Just Friends

29

"So how have you and Rachel been?" I asked Cameron. I was sitting on his bed that was placed in his empty room in their apartment. He's been spending a lot of time with Rachel lately and it's not that I don't like her, I just want to know.

"We've actually been really good." He said and I saw a grin form across his face as he was dusting a dresser he just put down.

"I think I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend soon." Cameron said and I nodded in acknowledgement. I was curious as to how he could suddenly have feelings for her again, even though they both made it apparent that the feelings gradually left throughout the relationship.

"What about you and Hayes?" He asked me and I let out an exasperated sigh. "You know he leaves in just two days." I reminded him, similar to how Hayes reminded me at Dairy Queen a couple days before hand. "So what does that mean for you guys?" He questioned and I shrugged before responding. "I'm gonna break up with him today." I said.

Cameron dropped what he was doing and gave me a perplexed look. "Why would you do that?" He spoke and I wasn't completely sure myself yet.

"I know it's not going to work, so why try?" I asked and Cameron sat on the opposite side of his large bed before speaking again. "If it was me and Rachel I would certainly try." He answered and I shook my head. "I'm sixteen. I have my whole life to meet new people and create new experiences. I don't want to be with someone that will never work out." I said and it seemed as though Cam knew where I was coming from.

"Don't break his heart." Cameron said and left the room. I sighed in defeat and gathered my things before driving over to Hayes' place. He recently finished packing, and now was just dreading the big day. But I can assure you I was dreading it more.

"Hayes!?" I yelled throughout the seemingly vacant house. "Sam!" I heard and Skylnn ran around the corner right into my arms. "Hey babe." I smiled and set her on my hip. With a quick kiss on her cheek, I pestered her about where Hayes was. "I'm pretty sure he's not here." She responded with and I laughed slightly before setting her down. "Do you know where he is?" I asked and she nodded. "He moved." Sky said and I let out a low chuckle, catching on to the fact that she was speaking of Nash.

"No silly girl, I mean Hayes." I said and she smiled. "Oh, he's upstairs." She said and walked in the direction of Nila and Chad's room.

I shook my head at her foolishness and walked the staircase to his room. When I opened it, I saw him holding something in his hands with a single tear down his face. As I walked closer, I noticed it was a picture frame that contained a picture of me, him and Kendall. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. He turned to face me and kissed my forehead. "We need to talk." I said just above a whisper.

He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly nodded. "It was always going to come to an end, wasn't it?" He asked and I felt my eyes brimming with tears. "We were never going to be the next great love story and on some level, we both knew it." Hayes said again. He definitely knew what was about to happen, and as much as I didn't want it to end like this, I knew it was the right thing to do.

"I wish we could've had a happy ending." I responded and he nodded. "I love you. Even when things got hard, I still loved you." He said and avoided all eye contact with me as tears slowly dripped from his eyes. He was looking at his shoes and I wanted nothing more then to kiss him and hug him and make everything okay again.

For a moment, there was silence. He finally looked up and we looked at each other sadly.

"I know you did. And I loved you too, I still do, so much. I think most good things come to an end and I guess this is just how it would work out for us." I said. "So you're breaking up with me?" Hayes asked the question I've been tiptoeing around. "You're holding me back. I love you, I care about you and I will certainly miss you, but I want to have the best life I can and live it to the fullest. That's not quite possible with you. You will be out there chasing your dreams, and I need to start doing the same. I need to focus on my self for once, and I need to love and support myself for a while." I responded to his question.