( HAY, IT'S ALL THE RAGE ) EVERYONE

[lance warren wright]

Sure Lance had mentally prepared himself for all this so the first part he had expected. He had stayed silent with his hands wanting to reach out for the pissed off blonde but he shoved them into his pockets of his slacks. "Fair enough," he muttered after her compliment comment. He had a hard time not using his little names he had come up for Kenn over the good times they had shared. God he just wanted those times to come back yet he was messing it all up. He was ruining his relationship with Emma as well. Lance was seriously all over the place and he was lighting his own fire and overlooking his own burning. He silently watched her as she went off on him. He knew it was coming though her words were harsher than usual. He knew he should have left when he saw Kenn there knowing her seeing him and Emma together would upset her.

Though that's just it he hadn't thought it would upset her. He was oblivious to the fact that Kennedy still cared for him in an immense way. He figured she would have come here tonight to have fun with a guy. This would have upset Lance but that was besides the point right now. He opened his mouth to retaliate but she started off again on the rant. He squeezed his eyes shut only hearing her words hit him harder and harder. The mental walls he had built up were quickly crumbling and it was becoming hard to keep the pain from reaching his face. He had to stay strong and not let her see that she was getting to him. Though of course he failed and his face fell. He looked down at his feet as she continued. The comments about their son he felt guilty about but he couldn't face Kennedy while he had his relationship with Emma. He felt guilty about the entire thing.

Now the wall was down and he was standing with the white flag waving. As she said they were through his head snapped up as he looked at her in disbelief. He had kept his mouth shut and clenched as he looked down at her. His heart was tearing inside of his chest. She was pulling it out of his chest and doing with it what she pleased. As she stepped even closer to him he furrowed his brow clenching and un-clenching his jaw. When she reached up to pat his chest she hit him once but moved away for the other two. The physical touch would kill him even if it was out of anger on her part. Lance stood there as she walked away he was dumbfounded and had a few minutes to recover watching her get farther and farther. This anger sparked in his heart as the words played over and over in his head.

Lance finally pulled his hands from his pockets and took off after Kenn. He was about to reach out to grab her to stop her but simple compliments had set her off physical stuff would probably not do any better. He got ahead of her a bit and stopped right in front of her. "So it's like that huh Kenn? Just like that it's over? Wow you must feel so much better now right?." The anger boiling over as he spoke with an acidic tone. "You said I have an interesting way of showing you I love you. Are you kidding? You're the queen of confusion when it comes to how you love me. I'm sorry if I didn't get the memo that love was where you push someone farther and farther away. Stupid me though right?" God he was burying his own grave by using these words but he couldn't just lie down and take it this time. He had to fight back.

"I'm not bringing Ryan into this because this right here is between me and you and you know it," he pointed his finger at her and then himself while saying this. "Yeah I was with someone in there and you wanna know why? Because you have a damn good way of showing how you felt for me. The constant fighting I think is what should have given it away. Yeah Kenn I was just stupid to not see you loved me. I should have known the bickering was normal and that pushing me away was just an action of love." He continued to use the word love just to throw it in her face. The way she had constantly put him down and kept up her strong attitude just had kept pushing him further and further away from her. "I'm sorry for wanting to actually find someone that cared for me. I've been happy. I don't have to worry when the next fight will come or if I will say something wrong. She just admitted she loved me Kennedy and you wanna know what I did? I came out here after you. I won't lie to her by telling her I love her when I guess unfortunately i'm in love with you." His anger still boiling but he was trying to make it subside.

[emma]

She probably wouldn't have thought anything about seeing Lance and Kennedy together, if she had in fact seen them together. As far as she knew all that was between them now was Ryan and because of that, they had to talk. She was a single parent too and knew what it was all about. She knew Lance wanted to be a part of Ryan's life and she would have never asked him not to be.

She nodded. "Okay." she said to Lance, before jokingly adding "Hurry back." She watched him go, then looked around trying to figure out where to go. She didn't exactly know a lot of people there and yet she felt like an idiot just standing on the dance floor. Walking away from the dance floor and over to a quiet area, she pulled out her phone to call home and check in with Mel who was babysitting.

OOC: Figured I'd make her do something while you two had some fun without me BTW I can't believe Lance just let Kennedy say all that mean stuff about Emma! He doesn't even attempt to defend her? If only Emma could see this..

[addison sophia breslin]

Kennedy had been half through the number when Lance broke infront of her and stopped her dead in her tracks, Kenn not noticing as she'd been paying attention to her phone and she went crashing into him at a walking pace. It knocked her back a step or two as she finally looked up to see who it had been, and when she had noticed it was him she went to turn around and walk in the opposite direction obviously not caring about what he had to say. She figured that he lied to her before so this time around it would probably be the same old thing, she'd heard it all before so what was the point in even listening? She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him with a dumbfounded expression on her face when he mentioned that just like that it's over. "You're kidding me right? You're blaming me for it being over? I wasn't out dancing, if that is what you want to call it, with some chick right infront of you was I? A man I mean, you know what i'm talking about," Sure it had not been right infront of her, and she could have stopped watching anytime she had wanted to, so it was just as much her fault as it had been his own.

Again she tried turning around and just walking away from it all, but each time he opened his mouth she had something in her making her turn right back around to give him the satisfaction of staying there and fighting with him, something that the two of them did on quite the regular basis. Each time he had said the love word it had her cringing, she could not stand to hear that word coming from his mouth. She could not stand how she had let herself get swept up in his charm to be taken on such an emotional rollercoaster. "Right because I was supposed to just let you jump into my heart and my bed each time you decided to come back to town right? Did you forget that you're the one that focused so much on making a relationship work with Rachel, and even had the nerve to leave town with her because you loved her and wanted to make it work? If anything you're the damn confusing one because you can't get your damn feelings in order, you can't love everyone Lance. You just needed to pick one and you couldn't do it, you kept swinging back and forth and it wasn't fair. Each time you were back I thought we'd been back on track, and next thing I know Rachel is flashing that damn ring you bought her. How was I the confusing one? I haven't even been with another man since you, and look at you-" Her hand motioning back towards the barn, the last known destination of his female companion. "I kept pushing you away because I knew it wouldn't be long until you ran running away with your tail between your legs like you do every other damn time." She said, being completely truthful as she looked at him. This time she was not turning around to walk away anymore, instead she placed a hand solid against her hip and stood there. "I can't be selfish anymore, I have someone else to worry about in my life." She said once more bringing up their son, that being something she knew she could hold over him and send him on a guilt trip because of.

"It's never about just us anymore," She said shaking her head. "That is where your wrong, he's a big part of the equation." The hugest part in her eyes. "Stop saying that!" Her voice raised loud as a group around them looked at her. "Stop using that word." She said just as loud, grabbing ahold of his shirt and pulling him with her away from the group that was no doubt staring at them now. She did not need them to be the center of attention right now, so she pulled him out in the field more where there weren't as many people around. She let go of him and looked at him for another moment before saying anything. "Right because the last time we hung out we were fighting right? See if I can recall it right we were having a good time together, no fighting and just hanging out, but I guess you just want to keep digging further into the past because you're too damn stupid to see that what we had not too long ago was actually something good. Wait, were you seeing her when we hung out last? I swear to god Lance if you were seeing her that night i'll slap you right here." She said shaking her head, she remembered how she had kissed him and how they had cuddled against the rock, she was not going to be his escape from yet another relationship. She was sick of being the second woman, when was it her time to be someone's first? She seemed she'd never be good enough to be someone's one and only, nobody since Rodney had taken that chance on her.

When he started to say how Emma had made him happy her heart sunk as she stood there, though she did take a few steps back away from him after hearing this. "Why are you telling me this?" She asked shaking her head, the last thing she wanted to hear was that he had been happy with another woman. She should be happy for him but she wasn't, if anything that just made her more depressed over the entire fact. Why couldn't he just leave her alone if he had been happy? When he dropped the bomb about how she had told him she had loved him in there her jaw just dropped somewhat. That wasn't the worst part though, what he had said next had came as an utter blow to her and it had felt like her wind had been taken right from her. "Are you stupid?" She asked finally not being able to find the words to say right now. She just shook her head letting her hands run through her hair as she turned from him to walk around in a circle contemplating what her next move was. She knew she had to do it, she just had to let him be happy. "You came out here after she told you she loved you? You must be fucking stupid, are you just a sucker for punishment?" She shook her head as she let his last few words circle her mind one more time. "Don't say that, Lance. Don't tell me those words." She said shaking her head fighting back the tears. He needed to stop doing that to her. "You don't love me, you can't. If you did you wouldn't be doing these damn things. You wouldn't be driving me insane each and every day of my life. I can't even come for a night of letting go and having fun without you ruining it for me, I want to be happy too Lance. It can't be just you, i'm sick of seeing you be the only damn one whose happy. When do I get my chance, huh?" It did sound like she was being selfish right now but she had a point at the same time, Kennedy wanted that happiness that he was just talking about, and having him haunt her every move she just couldn't have it. Seeing him parading his happiness right before her made her all the more pissed, what made him so damn great? He cheated on his woman too, she was not the only one that fucked up, and yet she was the only one that seemed to be living with the consequences? That just didn't seem fair to her.

[lance warren wright]

Lance rolled his eyes as she went off saying he had just blamed, "Really Kennedy? You're the one who just "ended" it!" He exclaimed the anger shooting back up to it's highest level. He didn't want to be this mad but he was done with just rolling over and taking it. The alcohol that was buzzing in his system probably didn't help either. Though his words weren't slurred or anything. "I'm sorry I wasn't aware we were ever in a relationship. I'm pretty sure I remember being given shit every time I try to do anything good. It just seemed to me like there was no way we could ever happen again because you were so against it! So forgive me for trying to have a little bit of fun." He hadn't had sex with Emma yet and sure he thought about it a lot but he couldn't.

"No! God damn it!" He was growing louder as his anger boiled over. Redness was creeping up his neck as his anger grew. He hated arguing with her because it always got the best of him. "Can we just please drop the Rachel shit? I'm tired of bringing her up. That is done and over with." He said that with an air of finality. He was completely serious he hated when she brought Rachel into almost every argument they shared. He placed the heels of his palms against his eyes adding pressure to calm himself just a little bit. He didn't want to get too out of control with his anger and do something he regretted. "That's a good excuse Kenn because you know it's obviously in my nature right? I just run whenever I get the chance." He rolled his eyes again, "You never gave me the chance Kennedy so you don't get to make that call. People change but of course you can't...no won't see that in me. It's all good though because it's over right?"

Lance was full of sarcasm now so he wouldn't start yelling. He was yanked in a different direction as she pulled him away from the crowd that had started to gather. "Yeah last time we hung out it was a good time but even you said that you weren't sure it could last. How can we make something between us if you don't even believe it." He said seriously as he stared at her in an almost hopeful state. "No, I wasn't with her when we had that night together. I wouldn't do that Kennedy." He hoped she wouldn't bring up his past history yet again. It was pissing him off that it was constantly talk about the past with Rachel and all that. He had cut her out of his life he was done with her. All the talk about the good night they had shared he was brought back memories of the kiss they had shared. It had been nice to have that time with her yet he had been scared that it would never happen again. So far that fear was coming true.

"I did because i'm not gonna lie to another woman. I lied to Rachel our last few months of a relationship and I felt terrible for doing so. I can't lie to her and tell her I love you when I don't." He would say it's because he loved Kennedy but now was not the time. "Why? Why don't you want to hear it Kenn? I've said it before and it does nothing so why should it affect you so much? You don't feel the same so again if I say I love you it just should be words to you. No worries right?" The sarcasm entered his voice again as he looked down at her. As he listened to her last plea for her own happiness his anger subsided for a moment. He looked down at her and knew this was partly his fault. "I'm sorry," he said softly looking down at his feet, "I know that showing up here with Emma tonight wasn't fair to you." He sighed, "I want you to be happy. I wish I could be the one to do that for you. I don't think you want it to be me though. So if you want me to leave just say so." He looked her in the eye sorrow hinting in them. He didn't want to leave her he wanted her to say that she wanted him to say but that would never happen.

[addison sophia breslin]

Kennedy stopped to think about what he had said, about how he had never thought they had been in a relationship. She thought back to when they were sneaking around together, how happy they had made each other, but did they honestly ever classify it as a relationship? The more she thought about it the more she couldn't remember them actually giving each other the title of boyfriend/girlfriend, never in their entire relationship, or lack there of for that matter. He had been right, he had just beat her in that small battle of words. She had to admit defeat now. "You're right, we never were together." She said simply with a shrug, though even though they had never classified what they had as a relationship she had always liked to think what they had was more than just sex and fooling around. She just shook her head letting her curls fall over her shoulders as she turned her head to the side, her blonde hair hiding the disappointment in her face as she remembered everything that the two had been through together.

Part of her wanted to smile when he got so damn upset about Rachel, but at the same time that had been a sensitive subject on her part, and after he hollered about her using that against him too many times she just stayed silent, what more could she say? He might be getting mad about it but that changed her entire life, Rachel Miles had been the one thing that had stood between her and happiness after Rodney had left the picture. Even to this day she could not understand what Rachel had over her, but this was not the discussion to bring her up anymore. "Right, it's over." She said shaking her head looking up at him. She wanted to bitch about how she had changed, how she had grown so much more mature since high school, but he probably wouldn't see it. He couldn't see all the time and effort she had put into changing her life around so she could be a positive influence for her son, so what was the point in fighting him about this anymore? She just didn't seem to have the motivation after he had told her that he loved her. That was just a deal breaker, instead of being so pissed she instead wanted to curl up in a cave and cry away the next month or so. Why had he had to say that to her tonight? She told him it had been over, so why instead of just dropping it did he have to fight and make her feel even worse? If anything she wanted to tell him how much he had been the same immature indecisive man as in high school, but instead she just repeated what she had said earlier. "It's over, final." Her voice cracked, a sign of weakness that she knew she could not be around him for much longer or she'd start to cry.

She just shrugged her shoulders as though she had been agreeing with him this entire time. What more could she say? She had to get out of there, she could feel her eyes starting to swell and she just couldn't take it. She made sure that she kept her head turned to the side so he couldn't see her, her hair seemed to be doing a good enough job at keeping her hidden from him, so that hopeful look that he had given her had never been seen. She would have felt even worse if she would have seen his face right then and there. When he talked about it meaning nothing to her though she had to look at him, the final confrontation so to speak. She turned her head and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Means nothing? I loved off of those three words my entire pregnancy, and even after Ryan was born I did nothing but lay in bed wishing that you were beside me while we listened to the monitor together. I would close my eyes and see you there whispering those words to me when I needed to hear them the most, when I had a terrible day because Ryan was teething and miserable. I lived off of those words for so long, not anymore though." She shook her head as she looked at him, a small sniffle that came before the tears so she knew she had to be leaving soon so he wouldn't see her start to cry all together. That is when she heard it though, her way out. She looked up at him taking in his features as she closed her eyes for a moment and closed her eyes briefly. "I said it before and i'll say it again, it's over and I wish you the best. Good bye Lance."

She let out a sigh and smiled briefly at him, a forced smile, and brushed past him grabbing her phone again and dialing up the number. She wiped away a tear from her eye as she pressed the phone to her ear making the call for the cab driver to come pick her up. She did not look back to see what he was doing, instead she just stuffed her phone back into her pocket and dropped her head down as she made her way towards the road where he had dropped her off. The last thing she needed was to be here any longer, she had let Lance go free and he could be with Emma, and she could go back to being the way she had been since she'd gotten with him. Alone and hopeless, what a sad and lonely life she lead. Once she was far enough away she waited for the cab, luckily he hadn't been far away, and she let herself drop to her knees sobbing into her hands alone and away from anyone and everyone. Tonight had not gone according to plan, a hot outfit and a long spent time on make-up had gone to waste, and what for? Because she'd still been madly in love with a man she just couldn't have, though he'd given her every available option to take him off the market, and yet she had still been too stupid to grab him up. She saw the cab coming and sighed standing up, and when he was there she opened the door and she climbed in the backseat.

"Long night hun?" the man asked her as he looked in the back and saw her crying.

"I'm fine, just take me home."

"Sure thing, ride's on me tonight." The driver said, the last thing he wanted to do was charge an upset woman who looked to be in all sorts of pain. Just like that the man pulled out from beside the curb and drove Kennedy towards her house, away from the barn never to look back on tonight and everything that had just happened.

[lance warren wright]

Lance stood there defeated as he saw for once she gave up. That was the last thing he had imagined. As she continually said that it was over he couldn't help but feel his heart break and smash into millions of tiny pieces. No words came to mind as she decided to end this argument before it became any worse. When she looked up at him one last time and forced that smile on his lips he looked away. He couldn't see her at this moment without completely breaking down. The pain was becoming unbearable as he stood there watching her fade into the distance. They had both always wanted what they couldn't have yet when they were given the chance to have each other they shied away from the opportunity. Why did they have to make things way more complicated than they had to be? Oh yeah that's right because they didn't do easy. Complicated was the one and only option that was that.

Lance furrowed his brow as he slowly looked up from the ground to see her right before she was gone from his sight, "I love you Kennedy." He said softly to himself as he felt himself choke up. He couldn't deal with these emotions right now. He would have no excuse for what he was about to do next but at the moment it seemed to be the only option. He shook it all off put a strong front on and quickly made his way to a table that was still loaded with alcohol. It was like an endless supply or something as he looked over at it looking for the one thing that could get him wasted the fastest. A few tears had fallen hear and there but he wiped them away being stubborn and not letting the sadness emerge fully. He grabbed a liquor bottle that had been sitting in amongst the beer and twisted the cap off tossing it aside. He had no way of explaining how it had been possible that he had finished off the bottle himself without getting sick but it had happened.

Lance had drunk it fast and the burning of his throat was the least of his problems that were to come. He stumbled into the bar obviously wasted out of his mind but many other people were in the same state so he wouldn't be judged for it. He found an empty bench and took a seat. He had a second bottle of the mysterious liquor in his hand. He was ignoring the sick feeling and enjoying the buzz and the temporary relief of everything that had just happened. He lifted the bottle and took another swig coughing a bit as it burned his throat. He needed to get out of there. Go home or something the heat of the barn was growing in intensity with every sip of his liquor bottle. He shoved himself up and stumbled out to the parking lot luckily he found his car and struggled getting his keys out but was finally behind the wheel and pulling out.

He was angry with himself and couldn't face anyone as he took off almost hitting a few people in the process. He was lucky they had jumped out of the way otherwise tonight would have ended worse for him. He pulled off onto the country road and took off at unimaginable speeds flying by as the sorrow over took him. He pulled out his phone and dialed up Kennedy and knew it would go straight to voice mail but that was gonna have to work. As imagined it was rejected and sent straight to voice mail. Lance sighed as the tears continued to roll down his face, "Kenn? Kenn i'm so sorry for putting you through this...," his words were slurred and it was very obvious he was drunk, "...I love you Kennedy Adams. I want to be the guy that makes you happy. I want to brighten your day and be the father of our son and do everything you want...I.."

As Lance continued on his lame speech as the tears continued to fall he didn't even try to hide the sadness of his voice because he tended to get very emotional when he was piss drunk. Though as he was driving he wasn't paying attention and was swerving in and out of the other lane though luckily there had been no sighting of a car for miles so he had been safe. Right as he finished up saying a few more things to Kennedy he was cut off, "Please Kenn call..." That was all that would reach Kennedy's voice mail because Lance's car collided with a semi almost head on. The car took a nasty spin and rolled down into a ditch. Lance was knocked unconscious and his phone was lost in the wreck, surely broken. The semi did much more damage to him than his car had done to the semi. So the driver was only knocked unconscious for a brief period.

The man rushed out of the semi and over to look into the ditch. He rushed down dropping to his hands and knees as he looked into the flipped over car. He saw Lance knocked out cold blood running down from his head and he could barely make out the rest. He reached in the rolled down window to check his pulse to find it barely beating. He quickly rushed back to the semi in search of his phone. He called 911 and yelled out a hard to understand statement but luckily the lady on the other end understood and sent out an ambulance. It arrived in the next ten minutes and one paramedic talked to the truck driver to try and calm him down and check him over and get his side of the story. Two others rushed down into the ditch and did their best to get Lance out safely and onto a stretcher. The damage was severe as they rushed him back up to the ambulance putting him in the back and slamming the back two doors shut.

The truck driver was told to wait for the police that was on it's way and a paramedic stayed behind with the frantic man. The ambulance turned on it's sirens and lights and took off back towards the hospital calling in the accident so a doctor would be ready to take Lance. They had no one to call but they did identify him from his license in his wallet. No doubt this would make the news and soon people would know where he was if he had family that would be looking for him. They reached the hospital and rushed him inside passing him off to the doctor. His fate now lied in their hands.....

(To be continued at the hospital)

[emma]

It was about ten minutes later that Emma started to wonder where Lance was. It couldn't possibly take someone ten minutes to find and use the washrooms...Well, not unless it was a number two sort of deal, but people didn't normally let those out in the middle of a party. Then again, it would explain why he'd rushed off all of a sudden... She shook her head in confusion as she looked around. Maybe he was on his way back? She didn't want to seem like a paranoid girlfriend, but after a moment, decided that heading in the general direction of the washrooms wouldn't hurt. Maybe she could ask someone if they'd seen him?

Walking through the crowd, she tried to think of people that would know him and instantly thought cheerleader. After all, he'd been a jock in high school, so it made sense they'd know who he was. She kept her eyes peeled and it didn't take long to spot some. She went over. "Hey, um, I was wondering if you guys had seen Lance Wright?" she asked them, which caused her to get some looks. Looks that said they thought she wasn't good enough to even ask about him. "Lance?" replied one of the girls with a smirk. "Oh yeah, we've seen him. He was over there like 5 minutes ago fighting with Kennedy Adams about something...I mean, you think those two would just get a room already, the sexual tension is death...Oh wait. They already did the room thing.." She laughed, shaking her head. "She left in some sort of huff and he headed off somewhere...Probably to the bar after that craziness.."

"Thanks." Emma said quickly, wondering what they'd been fighting about but putting that at the back of her mind as she took off to find him. If he'd gone to drink, she knew he must be hurting and all she wanted to do was be there for him and say that it would all be okay.

At the bar, again, there was no such luck. She turned to a guy who appeared to be stoned, but she didn't care. "Hey, has Lance Wright been here?" She asked. The guy, like the cheerleader, laughed. "Yeah, babe, he's been here...Drank half the booze too. I think I saw him drive off after.."

Drive? That made Em panic even more. She quickly headed for the exit and while opening her car, called his phone....No answer. "Lance, it's me. Where are you? Please tell me you're okay...You have to be okay. Seriously why would you drive drunk? You're such an idiot, you know that? I love you and...I can't lose you. Please just..be okay and call me back...Bye."

She hung up and started the car, unsure of where she was going. Not knowing what to do she turned on the radio, hoping that she didn't hear any bad news.

Half an hour later, there it was. The description of the car gave away his identity. Nervous and scared, she sped to the hospital.