A/N: Okay, if you didn't see last night's Summerland, skip this bit. Before the story goes on I must say (girly shriek) LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF SUMMERLAND ROCKED! Jesse was so hot! I nearly cried when he overdosed, he looked so ill…his eye was so swollen! And when Bradin was all 'hiss hiss' at Callie, I mourned so thank the LORD they made up! He really out-hotted himself this episode! BRALLIE/CALLDIN FOREVER! He was such a major horn dog this episode though, God… beginning to think I didn't exaggerate so much in this fic! Okay, done rambling… Hee hee hee, Jesse McCartney is so beyond hot…
He didn't remember. Okay, so she didn't really expect him to after seeing his display, but it still pissed her off. He wouldn't remember her confessing her desire to be with him, he wouldn't know why she was so disgusted, and he wouldn't have any recollection of anything. That was just wonderful. Jessica walked away from the door, ignoring his raised voice pleading for her to listen. He couldn't even feel guilty, stupid scumbag.
The next day at school, Jessica spotted Bradin heading towards her locker. Then he approached her at lunch and cornered her after school. She was completely repulsed by him right now but a little voice whispered that he was drunk… he wasn't himself and definitely not thinking straight…so should he blame him? But the voice was silenced as every other part of her remembered his appalling behaviour. She couldn't be around him, she just couldn't.
Bradin was constantly hovering nearby which meant she had to be on guard constantly that day in order to avoid him, causing her to be more than a little distracted through out. Jason had walked with her to a few classes and had seemed adamant to tell her something at lunch but she was too dazed to really hear. He tried again after school.
"Jessica…" he hesitated.
"Hmmm?" She murmured, glancing over her shoulder on look out.
"We've gotten to be pretty close… I mean it's been two months since we've met…" he swallowed.
"Yeah, you're a good friend, Jas," Jessica agreed, scanning the crowd ahead.
"The thing is, from the first day I met you, I didn't want to be just-" Jason started.
"CRAP! I got to go, Bradin's coming!" yelped Jessica, "See you!" she scattered off, leaving Jason gaping after her looking pained.
"…friends," Jason finished, "So, want to go out with me, Jess?" He glanced over at Bradin, who actually didn't seem to have spotted Jessica, and glared. "Even when she's ignoring him I can't get in a word." He gingerly touched his jaw where Bradin had punched him and muttered quietly, "Oh, Jason, where'd you get that bruise? God, she doesn't even notice me…"
"JESSICA!" Bradin yelled.
Jessica was out the school doors and just starting to relax. She sighed. It figures the moment she let's her guard down is the moment he chooses to pop up. She decided to just continue walking.
"Wait," he panted, stepping beside her.
"How many times do I have to yell at you and avoid you for you to understand that I don't want to talk?" snapped Jessica.
"I don't want to piss you off, but I need to talk to you," he answered.
"Space, time, distance apart, all words you don't seem to comprehend. Can't you see that I can't be near you?" Jessica exclaimed.
She was right, Bradin thought. But how could he make anything right if he didn't remember what he had done? "Can I make things right?" he asked.
"Leave me alone and move on," she yelled. "And I'm not going to explain to you what it is you did. You're just going to have to figure it out yourself."
"Jess-" he didn't even know what to say anymore.
"This isn't like before, Bradin. I can't forgive you." She said softly and walked off. This time, Bradin didn't follow.
As the hours passed, Bradin fought with himself, trying desperately to recall what he had done. He tried to piece together the flashes of noise, the hazy disjointed snapshots of events…
For some reason, he kept coming up with the sensation of feeling her lips against his. But that wasn't possible, was it? Bradin was slipping into extreme frustration. Would the memories ever surface?
He lay in bed, going through every detail that floated to mind. Was it hopeless? He had a fitful sleep, unable to find actual rest.
"...Horn dog…trying to…shirt off… I'm not going to do that!"
"…Sara would've put out!"
"…I'm not Sara!"
"…Wanted to screw you since school started…"
Bradin woke with a jolt and rubbed his eyes. That had to be just a nightmare. That couldn't seriously have been part of what happened! It was starting to come to him, the words were becoming less garbled, the images less blurred… One of the images that wouldn't leave consisted of his hand being somewhere it shouldn't have been… With a heavy gulp, Bradin hoped with every fibre of his being that these images and words were not recovered memories.
It was still the middle of the night, but Bradin couldn't sleep again and he didn't really want to. He just sat up, listening to the utter silence, except for the swish of the waves and the occasional car alarm. Why did everything have to get so messed up? His marks weren't the best right now, he wasn't very close with his friends at school, and even surfing was failing to be his one escape. Now his aunt and Jessica were pissed at him too, on top of Nikki, who had found out that he had sort've given Cameron a warning to not hurt her. Not to mention most of the girls at school, who were bitter and disgusted with him, although a large amount still openly pined for him. Was there something seriously screwed up with him that caused him to make all these crap choices?
Someone, tell him that he hadn't actual been that obviously lewd towards Jessica.
Someone tell him that she hadn't gone back to him to take back what she had said only to find him drunk and swaggering.
Someone tell him that he didn't screw up his chance with her for good.
