Love Restrained | Yellowjackets

chapter twenty three

XXIII

Almost a week has passed since Javi was back. Almost a week since Hayden punched Travis in the face. And almost a week since Natalie last talked to her.

After the fight they had in the attic, everything changed between them, going back to what it was before. Except that Hayden didn't hate Natalie anymore. But as for Natalie, her feelings were still strong and all mixed up.

The spark that was growing between them was gone now, replaced by a cold distance.

Natalie had been avoiding Hayden, finding excuses to hunt alone. When they did cross paths, Natalie's eyes would slide past Hayden as if she were invisible and she would be lying if said it didn't hurt her.

So when Hayden woke up in the morning and looked around, she sighed seeing that Natalie had already left.

She was used to waking up early by now, her body had this natural alarm that made it impossible for her to sleep in. Natalie and her were always the first ones up, and this past week Natalie has been doing everything she can to keep her distance, so she was waking up extra early just to avoid Hayden.

And Natalie wasn't a morning person, so she must've been really pissed.

Things were so tense between them that Natalie even changed her sleeping spot and was now sleeping with Taissa and Van upstairs, so Hayden only knew that the girl had left because the gun was not hanging by the door.

She sighed deeply, the weight of Natalie's absence pressing down on her. It was becoming a routine: waking up to find Natalie already gone, knowing it was another day of being avoided.

Hayden was not helping her situation either, since she hasn't gone after the girl to try to talk to her, not even once. Not because she didn't want to fix things, but because she didn't know how. And because she knew Natalie wouldn't want to listen, at least now right now. The girl was too angry at her to listen to anything she had to say, so it was better just to give her some space.

When she got outside a cold breeze hit her face, making her wish she'd stayed in, but even if she was being dismissed by Natalie, she didn't want to feel useless, so she would help the girls with breakfast, that was basically just boiled water with some herbs.

Lottie was the only one there, crouched by the fire pit. She looked up as Hayden approached, her expression a mix of sympathy and understanding.

"She just left."

Hayden gave a small, weary nod.

"I know."

.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.

Natalie left the cabin before the sunrise, being out for almost four hours now, just to avoid seeing a certain someone.

She knew that if she woke up at the same time as usual Hayden would tag along, or at least try to, and this past week, talking to her was something Natalie only did if it was extremely necessary.

So hunting alone had become her escape, a way to avoid the constant reminders of Hayden.

Every time she stopped to think about the girl she felt extremely stupid. The thought of Hayden made her feel angry and sad at the same time.

She hated that feeling. She hated the fact that even when Hayden made it extremely clear that there was nothing between them, Natalie still had all these feelings for her. And she felt even worse for once thinking that they might've been mutual.

So now she was keeping her distance. It was better this way. She couldn't avoid Hayden forever, she knew she couldn't, they still had to hunt together after all and she wasn't going to wake up that early for much longer.