Like You Mean It

21. Hayden

"Let's go, Hay!" Logan marched into my room as I was trying to practice.

"How did you get into my house?" I asked.

"Your mom let me in. She wants you out of the house, you've been practicing all day dude. Take a break, let's go. Shoes on, it's adventure time!" He exclaimed, taking my sticks from my hands.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"Hayden, get out of the house, please! You've been cooped up in your room all day!" My mom shouted, "It's 5 pm on a Saturday, go have fun with Logan, and don't come home until tomorrow!"

I grumbled but pulled on my sneakers and followed Logan out to his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're gonna take a walk." He grinned.

"Are you going to murder me and plant my body in the woods?" I asked.

"I pinky swear that I won't murder you and plant your body in the woods."

"I don't trust that."

--

We ended up at a small park 10 minutes from my house. We sat down on the swings and Logan checked his phone. As if on cue he smiled and looked up, Tom and Cam were walking towards us. Cam stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me, turning to Tom in shock and anger. I turned to Logan.

"Dude I can't do this." I shook my head.

"Yes, you can, up to the top of the tower. No coming down until you've worked it out." Logan pointed up to the top of the slide tower, about 20 feet up with two twisting slides that wrapped down, "You too Cameron. Up you go!"

I rolled my eyes and climbed up the stairs to the top while Cam climbed up a ladder-like thing onto a platform below and then up the wall. He begrudgingly sat down across from me, his legs stretched out to the wall next to me.

He looked tired. He was in his stupid blue pajama pants and my hoodie. My band hoodie that he had gone home in the morning after the opening competition with the hood pulled up. It looked big on him, swallowing him whole. He looked so fucking tired and pale and not well. His eyes were puffy, he had clearly been crying at some point earlier.

Probably over me.

Definitely over me because I was an absolute ass to him, and he didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to be a victim of my own stupid insecurities. He was too good for that. He was too good for me because I had fucked up so bad when it came to him. I had been an asshole and I had said so many things I didn't mean just because I was scared and insecure and worried that he was going to hurt me first. It was so stupid.

But in that moment, all I could do was just look at him. Look at him sitting across from me with his legs stretched out and the hood of my hoodie up. With his tired eyes and fidgeting hands. He looked so tired and upset and he looked beautiful because he was Cam and he always looked beautiful.

He looked up at me, then I saw it in the golden hour glow. The hood shifted just enough to reveal that a tuft of curly teal blue hair had replaced his copper hair.

Oh wow.

"You um...you dyed your hair."

Great fucking observation Hayden, truly a work of genius. Not like anyone with functioning eyeballs could've figured that one out, huh? 'You dyed your hair.' Observation of the century man.