Author’s note: I don’t own Beverly Hills, 90210.
Brandon’s shift went pretty smoothly at the Peach Pit the next afternoon. He had okayed it with Nat to get off early that day to sit with Stephanie during her interview. He knew she was nervous and couldn’t imagine the pain she had to go through re-living it with him. Now she was going to re-live it in front of all of California. He knew that right now she needed all the support she could get. As 5 o’clock rolled around Brandon made his way to the back room to change and head out. He pushed through the doors as he began to unbutton his shirt. As he grabbed the latch on his locker, the noise of the swinging doors grabbed his attention. There was Nat staring with his puppy dog eyes.
Brandon did his best not to respond to the look, but no matter how hard he tried ignoring it, he could feel those eyes burning into his head. “What, Nat?” he asked hoping not to receive a disappointing response. “Half of Beverly Hills High just walked in here, Brandon. I’m sorry, I need you to stay.” Nat could always get one over on Brandon, and he wanted to fight or yell at him, but he just couldn’t. “Nat, I told you, this is really important. I can’t stay.” Brandon turned his attention back to his locker, once again, attempting to avoid Nat’s stare to no avail. He looked back around, “I’m really sorry, if you leave now we’ll be short handed. I really need you to stay. Tell Stephanie, she can come in anytime and her order will be on me.” Brandon let out a sigh, but he knew Nat wouldn’t ask if he didn’t really need him. “Let me call over to Dylan’s really quick and I’ll stay.” As his attention left the doors he could hear them swing shut as he started to button his shirt back up.
This was going to be one phone call he wasn’t looking forward to. Brandon knew Dylan was going to be there and that made him feel a little better, but disappointing Stephanie was something he was not ready to do. He finished with his shirt, closed his locker and walked out to the now crowded Peach Pit. Giving the ‘one minute’ gesture to everyone he walked by, he grabbed the phone and began to dial. The dialing led to ringing and the ringing was soon interrupted by a voice he recognized, “Dylan, hey. Is Stephanie there?” Dylan informed him that she had gone out for a walk before the interview, but said she would meet him there. He had to break the news to Dylan asking that he apologize for him, but to bring her over to the Pit after and he would try to make it up to her. They soon hung up and Brandon was off to the grind, with voices screaming for him in every direction.
Two hours had gone by at a non-stop pace. If he wasn’t taking orders he was helping flip burgers or washing dishes. It seemed like every student from Beverly and West Beverly decided to eat there tonight including Donna, David, Steve and Andrea. As things calmed down he actually got a chance to sit for a few minutes as the group talked about recent events including the interview that Stephanie was doing. Though Brandon wasn’t forth coming about exactly what the interview was about, he did make it clear that it was important and that she was going to need support after. After the conversation had slowed he checked his watch wondering where Dylan and Stephanie could be. He assumed the interview would have been over a while ago. He turned to see Nat’s glaring eyes as he politely excused himself and made his way to the counter. He bent down to grab his order pad when the sound of the bell caught his attention. Before he had a chance to look up Dylan had burst through the door, alone. “Have you seen, Stephanie?” he questioned Brandon. “No, I thought she would be coming here with you.” The look on Dylan’s face caused Brandon to become very nervous. His words only added to the feeling, “She didn’t show up.”
A million different reasons floated through Brandon’s mind and most of them weren’t good. There was no way he was sticking around here now. “Nat, I have to go.” Nat’s expression turned, but it appeared as if he understood there was no talking him out of it. He just nodded in Brandon’s direction and he was out the door right behind Dylan. The two jumped in the Porsche and made their way down the road. Both threw ideas back and forth about where she could be. Fear crept through them as each suggestion was shot down one by one as they made their way around the city. Hours later they had found that the ideas had run short and desperation over took them. Dylan jumped out of his car heading to a pay phone to call the police. Something must have happened, there was no other explanation.
Brandon sat racking his brain. There must be somewhere they hadn’t thought of. Some place she would be familiar with enough to run to. Soon his face lit up as it finally hit him as to the one place they didn’t look. “Dylan, forget the phone call. I think I know somewhere she might be.” Dylan hesitated but dropped the receiver and headed back to the car. They streamed down the road to the one place they never thought to look.
Soon the car slowly pulled into The Point. It was a busy night tonight. Four or five cars lined the beautiful view that was blocked by the fogged windows that peered into it. The two jumped out and began searching. They split up walking along different sides of the cliff until they finally joined in the middle. There they found her sitting alone along the edge staring out into the sea of city lights that made The Point such a beautiful spot. The two boys just stared at her at first, not sure how to approach someone who seemed so lost in their thoughts. Dylan finally took the initiative and stepped in close beside her.
She continued to stare off, “I was hoping you wouldn’t find me,” she stated never breaking her distant gaze. He sat down beside her, “What happened?” It was as if she was determined to not let any emotion out; she just sat quietly. Brandon followed Dylan as he too took a seat beside her. The three just looked on, none wanting to be the first to break the sullen mood. Stephanie couldn’t take the peering eyes and finally broke her stark cold silence. “He found me,” was all she could get out. The two looked to her and then across to each other. The worry they had subdued by finding her sitting there, but was now rekindled with this new information. “Did he hurt you?” Brandon questioned. She shook her head, “No, he called the house. Told me that if I made the story public he would make sure you all paid just like my father.” Everyone quickly got silent again. The sounds of the Santa Ana’s took over.
Brandon knew he had to be strong for her; he owed her that, “I’m not afraid of him. Let him try to dig up something up on me. It won’t happen.” Dylan and Brandon both let out a little chuckle, “Golden boy over there is so squeaky clean, there is no way anyone could arrest him for anything,” Dylan added. She didn’t share the laugh, but quickly made her point, “He won’t get the chance,” she moved her hand from between her legs revealing the shiny metal object they hadn’t noticed her gripping since they had approached her earlier. Dylan’s smile quickly faded with Brandon’s following close behind as they realized what she was holding on to. “A gun isn’t going to solve your problems, Stephanie,” Dylan interjected. “No, it won’t, but it’ll make one of them go away” she stated in her notoriously distant fashion.
“Telling your story is going to make him go away; for a very long time. If you kill him, you’re going to be taking his place in that jail cell.” He placed his hand on her chin and turned her eyes to him, “That isn’t what you deserve.” She continued to stare into his eyes, “What if no one believes me?” She tried her best to keep her overwhelming emotion in check. “They’ll believe you,” he tried to convince her with his charming smile, “because you won’t be the only one telling the story this time. I’ll be your witness and they will believe us.” Brandon put his hand over hers making sure to get a hold of the gun. She turned her eyes up to him, “You don’t need this, Stephanie. You’re not alone anymore.” She nodded to him and let go as he grabbed it from her. She pushed herself toward him and he embraced her. As she wrapped her arms around him, he returned the embrace as Dylan removed the gun from his hand and placed it in his pocket. She gave him one final squeeze and pulled away.
She pushed her way to her feet as the two young men did the same. They all gave one final look out into the dark night sky and made their way to the car with Stephanie leading the way. She stopped staring at the black Porsche that awaited her. “Damn it, McKay. You and this damn two-seater. Can’t you afford a town car or something?” Brandon and Dylan let out a loud laugh as the events of their last encounter at The Point repeated. Brandon took his seat on the passenger side as Stephanie sat down against him. This time he didn’t refrain from placing his arms around her waist. She returned the gesture by placing her arms around his hands and laid back into him. This time he was not only content with the warmth of her body, but the touch of her accepting embrace as well. They made their way back to the Peach Pit.
Stephanie jumped over the side and began to walk as the two took a second to speak. “What’re you going to do with the gun?” Brandon whispered to Dylan. He shook his head, “I’ll figure something out.” Brandon just nodded and they both followed behind Stephanie who had already made her way inside. They soon found themselves amidst a frenzied crowd and Brandon caught the look from Nat. He turned his attention to Dylan and Stephanie and then down to the work shirt that he hadn’t gotten the chance to remove before leaving. He shook his head and made his way back behind the counter from which he had earlier escaped to once again calm down the students that now directed their orders to him.
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