Stuck On You novel Chapter 28

That week ended way too soon. Hayden and I spent almost that entire time in our room, lounging around. Occasionally we’d go out shopping and sight-seeing, but for the most part, I was all his. He was all I really cared about anyway. He got my mind off of my dad and my wicked stepmother effectively. The rest of the week was sheer bliss, but all too soon, we were back home in San Diego, walking back into our apartment. Hayden put my bags into my room before he joined me on the couch. His arm went around me as he kissed my head.

“Hey are you okay?” he asked me. I nodded and smiled.

“I don’t think things can get any more perfect than they are right now,” I said, kissing him. I couldn’t have been any more right.

A few weeks later and Hayden got a phone call that changed everything. His mom traveled a lot. In Seattle, she got hit by a drunk driver. She didn’t make it. After that phone call, Hayden was a completely different person. He was shut off and moving as though in a daze. I understood it, but I just wished that he’d talk to me. I went to the funeral with him for support but he barely even noticed that I was there. He hadn’t eaten in days. All he would do is sit in his room staring at the wall. I tried to help him but he would just sit there for weeks. I knocked on the open door before I walked inside. I sighed and looked at him sympathetically.

“Hayden, you have to eat something,” I said, bringing in a bowl of soup. He looked at me blankly. He wasn’t talking much either. I set the bowl on his bedside table before sitting beside him. I touched his cheek gently. He pulled away from me before he went back to standing at the wall. I sighed before I let the room. The next week, he was acting a little more like the Hayden I met when I first met him. ‘Hayden the ass’ was back. It was my turn to avoid him. He was mean and distant. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.

When I went to go check on him, he was slipping on his jacket.

“I’m going out,” he muttered, before he was out the door. I sighed and covered my face with my hands briefly as I heard the door close. Here we go again. He’d been “going out” a lot lately. I knew he was mostly going to bars but it didn’t stop me from worrying about him. I understood why he was distant and upset, but I didn’t know why he was pushing me away. He was hurt, I knew that; but he was hurting me too.

I called Quinn. She knew about Hayden’s mom and what he was going through even though Hayden and I hadn’t been to any rehearsals since he got the news.

“Hey thanks for coming,” I said softly. She nodded and walked inside before she hugged me.

“Are you okay?” she asked. I shook my head.

“Hayden’s acting… strange, and I know that he’s been through a lot lately, but he refuses to talk to me, at all,” I explained.

“Just give him a little more time, hun. He’ll come around. He loves you,” Quinn tried to comfort me. I sighed and nodded. I guess I just needed to hear that from someone else. She stayed with me for a bit before she left around midnight. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” she asked. I only shrugged.

“I guess when Hayden gets home and we have a chance to talk,” I answered. I tried to wait up for Hayden, but I ended up falling asleep watching TV. I woke up confused when I heard giggling. I sat up and yawned. The giggling was coming from Hayden’s room. That was weird. I walked over to his room and pushed his door open. I froze. I was angry and upset. Red dots flashed in my vision.

“Out… now,” I said to the girl. She giggled and rolled her eyes at me. Fine, we would do things my way. I stormed over and pulled her out by her hair. I threw her out of the apartment and locked the door. I paused with my hands on the door. I took a shaky breath and prepared myself before going back into Hayden’s room. He was sitting on the end of his bed waiting on me.

“Look, Jo,” he started.

“No! You know what; I have been there for you through everything! What is wrong with you?!” I yelled as hot tears streaked my face. He walked over to me and tried to kiss me. I pushed him away and looked at him shocked.

“Jo, don’t be that way,” he said. Great, just great; he didn’t even care in the slightest.