Come Back To Me

Chapter 16

Cole reemerges from the kitchen with a bottle of cheap whiskey and two shot glasses.

“Only two glasses?” Taylor complains.

“The rest are either broken or dirty,” he tells us, “it’s okay, we can swap a little spit.”

His eyes catch mine, and he smiles at me.

“So, who wants to go first?” Taylor asks.

“I will,” I say, “let’s do this.”

“All right Hadley.”

Cole hands me a shot glass and fills it to the rim, then he pours the other for himself.

“Here’s to having a great night! Let’s get drunk.”

Cole lifts the glass and tips it back and I do the same. Instantly I cringe as the liquid burns down my throat. It’s disgusting.

“Ugh! I think I should stick to the coolers,” I groan.

“Is it really gross?” Taylor asks me, and I nod vigorously.

“Then I think I’ll pass,” she says.

“Oh, no you don’t Taylor. It’s you and Aaiden next,” Cole, instructs, handing his glass to Aaiden.

I hand mine to Taylor. Cole pours their shots and we watch as they take them.

“Oh, that’s awful!” Taylor says.

“That stuff is nasty,” Aaiden coughs and his face twists in disgust.

“It’s all I could get my hands on in there,” Cole shrugs, “but it’ll do the trick. Anyone want another?”

Cole is met with a resounding “NO,” from each of us.

“Okay, fine. I guess it is pretty bad.”

Cole sets the bottle down on the nearby coffee table.

“Oh, I love this song!” Taylor exclaims as a new song starts.

She grabs my hand.

“Hadley, dance with me.”

“Um…” I start to decline.

“Nope, we’re dancing,” she says, cutting me off.

She holds my hands and starts dancing, so I decide to just go along with it. Aaiden and Cole decide to join in and soon Aaiden’s hands are on Taylor’s hips from behind. She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, and they start grinding.

I back away a little to give them space, and my back meets Cole’s chest. I’m about to move away from him too, but he places his hands on my hips as well. My body goes rigid at the intimate embrace.

“It’s just a little harmless dancing,” he murmurs in my ear, “relax, Hadley.”

I look around us, and everyone else is dancing, nobody is paying attention to what anybody else is doing. I start dancing, but don’t make a move to touch Cole at all; I don’t want to give him the wrong idea.

“There you go,” he encourages, his hands gripping me even harder.

His chest presses up against my back. I can feel his warm breath on my neck. This is moving along somewhere I don’t want it to. I look around trying to find an out, when I lock eyes with Gavin, who is watching us with an expression that’s anything but happy. He lifts his hands in question at me. Quickly, I push Cole’s hands off of me, and step away from him.

“What’s wrong?” Cole asks.

“Cole, I just…can’t.”

“Can’t what? Dance? Sure you can,” he steps forward and reaches for me again.

I step out of his reach.

“That’s not what I mean…the touching,” I clarify.

Before Cole can respond, Gavin is by my side.

“Hadley, can I talk to you for a minute?” Gavin asks me, but he’s staring hard at Cole.

I look up at Gavin then at Cole. Cole stares back at Gavin with a smirk on his face, but neither of them says anything.

“Yeah, sure, of course,” I say.

I want to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. Gavin tears his eyes away from Cole and places his hand on the small of my back to lead me away.

“Oh, so he can touch?” I hear Cole mutter from behind us, and Gavin stops walking.

Gavin turns slowly and glares at Cole.

“Well, I’m not pawing at her like an animal,” Gavin says smoothly. Cole opens his mouth to respond, but I grab Gavin by the hem of his shirt and pull him away.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to start a fight?” I ask him as we push our way through the house, far away from the living room.

“Me? What are you doing?” He asks as he turns a corner and pulls me into an empty bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

He doesn’t turn the light on, leaving the room dark with nothing but the streetlight shining in from the window. It feels…strange.

“What do you mean, what was I doing? I was just dancing.”

“With Cole, man handling you in the process.”

“We were just dancing, Gavin.”

“I didn’t like him touching you,” Gavin says.

“I didn’t really want him touching me either,” I tell him.

“I know I don’t really have any right to say anything about it, but when I saw his hands on you like that, all I wanted to do was punch him in the face. I’ve known Cole for years, he was my brother’s best friend, but I wouldn’t hesitate…”

Gavin trails off and he just stares back at me through the darkness. “And I’m his f*****g brother,” he adds.

I know that he’s now referring to Reid.

“Gavin…”

“Hadley, I’ve been fighting with myself for a while now. I feel like I’m betraying Reid, but at the same time I think he’d want me to do what makes me happy. I also think that he’d want the same for you too.”

Gavin reaches for my hand and pulls me closer to him. I feel like I know where this is heading, but I don’t want to go there yet. I step away from Gavin, but he gently pulls me back. Slowly, he starts leaning in, and my heart rate spikes in panic. Not yet, Gavin, not yet!

Suddenly, the door bursts open, and Julia stands in the doorway. She looks at Gavin and me, a smile spreads across her face.

“Oh Hadley, there you are, I was looking everywhere for you,” she says loudly.

Gavin drops my hand and backs away from me. He shoots an annoyed glance at Julia.

“Julia, you have impeccable timing,” he mutters under his breath before he brushes by her and leaves the room.

She watches after him for a moment before coming into the room with me.

“Holy crap, was that what I think it was?” she asks.

I groan and cover my face with my hands.

“Almost.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m actually relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Yes. You know what? I’ve been trying to have a good night tonight, but every single time I turn around, there’s Cole, or Brad or Gavin. It’s too much!”

Julia starts laughing at me.

“Is this funny to you?” I ask.

“Well…kind of. Oh what shall one do when three hot guys vie for my attention? It’s not a bad problem to have.”

“I don’t want the attention, I don’t want any of it.”

“Any of it?”

I ignore her question.

“I just want to go home, I just want to talk to Reid. I have to ask him some questions. I found out tonight that he made an appearance in Gavin’s room.”

“You told Gavin?” Julia gasps.

“No, it’s worse. Gavin wasn’t in his room when it happened, Taylor was.”

“Taylor? What the hell? What was she doing there?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Did he tell you this?”

“No, she did.”

“What? Taylor told you that she saw Reid?”

“Yup.”

“Holy crap!”

“Yeah, we have a lot to talk about, but I don’t think I have the mental energy right now.”

“That’s okay Hadley, we can talk about it tomorrow. Do you want me to take you home?”

“No thanks. I think I just need to be alone to clear my head. It’s not far, the walk will be good for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve done it before. Seriously, go have some fun with Trevor, I’ll be alright.”

I leave the bedroom with Julia on my heels. I decide on the back door, avoiding the living room and the kitchen. Julia hugs me and I sneak away. I suck in a deep breath of the chilly night air, glad I have my hoodie, but wishing I brought a jacket. I feel a little bad for leaving without telling Gavin, but I had to get away. He almost kissed me. I can’t believe it. The bigger question that is bothering me is… would I have let him? In my head I was saying no, but another part of me was going to accept it. I walk a little faster, anxious to get home, get inside my bedroom, and demand that Reid show himself so we can talk.

I’m almost halfway home when my phone buzzes with a text message. I pull my phone from my back pocket and look at the screen. Gavin.

* Why’d you take off? I wish you had told me so I could walk you home.

I sigh and write him back.

*Sorry, but I just wanted to be alone. It was too much.

Instead of a reply, my phone rings. I press answer.

“It’s my fault, I’m so sorry Hadley. I’ve had a lot to drink and my emotions got the better of me. I shouldn’t have done that, it was too much, too soon,” Gavin’s voice is pained.

“I’m not mad at you Gavin. It’s just that…”

“Reid?” he guesses.

“I’m sorry.”

“Where are you?” he asks.

I look around.

“I’m on thirty-first and Maple, near the big blue house,” I tell him.

“Just stay there, I’ll be there in a sec.”

“No Gavin…” I protest, but he’s already hung up.

I look behind me and peer down the street in which I came, and sure enough, I see a tall figure jogging towards me. Gavin finally catches up to me, and he barely looks winded.

“Hey,” he smiles.

“I said I wanted to be alone.”

“Yeah well, I don’t want you walking alone at night, especially with a bunch of drunks running around.”

“I’m sure I would have been fine,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I’m sure you would be, but I’m not willing to take that chance.”

I can’t help but smile at him. It does feel nice to have someone that wants to make you feel safe.

“Thank you,” I relent.

Gavin nods, and we start walking again.

“Hadley, I promise I won’t try to kiss you again, not until you tell me to.”

A small giggle escapes me.

“That’s presumptuous. How do you know I’d tell you to?”

“Well, my hope is that someday you will,” he says seriously.

I’m not sure how to respond. So I mention something else.

“So, Taylor tells me you guys went on a few dates a while back?”

Gavin stops walking and grabs my arm to stop me as well.

“Nothing happened,” he says.

“I know, she told me that too. My question is, why Taylor? Of all the girls out there, why her? I thought you said you weren’t interested in her?”

“I wasn’t interested. The truth is, I knew I started having feelings for you, even back then, and I needed to distract myself…with anybody. She just happened to be available. But really, I couldn’t stand her for more than those three dates. She tried to make stuff happen, but I blew her off.”

“Yeah, she told me the same thing, but I wanted to confirm her story.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you Hadley. I know you don’t like her, and I’m sorry…but I gotta say, I kind of like the fact that you don’t like it.” Gavin grins at me.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” I argue.

“You didn’t have to. Anyway, I’m surprised she just decided to offer up this information. Was she trying to get you upset or something?”

“No, actually she was apologizing for being so mean to me for all these years. She wants to be friends instead.”

“Really? She’s just decided to be nice all of a sudden? Are you sure she’s not messing with you?

“Oddly enough no, I think she’s telling the truth.”

I’m not going to tell him about Reid, not yet anyway.

“Huh. Well, if she’s genuinely sorry, then good.”

“Yup. We’ll see how long it lasts, but for now it’s one last thing to worry about.”

We make it to my house, and the house is dark except for the porch light. I remember that my mom is gone for the night. Gavin walks me right up to my front door.

“It’s still early. If you want, you can come in,” I offer as I unlock the door.

Gavin leans against the side of the house.

“I thought you wanted to be alone?”

“I guess I enjoy your company,” I say without looking at him.

“I’d love to come in,” he says, sounding amused.

I look up from the lock and at him.

“Don’t get any funny ideas mister,” I smirk.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

I open the door and we step inside my dark kitchen. I flip on the light and Gavin takes a seat at the table.

“What can I get you?” I ask Gavin as I open my fridge.

“Whatever you got,” he replies.

I scan the shelves and grab two waters for us.

“We can watch a movie or something if you want to,” I suggest. Gavin grins at me and stands up.

“Sure, lead the way.”

He follows me to my living room and plops down onto the couch. I put the waters down, turn on a lamp, and then sprawl out on the floor in front of the TV, looking through the DVD’s.

“What do you wanna watch?” I ask.

“Doesn’t matter, just nothing too girly huh?”

“So not The Notebook or…” I tease.

“Please, no,” he laughs. I pick one randomly, pop it in the player and join Gavin on the couch.

A few hours later, the sound of glass breaking startles me awake. I sit up in a daze and take in my surroundings. I’m still in my living room, the TV is glowing blue, and it’s freezing cold. I look behind me at the couch and find Gavin sleeping there too. At some point, we passed out, and ended up spooning. How’d that happen? I’ll worry about it afterwards, but right now there is something more disturbing going on. I shake him awake.

“Gavin, wake up,” I whisper.

He stirs and looks at me groggily. He must see the alarm on my face because he’s instantly alert.

“What’s wrong, Had? Geez, why’s it so friggin’ cold in here?” he asks.

“I’m not sure but I heard glass breaking,” I tell him, still whispering.

“From outside?” he asks, his own voice a whisper now.

“I don’t know for sure,” my voice wavers in fear.

Did someone just try to break in? Was it just some drunken vandals?

“Maybe some drunk dropped their bottle outside,” he suggests, but he doesn’t sound convinced.

“I’ll check the house, stay right here,” he orders, sitting up.

He stands up and walks slowly and carefully to the kitchen. I feel nervous letting him go on his own, but I’m too scared to move. He comes back and looks at me, shaking his head slightly to tell me it wasn’t where the noise came from. Then he disappears down the hallway towards the bedroom. I hear him opening doors along the way, the bathroom, my mom’s bedroom, and then my room on the very end.

“Uh, Hadley?” I hear him call to me.

I get up quickly and jog down the hallway. Gavin is standing in my bedroom doorway with the light on. I join him and look inside my room. My bedroom window is smashed. Dread and then for some reason, guilt washes over me.

“I bet some drunken loser did this,” Gavin says, sounding disgusted.

I take a few steps into my room to survey the damage.

“Careful Had, there’s glass everywhere,” Gavin says, coming up behind me.

There’s no sign of anything having been thrown through my window, and my room is even colder than the living room was. Then my eyes land on a small shiny object lying on my floor, just underneath my window. A shiver ripples up my spine as I realize what it is, the Chevelle emblem off of Reid’s car.