Before Lightening Strikes

Hallie shows David the lingerie she got, all goes well except for afterwards when David tells Hallie he loves her, and she can't say anything back.

David slept peacefully as Hallie rolled over tangling the bed sheets even more than she had during her sleepless night. Giving up on ever relaxing enough to get to sleep, Hallie got out of bed and looked out the window of David�s guest house. There was no clock around, and it was so rainy outside that it was impossible to gauge what time it was.

She put on her UCSB sweatshirt that had been thrown on the floor, and stepped out onto the balcony where she could curl up in the little lounge chair and watch the rain. Even though her spot was safely nestled under the roof away from dripping wetness, she began coughing from the chill that she caught during yesterday�s misty graveyard afternoon with Christian. It probably wasn�t the brightest thing to stay outside at what looked like 6am-ish, and risk getting sicker a week before the lingerie show, but she loved watching how the rain fell on the swimming pool across from her. It was almost like kissing, the way the two different types of water met, becoming one.

David�s parents were off on vacation as always, so she spent the night in the luxurious guest house and had brought the little surprise from Rodeo Drive with her. He had taken the news of her being in a lingerie fashion show quite well, and the unveiling of the sexy little La Perla slip had gone according to plan, well almost.

David did what a normal boyfriend would do when their girlfriend got all dressed up, or down as Hallie did, but it was afterwards when things got a little rocky.

After the deed was done, David rolled over whispering �I love you� after a month of not doing so. Unlike a good, excited girlfriend she had nothing to say back.

Was it remorse? She had no idea, but David wasn�t exactly pleased and went to sleep deciding he�d ask about it in the morning.

Now here she was awake like she had been all night, trying to figure out why she couldn�t bring herself to say �I love you� back. As much as she wanted to excuse it for the guilt she felt for sleeping with Christian, it was more than that. She absolutely hated herself, but as much as she didn�t want to, she had to admit it. David was simply boring. And maybe she would have never noticed that if she hadn�t had the exciting little rendezvous with Christian.

David was sweet, but completely passive, never sticking up with her when she needed it most. He was also intelligent, yet followed in his fathers footsteps and not his own path. There was nothing complex, it was like he was just this wealthy robot doing what he was supposed to do, he was just plain boring. There were no surprises with him, no spontaneity. Flowers were twice a year, on her birthday and valentines day, weekly visits to his family where Mrs. Carrington would cause Hallie�s blood to boil. Even the sex was just routine, void of passion. She realized she slept with Christian because the relationship had seriously become so repetitive.

It still didn�t excuse the fact that she acted like a total hussy, David had been nothing but nice to her, but it was like a light bulb had gone off in her head. It was so difficult to appreciate someone with zero flaws. Didn�t loving someone mean appreciating they�re imperfections? Didn�t that make it more exciting, or would it just make a relationship miserable? Either way the relationship was obviously unsatisfying.

Christian had plenty of flaws and was David�s polar opposite. He could be abrasive and cold one minute, but was so passionate and intense the next. In addition he had such a subtle innocence to him, that made him undeniably loveable. It was no lie that he was fucked up, he had always been a wild lost little boy, but he had so much potential to be a successful man if he could just escape his past. The scars most people probably thought were grotesque on Christian, appeared as beautiful as the rest of him to Hallie.

Being with him was like riding on the back of his motorcycle, so equally frightening and exciting, making it hard to ever want to get off. He was strong and confident sitting in front of her, and she knew he would never let her fall. Actually she didn�t know that for sure, with his history of leaving her and all.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by David opening the sliding glass door and joining her on the balcony.

�What are you doing out here?� he asked eyeing her oddly.

�Just watching the rain,� Hallie stood up abruptly as if she had just been caught doing something bad.

�Oh,� David gave her a slight scowl. They stared at each other in silence while the rain pounded loudly on the roof. Feeling awkward just standing there, Hallie inched around him back inside. She jumped when heard the sliding glass slam loudly behind her, almost shattering. Without turning around she could feel his anger and frustration.

�What was with you last night?� David demanded.

F**k here it was. Hallie turned around barely able to look him in the eye.

�You always say you love me, last night you didn�t say a word!� David accused before Hallie could answer.

�What�s the story? You don�t say I love you, you have dark circles under your eyes like you didn�t even sleep, what is going on?�

�Nothing is going on! The rain kept me up!� Hallie replied not able to think of a better answer.

�That�s your explanation? The rain kept you up?�

�I think I didn�t say I love you because it was the first time we had sex since the break, it was just�strange for me after so long.�

David shook his head suspiciously. � I think that�s part of it, but I think there�s more you aren�t telling me.�

�Like what!? I stayed up all night wondering why I couldn�t say I love you.�

�And what reason did you come up with?�

�I�m still not sure,� Hallie replied tiredly.

�Well until you come up with an explanation maybe you should go.�

Damn was he pissed.

�Now that we are back together you should be easily saying it to me, and you should consider yourself lucky that I took you back,� David continued harshly.

�What the hell is that supposed to mean?�

�It means despite what my family says about you, I stay with you anyhow.�

�Really? Because I�ve never seen you stand up for me, not once. You know what David? I don�t give a damn what your family thinks of me anymore, according to your mother I can�t do anything right. I�m done trying to impress that b***h.�

David was taken aback by Hallie�s little rant. He expected her to be surprised and hurt when he told her his family didn�t approve of her. He didn�t know that she�d been living with that. He also couldn�t believe that sweet, soft spoken little Hallie had just called his mother a b***h. He was speechless.

�I�m sorry I called your mom a b***h, but your whole family treats me like garbage and you do nothing about it!�

�They look down on you because of what you did.� David said in a low voice.

�Oh really, which horrible thing did I do? Got perfect grades in school? Got asked to model, cooked the best meal they will ever have?� Hallie asked outraged.

�No, that�s not it. They look down on you because of what you did when you were fifteen, running away, almost getting married to that scumbag.�

�That was like seven years ago�it is none of their business! You�re family needs to get over it, and so do you.�

�He was sleeping at your house just last month!�

�Fine, next time he�s coughing up blood all over the place, nearly dying I�ll tell him to go home. Would that make you happy?�

�Yeah it would! It would make me happy if he had died right there! I really should just find his uncle like I said before��

�That�s a really sick thing to say David. He was a kid when that happened, he never deserved that.�

�Sure he did.�

�Why? Because he hadn�t lost enough already? With his parents getting killed?�

�You are so fooled by him, he just makes that s**t up to make you feel sorry for him.�

�I was there and I saw all of it! I saw when they took his parents out of his house in body bags, and I saw him almost starve to death when he lived with that monster. If I hadn�t given him food he�d be dead. He didn�t deserve his uncle beating him so bad that he was blind for a few days, and didn�t deserve the things I probably don�t even know about.� Hallie went on, her lip beginning to tremble.

David crossed his arms over his chest trying to figure out why she was getting so emotional.

�You don�t get it, people like us have had such easy lives. I mean we haven�t even had to work, you don�t know how lucky we are just to have parents.� Hallie tried to explain, but David just remained quiet.

�Look, I�ll go. You obviously hate me, your family hates me�I�m out of here.� Hallie hastily got her keys and pulled the hood from her sweatshirt over her head to face the rain.

She walked out of the house not looking back and wasn�t halfway down the steep driveway when she heard David splashing across the wet ground to catch up with her.

�Honey wait!� David panted.

Honey? First he hated her and now she was honey again?

�Don�t leave like this, I didn�t mean those things I said. My family just got worried when we were on a break.� David tried to explain.

Hallie realized she had no right to be a b***h, especially since David didn�t even know what she did with Christian, but when would he stop making the problems in their relationship known to his family?

�It�s raining pretty hard,� Hallie said as she was getting soaked from the downpour.

�Are you going to think about why you didn�t tell me you loved me?�

Hallie felt like David sounded like her father asking, �are you going to sit and think about what you did?� as if she was in a great amount of trouble, which she sort of was.

�I don�t really have an explanation for you, I was just nervous or something I don�t know.� Hallie said blinking the rain water out of her eyes.

�Then say it right now,� David commanded.

Hallie looked at one of the intricate fountains mounted on the brick wall of the Carrington estate. There were several different ones, but her favorite was subtle, hidden behind a mess of ivy that had grown over the whole house. A stone angel had been carved to look like it was holding up the stream of water above it, responsible for creating the beauty of the little waterfall. It wasn�t your typical graceful angel. Instead it knelt down in pain with the weight it had to carry for eternity, and maybe if it was lucky, it would eventually get to free itself from it�s heaviness and stand up straight.

Hallie turned back to David and looked into his brown eyes through the rain.

�Come on, say it right now!� David yelled over the pounding rain impatiently.

Hallie tried to clear her mind, and not think of her parents, his parents, and most importantly not of Christian. It�s funny when you order yourself not to think of someone, then they become the only thing on your mind.

That day in the graveyard had left her with an emptiness, it was like something hadn�t been taken care of. There was something she wanted to do so badly for him forgiving her, and thinking about her enough to get her a flyer for that cooking competition, but she couldn�t put her finger on it. Then she realized it wasn�t what she wanted to do, it was what she wanted to say, in hopes that it would free her from the ever-confusing feelings she was having.

�I love you,� thunder began rumbling nearby as she murmured the words out loud.

David thoughtfully analyzed if what she said was real, and it seemed so heartfelt and genuine. In approval he placed his arm around her shoulder. �That�s all I wanted to hear.�

Feeling guilty for how drenched his girlfriend had become, he rubbed her arms up and down trying to warm her up. It didn�t work, and Hallie continued to shiver as they walked back to the house. The feud between her and David was finally over, and she just wanted to get inside before lightening struck.

Author's Note

A little tired when I wrote this, I'm not sure about the quality of it, hope its good though! :)

Reviews

[MorganLyn]

oh wow! The arguement in the rain was VERY vivid.. I imagined it perfectly!
I dont' think she gave in at all.. I think she just had an epiphany abut what she wanted to say to Christian and instead of saying it in her head she said it out loud.. right? :D
No complaints really... I'm waiting for Hallie to slap David when he's on his "Christian rants" though
great write!!

[None]

Why do people argue in the rain? I guess I'll never know. How intense. Very expressive and well written.

[Mysteral - Night Prowle..]

Another excellent chapter. It appears to me that the further into the story you get, the more emotional it becomes... I can relate to that, the author becomes so involved with the character, you're actually living their life. Just by reading, I'm drawn into the Christian character, almost to the extent where I feel anger at David sleeping with Hallie.
Very well written... I didn't notice any errors.

[thecoolone52]

Good chapter....... i like how she still hasnt made her mind up yet between the two guys......... the rich or the poor its a real good story line....... anyway nice job good luck with the next one

[ShadowWolf]

An interesting scenario but I wonder why she gave in?