Never Again Ch. 01

"Scott, wait a second, I need..."

"What, what do you need, baby? What's wrong?" Scott was afraid of the answer; afraid that the reality they were both ignoring was suddenly at the forefront. He was afraid that she had realized what he deeply feared- she was much too good for him.

"What happens next? I mean, tomorrow, and when we get back home, what happens? What do we do from here?"

The question took him off guard, "I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it. I just know that I want to be with you."

Gia took a deep breath and steeled herself before asking, "And what about Kelly?"

"Kelly has nothing to do with this, she doesn't need to know. We have a whole summer to figure things out and I think that we should keep this between the two of us. It's no one else's business." As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it.

"Oh, of course. I'll be your secret little piece on the side so you don't have to explain to the guys why you chose me over that princess you call a girlfriend, right? It's just easier than getting into the fact that you don't actually give a shit about Kelly and that you're only with her because she fits into some ridiculous image you have of yourself. Tell me I'm wrong, Scott. Tell me that you are willing to put yourself out there and I'm in. But if you can't even be honest with me than there's no reason to even keep talking."

All he had to do was tell her what he had wanted for so long, but instead, he replied, "Gia, we were having such an amazing time, can't we just figure it out later?"

Gia's eyes fell to the ground momentarily and before she let herself feel the hurt that was bubbling beneath the surface, she stood as quickly as she could and grabbed her clothes. Gia yanked her shorts back on and threw her still-wet tank over her head as she started walking away from him.

"Wait, don't... ...let's just... Gia, I'm..."

She picked up the pace so she wouldn't have to hear whatever he was about to say. The fact of the matter was, nothing he could say would take away the ache in her chest.

Scott sat there, head hanging between his knees thinking about all of the things that he should have said, about all of the time he had wasted. He kept telling himself that he would make it right and that she would forgive his impetuous stupidity.

When Gia got to her tent she realized that she couldn't even remember walking there. As soon as she reached her cot, she dropped onto the flimsy mattress and let the tears that had been desperate to break free fall from her face.

Her mind was racing. All those years of flirting, she promised herself that she wouldn't fall for him or let him charm her, and it had all been undone in one night.

One stupid, pathetic moment of weakness because he had pretended to care, caused her to feel and do things she said she never would. Gia couldn't help but thinking that she was no better than the dozens of girls that fawned over him and let him charm his way into their pants. She was angrier with herself than she was with him. As sleep finally threatened to take over, the last thing that crossed her mind was "never again".

-------------------

When Scott reached the mess hall the next morning, he scanned every corner of the room and couldn't find her anywhere. Rather than eat, he took off figuring that she was packing and he'd be able to talk to her before their flight. When he got to her cabin, he found that she had packed and was already waiting for the shuttle at the entrance of the campgrounds.

Scott decided to grab his bags and wait with her, but by the time he reached the shuttle pick-up, a whole group had gathered and he discovered Gia chatting with several other girls.

He approached them with some trepidation. "Hey guys. Hey Gia- can we talk for a sec?"

"Um, you know, we're actually in the middle of something, so now's really not a good time. Come to think of it, there won't ever be a good time, so you should probably find someone else to entertain you."

All of the girls began to snicker at her audacity and Scott slinked away like a scolded puppy. He decided he'd have plenty of time to talk to her on the flight home.

Once the entire group had checked their bags and said their good-byes, Scott finally found himself alone with Gia. Just as he was about to say something, she spun on her heel and walked to the farthest security line she could find. As if that wasn't obvious enough, she grabbed her headphones out of her tote and shoved them into her ears.

They reached the gate separately and she sat between two strangers, making it clear that distance was her main goal. Scott resigned himself to the idea that he would need to wait until they were on the plane to talk to her. He spent the next thirty minutes pretending not to look at her, but the few times their eyes met, she glared at him with fury.

They had been seated together and when they were both settled, he looked directly into her eyes and said, "Please let me talk to you."

She responded forcefully with one word, "Don't." With that Gia turned her head and focused on the window next to her.

Scott quickly went from being sorry and ashamed to being irritated. Who did she think she was, ignoring him like that? Screw her if she thinks she gets to dictate when I can and cannot talk, he thought.

He crossed his long arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

The seatbelt sign clicked on and jarred Scott from his sleep. As his eyes regained focus, he realized that he had his arm draped over something, or rather, over someone. He looked down at the beautiful dark curls resting against his chest and couldn't help but inhale deeply. She smelled amazing and felt so perfect resting against him.

He knew that she was asleep and that she had no idea that she lay against him, but he didn't care. He pulled Gia's shoulder closer to rest his cheek on the top of her head and she shifted slightly and nuzzled her cheek against his chest.

As tense as things were, he felt completely peaceful holding her. He closed his eyes and let himself drift back to sleep, all the while imagining what it would be like to hold her all the time, what it would be like if she were his.

They were both startled awake when the plane's wheels hit the hard tarmac. Gia immediately sat up and pushed his arm from her shoulder. Neither said a word but they looked at one another until Gia's eyes became sad and she turned away.

"Gia, I have to talk to you." He whispered as though he was afraid of his own voice.

"Scott, there's really nothing to say. Nothing."

Gia punctuated that last word and stood quickly and walked past him. Without looking his way once she grabbed her bags and headed down the aisle.

Scott sat still for a moment trying to form a rational thought, telling himself to go after her.

Instead, he waited for every other passenger to de-plane and then took his time gathering his things. By the time he reached baggage claim his were the only suitcases left on the beltway from their flight. She was already gone.

-------------------

Author's note: This is a first story for me, so please forgive any errors, editing mistakes or anything else that you dear readers may find offensive. I have been thinking about posting a story for ages now and finally decided to jump in head-first. I would LOVE to hear what you think about this story- there is quite a bit more to go and I've already got some written, so please send feedback if you'd like to read more and if you have a moment. And, most of all, thanks for reading!

~Belle~