Summer Lovin'

Chapter Nine

(September 2005)

I had been stewing since I got home from school, I was unsure of what I should do.

Did I check in on Gabriel? Was it smarter to leave it alone? I hated that I was always in this weird limbo when it came to decisions about him.

Mostly because he ran so hot and cold all the time. You want nothing to do with me, yet you beat up my ex-boyfriend when he's being a dick. You want nothing to do with me but you give me the best kiss of my entire life.

I was getting fed up with the roller coaster of emotions that he seemed to constantly have me on.

Needing to talk to someone about the day, I decided to ask Claire what she thought.

When I told her about the stuff that Colin had been saying she was furious. When I told her about Gabriel she had ohhhhh'd and awwwww'd. It was as I explained, "Gabe got suspended for fighting him", that my Dad walked in and I realized he had heard a great deal of the conversation.

He gave a smirk, "I've always liked that boy!" I laughed but my dad wasn't done yet. "You should take him over a bag of frozen peas and a frozen steak."

He stuck his head in the freezer, digging around and pulling out what I'd need, while saying, "It might not have been the best way to handle it, but he was trying to defend your honour and you should at least say thank you. Or at least acknowledge his effort."

Claire nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement and so that's how I found myself on the Sawyer's front porch.

Mr. Sawyer opened the door and as soon as he saw me he gave a big chuckle. "Causing all kinds of trouble I see, eh Hailey?" Then he laughed hysterically at his own joke.

I loved the Sawyer parents because they were a perfect blend of all the boys. All three of the boys had gotten their dads chiseled good looks. It was only Gabriel that had also gotten his awkward and ridiculous sense of humour.

Which had always made me laugh, "I came with a get well soon gift at least!"

He peered into the bag and his eyes twinkled. "It's like your Dad's been in a few bruisers in his day or something."

My dad was actually an enforcer when he played, meaning he fought to keep everyone else on his team safe. I had in fact seen my Dad pretty banged up and I was more familiar with bruises than most.

He gave me a squeeze on the shoulder and said, "Mama Sawyer is in the kitchen, stop in and say hi before you go up!"

I gave him a relieved smile, happy that they weren't mad at me for whatever had happened today.

Then I walked into the kitchen, inhaling the aroma of fresh baked cookies.

Recognizing the oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies that were Gabriel's favourite, I knew that she couldn't be that mad at him if she was making his favourite cookies.

She looked up and immediately rushed over to give me a big hug. I breathed in that sweet smell, that was Mrs. Sawyer. She always carried a light scent, it was a delightful mix of vanilla with hints of caramel and it always wrapped around me, making me feel safe and cared for.

Her squeeze was extra hard tonight. "I'm really sorry that your first boyfriend ended up being such a dick."

I laughed and shook my head. I loved that this family was apologizing to me for the fact that their son got suspended because of my stupid choices. "I'm really sorry that Gabriel ended up beating him up."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm glad he's willing to fight for what matters but we've talked about maybe not taking it to the fighting extreme next time." She handed me a plate with a pile of cookies and asked me to take it up to him.

Her warmth reassured me and she gave me a little smile as she rubbed my shoulder a little. "Hopefully Colin thinks twice before he does that to another girl in the future."

I shook my head at this family as I left the kitchen. When I got to the top of the stairs I froze for a moment. It felt different. Probably,  because it had been so long since I'd been in his space.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up to Gabriel's door, those butterflies that were ever present when he was around were fluttering extra heavy in my stomach as I knocked.

He shouted out to come in and as I opened the door and our eyes connected... Well really one of his eyes connected. I couldn't hold back my wince. He looked like shit, one of his eyes was swollen shut completely and it was that purple colour, that made you realize just how much blood was underneath your skin. There was another bruise on his cheek and his lip was three times the size it normally was. As I got closer, the broken skin on his knuckles looked extremely painful.

His eyes tracked my moments as I came in. He was sitting, leaning against his headboard and I quietly took a seat on his bed, handing him the plate of cookies and holding up my bag of gifts. "I bought you a few things."

Pulling out the peas and the steak. He laughed and said, "you didn't need to do that."

I knew he wasn't going to bring it up, but it needed to be addressed so I responded. "Funny, I feel like I kind of did Gabriel! You look like shit and it's because of me."

He shook his head hard and then groaned obviously feeling the pain but his words were clear. "Don't! It's not because of you, it's because of him."

Then with a twinkle in his eye, he grunted out, "And if you think I look like shit you should see the other guy."

He shuffled over to the corner of his bed and indicated that I should come up. Once I was next to him, I nudged him. "How bad does it hurt?"

"I'm in so much pain!" If I didn't know for a fact that he had no feelings for me and I didn't know that he regretted kissing me to begin with, I would've asked if he wanted me to kiss it better. Even bruised and battered, he was so good looking it hurt.

But that wasn't what he wanted and after he put himself in harm's way to protect my honour, I wasn't going to ruin the moment with my unwanted advances.

(Gabriel's POV)

I was normally pretty even natured and managed to defuse most situations with humor. As a result, when I lose my temper, I really lose my temper.

Some might say I fly off the handle. They wouldn't be wrong and I often have regrets after.

Today my temper hit an extreme that I didn't know I had. I knew that I had scared anyone in the gymnasium, which I regretted. I had also maybe taken it too far with Colin.

I was feeling pretty friggin shitty about all of it right now. The knock on my door surprised me. Both my parents had already given me their lectures and I didn't think either Declan or Lincoln was home yet.

When the door opened and it was Hailey, I think I felt worse. She was already being talked about and now on top of that, she was going to have the gossip of me beating the shit out of Colin.

The whole point of this was that I didn't want her to suffer at all and I hated that anyone would ever treat her that way.

I'd be lying if I said that none of my anger had stemmed from the fact that they'd had sex at all and then for him to be talking about it so casually.

I shook my head at my thought, I was changing my mind, I didn't take it too far with Colin at all. He fucking deserved his pounding.

Hailey laughed and I realized I'd said that out loud. "You tried to warn me."

I raised my shoulder, "I wish I had been wrong!"

She gave me a look through her long lashes, emotion clouding her beautiful brown eyes, but she didn't share whatever thoughts were eating at her. Instead she picked up the book that I'd been reading. "Want to take turns?"

We both loved to read and one of our favourite things to do, back when we actually spent time together, was read. We would take turns with each chapter. I gave her a smile, grabbed a cookie and let her start off at chapter one.

A/N- thoughts? Two more chapters and then we will be having a time jump. I'm really excited for you to meet Gabriel the grown ass man! ❤️