One Chance (30 page)

“It’s time stamped, the same time you went back to Michigan to hang out with the guys Liam,” Quinn says getting in my face.

“I didn’t do anything
, I swear.”

“Pictures say differently.”

“Where’s Haley?” I ask, getting more pissed off by the minute.

“She left.”

“What the fuck do you mean, she left?”

“She left,” Rebecca says.

“When’s she coming back?  We’re to get married tomorrow.”

“I doubt that’s going to be happening now,” Quinn says angrily.

“When is she coming back?” I ask again slower this time.

“We don’t know.  She went to cool off,” Rebecca says.

“Where did she go?” I ask looking between Quinn and Rebecca.

“She didn’t tell us,” Rebecca says
nervously.

“Did you do it?” Quinn asks hastily.

“No, I didn’t sleep with her I swear it.  Yes she was at the damn party, why I don’t know, but she was drunk, really drunk and trying to hang on to me.  She said she wanted to lie down and asked if I could help her.  I didn’t want to, but what the hell was I supposed to do?”

“So what happened?” Quinn asks with a look.

“I tried to help her walk, but she couldn’t, she was that drunk, so she asked me to carry her.”

“And you did,” Quinn snaps.

“Yes, I picked her up and carried her to an empty bedroom.  I put her on the damn bed and I left, that’s it, I swear.”

“Then what about the picture where you’re kissing her?” Quinn asks looking heated.

“What?” I ask confused.

“There’s a photo from the same night showing you kissing her.”

“Fuck,” I say running my hands through my hair.

“How could you do that?” Rebecca asks angrily.

“It’s not what it looked like,” I argue.

“Then what was it?” Quinn asks.

“Yes she kissed me, but I pushed her away, I didn’t kiss her back,” I say defending myself.

“The picture says otherwise,” Quinn says looking serious.

“I swear I didn’t do anything with her.  I would never do that to Haley.”

“
You need to explain that to her,” Rebecca says softly.

“I will as soon as I can find her,” I say leaving her house to grab my phone to try to call her.
  I call her numerous times, but the damn thing just keeps going to voicemail.  I walk downstairs to where Kenzie is with Brody, “Where the fuck is she?”

“I don’t know,” Kenzie states.

“I’m not playing a fucking game here, where does she go when she’s pissed off?”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew,” she snaps.

“What the hell is wrong with you?  She’s your fucking sister for Christ’s sake.  Do you not want her to be happy?”

“Yes
, I do want her to be happy, but I want her to find her own guys, not mine.”

“I’m not yours,” I scream.

“But you could be.”

“No I couldn’t.  I will never be yours.  I want nothing to do with you.”

“Calm down,” Brody says.

“Hell
, you shouldn’t want anything to do with her either,” I snap, feeling pissed off at the world right now.

“It will be fine.  She’ll be back soon and you can talk.”

“How do you know she’ll be back soon?” I ask curiously.

“She always comes
back; she’s just angry and hurt.”

“Yeah
, because of this jealous bitch and Meg.”

“I didn’t make Meg do anything,” Kenzie defends.

“You also didn’t do anything to stop her either,” I shout.

“The truth needed to come out.”

“I’m gonna go grab a drink,” Brody says as he heads up the stairs.

“You are a horrible person and an even worse sister,” I say getting angrier.

“Please, she’ll thank me one day.”

“No she won’t.  What you did was cold and malicious, that’s not love.”

“I’m looking out for her.”

“No, you’re only looking out for yourself.”

“Yeah, that too,” she says as she flops onto the couch, “Want to watch a movie?” she asks changing the subject.

“NO, I don’t want to do shit with you, let alone watch a fucking movie.  Stay the fuck away from me,” I say as I run up the stairs. “Where’s Brody?” I ask Isaac.

“He said he had to run out real quick,” he says as he continues watching television.

“That little son of a bitch,” I seethe.

“What did he do?”

“I bet he knows where Haley’s at.  God
, I could kill him right now.”

“Why don’t you have a seat and wait, she has to come back sooner or later,” Isaac states.

“Shit,” I say as I take a seat.

Haley

I sit here continuing to stare at the pictures in front of me, trying to figure someway that they’ve been altered.  Liam wouldn’t do this to me; I know he wouldn’t.

“Hey,” Brody says softly as he approaches.

“What are you doing here?” I ask annoyed.

“I heard what happened and I want
ed to make sure you’re okay,” he says as he takes a seat beside me on my blanket.

“No
, I’m not okay.”

“
God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Hails, I don’t think Liam cheated on you.”

“What?” I ask surprised, this coming from Brody.

“I could be wrong, but I know how he feels about you.  The way he looks at you, it’s different.”

“Explain these then,” I say
, as I drop the pictures in front of him.  He picks them up looking at them one by one.  “They are date stamped Brody.”

“Yeah
, I see that.  I don’t know what they mean but you should talk to Liam.”

“Why are you being nice all of
a sudden?”

“Because I care about you.  You don’t deserve to be hurt, not by me, not by Kenzie, and certainly not by Liam.”

“I don’t want to go back yet,” I say as I look out toward the ocean.

“So don’t.  We can hang out here.  I’m sorry I’ve been an ass lately.”

“Jealously is ugly Brody.”

“I know.  Yes, I’m jealous of Liam, because I always thought it would be me, but I made my choice when I started dating
Kenz.  I was wrong for what I did.  I shouldn’t have dated her and definitely not for so many years.”

“Then why did you?” I ask confused.

“I love her and things were comfortable.”

“But if you love her, the
n you could make it work.”

“I’m not in love with her
Hails,” he says truthfully.

“Are you ending it with her then?”

“I did a little while ago.”

“How did she take it?”

“Fine actually.  She basically said I’ll be back because I won’t know what to do without her,” he says laughing.

“What the hell is wrong with her?”
I ask frustrated.

“It’s crazy how d
ifferent you two are.  She was the outgoing one growing up, the center of attention, yet the entire time she’s completely jealous of you.”

“I don’t get it, but
whatever; I can’t dwell on it anymore.”

“So what do you think you’re going to do?  You’re to get married tomorrow
Hails.”

“I don’t know.”

“How about either way we still be friends.  I won’t push for more, I promise.”

“Sounds good to me.  Did you seriously mean what you said when you said you were transferring to Michigan?”

“Yeah, I got it all straightened out, I am going to be taking classes there.”

“Is that because of me?”

“Partly, I also do like the school a lot.”

“Brody
, you know even if Liam and I don’t work, you and I aren’t going to be together right?” I say, giving it to him straight.

“I know
, it took me a while to realize it, but I got it.”

“Okay, just making sure.”

“I know and I want you to be happy, even if that means with my stupid brother,” he says with a smirk.

“Thanks, that means a lot to me.
  Does Kenzie know you’re transferring schools?”

“She thinks I’m joking, but she’s been getting ruder and ruder by the day.  I don’t know what’s going on with her anymore.”

“She’s finally realizing the world doesn’t revolve around her,” I admit.

“You’re right about that.”

Brody and I spend the next two hours talking and catching up like before.  There’s no worry about him trying to steal me away from Liam, because that’s not an option, but his friendship I miss.  I’m willing to give him another chance, as long as he doesn’t screw up.

We head back home and I already know that Liam is going to be waiting for me.  I turn my phone on and see numerous messages and text messages from him and some from Quinn and Rebecca.  Deciding to ignore them all, I drive the rest of the way home.

I barely get the car in park before Liam is at my door.  “We need to talk, you need to let me explain,” he says with a worried look.

“That’s fine, we are going to talk,” I say as I get out of the car.

“Can we talk now?”

“Yes, I just need to let Quinn and Rebecca know I’m back
, then we can go over to your house to talk,” I say as I walk towards my house.

“Oh my gosh
, there you are,” Quinn says as she rushes to me to give me a hug, “You had me fucking worried.”

“I’m fine, but I wanted to let you know I’m going to go talk to Liam, so I will be back shortly.”

“Is everything okay?” Rebecca asks softly.

“It will be,” I say before turning around and heading back outside.  Liam is still in the same spot beside my car, “Okay, let’s go,” I say as we make our way across the street, using the bottom door
to the game room.

“I need you to let me explain those pictures babe,” he says quickly.

“Go ahead,” I say as I take a seat on the couch.

“I didn’t sleep with her I swear.  Hell
, I didn’t even make out with her.”

“So what happened?”

“I don’t even know why she was there, but she was and she was drunk, she couldn’t even walk.  Yes, she tried to kiss me, which is what that picture was, but I pushed her away and I set her straight,” he says matter of fact.

“Then how do you explain carrying her towards a bedroom?”

“Right after I explained to her that we were over, she went to back away.  Baby, she was beyond drunk she could hardly stand; she asked if I could help her get to a bed so she could lie down.  She tried to walk and I’m telling you she could barely move, so she asked if I could carry her.  I carried her to the first open bed, dropped her off on it and walked right back out.  That’s it, I promise you babe,” he says looking sincere.

“I believe you.”

“Good, but then why do you look pissed?”

“Because Liam,” I say getting louder than intended, “I should have known about this. I shouldn’t have had to see it in pictures the day before our fucking wedding,” I shout as I get up and pace the room.

“You’re right, I should have told you,” he says as he stands right behind me.

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t think it was a big deal I guess.”

“Does this look like a big deal?” I stop and stare at him dumbfounded.

“Baby it’s not.  She’s being a bitch, trying to stop the wedding.”

“Well it worked,” I snap.

“Wait what?” he shouts.

“We aren’t getting married tomorrow.”

“Why not?” he asks clearly frustrated.

“Because Liam, I trusted you and yet again you decide to hold things in and not tell me
, allowing it to cause trouble later.  First with Kenzie now with Meg.  I’m not going to keep moving in circles.”

“Baby stop,” he says as he comes over to me, looking at me with pleading eyes, “I love you.  I swear I didn’t do anything with any other girl and I won’t.  I only want you.”

“It’s not about that.  It’s about you keeping things from me.  What else don’t I know?  Which other girl throws herself at you that I don’t know about?  Or who tries to seduce you when I’m not looking?”

“Babe yes
, girls hit on me, it’s the same with you, guys hit on you all the time.”

“There’s a difference, I set them straight not caring how rude I get, but you, you don’t.  You try to be the good guy and in turn you end up screwing me over.  I’m not marrying you tomorrow.”

“What are you saying?” he asks as he looks at me in utter shock.

“I think we need a break,” I say softly as I look towards the floor.

“A break?  Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouts as he runs his hands through his shaggy blonde hair.