Twenty-one

Haley

When Haley came down to breakfast the next morning, David’s truck was no longer in the driveway.

“Has David left already?” she asked her mom, accepting a warm cup of coffee.

“Yeah, he got up at the crack of dawn, said he needed to head back to Boston.” Her mom placed a bowl of cereal in front of Haley. “Something about having work stuff to finish before Monday.”

Haley nodded, realizing just how much giving her a ride had cost David. His boss had given him a ridiculous amount of data to analyze, and even if Haley had helped him a little with the coding on Saturday, he still had plenty to do. And with a seven-hour drive back home, he’d have to work all afternoon and part of the night to finish. Haley felt awful for him.

“Can I say something?” her mother asked.

“I won’t like what you’re about to say, will I?”

“That depends.”

“But you’re going to say it anyway.”

Her mom nodded.

Sighing, Haley sat on a stool and started eating the cereal. “Go ahead.”

“David… isn’t your friend.”

Haley dropped the spoon into the bowl, milk splashing all over. “I thought you liked him.”

“I do.” Her mom paused to grab a towel and clean the mess. “The problem isn’t that I don’t like him, it’s how much he likes you.”

“Mom, I already told you there’s nothing between us.”

“Maybe not on your side.” Miranda sighed. “But that boy is in love with you, Monkey.”

Haley’s pulse raced. “No, he’s not.”

“You’re blind if you can’t see it, or you’re in denial.”

Great. Second time in a week someone told her she was in denial. Well, she wasn’t!

Deaf to Haley’s protests, her mom continued dispensing unrequested motherly advice. “I know you’re very much in love with Scott, but, Haley, if you don’t like David that way, don’t lead him on. You’ll only end up hurting him.”

Haley kept her lips stubbornly shut.

“And, Monkey, if you do have feelings for him, the sooner you admit it and decide which brother you want, the better for everyone.”

Haley refused to acknowledge a word of what her mom was saying. She was with Scott, and they were in love. End of story. “Visitor hours are about to start,” she said. “We should get going.”

***

Despite her father’s many attempts to send them away, Haley and her mom ended up spending most of Sunday at the hospital. Haley had not bought a new charger yet, and she didn’t check her messages until later that evening after they’d stopped at a convenience store to buy one and returned home. There were two texts from Scott, and a few missed call alerts.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Haley tapped his name, yearning to hear his voice, to be comforted by her boyfriend. In the past twenty-four hours she’d run on adrenaline alone, but now that the worst of the fear had passed, the stress, exhaustion, and weariness were catching up with her.

After three empty rings, Haley knew Scott wasn’t going to pick up. She let the call run anyway until the line disconnected on its own. Close to tears, she typed a quick text.

Call me when you get this

I need to hear your voice

Haley collapsed on the bed, curling into a ball and hugging the phone to her heart. Being in a long distance relationship sucked. She needed Scott, not just his voice. Haley needed to feel his love on her skin. His arms wrapped around her, his lips on hers, their bodies pressed together as they made love. She felt so freaking lonely without him.

While in the midst of contemplating how alone she was, Haley must’ve fallen asleep, because suddenly she was jolting awake to the sound of Lovefool by The Cardigans—Scott’s personalized ringtone from Romeo + Juliet.

Still groggy with sleep, she unstuck the phone from her left cheek and swept her finger on the screen to answer. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Scott’s voice came warm from the other side. “Did I wake you? I know it’s late in Boston, but I saw your text and I thought I’d call anyway.”

Haley rolled on the bed to face the ceiling. “I’m not in Boston.”

“No?”

“I’m at my parents’ house…”

Haley poured out all her anxiety and fear from the past twenty-four hours.

“I wish I could’ve been there for you,” Scott said when she was done talking. “I’m so sorry you had to go home alone…”

I didn’t… As her heart skipped a beat, Haley heard nothing else of what Scott said. David had driven her here, and Scott didn’t know.

“I didn’t come home alone,” Haley blurted out before she could change her mind. She lifted up on the bed and tucked her knees under her chin. “David drove me here.”

There was a long silence before Scott said, “David?” His tone was suddenly cold and detached.

“Yeah, we were at the library when my mom called. There were no more planes out of Boston to Buffalo and I didn’t know what else to do. The train or bus would’ve taken forever…”

“You were with David?”

“No, Scott. We just happened to be in the same place at the same time. I was studying, he was working… Sometimes I bump into him when I go to the library.”

“So it was a coincidence he was there when your mom called…?”

“Yes. My phone died last night. I called you from his number to tell you.”

“That was you?”

“Yeah.”

Scott was silent for a few long seconds. “Why him? Why couldn’t you go with one of your roommates?”

“I had zero time to think. David was there, and he offered to give me a ride, and I didn’t want to waste any time going home—”

“Did he meet your parents?”

“Just my mom.”

“Just your mom, huh?” Scott sounded petty as hell.

“Scott, don’t be like that—”

“Wait, is he still there?”

“No.” Haley gripped the comforter and closed her fist into a tight ball, crushing the fabric. “He slept here last night, but was gone before I woke up this morning.”

“At your parents’ house?”

“Yeah, in the guest room.”

“Ah, hell, if he was in the guest room.”

Blood pounded in Haley’s temples. She’d wanted to call Scott to be comforted, not to get sucked into a major fight over David. “Scott, it was nothing shady.”

“Yeah, Haley, nothing shady at all. Only, when I left a few weeks ago you swore you hated my brother, and now out of the blue you’re bringing David home to meet your parents.”

Haley let go of the comforter and massaged her forehead to ease the throbbing. “He didn’t meet my parents because my dad is too sick to meet anyone, okay? David was only doing me a favor as a friend.”

“Since when are you two friends?”

“He apologized a while ago for being a dick, and I guess we’ve been okay since then.”

“And why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

Scott scoffed. “Not a big deal, huh? Damn, Haley, first the kiss and now this.”

“I called you last night to tell you. It’s not my fault you didn’t pick up!”

“But it’s your fault you were in a car with my brother. There were a million other people you could’ve asked for help.”

“Yeah, maybe. But all I wanted to do was to get home. I thought my dad was going to die… I didn’t care about anything else at that moment.”

“I get it that you were worried—”

“No, Scott, I don’t think you’re getting any of it.”

“What did you expect me to say? To be okay with David playing the hero and you letting him… Why him? Of all people, why did it have to be my brother?”

“BECAUSE HE WAS THERE AND YOU WEREN’T!” Haley shouted, exasperated. She caught her breath, regretting the outburst. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“No, sure.” Scott sounded hurt.

Haley felt even more spent and emotionally drained than before falling asleep. “Scott, really, it came out all wrong. I’m just exhausted.”

“I should let you get some sleep, then.”

Without waiting for a reply, Scott ended the call. Haley didn’t have the energy to call him back; besides, she was done arguing and having to justify herself to everybody. She’d done nothing wrong, and if this was the maximum level of empathy Scott could show her after what had happened to her dad, he could go to hell. As tears rolled down her cheeks, Haley grabbed a pillow and used it to choke her sobs until she fell asleep again.

Scott

Scott hung up with Haley and, with a few quick, angry sweeps of his thumb, he pulled up David’s number and pressed call.

His brother picked up on the fourth ring. “Ooh, hello, to what do I owe the pl—”

“Stay the hell away from my girlfriend, David,” Scott yelled into the phone.

He was still trembling with suppressed fury after speaking with Haley, and he needed to vent his anger on the one person responsible.

“Calm down, Scotty, you seem to be in a bit of a rage.”

“How dare you—”

“What? Help your girl at the moment she needed it the most? What are you mad about, exactly?”

“Must’ve been nice to play the hero. Pretending to be a friend when you’re not…”

“I never kept my intentions secret, brother.”

“Have some decency. Haley is my girlfriend.”

“Oh, I see. So your morals have shifted, now? Isn’t a brother’s girlfriend fair game for you? What changed?”

“Cut the crap, David. I don’t want to get sucked into the Brigitte fight again. We were freaking teenagers, get over it.”

“Oh, using the I-was-too-young excuse? Have you finally outgrown the I-didn’t-know one? Come on, Scotty, you can do better than that.”

“What were you doing with Haley, anyway?” Scott felt guilty for not trusting Haley’s version, but when his brother was involved, he lost all rationality.

“I bumped into her at the library. I’m sure you’re not so insecure that you don’t even want your girlfriend talking to other people.”

So Haley had told the truth. Still, Scott wasn’t satisfied. “You didn’t just talk to Haley, you drove her home for seven hours, met her parents, and slept at her childhood house.”

“And what should I have done, genius? Let her drive home alone in the state she was? Let her wait the night for a flight? Put her on an eleven-hour bus ride? What? She tried to call you to tell you; pick up your phone next time.”

Scott cursed himself for the umpteenth time for not answering the call. He’d seen David’s number flash on his screen and had ignored it.

By his silence, David must’ve known he’d struck a chord, because he twisted the knife deeper. “By the way, it’s always nice to know I can count on you in case I’m in an emergency.”

“Spare me the lecture. You’re a dick.”

“I’m a dick? You’re mad because you weren’t there when Haley needed you the most.”

Scott’s grip on the phone tightened. “And whose fault is that?”

“Not mine. I’m not the one applying to cross-country internships before checking if my girlfriend is okay with it.”

“The only reason I took the internship is that you lied to me.”

“Technically, I didn’t lie.”

“Technically, you’re an asshole.”

“Scott, let me give you some brotherly advice: your girlfriend just went through the most horrible night of her life and, instead of comforting her, I assume you’ve been a petty bitch…” Scott hated when his brother was right. “Do yourself a favor and get over your wounded ego. As much as I hate to say this, Haley needs you right now—a better version of you, at least.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I care about her.” David didn’t just care about Haley; it was in the tone of his voice. He was in love with her. This wasn’t a petty revenge or him being a jerk for the heck of it. They were in love with the same girl, again. The realization hit Scott in the stomach like a sucker punch. “And I don’t want you to make my job too easy,” David added, switching back to being an ass. “Wouldn’t be fun otherwise.”

Scott ignored the jibe and said what was really on his mind. “I’m sorry this happened again. I didn’t know you had a past with Haley when I met her.”

“Don’t go soft on me, brother.” There David was, doing it again—hiding his real feelings behind sarcasm. “If you don’t mind, I have a ton of work to finish for tomorrow, and it’s the middle of the night here.”

“David?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for making sure she got home safe.”

“You’re welcome.”