I don't own any of the Higher Ground characters except Jessie and Danielle.
Shelby walked up the stairs. She needed to talk to Scott. She needed to talk to him now. She opened the door to the office Peter had given him...
...And gasped. She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Jessie and Scott were lying on the floor in a tangled heap, legs entwined with one another. She tried in vain to stop the tears that started coursing down her cheeks as Scott and Jessie took notice that she was there.
"Shelby..." Scott sputtered. "I can explain." Shelby looked at Jessie, who looked amazingly smug. She didn't look like she was sorry for Shelby catching them; she looked like she was enjoying it.
"Don't bother," Shelby told Scott coldly. "Because I don't want to hear it." She turned on heel and ran from the lodge, sobbing the whole way.
Scott laid back and massaged his throbbing temples. He had seen the look on Shelby's face. He hurt her. He knew as soon as he saw her tears, her pain, that it was wrong to have slept with Jessie. As if reading his mind, she snuggled against him and purred.
He pushed her away. "Don't," he said. "This is wrong. We were wrong. We shouldn't have..." He trailed off when he saw Daisy standing in the doorway with a cold expression on her face.
"No, you shouldn't have," she said coolly. "But you did. And you hurt Shelby. Now I have to retaliate for her."
She turned to Jessie. "You are a no good, stuck up, little slut who deserves everything you get."
"And you," she turned to Scott. "You are a jerk who doesn't deserve my best friend. You used her, took advantage of her, told her you loved her. She trusted you. Other than me, you were the only one she told. Why do you think she did that? Because you made her think she could trust you, that's why! You're a selfish bastard who wants what he can get easily. You and Jessie deserve each other!" She walked out of the room.
Scott struggled into his pants and chased Daisy. Jessie sighed and laid back down.
"Daisy! Wait up!" Scott called to her. He expected her to break into a run, but she turned to face him. Her eyes flashed dangerously.
"What do you want?" she hissed.
"Want to know why I slept with Jessie? Because Shelby was done with me! And you said I was using her!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked in a skeptical voice.
"I saw her and Ezra in a very steamy embrace before I went to Jessie," Scott said in an I-told-you-so voice.
"Yeah, well, I would hardly call it steamy," Daisy snorted. "I came in not long after you, I'm guessing. Shelby was so upset. It had finally hit her that Jess was gone and wasn't coming back. She just lost it. Ezra was the first one to find her."
Scott didn't know what to say. He just stood there, mouth agape. He felt so bad. Shelby lost her only sister, the sister she had taken so much pain for. And now she had to deal with the hurt he caused her.
"We convinced her to come to you. We thought you might be able to help her. We both wanted you and Shelby to be close again. As if," Daisy said bitterly. She didn't wait for a response, just left him standing, sun setting in the distance.
Shelby walked through the woods, feeling exhausted. It had gotten dark hours ago, but she hadn't felt like going back and facing everyone. Facing Scott. She still didn't feel like going back, but someone had to take care of Danielle. That someone was her. She had almost abandoned her once before, but she wasn't about to do it again.
She walked up to the lodge. Ezra was sitting on the steps waiting for her. She was a good distance away and it was dark, so she saw him before he saw her. She watched him with mixed feelings. He had concern etched into his face. What a good friend he's been, Shelby thought. I practically dumped my daughter on him and he's still talking to me. Which is more than I can say for Scott.
As she came out of the shadows, Ezra stood and embraced her. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of anyone. A promise she broke immediately.
It was inevitable. Ezra's arms were so warm and open that she couldn't help it. The tears poured down her face and onto his neck, but he didn't seem to notice. He just rubbed her back and whispered words of comfort into her hair.
It took a while, but Shelby finally stopped crying. She leaned back and laughed at Ezra.
"What?" he asked, amused at her sudden change in moods.
She pointed to his sopping wet shirt, still laughing. Soon they were both laughing. They sat down on the step. Ezra put his arm around Shelby. She laid her head on his shoulder.
"Feel better?" he asked.
"Yeah, a little," she admitted. "But I'm so angry with him, I could scream! How could he do that? How could he do that to me?"
"Well, Shel," Ezra said carefully. "You guys aren't together. Not technically."
"Could have fooled me," she snorted. "He tried to kiss me the other night. And then he goes and sleeps with Jessie. That slut."
"That's what I told her," said a voice from behind them. Daisy joined them on Shelby's other side. "I told them both off."
Shelby smiled wanly. "Thanks, Dais," she said. "I appreciate it. I probably would have gone off the deep end with them."
"And who says I didn't?" Daisy asked, amused that Shelby assumed she'd be courteous. Shelby didn't say anything, but Ezra chuckled.
"How's Dani?" Shelby asked, changing the subject. "Did she go to sleep all right?"
"Yeah, she went right out," Daisy said. "Soon as, make that before, I put her in the crib."
"I think I'm gonna look in on her," Shelby said, standing up.
Ezra grabbed her arm. "Will you be OK?" he asked softly.
Shelby smiled warmly. "Yeah. Thanks to the two of you, yeah. I'll be fine." She walked away, Daisy and Ezra staring after her.
Shelby walked into the familiar cabin and sighed. This had been one of the hardest days of her life. She loved Scott. She still loves Scott. But he had hurt her, more than once. She felt like she had nothing left.
She sighed again as she looked at her sleeping baby. She chastised herself. She had everything left. How could she say she had nothing?
She picked up her carry-on bag and dug for the things she knew would help her feel better. She found the pills and popped four of them into her mouth. She lay down on her bed, wanting to sleep forever.
