it's a wonderful world - - hayden

[char]

JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL

A fresh blanket of snow laid on the ground, but Tiffany knew very well the weather had little to do with the familiar chill in her bones. A decade of progress had changed her hometown little, which left more than enough room for her ghosts to accompany her on this particular journey back home. In the years past, she had an excuse to stay on campus at Princeton. There was always some imaginary test she was working on or a friend in need. Graduating earlier in the year left her defenseless against her mother's persuasion. Of course, it wasn't unlike Mrs. Prescott at all to buy nonrefundable tickets. The very monetary value wasted if Tiffany were to stand up her parents for a seventh year in a row was enough to pack her bags out of guilt. Her mother was eager to meet the young man Tiffany had been dating. The very man who dumped her flat on her ass for his best friend. The now-single Tiffany needed to be with her family during the holidays more than she knew. Unfortunately, she was much to stubborn to admit her currently weak, unstable state. That was the very person she became following Neal Prescott's demise.

The theater where Tiffany worked molded her schedule to accommodate the two-week absence Mrs. Prescott requested. Tiffany didn't have any idea what she'd do to keep sane for two entire weeks, but she was aware of how much family time meant to her mother. She was an only child now whether she learned to accept her fate or not. Avoiding her birthplace was selfish, especially since Chantilly was full to the brim with people who cared. One family cared more than the rest. The Scott family. Growing up, Tiffany had been close to the youngest Scott daughter, Peyton. It worked just as well that Neal and Hayden were best friends, too. Mr. and Mrs. Scott had always held their doors wide open for the Prescott children, and Neal's death had shaken their souls every bit as severely. When she learned about her mother's Christmas dinner plans, Tiff was struck with conflict. Seeing the Scott parents and Peyton hadn't struck a note inside her for a very long time. Christmas was no exception.

"They're all so very excited to see you," Mrs. Prescott gushed. "Peyton's grown so big! What is she, honey? Twenty-five now?" Tiffany sighed. Sitting in the back seat, she was left to her mind's devices. The conversation one row ahead of her soon translated to jibberish. The last time she came into contact with a Scott hadn't been pleasant. While she worked her tail off striving for Neal's dreams, Hayden was serving Los Angeles sluts milkshakes by the pool. The very disappointment left her mouth dry until Mrs. Scott's suffocating hug had her gasping for air. "It's so good to see you!" was followed by various greetings. As usual, Tiffany gave up her coat to be hung. The smell of stuffing, turkey, and other holiday treats wafted through the air. The cheery holiday scene was exactly how she remembered from her childhood. Except, of course, Neal was dead. Soon enough, the group migrated to the kitchen where Mrs. Prescott insisted on helping Mrs. Scott with dinner. Peyton was setting the table, Mr. Scott was carving the ham.

For a brief moment, Tiffany convinced herself she'd be able to survive the night. Peyton's warm, beautiful smile helped her relax, and a bubbly glass of Sprite Zero rested in her hand. "Look at you!" Mrs. Scott cooed. "You're so grown up now!" Tiffany smiled politely. "Your mother tells me you graduated college this spring. How's it feel to be free?" She shrugged. "Stressful, I guess," she replied. Her cheeks were beginning to redden, though she wasn't sure why. Mrs. Scott radiated an abundance of good cheer no matter what time of the year. It seemed to feed off of Tiffany's negativity. "Any boys?" Tiffany shook her head. Not really. Not again. Donovan went to prove yet another fact about Tiffany's evolving life. It was barren of love. "That's okay, dear. You'll find someone given enough time. I was telling..." She paused. The sound of a car door slamming was easily heard through the thin glass windowpanes. "It seems to me Hayden's back with the potatoes!" she said instead. Tiffany's blood froze in her veins. Hayden. Sure enough, his masculine physique stepped through the old garage door. The cup of Sprite near fell from her hand to the floor. Tonight suddenly became unbearable.

tagged Hayden/Mrs. Scott/Mr. Scott/Mrs. Prescott/Mr. Prescott/Peyton
words 763 words
outfit here.
notes I hope this is okay. I didn't really want to just thrust them into dinner. XD

LIVING IN A LONELY WORLD

template by eliza @ shadowplay

[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i52.tinypic.com/otj5sn.jpg); width: 390px; height: 450px; -moz-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; border-radius:40px 0px 40px 0px; opacity: 0.8; border-right: #7298ac 15px solid; border-left: #7298ac 15px solid;] tagged: char as tiffany prescott words: 866 notes: My favorite gif idk O: Ah, to be home for the holidays. Chantilly was the same old place. Before he even made it home, Hayden visited his dead best friend's grave. It seemed depressing, but it was therapeutic for the struggling actor. It was the only thing on the planet that made him believe there was a God. He grew up with a supportive church, but as most churches were, it was full of judgmental people whom he did not wish to encounter as an adult. Hayden enjoyed going out with old high school and college buddies, but he didn't want them to ask him about his sins and transgressions. The only person he truly trusted with the information was Neal. He was in the ground, unable to judge Hayden. At times, Hayden felt like Neal sat in Heaven and laughed at Hayden's misfortunes. Best friends had to hold each other accountable, after all. Neal was still the only one Hayden had left to trust. He was the only one Hayden wanted to laugh with. After laughing and talking to the grave, Hayden left a lone Twinkie -- Neal's favorite snack as a teenager -- at the headstone. He looked like a psychopath, but that's what Hayden was. No one could see it but himself. He seemed so normal to his new friends in LA, but he wasn't. He was no Superman. When he came back home, he was demoted back to Hayden, the failure. While Peyton was pursuing a career in dentistry, Hayden was a med school graduate with nothing to show for it. Whenever he came home, his father took his time to rag on the guy, telling him that he made the wrong decision. It wasn't like Hayden was on student loans; he worked for his education and rode on athletic scholarships until he could support his own educational expenses. Since then, he decided, he was a man. He knew how to take care of himself and it didn't actually matter what his family thought. Other than Peyton, they were full of shit. This whole town was full of shit. Hayden could tell because none of them remembered Neal at all. "Potatoes, you said? Nothing else?" Hayden asked his mother. Only minutes after arriving, his father had begun on his rants about how terrible Justice League was going to be. A judge and a man of virtue, Mr. Scott didn't believe in the lifestyle of Hollywood actors. Even if Hayden was slowly becoming successful, his father wasn't going to accept a son who didn't take advantage of the Johns Hopkins degree. Hayden understood it slightly, but his mother didn't. She always wanted him to have a way out. "Yes, just potatoes," she nodded. He knew she was probably lying to give him an excuse to leave the house. "Okay!" he nodded. "Oh, I forgot to tell you! Tiffany! Do you remember Tiff? She is all grown up and she's quite beautiful now... Well, she's coming over for dinner." Mrs. Scott gave her son a sideways glance. Hayden feigned nonchalance. "Cool," he shrugged before leaving through the garage door. SHIT, SHIT, SHIT. He peeled out of the driveway in a blind rush and headed to the nearby Food Lion for the potatoes. He was about to see Tiffany? While he came home each year for the holidays, she was always MIA. He never knew about what she was doing. Other than Donovan Kane, he was sure she was busy with... well, real stuff... or real people. He knew what she thought about him: she thought he was a trainwreck, bad news, a failure. She saw him as his father did. He never let it bother him, but now that it was going to be in front of Peyton, he didn't know how to react. His baby sister looked up to him like no other. He didn't feel like being emasculated at the dinner table. He sighed as he finally made it home. In a rush, he completely forgot about the sack of spuds in the passenger seat. He tramped into the house and hung the keys on the rack before coming in and running into Peyton. She averted her gaze to someone on the other side of the room. It had been years since Hayden stood in the same kitchen with her. "Tiffany," he greeted. "Oh. Potatoes," he reminded himself. His mother's eyes were on him and the two older men were discussing football in their own part of the kitchen. Mr. Prescott hadn't noticed Hayden yet; he would have been questioning him about his life lately. Before Mrs. Prescott could smother him, he went into the garage. "Tiffany, could you grab some drinks from the fridge in the garage as well?" he heard his mother say. She was playing hook-up again. He turned around to see Tiffany. It was just the two of them now. Either it was going to be a war or it was going to be an alliance.

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made by hay shay @ caution!

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JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL

Okay, so maybe Christmas dinner had taken a major turn towards the dumpster. That didn't mean she couldn't plug her nose and ignore the stench. Mrs. Scott only meant well. Of that, Tiffany was absolutely sure. Flashing back to her days as a teenager, Tiff remembered once confiding in Hayden's mother about boys. She hadn't directly hinted towards her son, but Tiffany hadn't been incredibly cautious with her heart, either. How was a young girl like her supposed to handle her first major crush? Novels outlined the basics. Actually playing out the right moves and right words was another story altogether. Granted, Tiffany had high expectations to live up to back in the day. Neal was the king of charm, Chantilly's number two heartthrob. Hayden had always held the Gold medal in Tiff's heart, so her warped outlook of him now was an amazing shock.

The truth was Tiffany's last visit with Hayden hadn't settled well. At all. Mrs. Prescott had never mentioned Hayden's presence at Christmas dinners. Coming home had been an ultimatum she couldn't wiggle out of; Tiff was wondering how much their mothers had a say in this entire affair. Hayden looked equally baffled to see her standing awkwardly in his parent's kitchen. "Tiffany," he greeted. Sincere, warm, forgiving. Tiffany's eyes averted from the floor to his face in a matter of seconds. "Hey," she replied. Her smile was genuine (enough) to look convincing, though her innards felt like Jell-O. Her perfectly reworked outlook of him was undoubtedly inaccurate. All with one word. Her name. Tiffany. Indecision was one concept Tiff couldn't stand, so the mixed emotions churning throughout her mind scared her. It always came back to him. And Neal.

Although she promised not to zone out, Tiffany found herself staring into the empty spot Hayden's body once was. "Hey, Tiffany?" Mrs. Scott thrust her out of her trance. "Could you grab some drinks from the fridge out in the garage?" What? Drinks? Garage? With Hayden. Tiffany nodded, shrugging nonchalantly, adding a gentle "Yeah, of course!" Tiffany set her nearly empty can of Sprite on the counter before following Hayden out into the garage. There were no words to describe the explosion of diverse scenarios arising inside her mind. No one could prepare her for the real deal. It was funny-- life had the tendency to shoot as many curve balls at her as possible. None of them were relatively easy to navigate, either. Her brother's death. Donovan's cheating. Hayden's being here. It was an endless stream of tragedies from Pandora's box.

Standing face to face with Hayden now, Tiffany's mind was reeling. They were in his parent's house like old times, and she was lost in the ache of returning home. Not to mention she expected to spend the holidays with Donovan. "Your mom sent me for drinks," Tiffany offered. After the way she treated him at the country club, Tiffany was at a loss for words and actions. Her parents raised her to apologize for her wrongs. For whatever reason, she just couldn't formulate an apology. Tiffany's soul was guarded with electric fences and high-security alarms. Apologies tasted like poison on her tongue. Getting in and out of the garage as soon as possible sounded like the best-case scenario. Though, to be honest, when she saw what Hayden was holding in her hands, she couldn't help but finding his catch a wee bit suspicious. Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, she asked, "You do realize your mom already made mashed potatoes, right?"

tagged Hayden/Mrs. Scott/Mr. Scott/Mrs. Prescott/Mr. Prescott/Peyton
words 594 words
outfit here.
notes I feel like this is terrible. skijge.

LIVING IN A LONELY WORLD

template by eliza @ shadowplay

[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i52.tinypic.com/otj5sn.jpg); width: 390px; height: 450px; -moz-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; border-radius:40px 0px 40px 0px; opacity: 0.8; border-right: #7298ac 15px solid; border-left: #7298ac 15px solid;] tagged: char as tiffany prescott words: 700 notes: My favorite gif idk O: Just by looking at her face, Hayden could see a glimpse of old Tiffany: vulnerable, innocent, adorable. He couldn't help but let a smile get the best of him. The corners of his mouth pulled up a Cheshire expression. In a way, he was very happy to see her. In others, it made him feel like his entire body was on fire. Even with the physical differences, she was still Neal's younger sister. Seeing her parents was different; they liked Hayden. They didn't know that he was a coward or that he knew how Neal really died. So many people suspected suicide while others accepted the fact that it was a total freak accident. No one understood that it was on Hayden's shoulders. He shared the blame with the girl standing right in front of him, the one who looked disgusted and out of context in the garage they used to play in. He looked down at the potatoes and back at her. "Fair enough," he nodded. She wasn't about to apologize for her behavior at the country club, and he wasn't expecting one. She didn't have to say much; the most he could remember from that encounter was how nice she looked in a bathing suit. He'd never admit it to her, but that was true. It seemed slightly forgivable because his oblivious nature always allowed him to forgive what he didn't fully understand. On top of that, Tiffany was attractive, which actually did earn her some forgiveness. It wasn't like it was okay to think that, though; Hayden had just gone to visit her dead brother, after all, and Neal would probably beat the living shit out of him if he could read Hayden's mind. "I guess my mom knew you didn't want to see me," he teased before shutting the front door of the car behind him. "Let me help you with a few drinks," he offered before walking over to the fridge and opening it up. He looked at the various beverages: Gatorade, Sprite, Dr. Pepper -- he could tell that his mother had prepared these drinks for them (and Peyton). He knew that because his parents rarely indulged in soft drinks or anything particularly enjoyable. The Gatorade was blue, Neal and Hayden's old favorite, which Hayden, by reflex, reached for in a blink. He slid it down his arm until it made contact with his antecubital and grabbed two Dr. Peppers in his large hands. Once he saw that Tiffany had a handful of various drinks, he shut the refrigerator door and headed back up the steps to his house. Before he made it into the door, he turned to her and was surprised with their close contact. It was like the air around him was sucked of its heat when he looked into her crystal blue eyes. "I'm glad to see you're home again," he told her rather seriously. He stared for a moment longer before opening the door with his elbow and hearing the loud noise of his sister's laughter. Once the Prescotts were seated and the food was on the table, the two families said their prayers and began to eat. On the table lay plates of various culinary concoctions: parmesan chicken, seared salmon with caramelized onions, green beans, and mac n' cheese. Hayden didn't remember his mother being a particular good cook, but after eating out, he could see why food made with love was so valuable. He put everything on his plate at once, but before he could bite into it, Mr. Prescott spoke up. "So Hayden, your father says you're Superman now? How about that?" he encouraged. Hayden smiled charmingly and nodded his head. Peyton spoke up. "So... Tiffany, I'm guessing you two will be working together sometime? I bet Hayden would love to see some of what you've been writing." Hayden gave his younger sister a sideways glance and looked at Tiffany, who was sitting directly in front of him. "I couldn't forget about how good you are," he complimented before his father interjected. "We haven't seen you in a few years, Tiff," he said bluntly after clearing his throat with a swig of beer. "Where you been?"

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made by hay shay @ caution!

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