Carolina turned back out of the kitchen and straight to Hayden's table. "I'm sorry, she went home sick." Carolina lied.
Hayden's shoulders dropped and he sunk down in his seat. "Oh... Well... Can you tell her that Hayden would like to see her?" He handed Carolina a scrap of paper with his number scribbled on it.
"Sure. I'll give this to her when I see her." Carolina nodded and went back to the kitchen.
She thrust the scrap of paper at Lily. "Hayden would like to see you."
"God, kill me..." Lily mumbled.
"What's going on?" McKenna walked in. "Are you okay, Lily?"
"I'm trying to find out what's going on, myself." Carolina put in.
"I told you, I'll explain later." Lily said for the third time.
"Is it a boy?" McKenna asked.
Lily ignored her while just staring at the numbers written on the paper.
Carolina nodded. "Hayden." She said.
"Alright, you're both staying over at my place tonight and you, missy, are going to explain all this." McKenna decided.
Lily crumpled up the scrap of paper and shoved it in her pocket before pushing past Carolina and McKenna to get to the swinging kitchen doors.
Hayden wanted to talk? Let's talk.
Ch. 5
Even before Lily talked to Hayden for real, she knew there was something different about him. This wasn't the same shy Hayden she had known when she was sixteen. L.A. had changed him.
Oh, how she couldn't wait to wrap her hands around his neck for being such a bastard and forgetting about her.
She didn't even want to think about the girl with him. She couldn't wait to stick a fork in that bitch's eye.
She weaved through the maze of tables with McKenna and Carolina struggling to catch up with her. If they didn't catch up to her before she got to Hayden, all hell would break loose.
But when she got to table five, Hayden and the girl were gone; both their plates already cleared away.
"Lily!" McKenna and Carolina finally caught up with her
Lily didn't know what to do now. She had Hayden's number crumpled up in her back pocket but talking on the phone or texting just wasn't the same as seeing him in front of her.
"Are you sure you're okay, Lily?" Carolina asked.
"Seriously, Lily. What's going on between you and this guy?" McKenna said. "He's making you act really weird."
Lily just stood there staring at the now vacant place where Hayden had once been. That spot in the booth was now just like the vacant spot her had left in her heart.
Carolina and McKenna looked at each other, both unsure of what to do next.
"I have an idea." McKenna spoke up.
Lily tore her gaze away from the empty seat and looked at McKenna.
"Let's go out tonight. It'll be fun. We can have a girls’ night at the club, meet some hot guys, and get your mind off Hayden." She suggested.
Lily thought about it. McKenna was right. She didn't need Hayden. It seemed Hayden had moved on and he probably just wanted to talk about putting their friendship to rest. She should move on, too.
"Yeah," Lily agreed. "You're right. That does sound fun."
"Yay!" McKenna squealed. "We'll go as soon as Rob closes up for the night."
*****
"Thank god we got out of there when we did. The lights were hurting my eyes." Juliet complained.
"Yeah, because it's all about you..." Hayden mumbled.
"What was that?" Juliet snapped her head in Hayden's direction.
"Nothing..." He muttered, secretly rolling his eyes at her.
Juliet had begun to become a real bitch since Lily showed up in L.A.
"Can we go out tonight, Hayden baby?" Juliet snuggled up into his side.
"Juliet, get off me. I'm driving." Hayden was getting real annoyed with her.
"Touchy..." She commented, sliding back into her seat. "So we're not going out tonight?" She pouted.
Hayden sighed. "Do you really want to?"
She nodded.
"Fine... Anything for you, baby."
"I don't want this just to be about me. I want you to have fun, too. You need to get your mind off that girl at the restaurant and more of your attention on me."
Hayden was about ready to punch a hole in the windshield. He loved Juliet but he couldn't get his mind off Lily. Seeing her again brought him back to the times they spent together when they were teenagers.
He needed to talk to her. He needed to know why she stopped writing to him. He needed to know if they could ever continue on with the friendship they had. He wanted to start up again where they had last left off. And if not, he needed closure. He couldn't stand not knowing.
Ch. 6
The music was loud, the lights glared, and there was an overwhelming smell of body odor. Yeah, Lily couldn't think of anything better to do on a Friday night. The second she walked in the door was the second she knew she wanted to go back to her cozy little hotel room.
McKenna and Carolina pulled her along through the crowd. "Just find a guy and start dancing with him!" Carolina encouraged as she followed McKenna through the crowd.
Lily looked around at all the people. "Yeah, um, I think I'm just going to go to the bar; get a drink first to loosen up a little." Carolina nodded before disappearing in the crowd. Lily made her way over to the bar and plopped herself down on a bar stool.
"Hey," The guy sitting next to her said. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Lily looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, sure. Thanks." She said before looking back down at the shiny wood counter top.
After a few moments, a glass was passed over to her. "Thanks." She mumbled.
"So what's your name?" The guy asked, scooting his bar stool closer to hers.
"Lily..." She sighed.
She knew this guy was trying to pick her up and in all honesty, she wasn't interested. She just wanted Hayden back.
There was a long pause and she looked up at the guy who just sat there staring at her.
"Lily?" He asked when their eyes met. "Lily Caden?"
Lily raised one eyebrow. How did he know her last name? She never told him that. And no one could know who she was already. She had been in the city less than a week. She worked at a little restaurant downtown. People couldn't possibly know who she was. She began to think that maybe he worked for Rob and Ronda. From what she could see, his arms were heavily tatted.
"Yeah," She said skeptically. "I'm Lily Caden..." She eyed the guy sitting in front of her.
"Lily, it's me. Tate Rogers. Don't you remember?" The guy said.
Lily blinked a few times; her facial expression softening each time. "Oh my god." She finally realized it. "Tate? It's really you... Wow... It's been so long. I barely recognized you."
"I could say the same, Miss gauges." He chuckled. "It's good to see you, though."
"Yeah, yeah." She began to stand up. "It's great to see you too, but, could you excuse me? I just need to go get some air. I'm feeling light headed."
"Want me to tag along to make sure you're okay?" He offered.
"No, no, that's alright." She said. "I'll only be a few minutes."
She turned and pushed her way through the crowd. When she stepped outside, the cool night air hitting her warm cheeks felt like such a relief. She looked to her right and saw a tall lanky guy—clad in leather—leaning up against the brick wall, blowing smoke into his face with a cigarette lingering between his long fingers.
Lily stood by him, leaning against the wall as well. "Think you could spare one?" She asked him, looking down at her black Vans.
She heard rustling as the guy looked for his pack, tapping one out of the box and lighting it up for her.
She looked up to take the now lit cancer stick from the tall stranger. She looked at his face, illuminated by the dull street light a few feet in front of them and almost dropped her cigarette when she saw who she was looking at.
"Didn't know you smoked." Hayden said with a small chuckle.
"Oh...Yeah..." She brought the stick to her lips and watched the end turn a flaming orange as she took a generous drag. "So," She began again. "You wanted to talk?"
He looked at her and gave her that heart-melting smile that she now remembered so well. His hair, his smile, his eyes, him. He made her go weak at the knees.
Ch. 7
She began to wonder why she was ever mad at him. Just his smile could melt away any negative feelings she had for him. He was beautiful in every way and she just wanted him all to herself.
She had to hold herself back from lunging at him, holding him in her arms and never letting go. She wanted his tender pink lips against hers. She wanted to feel his lip ring imprint her skin. She wanted to feel his hands explore her body and make her feel beautiful. She wanted to feel him inside her. Her body ached for him. She wanted him in every way possible.
"So what are you doing in LA?" His sweet, deep voice penetrated her thoughts and pulled her mind back to reality. "Start to miss me too much?" He joked.
Yes.
She laughed along with him. "No, actually, I forgot you were even here." She admitted.
His smile slowly faded as he realized she was serious. "Oh..." He said. "That would explain why you flipped me off the other day."
"Hey. You were tailgating me, asshole." She said in defense.
"Whoa, hey. I was late for a recording session." He held his hands up.
Lily placed her cigarette between her lips before giving him a playful punch to the arm. She took a puff of her cigarette before returning it to the spot between her fingers.
The two looked at each other and couldn't help but crack a smile. It was like they never left each other.
Out of instinct, they both looked down at the ground and both fell silent. They stood there and listened to the sounds of the city.
"Go on tour with me." Hayden looked over at her, breaking the silence between them.
"What?" Lily looked at him, making sure she had heard him correctly.
"I haven't seen you in six years and we leave for tour in three days. I'm not ready to leave you yet. I just got you back. I can't let you slip away again. Come with us. It'll be fun." He stood there, hoping she would agree. He couldn't stand being away from her for so long.
Lily shook her hand through her hair. "Queen Bitch isn't going to like that." Lily said, referring to Juliet.
Hayden dropped his arms by his side. "Fuck what she thinks, Lily. I don't care what she wants. What do you want?"
Lily dropped her cigarette onto the pavement and stepped on it to put it out. "I don't know, Hayden. I—" The door behind them opened, cutting off Lily's sentence.
"Lily! There you are! We got worried about you!" Carolina stumbled outside, hanging onto Tate's arm with McKenna following behind them, tripping over herself as well.
Lily gave Hayden an apologetic look. "I need to get them home..." She said.
Hayden nodded, watching Lily link arms with both girls and escort them further and further down the sidewalk.
Tate saw Hayden watching Lily walk away. "You still love her." He stated.
Hayden sighed. "It's that obvious?"
Tate chuckled. "It's written all over your face."
Hayden slid down the brick wall and sat on the cold concrete. Tate sat down next to him, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"I feel like we're sixteen again." Hayden admitted. "I can't go on this tour, Tate. Not without her."
"It'll be fine, Hayden. She'll be here when you get back. And think about Juliet. What would she do if she found out you took Lily on tour and not her?"
Hayden rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He loved Juliet but he loved Lily. Only one of them could go on tour with him and he had asked Lily already. In all honesty, he really didn't want Juliet to go with him. He thought that this tour was going to be a way to get a nice little break away from her. He had asked Lily. Now all he had to do was wait for the answer.
Ch. 8
"Call him." McKenna urged.
Lily looked from her friend sitting in front of her to the dialed number on her phone's screen, waiting to be sent and connect her with the one person she loved most: Hayden.
"I can't." Lily put her phone down on the carpeted floor in front of her.
"Sure you can." Carolina sat down on the floor next to Lily, giving her a reassuring side hug. "We're both here for you no matter what happens."
Lily looked from McKenna to Carolina to the phone sitting in front of her. Its vibrant screen beckoned to her. It urged her to pick it up and press the small green button.
She gave in. She extended a slightly shaky hand and picked up the phone, cradling it in both hands. She pressed send and waited for the ringing to end. She prayed it would just go to voice mail and he could just call her back later.
——
"Let it go to voice mail." Juliet grumbled into her pillow.
Hayden propped himself up on one elbow, leaning over to take a look at the screen. It seemed Lily had kept her same number since she was sixteen because her name was the one lighting up his cellphone screen just like her presence lit up his life.
Point me to the sky above. I can't get there on my own. Point me to the graveyard. Dig up her bo-
"Hello?" His groggy, tired voice sounded so seductive over the phone.
"H-Hi, Hayden. It's Lily."
He could hear the nervousness in her voice. He never remembered Lily to be the type to get nervous around guys; especially not him.
"I know." Hayden chuckled. "Your phone number is still the same."
"You kept my number?" There was a hint of surprise in her voice.
"Of course I did..." Hayden trailed off.
There was a moment of silence that passed between them as they both searched for something else to say.
Lily was the one who broke the never ending silence. "Hayden? I called to say..." She trailed off.
"What? Say what?" Hayden persisted.
"I'd love to go on tour with you." She blurted out.
"Really?" Hayden smiled through his words.
"Yeah, of course. I thought about what you said and you're right, We've spent too much time away from each other. And I've learned to just go with where life takes you. Right now, the world is trying to tell me something and I think it wants me to go with you."
Hayden was smiling so hard he thought his cheeks were going to burst open from all the pressure. "That's... That's..." Hayden couldn't find the words to express his utter joy and excitement. "Amazing." He finally said. "Could you meet me at my house tomorrow? All the guys and our manager, Jon, are going to come here so we can leave to go to our first venue and then the bus will meet us there."
Lily exhaled loudly. "Will it be there?"
Hayden looked over at his slumbering girlfriend. "No." He replied, his eyes locked on her. "I'll make sure of it."
Hayden proceeded to give Lily his address and the time she should be there. After hanging up the phone, Hayden set it down on the bedside table. He just sat there, soaking in the fact that she really had said yes. They were about to spend the next three months together trapped on a tour bus.
Anything could happen on this tour.
Ch. 9
The doorbell sang its familiar tune and Hayden was right there to answer the door. He had been waiting for this arrival.
"Hey Hayden, what's up?" Jeremy smiled.
"I need you to do me a favor." Hayden informed him.
Jeremy stared at him blankly. "Sure...? What is it?"
Hayden leaned in close and half whispered, "I need you to take Juliet and bring her back to your house. If she asks why you're taking her, just tell her that Sammy wants to see her and have some girl time or whatever it is that girls do." Sammy was Jeremy’s long term girlfriend.
Jeremy nodded, understanding his newly accepted task. "But... Why are you actually trying to get rid of her?"
Hayden rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his black hair. "I
t's a long story. I'll tell you later. Anyway, I called Sammy already and she's in on it."
There was a loud clunk as Juliet strutted down the stairs in her big chunky heels. "Hi Jeremy!" She greeted him as she moved over next to Hayden. She wrapped her arms around Hayden's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't wait till the show tonight and to see you guys off. It's always the worst part for me—to see you leaving."
Hayden had completely forgot about the show and Ella—Ricky’s girlfriend—Sammy, and Juliet seeing the guys off. "Oh yeah..." Hayden trailed off. "About that..."
****
After Hayden finally managed to get Juliet to leave with Jeremy, Lily showed up no more than five minutes later.