The Upside of Heartbreak

Pride, PDA's, and Practical Physics

Guess what everyone! I'm not dead! XD

Just kidding (sorta). It has been an appallingly long time since the last update on this thing though. Not gonna lie, it was rough. I did 4 complete rewrites, suffered several months of writer's block (more like 'motivation to write' block...), had 2 big family blow-ups, nearly had a breakdown, got hit in the eye while playing with the cat and ended up half-blind with a swollen eyeball (twice!), and helped my mom through a second stroke. It's been... A LOT.

Thank you all for sticking with me for so long. Your reviews and messages definitely lifted me up while I was down, and kept me coming back to slog away at this thing until I finally had something worthy to give you in return. Fair warning though, it is somewhat of a self-serving smut piece. I just had to write SOMETHING to keep the chapter rolling, and this was the final result. Anyways, hope you like it :P

*PS: This is for you SpicyPisces. Sorry I kept you waiting so long

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"You know what, I actually feel like I'm getting it," Scott stated while trying to keep the surprise from his tone. Setting his pen down, he shot Hayden a somewhat smug smirk as he stretched out the ache that had begun to form between his shoulder blades. "I mean, I'm not expecting an outstanding grade on Monday's test, but I'm at least confident of a pass. Guess I'm not as dumb as everyone thought."

All in all, the day had truly been quite a success for Scott. Granted there had been a few minor differences of opinion over the course of the afternoon, but Scott still felt pretty proud of himself for how well he'd gotten along with his dorky cousin. He'd even kept most of his 'nerd' comments to himself for a change. That warranted a pat on the back for sure.

Instead of complimenting Scott or throwing out a rude jab, Hayden just arched a brow as he started gathering up all the scattered pages. "You're welcome," he drawled. Tapping the bundle of papers on the counter to align it before setting it on Scott's open binder.

In all fairness, Hayden had given up a good portion of his Saturday for this. Scott supposed he could be a little more gracious about that. It wasn't like he really had to be Mr. Cool around Hayden anyways. Hayden didn't care.

"And I guess you can take a little credit," Scott added in an offhand sort of way. "You know, you're not nearly as bad a tutor as I thought you were gonna be." Feeling a slight blush heat his cheeks as he offered his cousin a tentative smile.

Hayden met Scott's eyes for a moment before shaking his head and huffing a soft laugh. "You know what, I think that might just be the most complimentary thing you've ever said to me. I'll take it," he conceded.

"Aww, look at you two playing so nice together," Astrid joked brightly - sauntering over to lean against the other side of the centre island. After setting her steaming mug of tea down, she promptly reached over to drag Scott's completed work towards her. A part of him wanting to snatch the pages away before she could read them and laugh at him. The other part kind of needing a bit of validation from someone who's opinion he held in high regard.

"Days not over yet," Hayden reminded her blandly, and Astrid glanced up at him with an arched brow. Then she shook her head with a chuckle as she turned her gaze back to the papers in her hand. Her blue eyes scanning over the words as her lips twisted thoughtfully - and Scott found himself chewing nervously on his lip while he waited.

"This is actually pretty good," she finally offered after she'd looked through them all. The tone of surprise was painfully obvious, but at least her smile was genuine as she slid the worksheets back across to Scott. "I mean, it's no Hemingway, but Cope will probably still give you a pass anyways," she teased.