LIKE YOU MEAN IT
CHAPTER THIRTEEN !

         
HAZEL WAS THANKFULLY ONLY slightly badly injured. Her nose has been broken as a result of the boot to the face, both her eyes had been blackened with horrid hues of blue and purple littered along her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Numerous little cuts were spread around her skin. With how aggressively she had been kicked, it was a miracle that part of her face hadn't been caved in.

Once she was patched up and was able to get up, walk around and speak without slurring her words, Nell was put in charge of bringing her home. The two had moved towards Hazel's home at a slow pace, an awkward lull existing between them. To say that the Callahan girl felt like an idiot was an understatement. She didn't really know why she'd kept her conversation with Tim a secret from her girlfriend nor did she understand why she'd avoided Nell after PJ had insulted her.

Perhaps it was embarrassment. Perhaps not. Maybe she knew that Nell would comfort her, would help quell the anger that had been brewing within. Hazel hadn't wanted that. She didn't want to forgive and forget. No, she'd wanted to hurt PJ, to fight her. She'd stepped forward when called upon because she'd been led to believe that she'd be fighting PJ. Obviously that had been a lie.

"I'm gonna question why you spoke to Tim of all people. I'm just gonna assume you've learned your lesson." Nell uttered once they ventured inside Hazel's bedroom. Once she closed the door behind her, she spun on her heel and peered down at Hazel, who had thrown herself down onto her bed. "Have you learned your lesson, Hazel?"

The Callahan girl threw her a thumbs up. "Never speak to Tim. Lesson learned." She chuckled out, attempting to grin though cringing at the pain of her busted lip.

Nell knew she should have felt more upset about Hazel's avoidance but frankly, she was just glad that Hazel was still breathing normally. She let out a small laugh of her own as she took in the sight of Hazel's bedroom. This was her first time in here, the first time she'd laid eyes upon the room that Hazel slept in. Much like her own it was a little messy. Random little trinkets were scattered around.

On a table in the corner laid a bunch of mechanical tools, a soldering iron and a book labelled 'How To: Bombs'. This caused Nell to laugh once again, the sound flowing from her lips like a beautiful ringing of wind chimes.

Sitting on Hazel's desk was her notebook, the one she used to write down every little thing that happened during the club meetings. She was always jotting down something in this book, grinning from ear to ear.

A cheeky grin pulled at Nell's lips as she picked it up and turned back toward the brunette. "Should we write your lesson down in your notebook? You know, to make sure you don't forget it anytime soon." As she spoke, she flipped through the book, oblivious to the wide eyed stare she was receiving from Hazel.

She flicked right through to the end, expecting to see a bunch of blank pages though was graced with the sight of an elaborate set of colourful plans splashed across two pages. "What's this?" She questioned, brows furrowed in confusion.

The title at the top, written in large bubbled font caught her attention. "Plans to get Nell talking'. What the fuck?" Yet another giggle escaped her as she glanced up at Hazel. A blush had formed upon the girls cheeks, the rouge tint somehow managing to shine through the bruises.

"That's nothing." Hazel mumbled, her hand now scratching at the nape of her neck as she stared off at the far corner of her room. She couldn't make eye contact with Nell. The discovery of her plans was just too humiliating. Why hadn't she pulled those pages out and destroyed them?

A bomb would have been all too handy in this moment.

            The Hewitt girl's eyes lit up in amusement. She slowly advanced towards the blushing Hazel with a growing grin. "Hazel. Did you come up with a plan to get me talking to you?" She questioned as she moved to sit down on the bed.

            Hazel stammered for a brief second before sighing. Her once panicked eyes turned exasperated as she uttered, "It's your fault. You ignored me when we first kissed and I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't exactly ask anyone for help, now could I?"

            "You're so cute." Nell breathily laughed. Much like with a puppy or baby, Nell found herself wanting to pull the brunette into an embrace and just squeeze her tightly.

            "Even with two black eyes and a busted up nose?"

            The raven-haired girl nodded. She subconsciously sought out Hazel's hand, gripping it firmly and confirming, "Yes, even with two black eyes and a busted up nose." Then as gently as she could, she leaned forward and placed the softest of kisses upon Hazel's cheek.

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AFTER ABOUT A WEEK, the bruises that had littered across Hazel's face had slowly begun to heal. What once was dark hues of blues and purples had begun to fade into discoloured yellows and greens. The pain in her face still resided as did the cuts and scrapes but all in all, she felt so much better.

            The rest of the club, minus PJ and Josie, had all decided to have a small get together at Hazel's home to celebrate her recovery. Actually it had been Mrs. Callahan's suggestion. It was clear that the woman had felt horrible after she'd seen the damage done to her daughters face. Knowing that it has been done on the say of her teenage boy-toys friend, the Callahan woman felt bad. The first chance she'd gotten to talk to Nell alone, she had suggested the hangout. Wanted to make her daughter feel better, she'd said.

            As the girls all gathered on the large couch, reclining back against the plush cushions, Nell had relaxed herself along the carpet, her head resting comfortably on a stray pillow that had been grabbed from Hazel's room. Her girlfriend had nestled her body closely to Nell's side, her face practically burrowed into her neck. Pain be damned.

Annie, who held a bunch of DVD's in her hands questioned, "What should we watch? What genre is everybody feeling? Comedy? Romance? Action?"

Perhaps it was the joy and comfort of being surrounded by friends or the high amount of sugar that she was no doubt intaking from her numerous cans of coke, but Nell felt like being mischievous. "We could watch 'Fight Club' or 'But I'm a cheerleader'?"

            The collective deadpan, unamused looks she received from the group had her chuckling. "Too on the nose?" She asked still laughing but stopping to release an 'ow' when Hazel playfully pinched her side.

"You think?" Brittany sarcastically replied while glancing over at her best friend to gauge her reaction. Isabel had really liked Josie but after the reveal of the true reason of the clubs forming, she just felt used. Thankfully Isabel seemed unaffected by Nell's joke.

"What about 'the Princess Bride'? It's got a bunch of swords." Slyvie suggested. Her interest in swords had grew quite a lot in the past few weeks so she'd taken to watching as many movies that had them as possible. The day she got her hands on one, she'd have better knowledge on how to wield it.

            "Yeah sure. I mean, we can't think of anything else so we might as well." Isabel responded with a nod. As she moved forward on the couch to grab the DVD from the coffee table, she glanced around at the others. "Everyone else okay with 'The Princess Bride'?"

            A series of affirmative murmurs emerged from the group so Isabel took that as her go ahead. She shuffled forward to the DVD player, inserted the disc then returned to the couch where she cozied up between Brittany and Annie, throwing a blanket over her lap to keep warm.

After sitting through a few pre-movie movie trailers, the intro to the film finally began to play.

"You doin' okay?" Nell quietly whispered to her girlfriend, not wanting to disturb the others. Hazel's grip on Nell's waist tightened in response. Her lips slowly curled into a smile against the flesh of the Hewitt girls neck as she nodded her head.

The softest of laughs fell from Nell's lips as she uttered, "I'm surprised you can even breathe with how tightly your face is pressed to my neck." When Hazel remained silent, instead of continuing to talk, Nell decided to just raise a hand and began to gently card her fingertips through the soft brunette tresses.

The comforting act managed to lull the Callahan girl into a deep sleep, her once light breaths turning heavy and slow. The two stayed that way until the end of the movie, with Nell running her fingers through Hazel's hair and Hazel practically passed out. It wasn't until the loud music that accompanied the end credits began to play that the short-haired girl finally awoke, groggy and with the imprint of Nell's sweater across her face.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter thirteen. not proofread.
This chapter is literally just all the girls minus Josie and PJ vibing and I love it. yet another short chapter but the next will be the final scene of the film so anyway hope you enjoyed :)