"you don't have to read it, you know?" luke says, grabbing my waist.
"i owe it to her. she's my sister. plus, this is the only thing i've heard from her since she left. i'm gonna go read it outside, okay?" i kiss luke's cheek lightly before walking into the backyard.
i sit on the patio swing and take the letter out of the faded envelope.
dear hailey,
i know you thought you would never hear from me again. maybe that's what you wanted. honestly, i wouldn't blame you. i never thought this would become our life. i imagined us staying back at home, doing ordinary things with ordinary people. but here we are. i am so sorry for the pain i've caused you, luke, ashton, calum and michael. you might not believe me but i never wanted to hurt anyone.
i loved luke with all of my heart. all five of us in that house was amazing. we were best friends. luke would take walks with me and we would talk about music and their career. the fans liked me, i felt wanted. i never mentioned you because i loved having my own life, away from the girl i was in high school. and then something changed. as the band got bigger, i craved fame. i went back to who i was. i knew there were a million other girls waiting to be in my spot and i didn't want to give that up. but then i needed a break. i wanted to go see what life outisde of luke hemmings was, and that's why i called you. i never expected you to be his true love. i had always won, and when i saw you were going to take the person i loved the most i went crazy.
after we found out the baby's father is ashton, he made it clear what we did was a mistake. ashton wouldn't stop telling me how much he loved you. luke didn't have to say it, we all knew it was true. i knew leaving was the best thing for everyone. i'm sorry i didn't say goodbye, i just didn't know how.
i hope you don't hate me forever. i know i made a mess of your life and we can't go back and fix it. but look what came of it. you have an amazing boyfriend, amazing friends - and i have my daughter. i was planning on keeping her from you, cutting myself out of your life for your sake. but she is the brightest light in my life. she pulled me out of the crazy cycle i was trapped in for so long, hailey. i can't cut her out of your life. she deserves to know her aunt. you deserve to know her. her name is paisley. she has ashton's hair but otherwise she looks just like you and me. i sent a photo.
she's beautiful. she is going to help a lot of people when she grows up. i know this because she saved me from becoming something horrible for the rest of my life. i hope you will come see her. i also hope ashton will come see his daughter. i don't want a relationship with him, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have one with paisley. i want to see all of you. i want to close this chapter in our lives with peace and love. paisley has given us the opportunity for a new beginning.
this is a chance to do things right. no more drama, no more pain. with the band getting bigger i imagine i won't have the chance to see you as much, and i want us to be on good terms before then - if that's possible.
anyways, i'm glad you've started a life with luke. i'm also happy to see you've forgiven ashton. it wasn't his fault. you followed your heart, hailey, and i'm so happy for you. i hope to see you soon. i love you so much. please tell everyone i miss them and i want them to be in paisley's life.
i live in brooklyn now. my address is on the envelope.
i love you hailey.
love,
skye.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
i wipe the tears from my face and fold the letter back up.
"luke?" i yell so he can hear me from inside.
"is everything okay?" he asks, coming outside.
i smile as i hold up paisley's picture. her small hands are wrapped around skye's finger and i feel comfort knowing skye has light in her life after all this time.
"we need to go see her, luke. she's changed. and ashton needs to go meet his daughter. it's the only way to make things right. it's the only way to move on from all of this chaos." i say.
"okay. but we still have the party tonight."
"of course." i smile. "i need to talk to ashton.."
"i think he's in his room. he's been writing non stop for the album." he smiles. i'm glad they finally got over their issues with each other.
"i love you, hemmings." i smile and kiss him quickly before going upstairs.
i knock on ashton's door before hearing him say come in. he looks better now - we all do.
"hey. can we talk?" i ask.
"you mean talk like we have been for the past seven months which i wouldn't really count as talking or actually talking?" he chuckles.
"i forgave you, ashton. but that doesn't mean i can move on that fast." i whisper.
"i know. i'm sorry. what's up?" ashton asks.
"skye wrote me a letter. she wants us to come visit her in brooklyn. she wants you to meet your daughter, paisley." i say, handing him the photo.
he looks at me stunned before taking it from my hands. after ashton realized he was the dad he went away for a month, trying to come to terms with it. he never spoke to skye after she left. it made me sad knowing that he had no idea who his child was.
but after he came back he just wanted to focus on the band. everyone did. and now they're working on a new album, finally.
"she wants me to know her?" ashton asks, his voice cracking.
"if you want to know her. it's not a trick. she just wants to make sure your daughter knows her father. we're leaving tomorrow after the party." i say.
"hailey." ashton says as i start to leave. "thank you. for forgiving me."
"always."
soo this is the beginning of the end of the book. i really like it.
