fight for you (e.dolan)

nine

hailey: where the hell are you? i told you to be
waiting for me.

hailey: the fact that you're making me get out of
my car to actually look for you is pathetic, avery.
if you can't handle your alcohol, don't drink it.

avery is typing...

avery is typing...

"hailey?"

my gaze snapped toward the source of the voice, my heart immediately clenching in my chest when my eyes made contact with a familiar stare. "no fucking way," i spat under my breath, trying but failing to tear my head away from ethan's attention directed right at me. "get away from me ethan-"

ethan stretched an arm out to me, his long arms almost far enough out to wrap a hand around my wrist, but i had already backed up until i was pressed against my car and reaching blindly for the handle of my door.

"just wait a second, okay? let's talk." ethan spoke slowly, as though saying anything too loudly or quickly would scare me away.

i shook my head rapidly, tears brimming in my eyes along with the memories of my heartache resurfacing for what felt like the hundredth time just in that night.

"no. no!" i cried out. with my vision blurring from the tears in my eyes, i could at least avoid seeing the desperation in ethan's expression, the carefully practiced look in his irises that i could no longer see as sincere. "get away from me, damn it ethan! you broke my heart, you used me and you humiliated me-" i could feel myself getting overwhelmed, my emotions reaching a high upon seeing ethan for the first time since we'd broken up. there were so many emotions pulling at my heart, fighting for dominance and hoping to win the battle between wanting to be in ethan's warm arms or wanting to get as far away from him as possible.

"i know. i have no excuse, hail," ethan began, his voice bringing me back to a time that seemed so much sweeter. "i was a dick, and i didn't know i'd fall in love with you." ethan's voice was cracking, his exterior slowly crumbling before me. i tried so hard to believe the pained words coming from my ex-boyfriends lips, but i couldn't.

"well i knew that i would fall in love with you!" i exclaimed finally, throwing my arms up into the air. "and for once in my life, that didn't feel so scary because i thought- i thought what we had was real... and..." the wave of emotions that seemed to be sitting idly by, building up quietly in ethan's presence, finally toppled over into a messy crash along the shore. i dropped my head into my hands and sobbed into them without any regard for what was happening around me, unable to handle the hurt i felt for the boy i had once called the love of my life.

"hail, please don't cry," ethan said quietly, his voice growing slightly louder as he came closer to me. "come here." i felt the warmth of his familiar hands coming around my vulnerable frame, and i fought weakly to push him away."

"no, stop. no! no, no, n-"

"just let me hold you. hail, please calm down." i tried to take deep breaths and calm myself down, but it wasn't until ethan had finally succeeded in pulling me into his chest that i could finally feel myself relaxing. "there you go, it's okay. it's okay. you're going to be okay, don't cry."

"why wasn't i good enough for you?" the question lingered in the air, a loose end that had been plaguing my mind from the day we'd broken up. those few words created a thick tension even against the cool breeze of the night.

"you were, baby," ethan whispered, pressing his lips on the top of my head. the gesture had gone almost unnoticed in my overwhelmed state, and yet something in me still seemed to ignite in the way it always used to when he kissed me. "you're too good for me, and i'm sorry that i didn't realize that from the start. i'm sorry."

"that's not true, the only reason you looked my way was to get to my sister. my sister! was i not pretty enough? not easy enough? what was it ethan? why-"

"you're getting worked up again, just breathe, okay? breathe... you're more than pretty enough, hailey. you're perfect. you're absolutely beautiful, you're sexy... you're the sweetest, most caring person i've ever met. you're the one i fell in love with." ethan's voice was soothing in my ear, bringing back another flood of memories from the ten months we'd spent together.

it was so tempting to give in to ethan's affection, but all it took was one name floating through my mind to ground me again.

"but avery-"

"no, there's no 'but avery'. you're my everything, hail. i wish i never hurt either of you, but i did, and i'm the one that has to live with that. just know that it's always been you, and i'll spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you how sorry i am." my pulse was thrumming quickly, from my chest all the way to the tips of my fingers. i said nothing in response, just tried to allow myself to come back to my senses again.

ethan pulled away from me slightly, looked down at me with hooded hazel eyes. still holding his gaze to mine, he reached around to open up my passenger door to let me in. "come on, i'll drive you home."

1 new message from avery

avery: i hope this begins to make up for everything. you mean a lot to me, hail.

this will probably be the only written chapter in the book, but i always like to include at least one in my short stories :) hope you still enjoyed xoxo