can't turn back now .

[brittany nicole hale]

_{this post is tagged for kade marshall trent. it is complete and came to be 1,188 words.
impressive, huh? the lyrics found in this post are from the song haunted by taylor
swift. this post template was created by the one and only luna, who does not appreciate
stealing. additional notes: finally!!! and so it begins}

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The day of Miranda James and Jared Trent’s wedding had finally arrived, and the town of Arietta, Maine was abuzz with excitement. The days of planning were done and it was all leading up to this. Britt spent most of her morning getting ready with the other girls, her being a part of the wedding party. She was expected to be there at a certain time and, of course, she was late. But that was only to be expected. Brittany Hale was almost always late, even when she attempted to show up on time. She was getting better, though, only missing the time by a couple of minutes. Which seemed to be acceptable because no one yelled at her. Everyone was excited, Randi positively glowing, as all brides were supposed to be on their wedding days. It was an infectious kind of excitement and Britt started the day off thinking that maybe, just maybe, today wouldn’t be so bad. Or at least not as bad as all the other days. She couldn’t have been more wrong, but for the time being, things seemed like they were going to be really good. She sat with Amy and Charlie, the girls doing their hair and make-up together, Charlie helping the younger girls out a little to make sure they were all synced and looked somewhat similar. Charlie was a stickler for such things, and if anyone would notice it would be her. Britt just went with it, letting Charlie do with her as she wished because she knew that Charlie couldn’t really go wrong. After the hair and make-up was to the liking of all, the three girls got into their dresses and went to help Randi in any way that they could. It was her day, after all, and it was their job to make things go easy and to run smoothly for her and Jared.

The wedding was beautiful, of course, and Britt was so happy for her two friends that she couldn’t help but smile as they were declared man and wife in front of their family and friends. It was beautiful, and the only awkward part of the whole thing was when she had to walk back up the aisle with her arm laced through Hunter Trent’s. Despite the assurances from many people that Hunter did not in fact hate her, Britt wasn’t as convinced. And he had every right to do so, too. After all, she had hurt him pretty badly. He was better off without her, though, and she had a hard time believing otherwise. Britt ignored Kade Trent altogether. She focused on Randi when the two of them walked down the aisle at the beginning of the ceremony, and she never once looked his way during the ceremony. She supposed this whole thing could have been worse. She could have had to walk with Kade. Thankfully, though, the couple had spared them from that and instead she got Hunter. When it was over, though, she pulled from Hunter and that was that. They had spent several days preparing for this, and at the rehearsal dinner she had spent a good bit of time around Hunter, but she still didn’t like it. It was the guilt that caused her to avoid him.

She had also had to see a lot more of Kade Trent, which was not something she was pleased about. The two of them together in the same room these days was never a good thing, but luckily nothing serious had gone down as of yet. There had been friction and small bickering, the smart and snide comments unable to be stopped, but for the most part they were behaving. There had been several incidents outside the wedding preparations, though, and they did nothing to help things now. Britt knew that all they had to do was get through the wedding and the reception and everything would be fine. She wouldn’t have to spend so much time around him and she could go on pretending he didn’t exist like she preferred. There were still several hours to go before she could go home and get away from all of this, and she counted the hours as they slowly moved by. The hall for the reception was decorated beautifully, and for just about everyone else a fun time was to be had. Britt danced with Amy, Zoey, and Mykayla a bit, and she even managed to steal Kaler for a harmless dance around the dance floor, but other than that, Britt was just bored. She sat at a table with a glass of wine in her hand, enjoying the buzz she got even though she didn’t drink all that much. Britt never could hold her liquor, and tonight it didn’t seem like such a bad idea to have just a little bit too much to drink. She wouldn’t, though. Because she knew if she drank too much she was likely to do something she would very much regret later on, and that was not something she was willing to do. She didn’t want to ruin this day for Jared and Miranda.

Britt finished what was in her glass and stood to go get more, knowing she needed just a little bit more before she could maybe actually enjoy this a little, though that was very unlikely. It was when she went to get more liquor that she had the misfortune of running into Kade. Wonderful. Just her luck. Of course she would run into him. Because she couldn’t just get to spend this night in peace by avoiding him and being good. Britt knew that no matter how hard she tried to be good, it would be extremely difficult to do when he was right there. Everyone knew that Britt and Kade couldn’t be in close proximity to each other without getting into it, no matter how hard they tried to be good. Britt carried around a lot of anger, and all of it was directed at Kade. She blamed him for everything and with that much anger it was hard to keep it all bottled up. She had been keeping it bottled for over a year and as bad as some of their arguments had been it was nothing compared to what could happen between them. It was actually amazing that all of it hadn’t broken out already. One thing was for sure, though, it wouldn’t be pretty when it did. The sighting of Kade made Britt go for something a little stronger this time, thinking it was greatly needed and throwing her caution of not drinking too much to the wind. Just a little, she told herself. That would make this okay. And after she got her drink she would go find a corner somewhere and stay away from everyone. She was tempted to just grab a whole bottle of whatever she could reach so that she wouldn’t feel tempted to wander out and get more, but that was probably a mistake. She stood there and stared at them, though, giving the thought some serious consideration before she trashed it altogether.

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[/blockquote]

[kade marshall trent]

The timing for all of this couldn’t have possibly worked out better if Kade had orchestrated it all himself. Not that he was pleased to be home for the reasons that he was, but he was glad to be home when his brother had gotten engaged, and even gladder to see that it was an extremely short engagement. The wedding was held less than a month after the proposal, which meant that there was no waiting around, and no chance that Kade would be gone by the time they got around to having the ceremony. The truth of that matter was that if Kade had not already been back in town, he seriously doubted that he would have even dared to come back for his little brother’s wedding. It would have hurt a lot of people, including the blushing bride whom Kade thought of as a little sister. But, he would have come up with a convincing excuse, an exotic location that he couldn’t have possibly escaped from in time to make it. He would have felt like a total and complete ass, and he would have hated himself for missing his brother’s wedding, but that was kind of person that Kade Trent had become. It was easier to run, easier to keep hiding from the past and his fears, but more importantly his mistakes. But, luckily enough Kade Trent was in Arietta, and he had served as best man at Jared’s wedding and given away the bride.

Kade was so impressed with Jared and Randi, and even he had to admit that there was some choking back on the emotions when he watched his brother slip that wedding band onto Randi’s ring finger, promising to love her forever. If anyone was capable of such a feat, it would be Jared and Randi; their love was so pure, the kind of love that you read about and see in movies even though the real world seemed to have forgotten was it was. It was wonderful to see such an example of it thriving between these two best friends, and Kade knew that they would be the two that would beat the odds. It made Kade feel a little old to know that his younger brother was already getting married and ready to start on that chapter of life, but Kade had seemed to forfeit that option when he had screwed up so badly in leaving this town a little over a year ago. However, those thoughts were not weighing on Kade’s mind today, because today was Jared’s day and things were going to be perfect for him and his new wife. There was clearly some tension to be felt among the wedding party, and also among other guests that had attended the ceremony and kept with the crowd as they headed for the reception. Kade tried to stay on his toes, his hazel eyes looking around and keeping watch over everyone. Jared and Randi were set, picking a fast, upbeat song to be their wedding song and starting this party off on a good note. Hunter was recuperating after having had to walk arm-in-arm with Britt down the aisle, but he had been more apprehensive of what she was going to do than anything else and seemed completely over it by now. After all, he had arrived to this shindig with Peyton Roth, and a lot of his time was devoted to entertaining her.

Mykayla was around here somewhere, Kade’s attention going to her now that Kaler had gone and snuck off. Kaler was one of the ones that needed watching tonight because god only knew what that boy was going to get into, but Kade quickly decided that it was not his job to babysit; it was only his job to help and defend if need be. So, he found Mykayla sitting at a lonesome table and took a seat with her. It was easy to see that she was tired, but she wore a smile on her lips regardless. She was putting up a really good fight in all of this, but Kade wished that she would go home and rest even though he knew suggesting so would break out Mykayla’s own version of the Trent temper that no one wanted to face. So, Kade kept that suggestion to himself and instead just chatted with her and laughed as Jared did some off the wall dance move to the song that was playing. Kay was happy for her brother, but Kade could see that she was down about something. Whether or not it had anything to do with her illness, he didn’t know, but this neither the time nor the place to talk about it. He would make sure that he caught up with her on it later, but for right now he was keeping the conversation easy. Kay started to pick her tiny frame up out of her chair to go get drinks, but Kade ordered her back in her seat and got up to go get them himself.

It was at the drink table that Kade saw this night going downhill, and fast. Maybe no on the larger scale but for him, yes. Britt Hale was one young woman that Kade had been avoiding, and had done so rather well considering all the time that they had been forced to be together for wedding preparations. Sure, they weren’t always nice and civil and there had been a lot of touchy moments, but Kade had done pretty well at reining it all in. He was actually amazed at Britt as well, because he understood that it was taking Herculean effort on her part not to snap every single moment her pretty blue eyes set their sights on him. But they had unfortunately met up at the drink table, having only just barely been around each other the before. Kade was still going to get him and Kay drinks, so he came to the drink table, just on the other side. He picked up a cup and got a Coke and Rum for Kay, knowing it was her favorite. He sat that drink aside and debated on his own. However, his hazel eyes couldn’t help but to glance up at Britt and notice she seemed to be putting a great deal of thought into what she would be drinking. Despite all that was there between them, so many memories flashed through Kade’s mind in that moment, good memories that he couldn’t get rid of even if he wanted to. “Need some help?” he asked lightly, not trying to start anything but knowing that engaging her in conversation was enough to start the throw down. He just…couldn’t help it.

[brittany nicole hale]

_{this post is tagged for kade marshall trent. it is complete and came to be 570 words.
impressive, huh? the lyrics found in this post are from the song haunted by taylor
swift. this post template was created by the one and only luna, who does not appreciate
stealing. additional notes: finally!!! and so it begins}

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Britt was giving the thought of taking the whole bottle serious thought. There were several pros and cons to this plan, those running through her head at that exact moment. On the upside she wouldn’t have to get up again. She could find herself an empty corner and curl up there with her bottle until she passed out. On the other hand, the there was a very likely chance that she would do something extremely stupid. That seemed the most likely, but if she didn’t see Kade, then maybe she could get away with it. There was a chance he could pass by her without his knowing if she did so, and then she was sure she would do something stupid. But maybe it wouldn’t happen. Maybe… “Need some help?” Britt knew the voice without even looking. It was a voice that was so familiar to her, one that even after all this time and with all there was between them she knew without a moment of hesitation. That tended to happen when there was a lot of history, though. And when it came to Britt and Kade, there was nothing but history.

Britt had so many memories flashing through her mind at that moment. They had been here before, her once completely unsure when it came to liquor and what to drink, Kade being the expert. He had mixed many a drink for her over the years. He had been one of the few that she would ever trust to mix her a drink. She had made the mistake of allowing Jared to do so once, and she had vowed that she would never allow it to happen again. But Kade? He had always done right by her. Which made the whole thing even worse. She had always been there for her, no matter what it was. Whether it was to fix her a drink at a party or something more serious. That is, except the time when she had truly needed him. That was a string if there ever was one, and as they stood there together, she tried not to think about it and how angry it made her.

She shouldn’t have engaged. She should have grabbed the bottle she had been staring at and ignored him completely, walking off to a corner to drink herself away. But of course she didn’t do that. Because when it came to Kade nowadays, Britt just didn’t know how to be good. It was too hard and the pain and anger she felt was too deep. She turned towards him and glared, her hand hovering around the drink she had already poured in front of her. “I don’t need any help from you,” she said bitterly, disdain dripping from every word. She didn’t want his help with anything, especially not with a drink she could get herself. She just wanted him to fall off the face of the earth! Was that too much to ask for? In that brief moment, Britt didn’t think about what she did next. Not at all. She just reacted. Her hand grasped the drink on the table in front of her, and the next thing she knew she had flung it in Kade’s direction, soaking him in the liquid. She was actually quite shocked with what she’d done, but she couldn’t say she was at all displeased with what had just happened. Served him right.

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[kade marshall trent]

History was a funny thing to have with someone. It meant sharing so much of yourself, your life, with someone else, having them know exactly who you’ve been and have an idea in their head of who you ought to be. It meant having that person play such a huge role in your life, and it was all so important and meaningful no matter how you hard you tried to deny it. Kade Trent and Brittany Hale certainly had a history. They had both grown up in the little town of Arietta, their families very close and all of the kids seeming to grow up in one big pack rather than by family units. They had all grown close and shared those kinds of bonds that you really never forget even after you’ve all grown up and set out on your own paths of life. Britt was a little younger than Kade, but there had always been something special about the girl that made Kade pay attention to her even when the other older kids tended to leave out and neglect the younger set. Kade had looked out for her, taking that interest in her and becoming closer with her than some of his guy friends his own age. That had just been Kade and Britt, the two of them sharing this amazing bond that words couldn’t really describe. Their past together included everything from losing teeth together to teaching her how to ride a bike, teaching her to drive, and falling in love.

Looking at them now, no one would ever suspect that that was what the two of them had shared over their lifetimes. Now, you would never believe that she was the first girl that he had ever said “I love you,” and thought that he would have a future with one day. That image had been shattered, and the Britt that he was looking at now was a very different person from the one that he had left behind when he had started running. A certain tinge of sadness touched his hazel eyes as all those good things ran through his mind, only to stand there facing the wreckage that he had caused between them. People always say that if they had a chance to redo things, that they would do them right, and Kade knew that if such a thing were possible that he would go back and change everything about that day that he had left, anything to take all that hate and anger from her pretty eyes and to be able to see the Britt that he had loved and cared for so deeply. Once upon a time, Britt would have gladly surrendered her glass to Kade and let him mix her up a good drink, him being one of the ones that had introduced her to drinking as she had tagged along with him to party after party. He had been one of the few that she had trusted with that, if he remembered correctly, after being handed a pretty potent drink made by the groom of this party himself. Now, she more or less spat at him, saying that she didn’t need his help. Which….he probably should have seen that one coming. However, what he had not seen coming was Britt’s drink, which she had flung and soaked him with. Needless to say, Kade was shocked, but it only took a moment for him to regroup. “What the hell, Britt? I say one goddamn thing to you, and you do this?” Yeah, he was shouting at her, the people close to them freezing on the spot. “Un-fucking-believable.”

And then it had started, the shouting match that everyone had knew was coming. It was also what brought Kade’s new sister-in-law through the crowd, obviously displeased and having the honor of kicking Kade and Britt out of her wedding reception herself. People had been joking about this, but Kade hadn’t thought that it would actually happen. He grudgingly got his coat, fuming as he exited the reception hall and went out in the dark, cool night. Britt was behind him, and even though he knew he should have kept walking, Kade spun around to face her. “Well, you got me kicked out of my own brother’s wedding reception. Are you happy now?”

[brittany nicole hale]

_{this post is tagged for kade marshall trent. it is complete and came to be 648 words.
impressive, huh? the lyrics found in this post are from the song haunted by taylor
swift. this post template was created by the one and only luna, who does not appreciate
stealing. additional notes: finally!!! and so it begins}

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Britt could remember a time when she had never wanted anything more than Kade Trent. Growing up, she had always had a little school girl crush on him. She had watched him date girl after girl, wishing that it was her instead. And then her small crush had gotten bigger and turned into something more. Before long she had been head over heels in love with him. She had been so crazy over him and she couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone else as much as she had wanted him. How times had changed. Now all she wanted was for him to disappear; to go away and leave this town and to never darken her doorstep again. Because every time she saw him she was reminded of what had happened between them. Of how they had had something so strong and so great and that he had just let it all go. It was a painful memory, and also one that brought waves of fresh anger with it. She had loved him so completely and fully once. He had been the only one that she ever wanted to be with; the only one she could see herself with. But in an instant that all changed and he was gone. And when he left her entire world fell apart. And now she was where you saw her today. Britt never would have believed that something like this would have happened; that they would have ended up here. They were so screwed up that there was doubtedly anyway they could ever be fixed.

Britt honestly hadn’t thought about throwing her drink. She hadn’t planned it and hadn’t intended to do it. But she had. She did stupid things like that when she was around him. She wasn’t herself when she was around. She didn’t even recognize who she was anymore. “What the hell, Britt? I say one goddamn thing to you, and you do this?” He was shouting, but Britt didn’t even flinch from it and instead held her ground. She wasn’t afraid of him, even when she had every right to be. “Un-fucking-believable.” The yelling started after that, the two of them shouting at each other. People had joked about it that the two of them would get into something and get kicked out. But still, she doubted anyone had actually thought that it would happen. And yet here they were screaming at each other. Miranda pushed her way through the crowd and soon they were being kicked out of the wedding reception. Britt couldn’t say that she was too broken up over it, but had she been herself she probably would have felt bad for getting Kade thrown out. At the moment, though, she really didn’t care.

Kade stalked out of the building, Britt following close behind. She thought he was going to continue to walk away, but then he stopped and turned to face her. Britt stopped short. “Well, you got me kicked out of my own brother’s wedding reception. Are you happy now?” Was she happy now? That was a rather stupid question. “No, I am not happy now!” she shouted back at him. She didn’t think she would ever be happy. “Why did you ever come back? Everything was so much better before you showed up!” She shook her head and pushed past him. She was tired of all this. She was tired of having to see him, tired of acting like it didn’t bother her or that she didn’t want to hit him or throw things at him. She just wanted all of this to go away. “Why can’t you just go back to wherever the hell you came from?” she shouted over her shoulder, then continued to walk away. When he started to speak, though, she turned back around and stopped. It wasn’t that he had spoken, but what he said. It stunned her.

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[/blockquote]

[kade marshall trent]

Kade really, really wished that he could be a different person sometimes. He was known around town for having his hot, fiery temper and being the kind of man that you certainly didn’t want to piss off if you wanted to live for very long because he knew how to put a person through things that felt worse than dying. It was a trait that all the members of the Trent family possessed, even Rob and Marion who were really two of the kindest people on the face of the planet until something crossed them. Kade, though, seemed to have the worst time managing that temper, and when Britt had started this shit with him, there seemed to be no other course of action but to react and cause the scene that they just had inside. When he had first came home to Arietta and first started seeing her around, Kade had kept his cool and bit back a lot of harsh and nasty words just because he knew that he had deserved everything that Britt dished out to him. After all, he had left her. He had abandoned her and their unborn child, and almost without a word said about it. She had every right in the world to be pissed off and hurt, and while Kade knew that, there was that old fight inside of him that refused to take it all without some form of retaliation. That had been the mistake made tonight, and look where it had landed them. They were outside in the cold, kicked out of the wedding of two people that meant a lot to both of them.

But, maybe Britt would enjoy it. Maybe she would take great satisfaction that she had just ruined this evening for him and now she could go home happy. That seemed like the kind of thing that this new, foreign Britt would do, and it wouldn’t have surprised Kade one bit if she grinned some evil little grin at him before taking off for her vehicle. He was surprised at how she really did react, either, as anger seemed to be Britt’s thing these days. More shouting, more hateful words before she pushed right by him and went on her way to her car. Kade was still standing there, hot with his own anger and her words biting through him more than she probably realized that they could. It was her rage and attitude with which she had asked her last question that caused something to snap inside of Kade, him turning around now and his hazel eyes found her as she continued to walk across the parking lot. “You want to know why I came back?” he shouted after her, taking a few steps in her direction but stopping himself short. “Mykayla has cancer, okay Britt? She called me and asked me to come home and help her. Is that a good enough reason for you?” His voice had lowered considerably, eyes locked on her as he let loose this secret that he and Kay had been keeping bottled up between them. He was quite for a moment, looking at this girl and knowing what that kind of news would mean to her. Britt and Mykayla had always been close, and still were. “I’m going to ask that you don’t say anything to anyone about it because that’s what she wants, but now you know why I’m here.” And he honestly wished that he had a reason that didn’t involve his sister having cancer, but it was what it was. Kade’s eyes lingered on Britt for a moment before he turned and started in the direction of his truck, a long sigh passing through his lips and he was able to see his breath in the air. He was really just ready to be home and have this evening over with.

[brittany nicole hale]

_{this post is tagged for kade marshall trent. it is complete and came to be 687 words.
impressive, huh? the lyrics found in this post are from the song haunted by taylor
swift. this post template was created by the one and only luna, who does not appreciate
stealing. additional notes: this is so freakin sad.}

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This wedding had turned into a complete disaster. It was tragic that such a happy event had turned into something so horrible. One little incident and they had likely shaken up everything for the moment. Rocked the boat, so to speak. And now they were here in the parking lot, still screaming at each other. It was what they did best, it seemed. Britt couldn’t stop the anger that came when she saw him or had to be around him. She couldn’t stop the surge of emotions that made all of this happen. Brittany Hale wasn’t necessarily known for her temper, or at least she hadn’t been before this, but now it just seemed to be all there was. Kade was famous for his, though. He had displayed it more than once in their lifetime, and it was likely that even this incident wasn’t going to be the last time it happened. Knowing them and how this was going, the chances of it all happening again, and even more than once, were very likely. If someone would have told Britt a year ago that she and Kade would be here she wouldn’t have believed it. They had been on top of the world back then and it had seemed like nothing could touch them. Nothing could have brought them down. Or so she had thought. But this? She never would have thought it would come to this. She never thought she would hate him this much.

And yet here they were, screaming at each other in the parking lot of his brother’s reception. This was indeed bad, and Britt didn’t think they could get any lower than this. “You want to know why I came back?” Yes, she did. She had asked that question hadn’t she? True she hadn’t meant for it to be replied to, but it was the only question she really had. Okay, that was a lie, but it was the only one she was willing to voice out loud. He stepped in her direction. Britt didn’t move but stood her ground. “Mykayla has cancer, okay Britt? She called me and asked me to come home and help her. Is that a good enough reason for you?” And just like that in an instant she was left frozen, completely shocked over what he had just said. Mykayla had cancer? No. That wasn’t possible. It wasn’t possible that she was sick. Britt would have known. She would have had to know. It was so hard to believe, so hard to comprehend. But in that instant the anger was drained from her body and all she could do was stare at him. “What?” she said, her voice clearly showing her disbelief. He didn’t seem to hear her, though, as he continued on with what he was saying. “I’m going to ask that you don’t say anything to anyone about it because that’s what she wants, but now you know why I’m here.” And then he turned and walked away, and all she could do was stare at him as she watched him walk away.

Britt didn’t want to believe what he had just said, but she knew it had to be true. Kade wouldn’t come up with something that heartbreaking. He wouldn’t make something like that up just to heart her. Even Kade wasn’t that cruel. Mykayla Trent was one of Brittany’s best and closest friends. She loved the girl like she was a sister and they had somehow remained close. How could she have missed something like this? She slowly turned and walked away also. She climbed inside her car but then she just sat there staring down at the steering wheel, key in hand. It was then that everything melted away and she was left with the sadness. The tears flowed freely from her eyes and she just cried. Eventually she got most of it out and was able to start the car and drive. The tears still fell, though, her unable to contain them. Everything was so screwed up, and Britt was suddenly very aware of just how screwed up they really were.

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