𝐂𝐎𝐖𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐄 || 𝐫. 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

HADLEY WAS LOOKING THROUGH SOME OLD PICTURES when there was a knock on the door. She placed down an old photo of her and Kyle that she took a few years back and walked over to the door. When she swung it open, she was surprised to see the Rodriguez boy standing there. It was like she had summoned him with the pictures.

"Hey," she greeted, her voice kind of flat. They had not spoken since the second challenge when he tried to beat up Ray and left her there. It seemed like forever ago, and it was a long time to go without your best friend.

"Hey, I, uh, I came to apologize," he informed her, and she waited expectantly for him to say something else. She knew that she deserved something better than an apology that wasn't really an apology after he got mad at her for talking to someone and left her stranded at the granary. "I had no right getting mad at you."

She cut in, confirming, "No, you didn't."

"I know that, and I know that I can't control who you do or don't talk to. It's just that I really fucking hate that guy. He's such an ass, but that's not the point. The point is that I did something stupid, and I got mad and drove off when I shouldn't have. And I really hope you'll forgive me," he told her.

She paused for a moment with a serious look before her lips twisted into a smile. "Come on in."

Later that night, Hadley and Kyle climbed out of her truck and walked toward Diggin's house for a party. No one was really sure what it was for, but a lot of people assumed that it was like a ball for Panic. It could definitely have just been a party. They happened all the time in the summer.

Parties were not usually the Alden girl's scene, but she had recently been stepping out of her comfort zone a lot. So what was one more step? Almost as soon as she arrived, Heather and Natalie grabbed her arm excitedly and pulled her into a circle where they were dancing and pouring drinks on each other. She got basically soaked, and she reeked of alcohol. But she did not really care.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks," she told Kyle later when they were leaning on a table and looking out on the party. He muttered something about her having enough but chuckled as she walked off determinedly. She arrived at the drink table, and she was picking up a couple cups for her and Kyle when an all too familiar voice came from behind her.