Catching Feelings- Leah Williamson

Chapter Twenty-Five

Leah's POV

I pull my phone out of my pocket, looking at the time.

9pm.

Where the hell is she?

I thought she would already be back by now but she's nowhere to be seen. I sent her only one text earlier because I didn't want to bother or annoy her but im genuinely starting to get worried.

What could be taking her so long? Did she get lost or something?

To distract myself I've been making some business calls in order to keep myself occupied but none of those things helped to keep me distracted.

Alright. That's it.

I get up from the bed and put my jacket and shoes on. But before I can walk out of the door, someone knocks on it.

I immediately open it and standing in front of me in Hailey. I exhale, relieve at the sight of her, all safe. I drop my jacket to the side, taking her by the arm and pulling her into my embrace. Only once my arms are wrapped around her, do I start feeling more at ease.

"Leah?" Hailey says a bit of breath, "you're suffocating me"

I unwrap my arms from her, taking a few steps back to give her some space.

"Where were you?" I ask concerned.

"I told you" she says, walking inside the room, "I had some business to take care of"

"I was worried!"

Hailey doesn't say anything. She just takes her shoes off and walks to the bed, sitting down and leaning her head on the back of it.

"Are you okay?" I ask while looking down on her, "you seem upset"

"Why do you care?" she mumbles, loud enough for me to be able to hear it.

I sigh and take a seat next to her, our shoulders brushing each other.

"If somethings bothering you" I say and turn my head to look at her, "you can talk to me if you'd like"

She doesn't say anything.

"Or you can just give me a name, and I'll take care of it"

With that she raises her head from the back of the bed, looking at me confused.

"You of all people should know that I can tackle someone on pitch and make it look like an accident" I say which makes her giggle.

There's that smile.

"Its not like that... its my mum" Hailey says and repositions herself on the bed, facing me this time and I become all eyes and ears, my full attention on her, "she came to visit me today"

I'm assuming by the way that she's rubbing her forehead that her mother paying her a visit isn't something that she wanted.

"And you're not happy to see her?" I ask softly, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable by my questions.

"I hadn't seen my mum for over a year, I don't even know why she's here" she stares down at her hands, deep in thought.

"She didn't say anything?"

"She wanted to meet up and talk, but I havent made a decision yet" she shakes her head, "I went on a long walk to try and figure out what to do, but... I have no idea what I want"

I take a lock of hair that has fallen on her face, putting it behind her ear while I trace the side of her face with my fingers. I can feel her become calmer under my touch.

"Do you know what I think?" I ask and she nods, "I think you should give her a chance to explain herself. The least she owes you is an explanation to whatever happened. I know this is not the same but... if I could get another chance to sit down with my dad, I'd take it in a heartbeat"

Hailey gives me a small smile before taking my hand into hers and giving it a light squeeze. I can tell that my words meant a lot to her and im glad that she's comfortable in confiding in me. Im glad that I could somehow make her feel understood. Because she makes me feel understood and seen like im a better person than I really am. She makes me want to be better, to do better.

"Come" I stand up and take both of her hands, pulling her up as well.

"Where are we going?"