Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Higher Ground characters in my story. All rights are reserved to whoever owns the show now. Yada, Yada, Yada. I'm sure you get the picture.
Summary: Scott and Shelby are forced to go their separate ways after they graduate from Horizon. Can fate bring them back together?
Category: Romance/Drama
Rating: I'll just say PG-13
Author's Note: I just want to thank everyone for patiently awaiting the arrival of this chapter. Finally, I have updated with something more than just a note. I hope you all enjoy and please, send me some feed back!
Second Chances
Chapter Five: Settling In
It was hard for Shelby to ignore the gazes that were burning a hole into her back as she tried to unpack. She wasn't sure what was shocking them more: the fact that Shelby had come or the fact that she had asked them to keep her being at Horizon a secret from Scott. Both were understandably distressing. It had been ten years, after all. She should have been eagerly awaiting their reunion. Scott should have been the first person that she had run to when arriving. But he wasn't, and her reason for that was justifiable, or so she thought.
"You really have no plan on seeing him, Shel?" Katherine asked, her concern for the situation was evident in her voice. Years ago, it was hard for the two to even be a few feet apart, and now she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the man that she used to be so madly in love with? Things didn't make sense. If Katherine was put into the position of being reunited with a long lost love, she would have been ecstatic. But then again, Katherine didn't act or think like Shelby.
Upon finishing her task, Shelby fell onto her bed with a breathless sigh. They couldn't even begin to understand everything that was going through her mind right now. Shelby wanted to see Scott so badly, but what would be the point in it? She didn't want to see how much he had changed and grown because seeing that would only remind her of the pain. Seeing him now would only make her relive some of the most devastating memories of her life. She just couldn't handle going through all of that again.
"Shel?" Juliette snapped her fingers in order to bring Shelby back into their conversation. She wasn't going to let Shelby escape their talk that easily. They needed to make her realize just how much Scott deserved to know that she was here. "Didn't you hear Kat? She asked if you were serious about not seeing Scott. You aren't, right?"
Shelby looked at her old friends for the first time since the topic of Scott had arose. "I'm completely serious, Jules. View all of this through my shoes for once. Scott was everything to me and in the beat of a moment, I had all that ripped away from me. It hurt, guys. I don't want to go through all of that again. I can't go through all of that again."
"So you are going to punish him too?" Katherine seemed upset. "Listen to yourself, Shelby. The night that you and Scott said good-bye, he had promised to hold on to you forever. So now, when you get your second chance with each other, you are going to ignore it because you don't want to go through the pain of getting hurt again. Doesn't Scott deserve a say in all of this?"
"No!" Shelby stood from her bed, suddenly feeling the need to be defensive. "Not when these kind of emotions and feelings are involved. Can't you see that by seeing Scott, I would be giving him the impression things could just go back to the way things were?"
"And what's wrong with that? Don't you see, Shelby? Nothing is standing in your way anymore. Things could go back to the it was." Daisy argued. She tried to put herself in the same situation to picture what Shelby could have been going through emotionally, but even in that position, Daisy couldn't understand why her old friend wasn't jumping at the chance to reunited with her only love.
"That's just it, Dais. Things can't go back to the way it was. So much has happened since that night. I just can't pretend that nothing ever happened. It's taken me so long to actually get over the pain of losing Scott. I don't want to set myself up to lose him again. I couldn't handle it a second time." she began toward the exit. There was no way she could make them see things her way. They couldn't understand her because they had never had to live with that kind of pain. They still had the ones they loved. No one had ever objected to them seeing each other.
Katherine sighed, instinctively rolling her eyes. It was just like Shelby to walk away when someone or something hit too close to home. "Shelby, where are you going?"
Shelby turned only momentarily. "I'm thirsty. I'm going to the kitchen to get me a coke. Please, when I get back, can we talk about something more pleasant? And remember what I said. I don't want Scott to know I'm here." she exited the cabin. Shelby had lied. She wasn't really thirsty. She just had to get out.
The three remaining girls glanced around the room at each other. "We aren't really going to sit around and let our best friends miss their second chance, are we?" Juliette pouted. It wasn't like Juliette to just let love pass someone by.
Again, they looked around the room at each other. "Not a chance. Let's go!" they stood quickly and raced out of the dorm. Scott and Shelby belonged together. There was no way that they were going to let Shelby screw up her destiny.
His head shot up when an unexpected knock came from his dorm door. Out of habit, Scott rolled his eyes when he spotted them bouncing around on his porch through the screen door. Juliette was the most excited of the three. Scott chuckled to himself. Apparently, no matter how much time would pass, Juliette would never change.
"Can I help you?" Scott opened the screen door and allowed Julliette, Daisy, and Katherine room to enter. "Looking for Ezra, Dais?" he embraced his old friend. "I've heard about the engagement. Congrats."
"Thanks, but this has nothing to do with me or Ezra." Scott then turned to Juliette, his eyebrows raising in question. "It's not about Auggie and Jules either, Scott. It's about you." his brows furrowed in confusion. Daisy was acting strange, even for Daisy. She hadn't seen Scott in about ten years. There was no way something so important had come up in that passed hour and a half.
"Okay.." Scott trailed off, confusion making up his features. "What's this all about then?" he slowly took a seat on his bed, getting the impression that he needed to. This was supposed to be a reunion. They were supposed to be catching up, but Scott could tell this wasn't just a social call.
"Shelby." Juliette spoke up matter-of-factly, her head bobbing firmly once, her happy smile pressed tightly on her lips. "She's here, Scott. She actually came." It had taken everything inside of herself to keep herself from shrieking.
His jaw dropped in the sudden shock of the news. Shelby had come. But why hadn't she come to him? Wouldn't she want to see him? "She … She's here?" he repeated, his mind reeling. "Where is she? Doesn't she want to see me? Come on, guys, tell me where she is." he quickly stood and began toward the door, his eyes grazing the area outside.
"You see, that's the problem." Daisy spoke up, going to Scott's side. "Shelby is hesitant about seeing you. She's not really sure if she should or not. Actually, she's rather insistent on the latter."
Scott turned slowly, not trying to mask his hurt and confusion. Shelby didn't want to see him? "I don't understand. She actually told you this?" They didn't have to answer. The looks on their faces told him that she had. Scott shook his head fiercely. "No. There is no way. Shelby would want to see me. It's been ten years. She'd want to see me."
"Why do you think we came?" Katherine walked to Scott. "We think that Shelby needs to see you, whether she wants to or not. She really needs to face whatever is holding her back, and we think that you can help."
"Holding her back from what?"
"From you." Daisy's voice was low and soft as she spoke. "When we were talking about you today, we could see that she was still hurting. It's been ten years, Scott, and she is still hurting. We think that you are the only one that can help. That can make all her insecurities about love and heartbreak go away."
"So what are you planning to do? She won't even see me. How can I help her when she won't see me?" Scott threw his hands up in frustration. Just the thought of Shelby not want to see him sent him into a fit of rage. He couldn't understand why she didn't want to see him. Sure, she was still hurting, but did the fact that it had been ten years not cross her mind?
"Tonight." Katherine stated and Scott raised his eyebrows in question. Tonight? What did tonight have to do with his question? "Tonight there's this reunion dance, I'm sure you've heard about it. Juliette, Daisy, and I will make sure she goes. I don't think she will be able to turn away from you if she actually sees you, Scott. I think all we'll have to do is get her to show up and then everything else will take care of itself."
"That still has nothing to do with what I asked. Yeah, there's a dance tonight but how am I supposed to help Shelby just by being there?"
"When she sees you, Scott, she'll talk to you. When she talks to you, she'll open up to you. By her opening up, you'll be able to help her with whatever it is that is keeping her away from you." Daisy explained as she gathered next to Juliette and Katherine by the door.
"This is so exciting!" Juliette squealed. "It is destiny that you two be together. And I'm going to help with that! It's all going to work out, Scott. Trust us." they turned and left Scott alone with his thoughts.
With a heavy sigh, Scott fell onto his bed. Shelby hadn't wanted to see him, how were they so confident that by forcing them to see each other, things would work out? If there was one thing the remembered so distinctly about Shelby, it was the she was incredibly stubborn. By talking to Julliette, Daisy, and Katherine, he had realized that Shelby was set on the fact that seeing him would only make things worse. How would he be able to change her view on that?