Getting to Know You

Part XXIX

The Finale…

Theodore sat in his dad's car waiting for the anger that was sure to follow the fight. He was certain that Dave, who had to put up with Alvin as a small child, would not take kindly to his own actions; and that all the smiling and talking going on outside the car was a mask for the principals sake. Needless to say, he was thrown off guard completely when Dave opened the driver's door, sat down, and asked him point blank what had happened.

"Uhhh, well, it's like you heard from the principal, this guy was talking about Ellie, and I just lost it… I'm sorry." He answered, trying to sound repentant and at least lessen his punishment.

"Did you win?" Dave asked, not looking over at his son's look of surprise.

"I guess, I mean, I kind of left a big dent in the locker with his head."

"And you did all this to protect Eleanor's reputation?" he questioned further.

"Yes sir." Theo answered.

"Then you did the right thing…" Dave said flatly, grinning sideways at his youngest son.

Theodore's jaw dropped at least a foot when the words registered. "Dad? Are you serious? That's all I get for fighting?"

"That's all. You know what you did was wrong. But what you need to know is that sometimes it's the right thing to do. Personally, I would have gone up to this kid after class and talked to him, but something tells me that that wasn't an option. So as long as you did it for the right reason, I can let this one go."

"Uhhh, thanks dad…" Theo answered, still a little stunned and confused, but at the same time, happy.

"Do you remember what happened on the tour last summer?" Dave asked. "When that guy came at Eleanor and you protected her?

"How could I forget that?" he responded.

"Well, it was the same kind of situation that just happened. You did what you could to keep her from being hurt. And I'm sure that as soon as she hears what happened, she'll want to know why. And when she hears the truth, she'll know you did the right thing too." Dave reassured him.

"I hope you're right dad…" Theo answered as they pulled into the driveway and he went up to his room to distract him from his thoughts about Eleanor's reaction with some good old fashioned headbanging.

Eleanor was in her last period class when she heard about the fight in the boy's locker room. And even that was a second hand rumor that only said Brad had been involved in a fight and was in the hospital with a concussion. After that, there had been about ten different versions of the story, some said that his head had dented a locker; others said that he had his head pushed through a locker. Then there was the strangest account that said he had been minding his own business when he was clubbed from behind by a baseball bat. So of course, after she heard about the fight, she did the only natural thing and texted her sisters to meet her in the hall in five minutes.

Five minutes later, Eleanor was standing outside the girls restroom as she watched her older sisters round the corner discussing something in hushed, clipped words.

"I still think we should tell her." Jeanette said, not aware that Ellie could already hear her.

"Shut up Jen, do you want her to hear?" Britney replied, looking at her youngest sister and pretending to smile sincerely.

"And just what should I NOT know about Britney?" she asked.

"Nothing…" Britney lied, "Me and Jen were just talking about…stuff. You know, what we were going to wear for our dates with Alvin and Simon on Friday."

"Uh huh… well, I don't really care what it really was, but I wanted to know if you guys had heard anything about the fight Brad got into earlier. He's in the hospital right now with a CONCUSSION." Eleanor explained. "Do you guys know what happened?"

Jeanette cleared her throat and started to speak, but received an elbow to the stomach from Britney. "Don't know a thing…" Jeanette gasped, biting back whatever she was really going to say.

"Then can you at least tell me why you just elbowed her Brit?" she asked, glaring at her oldest sister, who was almost at her eye level.

"That was uhhh…nothing." She lied. "I was just trying this thing I saw in a self defense class… you know how it is."

"Riiiight… well, weird behavior aside, I need you guys to help me find out who beat up Brad so I can kick their ass. Are you in?" Eleanor responded, glaring at her sisters until they agreed to help her.

"How about we all meet up at home after school and we tell you what we found out?" Jeanette suggested, trying to stall for time while trying not to look guilty.

"Yeah, that way me and Jen can talk together and compare stories to find out which ones are true." Britney supplied, going along with the ruse.

"Okay… but you guys better not hide anything form me okay?" Ellie accepted, looking suspiciously at her sisters. She was sure they knew something, she just wasn't sure what.

As she walked back to class, Jeanette and Britney began talking about what they were going to do. They had heard it was Theo who had beaten up Brad, and they weren't sure what Eleanor would do when she found out, but it wasn't going to be good. "Maybe we could get Theo to tell her himself…" Jeanette suggested.

"Do you think that would make it any worse?" Britney asked, looking at Jen skeptically.

"Well, it couldn't hurt… or maybe we could get Simon or Alvin to bring it up. I'm sure they know by now."

"Now that could work…" Brit agreed smiling. She knew that Alvin and Simon would be in no danger…

Jeanette texted her boyfriend with the plan, and a few seconds later they got the reply, "fine. I'll do it. But I'm also going to make El hear Theo out about why he did it."

"SWEET!" Britney exclaimed after she saw the reply, "Now just send Ellie a text saying that Simon will fill her in as soon as school lets out."

"On it," Jeanette replied texting quickly as they headed back to their classes so they wouldn't be accused of skipping.

Later that day, Simon walked over to his brother's truck when he saw Eleanor leaning against the front grill, her arms crossed in front of her in a standoffish pose.

"Hello Ellie." He greeted, his long black and white striped hair moving as he tucked part of it behind his ear.

"Hey Simon, listen, I'm going to cut to the chase, I know you know what happened to Brad, I also know that Theo was involved. Now spill it." she answered abrasively.

"Alright, now calm down and I want you to promise that you'll go talk to Theo after you hear what I know. Okay?" he answered nonchalantly.

"Whatever, just tell me already." She agreed tersely.

"Fine, chill, anyway, all I know is this. Brad was talking shit in the locker room, and whatever he said was bad enough to push Theo off the emotional deep-end. You happy? If you want anything more, go talk to my brother…besides, I think you have something to do with it anyway." Simon answered and walked away.

Eleanor sat on the sidewalk for a few minutes thinking about what Simon had just said… how could she have had anything to do with this mess. Finally, she realized that the only way to find out was to go and see Theo to hear what really happened. For all the other reasons she didn't like him at the moment, she had to admit that he had always been honest. She picked herself up off the ground and started for her car, after all, she had to know the truth…

While her mind was distracted with the painful encounter that was sure to follow her decision, here body went about the job of actually moving her to the guy's house. The next thing she knew, she was standing outside Theodore's front door unsure of what she was even going to say to him if he would talk to her. Maybe she should turn back? But before she could let her cowardice get the better of her, the front door was being opened and Dave stood there looking at her with surprise written all over his face.

"Hello Eleanor… can I help you?" he asked.

"Uhhh, I was wondering if Theo was home yet…" she mumbled.

"Actually, yes, he's upstairs if you want to talk to him."

Ellie was about to say that she would come over some other time when Theo appeared at upstairs landing and asked who was at the door.

"It's Ellie." Dave replied, "I was just about to call you down. She asked if you were here."

"I'm not." Theo said without emotion. "I'm not here. Not for her at least."

"You don't mean that." Eleanor called up to him from the doorway, "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."

He thought about it for a minute, "Fine, come on up. We'll talk in my room." He finally consented, motioning for her to come inside."

Eleanor entered his room reluctantly. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but it felt like a mixture of happiness and anger, with a sprinkling of unease. She didn't have long to feel this way however, before he started staring at her blankly

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well, first of all, I want to know what's up with you lately. I know we broke up and everything, but what's with the stalker routine?" Ellie asked bitingly.

"Don't flatter yourself El. I know we broke up, but I wasn't stalking you. Believe me, I'm not obsessive, but I was trying to look out for a friend. I told you there's something about Brad that unnerved me. He's too perfect. So I watched in case he tried to hurt you."

"But he didn't try to hurt me Theo." She retorted, her voice rising in conjunction with her anger.

"Not in front of you maybe, but trust me, he was trying." He said matter-of-factly.

"Where the hell did that come from?" she asked. Her anger temporarily overcome by her curiosity.

"I heard him in the locker room this afternoon. He was saying stuff about you for his own benefit. That's why there was a fight." He admitted, his expression flitting between anger, sadness, and pride.

"And just what was he saying that drove you to slamming his head into a locker?" she asked, furious that the whole fight had been over words.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Theo replied, looking down at the ground.

"Theo," Eleanor started to say, her voice softening and her hand reaching out to make him look her in the eye. "As long as I've known you, no matter what went on, and despite how I feel about you at the moment, I know that you don't lie. Now what exactly did Brad say?"

He took a deep breath and steadied himself for her reaction. When he was done telling her what he had heard Brad brag about doing, her face was absolutely livid with rage, but this time it was focused on the boy that Theo had rightly thrashed to the point of hospitalization. "So that's everything?" she asked when he was done.

Theo nodded and looked into her eyes for her true reaction. He saw hurt despite her angry posturing. Hurt at being betrayed by someone he despised, but who had still brought her happiness, even if only temporarily.

When she was sure that that was the entire story, she whipped open her phone and called up Brad's cell phone. Luckily for him, his phone was off, because the message she shouted into the receiver may have singed the hair off of the top his head. While she was blitzing him out and calling him such colorful names such as "A slimy, putrid bag of shit that isn't worth the effort for me to properly kick your ass…" Theo was trying his best not to start laughing at the entire situation; for fear that she would direct her ire at him. When she was finally done screaming into her phone, she turned back to Theo with a much softer expression than he had seen in weeks.

"Can I ask you something Ellie?" he started, trying to keep the conversation rolling.

"Sure Theo," she answered, rubbing her temples like she had a migraine.

"Has Jeanette said anything to you about me lately?"

She looked at him with a puzzled look on her face, "No… she hasn't said anything to me until this afternoon… why?"

"Well, it's just that we talked, she and I, and I was curious as to whether or not she gave you this message."

"Message? Jeez Theo, you sound so formal…" she replied, smiling at the way he spoke, "But no, why don't you tell me what it was."

"Okay, but don't flip out if it sounds weird… wait until I'm done okay?" he answered, also smiling for the first time in about two weeks.

"Fine. I'll wait to laugh in your face until you're done." She promised sarcastically, leaning forward in her seat.

"Well, it started out with her telling me what you said was the main reason we broke up." He stared, looking at her anxiously, in case he overstepped.

Instead of getting mad, Eleanor actually looked sad. "Look Theo, I said a lot of things to Jeanette when I was frustrated… you may have just heard one of the stupid things I said when I didn't mean them."

"No, I think this one was real, and I actually agree with you about it. You told her that you felt like we weren't in a real relationship… that we were just using each other for sex. Or something like that. I just wanted to let you know that for me, the sex wasn't the reason I love you. I cared about you because of who you are to me."

"Oh," Ellie said surprised, "And just who am I?" she asked anxiously, finding herself hoping that he would say what she wanted to hear.

He took another deep breath, "You're my best friend, and also the girl I love more than anything else." He answered.

He started to say that if she still wanted to be separate, he would understand, but was cut short by Eleanor throwing her arms around him and holding him so tight that he couldn't breathe. As she buried her face in his chest and started to cry gently, he tried to tap out, but that only made her hug him tighter. She finally relented and released her grip on him when he started to turn blue. As he caught his breath and smiled at the unexpected path their meeting had taken, Eleanor was apologizing for everything about the past few weeks.

"El." He said, trying to get her attention, "Ellie!" he tried again laughing, "ELEANOR!" he finally exclaimed, getting her to stop talking at last. "It's alright. You don't have to apologize for anything."

She sniffled a little bit and dried her tears on the back of her hand, "You mean it?" she asked.

"Absolutely, now, not that I actually need to ask it at this point, but do you want to get back together?" he answered, laughing at her expression.

She started to laugh along with him and answered. "Of course I want to get back together. But can we go slow, like we did when we first started going out?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He agreed, smiling tenderly as he pulled her in for another hug and gently kissed her forehead.

Dave had watched the entire exchange from the cracked door after he heard voices getting raised. But as he saw how they held each other and smiled innocently, he knew they were going to be alright. And with that, he shut the door quietly and walked down the hall smiling at how much his boys had grown.

Okay dear readers, this concludes the official saga of Getting to Know You , I am SO SORRY for the huge gap between the last chapter and this one, but I was isolated from any computers for two weeks and wasn't able to actually write this until 9-19-10. Nevertheless, I hope you liked how it all resolved, and if you have anything to say to me about anything at all, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW! Also, even though this was the last OFFICIAL chapter, there will be a very quick epilogue posted on 24th… Until then,

Happy Reading,

Musicalreader