Peyton walked home from the café and it took her nearly an hour, but Peyton made it home safe and sound, and she had to laugh at that, there was no way that she was safe in the world that she was living in. She stumbles up her stairs, just wanting to make it to the bathroom, take off all of her clothes, and then burn them. She made it to the bathroom and put the water on as hot as it would go, she could see the steam coming out, and then she knew she was ready. She tore off her clothes and stepped into the scalding hot water, it burned her skin but she couldn't even feel it.
Haley was not a quitter; last night was a mistake, which is all. Gavin was not going to make her quit the only thing that she had left to love. Karen asked her if she would open tonight for Jimmy Eat World, how could she pass that up? So after her shift she headed upstairs to Tric, where she needed to rehearse. She knew that she was at least an hour early, but she did not even care. Haley wanted, she needed, to be alone right now. She went on stage and just stood there, looking out at the empty room, just remembering every single one of her tour dates, and remembering everyone's face looking back at her. But then it hit her, she snapped out of her trance, the only person that she ever wanted to be looking back at her, was no where to be found. The only place that she could see him was in her heart, and at the point in time it was broken in a million pieces, and Nathan's face was shattered with her heart. She sat down at the piano and just stared at the keys for a solid minute and then out of her control her fingers traced the keys and began to play. She sang the song that was permanently in her head, the song that put her to sleep every night, Elsewhere, it was the first time that she sang in front of anyone, and it was Nathan. It was the only thing that she had between him and her, the only thing that was left.
Gavin was still at Noah's when his phone rang, he looked down and vaguely recognized the number, but he answered it anyways. "Hello," he was the rudest man alive at this time and place.
"Is this Gavin?"
"Yeah, who is this? And why are you calling my number?"
"Hi Gavin, this is Karen…from Tric."
"Oh it is you. Did you call me to yell at me some more, because what happened last night with miss no talent was not my fault. Just because she had stage fright, I did not cause that."
"I am not calling about last night Gavin," there was so many more things that she wanted to tell him, especially about the way that he was treating Haley, but she needed something out of him, and she did not need anymore arguments, "I am calling about tonight. I have asked Haley back to open for Jimmy Eat World, and I was wondering if you were able to do guitar."
Gavin really could not stand Haley, but if he had to work tonight at least he could harass her more, and he needed the money, cocaine is not cheap, "Yeah, I am available tonight. What time is she practicing so I can be there?"
"She has a shift until 4, so I was thinking around 5, is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, that is okay with me. I will see you later."
"Thank you…and Gavin?"
"Yeah?"
"Last night is done; I am not going to think about it anymore, so whether or not something happened between you and Haley it is over with, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Bye."
"Bye."
Gavin looked down at his watch it was 2, he still had three hours to spare. He looked at his brother and pulled out some coke, they spent the next hour sniffing and inhaling. Then Gavin got up to leave, but his brother stopped him, "Larry told me that he got some of your girlfriend's ass last night, I just thought that I would tell you."
"That bitch, she is going to get it."
"Yeah, that is what I thought, and I thought that you might want to know."
"Thanks man. I will talk to you later. Peace out."
Gavin left his brother's and then headed towards Peyton. He had a car and Peyton
didn't use hers when she was with him, so he knew that she must have walked home, and it would take her awhile. It did not take him that long to get there, but that might be for the fact that his foot was glued to the wheel. The cocaine was deep into his system, he was losing control over most aspects and parts of his body. He arrived at Peyton and barely made it into her driveway; he was halfway on the lawn. Gavin just went straight into her house, she never locked it, and she really did not care if a random stranger would come into her house in the middle of night. To tell you the truth, she would prefer it, then at least some one would be in her home. Yes, that is wrong, but there was no one in her home, her heart, or anywhere else. Gavin started calling her name, he did not hear a response, but he heard the shower going. He just walked straight in, no bother to knock; it would probably scare her more.
Peyton was actually startled that some one just burst in and emerged in the bathroom where she was naked. "Gavin, what are you doing?" she asked startled.
"I came to see you, what other reason would I be here?" he pulled back the curtain to reveal her.
She quickly covered herself, and tried to pull the curtain back, she did not know if she was more mad or upset, "What the hell are you doing?"
He was stronger then her, even under the influence and he pulled the curtain back again to reveal her, "My brother told me that his friend Larry got to see you last night, and I think that since I am your boyfriend I have the same liberty."
"So I did have sex last night, and his name was Larry?"
"Yeah, good choice, he is a real catch," he told her sarcastically.
"I cannot believe that you would even say that, I did not want to do it Gavin. And if you had been watching out for me then it wouldn't have happened."
This angered him again, and he tried to advance, "Do not talk to me like that."
"Gavin, please just pull back the curtain, let me get changed and then we can talk."
"Fine," he violently pulled back the curtain and left slamming the door in the process. Peyton knew that he had already had drugs today, he was starting early. And this was not a good sign for every and anyone in his upcoming path.
Peyton regained her composure and walked into her room, where she found Gavin looking through all of her things, "What the hell are these pieces of crap?" he asked holding up at least half a dozen of her artworks.
"Oh nothing, just my life, that is all."
"Well then you must have a pretty shitty life, because these are pretty shitty as well," he said throwing them down.
"Thank Gavin, I appreciate it so much," she pretended that she didn't care but the drawings were her life, the only thing that she was good at, and he was tearing them apart, causing her to be even more confused on her status in this life. She made her way to her closet so that she could change. From inside she spoke to him, "What are you doing here anyways, I thought that you said that you didn't want to come over?"
"That Karen lady called and said that Hallie or what the hell her name is is opening for Jimmy Eat World tonight and she wanted me to play as well."
"Damnit, I totally forgot about Jimmy Eat World, I booked them at least two months ago."
"What is the big deal? They are coming tonight, you already got them here, and there is nothing else that you need to do."
"Yeah there is, there are tons of things that I have to do, you see the artists have something called a writer, and I have to get everything on that list or they will not play." She looked at her clock, "shit, I don't have much time, what time do you have to be at Tric?" she asked coming out of the closet in a new outfit.
"5, so that is why I came here, I wanted to hang out with you before I had to deal with you know who," he came over to her and put his arms around her waist, touching her all over, a little more then she wanted at that moment in time, especially after the experience that she had last night.
"Stop it," he did not listen to her, he just held on harder and longer, "Gavin, stop it, I mean it," with that she started to pound her hands on his chest in self-defense. She had never seen anyone move so fast, within seconds of saying that she was on the floor from the impact of his hand on her cheek.
"Stop telling me what to do Peyton. I shouldn't even be here with you right now, especially after what you did last night."
She rubbed her cheek hoping that the sting would go away, though it didn't she did not seem to care any longer; she was more concerned about the words that were coming out of Gavin's mouth. "What I did last night? Are you really telling me that? You are supposed to be my boyfriend, you should have saw that I was not in the right state to be anywhere but in my bed and then take me home. But no, you took me to your brother's house, one I did not even know that you had a brother let alone that he lived around here. And since you did not take me home, you decided that it would be okay to let to lay in a bed where a complete stranger can have his way with me."
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? You are my girlfriend and you slept with another guy."
"I never consented Gavin," with that her voice cracked even though she did not ask it to, she did not want to show emotion in front on him, then he would win.
"I don't care, it still happened, and it is going to take me a little bit to get over this. Are you going to be still around when I am done waiting or are you just going to be in bed with Lucas?"
"Why the hell would you bring Lucas into this?"
"You should have seen him last night; I think that he still loves you."
"What are you talking about? Lucas and I were together a long time ago, and anyways he is with Brooke right now, or at least they are trying to be."
"Well I guess then he is trying to play the both of you. He told me to take you home; that you were in no state to be anywhere else, ha, what the hell does he know?"
"Apparently a lot more then you do."
This did not make Gavin any happier; he bent down and grabbed her by her collar, Peyton kicking the whole time, "What the hell are you going to do to me Gavin? Bring it on, I dare you," she was defying everything that he wanted her to be.
He just held her up, her still struggling, but there was nothing more that he could do to her, she had been through enough pain that it was no longer worth it, trying to torture her. He let her drop; he did not want her telling him what to do anyways. He had so many more places that he could be right now; he did not care about what his girlfriend had to say. "Do not tell me what to do. You better be careful though, someday your wish may be my command," he said to Peyton who was lying out on the ground. "Go do your writer thing and then meet me at Tric later. I am going to make sure this is that Haley girl's last night."
This actually scared Peyton, no she was not Haley's biggest fan right now, but she feared anything that Gavin could do to her. She just hoped that Haley was stronger then her, or she was going to get a lot more heartache.
