Healing Hailey

James

I go to Hailey's twenty minutes before we need to go. She was already ready so we just hang out for those twenty minutes. I'm not surprised that I started liking Hailey after being so fascinated with her from the beginning, I've been in relationships before, but this feels different, right.

Hailey and I go to my car and start the half an hour drive to the restaurant. Hailey connects her phone to my car's speakers and plays to some music to which we sing and dance to.

"So, what restaurant are we going to?" Hailey asks as she picks the next song.

"This one." I say as I pull into the restaurant's parking area. I park and unbuckle my seatbelt. I look over at Hailey and see her slightly pale and staring at the restaurants sign. "You ok?" I ask. She bites her lip as she thinks.

"The name." She says. "He used to take me to a restaurant with the same name." She says. I hold her hand and squeeze it.

"Well, I'm here now. And I will make sure nothing happens." I promise her. She dry swallows and nods. We walk out of the car and I hold her hand as we walk in. We are directed to a table where my mother sits and we sit down across from her.

"You look nice." I tell my mother. She has the same hair and eyes as me, obviously her hair is longer. Her skin is usually dry and scarred but she has make up done nicely to cover that. Her dress is new and she actually looks like she has washed for this occasion. Her new boy-toy must have some money.

"Thank you son." She says and smiles. "You look nice too. So, who is this?" She asks, referring to Hailey.

"Hailey, I told you about her. She's my girlfriend." I say, hiding my smile as I squeeze her hand.

"Oh how lovely, Harry should be here any moment." She says happily. I feel Hailey's grip on my hand loosen, I look over and she is even paler.

"Are you ok?" I ask her quietly. She looks over and nods.

"Actually I am just going to go to the restroom." She says as she stands up. I nod and tuck my chair in so she can walk out easier.

"Harry." My mum says happily. Hailey and I turn to look behind us and a man, five years older than us at the most, walks over. He shakes my hand.

"You must be James." He says. "I'm Harry." He adds. He moves to Hailey and kisses her on the cheek. She stays there, frozen.

"Hailey?" I whisper. Harry walks to my mum and kisses her but the moment is short lived as Hailey collapses. Luckily I manage to catch her head before it hits the wooden floor.

"Oh my god." My mum says.

"Hailey, can you hear me?" I ask as I lay her flat and try to wake her up.

Harry comes over and checks her over as an ambulance is called. I stay with her, checking she is still alive and has just passed out. As she is rolled into the ambulance she very slowly opens her eyes.

"Are you ok?" I ask. She nods and Harry comes in, passing me my jacket.

"Thanks." I mumble. I look over at Hailey and her eyes are now open extremely wide and she is shuffling away from Harry as tears form. The ambulance people hold her down as she starts to whimper and let out small screams, luckily they close the doors so Harry is gone.

"I'm sorry." Hailey says quietly once she is calmer.

"Is that him?" I ask. Tears form in Hailey's eyes and she nods.

I hold her until she is calm and the ambulance people check her over, they let her leave after an hour. I instantly bring her to my car and drive her away from the restaurant.

"I'm sorry." I say as I glance over at Hailey's tired posture.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know who he is." She says quietly. I nod and focus back on the road.

"So, what's going to happen with him now?" I ask. "What will you do?" I ask.

"I don't know." She says. "He did not seem angry at me, I know he doesn't know that I was planning on leaving him. He would only be angry about us and me not staying with him. Non-the-less he is dangerous." She adds.

"Are you going to tell the police?" I ask.

"No. There is no point. I think the best thing will be for me to avoid him as best as possible." She says. "You can't with him being with your mum now, but you should pretend to know nothing about our past." She says, now more alive.

"I don't think that's possible, he is an ass." I say, getting annoyed. I always have respected my mother partners. How on earth I will be able to respect him... I don't know.

"Try?" Hailey asks, putting her hand on mine as I park outside of her building. I look at her and sigh.

"I'll try." I say and gently kiss her. She smiles and I walk her to her apartment with my hand in hers. We walk in and Hailey feeds the cat. She looks around, being cautious, and when comfortable she goes to her room and changes into sweats.

"James?" She asks nervously as she walks out.

"Yeah?" I ask, stepping closer to her, making sure I can hear her quiet voice.

"Can you stay with me tonight? It would make me feel safer and I really want a good night sleep especially after everything that happened." She says. I smile slightly.

"Sure." I say and I see her soften. I quickly go down to my car where I keep a change of clothes, if my mother and I fight and I go to a friend's house I make sure I am prepared. I get dressed in the comfortable clothes and join Hailey in her bed, she seems to already on the verge of sleep as when she says good night it is a hardy audible mumble and soon I hear light snoring. She soon rests her head on my chest and I hold her with my right arm. I kiss the top of her head and fall asleep too.