DELETED SCENE Avow (Gabriel & Crazy Heather)

There are so many deleted scenes. It was really hard for me to choose!

IN THIS SCENE...

Heather has just been poisoned with water from the Fountain of Youth and, being a magical substance, it is slowly making her lose her mind. Gabriel was put in charge of her safety at the cabin while the rest of Team Awesome prepared for their journey to find the fountain.

(I know this doesn't really fall in line with the final version of Avow, but just go with it.)

Enjoy! :)

***

Gabriel banged his head against the wall and muttered, “I feel like I’m being punished.”

“You think of me as punishment?” Heather’s face scrunch up into an almost-fit and Gabriel knew he was screwed.

“Oh no. No. No," he said. "That’s not what I meant. I meant—I meant—

Damn, what had he meant?

Heather broke into a wail, crying unabashedly against his expensive comforter. Loudly. “You don’t like me. You think I’m punishment.”

Tears and snot ran down her face and he tried not to be disgusted at the sight. “No, no, no. Don’t cry.”

Dear god, don’t cry. I hate it when she cries.
She sobbed even louder, shoving her blonde face into his pillow dramatically. “Numph-mum-muph-mee.”

Gabriel was utterly helpless. “What?”

She raised her face half an inch and wailed, “Nobody likes me!”

“No. No, that’s not true. Hey.” He waited for the crying to calm, but the torrents of tears kept coming, drenching her face—and his pillow—in a very boogery way. “Hey, now. Don’t cry. Uh…”

What do I do, what do I do?

Gabriel stood up and carefully inched his way over to the crying time bomb of crazy. “Shh." He reached a hand out to sooth her, but let it hover above her small back, not sure if he wanted to make contact with the wet mess on his bed. “Shh, there-there.”

Since when did he say shit like “there-there”?

Since Heather, dammit.

“You’re not punishment and everybody likes you,” he said.

Hesitantly, he set his palm on her back—still shaking with sobs—and rubbed it a little. It felt awkward and extremely uncomfortable.

Heather whipped her head around, her eyes hard with fury and pure crazy. “Don’t pet me like a rabbit, Gabriel! I’m not a rabbit! Do I look like a rabbit to you? Do I have fur on me? Look at me! LOOK AT ME! Do I have fur?”

Scratch that. This felt awkward and uncomfortable. “Uh…no?”

“Then don’t pet me like a farm animal!”

“Okay.” No touching the crazy chick.

That wouldn’t be a problem. Like EVER.

Gabriel stepped back and stood over the bed as she went back to crying. He was at a total loss. And his bedspread was in need of a serious washing.

Eventually, Heather’s sobs turned into quiet whimpers and then subsided all together. He thought she’d fallen asleep and was about o make a vey quiet exit-- from his own damn room—when he saw her slender arm reach up and start twirling a blonde curl.

Shit. The crazy wasn’t over yet.

She sighed happily, as if she hadn’t just lost her mind and boogers on his bed, and said, “You know what I think?”

No. Please, don’t tell me.

“I think,” she said. “That if I was a bunny, I’d be pretty. Don’t you think so?”

Well, how the hell was he supposed to answer that question?

“Sure.”

“Sure? Sure?” she looked like she was going to cry again.

“Yes! I meant yes! You would be a pretty bunny.”

My life sucks.

She smiled dreamily at him, closed her eyes, and started to snore.