Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters on the show.
Chapter 14: Past Relationships
As the breeze blew past the cove, a nice fresh breath of air filled everyone's lungs. The ocean was calm that day and not a lot of waves hit the shore forcefully, which meant that nobody would be surfing. That made restaurants happy to know that with nobody riding waves, they would all be camped out somewhere to eat or watch a movie. Bradin had that exact idea in mind.
Though Claire didn't see the point in wasting money to go out and watch a movie that would be out on DVD soon and to get something to eat that would cost less in the store, Bradin was adamant about making her go.
"It's something to do!" he argued. They had been doing that for ten minutes. "It'll be fun. We haven't gone out to do anything in a week!"
"I don't understand, though. We can do stuff at home. Fun stuff," she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I don't care about the movie's."
"We need a little break from what we've been doing. Don't you think?" Bradin asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I just want to have casual fun."
"Our fun is casual," Claire quipped. She laughed and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Why are you protesting? Shouldn't you want to be alone with me? Who's the girl in this relationship?"
"You are and that's why I just want to hang out. Do you really want to push what we have into too much of a good thing? I think this is the first time I've been out of bed the whole day. You're going to kill me," he said. She smiled devilishly.
"Well then, I don't want to kill you. Then that would ruin all of the fun. I guess we can go to the movies. But I get to pick!" she negotiated. Bradin nodded.
"Thank you!" he smiled and intertwined him fingers with hers. They walked to the Duplex, which was the biggest movie house in the whole town and the most expensive. Money wasn't really an object to them anymore and they could afford it.
As they stepped in the cool air engulfed them and they walked to the counter to see what movies were playing. As Claire looked, Bradin made his way to the snack bar to see what he wanted. Even though he knew that Claire would consume most of it before he could even take a bite so he wanted something that he knew she wouldn't eat.
As he decided what to get, a boy about his age approached him wearing an employee's jacket with the name 'David' on it. When Bradin looked up, he noticed who it was immediately. "May I help you?"
"You don't remember me do you?" Bradin said with a hint of anger in his voice. The guy squinted and shrugged. "But I bet you remember Claire."
"Oh, Bradin right?" David asked. He actually did know who he was at first but didn't want Bradin to think anything of it. "Yeah I remember you now. Listen about before with Claire…I had no idea that she had a boyfriend and I was taken aback. I got a little out of control. It's just that we had a past together that you wouldn't understand and…" his voice was cut off by Bradin.
"Oh, I understand completely. I'm sure your idea of cheating on people isn't the same as hers, right? Or is it just that you forgot about that? Or is it both?" Bradin was getting hot now and the cold air wasn't helping. David knew that he shouldn't have said anything.
"So, I guess she told you?" he said, a little shocked that she did. "Wow."
"Yeah, usually in relationships that's what you do. You're honest. But I guess you know nothing about that, huh? Seeing as you were lying to her for some time. Now, tell me exactly how long were you cheating on Claire? Was it before or after you unbuttoned your pants and got her pregnant?" Bradin was ready to punch him now and was regretting coming to the movies. Claire was right again.
"Listen man, I'm really sorry about what I did. I was ashamed but I was young and stupid and…"
"You still are," Bradin said before he could get another word in. "Listen I just came to get some snacks so that I can have a fun time with Claire at the movies and all you're doing is making me sick so if I could have some chocolate-covered raisins, an extra-large popcorn, an extra-large diet Pepsi, and some Sour Patch Kids, that would be great," he said, becoming more impatient as the time rolled by.
"Yeah, It'll be $18.74," Bradin handed him the money, got his change and walked away. David sighed as he left. Sarah came over from the bathroom.
"That was nice. I never knew you did any of that. You totally are ruining this! But if he doesn't tell her that he saw you, we shouldn't be too worried. I have an idea. But for now I just wanna mess with their minds. I love the movie theater," Sarah said as she saw the couple walk into theater 12, which was set for High Tension.
She followed them in but sat in the balcony above. As the movie started Claire rested her head on Bradin's shoulder. She wasn't sure if the movie would be scary or lame but was willing to find out. About 15 minutes into the movie, Claire felt something hit the back of her head. She brushed it off but 2 minutes later she felt something hit the side of her face. She wiped her face and noticed something stuck on her hand that she removed. As she got a clear look at it, she threw it on the floor.
"Is it off? Is it off? Get it off!" Claire said to Bradin. He looked at her with confusion.
"Baby, there's nothing on you. Calm down," he said as he grabbed her face. He put his head to hers. "Calm down. It's okay. There isn't anything on your beautiful face."
"There was! It was a spitball! Eww that's disgusting!" she said, panicking. She looked around trying to see who was throwing them. Just as she turned around a guy tapped Bradin on the shoulder.
"Excuse me but I need you two to be quiet or we'll have to escort you out," an employee stated. Bradin nodded and sat in his seat quietly as did Claire. A few minutes later Claire felt another spit ball fly in her hair. She stood and turned quickly around.
"If you don't stop throwing them I'm going to come up there and find out one by one who it is and kick your…" Claire stopped when she noticed the same guy from before standing next to her and Bradin. She giggled and gave him a sweet smile. "Hi."
"Please follow me this way out," the man said. Claire cringed and Bradin sighed.
"I'm sorry," Claire said to Bradin softly. He shook his head to let her know that he didn't mind.
Back in the theater, Sarah came out of the theater laughing hysterically. "She's gonna kick my…" she laughed even harder. "Oh David, you should've been in there! It was out of control that was sooo funny!"
"I'm sure, but by kicking them out of the theater, doesn't that qualify as worse?" he asked.
"Huh?" she said befuddled. He laughed.
"Now that you kicked them out of the theater, they can go somewhere else…somewhere quiet…where they can be alone," he laughed again. Sarah hit reality.
"DAMN IT! Why didn't you tell me that?" Sarah said slapping him across the head.
"You're the one who said you were a smart blonde!" at that point David started to bust out laughing. Sarah let out a huff and started to walk away. "WAIT!"
She stopped and turned to see what he wanted. "Yeah?"
"I think it's time to get a shower," he said with a smile.
"I love this cave," Claire said as she stroked her hands through Bradin's hair. She looked at the writing on the wall and smiled.
"I love you," Bradin whispered in her ear. She smiled softly, leaning back into his chest.
"No, I think I love you more," Claire said.
"That's not possible," Bradin whispered again. This time Claire expressed herself in the form of a very fervent, cavernous kiss. She dug her foot into the ground to try to move up deeper into the cave, but instead she slipped and landed in the water. After coming up she started contravening in laughter. Bradin followed and laughed with her. When his hand went out to help her in she grabbed it, trying to get out. But instead, she slipped again and this time Bradin came with her.
"I'm sorry," she said, still laughing. He grew solemn as he noticed how beautiful she looked when she smiled. He moved closer and kissed her in the middle of her laughter. She broke another smile while kissing him. He pulled her even closer and eventually pinned her against the wall.
"How do we end up doing the same thing all the time?" Bradin said, pushing Claire away just slightly. She pushed his away completely and tromped her way up to the landing of the cave. Bradin sighed, knowing Claire was frustrated with him. He followed her up and sat next to her.
"What is so wrong with what we do?" this time Claire was screaming at him, angry at what he was saying. He was starting to get frustrated with her reaction too.
"I'm sorry that I don't want to screw you all the time! I'm sorry that my past is something that I don't want to repeat! I tried this once, Claire! But then again I guess your not the only one who has had problems in the past!" the echo in the cave was scaring Claire with how loud Bradin was screaming.
"I, I…" Claire couldn't speak.
"YOU WHAT? You don't have any words, Claire? I find that hard to believe," his voice softened when he saw Claire tighten and tremble.
"I'm sorry. You know, I don't want my past coming back either but it is! I can't help it. I was always this way! This big slut and everything. I can't be anyone but me! I can't help it that I want you."
"Why do I feel like you just want me for what's under my clothes though?"
"I don't know. It's probably because that's how I'm treating you right now…but I can't help it! My past wasn't pretty but my past keeps repeating!"
"Claire, you don't need to make excuses. There aren't any. I know because I used to be just like you. With Callie…"
"What?" Claire wasn't sure what he meant.
"Just what I said. I used to want one thing from her. It was all I could think about. And then it got so bad to the point where we were growing apart. Then I realized what I wanted cost. It cost my relationship. Now you need to realize that too. Or we might just turn out to grow apart too," Bradin walked out of the cave. Claire was fighting the tears when Bradin was present but now she couldn't anymore. She burst out in tears. The tears hit the edge of the water, making ripples spread throughout the stream.
She wanted to look in the water, but was afraid of who she would see. She wanted to see the Claire Bradin knew, but was afraid that she would see the old Claire that she once was. She inched her face towards the water and looked into the reflection of herself.
"I won't be that girl anymore. Bradin is too important to me."
Bradin felt like the biggest ass for what he said and how he said the things he did to Claire. But if she really didn't love him and she didn't want him for what he was inside, then he knew that he couldn't have her for those reasons either. He walked to the edge of the water, looking at the sunset. He sat down in the sand and looked out at the ocean for what seemed like forever. Without noticing, someone sat down beside him. When he looked over, emotions went haywire.
Thanks for the reviews…I know there weren't many. Mainly because my timing was bad and the server was down. Please make up for it this time and review a lot! Tell me what you think please! Sorry it was late, I was roasting in the sun…literally roasting. I look like the red lobster mascot! REVIEW!
