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: You are just going to love this!! I had Chapter 7 all written and ready to submit until my computer decided to delete all of my stuff, including my latest chapter to this story. However, I've often heard that a disaster is blessing in disguise and that's what I've begun to think about this incident. This chapter is so much better than that last. I just hope that you like it too!!
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Chapter Seven: Heartbreaking Conformations
Scott ran through the night, his vision blurred by the darkness of it. The stars shone brightly as only they could in the mountains, and Scott couldn't help but wonder if fate was on his side. Surely the night wouldn't have been this beautiful if God hadn't intended on someone putting it to use. Shelby was going to be his again. The bright night sky only made him more sure of that. She was going to be his again. And she was going to be his tonight.
When the girl's cabin came into view, Scott sped up, unaware that he could run any faster but pleased that he had proven himself wrong. His heart raced out of control, and only part of that was because of his current aerobic exercise. His stomach churned in knots, and he began to feel queasy as he bounded toward the door and up the steps quickly. It was the moment of truth, he thought while he paused at the closed screen door before him. He could see her through the screen. She lay on her bed. Her back was facing him as she read a magazine intently and chewed on her nail.
"Shelby," she froze, hearing the screen door open and close as he entered. He wasn't supposed to be here. Kat and Daisy were supposed to see to that. Shelby would have included Juliette in on that, but she knew better. Juliette was the original hopeless romantic. There was no way she would have stopped to him from seeing her. She thought she could have depended on Kat and Daisy to see that he didn't. "Shel, look at me." she had just recovered from her shock when she froze again. Shelby remembered him speaking that same short sentence ten years ago. "Shelby," he said again, and finally she faced him, tears already lingering in her eyes. "Why didn't you come tonight?" his question was simple, but her answer couldn't have been.
Shelby stood from her bed, and for the first time since he entered, noticed her appearance. She stood clad in her pajamas, her hair in a tangled mess. Shelby immediately began picking at herself, showing Scott that she was becoming self-conscious. "I didn't know I was supposed to." she finally answered after the silence had seemingly dragged on for five minutes.
"Don't lie to me, Shel." Scott said seriously. "You never were really good at it." she continued to pull at her clothing, and Scott stopped her by taking her arms after he had crossed the tiny distance to get to her. "I was waiting for you, you know? I thought you were going to be there. I wanted to see you."
"Why?" she casually shook herself from his grasp, her hands moving to tuck stray strands of hair behind her ears. "To see how old and ugly I've gotten?"
"You're beautiful." he spoke honestly, a earnest smile pursing his lips. "You still look exactly the same, Shel. You haven't aged a bit in ten years." she blushed at his comment and turned away from him to hide it. Scott couldn't see that he was affecting her this way. He couldn't know that he still had that power over her. "I still remember you at 17. I remember us at 17. Do you?" he asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.
"That was 11 years ago, Scott. I don't remember much from then." Again she lied. But she couldn't tell Scott the truth. She couldn't tell him that she thought about him everyday. That she dreamt about him every night. She couldn't tell him that she would relieve their times together over and over again in her head as she pretended to work. She couldn't tell him any of those things. "So I talked to Aug and Ezra." Shelby tried to change the subject. "Partnership? That's really great, Scott. I'm sure you deserve it." she awkwardly gave him a hug.
Scott found it hard to let her go as she tried to pull away from him. But he did anyway, and continued to revel in the fact that he had just held her in his arms once more. "Don't those this, Shel." her change of subject had been to no avail. "Don't act like so much has changed between us." he pleaded with her. "When I look at you, I see the same girl. When I think about you now, I still get those same beautifies. I'm still so hopelessly in love with you that sometimes I think I might go crazy."
Shelby backed away from him. "Scott, don't, okay?" she paused to hide the cracking in her voice. "Don't because I can't." she pushed passed him and outside. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the night sky. The stars looked much like they did ten years ago when she and Scott had walked away from each other. Shelby remembered that because she remembered wishing on them as he walked away.
"I'm not going to give up on you, Shelby. I can't." he followed after and was surprised to see that she wasn't running away from him. Shelby stood, her arms wrapped protectively around her, much like he had last seen her ten years ago. Her back was to him, but he could see that she was now crying. "Shelby?" he watched as she gradually turned to face him, her eyes red and puffy from the irritation that had sustained from her tears. Shelby refused to speak. But she hadn't yet refused to listen. "Do you remember that night?" Scott didn't clarify. Shelby knew which night he was talking about. "Do you remember how I told that there wouldn't be anyone else?" When she nodded, he continued. "There wasn't, Shel. You were my last kiss. I haven't so much as touched another girl since that night. I didn't want to. I always knew in my heart that one day I would come face to face with you again. I knew that there was going to be a second chance for us and I wasn't going to do anything that might screw that up."
Shelby stuttered back in shock to his words. She hadn't really believed him ten years ago, but she still remembered his exact words. There will never be anyone else but you. She had replayed those words over and over again in her head so many times since that night, all the while secretly wondering if his was keeping true to his vow. She hadn't expected that he would, however. Shelby knew he'd get over soon. He had saved her from the constant hell she had been living in, but she had always considered herself just a stand in for him. Just a stand in until he had gotten out of Horizon and found someone better.
She forced her walls back up. But that didn't matter now. Whether or not Scott had found someone else wasn't really the issue at hand. He was obviously insinuating that they pick things back up. Shelby couldn't allow that to happen. She couldn't handle getting hurt a second time around. "It's been ten years, Scott. I know what you want me to say, but I can't. It wouldn't be fair for me to say those things just because you want to hear them. It doesn't matter if you refuse to see it, but I've changed. Time changes people and I can't go back to the way things were ten years ago. I've worked so hard to forget the pain I went through over you. I refuse to subject myself to that again." she successfully walked away from him this time. Her words had shocked him too much. He wouldn't be chasing after her anytime soon.
Had she successfully gotten him off of her back? Probably not. Scott was determined. She had only stunned him for tonight. Her words weren't too harsh, but Scott knew the significance of them. He knew that she was terminating whatever it was that kept them linked for so long. But he also knew that what they had couldn't be terminated. They were soul mates. And one way or another he was going to make her see that too.