Catch Me

Chapter Twenty-Two: Break a Leg

Chapter Twenty-Two: Break a Leg 

Haleigh watched as Zander stood from the bed. She knew that he had a gig to get to, but she wished he would stay with her tonight. After everything that had happened earlier in the evening, the thought of being alone for hours was making her anxious. Zander ran a hand through his hair, something Haleigh had come to realize he did a lot when he was mad or concerned.

"You can come if you want." Zander offered. Haleigh could feel her eyes narrow as her eyebrows furrowed.

"You're joking right?" It had been only a week since Haleigh's shoulder had been dislocated at the last Kappa Sigma party. There was no way she would be setting foot in that fraternity house for a very long time. An awkward silence fell over the two, and Haleigh worried that she had messed something up when she initiated the kiss just moments before.

"I gotta go, Hales." He shrugged his shoulders as he walked to the other side of the room to grab his bass, and Haleigh felt her heart sink. She wasn't sure what she had expected. She was grateful Zander had come to her rescue earlier. She had known almost a week in advanced that he had another gig this weekend. She wanted him to go to that gig, but there was also a part of her that wanted him to stay behind, a part of her that thought if he didn't stay behind it meant he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him. Haleigh pushed that thought from her mind. She knew on some level that these thoughts were results of her anxiety disorder.

"Go." Haleigh finally said, breaking the silence. "Break a leg." Her gaze fell to the floor and she watched Zander's feet turn toward the door and leave. Haleigh sighed, and flopped backwards on the bed, she looked up at the ceiling fan, counting the rotations.

Minutes had passed when she finally heard the door to the apartment shut behind Zander. She wiped away a stray tear as it slid down her cheek. Alone in the silence she thought about her dad and the things that he had said to her today. She thought about Sky and all the times when the beagle would fall asleep on the foot of her bed. Haleigh had always felt the safest when Sky was there. She thought of the times when she and Sky had walked through the woods behind her childhood home, through the woods and down to the river where Sky would stop to drink, and sometimes swim if Haleigh had allowed it. Haleigh thought of all the times when she would come home late after a long night of riding around town with Shane. Sky had been there in the dooryard waiting for her each time she came home, letting out little barks when the headlights finally came into view. She thought of the times when she would sit on the couch with Sky and watch a sad movie, Sky would lick away Haleigh's salty tears as they stained her cheeks until Haleigh had had enough of the dog drool and pushed the beagle away.

Haleigh rolled over in the bed, she hid her face in a pillow as she began to sob for what felt like the millionth time that night. Besides Shane, Sky had been Haleigh's best friend growing up. The guilt that she was feeling for not being there when Sky had needed her the most was killing Haleigh. She wasn't so much upset about her dad anymore than she was about her dog. Haleigh knew her dad would sober up and call to apologize, saying he didn't mean anything that he had said to her. If he even remembered what had happened the next day.

Hours passed as she waited for Zander to come back. Her eyes were growing heavy as she lay in Zander's bed. She checked her phone and realized she had some missed texts, not wanting to deal with the texts she got up and decided to get ready for bed. She rummaged through her bag and realized she hadn't packed anything to sleep in. It wouldn't have been a big deal if she had still been at home since she still had a drawer full of night clothes there. She sighed, then slipped out of her jeans, and decided just to sleep in her t-shirt.

She made herself comfortable as she slipped under the covers of Zander's bed. She hadn't been in a bed this comfortable since the last time she had actually gotten to sleep in her own bed back home. Before she knew it, Haleigh had drifted off to sleep.

****

Zander walked back toward his apartment with his bass in tow. He had felt guilty about leaving Haleigh behind earlier in the evening. He knew that she had had a rough night, and he wanted to do everything in his power to make her happy, but he also couldn't let his band down. He had already put Jackson out by asking him to drive him an hour out of the way to pick up Haleigh. There was no way he was going to cancel on them, they had no one else who could have played bass.

The gig had gone smoothly, Zander had only missed a couple of notes, but knew no one had known about the mishap. His mind was elsewhere for most of the night. He wanted nothing more but to be in bed with Haleigh, he wanted to feel her soft, luscious lips on his again. He wanted to taste her tongue as she moaned against his mouth again. Most of all, he wanted to make her feel safe.

If he had had the opportunity earlier in the night to go give her father a lesson on how to treat women he would have. He hated hearing all the rotten things her father had said to her, he despised the fact that Haleigh's father had thrown a full can of beer at Haleigh's head, and wished he could have done something about it.

Zander finally had made it back to his apartment. All of his roommates still seemed to be out for the night, the apartment was completely silent. He set his bass down next to the door and made his way toward his room. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw the scene in front of him. The light from the living room shown just enough into the room. Haleigh lay on her stomach on Zander's bed. The blanket had been discarded as if she had gotten too hot in the middle of the night. Her right leg was bent at the knee. She had on only a t-shirt and her panties. Zander could feel his heart beating in his chest as he took in the view. Her long, exposed legs were driving Zander crazy. Zander took a deep breath before ridding himself of his jacket and t-shirt. He then climbed into bed next to Haleigh.

Haleigh stirred beside him as he began to nibbled at her earlobe. She moaned and Zander continued to nibble moving down to her neck. He watched as Haleigh opened her eyes. He loved looking into her bright blue eyes. However, tonight he could see the sadness that lingered in her expression. Her eyes were bloodshot and the circles around them were dark and puffy as if she hadn't slept in months.

"How'd your gig go?" She asked groggily as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"It was okay." Zander told her. He laid back onto his pillow and pulled Haleigh toward him. She cuddled close to him as she nuzzled her head on his chest. Her right arm rested on his midsection. He softly kissed the top of her head as she drifted back to sleep.