He didn't know her. He didn't know his own angel anymore. How fiercely wondered how that could be. He did not know his own angel. He did not know anything... except that he couldn't go home.
* * *
The room was silent. It was not the comforting silence, the blissful lack of noise and chaos that soothed an otherwise shaken soul, but the silence that was not silent at all. This was the disconcerting absence of sound that prompted someone to speak just to erase such a horrid sound.
The basement was on pause. Everyone remained still, frozen in the moment when their worlds all fell apart, splattering messily on the tiles.
The storm began. The storm that would change them; the storm that would blow through and leave them stricken and afflicted. They would never be the same.
Entropy.
Angela released a sound like breaking glass and trembled, her hands clustered into fists against her face as she cried like nails were scraping over her skin. She gasped, sucking in air fiercely to bring life to her lungs that seemed to have collapsed. Slowly, painfully, she allowed the world to see her face.
Her eyes were streaked with red as if welling with pink tears, diluted blood. She stripped her glasses from their perch and turned to the others, allowing them to see her unguarded. She stared at them and they stared back, incredulous of the person they thought they had known. In a breeze of Carolina Herrera's two-twelve and the Atlantic scent of desperate crying, she pounded up the stairs.
Bob bit into his lip, his heart thudding and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He felt ill at ease, uncomfortable, as if all of his insecurities were flooding out in one moment. His world was crumbling and he was scared, rapt with a feeling that he had to make things right, that his world was out of place.
Swallowing thickly, trying to smother the lump that was rising steadily to the surface, he started running, up the stairs, around the corner, down the hallway, under the crystal light, out the front door...
Into the rain.
"Angela!" he cried out frenziedly, looking both ways before spotting her on the sidewalk and thudding down the front steps of Timber's home to get to her.
She was walking by then, allowing the rain to envelope her in its chill. Her arms hugged her body as she shivered, her steps unsure, small, as if she no longer knew where they belonged. Bob jogged to catch up with her; she was already near the end of the block.
"Angela..." he said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the pelting volley.
She abruptly stopped walking, as if she had been waiting for a reason to do just that all along. Turning to him, her face fell and she screamed in his, no words, merely a shriek, a battle cry, a sign of desperation.
She melted like ice cream in July, into his arms, handing him the reigns on her life and just laying still for the first time. He patted her back, tucking her head under his chin and feeling the cold wetness of her soaking hair. She clutched him, her fingers digging ditches into the muscle of his back, testing his tangibility.
"It'll all be okay... I promise." Bob whispered, though he could not be sure.
Angela hesitated before pulling away from him and looking up into his shimmering, unsteady gaze. Her chin wrinkled with sobs. "I..." she started to say, stopping before she mustered the courage to continue. "I just... have to be... alone right now." She managed, more tears coursing down her cheeks.
Bob nodded softly, wishing there was something he could say to make things all-right again.
She turned and continued walking, hunched and drawn in, as if she had aged fifty years without the love of her life.
Though every bone in his body begged him to, he did not follow her this time.
* * *
Lightyears away...
Jeanine ran, not wanting to be caught this time as her footsteps hammered against the dampening cement. Dave followed after her, calling her name against the onsetting storm, wishing she would slow down so he could think things through. Just one look in her eyes and he would know.
She neared her house, dropping speed as her steps landed on the driveway. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled for her keys. She was breathing hard, having run as fast as she could from the place where her life lay in the wreckage.
"Jeanine, wait." Dave said, panting almost as hard, his hand gripping her forearm from behind.
She did not turn around, trying to fight off the tears but finding she could not. She couldn't do it this time. She couldn't just let him hold her and stroke all of her pain from the roots to the ends of her hair with his delicate fingers. Not this time. This time it wouldn't work.
"Please..." he whispered breathlessly, touching her shoulder as she stood in the rain, beginning to cry, her tears disguised by the droplets that were slowly picking up, drenching them both. "Talk to me... I want to... I want to understand..."
The anger boiled within her and she spun to face him, showing him her scars, showing him how much it hurt.
"Don't you get it Dave?!?!" she shouted, her voice cracking with emotion as she leaned towards him threateningly. "Don't you fucking get it?!" she shouted with more force this time.
He didn't step away but merely stared, dumbfounded by the hoarseness of her tone and the anger in her eyes.
"I LOVE YOU!!!" she screamed, throwing her hands up in exhaustion. "I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU! But you don't GET it, do you?! You just don't get it." She muttered, shaking her head slowly and in pity for his lack of sight. "Because of her. Because you love her." Jeanine added softly, starting to walk away. She turned back. "Well I hope you're happy Dave." She added, stronger this time, neutral. "I hope your happy about all of... all of this. Because I just want you to be happy."
Her words picked at his heart, shattering its exterior and infiltrating him with a painful burst of something he could not identify. All he knew was that it hurt. He had lost his love for Angela. He had lost his love from Scott. And he had lost his love, Jeanine.
Finally alone and feeling truly alone for the first time in a long time, Dave Moffatt had lost everything.
* * *
My foundation was rocked. My tried and true way to deal was to vanish...
Angela continued walking, her joints feeling frozen and rigid as if she could no longer go on. Yet in the numbness of her body, she continued on towards her home, rounding the corner to her block and seeing it rise up above her.
My departures were old. I stood in the room shaking in my boots...
Every window was darkened. She wanted it that way. She wanted solace, maybe even desolation. She knew what she deserved.
She had been through this before, yet that time it hadn't hurt quite as it did at that moment. Last time it was her, getting hurt, feeling helpless in the matter.
This time it was her who had hurt him.
This time, it was over.
At that particular time love had challenged me to say. At that particular moment I knew not to run away again. At that particular month I was ready to investigate with you... At that particular time...
* * *
It had started to rain at one point, but he didn't notice the droplets hitting his skin like knives and soaking through his clothes.
He had been through this before... but it wasn't this bad.
We thought a break would be good. For four months we sat and vacillated...
He was tired and he had no idea where he was nor did he have a clue where he was going. Everything hit him in broken frames of slurred vision, flashing with the flashes of lightning and darkening to what seemed like eternal hell. He was muttering to himself, but couldn't understand what he was trying to say, flailing his left arm towards to hedges next to the sidewalk as he continuously careened into them. He wished he weren't so drunk, knowing that he would have a scrap of hope to depend on if he weren't. Maybe he wouldn't have gone upstairs in the first place, and then he would not have found out. God, how he wished he hadn't found out.
There was a time when he didn't quite know for sure, but after the first time, he knew more than ever. He loved her. He loved her. At that moment, he wasn't sure if he still could.
We thought a small time apart would clear up the doubts that were abounding...
He was wasted beyond belief, roaming the residential streets of suburban Calgary and trying hard to stay on his feet. He stopped; looking down at the bottle of whiskey in his hands, rain trickling down the thick glass in steady streams.
He drew his right arm back by his ear and uncoiled, throwing it as far as if would go; never hearing it hit the ground.
At that particular time love encouraged me to wait. At that particular moment it helped me to be patient. At that particular month we needed time to marinate in what us meant... at that particular time...
* * *
The storm was far more fierce that it had been when she was directly underneath its wrath. Rivers of water now flowed diligently down the glass of her window in fat, winding streams, as if a sheet of water were being gently released. Blue light flickered across her darkened bedroom, causing the darkened house to illuminate like a Jack-O-Lantern with an electrical light. On her window seat, her skin still wet and quaking, her knees tucked towards her heart, she tried to think things through, she tried to sort out the cluttered details to find a solid case. The truth was that she loved him. For the past year, she had loved him, and she knew deep inside her that that wasn't going to change... that love was far too strong to be tampered with so frivolously.
I've always wanted for you what you wanted for yourself... and yet I wanted to save us high-water or hell... And I kept on ignoring the ambivalence you felt...
Or perhaps it was.
Looking into his eyes that night, she was sure, positive, that he loved her. But it was too late. It had taken a year for her to see the truth... but that truth had come just one second too late.
And in the meantime I lost myself... In the meantime I lost myself... I'm sorry I lost myself... I am...
* * *
He collapsed on something soft, staring up at the sky, the rain hitting his face directly. She knew him. She was speaking to him somewhere in the back of his mind...
You knew you needed more time. Time spent alone with no distraction. You felt you needed to fly... solo and high to define what you wanted.
Shaking his head, grooving it further into the damp, soft earth, her voice dissipated and he was left with just himself... and all the doubt that that entailed.
He had suffered hell the last time they were apart. But even so... he knew had to walk away this time. His heart was so wounded this time... They were two different instances; it was a different place in time... perhaps a time when he was still sure of himself... He would have to find himself all over again if he was ever going to heal.
At that particular time love encouraged me to leave. At that particular moment I knew staying with you meant deserting me. That particular month was harder than you'd believe... but I still left... at that particular time...
* * *
*chapter sixty-two-and-two-thirds: a man/been crucified by enraged women
Bob returned to find everyone sitting in silence. Alighting from the stairs, the others looked up at him as if on cue. He winced at the stabbings from five pairs of inquiring eyes.
"Scott didn't sleep with Delta." Timber said sharply, sitting up straight as if she had solved the mystery.
"Angela didn't have sex with Dave." Kelly countered, leaning against the bar with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I was there that night..." Timber explained, disregarding Kelly's admission. "Clint and I were running around upstairs... and I walked in... and I saw her on the bed with him, but he was passed out, and they were NOT having sex. I know that for a fact. I mean... she was kissing him and stuff, but they were NOT having sex. He was out cold."
Bob shook his head, smoothing his fingers back through his wet hair, slickening it from his face. His fingers then roved over his face, dispelling all traces of the storm thundering above. "So lemme get this straight... Scott didn't have sex with Delta... Angela didn't have sex with Dave... so does this mean that they didn't just break up?"
He managed a comical smirk at his quip.
Timber grinned. "Idealistically."
"Whoa, whoa... What the hell happened here?" Clint asked, shaking his head. He was tucked on the couch next to Timber. "Lemme get this straight."
The others offered him their full attention.
"... because I could not follow any of what just went down." He continued after a moment's delay, looking at Bob namely. "So Angela had sex with Dave... because Scott had sex with Delta? Who's Delta? How come everyone knows all about this and I don't?" he asked, leaning back on the couch with his right arm as he waited for answers.
"No, no Clint." Timber spoke up. "I know the plot is moving quickly, but follow along with the bouncing ball." She advised condescendingly. "Scott did NOT have sex with Delta. Angela did NOT have sex with Dave. Book opened, book closed. That's all folks. Cliff's notes. There you have it. Two episodes of clear-cut non-coitus."
"Wait... Scott never fucked Delta?" Kelly asked, her eyes growing wide. "Whoa... but he did! Angela heard Delta talking about it!"
"Oh please." Ben snorted. "Delta's the town bicycle. Everyone has a ride. She's like a Greyhound bus; fits more than one. She's a door knob... everybody gets a turn."
The other five paused.
"Are you done?" Timber asked for clarification.
"Yeah. Jokes are only good in threes. Any more and it's overkill." Ben responded.
"So you're saying Delta's a hoe?" Kelly clarified, hands going to her hips with annoyance.
"Delta put the skank in 'skank hoe.'" Ben replied coolly, still sitting on the floor next to Carmen with his legs tucked up to his chest and crossed at the ankles.
The others paused, trying to understand how his information correlated with the matter at hand. Ben looked at them as if they were stupid.
"Okay, this chick was supposedly pregnant five times freshman year and she's cried rape even more than that. She's a pathological liar! She claims to sleep with all these guys, but she does NOT put out. I would know. That girl is a pure dick tease. She teases cock for the thrill. I even think she might be a virgin. Don't quote me on that though." Ben elaborated. "She did not fuck Scott."
"Plus, Scott was so drunk last night." Bob agreed, finally progressing into the room and sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Timber.
"He was wasted. He was toasted. He was..." Timber searched for a third analogy. "Oven roasted."
"Microwave-baked." Ben put in.
"Deep fried." Clint smirked.
"Fresh off the skillet." Timber chuckled.
Bob rolled his eyes in annoyance. "This isn't funny at all." He informed them, causing everyone to look at him once more. "I mean, you do remember what it was like last time this happened... Scott and Angela broke up you guys." He reminded them, trying not to let his fear show. "They didn't even break up last time. But this time... it's over."
"Yeah... for no good reason." Carmen pointed out. "Wait, how do you know Angie didn't fuck Dave? She said she did."
"She didn't." Kelly spoke up. "She gave him GHB last night, and she was supposed to, but she didn't. They messed around, then he passed out."
Ben's eyebrow perked. "Is that why you wanted the GHB?" he asked.
Kelly looked at him, surprised by the question. "What did you think I wanted it for? I'm scared you even have it." She smirked.
"You asked for it. I went out and got it from my dealer." Ben explained, still confused.
"You have a dealer?" Clint asked, interested.
Ben nodded.
"You guys, this blows. This sucks. This..." Timber searched for the third verb to cap off her joke-trio.
"Doesn't let the balls drag?" Ben quipped, taking off on the motif she had already set.
"What?!" Timber asked.
"Nevermind." Carmen and Kelly said in unison, knowing precisely what he had meant.
There was a silent moment that passed quickly before Timber spoke up.
"So what the hell?" she asked, searching for answers within her friends.
Clint perked an eyebrow in confusion. "Yeah, see, you'll need to make complete thoughts in order for us to understand you." He informed her dryly.
Timber turned in her seat until she was utilizing her entire behind as opposed to just her right cheek when she was facing Bob. "I mean... what happens now? Scott and Angela... Damn. I never thought they would break up! Scott worships her."
"Tell me about it." Clint snorted. "He has never, ever been so attached to anyone like he was to her. She was..."
"... his world." Bob continued, sighing then rubbing his tired eyes with the tips of his fingers.
"Well, us reminiscing about their relationship is NOT going to fix things." Carmen pointed out the obvious.
"Good point." Ben agreed.
"This is so stupid. This whole thing. When they're married and have kids, they're going to look back on this and... laugh." Bob stated hopefully, chuckling wryly and shaking his head.
"And what was your last count on those chickens that hadn't hatched?" Timber asked him sarcastically.
Bob sighed again, rubbing his hands over his thighs to smooth his shorts. "I believe they will get back together Timber. They love each other. And that's not just love... I mean, Scott... did a one-eighty with her..."
"Oh please." Kelly butted in. "You can never change a man." she snorted with contempt.
"But once in a blue moon you can change a woman." Carmen put in, a glimmer of hope resonating in her green eyes.
"No you can't." Kelly disagreed.
"No, no, you can change a man." Bob contradicted. "It... I mean, it may be hard, but Scott... he's living proof!" his voice cracked with emotion. "He's proof... I mean... look at him. He totally changed... because of her. And Scott would not throw all of that away. He loves her too much. Sure, he said some things tonight, and sure he said it was over, but it's not. Scott wouldn't just let her go. He's irrational like that, but he knows what he wants... he knows what he needs. She's his everything."
Kelly shook her head furiously, sending her wisps of golden hair in a carousel off her shoulders. "You Are So Naïve!" she gasped, narrowing her eyes. "He walked all over her. He cheated on her... he gave her a REASON to do what she did Bob. He basically begged her to do this! She was backed against a wall. So sure, whatever. He may want her back, but it's not that easy. Things aren't going to fall back into place this time! Things aren't going to go back to how they were Bob because guess what! This isn't Never-Never land!" she said emphatically, stepping towards him as she tried to remove the wool from his eyes.
Bob frowned, not speaking for some time. "I'm very sorry you feel that way Kelly." He uttered softly, not moving from where he sat. It was a moment before he continued his philippic. "I'm sorry you don't believe in soul-mates and love and all of that. I'm not asking you to. I don't even know if I believe in all that. But I am asking you to believe in Scott and Angela. Hell! I'm not even asking you to believe in that! But I have faith. I believe."
Kelly threw her hands up in irritation. "Bob! It's not all lilly-white anymore! This is tainted! This is dirty! Your perfect world? Gone! Paradise is behind us! Get over it! Welcome to reality! Jesus Christ! You are such a... you dwell in this fairy-tale world Bob. It's sickening! And I do believe in love, and I do believe in soul-mates, but look at what your brother has put her through! He never loved her at all! He even said it himself!"
"He was being irrational..." Bob tried to explain.
"No! He was telling the truth! If he loved her, he wouldn't have cheated on her. He wouldn't have pressured her into having sex with him! He wouldn't have called her a whore! He was going to hit her! He's no man, that brother of yours. He's a coward. And he doesn't deserve her." Kelly spat.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Bob blew up, standing up to imply his irritation. "Scott made a mistake. Sure he cheated on her, but he was sorry."
"Oh, and that makes it all better." Kelly sneered, turning away from him and heading back to her spot by the bar.
"... And he never pressured her into having sex with him Kelly. You know that! Scott isn't like that!"
She turned around again. "Bob! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you sticking up for this coward of a brother you have! Why?! You and I both know that Scott used her for sex. That's all he ever wanted from her! We both saw it everyday! The way he'd always kiss and her touch her and diddle her... making her have these feelings then totally breaking her heart when he did something like this. That's control. That's a power trip. But honey, wake up and whiff the Folgers. That's not love."
Bob was silent, staring into her eyes darkly. "He called her a whore because of what she did." He said in a very low tone, still glaring at her and trying to maintain his composure. "And he wouldn't have hit her."
Kelly rolled her eyes, seeming suddenly passive about the whole situation. "If you hadn't stopped him, I have no doubt that he would have. He wants to be in control of her. That's all he wants. A slave. Well, the charade's over! He can come clean! They won't get back together Bob because Scott is a coward and a low-life. He's scum, pure and simple. And he deserved everything he got. He treats women like whores, so I guess it's fine that his girlfriend turned out to be one." She shrugged, smirking at her adversary as she prepared to dismiss the conversation.
"Yeah, whatever Kelly." Bob mumbled. "Just because you have all your issues with guys doesn't mean that all of them are bad."
"What?" she asked, her ears perking as she heard his last, barely audible comment that had been hurled over his shoulder lightly as he got up and headed for the steps.
Bob turned back. "It's without a doubt Kelly." He said softly. "Just Nevermind." He added, not wanting to say something in the heat of the moment.
"No. What did you just say?" Kelly demanded, standing akimbo with a glare that would have blinded him if he looked directly at it.
"Let's not talk about it Kelly. Forget it. I'm just going to go upstairs for a while." Bob muttered, turning away once more.
"No. What the fuck did you say?" Kelly nearly shouted, her face bright red with anger. "I want to know what the fuck you said! Or are you just like Scott?! Running away from anything that poses a threat?" she egged him on, her shiny pink lips forming a smirk.
Bob heaved a breath and answered her invitation for an altercation with merely a shake of his head.
"I guess it runs in the family." Kelly sighed, looking at the others who were rendered silent and dumbfounded by the second explosion they were witnessing that night. "I mean, Scott's a screw up. We all know it. It's not a secret. Even your fucking father knows it. We all know how Frank feels about Scott..." she trailed off, aiming to hurt him in the worst possible way.
I am a man as a man I've been told, bacon is brought to the house in this mold. Born of your bellies I yearn for the cord; years I have groveled repentance ignored.
And I have been blamed. And I have repented. I'm working my way toward our union mended...
"Why don't you just shut the fuck up while your ahead Kelly?" Bob demanded, not able to restrain himself as he whirled around to look her in the eye. "What goes on in my family is NONE of your business, GOT THAT? Just fuck off okay? Just because Trevor was an ass hole doesn't mean you have to wreak havoc on all mankind okay? We're friends! Scott's your friend too! We all care about you! And I know you're still not over that..."
I am a man who has grown from a son. Been crucified by enraged women. I am a son who was raised by such men. I'm often reminded of the fools I'm among.
"What are you talking about?" Kelly barked, turning an even darker crimson as her cheeks began to burn.
And I have been shamed. And I have relented. I'm working my way toward our union mended. And I have been shamed. And I have repented. I'm working my way toward our union mended.
Bob descended the single stair he had climbed in his attempt to leave the room. "Well, it's no secret." He approached her with his easy going way. "I mean, sure, you sleep with Ben, but why is it that you always have to be on top?" he asked, not able to stop his mouth from forming the words he would regret in just a few moments. "Even after he requested to be on top... you still refused, quite adamantly. Infact... if my memory serves me... you screamed at him as if he were... well... as if he were raping you. It seems to me that you have the power complex, not Scott. You're the one who assaulted Clint just a few weeks ago. You're the one who has reckless sex with Ben just to exercise your power over men. It's you Kelly. So stop pointing fingers at other people because we all know the truth now. We're a group, the ten of us." He continued, looking out at the others. "Sure, we have our personal little quirks, but we're a group. So let's be honest with ourselves, shall we? Let's stop hiding things from one another... it only ends in fights." He looked back to Kelly who had tears running down her cheeks.
We don't fare well with endless reprimands. We don't do well with a life served as a sentence. This won't work well if you're hell bent on your offense. I am a man who understands your reticence.
"And maybe you don't like Scott, or whatever, but I do. He's my brother. He's my friend. We like Scott, so..." it was getting harder to speak firmly to her when she was crying. "... if you don't like Scott, then maybe you should just stay clear of him. But I really don't want to know about it. I don't want to hear your opinions on him, your hatred towards him, or even your convoluted versions of his relationship with Angela. And yes. I can be naïve, and I can be childish, and I can live in Never-Never Land, but remember Kelly: We all once believed in Santa Claus. If you don't like that, then too bad. I'm me. You're you..." he had been talking a moment too long and he feared he would no longer be taken seriously. "So..." he trailed off, heaving a sigh. "I'm sorry." He quickly said, the tirade taking a new turn. "I shouldn't have said all that... Sorry Kelly." It was obvious to him that he was beyond the moral bounds of legal apology, but he tried nonetheless.
I am a man who still does what he can to dispel our archaic reputation. I am a man who has heard all he can, cuz I don't fare well with endless punishment.
Cuz I have been blamed and I have repented. I'm working my way toward our union mended. And we have been blamed and we have repented. I'm working my way toward our union mended.
Her hazel eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't talk to me." She ordered, brushing past him and leaving.
Bob's shoulders slumped dejectedly and he sighed loudly and exaggeratedly. "See!" he shouted, turning to the others who were just staring. "See what the fuck happens? This is all fucked up!" he cried out, scrubbing his fingers back into his hair. "What are we going to do?" he asked in a barely audible whisper, his eyes gazing heavenward.
"I don't know." Clint replied.
* * *
*chapter sixty-two-and-three-thirds: things fall apart
Not a single member of the crew had a comforting nights sleep and by the time the sun peeked up over the horizon to investigate the storm's wreckage, it felt as if sleep had not been had at all.
Dave awoke in a tangle of sheets, still in the clothes he had worn the night before. His pants and tee-shirt were damp in some places but wrinkled all over, giving off a pungent, mildewy odor. He slowly turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling and inhaling sharply. The day had come, and like the placidity after a storm, he would have to examine the damage done and work upwards and do the only thing that could be done: fix it.
* * *
The skin beneath Jeanine's eyes was tender and soggy from the tears she had shed until she finally fell asleep, sometime as the storm was on its way out. Sitting up slowly in bed, her feet meeting the pale purple shag-rug of her bedroom, she could not predict the future. She could not tell how things would pan out. The only thing she could do was wait. For what she did not know. She would just have to wait and see.
* * *
Kelly was torn from sleep very early that morning, as the traces of grey night were slowly expelled from the sky. No matter how hard she tried to forget Bob's words, they haunted her because she knew they were true. She knew that she was only fooling herself, trying to pretend she was healed when she actually was not.
Her bedroom held too many memories, so she left it, taking on the calmness of the early morning and traipsing out into the world.
* * *
Carmen, Ben, Bob, Clint, and Timber remained in the basement of the Moore home, each finding their respective nook in which to sleep.
You whore...
WE'RE OVER...
I never want to see you again...
They were the last half remaining, the only hope for salvation.
* * *
The earth held a certain aquatic scent. The scent of rainbows, that smell that hung thick in the air after a night of refreshing rain. The ground was soggy and earthworms were scattered sporadically on the sidewalks, pulsating with life after having their thirst quenched by such a drenching downpour. Kelly hugged her grey cardigan around her body, breathing in the air and sighing it out, smiling at the peace such an atmosphere induced. She had no idea where she was walking, but it felt good to be out in the damp world, breathing oxygen that finally felt fresh, feeling the mist of the invisible condensation that caused the air to be so thick hit her face and dampen her skin. She rounded the block onto the street next her own, planning on strolling amongst the maples and perhaps procuring a perfectly formed leaf from one of the several fallen branches.
Kelly immediately spotted something a ways off, obscudred by the branches of manicured hedge. She stopped walking, peering carefully at the form that was more than a block ahead, not possibly a threat, but perhaps in need of assistance. The form did not move. Kelly felt a twist in her heart and started towards it. The form was human, after all.
She steped closer to better perceive the shape of two legs stretched out into the sidewalk while the upper body of the being was buried within the bright green leaves of the hedge. Her stroll became a trot, then a jog until she was a few steps off, not detecting any movement with the being, but hesitating none the less.
"Hello?" she asked soflty, leaning forward without moving her feet.
There was no response.
"Excuse me... hello?!" she called, urgently this time, finally taking a step in to evaluate the situation on her hands.
The figure groaned, moving slightly as she approached, and rustling the leaves in the hedge.
Kelly stepped just close enough to see the figures face and gasped, shocked, angry, sympathetic, and confused all at once.
"Scott." She said gently, leaning down towards him.
He groaned once more, rolling gently in the bushes before his eyes opened just barely. His world was still fuzzy and wobbling all over the place.
"Scott..." Kelly whispered, clearing her throat as Bob's tirade echoed in her mind. "Scott." She said, stronger this time. She dropped to her knees in the squelchy lawn before the bushes, not caring that the moisture immediately soaked through the knees of her jeans. She touched his cheek as he looked up at her, confused, scared, and sad in the same instant.
"I... vomit..." he managed before turning away and wasting his stomach on the grass.
She reached her hand out, tentative at first, before firmly touching his back to show him that she was there in event he needed her. She was finally there.
Kelly still didn't believe that one could ever change a man. However, that moment proved to her that it was true; once in a blue moon, one could very well change a woman.
* * *