Eleven

Haley

Haley stared at the moonlight filtering through the blinds, at the faint silver sheen it cast over Scott’s room, making the silhouettes of his dresser, desk, and wardrobe barely distinguishable in the darkness. Scott was lying next to her on the bed, head resting on her chest as she stroked his hair.

“Can’t you sleep?” he asked.

“No, sorry. Too many emotions today.” Haley gave a soft chuckle. “I’m still pumped full of adrenaline.”

Scott shifted positions and propped his head on an elbow as if to stare at her, even if in the darkness it was impossible. Haley could only distinguish the black contour of his straight nose. “Is adrenaline all that’s keeping you awake?”

“Also guilt for not telling you about the kiss right away,” Haley said. “And anger for leaving David room to come between us. I should’ve never done that.” She sighed. “But Scott, after everything you told me about Brigitte, I would’ve hated for you to see me differently. For you to think I was the same as that girl from your past.”

Scott cupped Haley’s face with one hand. “Hey, you’re nothing like Brigitte. She was a liar and a schemer, a mean girl who enjoyed toying with people’s lives. You only made an honest mistake. We both did. I, too, left David room to play his tricks. I should’ve trusted you. No matter what he claimed, I should’ve called you instead of taking his word for it and making life-changing decisions in the heat of the moment.”

“Yeah.” Haley wasn’t able to keep a bittersweet note out of her voice. “I hadn’t pinned you down as impulsive. You always seem so calm and reflective.”

“I am impulsive when it comes to you.” He tapped her nose with a finger in an affectionate gesture. “You make me literally lose my mind, usually in a good way. But today… when I thought I’d lost you… to him. I went off the wrong deep end.”

Haley didn’t say anything, so Scott asked, “Are you worried because we’re going to spend the summer apart?”

Haley traced his profile with a finger. “I’m not thrilled you’re going away for two months, but I’m happy you took the internship, honestly. It was too good an opportunity to pass up on, just for me. And I’m not worried about us, I trust you completely.”

“And I trust you.” Scott pulled her closer. “But the idea of spending so much time apart… I don’t want to.”

“Two months will fly by,” Haley lied.

“Come with me,” Scott breathed down her neck and started kissing her collarbone.

The sensation was so good, Haley was almost ready to throw all her other obligations out the window and say yes. But she couldn’t.

Pulling back, she said, “I can’t. Even if I wanted to, it’s too late to get a refund on tuition, and I can’t just throw all that money away.”

“And I can’t stay.” Scott sounded heartbroken. “I already confirmed with Dr. Allen’s staff, and I wrote to Massachusetts General to notify them I’ve accepted another offer.”

“Gah, you’ve been thorough.” Haley sniffled, trying not to burst into tears. “You must’ve really hated me.”

“I could never hate you.” Scott stamped a soft kiss on her lips.

“But you’re going to California.”

“Unless I want to spend the summer doing nothing, I have to.”

Suddenly cold, Haley lifted the bedspread over her shoulders. “Where does that leave us?”

“In a long-distance relationship for two months?”

“You don’t want to take a break?”

“No, never. Why would I want a break? I’m in love with you.”

“So the fact that I kissed David doesn’t change the way you feel about me?”

Scott stiffened next to her. “The thought of his lips”—he traced hers with a finger—“on this mouth makes me want to punch a wall. I’m jealous of my brother and he is jealous of me in a way it’s hard to explain if you don’t have a sibling… But the past doesn’t change how much I love you, not for a second.”

“Are you sure?”

Scott pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “After David told me about the kiss, I wanted to die, to disappear, to go as far away as possible… and now I’d give anything to take it all back, but I can’t. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor and I need this internship. I’ve been so stupid to believe—”

“No, you haven’t.” Haley laced her fingers with his, bringing their joined hands to rest over her heart. “David never lies,” she said. “It’s something he knows you’ve always trusted, and he used it against you, but it’s not your fault for believing him.”

“I just keep wishing that I’d waited a few hours. Or I think about what would have happened if I hadn’t seen the email. I’m torturing myself imagining everything else that could’ve stopped me from sending that damned response.”

“And my brain is stuck in a loop of ‘if only I’d told him sooner.’ But I didn’t and you didn’t and there’s nothing we can do about it now. David twisted the truth and used it against us, but we can’t let him win.”

“He’s already won, he got exactly what he wanted… to keep us apart.”

“It doesn’t matter where we are, physically. We’re still going to be together. David hasn’t won anything.”

“It still sucks.”

Haley scoffed. “Agreed.”

She noticed that Scott wasn’t asking any questions about the kiss. How it’d been. If Haley had enjoyed it. If she’d thought about David after that night. He had asked if she liked David while they were still in the middle of a shouting match, but nothing afterward. Maybe Scott didn’t want to know. Or he could be afraid of what answers she might give him. And he’d be right, because the truth wouldn’t make the kiss any easier to digest for him.

If he ever asks, I’m not going to lie, Haley promised herself, before shifting the topic to more practical aspects. “When does the internship start?”

“June 20^th… It’s a Monday, but I’ll have to get to California a couple of days early to find a place to live and get settled.”

“So you’re basically leaving in a week.”

“I haven’t planned anything yet.”

“And you won’t have much time to plan,” Haley said, straddling him. “Because I’m going to want to spend every minute you have left here together.” She kissed him.

“Hey.” Scott ran his hands down her lower back. “It’s just a summer… nothing will change.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Scott

Scott didn’t bump into his brother again for the next two days. On Friday morning he found David seated at the kitchen bar wearing a suit and eating cereal out of a bowl as if he didn’t have a concern in the world.

Scott stopped dead in the middle of the living room, undecided on what to do. A part of him wanted to scream at his brother, to beat him into a pulp. But at the same time, he wanted to pretend David didn’t exist.

“Oh, come on, brother,” David said. “No need for that disapproving scowl. I’ve heard the princess come and go these past few nights… Guess all is well again in paradise?”

“No thanks to you.”

Scott had to muster all his self-control not to get dragged into another argument with David. Better to skip breakfast and leave before he did something he’d regret.

But his brother wasn’t as ready to ignore him.

“May I ask why you stole the coffee maker?” David said, in a perfectly conversational tone. “Is caffeine deprivation your ultimate revenge strategy?”

“The coffee maker is mine and I can do whatever the hell I want with it.”

“Are you finally moving out?” David asked. “Couldn’t help but notice you’re getting all boxed up. How are you going to afford a new place?”

“If you really have to know, I’m moving to California for the summer for an internship.”

“Woooh.” David smiled viciously. “I hope my little slip of the tongue had nothing to do with your sudden decision to move cross-country.”

“What do you want me to say, David? That your mastermind plan to ruin my life worked? Well, bravo.” Scott clapped his hands mockingly. “You’re officially a dick.”

David licked his spoon and dropped it into the bowl before saying, “At least now you’ve tried first-hand how fun half-truths can be.”

“What are you talking about?”

David’s blue eyes flared. “You know what.”

“Not Brigitte again. How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t know?”

“How convenient…”

“I can’t do this again, you refuse to listen—”

“Oh, I hear you just fine. Pity I don’t believe you.” David got up from the stool and rounded the kitchen bar, his eyes searching Scott’s face. “Were you really dumb enough not to notice? Not to ever wonder?”

Scott didn’t reply.

“Come on, Scotty, say it,” David pushed. “Let it out, you’ll feel better afterward, I promise.”

“I DIDN’T KNOW!” Scott shouted, exasperated.

“Didn’t know?” David spoke in a quiet hiss, his cold fury topping Scott’s blunt anger. He took a step forward and shoved Scott backward. “Or didn’t want to know?”

David gave him another push until Scott’s back was pressed against the wall. In a quick move, his brother jagged his forearm against Scott’s throat, leaving him just enough room to breathe. “Tell me, brother,” David said, still speaking in a soft, angry whisper. “Whenever Brigitte told you not to make your relationship public, to keep it a secret from me, you never suspected it might be because she was still with me? Never?” David pinned him with a glacial blue stare. “Not even once?”

Scott lowered his gaze, unable to sustain his brother’s glare. The truth was that, deep down, he had suspected something was wrong with the way Brigitte had behaved. Scott hadn’t known for sure, but he had preferred to look the other way. To pretend he believed her version one hundred percent.

“There.” David gave him another light shove and then let him go, bouncing backward. “Feels good to finally admit the truth, doesn’t it?”

Scott wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What do you want me to say?”

“Apologize for once. Admit you didn’t care if what you were doing was wrong, because you wanted Brigitte more than anything you’d ever wanted in your life. And even after you found out the truth, you still didn’t care…”

“I am sorry, David. I’ve been sorry for a long time. But can’t you see she strung both of us along? We both loved her, and she probably didn’t care about either of us. Can’t we just let that go? Start over?”

“Nice speech. One I could’ve respected if you hadn’t decided to fish in my pond again.”

“Your pond?” Scott scoffed. “Because you kissed a girl one night, a girl who couldn’t even tell who you were?”

“It was a rather special kiss.”

“I’ve been with Haley for the past six months, in case you haven’t noticed. I never knew you’d met her first, and now it’s too late to call dibs.”

“Seriously? You didn’t know? Is that your good-for-all excuse?”

“Haley is with me now. Forget the fantasy and open your eyes to reality.”

“I want what I want, brother.”

“Keep your hands off her,” Scott threatened.

“That, brother, is only for Haley to decide.”

“She hates you.”

“Mmm… maybe…” David’s mouth curled up at the corners, his eyes sparkling with malice. “Well, then, you have nothing to fear.” He straightened his tie and jacket and opened the door. “I only hope she doesn’t get too lonely while you’re gone…” David waved mockingly. “Bon voyage.”