Hayes Grier x Reader

Chapter 11

Your POV

We pulled out of the Starbucks drive through with our drinks, and headed off to the mall.
"So the mall is about an hour away, and I'm pretty sure Nash mentioned a story you'd love to tell me? About you going out into California with no shoes?" I was honestly gonna say no way, I'm not telling you that story. But the way he was smiling at me made my heart completely melt, and it wasn't cause of the California heat.
Before I could say no, the words just slipped out of my mouth. "Alrighhhhht, fine I'll tell you." He whispered a triumphant, "Yes!" under his breath, which made me smile and move on.
"So last summer I came out to visit and it was my first time in California ever, normally you guys come to visit me. Being my first time coming here, my brain was so scattered with all the stress from family, friends, and a really bad relationship I just got out of."
Hayes nodded, expressing a little sympathy.
"I don't know if you remember but when I showed up-"
"All you brought were jeans and t shirts, so Nash took you shopping so you'd be ready for the summer."
We both smiled at each other for a few seconds, and to me it seemed like that smile had a little more than just friendship to it.
"Yeah, and I was so excited to finally be out here and stay with you guys, my head got even more scattered, but this time in a good way. The day Nash was taking me shopping, he told me he'd be waiting in the car, and I was so excited that I got dressed, got my money and ran out the door without eating breakfast or anything. It wasn't till we got to the mall that we discovered I had completely forgotten to put on shoes!! We looked at each other for a second, shrugged, and just walked into the mall like that. But, some of the stores wouldn't let me buy any shoes because they wouldn't let me even enter their store so we didn't get much done. Anyways, I made Nash swear never to bring it up again, and apparently that didn't count this summer!"
We both started laughing, and once we both got quiet Hayes hit me with a question out of nowhere.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened in that bad relationship you mentioned?"
"Oh, um-"
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I just wanna know more about you."
"No it's ok, it's been almost two years so I'm definitely ready to talk about it and I'm glad it's with you. So I met the guy from our school, we were freshmen when we met. During sophomore year, we started getting closer and eventually started dating, so life was pretty good. But, maybe four months after we started dating I learned that he had cheated on me twice with one girl, and it took me a while to get over it but I decided to give him a second chance. Five months later we had worked out all our problems and were going good, but there was one day where he had one of the worst days he'd ever had. We were walking home from our date, when out of nowhere he smacked me. He kept trying to hit me and I avoided most of the hits, but not enough. For so many months after that I was being abused, and I had to constantly lie about where the bruises and cuts were coming from."
"Why didn't you just break up with the jerk?"
"He threatened me that if I broke up with him, he'd kill me."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I never knew. You and Nash have been the closest friends since you were little, did he know?"
"Yeah, he was the only one who knew. I made him swear not to tell anyone, especially you."

Hayes's POV

"Why me?"
"I had this notion that no one else should have to know about my problems, because I thought then it would just be their burden to bear and it'd be my fault."
I immediately pulled over to the side of the road.
Once the car was parked, I released my seatbelt and hugged y/n as tight as I could. She buried her head in my neck, and hugged me back.
"Y/n, don't ever think that again. You have so many people who love you and who are here for you ok?"
She whispered an ok back, and it only made me hug her tighter.
"How'd it end?"
"Nash reported him, and I don't know where he is now and I don't ever want to speak to him again."
We stayed in our hug for a few more minutes, then she pulled away a few inches, but stayed close enough that she was still in my arms. I looked right into her eyes and said, "You're the strongest girl I know, you've been to hell and back and you still always have a smile on your face. That takes so much bravery, I wish I could be more like you. And you don't deserve to be treated that way, you deserve to be treated so much better."
After I said that, we held eye contact for a few seconds, then we both leaned in at the exact same time. Our lips collided, and it was like summer in a kiss. Sweet, amazing, and hot. When we broke apart we just stared at each other for a few seconds, then y/n started smiling at me, and all I could do was smile and say this.
"So now you know how I feel, what about you?"