"Where're they going?" he asked Jeanine.
"Who?" she asked, looking up into his blue eyes.
"Dave and Angie." Scott replied.
He didn't even bother to wait for her reply. He leaned to Bob nearby, swaying with the piano accompaniment of the song with Timber.
"Where'd Dave just go with Angela?" he demanded.
Bob raised his face from Timber's cheek. "Huh? What?" he asked, returning from the stars.
"Dave just left with Angela. Where'd they go? What the hell is going on?" Scott demanded, dropping his hands from Jeanine's waist.
"Dave just left with Angela?!" Bob exclaimed, still holding on to Timber.
"Chill out Scott. You're overreacting." Jeanine told the older boy, hands on her hips with annoyance.
Bob battled with his conscience. What was he supposed to do? The right thing. Oooh, that narrowed it down. What was the right thing? If he told Scott the truth, he'd be selling Dave out. If he didn't tell Scott, he'd be selling him out. But Angela was Scott's girlfriend...
"Scott, go after them. NOW." Bob said urgently.
Scott didn't even question it, he bolted from the large room in the direction he had seen his girlfriend go.
"Fuck! Now who will I dance with?" Jeanine fumed.
"Her." Bob said, guiding Timber into her friend's arms.
Jeanine rolled her eyes, taking Timber by the waist and continuing to sway. "I wonder what that was all about." she commented.
Timber shrugged, arms around her friend’s shoulders.
Bob raced over to Clint. "Dave's telling Angela!" he exclaimed.
"What?!?!" Clint demanded, automatically knowing what Bob was talking about. "Shit!" he exclaimed, abandoning Carmen.
Something big was about to happen and no one wanted to miss it. Seeing the identical brothers running from the room, the girls followed, even Kelly who had once again been discarded by Trevor for his friends. Bob had the strangest, sinking feeling that in the next few minutes, everything would change.
* * *
The air was nippy as Dave and Angela stepped outside. She still carried the look on concern for him on his face, his urgency beginning to scare her. His hand was still firmly attached to hers.
The brown eyed boy cleared his throat, wondering what he was getting himself into. But there was no looking back. He had come this far, he couldn't just change his mind. The only question was what would happen after he told her. That was the only mystery. He led her towards one of the many benches in the courtyard of the school. He noticed her shivering slightly.
"Is here okay?" he asked, not having any clue why he had done so.
"Sure." Angela nodded, sitting down and angling her body so she could face him. She crossed her legs.
Dave paused. This was it. This was the moment of truth. He looked up at the sky as if the stars held his script. There were many stars out that night, studding the sky like twinkling diamonds against jet. The setting was so perfect, they were all alone. Snow misted over the ground. There was usually more by that time of year.
"Dave..." Angela said softly. "Are you alright?" her concern for him had grown.
His brown eyes met hers. She noticed his eyes were glassy and fearful, yet at the same time so warm and smiling. They twinkled like the night sky above the two.
"Angela..." he heaved a sigh, trying to get his heart to slow down. "There's something I have to say." He could feel the arteries in his neck throbbing, as his blood pressure had soared. He considered taking her hand in his, but his palms were sweating. He suddenly became very hot, an uncomfortable feeling when the air around him was so cold. But despite all of that, he continued, feeling the burden on his shoulders begin to lift. "Since that day, back in June..." he went on. "... at Timber's house. When I first saw you descend the stairs..."
Her heart began to speed up as it became clear where all of this was leading. She was too numb, either from the cold, or the predicament, to think of anything but what she hoped he didn't say.
"... I felt it." he whispered. "I felt it... I felt these new feelings Angela. And I've felt them since."
"Dave..." she started to say.
"I love you." he interrupted her. "I love you. I... I love you." It felt so good to say. It felt so freeing. He felt like screaming it out.
She said nothing. Her eyes were trained on him, shocked, though she had know what he was going to say all along. As he leaned towards her, she couldn't move. She was frozen where she sat, powerless. She didn't know how she wanted to feel. She didn't know anything anymore. She felt confusion overwhelm her as well as his lips.
He kissed her gently at first, as if she were something too delicate to be handled with too much force. She was a rose. A fragile, but amazingly beautiful rose. His lips became more firm as his finger brushed across her chin. His thumb coaxed her mouth open and his tongue entered slowly, exploring and begging her to respond. As she gained her sense of direction, her hands met his chest and gently pushed him back from her.
Dave's first reaction was to lick his lips and savor her taste like a piece of candy that's much too good for one to believe it has finished.
"Dave... please." she whispered, backing away from him and standing up. "We can't... I'm sorry."
He nodded, oddly at peace with her assertion. He had known what she was going to say all along.
"You're a very good friend to me Dave, but that's a---" she stopped, looking beyond.
Her aposiopesis caused him to return to earth. He stood up before her, noticing her stare never moved. Her eyes grew wide with fright.
"Scott..." she began.
Dave whirled around to meet his oldest brother face to face, the two blue eyes fierce slits.
The others came running out of the building just in time to see Scott's fist come in contact with Dave's nose.
The younger boy fell back down to the bench on the great impact, holding his nose as blood began to flow from it.
"Scott!" Angela reprimanded.
"You kissed my girlfriend!" Scott fumed. "You little bastard! I'm going to fucking beat the living shit out of you!" he lunged, but Bob and Clint arrived just in time to hold him back. The older boy struggled to get free from their grasps through their directions to calm down.
"I love her." Dave said firmly, spitting flecks of blood out of his mouth. The red stream ran steadily down his upper lip.
"You little prick!" Scott exclaimed, his anger growing like a crackling fire that was just doused with gasoline. He was now smoldering.
"Scott please!" Angela begged, holding him back by his chest. "Don't hurt him Scott."
"How can you say that Angela?!" Scott screamed. "He's trying to take you away from me!"
"No Scott, nothing can break us apart." she coaxed. "I love you, and you love me. Nothing can take that away Scott, I swear. Dave and I are just friends."
"If he loved you so much then why the fuck did he cheat on you?!" Dave demanded, swiping at the blood with the back of his wrist.
Scott's angry eyes became clouded with fear. He began to struggle against the arms of the identicals, wanting to wring Dave's neck at that moment.
"Pardon... me?" Angela asked slowly, turning to face the injured boy.
"Gigi Hasaad." Dave continued through gritted teeth. Hate was the only thing that fueled his words. "In Italy. August. You were all over her. Then you two went into the bathroom for two hours." he recounted as if it had just happened the day before; he had never forgotten. He kept his eyes locked on Scott's, pleased with the weakness he saw there. Now his older brother would know what it felt like to be helpless. He'd know how it felt to be on the bottom. He'd know exactly how he made other people feel. "God only knows what you did with her in there. But you were looking a bit jaded afterwards." he managed a smirk.
Scott was frozen. He looked to Angela who stood much in the same position, keeping her eyes on what looked to be the leg of the bench. After a second of this abeyance, she went through the motions of opening her purse and taking out Kleenex. Going to Dave, she kneeled down beside him and held the facial tissues to his nose, trying to stop the blood flow while trying to keep her tears back. Dave continued to glare at Scott whose eyes had somewhat softened.
"Angela..." the older boy whispered.
Her eyes shot to his. "Don't." she told him, feeling the tears sting at the back of her eyes. "Just don't." she breathed.
Dave took the tissues from her and sat up completely.
Scott's shoulders slumped, leading Bob and Clint to believe that he wasn't going to try to attack their youngest brother.
"Angela please..." the eldest Moffatt boy pleaded.
She snapped her black handbag shut, shaking her head and standing up brusquely. Though her shoulders and arms were naked, she had momentarily forgotten about the cold.
"Please..." Scott begged. "Just let me explain."
"No Scott. No." she said, trying to remain calm. "They're all lies. Just please... don't."
"I love you!" he shouted, swallowing thickly around the lump in his throat that was slowly cutting off his air supply.
She just glared at him, her eyes despondent and stoic. "Don't." she whispered harshly, turning away from him and beginning to walk for the street. She felt she had the right to be angry.
"Angela!!!" he screamed after her. "Don't leave me!"
She turned back to him, the tears glazing her eyes over. She slid the ring he had given her for her sixteenth birthday off her finger. Approaching him with the same blank expression, she took up his hand and placed the ring in its palm.
Scott looked down at the silver ring then back into her drab brown eyes. "Are you... are you breaking up with me?" His voice cracked with emotion. He felt the nausea begin to rise, realizing he needed her more than oxygen.
She hesitated, looking back into his eyes. The truth was that she needed him too. But at that moment she couldn't stand to see him. A tear spilled down her cheek. She couldn't handle his questions. Dropping his hand limply, she began to run away, the freezing air stinging her tears stains. She had to get away from him. She couldn't stand to see him. He had cheated on her. The reality of it was too much to handle. Had he ever loved her at all? Why had he done it? Was she not enough for him? Lies. He had just fed her lies. Saying she was his one and only. He had lied.
Scott watched her leave until her form was completely blurred by his tears. He turned around, slowly and painfully to look at his friends.
"Maybe I should follow her..." Kelly whispered to Timber.
"I think she just needs to be alone." Timber said, feeling her friend's pain. But at the same time, she couldn't help but sympathize for Scott. Seeing him standing there, so rigid and lack-luster. His doldrums were reflected in the way his shoulders arched downward as if the weight of the world was suddenly on them.
"FUCK!!!!!" he exclaimed, grasping his hair frantically. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckety-fuck-fuck!!!" he continued, wincing in the pain he had inflicted upon himself, both in the fact that he had lost Angela and in the fact that he was yanking his hair as hard as he could without tearing it out.
No one spoke. The seven spectateurs just watched Scott breakdown.
"Let's just go home." Bob suggested, kneeling down to where his older brother had sank to the ground. "Come on Scott."
Though he knew his brother deserved what he had gotten, he wasn't going to say so until Scott was calmed down. His brother had been through quite a bit that night.
* * *
The limo drive back to the Moffatt's house was silent. Ben and Kiki had decided to stay and get a ride back to her place later. Bob and Clint had made it a strict point to have Scott and Dave on either sides of the vehicle, knowing what a horrific experience it would be if they were anywhere near each other. Dave was situated next to an incredibly gloomy Jeanine. His admission of his love for Angela had unknowingly been terribly invidious for her. On his other side was Bob who also sat next to Carmen.
Timber and Clint had the grievous job of sitting on either sides of Scott. Kelly sat on Timber's opposite side. Scott stared miserably into space; Timber had allowed him to rest his clouded head on her shoulder. She knew how horrible he felt and she was still his friend regardless of the mistakes he had made.
The limo pulled up in front of the Moffatts house and everyone piled out. There was an after party to take place at the house, but it seemed as if no one was really as avid about the activity as they had been before.
Upon entering the house, Scott dragged himself directly to his room, closing himself off to the rest of the world. He always liked to be isolated in the darkness when he was upset. Usually he would play his guitar, maybe write a song, but at that moment, he felt tired at soul and only wanted to lay alone.
He discarded her suit-coat onto the floor, loosening his tie. Toeing off his shoes as he unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt, he lay down on his unmade bed, pulling the covers around his body. The shades in his bedroom were open and the light from the crepuscular stars was allowed to spill through. He was too lazy to close them. And even the moon didn't lift his spirits. He had lost her. The only thing in his life that ever made such clear sense to him, he had lost. Alone in his room, he began to cry.
* * *
Dave winced in pain as his stepmother touched his bruised nose.
"Sorry, sorry." she hurriedly apologized. "How did this happen?"
As soon as the group of teens stepped into her house, having returned from the dance, Sheila had noticed Dave's bleeding nose. She had insisted upon him going with her into the kitchen, while the others went into the living room, and letting her clean him up.
"I don't want to talk about it." Dave replied dryly.
"Fair enough." she acceded, knowing she'd find out sooner or later.
The youngest child watched his stepmother douse a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol to wipe away the dried blood.
"Don't breathe this in." she advised, beginning to wipe at the dark reddish-brown stains between his nose and upper lip.
Frank Moffatt walked briskly into the kitchen from the office down the hall. He did a double take when he saw his son at the table and his late wife playing nurse.
"What happened here?" he asked with concern, seeing just how serious the situation was.
"I don't want to talk about it." Dave regurgitated firmly.
"Did you walk into a door or something?" Frank grinned, oddly finding the situation hilarious.
"This is Dave, not Bob." Sheila reminded her husband.
"I suppose you're right." Frank chuckled. "Even Scott has been known to do a few clumsy things in the past." he added.
"I got punched." Dave announced, not liking that his parents seemed to find the whole thing a big joke.
"Over a girl?" Frank asked, getting closer to see the damage.
"Why does it matter?" Dave asked, completely confused.
"Because that's the only time it's worth it." Frank replied.
* * *
"Well tonight was most certainly interesting." Clint commented dryly.
"Did you guys know about this?" Kelly asked, slightly angry.
"About what?" Bob asked nervously, exchanging a look with Clint.
"About that Gigi girl." Kelly said, giving him a look that was usually seen given by a mother.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Bob said, trying to shield his eyes from her stare.
"I plead the fifth." Clint stated smugly.
"This is Canada, that doesn't work." Timber told him. "You did know!"
"So? It wasn't our business to tell. If Scott wanted to tell her, then he would have."
"He should have." Jeanine said firmly, sitting on the couch between Carmen and her cousin.
"But that would have changed things so much." Timber pointed out. She was on the love seat with Clint. "I mean, would we all still be such close friends if Scott and Angela had broken it off or something?" she asked.
A maratorium was formed by the pondering of this thought provoking question.
"Are you saying that Scott and Angela are the core for the crew's friendship?" Bob asked.
"No, that's not what I'm saying." Timber said, not wanting her innocent words to be taken as a slanderous remark. "I'm just saying that maybe this happened for a reason. The reason this didn't come out until tonight was because it wasn't supposed to."
"I guess you're right." Carmen agreed. "But he still should have told her." she confirmed, speaking on behalf of the moreg.
"This sucks." Clint finally commented.
"Hey guys." Frank greeted, peeking into the room. "Where's Scott?" he asked, not seeing his eldest son present. "And where's Angela..." he asked suspiciously, not warming up to the idea of them being alone together.
Unfortunately, his queries weren't especially timely, and only added to the banal mood.
"Angela isn't here." Bob replied, hoping his father wouldn't ask anymore questions. "And Scott's upstairs."
Frank nodded slowly. "Alright." he said, dismissing the subject. "I'm taking Dave to the emergency room to get his nose looked at. We should be back by one. Sheila's upstairs." he explained.
"Kay." Bob nodded, his arm comfortably around his girlfriend's shoulders.
"No police this time." Mr. Moffatt warned before heading for the garage.
Clint and Bob just grinned.
"Poor Scott." Timber sighed. "I feel kinda bad for him."
Bob thought for a moment before adding his opinion. "Me too." he said. "I mean, he deserved what he got, but you can't help but feel bad for someone when something comes around and bites them in the ass.
"No! Absolutely not!" Kelly interjected vehemently. "He deserves to loose her. If he loved her so much, he wouldn't have cheated on her. I think she should dump his ass."
"That's a bit harsh Kelly." Jeanine said.
"She does have a point though." Clint commented. "I mean, I feel bad for him and all, but every action has it's consequences. Everyone gets bit in the ass by shit they do."
"Exactly. And just because you can't handle the consequences doesn't make things go your way. He'll be lucky if he gets out of this one with Angela." Kelly said brutally.
"Whoa there... retract those claws." Timber commented.
"It's the truth. I mean, I love Scott dearly, but he needs to learn how to deal."
"Good point." Bob nodded.
"And he needs to think with the right head." Kelly added.
"Gee, good to know my friends care about me." Scott's voice cut through the air. "Good to know I can trust you guys not to talk shit about me behind my back. I'm glad you're all there for me when I really need somebody. I'm glad you all want things to work out for me." he said sarcastically.
He looked as if he had aged twenty years, standing in the archway to the living room. His hair hung limply in his red eyes. His cheeks were completely flushed and his shirt partially untucked. His clothing was rumpled and wrinkled, his shirt sleeves unbuttoned and the cuffs hanging around his hands.
"But if you doubt for one minute that I do not love that girl... you're dead wrong." he concluded severely.
"Scott, we are your friends..." Kelly began to say, in the tone one uses on a rabid child.
"No, you save it!" he shouted at her. "You are NOT my friend! None of you are. You just go behind my back. I admit that I made a mistake, but I'm paying the highest price for it so you can all mind your own fucking business!"
With that said, he stormed from the room, back upstairs. Bob winced as he heard his eldest brother's bedroom door slam.
* * *
She sat at her vanity, running her brush mechanically through her dark curls. She couldn't even focus in on her reflection, her brown eyes bloodshot from her tears. With her dress long since discarded in the back of her closet for dry-cleaning, she sat in her light blue tee-shirt and a pair of black and white shorts. She had washed her face, ridding herself of the crimson lipstick and mascara. She had put her shoes in line with the other ones in her closet. She had brushed her teeth, but it was as if his taste was still lingering in her mouth. Or was that the taste of Dave? No. She knew Scott's taste, she had memorized it since the first time he kissed her.
"Are you... are you breaking up with me?" he asked, his eyes frightful and lost.
Could she do it? Could she put an end to the first meaningful relationship she had ever had? She loved Scott. She didn't know how she managed to after hearing what he had done...
"No Scott, nothing can break us apart... I love you and you love me. Nothing can take that away, I swear..."
She had said those words. Focusing on a photograph of him in the corner of her mirror she sighed, realizing how true they were. The photograph was of them kissing. She remembered Timber and Bob taking it and giggling wildly as Scott chased after them. She remembered the love she had felt circulating through that kiss.
"... nothing can break us apart..."
She wanted to forgive him. She knew she had to. She loved him so much and she wouldn't put herself through the pain of trying to dissolve his taste from her mouth. But she was angry. She was so angry she could barely see straight. He had been with someone else. Someone else now had his taste on their palette. And he hadn't ever told her. Would he ever have told her?
Angela pulled the sheets back on her bed, crawling underneath. Her baby sister was snuggled in the bed already, she had insisted on sleeping with her big sister that night. Angela had no energy to object. She kissed the sleeping cherub on the forehead before clicking off the light. Now there was darkness.
She was so confused. How did she feel? Her heart was telling her that she had only reached the aphelion in her relationship with Scott and she should run back to him because she loved him. Her mind said he would only hurt her again and he would never change. But the heart's reasons are unknown to the mind. In that moment, she wanted to think about something else. She just wanted to forget him.
Moments passed before she realized she was wondering what he was doing right then. All her thoughts seemed to go back to him. But she was angry. She was very angry. In the midst of it all, however, she wondered one thing. Was he thinking of her?
* * *
Scott stared at his dark ceiling, drowning in the tears that continued to fall from his lethargic eyes. He had never felt so alone. All he wanted to do was to see her again, but he knew she would never talk to him. He had to prove his love to her. He had to apologize somehow. His hand went to his Jesus Fish necklace. Looped onto the gold chain was the ring she had placed in his palm. He was his own affliction. It was all his fault. Did she still love him? He couldn't stop thinking about her. It was driving him crazy.
"I love you Angela!" he had shouted. "Don't." she had said in return.
What did that mean? Did she think he was going to stop loving her? That wasn't possible. He would love her until the stars stopped shining. He would love her until the sun died out. He would love her forever.
* * *