' On The Turning Away '

Chapter Two Part One

" Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones. "

She cries at night.

She thinks he doesn't know that. He does though. He can remember all the nights of sneaking into her bedroom. Being greeted by the sounds of soft whimpers. He never pries with questions of concern. He knows she will just lie. So he just lays there, feigning his slumber. Silently listening to her tired sobs. There it comes again. That twinge of guilt, whenever he thinks about her situation. Their friendship is tainted by his lack of consideration for her. By his desperate dependency for her to be there for him. He weighs her down. He is part of her burden. She'd never admit though. She'd just laugh it off. Tell him he was filled with ridiculous thoughts of pointless apologies. He knows those are all lies. Because he affects her. He can tell by the way she cries. The way she hides it from him. Or at least attempts to. It's unbareable. Not just because it hurts him to see her pained. It hurts him to think he causes that miserable feeling she experiences.

He can feel the lump of nausea form in his chest.His weary eyes slowly open with difficulty.The sun streaking from the window beside him causes him to wince. His blurry vision, gazes around the room. He doesn't recognize his surroundings as his bedroom. He feels the muscles in his back tense with pain, from the cramped size of the small mattress. He tries to slowly prop himself up. He can't. His head his spinning. He cringes at the shooting pangs in his head as he flops back down the bed. The familiar green of the walls immediately tell him where he is. At Haley's. He tiredly raises his hands to rub his face regretfully. He can't believe he did it again. He struggles to lift himself up against the bed frame. His forehead creases into a frown, upon seeing her. She is sleeping uncomfortably on her bean bag. A large textbook tucked under her cheek. Her highlighted auburn hair creating a hallow around her.

He doesn't deserve her friendship. He couldn't be more sure of that. There was something about her selfless nature that made her completely incompatible with him. Yet she was there for him anyway. She bared with his insufferable behavior. He doesn't deserve her. He can't stress that to himself enough. His body aches from the overdose of alcohol consumption the night previous, as he gets out of the bed, dizzily shuffling towards her. She weighs nothing scooped up in his arms. Her mouth cutely gapes open as her head flops against his shoulder. Gently tucking her into the bed, the tall glass of water on her bed side table catches his eye. He smiles softly. There was a saucer holding two small pills next to the glass. A sticky note reading ' Take Me' stuck to the plate.

" You smell like her"

His eyes narrows, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. He grabs the pills off the table chasing them down quickly with the water. She flips around on her back. He can feel her brown eyes penetrating in his back. She's waiting for him to respond. He can't though, he is to uncomfortable to tell her. She knows this. And he hates it.

" I'm sorry I crashed here " His voice sounded low and raspy.

She yawns with a shrug. " You know I don't care."

" The last thing you need to do is nurse my hang over Hales" He sighs.

She smiles weakly at him. He can't help but feel the spite behind her smile. As though she is unspokenly telling him, she knows she has better things to do. He is nothing but the bottling stress bubbling beneath her. It's just the person he is. He knows he has ways of causing those around him, those who care for him, to loose some sanity pining over their need to protect him. Because he leads them to believe they need to.

" So what happened?" She queries.

" Same old shi t "

She grins. " Did you have fun?"

" Do I ever?" He rolls his eyes.

" I don't know"

He rolls around onto his back. Laying down next to her with difficulty. Her head finds its way onto his chest. He feels the need to apologize to her. He doesn't know why. He just wants to. He just needs to. But he won't. It's too random. Too unexpected for her. She would get scared. She would worry that he pitied her in some way. He knows how much she hates pity. She's too strong for it yet ironically she's too weak for it. Because those who pity her cause her to realize that there is something wrong to begin with. And he knows she isn't one to face her problems. He can hear it in the way she cries.

" So how was your night?" he asks.

She breaths out with a sarcastic laugh. " Whitney made dinner, so you know, I was basically drowning in the high praises of her excellence".

" Come on Hales, she isn't that bad" He can't help but defend her. She's Whitney James after all. The only person he would ever lust after. The only person to ever be the description of utter perfection. It wasn't that annoying perfection though. That kind of person who tediously makes effort in making everything flawless. No she wasn't a perfectionist, she was perfect.That's what got him the most. She just was what she was.

" Sure you say that" She exclaims " You want to bone her!"

" I don't want to bone her" he smirks.

Her eyebrow arcs quizzically.

" Okay yes I want to bone her" He laughs " It's just she's never done anything for you to dislike her."

She groans dismissing the argument. " You know what you're right, I'm just jealous I guess"

" Haley..." He trails

" We aren't talking about her anymore!" she announces with widened eyes.

"So hows your dad?" he pushes a strand of her hair out of her face.

" He's being dad" she smiles weakly " Trying to make everyone feel comfortable..he even offered to help my mother pack her things"

" What she say?"

" No" she barks coldly at the thought of her mother.

" Have you decided if you're going to move with her?"

" Do I have a choice?"

" Of course you do Hales" he frowns, the beep of his watch draws him to check the time. 9:00 AM. " Crap."

" What is it?" she questions.

" I have to go home" he sighs " My dad will be home in an hour to go jogging"

He peels himself off the bed. Walking across the room to retrieve his Timbs. She flipped over onto her stomach falling back to sleep. He bites his lip taking in her exhausted state of slumber, before crawling out the window.