Northern Downpour

Friday afternoon the sun was out, the air was cold and crisp. Work had been busy, tips were amazing, people had been flooding in for the start of the event. Even her family had surprised her by showing up Thursday and occupying the rest of the rental home. It was nice to have people there but Haley, honestly, was stuck. She was stuck in a mood, a rut. It happened when she talked about the miscarriage.

She looked up at the mountain from her spot in the park. She was sitting, holding a blue balloon. She'd gotten a marker and written his name on it, "Ryan James" and was holding it, staring at it. Yes, she had even picked out a name, it was one she was quite fond of.

Her phone rang and she slowly let the balloon rise but she kept a grasp on the line that was holding it as she pulled the phone out of her pocket. Shaun's name flashed across the screen. She hit the 'Decline' button and stuffed the phone away. She wasn't much in a talking mood as of late. She felt bad because she had started to let him in and now she was pushing him away.

She let go of the balloon's string and watched as it floated high into the sky. The wind picked it up and carried it away. Haley stood to watch until she could no longer see the balloon any more. She then turned and stuck her hands in her pockets, heading to her car.

As she was heading to her car she pulled out her phone, knowing that Shaun had probably left a voice-mail (he did). She put the phone to her ear and listened as his voice flooded through the speaker: "Hey, Sorry I missed you. I was wondering, um, there's going to be a huge party at the Burton House tonight. I'm sure you're working but, I was hoping you'd stop by." Shaun's voice sounded nervous as he rattled off the address to the Burton house.

Meanwhile, the day dragged on and the boys had returned from the mountain to the Burton house to clean and prep for the party that was going down that night. Dishes were done, wood was split and stacked, kegs were brought in, iced, and tapped; Everything was ready.

Maybe it was the testosterone (or jealousy) but Kevin and Shaun had a hard time trying not to kill each other throughout the cleanup. It seemed that what started on the mountain as a private conversation had been overheard by Kevin and he'd just been stewing away angrily ever since.

It wasn't that Kevin thought he owned Haley or anything of the sort. It was that he saw her first and it wasn't fair. They had been an item before and now she was cold to him, stand-offish even. Kevin knew that him and Haley didn't end on the best of terms and it had been rather abrupt but she ended it. She was the one who called him and told him not to come for the rest of the summer. She pushed him away and told him that she never wanted to see his face ever again.

The last straw was when Kevin and Shaun both reached to take out the garbage can. Jack stood by the kitchen sink, watching the two of them. He often thought that Shaun looked like a 'little dog'. His bark was worse than his bite and, he was scrappy. He may not have been tall but he'd take you if you came at him. "Why don't you just drop it man, she's not into you anymore."

Kevin pushed Shaun, emitting an "Oooh" from the circle of guests that had begun to arrive. "Shut up ginger balls. You don't even know her." the younger rider practically growled.

Shaun had hit a nerve, "I know more than you think I do. I know why she stopped taking your calls and texts. I know why she transferred." Shaun smirked as Kevin's face grew red in anger.
Kevin was rarely one to get angry but he had that Irish blood. When he was angry, his blood boiled. "If you know so much, why'd she stop then?"

Shaun shook his head, "Why don't you ask her yourself..." Shaun's eyes darted through the crowd to see Haley just coming in the front door.