The Closer You Are

• chapter six

"I loved you more than being seventeen."

When Hayden got home that day he was immediately greeted by the presence of his kid brother. This particular day, Noah was being very difficult. It was Halloween, Noah's favorite holiday; and his costume had to be perfect or else he would throw a tantrum.

Hayden would usually do his homework on the kitchen table but since it was now being occupied by all of Noah's Halloween stuff he decided to work in his room.

Hayden was finishing up his homework when he heard a soft knock outside his door. He got up and cracked the door open at the same time his mom pulled.

"Hey mom." He said, wearily. Homework these days had a way of making Hayden want to pass out in his bed.

"I'm going out tonight just for a few hours. I know I said I would - but I need you to take Noah trick-or-treating. Something came up, can you do this for me?"

Hayden squinted his eyes at his mom, noticing the scrubs she was wearing wasn't actually a costume but her work clothes. Hayden's mom worked at a hospital and was always on call. If she says that 'something came up' then it most likely means there's a patient emergency and she's needed at the hospital.

These days Hayden was lucky if he got to see her mom for a couple hours a day. Her patients were her first priority and although Hayden understood that his mom was out saving people's lives it still stung when she couldn't even take his little Noah trick-or-treating.

Hayden groaned, remembering the plans he made for himself. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, now go finish your homework. I'll be back before daybreak. I love you." She shut the door behind her.

~

It was nine pm and Noah was out trick-or-treating with his own friends. Hayden himself was laying in his bed, working on his physics homework.

An hour later he receives a text on his phone.

Rachel: Are you up?

He stares at the text on his phone.

Hayden: Yes.

A few beats later.

Rachel: I miss talking to you. I'm at this stupid Halloween party. You should come.

Hayden: I'll be there in ten minutes.

~

Hayden gets in his car and drives to meet Rachel. He doesn't even know where the party is being held, he just knows he has to get there.

It turns out the party was near his neighborhood when he saw the mob of cars all lined up at someone's house.

When he walked in he was not surprised to see his best friend Grey there, with a girl who definitely wasn't Caitlyn.

Grey shot up from the seat he and the girl were sitting at and approached Hayden.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Have you seen Caitlyn?" He said, screaming over the loud music.

Hayden shook his head, eyebrows arched. "You broke up with her? Remember?"

"Dude! I know! She said she wanted to talk to me." Grey said, scratching his head.

As Hayden got closer to Grey he noticed that he was indeed drunk. If the smell didn't immediately give him away it was his intoxicating slurring of his words. He noticed how his friend was a terrible drunk and when he couldn't get an answer from him he walked off in hopes of finding Caitlyn.

From the corner of his eye he saw a familiar sliver of strawberry blonde hair that undoubtedly belonged to Rachel. She had her back turned towards the wall as he walked upstairs, distancing herself more and more from where Hayden was standing. Then out of nowhere a guy grabbed onto Rachel and kissed her. Hayden was stunned into place. He could not move even as the guy deepened the kiss.

Something inside his soul crushed him and he found it difficult to breathe. With all the strength he could muster he rushed up the stairs locking himself in the nearest bathroom.

Hayden felt deflated. What was he really expecting to happen tonight? That somehow the girl he had been pinning over forever would all of a sudden like him back? It sounded as ridiculous as it felt. Hayden felt dumb, he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that coming here was a mistake.

Hayden was nothing and no one but a delusional, lovesick puppy who thought he could finally have the one thing he's always wanted.

Stupid.

So stupid.

Hayden was a stupid teenage boy and if he couldn't even love himself why would a girl like --

There was a knock.

A knock shifted Hayden's thoughts from himself to the door. He held his breath, thinking that the sound would soon go away. But he heard the knocking again and this time it was definitely coming from right outside the door.

Tentatively, he cracked it open. It was Rachel, it was half of her face but he could tell it was her immediately. Hayden looked down and noticed her blacken, bruised fist. He looked back up at her eyes.

"Can I come in?" She said.

Hayden opened the door wider for her just enough so she could squeeze herself in. As she came closer to Hayden it became clear that she was drunk or at least a little tipsy.

Without thinking clearly Hayden grabbed onto her bruised hand and wrapped his own fingers around hers.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, concerned.

Rachel rolled her eyes, looking down at their knotted hands.

"Some asshole who tried to kiss me," Rachel said with a wicked smile, "you should see the guys face."

Hayden chuckled softy, it must have been the guy who he saw downstairs groping her. He was relieved that he got what he deserved.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Rachel said.

They wandered into the backyard where the music wasn't pounding. It was a softer beat that was perfect for swaying to and felt more intimate.

There were two open lawn chairs in the corner of the backyard where Hayden and Rachel gravitated towards.

"Hayden." Rachel said, peering at him from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah?" Hayden respond.

"Tell me something."

Hayden didn't know where his newfound confidence came from or why he chose that exact moment to do it but he thought he'd never get another chance to so he took it.

"I like you."

Maybe it was the shape of her lips when Rachel asked the question or the way the wind was blowing at her hair that made it billow or even the subtle glow of her face that was being illuminated by the full moon that was outside.

And Rachel didn't know if it was the side effects of the cheap alcohol in her system, or the high she got after punching a guy in the face but she liked the way she felt around Hayden, and so she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him as hard as she could.