Halftime

chapter 25

Harley stared at both mine and Hayden's shocked expressions cringing away from us, "please don't hate me."

I snapped out of my shock, immediately softening my face, "I could never."

Harley pulled away from me, her face contorting, "I feel disgusting."

"Darling," I said, taking hold of her hand and squeezing it, "you slept with someone. You can't change it now. And degrading yourself over it isn't going to help either."

"What do I do?" she whispered. "I don't have an excuse other than I'm a complete fuck up and I get scared of commitment. He'll hate me."

I squeezed her hand harder, "he might. Or he'll forgive you. Harley, you fucked up. He'll probably be mad, but he might understand. And he'll forgive you alright?"

"I can't tell him," she said.

"You have to," I said, "you like him right?" Harley nodded. "And you do, despite being afraid of a relationship, still want to be with him?" She nodded again. "Well if you still want that then you have to tell him. You can't build a relationship on lies."

Harley's face fell as she took in my words. "I know. I know I have to tell him."

I cupped her face wiping away her smudged mascara, "it'll be ok. You can do this."

Harley turned to look at Hayden, "how would you react? If Violet slept with someone else?"

Hayden looked taken aback by the question. He frowned as he pondered it. "I don't know. I'd be devastated. Obviously. But I don't know what I'd do next."

"Would you forgive her?" Harley asked, hope in her eyes.

Hayden slowly nodded, "I think I would. Depending on the situation of course."

Harley looked at me, "and you?"

I sighed, "it depends. But if we were in yours and Aiden's position right now, then yes. I would. I'd be angry and upset but I'd come around."

Harley's shoulders dropped, "Aiden's at our apartment. He didn't want to come out tonight but I said I'd see him later."

"Oh," I said at a loss for words.

Harley's mouth turned downwards, "I can't go back there tonight. I won't be able to face him without saying anything and I refuse to say anything while I'm not sober."

I nodded in understanding, "we'll think of something."

"We'll need to Uber," Hayden said. Oh right. Forgot about that.

"Where's Zack?"

Hayden grabbed his phone, sighing as he texted Zack. "Left with some girl he met."

"Can we go back to your place?" I suggested.

Hayden's lip curled a bit, "we could. But I'm pretty sure the boys are having a party there too."

Harley groaned, dropping her head into my shoulder, "god no."

I sighed thinking through my options. "We could ask Dylan if we could stay the night. His apartment is pretty close. We could walk there."

Hayden nodded his agreement, "alright. Sounds good."

Harley slumped in relief, "can you go ask Vee? I just need a minute."

I stood up, "of course." I grabbed my heels, quickly strapping them back on my sore feet.

"I'll wait here," Hayden said and I smiled gratefully. Harley, despite probably wanting to be alone, could really use some comfort.

I left them in the booth walking quickly back to where I'd seen Dylan last. He wasn't there though so I continued my search in the bathrooms, checking in the different booths, but there was absolutely no sign of him anywhere. Worry stirred in the pit of my stomach and I pulled out my phone dialling him.