Hold On Tight

[Seven] I Get It

What was she thinking?

She couldn't understand what had compelled her to agree to try to be friends with him. She didn't want to be friends with him. She had enough friends.

What really angered her though, was that she had done fine without him FOR YEARS, yet within a second of seeing him again, she was back in front of that coffee shop, apologizing for hitting him with the door in her rush to class. She was back at his hockey games, feeling weak in the knees after a wink sent her way. She was back giggling uncontrollably after he pinned her to his bed, a smug smile causing her stupid heart to skip a beat.

It wasn't until after she had walked away from him that she was back in that bar in March of 2013, watching as he wrapped his arm around another girl while he told her he was done with her, his teammates laughing behind him.

Haley wrapped her arms tighter around her knees, gripping them a little more fiercely as she sat on her couch staring at the back television screen. She could vaguely hear the sound of her phone going off, one ringtone after another, as her friends tried to contact her, probably thinking she would go off the deep end. She hadn't told the anything after she walked away from Tyler. Just told them that she needed air, and that she was going to walk herself home. Brayden had followed her out a couple of seconds later, not letting her tell him no, and they walked the mile back to her apartment in a tense silence.

Haley had tried her hardest not to cry, not in front of Bray, and definitely not over him again, but the tears fell anyways. Brayden didn't say anything as he listened to her sniffles, just walked closer to their shoulders were touching, a silent support. Something that had the tears coming down faster than before.

He didn't force himself into her apartment, though she had expected it. Instead, he walked her to her door, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and just watched as she walked into her apartment and shut her door.

And she still didn't answer the phone when he called, five times since she had last saw him – one time every hour.

How was she going to be friends with Tyler if she was reduced to this pathetic shell of herself who ignored the people she considered her family after just a couple of minutes with him? They didn't deserve that – she didn't deserve that.

She groaned from her position in her living room, moving to grab her phone from the coffee table in front of her. Clicking through her missed calls, she clicked on the one name she felt would tell her what they really thought, instead of what they felt she wanted to hear.

"Hey," she whispered into the microphone. "Can you come over?"

"Of course, Haley."

She didn't have to wait long – one of her favorite things about living one floor below one of her best friends. The moment the knock sounded on the door, Haley had it open and was in the other persons arms before they knew what was really happening.

"Oh!" Emma squeaked, her arms automatically going around Haley's slim shoulders. "Well, this is different from the glassy eyes girl who walked out on us with nothing more than a goodbye."