Naturally ↠ lrh

9. Afraid

*Hayley*

It was Saturday morning and I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and the smell of bacon and eggs. Mom must be home.

I decided to get out of bed and follow the smell down to the kitchen.

"Hey honey, I missed you," my mum greeted me before walking around the kitchen island and giving me a hug.

"Missed you too," I said in reply and continued, "What time is it?"

"About 10," my mother said in response, pulling away.

"Oh okay," I said before grabbing a plate and some bacon.

"You know, Dylan stopped by," my mum mumbled. I could hardly understand, but I was able to make out what she said.

"I thought he was in jail? I don't want anything to do with him," I said as I walked to the fridge to grab a glass of water.

"I thought he'd be in jail too, but he came by to talk to you and apologize because he's really sorry. I think you should forgive him," she replied.

"Forgive him? Are you crazy? Do you even understand what he did to me?" I asked her in shock. I can't believe she was telling me to forgive someone that almost raped me.

"Yeah, but he seemed really sorry. And I wouldn't want you to lose him when he's one of the only friends that you've been able to make," she said before taking a bite of bacon.

"I don't care! He's done something completely unacceptable, and plus, I've already made some more friends," I told her as I walked to sit in front of her.

"Really? Can I meet these friends of yours?" She asked before raising her eyebrow.

"Sure, one lives right next to us, another lives about five houses down, and the other two lives two blocks away from here," I explained, referring to Ashton, Luke, Michael, and Calum.

"Wow, you've made quite a lot of friends, I'm happy for you."

"Yeah," I said in reply as I walked to the sink to place my plate into it.

"I'll be up in my bedroom if you need me," I mumbled as I made my way up the stairs.

Once I got up the stairs, I decided to practice Therapy for the show that I had to perform at this Wednesday.

I was able to practice it successfully about 5 times, before I was interrupted.

"Honey, someone's at the door and it's for you," I heard my mom say from through the door.

I opened my bedroom door before making my way down the stairs again. Once I got to the front door, I opened it wide enough for me to see the persons face.

"Luke? What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I, um, I just wanted to check if you were doing okay, I didn't know your mom was back," he replied before looking down at his hands.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. My mom's come home so you can stop checking on me all the time if you want," I told him quietly.

"Uh, yeah, okay, I guess I'll just be leaving now," Luke said before slowly turning around and walking away.

"Wait! Luke!" I called.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around before raising his eyebrow.