Let's Play Pretend

XV. Epilogue Part I

*Hayden's POV* 

Snow clung to my red coat, dusting it white. A gray knit beanie was pulled tightly over my ears. To anyone it would look like just a hat. But to me, it was a memory. Every time I put it on, I could swear I felt the familiar salty spray of the ocean on my fair skin. Swore I could smell the san. Swore I could hear the waves like Icould from my room of our rental house. 

But still, it was just a hat and I was just imagining that I could feel the gentle touch of Andr3w's callused fingers on my skin. Andrew...the memory of him haunted my thoughts almost everyday, distracting me from school work and my music and my media career. It shouldn't be taking me thing long to get over him. He was a once-week-spring-break fling. Why couldn't I get him out of my head? That was months ago. I still hadn't deleted his number even though I'd told Lucy that I had. 

"Hey, I'm home!" I called into the messy apartment. Books were scattered everywhere. You could barely found a clear spot without them. It was a nightmare. But at the same time, it was a beautiful nightmare. 

"Hey, Hayden!" Arin called back. He was in the kitchen, of course. 

"You want some tea?" He came strolling out of the kitchen with two mugs of tea in his hands. He's assumed I wanted some. And he'd assumed correctly. I greatfully accepted the warm mug after yanking off my gloves and tossing them onto the coffee table. 

"Why do you always have a cup of warm something ready for me when I get home?" I asked, smiling. I nuzzled up into the crook of his arm as he switched on a movie. 

"Because I'm fabulous."

"You are." I pecked his cheek. 

~~~

Thank God for the weekend because we fell asleep like that, covered by a furry blanket without either of us picking up a single piece of home work of any kind. The winter sun streamed into our dusty living room window, waking me up. Not surprisingly, Arin was already up and making chocolate chip muffins. 

"You're perfect," I told him. 

"I know. And so are these muffins, or at least they're going to be once they're out of the oven." 

"I can't wait to try them."

"Crap!" 

"What?" 

"We're out of milk." He met my eyes and pulled his best puppy dog face. I could never look at it without caving almost immediately. 

"Fine." 

"Thank you!"

"Shut up. Just let me get changed and I'll run out and get your precious milk." 

A pair of leggings, snow boots, a sweater, my coat, a scarf, and my hat later, I was ready to head out into the storm. The snow had thickened obviously over night and my boots made a clear indent as I walked through the sparkling snow. The grocery store was around the corner, not too far from the campus of NYU, the school Arin and I were attending together. And in the cool winds of New York City, even just around the corner seemed too far. I buried my face in the scarf my aunt had given me for my birthday two years ago. Some may say that it was out of style but I didn't mind one bit. It was the freaking most comfortable thing of all time. 

The lights from the grocery store illuminated the cloudy street. Because since the time I woke up, the sun had begun to play hide and seek with the clouds and right now, the sun appeared to be hiding. 

"Fuck Arin and his milk," I murmured under my breath. No doubt my nose and ears were as red as the apples waiting for me inside. I pushed the door open, feeling welcome by the bells on the door and the heating of the store. 

"Hey, Hayden!" Someone called from the register. I looked up to see Gracie, a girl in one of my classes. 

"HI, Gracie. What's up?" 

"Not much really. Just another slow day at work. Gorgeous outside, isn't it?" 

 "Yeah, it's great. A pain in the ass to walk places in though." She smiled a polite smile. 

"Oh gosh, I bet. So what're you in for?" 

"Milk for my roommate. He's making muffins or something." 

"Sounds good." 

"Yeah. Be back in a few." I made my way to the dairy section of the store. I shivered. I'd always hated this section of the grocery store, especially in the summer when I'd be wearing a tank top amongst the food that just had to be kept cold or it'd curdle. There was only one other person in the aisle with me. A boy around my age--maybe a bit older. He was dressed totally inappropraitely considering the weather. All he had on were some jeans, a shirt, and a sweater. He must be freaking freezing. 

"Idiot," I murmured, thinking I was out of earshot. Apparently, I was wrong. 

"Excuse me?" I jumped. So the guy had heard me. And his voice sounded strangely familiar. It's like I'd heard it in real llife but now it lived mainly i my mind where I listened to it on repeat until the gentle hum of it lulled me to sleep. 

I turned toward the idiot slowly, terrified that I might be imagining all of this and that I really was losing it...finally. I'd been a nutcase for months. But I wasn't imagining things. This was real. There he was. Standing right in front of me in the dairy aisle of Daisy's Groceries. 

"Holy crap," were the only two words I could manage. 

He looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to gape at me or break into a smile so wide that it would tear his cheeks. But instead he just took a couple steps toward me and extended his hand. 

"Nice to meet you. My name is Matt Brooks. But you may know me as Andrew. And you are?" I coudln't help but feel a smile spread on my lips as I took his hand in mine. 

"I'm Hayden Crestt. But you may know me as Charlie." He matched my smile and shook my hand, never letting it drop. 

"Nice to meet you." 

"And you."