By that point I was crying. “Hayes, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I couldn’t live without you, Hayes. I love you, Benjamin Hayes Grier.” I kissed him again.
I pulled away and whispered, “To infinity and beyond.”
“Forever and always,” he said, leaning his forehead against mine.
Best. Date night. Ever.
Bailey
After that scary movie we went to a beautiful restaurant. We walked in, and my jaw dropped in amazement. It was right on the lake, and pretty twinkling lights were strung around the deck. We sat down, and the waiter came to our table and took our orders. The food was terrific, and we had lots of fun talking and kidding around about scary movies.
“That food was so good!” I said, rubbing my stomach. I’d had the steak, and Lord, it was delicious!
“Yeah, my chicken was awesome!” Autumn giggled.
“That’s all you eat, chicken.” Hayes laughed.
“Nuh-uh! That’s all I eat when we go out to restaurants. Or burgers.” She fake-pouted.
I laughed at them.
“Okay, okay,” he said, putting his hands up in defense.
“We’re gonna go to the park, wanna come?” Daniel asked then as we were leaving the restaurant.
“Nah, we’re gonna walk by the lake.” Hayes smiled at Autumn. She smiled back and nodded, looking up at Daniel and me.
“Okay. Meet at the car by ten,” I said, wagging my finger at them. I really don’t want them to get hurt.
“Yes, Mother,” Autumn said, then she and Hayes took off running before I could say anything else. I could hear them laughing.
I was about to go after them, but Daniel held me back. I looked over my shoulder, annoyed.
“Let them have their fun,” he said, grabbing my hand.
We started walking down the trail to the park. When we got there, I sat on the swing and he pushed me. It was just like old times.
We were laughing and having such a good time, when suddenly he stopped me. I looked at him, confused, as he grabbed both of my hands and pulled me up off the swing.
“Bailey, we’ve been best friends for so long and have been dating for two years, but I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I actually love you. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
I stared at him wide-eyed.
“When I first fell in love with you, I knew I had to have you as mine. Every time you would say you had a crush or something, it broke my heart knowing it wasn’t me. Bailey, I would walk to the ends of the earth for you! I couldn’t imagine life without you. You’re so sweet and nice, the best person I’ve ever met, and on top of that you’re as beautiful as, well, as anything! What I’m trying to say is, Bailey Johnson, I’m in love with you and only you. Forever and always.” He kissed me. It lasted for about thirty seconds, and then I pulled away.
“Oh, Daniel! I’ve loved you forever! I just said I liked other guys to try to get you off of my mind, which clearly didn’t work. You’re my world! I love you so much, Daniel!” I was crying tears of joy by then. He’s the sweetest guy you’d ever meet.
“We better get going, babe. It’s almost ten,” he said with a wink. I laughed and nodded.
Hand in hand, we walked back toward the car. We didn’t talk, though it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was comfortable and perfect.
Autumn
Last night was a blast! After Hayes’s and my hide-and-go-seek game, we went out to the driveway to practice penny boarding until everyone came home. When they did, it was just a lazy night.
This morning, though, I woke up feeling awful! I have a banging headache, and my stomach hurts like crap. I keep coughing and sniffling every five seconds, and I’m really cold!
I got out of bed and decided to change my clothes. I put on a pink tank top that says I’M 99 PERCENT SURE I’M A DISNEY PRINCESS, Boohoo skinny jeans with rips in the knees, an oversize, heavy, gray knit cardigan, and gray high-top Chucks. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and went to the bathroom.
I really surprised myself by my choice of outfit because I never, and I mean never, wear jeans unless I absolutely have to. They’re so uncomfortable and tight—I think they’re just gross!
I brushed my teeth and washed my face and then put on a little powder to cover up my fading bruise. Sluggishly, I walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs. I felt so disgusting today.
When I got to the kitchen, I saw that everyone was up and eating. I wasn’t very hungry, so I grabbed a Pop-Tart from the pantry and sat down next to Hayes and Tez. I put my head on Hayes’s shoulder and my feet on Alec’s lap. Then I opened my Pop-Tart and started nibbling on it.
“Autumn, are you okay?” Alec asked. “You don’t look too good, and you’re wearing jeans and a cardigan. One, it’s ninety degrees out, and two, I thought you hated wearing jeans. Plus, you’re usually shoveling food down your throat.” He looked at me with concern.
Jeez, we may not have known one another very long, but these people know me too well.
“Yeah, I feel fine, just a bit under the weather.”
Bailey walked over and put her hand on my forehead. Her eyes widened. “Babe, you’re burning up!”
“Why, thank you,” I retorted, and then sniffled. Everyone laughed then quickly turned serious again.
“Does anything hurt?” Shaelyn asked.
“Now, that’s a personal question.” I raised my eyebrows.
“Shut up and answer her, Autumn. She’s being serious,” Ella said, annoyed, as she got a bottle of Gatorade from the fridge and put it on the table in front of me.
“Well, my stomach hurts, and so does my head,” I said, coughing “And I’m really cold, and I’m sniffling a lot.” I stopped to cough again. “And as you can tell, I’m coughing a lot,” I said quietly.
“Aww, sweetheart, we need to get you to a doctor,” Hayes said, putting his arm around me.
“No! I’ll just stay in bed today. I don’t wanna go to the doctor!” I huffed, crossing my arms.
“Well, if you don’t let us, we’ll just have to make you,” Cameron said firmly.
In the end, some of the guys carried me to the car and practically sat on me the whole way there. I struggled the entire time. Once we got there, it took five minutes just to get me out of the car.
When I finally got out and onto solid ground, I made Hayes give me a piggyback ride. Luckily, I have the best boyfriend ever, and he didn’t fight about me about it, just let me hop right on. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, sniffling here and there as we crossed the parking lot toward the doctor’s office.
We all walked in and took seats in those uncomfortable chairs all doctors seem to put in their waiting rooms, while Nash and Skylynn went to sign me in. I really didn’t care if I was sick, I wanted to be comfortable—so I got up and sat in Hayes’s lap.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for a few moments, waiting for my name to be called.
We sat there for more than fifteen minutes. One mom was giving Hayes and me a disgusted look as we sat together. I was so tempted to flick her off, but I decided not to and felt too weak even to care all that much.
“Do you see that lady over there?” Hayes whispered in my ear.
“Yeah. I really wanna flick her off, but I’m too tired to care.” I yawned.
He laughed. “How about this?”
He started to play with my fingers and do all that little couple stuff we do. I don’t know why she was so mad, but she stormed out of the doctor’s office, fuming, with her child trailing behind her. She probably lectured her daughter not to be like us when she gets a boyfriend. I didn’t care; she needed to stop staring anyway. Staring is rude, but she probably wouldn’t think to teach her kids that.
When we knew for
sure she was gone, Hayes and I busted out laughing. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.
“What are you guys laughing about?” Aaron asked. We just laughed even harder.
Once we calmed down, we told the story to everyone. “So there was this lady with her daughter staring at Hayes and me, because I was sitting in his lap. She just kept staring for, like, ten minutes. Hayes whispered to me, ‘Do you see that lady over there?’ and I was, like, ‘Yeah. I really wanna flick her off, but I’m too tired to care.’ So Hayes said, ‘How about this?’ and we started doing all this couple stuff.” I started laughing again, so Hayes had to finish off the story.
“I guess she got really mad, and she stormed out of the doctor’s office. She was practically dragging her daughter behind her, probably telling her not to act like us when she gets a boyfriend,” he finished. Everyone started laughing.
“That’s funny!” Aly said.
“In my opinion, you guys are in public, and you shouldn’t be all over each other. But that was funny,” Alyssa said.
We shrugged.
“C’mon, they’re always all over each other, whether they are in public or not! They don’t care what other people think,” Jonah said, smirking.
I blushed and threw my Gatorade bottle at him.
“Shut up, we are not!”
“Y’all are too!” everyone exclaimed.
“Well, I don’t care. It shows that I love my girlfriend and that she’s mine and nobody else’s,” Hayes said, kissing my cheek.
“And we don’t mind ’cause y’all are the cutest couple ever!” Bailey yelled. All the adults in the room stared at her.
“What? Never met a teenager before?” she asked, and everyone turned back to what they were doing.
I giggled and leaned into the crook of Hayes’s neck. I lightly kissed his neck and shoved my head deeper against him. I felt goose bumps appear on his skin and smirked.
He kissed my forehead and frowned. “Your forehead is really hot. I think you have a fever,” he said, touching the back of his hand to my forehead.
“It’s fine, the doctor will decide that,” I told him.
“I don’t get how you’re not hot in those clothes, sweetheart. It’s so hot in here!”
“I’m actually really cold,” I said, shivering.
“Well, let me fix that for you.” Hayes pulled me closer into his chest and started to rub my arm.
“Thank you,” I sniffled, “but I don’t want to get you sick, Hayes.”
“If you get me sick, we can be sick together. I’d be fine lying around with you all day watching movies. We may be in pain, but for me, you make the pain go away,” Hayes said.
I smiled. “You’re so cheesy, but I love it.”
He chuckled and tightened his arms around me. We waited another ten minutes until I was finally called.
“Autumn Brown,” the nurse said in a monotone.
We all got up and crossed the room. The nurse’s eyes widened as she saw all of us walk over.
“Are you gonna show us where the room is, or are we gonna have to guide ourselves?” Ella asked, annoyed. Cameron wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she seemed to calm down.
The nurse rolled her eyes. “Right this way,” she said in an irritating voice. I wanted to slap that sneer right off of her face. I was really annoyed, if you couldn’t tell.
I had Hayes’s hand in mine, and we walked down the cramped hallway. I was light-headed and felt as if I was about to pass out. If I didn’t get to a room soon, they should just call the ambulance already. I’d be on the floor when it got here.
“All right, stand against the wall and let me measure you,” she said, clearly still irritated.
“Yes, ma’am.” I saluted her. I could hear the guys and girls trying to hold in their giggles as I kept sassing the impatient nurse.
“Put this under your tongue,” she said, holding out one of those high-tech thermometers.
“Don’t choke me,” I warned, wagging a finger at her. She rolled her eyes and shoved the thermometer in my mouth.
That’s pretty much how things went with the nurse.
When she finally left, everyone burst out laughing. I was giggling as I watched Bart lie on the ground and clap like a seal as tears streamed down his face.
“Thank you, thank you.” I bowed.
“I learn my sass from you!” Sky said. I smiled and hugged her.
“You showed her, Auts,” Gabby said, high-fiving me.
“She needed a little sass in her life.” I shrugged and got up on the bed thing.
I motioned Hayes to come over and sit with me, and he immediately hopped up right next to me. He put his arm around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his torso. I closed my eyes and waited for the doctor.
Twenty Minutes Later (SpongeBob Narrator Voice)
“This doctor needs to hurry up!” I groaned.
Hayes and I were now lying down. Ella was spinning around in the doctor’s chair, making weird noises. I think she was imitating a whale?
The doctor finally walked into the room, smiling like there was no tomorrow.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Robinson. You must be Autumn,” he said with a smile.
I sat up, pulling Hayes with me, and smiled. “Yeah, and these are Hayes and Nash,” I said, pointing to the boys.
Dr. Robinson asked how I was feeling, and I recited my symptoms for him.
“What’s wrong with her so we can get out of here?” Nash practically yelled.
“Nash! Calm down!” I said, coughing, and he relaxed a bit.
“Sorry. What’s wrong with our dearest Autumn?” Nash asked sweetly.
The doctor chuckled. “Well, it seems that she has the flu and will need some good taking care of. The headache is likely partly from the concussion and partly from the flu, so I’ll give you some pain meds. I’ll also give you some antibiotics so you’ll start to get better faster. Are you stuffy at all?” he asked.
“No, I’m just sniffling for fun,” I said sarcastically, while sniffling.
“Well, we will give you some nasal spray for that. You may also have some mood swings here and there. It’s a mix of the concussion and a nasty flu,” he said.
“Whatever makes me better,” I said.
“Okay, we’ll fill out your reports and insurance claim, and phone your prescription into the pharmacy. It’ll take a few minutes, so you and your friends go back to the waiting room, and we’ll bring everything out to you shortly.” We returned to the waiting room, and on the way I stole a lollipop. What? A girl needs her candy. I also grabbed two extra. We sat down in the same spots that we had before. I was once more in Hayes’s lap, and I just stared at him, waiting for him to notice.
“Yeeees?” he drawled.
I laughed and pulled out my extra lollipops. “Want one?” I asked.
“Well, yeah—it’s food and I’m hungry.” He grabbed one out of my hand, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. I passed the other one to Sky and turned back to Hayes.
I twisted around until I sitting cross-legged on his lap, facing him. Then I started randomly playing with his hair. After a time, I grabbed his hands and started tracing shapes into his palm and playing with his fingers.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh.
“I’m bored, and you’re just so entertaining,” I said.
“I think you’re just a little bit hyper. What did you eat today?” he asked.
“Well, I had Gatorade, a Pop-Tart, this lollipop, some pieces of chocolate—”
“Why did you have chocolate?” he exclaimed.
“I wanted to. It was tempting me just sitting in the fridge. And I mean, it’s chocolate!” I giggled.
“You probably took some crazy pills with that bunch, too,” he mumbled.
“Hey, that’s not nice!” I hit his chest and started playing with his fingers again. “Hayes Grier, your hands are so soft.” I sighed. I think the sugar rush was starting to wear off a bit, but not a whole lot.
“Thank you, Autumn Brown.” He smiled. I smiled back and kissed his cheek and then yawned.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He stopped my hands from playing with his and intertwined our fingers.
I pouted a little bit, but then put my head on his chest. It was a weird position, considering I was sitting cross-legged. I closed my eyes and let sleep take over me.
I just needed sleep.
Three Hours Later
Autumn
I woke up in Hayes’s bed. He was lying next to me watching SpongeBob SquarePants. I turned so I was facing him and put my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer, still watching SpongeBob intently.
“Are you really watching SpongeBob?” I giggled.
“Maybe . . .” he said, looking over at me.
“But you never watch SpongeBob. I always have to force you to watch it with me.” I smirked.
“Well, maybe I do like SpongeBob but never admitted it,” he mumbled.
“Aww, Hayes!” I said, and pinched his cheeks. He blushed and swatted my hand away.
“Okay, let’s watch something else,” he said, picking up the remote.
“Why?”
“’Cause I’ve been watching this for three hours straight,” he said bluntly.
“Oh! Well, okay. But I’m gonna change. These are uncomfortable,” I said, looking down at my jeans.
I went over to the closet and grabbed Hayes’s Cameron Dallas hoodie, then walked over to the dresser. I pulled out a sports bra, ’cause I didn’t feel like wearing a shirt under the hoodie, some Adidas sweatpants, and cute blue-and-red duck socks.
I went into the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror. My God, my hair was everywhere, and the powder had worn off, so the bruise was visible again. I looked kind of awful.
Love Heals All Page 12
