(A/N)- Let me just say, I'M SOOOOOO(ect.) SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK! I went on a serious writers block for this story.
Shelby woke up in her bed in the girls dorm back on Horizon. She had just gotten out of the hospital two days before and was still trying to figure out how she was going to get her and Jess to stay at Horizon. She looked over to the bed next to her, which was usually vacant, but now Jess was in it.
Shelby sighed and realized how much Jess was depending on her to get her to stay here. Shelby didn't want to go home and she knew Jess didn't want to either. Jess had to live with their Mother even after Shelby was able to go back to Horizon. Shelby felt bad that she left Jess there, but at least Walt wasn't there anymore.
Ever since Alice had met Walt, their home lives have been a nightmare. They both endured Walt's idea of 'loving' his girls and they both had been extremely hurt by it. They both had to go through all of the problems with getting Walt locked up. Shelby thought that after Walt was gone, Jess would be safe at home, but she was very wrong. After Walt left, Alice turned into a drunk and was a horrible Mother.
Shelby thought back to when she yelled at her Mother at the hospital and remember how she brought up that Alice didn't defend them when they were on the witness stand. She closed her eyes as another sigh left her lips. It was true that their Mother didn't defend them and Shelby could never fully forgive her for that, even if she did have an excuse.
Shelby looked around the room, found the clock and saw that in just a few minutes, Sophie would be coming into the room to wake everyone up. Shelby didn't feel like waiting, so she got out of her bed went into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of her.
Once in the bathroom, Shelby looked at her reflection in the mirror and noticed that she wasn't looking that bad anymore. The cuts on her face were healing nicely. The bruises were healing as well, but they were at the phase where they were turning almost a yellow color that just made them look even worse. But, she knew she was healing, so she was semi-happy.
Shelby lifted her shirt and looked at the cut on her belly. She knew she had a few more days left before she could get the stitches removed, but she hated that the days were passing so slowly for she wanted the stitches out as soon as possible. They itched and were an annoyance.
Shelby shook her head and got into the shower. Once she was in, she waited to start it and discarded her clothes and threw them over the shower door, like she always had done. She turned the water on and adjusted it until she reached the right temperature for her. She closed her eyes and tilted her head under the water in order to get her hair wet.
Shelby heard Sophie's voice announce that it was time to get up, but took no notice of it for she was already awake and getting ready. Then, she heard Sophie ask where she was and took notice.
"I'm in here!" Shelby screamed from the bathroom.
"Okay," Sophie screamed back.
Shelby nodded and finished her shower. When she was clean, Shelby turned off the water, dried herself off with a towel and put on her bath robe. She walked out of the bathroom and saw everyone still struggling to wake up fully and become functional.
"Why are you up already?" Jess asked with a yawn.
"I woke up early. I think I got up, like, 10 minutes before Sophie woke everyone up," Shelby replied and walked over to her bed.
Shelby grabbed clothes and got dressed carefully without revealing anything while the rest of the girls took their showers and got ready for the day.
All of the girls walked into the Kitchen, got their food and joined the boys at the Cliffhanger table. Shelby sat down next to Scott and noticed him looking at her very carefully.
"How are you doing?" Scott asked.
"I'm fine," Shelby replied. "Why do you ask that every day?"
"Is it wrong to know how my girlfriend is doing?"
"No, but you've been doing it more often lately than usual."
"Well, considering that you were nearly raped less than a week ago, can you blame me?"
"I guess not," Shelby said.
Scott put his arm around her and she smiled at the simple embrace. It wasn't anything special or out of the ordinary for him to put his around her, but no matter how many times he did it, she would always smile at it.
"Awe, isn't that sweet," Rachel commented.
"What? Jealous?" Jess said from the other side of the Shelby.
Rachel looked taken aback at Jess' words, but Shelby could do nothing except smile.
Everyone started to eat their food with very minimal complaining. The food wasn't great, but it wasn't completely horrible either. Shelby favored this over the stuff they were giving her in the hospital anyhow so she didn't mind the food at all.
"Shel, how you doing?" Auggie asked.
"I'm doing fine," Shelby replied.
"Word has finally spread about what you're trying to do with your mom," Ezra commented. "With trying to get you and Jess here for good."
"Yeah, but we would have to get a court to send us here which, so far, has been easier said than done."
"Well, they probably think that because your step-dad is gone that you guys are fine now," Juliet said.
"Yeah, right," Jess said. "Our Mother's a drunk now. It's an improvement from being sexually abused every night, but not a vast one."
Everyone was silent through out the rest of the meal.
On the way the class, Peter came up to Shelby with Jess and prevented her from going to class. He had a serious look on his face and one could tell that Peter needed to talk to the sisters together.
Shelby nodded and followed them towards Peters office. They all walked into his office and Peter closed the door behind them. He motioned Shelby and Jess to sit down and they did so. The two girls looked at Peter with confused, yet determined, looks on their faces; they both were confused about what was going on, but were determined to have things explained to them.
"I don't know who to say this nicely, so I'm just going to say it," Peter started and took a breath. "You guys are loosing your case at the moment. The courts think that since the immediate danger was Walt and that Walt is gone, that you guys would be safe at home."
Both of the girls jaws dropped in shock, but Shelby quickly recovered. She covered up her shock, with anger and stood up from the couch. She refused to snap on Peter after everything he had done for her and Jess. She, also, knew that it wasn't his fault and that he was doing everything with in his power to help so she restrained herself.
"Is there anything else we could do to get them to send us here?" Shelby asked as she turned to look at Peter again after looking away.
"Your only option is to get support of C.P.S. and hope that you guys have a strong enough case," Peter replied calmly.
"C.P.S.?" Jess asked.
"Child Protective Services," Peter explained.
"Yeah, people who like to get us to dump our problems all over them," Shelby added.
"Shelby, they're trying to help."
"Oh, yeah? Is that what they were doing when they dropped Scott's case last year?"
Peter sighed. He knew exactly what Shelby was referring to, but he had no control over it. They dropped his case for valid reasons and he couldn't argue it.
"Shelby, they will do everything in their power to help you guys," Peter said.
"I'm sure," Shelby snapped back. She quickly changed her tone and continued talking. "I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't be attacking you about this. You've done nothing, but try and help us through this."
"You're forgiven."
Shelby sat back down on the couch and took a deep breath.
"So, we have to talk to C.P.S. if we want any chance of staying here," Shelby said and made it a statement, not a question.
"Unless your Mother agrees to let you guys stay here, yes," Peter replied with a nod.
Shelby turned to Jess and saw that she was deep in thought about something. Shelby assumed it was about the whole situation with their Mom, but she wasn't going to assume things. She, also, didn't want to make the decision that would effect them both by herself so she decided to ask Jess what she though.
"What do you think we should do?" Shelby asked.
Jess was taken out of whatever train of thought she was in and said, "I'm not sure. I just can't go back with Mom."
"I know but the only way we can stay here with out her permission is if we get help from C.P.S. Are you okay with doing that?"
"Are they really as bad as you said?"
"No. Scott's case was unique."
"But you talked to them before, didn't you?" Jess questioned.
"Yes, I did but I didn't say anything. I denied everything about Walt because I didn't want to go through what Scott had gone through," Shelby said as she took a strand of Jess' hair and pulled it behind her ear. "It's up to you now, Jess."
Jess sighed and thought seriously about what she was going to say. She knew that she didn't want to go live with her Mom again until she had changed, but she also knew that it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Jess knew that she wanted to stay at Horizon and knew that it was the right place for her.
Jess took in a deep breath, nodded her head and said, "Okay. Let's do it."
Shelby looked at Peter and he nodded, knowing that her answer was 'yes' as well. Peter walked back behind his desk and sat down in his chair. He wrote himself a note to call Child Protective Services and looked back up at Shelby and Jess.
"I'll call them tonight and hopefully they can get out here with in the next couple of days," Peter said. "There's only one thing that I should tell you guys: they have to notify your Mother that you're talking to them, it's the law."
Both of the girls nodded and still agreed to their decision. They knew that their Mother knowing about it would make it even more difficult for them to get sent to Horizon for good, but it was still the only chance they had so they took it.
Shelby and Jess left Peters office and went back to the girls dorm. Peter didn't make Shelby go back to class even though she still had about twenty minutes of it left. They walked into the girls dorm, went to their beds and laid down. Neither of them were really intent on doing anything at that moment for they were both very concerned with they had just agreed to in Peters office.
Time passed very quickly for the girls and before they knew it, Juliet, Rachel and Daisy were walking into the girls dorm, talking about the Science homework. Juliet looked over to Shelby and looked confused.
"How did you get here so quick?" She asked.
"Uh, I never went to class," Shelby replied sarcastically.
"You didn't?"
"You half-wit."
Shelby shook her head and rolled her eyes while ignoring the glare Juliet was casting in her direction. Shelby looked at Daisy and saw that she was looking at her with worry evident on her face. Shelby only shook her head and Daisy knew that it was something she didn't want to talk about at that moment. Daisy nodded and didn't press the matter.
"So, what did I miss in Science?" Shelby asked.
"Nothing you didn't already know," Daisy said.
"What's the homework?"
"We have to pick an element and find out a bunch of stuff about it."
"Sounds like fun," Shelby said with much sarcasm.
All the girls went back to doing their own thing; Juliet and Rachel started to flip through magazines, Daisy was shuffling her tarot cards, Jess was thinking about her Mother and Shelby grabbed a book to try and get her mind off of things. They were all so interested in whatever they were doing that none of them realized how much time had really gone by.
Daisy looked up at the clock at a random moment and saw that it was time for them to go eat dinner. All the girls stood up and went to the Kitchen.
They walked in and grabbed their food as usual. The girls went down and sat by the boys. All of the guys looked at the girls strangely for they were 5 minutes late. Scott was particularly interested in Shelby being late for he hadn't seen her since Peter pulled her away on her way to class.
"Why are you guys so late?" Ezra asked.
"We lost track of time," Jess replied.
No one questioned the excuse for it was true. They all started to eat their food with no conversation. The only interaction anyone had was when Rachel was trying not to giggle because David was tickling her side.
"Stop, David," Rachel warned, half-hearted.
Rachel's warning only made David want to tickle her more. Soon, dinner was no longer dinner as David started to tickle Rachel and Auggie began tickling Juliet. Both of the girls started to scream and laugh at the same time. They tried to yell at the boys to stop, but neither of them really wanted them so and the boys knew that so they didn't stop.
Scott looked at Shelby with a smile on his face showing that he wanted to join in on the fun and start tickling Shelby, but before Scott could even touch her side, Shelby looked at him.
"Don't you dare," Shelby said. Scott looked upset that she said 'no' so she continued with her excuse. "I have stitches in and if they break, it'll hurt like a bitch."
"Good excuse," Scott agreed and nodded.
The tickle fest continued until Jess gave a quiet warning that Sophie was coming and everyone stopped immediately. Sophie was followed by Peter and both of them walked right over to the Cliffhangers table. Everyone sort of tensed, for they thought they were in trouble, and looked at the pair.
"Cliffhangers, group in canceled for tonight," Peter said and looked at Shelby and Jess. "I need to see you two in my office when you guys are done eating."
"Again?" Jess asked, her voice showing that she didn't want to go.
"Yes, again. I have to talk to you guys," Peter said and one could tell by his voice that he didn't like what he was going to have to tell them.
Both of the sisters caught on to the tone of his voice and knew that they were in for bad news. Shelby feared the worst; that Child Protective Services had turned down their case, while Jess had no idea what to think. The girls nodded and went back to their food while Peter and Sophie left the Kitchen. Neither of them ate much more before they decided to go to Peter's office.
Shelby and Jess slowly and hesitantly walked into Peter's office for they were both sort of afraid about what Peter wanted to talk to them about. Peter looked up from his desk when he heard the door open and motioned the girls to sit down. His facial expression showed that he didn't want to tell the girls what he was about to tell them, but that he also had no choice in the matter.
"You guys, what I'm about to tell you isn't going to be easy," Peter started.
"Just say it, Peter," Shelby said for she wanted to hear the news already.
Peter took a deep breath and nodded.
"Your Mother is coming here," Peter stated.
"What?" Jess nearly screamed.
"Yeah. When I called C.P.S. they called her, like I told you they would have to, and told her that you guys were asking for there help and she decided to come here to talk to you guys."
"She's going to try and get us to come home again," Shelby said and shook her head with disgust. "I'm not going, Peter."
"I don't know what she's planning on doing, Shelby," Peter replied calmly.
"When is she going to be here?" Jess asked.
"Tomorrow."
"Wonderful," Jess replied sarcastically.
"Jess, maybe you should give her a chance. You don't know why she's coming here."
"You try giving her a chance! You didn't live with her Peter and you didn't have her say nothing when she knew that her husband was sexually abusing her daughters," Jess snapped.
"What she means is that it's been hard for us and that our Mom hasn't been the best," Shelby rephrased for Jess while giving her a stern glare that clearly said not to snap on Peter.
"Shut up, Shelby. You went off on him earlier," Jess retorted, knowing well what the glare meant.
"And I apologized. Peter is really helping us and you have no right to yell at him."
Jess let a heavy and frustrated sigh leave her lips as she looked away from her sister and leaned back onto the couch. She knew that Shelby was correct so she gave up the argument. She did feel bad about snapping at Peter but the whole situation 'cause Jess so much anger that she couldn't contain herself.
"I'm sorry, Peter," Jess said softly.
"It's okay. You're stressed, it's understandable," Peter replied calmly.
Shelby looked around the room and fixed her eyes on Peter. She realized how much she really owed him and also realized that there was no way she could ever repay him. He had done so much for her and for Jess and Shelby was so grateful to have someone like him there for her.
Shelby smiled at Peter and asked, "Can we go now? No offense, but I'd like to talk to Scott about my Mom coming tomorrow."
"Fine, but I can not stress more than I'm only agreeing because I expect you guys to 'talk'," Peter replied.
Shelby blushed slightly for she thought that Sophie told him about walking in on Scott and Shelby kissing when she was in the infirmary.
Both of the girls stood up and walked out of Peters office. They went into the lodge where all the Cliffhangers were and Jess went over to a chair near the fire while Shelby went over by Scott. Without any words being shared, Scott pulled Shelby into a hug and she relaxed in his arms. Reluctantly, she pulled away from the hug, grabbed his hand and led him out of the lodge.
Once the couple reached the docks and sat down on a bench, Shelby released Scott's hand and looked at him seriously. Instantly, Scott knew something had upset Shelby and asked what was wrong.
"My Mom's coming here," Shelby said, answering his question.
"When?" Scott asked after a sigh.
"Tomorrow."
"Why?"
"The case wasn't going well for me and Jess so Peter got Child Protective Services in it and they had to notify her that we were trying to get their support. They told her and she decided to come here to see me and Jess."
"What are you gonna do?" Scott asked.
"What can I do other than talk to her?" Shelby asked back.
"I guess your right," Scott replied and nodded. "I'll be here for you, no matter what."
"I know you will be."
Shelby smiled sweetly to Scott who returned the smile. That smile was enough to make Shelby's eyes glaze over with unshed tears and she fell into Scott's arms. She started cry in his arms and he comforted her as best he could. He rubbed her back with one of his hands and kept repeating 'it's okay'.
Scott moved Shelby off of him and looked at her with another smile. He wiped away her tears gently and kissed her forehead.
"You're going to be okay," He said softly and sweetly.
"I love you, Scott," Shelby said.
"I love you too, Shelby, more than you know."
"I think I do know 'cause I love you just as much."
They smiled to each other again. Scott leaned down and kissed Shelby delicately on the lips. She welcomed and returned the kiss. The kiss had no purpose behind it. The only thing that was there was love; the undeniable love that was shared between Scott Barringer and Shelby Merrick.
(A/N 2)- First off, thanks for all the the reviews: Melms213, ScottandShelby334, OliverWoodsGurl4life, Link, Many, Hdrox, Ashlyn Alexis, ami-c, this-is-me8907, Leanne, Delia, Kal's Gal, HCLvr, Ghostwriter and Lucky. I'm happy you all enjoy this story.
I'm not sure what I think about this chapter 'cause I think I kind of rushed it a little so I could get the update done before I leave, but let me know what you all think 'cause it's really all of your opinions that matter. When I say 'before I leave' I mean that I'm going to be gone for a week so I won't be able to update or review stories. I'm leaving next week for my brother coming home from Afghanistan(he's in the U.S. Army). I hope to have my story up shortly after I return though 'cause I'm going to actually write the first couple of chapters while I'm gone.
Please review!