A Twist of Fate ↠ Scott Hoying

17. I'll Always Be Here

I was laying in bed, wide eyes staring at the ceiling, not able to get even a little bit of sleep because of what had happened only hours before.

Shane loves me. Shane. Loves. Me.

Suddenly, it all made sense, what Dawn used to talk about, saying how blind I was, why Shane always got weird whenever I mentioned Scott. I just couldn't believe it. He's Shane! He's my best friend! Now what is he?

I couldn't wrap my head around it and every time I closed my eyes I saw him looking at me with the saddest expression I've ever seen him make. I love you, Scar. I always have.

My eyes shot open again and I shook my head, trying to clear all thoughts of Shane out. What did that mean, he always had? Always, really? How long was always?

I groaned and pulled a pillow up to cover my face trying to repress all of my thoughts to get some sleep. This would be a very long night.

A loud knock at my door woke me up in the morning. Scott came into my room with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Scar! Dawn let me in, are you ready to-" he stopped when he noticed I was still in bed. "What's going on?"

Scar. Suddenly I wasn't as happy about him calling me that.

"Nothing!" I said, sitting up quickly and attempting to brush through my hair a little with my fingers. "I guess I just overslept, I'm sorry."

He sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand in his, "Are you okay? You seem kind of on edge. We don't have to go out if you're not feeling well."

With everything that happened last night I completely forgot that Scott and I were planning on going to the zoo this afternoon.

"No I'm fine, I promise. Just give me ten minutes," I said, getting up and running into the bathroom.

As I got ready I just kept thinking about the fact that Scott cannot find out about what Shane said last night. It could cause drama that I don't even want to think about.

Once I brushed out my hair, put on jeans and a sweater, and threw my hair in a bun I was ready to go. (He was already my boyfriend so I don't have to impress him too much right?)

As I was heading out of the bathroom, I ran into Dawn and caught her arm.

"I need to talk to you when I get back," I said quietly in my best code red voice.

Her eyes widened and she just nodded because Scott wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me and kissed my cheek.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded and laced my fingers through his as we walked out to the parking lot.

I've always been one of those people that just loves the zoo. Every time I go I can't help but still get excited about seeing all of these exotic animals in one place. Think about it, if it weren't for zoos, we would probably never see an elephant or a lion in real life. That's pretty weird.

Anyway, I couldn't really focus on the animals today because my mind wouldn't stop wandering to other things. What would happen with Shane? Can we still be friends or would it be too weird now? And why me? Out of all of the girls he knows, he likes me?

"Okay," Scott said, breaking through my thoughts again. "What's going on with you?"

We had stopped walking and he was now looking at me with concern written all over his face.

"What do you mean?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, "We walked past the elephants three times now and you didn't even say anything. Scarlett, you love the elephants. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired, I guess," I lied.

"I don't believe you," he stated, matter-of-factly.

"Okay, you're right. It's not really that big of a deal, it's just I think Shane and I are fighting," I said, not wanting to fess up about the whole truth. Oh my god, I sound like an eighth grader.

"You're fighting?" He said, with a  mocking tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. What are you two fighting about?"

I shrugged my shoulders, suddenly not wanting to look him in the eye, "I don't know.. I don't really want to talk about it..." I trailed off.

He put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Scar."

I  couldn't look at him.

"Scarlett, look at me."

Slowly, I tilted my head up to face him.

"I'm here whenever you want to talk, okay? I'll always be here for you."

I smiled and nodded before he took my face in his hands and kissed me gently.

"Do you want to actually look at the elephants now, or do you want to do something else?" he asked me.

I grinned, taking his hand and dragging him over to watch the elephants.

Scott and I were in his car at the end of the day, deciding where to go next. After the zoo, we had gone out for lunch, then we saw a movie, and then we just drove around and talked for a while before finally getting back to my apartment.

"I probably should let you go inside, huh?" Scott laughed, in between kisses.

I sighed and said, "Yeah, probably," before kissing him again.

All of a sudden, the image from last night of Shane leaning in closer and closer popped into my head and I jerked away from Scott.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just.. um... I suddenly feel kind of light headed, I really should head upstairs."

"Okay, I'll walk with you," he said, sounding concerned.

We got out of the car and took the elevator up to my apartment. He kissed me one last time in the doorway, saying, "Feel better, Scarlett."

"Thank you," I said weakly, before unlocking the door and going inside.

Dawn was in the living room, watching TV and she looked up for just a second when she saw me.

"You were gone all day. I expect you had a good time?" she said, smugly.

"Yes, it was lovely. But, look I really need to talk to you."

She sat up straighter and turned the TV off, "Oh yeah, I forgot! Come tell me!"

So I did. I told her everything that happened between Shane and I yesterday.

"Oh. My. God." She said, when I was done. "I mean, I knew he's always liked you and I'm glad he finally has the balls to say it, but he almost kissed you! Holy crap, does Scott know?"

I didn't say anything.

"Scarlett!! You have to tell him!"

"Why? It's not like I like Shane back, so it doesn't really make a difference."

"It makes a huge difference if you and Shane are still going to be hanging out."

"No it doesn't. Nothing happened and nothing is going to happen between us, so Scott doesn't need to know."

She shook her head, looking at me like I was crazy, "You're walking a fine line here, Scarlett. You better be careful."

I sighed and went into my room, not wanting to think about it anymore. I was doing the right thing. Everything would be fine. Right?