Falling For Hadley

Chapter 18

DYLAN'S POV

I looked over as my Father smiled at me from the center of the room. And I saw Hadley's face. Her eyes bored straight into me and tears fell down her cheeks. And I felt it all over again, the pain of losing someone. The pain of losing someone who wasn't dead, but wasn't yours anymore. She shakes her head in denial and backs into the front doors. I glance over at my Father, only to find Jack in my face.

"You bastard!" he shouts into my face and I flinch from the sheer volume. The words replay over and over again in my head. You bastard! You bastard! It was true. I had hurt Hadley. I could feel my own heart breaking as I truly realized what I had done. Everything slows as Jack turns and punches my Father, and I whirl around to see Oliver shouting at him as well. I watch as Hadley runs across the front lawn towards the beach. I try to run to her, but I felt as if I was in slow motion. I scream her name, over and over again. But nothing came out. 

"Dylan," a voice breaks through to me and I shake my head in disbelief. Everything around me goes dark and all I see is Hadley. All the moments I had made with her, play in front of my eyes. When I kissed her at the center, when I danced with her at the barbecue, when I caught her taking photos of the fish in the center. And all the moments that she smiled. Her beautiful smile. The smile that makes me float when it's directed at me, the smile that will kill me if I don't see it. 

"Dylan," the voice comes again and that's when I realize that it's Hadley. And her heartbroken face is suddenly all I see. The pain in her eyes, the tears on her face, and the way she just held herself. She never let me see her break, until now. 

And that's when my eyes fly open. I wake to find myself in my room. My gray room that needed more color. The classic room that looked like the one I had back in New York. I had the same nightmare as the night before. And the one before that. I stood and groggily walked over to my mirror. I looked over myself and tears struck my eyes. I had hurt Hadley. I had become no better than her ex. I suck in a breath and ball my hands into fists. I glance over at my alarm clock and see that it's three in the morning. So I had a few hours to break down and then put myself back together before Mother came for me. 

So I let the tears come. I pound on my bed and scream into a pillow. I had hurt Hadley. I made her cry. I never wanted to do that! I never wanted to hurt her! I grab my phone and click on her contact through my blurry vision. I walk over to my windows as the phone goes straight to voicemail and I hear her voice.

"Hey! It's Hadley! If I haven't answered your call, then I'm probably too busy making people laugh! Leave a message at the beep!" Her cheerful voice breaks my heart and I go back to pounding on my bed. 

"I didn't want to hurt her!" I shout at my reflection in the window. "I didn't mean to!" My voice grows louder and louder as my heart shatters more and more. And the rage inside me amplifies and grows. I hear my door open and my Mother rushes in. 

"Son? What are you doing shouting at the windows? Are you okay?" she asks as she sees the tears that were falling down my cheeks. She rushes over to me and squeezes my arms.

"That girl wasn't worth it, son. She was just a poor little center worker. You need to get some sleep," she orders me and the rage boils inside me.

"Get out! Get out of my room! You have no right to say that!" I scream at my Mother and she scoffs.

"Now, you calm down before I have to bring your Father in here. She wasn't worth it. Now get some sleep for today's kick-off party," she scolds me and I growl.

"You! Have! No! Right! TO! SAY THAT!" I scream at the top of my lungs and my Mom flinches.

"Be quiet son. You're going to wake your Father," she says as she walks over to the door and quietly closes it behind her. I grab my pillow and chuck it at the door in rage. My whole body burned with anger and I swiveled, throwing a punch into the wall. It folds inwards with ease and continue to punch. I punch a total of five holes in the wall before I collapse down onto my knees and the tears begin to flow again.

"I'm so sorry Hadley," I sob, my heart dropping to the floor and shattering into a million pieces. "I'm so sorry," I repeat the sentence over and over again, wishing she could hear it. Before my eyelids grow heavy and I fall asleep once again. 

"Wake up son," My Mother shakes me awake a few hours later and I jump with surprise. Realizing that I had fallen asleep on the floor after I punched holes in the wall. And that's when it all collided into me once again, and my whole body sagged.

"What did you do?!" My Father shouts as I stand to reveal the holes in the wall. I glance over at him, too tired to fight and he marches over to me. My Mother gasps at the sight of the damage and I walk into my closet.

"He was all upset over that girl again!" My mother shouts and I roll my eyes, slowly slipping back into my old New York attitude.

"You can just get someone to fix it," I grumble and my Mother scowls at me as I slip on a pair of dress pants.

"Son! I'm tired of your attitude! First, you don't obey us! And now you're destroying your room!" I'm thinking this town is a bad influence for you," my Father shouts in rage and I roll my eyes again. 

"No need to throw a fit," I mumble and both of my parents just groan as they walk out of my room. I button up my nicest shirt and then slip on a tie and some loafers. I look at myself in the mirror and try to hide the deep circles under my eyes. I had to be perfect. Nobody could see me in any other way. I pick up my cell phone and slip it into my pocket as I head out of my room. I walk down the stairs and grab a banana off the island as I head for the deck for a moment or two of silence. Once I was out on the deck, I look out over the morning shore and I spot scraps of things scattered all across the sand. Curiosity streaks across my mind and I scramble down the stairs to investigate. And that's when I realize what was scattered across the sand.

They were the pictures Hadley had taken of me. And the ones I had taken of her when she wasn't looking. And the pictures she took of the barbecue. I lean down and grab a few off of the sand and my whole heart breaks all over again. She was gorgeous in some of these pictures, her whole face lit up the picture. And the ones she had taken of me, were amazing. She got ones of me smiling, and there were some that she had taken when I didn't even realize it.

"I think I love you," the words fall across my lips as I grab more and more pictures that were buried in the sand. I try to pull back the tears but they fall, no matter how hard I try to stop them.