you went after Scott, after you told me that whatever you had with him was over."

"I did what I had to do!" She screamed at him, her heart constricting. "There was a time that I would have sworn you knew what that was like." She wanted to hurt him now. To make him wish that he hadn't shown her mixed emotions when all she needed was someone to understand what she was going through. She wanted to make him feel all the hurt and betrayal that she was going through.

She made her voice velvety soft. "To think that I allowed you to hold me and tell me that everything would be alright."

Alex stopped cold, realization dawning through him.

"To think that I actually wanted your arms around me."

Slowly, suddenly turned on by her soft, delicate words, he turned to regard her. She was sitting on the bed, his bed, watching him with eyes the color of the sea.

"To think I wanted you to touch me"

He took a step foreword.

"Makes me sick." Shelby finished before his foot hit the marble floor.

The back of his hand came down on her right cheek hard.

Shelby fell back onto the bed, her right hand immediately reaching for her cheek. Alex didn't even register what had happened until he saw the tears in her eyes. He didn't even realize that he had struck her. He took a step to her, just to watch her creep back onto the bed some more to get away from him. "Shell…" His voice died down as Shelby's eyes lifted to look into his. Never in his entire life had he seen so much pain and hatred. And he never wanted to see it again. Especially coming from Shelby's eyes. "I'm so sorry." He tried to reach out to her, but she recoiled again.

"Don't touch me again." She coughed, her face still stinging from his hand. He reached for her again, and she slapped his hand away. "I said don't fucking touch me!" She shouted at him. She could feel her voice constrict as the tears ran down her face. As calmly as she could, Shelby stood and took a few deep breaths.

"Shell-"

She barely registered that he had spoken as she began to move to the door. "I'm never going to see you again." She stated calmly. "I'm going to receive a letter from you're secretary telling me how to get into my bank account, and then you're going to disappear from my life." She wiped her eyes and turned to face him. Her mind was still trying to put its thoughts back together. "How could you think that you could turn me into who I used to be?" Little by little, Shelby felt as though she would be fine. "How could you try to buy my love? How do you justify trashing my heart?" She wiped her eyes again and opened the door. "I'm never gonna see you again." She repeated as she walked out of the door and into the hall. The door shut with a soft click and Shelby began to sob.

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