Falling For Hadley

Chapter 16

DYLAN'S POV

"You okay?" my voice cracks as I watch Hadley cradle the turtle in her blood covered hands. 

"Yeah, you should go home," she answers distractedly.

"No. I'm staying here," I announce and she looks up at me with a thankful smile.

"Then at least call and tell your parents," she tries to dismiss me with her hands but Perry was kinda occupying both of her hands and arms.

"Fine," I take the order and pull out my cell. I step out of the room and go to the glass window. My eyes immediately to Hadley as she grins while feeding Perry. She was gorgeous when she smiled.

"Dylan? Where are you darling?" My Mom's voice breaches my stare and I roll my eyes back in my head.

"At the center with a friend," I reply vaguely.

"No, you should be at home. It's almost 10 pm, darling," she says sweetly, but I could hear the angry undertone.

"I'm staying here Mom. My friend needs me here," I growl and she scoffs.

"It doesn't matter son, the place will be shutting down in a few weeks. And you will cut the ribbon to open it back up as a casino. Now come home this instant," my Mother growls back but I stand my ground.

"No. I'm staying here," it felt good to stand up to my Mom. But she did not sound happy about my new independence.

"Son, you are going to come home this instant or don't bother coming home tonight at all. You are going to be who I want you to be! And that means coming home right now!" my Mom shouts and I hang up on her with rage boiling my blood. 

"Who I want you to be?!" I shout in the hallway and one of the janitors gives me a questioning look. I suck in a deep breath and glance back up at Hadley. She was smiling as she held the turtle in her arms. She held the bottle in one hand and cradled the turtle in her arms. Perry moved his head to follow the bottle she had. Her hair was a mess and her hands were covered in blood and sand. But she still looked gorgeous. 

"Staring at my intern?" I jump at the sudden voice and turn to see the doctor who operated on Perry. 

"Um, yeah," I reply quietly and the doctor chuckles.

"I knew you would fall for her," the Doctor smiles at me as I watch her set the turtle down on the table and head for the sink nearby. 

"Why does everybody say that?" I wonder aloud and the doctor laughs knowingly.

"You'll figure that out soon enough," the Doctor says as he waves goodbye and continues to walk down the halls. I watched as he passed by all the tanks full of creatures and a hole began to open in the pit of my stomach. My Father was going to close all this down. And I couldn't stop it. I walked back over to the glass door and open it wide. Hadley looks up as I walk in and her face brightens mischievously.

"Uh, oh. I know that face," I couldn't help but smile when she did. Hadley gets up and walks over to me, grabbing both of my hands and placing them on Perry's shell.

"You should hold him," she beams at her idea and I back up a little. 

"I don't know. He might not like me," I say cautiously, worried I would get too attached.

"You were part of the rescue too. You should hold him," she repeats, a smile brightening her whole face. I look at the ceiling, praying that I don't get attached, and then cave in.

"Fine. How do I hold him?" I ask, a small smile curling my lips as I hold out my arms. Hadley gently picks the turtle up off the damp cloth and places him in my arms. My knees almost buckle from the sudden extra weight and I wobble slightly. Hadley tries to hold back the laughter and she grabs my arms to steady me.

"See. Not that bad," she looks up at me and smiles brightly, making the whole risk worth it. And I smile back at her.

"I never said it was bad," I make a disgusted face and she laughs.

"I could see it all across your face, you were worried you would get attached. Poor little rich boy doesn't want to get attached," she calls me out and my face burns red with embarrassment. I look down at Perry his shell was smooth and black, with white spots. Maybe he wasn't so bad to hold. 

"Maybe I was," I respond, watching Perry look around curiously at the room and the two of us. 

"Why are you afraid to get attached?" she asks me, hopping up onto the counter across from me. I slowly sway back and forth with Perry in my arms.

"Because, in my world, you have to master the art of letting go of those you care for. And getting attached would be like suicide," I say quietly, memories of losing my true friends flashing across my mind. I remember the day I lost my true best friend. It was the worst day of my life by far. 

"Is that why you refuse to tell me any of your secrets?" she asks quietly, realizing how serious the situation is. She could tell that I had scars because of this method of survival, and it felt good to have someone who saw that.

"Yes," my voice grows quiet and she gets up off the counter.

"How many people did you lose because of this?" her voice becomes the anchor holding me back from just jumping into the darkness of the past that I used to think was golden. 

"Too many," I say coldly, my heart aching of the memories of the people that I hurt. 

"Including yourself?" she pulls my face to look at hers and I plop down into a chair. I nod, too afraid of cracking if I spoke. She holds my face in her hands and I look up into her green eyes. And suddenly, I let it all go. I didn't want to go back to my old life. I didn't want to become the playboy I used to be. The pain of having a life that wasn't truly mine caves in on me. Her face softened as she saw all the pain that I hid deep inside me. 

She pulls Perry out of my arms and gently places him in his shallow tank, where he could finally become fully hydrated. And then she focuses back on me. 

"How are you not leaving yet?" my voice cracks as she pulls up a stool across from me and stares into my eyes.

"This isn't New York, Dylan. I'm not leaving," her voice was warm and comforting. I stand up from my stool and draw in a breath. She watches as I stand in front of her, trying to stuff the pain into the back of my mind. So she couldn't see how broken I was or how many scars I truly hid underneath my skin. Or that I wasn't perfect. I look into her eyes again, and I lurch forwards. Our lips collided and I wrapped my arms around her fiercely. A hunger rose from deep inside me and I pulled her into me. I could feel the warmth from her lips spread into mine and I knew that I wasn't going back to the old me. 

My whole body craved the taste of her lips, every ounce of my being was caving in from the rush of her attention. She wraps her arms tightly around my neck and kisses me back hard. I could feel that she was waiting for this as much as I had been. I pick her up and set her on the counter, my lips rolling down to her neck. She pulls me away and I gasp for air.

"You're just hurting. You don't really want this," she huffs and I shake my head in disagreement.

"You obviously don't know me then," I smile mischievously and pull her lips to mine again. And the rest of the world, faded away.