LIKE YOU MEAN IT
CHAPTER ELEVEN !

         
"I SWEAR THIS ACTUALLY hurts more than any time I've gotten punched. How is that possible?" The Hewitt girl drawled out her complaint as she gazed upon the poorly washed gash that spread across her face.

Her first order of business when she and Hazel had been dropped off at her house was to take care of her wound before it got worse. Scratch that, it had actually been Hazel who had been fussing over her injury the entire journey home. Her pupils had shook so violently in her head that Nell was sure that Hazel's eyes were on the verge of popping out of her skull. Her voice had been dripping with panic despite her attempts to calm the raven-haired Hewitt girl.

Honestly, Nell could barely feel it at the time. Her adrenaline had been flowing, the rush of endorphins coursing through her veins at high speed. All she could focus on while in the back of that van was the glow from the streetlights that cascaded across Hazel's beautiful face.

            Now however, she could feel it and it hurt like a bitch. The painkillers she'd taken minutes prior needed to hurt it up and kick in before she sobbed from pain.

            A slight grimace appeared upon Hazel's face, which was now free of her balaclava, as she observed the wound from where she sat on the bed. "Yeah, that's gonna take time to heal. On the plus side, you look badass." She uttered with a slight smile, attempting to lighten the mood by looking on the bright side.

"I do?" Nell questioned with her own half smile. That smile turned to a smirk as her eyes darkened and her voice turned seductive. "Just badass? Any other adjectives you'd use to describe me, Hazel?"

She watched as Hazel's eyes grew in confusion. As the Callahan girl's head tilted to the side, clearly not understanding the route Nell was taking, Nell leaned forward until she was mere inches from Hazel's face and whispered, "I'm flirting with you. Just roll with it."

            The short haired girl gulped. "There's uh, plenty I'd use." She stuttered out, her mind all fuzzy as her thoughts ran rampant. She could barely focus, her gaze greedily drinking in the sight of Nell inching closer by the second. "Hot, that's one. A good one."

            A soft chuckle from Nell had a blush forming upon Hazel's cheeks. For someone who had run away from their first kiss, the Hewitt girl had no trouble now being forward. As Nell began to gently carded her fingers through Hazel's dark coloured tresses, the Callahan girl released a deep sigh.

            "It's a good thing you're cute cause you're not so good at the flirting." Nell breathed out, laughter interwoven into her words. A single fingertip caressed down the side of Hazel's face, curving down past her cheek and under her chin. "Granted, I'm not one to talk but I'm better than you."

            Offence graced Hazel's features. "Hey, I'm great at—"

            Her complaint was silenced, muted by the press of lips upon her own. Every single rushing thought had stilled, fading into nothingness as her brain emptied and her hands rose to grip upon Nell's pyjama bottom clad hips. A muffled giggle escaped from Nell's lips into the kiss as her body was pulled forward and down onto the bed. She now lay on her side staring back at the twinkling blue eyes of Hazel Callahan.

           A look of pure endearment had graced the features of Nell's face. Her voice came out quietly as she spoke. "I really like you, if that wasn't obvious."

The corners of Hazel's lips curled up with joy. Her hand that rested upon Nell's hip drifted down to grasp at the girls hand instead, clutching it tightly. "What does this make us?" Hazel boldly inquired, her earnest eyes peering back at the girl beside her.

"Girlfriends? Partners?" Nell suggested with a slight shrug.

She had no issue on what they called themselves after all. All that mattered was that they were for each other, regardless of what label they attached, they were only for one another.

"Have you ever seen Buffy The Vampire Slayer?" She found herself asking the Callahan girl after a moment. When all she received was a shake of the head, she continued. "Well, there's this couple in it, Willow and Tara. We're like them."

            Curiosity overcame the Callahan girl. "Who's who?" She asked as she nuzzled into the lavender coloured comforter she lay upon.

            "You're Willow. I'm Tara." Nell replied, using the index finger of her free hand that was clutched within Hazel's to point at the girl and then herself.

            "Any particular reason?"

            Nell raised both of her brows. "Willow can do magic and you blow things up, you know like cars." Nell uttered pointedly, clearly referencing the events from only an hour ago.

Heat swarmed Hazel's face that she fought the urge to bury into the blanket. She knew that Eleanor was only jesting, that no malice was intended based on the chuckle that tumbled from the Hewitt girl's lips at the sight of the blush that dusted itself over the surface of Hazel's cheeks.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed." Nell quipped before tugging her bottom lip between her teeth to refrain from laughing and embarrassing the brunette further. "Don't worry, I think your little terrorism act was pretty badass."

Badass. A word used by Hazel only minutes prior to describe Nell had now been used to quell any embarrassment that threatened to grow bigger within the Callahan girl's chest.

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IT SEEMED TO BE the general consensus amongst the club as they gathered in the gymnasium the next day that this was probably their last meeting before they were shut. The mood was somber for sure, each and every one of them wearing their own expression of disappointment. Sorrow hung over their heads, weighing down on them all.

A sigh fell from PJ lips as she stood at the bottom of the bleachers, Josie by her side as the two stared up at the sitting members of the club. "Alright, well some of us clearly have a different definition of egging but if we keep our mouths shut and stay calm, we'll be fine."

            Misery twirled within the deep, coffee coloured eyes of Annie. Her entire body had become sunken in on itself, her shoulders fallen in sadness. "They're gonna shut us down, aren't they?"

            PJ's brows furrowed. "What? No, we don't know that. Why—"

            Brittany cut her off. "Principal Myers will believe whatever Jeff and Tim say. I don't really see how we recover from this." As she spoke, a frown pulled at her lips.

            "Man. Fuck!" Slyvie exclaimed in upset. She couldn't believe it, they weren't going to be shut down. Even the comforting hand upon her shoulder from Nell did nothing to quell the sadness that had begun to bloom within her chest.

            A melancholy smile graced Hazel's lips as she peered out at the group in endearment. As her hands gripped at her cargo pants clad knees, she softly muttered, "You know, it's been real guys."

            This wasn't what PJ wanted. What was wrong with them all and why were they acting like this? She immediately held up a hand to put a stop to this. "Okay! Let's now jump to conclusions with the goodbyes and the—"

            She once again cut off, this time by Hazel who continued to express herself to the others. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much." The Callahan girl earnestly uttered.

            As she spoke her hand scooted over on the bench until it rested upon Nell's, who turned up her palm in an instant and intertwined their fingers. The club may be ending but so much good had come of it.

            "I mean like—at least we went out with a bang! That was fucking insane!" Slyvie commented with a wickedly wide grin now on her lips. The rest of the girls laughed at her reference to their shenanigans from the night prior. "There was just like fire everywhere."

            Yet again, this wasn't what PJ wanted. "Wait stop. We don't—we don't know that for sure." She glanced back and forth between the group and Josie, who stood by her side scuffing her boots against the linoleum floor.

            Annie chose to speak up. "PJ. Don't be sad it's over, be happy it happened." A soft smile sat on her lips as she spoke to PJ, slowly coming to terms with the clubs end. It was like the end of an era, something they could all look back on fondly.

            PJ turned her nose up at this. With a scoff, she continued to complain. "Okay, can everyone calm the fuck down please? The club's not over. Josie, right?" She glanced at Josie once again only to receive a shrug in response.

            Josie didn't know what to say. She didn't want to provide false hope for the girls.

            Isabel released a heavy sigh. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she began to pour her heart out. "No matter what, this club has brought me so much. I feel so much more powerful and...protected." She finished off with a glance over at Josie

            "Me too." Josie softly muttered in reply, catching Isabel's eye with a simpering smile. It was as they were the only two there in that short moment.

            As Nell listened to the other girls, heard them express just how much the club had meant to them and how much they had gained from just being apart of something, a lump began to form in her throat. Heat slowly rose up her face as she attempted to contain her emotions. She was really going to miss them all.

            "I really love you guys." The Hewitt girl choked out, just barely getting the words out without welling up.

            PJ rolled her eyes at the fact that the group had given up. "Great." She muttered, throwing her arms up in annoyance.

            In an instant, Hazel had dropped Nell's hand and jumped to her feet. She couldn't deal with the negativity that PJ was exuding. She was ruining this perfect moment that they all were sharing. "Oh my god, PJ. I'm sorry that you didn't get what you wanted out of this group but I think the rest of us did."

Sarcasm and spite were sharp on PJ's tongue as she snidely replied, "Oh, good for fucking you, Hazel. I'm glad that you finally wrote one email. Really accomplished a lot."

Hazel's pupils shook. "I actually did. I practically ran this club for you and Josie." She uttered. She'd been so helpful, she knew this. Why couldn't PJ acknowledge it?

Josie held out her hands at both girls, desperately wanting the situation to smooth out before somebody said something they couldn't take back. "Let's calm down, maybe?"

PJ refused to back down. Instead she became more aggressive, determined to take Hazel down a peg or two. With a smirk, she challenged the Callahan girl. "You really think that you're the reason that we have this club?"

"The reason?" Hazel quipped, her voice dripping with cynicism. "No, but I can tell everyone that if you want."

An overwhelming sense of pride bloomed within Nell's chest as she listened to Hazel defend herself. Nell loved PJ, she was one of her closest friends but she had a tendency to put her own selfish needs above the needs and feelings of others. Especially Hazel, who had never had a bad word to say. No one deserved to be treated like shit, least of all Hazel who considered PJ one of her best friends.

            "Hazel, uh hey let's calm down." Josie suggested nervously. Once again, she didn't want anything unnecessary to be revealed during this argument.

            The Hewitt girl jumped to Hazel's defence before Josie had finished uttering her last word. "Josie, it's PJ who should calm down." Nell replied, staring down at the pissed off PJ.

            PJ refused to pull her glare away from Hazel. Her disdain filled gaze was locked upon the Callahan girl as nasty and hurtful words continued to be hurdled at the short haired girl. "You're really ungrateful. You're so lucky we even let you be apart of this."

            Enough was enough. "PJ, you're a liar."

            Nobody moved. Silence fell across the club. Looks of confusion graced the features of those completely oblivious to the true reason the club started. For those who did know, their palms began to sweat. The napes of their necks started to become clammy and all moisture left their mouths. PJ had actually done it. She'd managed to push the Callahan girl too far and now the reveal of the clubs true intentions hung in the balance.

            PJ had to make a decision. Swallow her pride and apologise or continue her tirade and suffer the consequences.

            A scoff fell from PJ's lips. While feigning indifference, she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and spat back, "Yeah, well. You have no friends and a skank as a mom, so."

            Hazel's bottom lip began to wobble almost instantly. She couldn't speak. She couldn't bring herself to utter a single word in defence of herself. Nobody knew what to do and nobody knew what to say. Before she could be embarrassed further, Hazel nervously darted her hurt filled eyes around the room as she collected her backpack and rushed down the bleachers. Her shoes thumped loudly against the linoleum floor as she practically ran away.

            Pity for her friend consumed Josie as she called out after her in concern. "Hazel."

            Nell was quick to grab her own bag and make her way down the steps, all the while her gaze had been fixed into a harsh glare at PJ. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" The Hewitt girl snapped at her now former friend as she sauntered past her, refusing to wait for a reply.

            She had a devastated Hazel to find and comfort. She didn't need to bother giving PJ the time of day. Not anymore.

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author's thoughts.
chapter eleven. not proofread.
pj was such a bitch to hazel! It was so unnecessary. I don't understand people who ship them to be honest anyway hope you enjoyed :)