Catch Me

Chapter Twenty-One: Thank You... For Everything

Chapter Twenty-One: Thank You... For Everything 

Haleigh and Zander still embraced long after Jackson had pulled his car back on the road and started driving back to campus. Zander's arms around Haleigh was what was keeping her sane right now. She wished they could stay locked in each other's arms forever.

"Come on..." Zander said softly, then guided Haleigh toward the passenger door of Haleigh's Subaru. He opened the door, kissed the top of Haleigh's head and helped her into the car. He then made his way to the other side of the car and hopped into the driver's seat. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" He asked carefully. She sighed deeply and wiped her eyes, trying to rid herself of all the tears, it was useless. She had cried off any makeup that she had had on. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she had dark puffy circles around her bright blue eyes. Zander still thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"He was drunk..." She trailed off. She glanced out the window, and up at the sky, the light of the full moon illuminated her face.

"Did he hurt you?" Zander asked, his pulse beginning to quicken. She shook her head in response.

"No..." She didn't want to get into details, but knew Zander was probably going to pry it out of her.

"Tell me what happened." He begged. His voice was still low, and soothing. Haleigh's eyes met Zander's.

"He told me the reason my mother left was because I cried too much as a baby. He told me my dog was dead, and then yelled at me for crying. He chucked a full beer can at my head." Haleigh could see Zander growing more and more angry with every word that she was telling him. He was starting to breath heavily, and his eyes were filling with rage.

"I could kill him." He growled, his chest heaved with every breath as he ran his hand through his short dark hair.

"Can we just go back to campus please?" Haleigh sobbed again. She leaned her head against the cool glass window as Zander started the Subaru. They drove in silence for the next hour. Haleigh watched the white lines of the road as they traveled in the direction of Burlington.

Half way through the ride Zander seemed to have calmed himself down. He drove with his left hand on the steering wheel. His right hand reached toward Haleigh's. She let him take her hand. They were still silent as Zander rubbed the back of Haleigh's hand with his thumb.

"I don't have anywhere to stay tonight." Haleigh thought out loud as they were getting closer to campus. She had completely forgotten that She had promised Sam she would be out of town this weekend, and that she didn't mind if Sam and Charles took over the room while she was away.

"You can stay with me if you need to." Zander offered, not bothering to ask any questions. Haleigh sighed, she appreciated Zander's offer, but all she really wanted to do was crawl into her very uncomfortable dorm bed and just cry for the rest of the weekend.

The two made it to Zander's apartment around eight thirty that evening. The campus bustled with excitement of that night's frat parties. It was with this realization that Haleigh grew worried.

"You had a gig tonight!" She remembered. She felt awful for calling Zander now. He should be at his gig right now. She should have just driven herself back to campus.

"It hasn't started yet." He reassured her. "We just missed rehearsal, but we've been rehearsing all week." He smiled as he grabbed Haleigh's bag from her and lead the way up the stairs to his apartment. The building was empty and Haleigh assumed his roommates were probably out having a good time.

Zander showed Haleigh around the rather large apartment. He showed her the living room, the bathroom, and the kitchen. Haleigh was surprised that the placed was as clean as it was. She was sure that with four boys living here that the place would be scattered with empty pizza boxes and soda cans. However, that wasn't the case. The living room was clean, magazines had been stacked neatly on the coffee table, even the bookcase that sat on the far wall seemed to be organized and dusted. Haleigh admired the titles of the many books the roommates shared, she was tempted to pull out a book right now and start reading. She loved when a book could take her to new places, when she could relate to the characters, and imagine herself in their land is when she felt most relaxed.

Haleigh followed Zander into the last room which she assumed belonged to him. There was a queen size bed in the middle of the room which was made neatly with a navy blue bedspread. A dresser sat off to the right of the room and was covered with a variety of different knick knacks. Right away she could see guitar picks, deodorants, and a collection of photographs which she assumed were of Zander's siblings and his mom. To the left of his bed was Zander's bass which was currently hooked up to an amp. She assumed he had been playing and disregarded it when Haleigh had called crying earlier that night. Zander set Haleigh's bag down on the bed, and turned to face her.

"Thank you... For everything." She said as she placed a hand gently on Zander's chest. After everything that had happened tonight she found comfort in the fact that Zander had been there for her. He had come to her rescue without any hesitation when she had needed him the most. She stood on her tiptoes as she placed her hand on the back of Zander's neck, and guided his face toward hers. Her lips met his in a passionate kiss.

Zander pulled Haleigh closer to him, sliding his hand onto the small of her back. She deepened the kiss, and their tongues met in a moment of passion. Zander smoothly guided Haleigh toward the bed where he sat on the edge, causing Haleigh to climb onto his lap. Slowly he lowered himself so that his back was flat against the bed's surface. Haleigh was still kissing him as she began to move her hips against Zander's. She could feel him becoming excited through his jeans. She pulled away slightly, taking a breath, then leaned back in, placing kisses on his neck as she sucked gently, leaving visible spots along his jawline. In one swift motion Zander flipped the two so that he was on top. He reached for Haleigh's breast and she moaned against his lips as he massaged her breast gently through her thin blouse. As much as he wanted to continue, he forced himself to stop. He pushed himself off of Haleigh and quickly sat up in bed.

"Is everything okay?" She wondering, hoping she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Yeah, I just... I have to get to Kappa Sigma." He lied. He still had about an hour before he had to get to the gig. "You've had a rough night. Why don't you try to get some sleep? I'll be back in a few hours..." He desperately wanted to continue with their make-out session, but knew that Haleigh had been through a lot tonight. He wasn't about to take advantage of the situation and ruin everything...