Hold On Tight

[Sixteen] I Did Too

Haley smiled at herself in the mirror, her toothbrush buzzing in her mouth as she took care of the last step of her morning routine. She didn't remember the last time she looked as happy as she did. It had most definitely been years since she's seen her eyes without the dark purple circles underneath them from long days filled with a heavyweight that seemed to surround her for years.

Her phone buzzed on the bathroom counter in front of her. Looking down, she could feel her face break out into an even bigger smile than the one she had on before.

I can't wait for tonight

It was finally Sunday. She was going to see Tyler again, and though most of her was nervous that they would drift into topics about how they were before and that he would try to get her to talk about what they could be in the future, she couldn't deny that she was insanely excited to finally see him again after she agreed to give him some sort of chance. She hoped that they would be able to hang out with one another without any feeling of dread hanging over them - hoped that they could make some sort of move forward.

She didn't know how she felt about the excitement that coarse through her. She knew that she wanted to take it slow. She had dove headfirst into their first relationship, trusting that he would be there no matter what. She never hesitated. She just... fell. Without a second thought or worry, and it had come back to bite her in the ass in a way she never could have imagined.

She was a different Haley than the one he knew.

She didn't trust as easy as she did back then. She thought things through a little more than she used too. She didn't lean on people as much, having been burned so many times that she knew she could only fully trust herself. She didn't ask for help and rarely ever accepted it when it was offered. And she liked who she was now.

She just didn't know if he would like it.

The Haley that he knew - that Haley would do anything for him. She would cancel whatever plans she had the moment she got a text from him. She prevented herself from becoming close with people in her classes because of who he was and the limited time she was able to spend with him. She didn't go to college parties or flirt with frat guys or have girl nights in. She gave up a lot for him. For them.

But that wouldn't happen this time, because as much as she understands that hockey comes first to him, she finally had things that came first to her - and until there was a ring on her finger and a baby that needed her, that wouldn't change.

She felt confident in herself to not make him the center of her universe, and she only hoped that he didn't ask it of her again.

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Tyler grinned down at his phone, still not quite believe that it was Haley that was texting him. He couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that she was finally giving him another chance, no matter how tentative that chance seemed to be. It was something, and he was going to get it right this time.

"What's got you grinning like a girl?"

He rolled his eyes at his captain, wishing he never agreed to meet him at their favorite Dallas bar before he had to head over and pick Haley up for their dinner date. He only showed after he had received the invitation from the forward who was drinking after a fight with his girlfriend because he couldn't shake the nerves that seemed to have his stomach in knots. So much was riding on this night - it seemed like his whole future was on the line.

"Haley. I'm going to pick her up at Brayden's in an hour, so she was just sending me the address."

There was a sloppy smile on Jamie's face, the five beers that he had before Tyler showed up obviously hitting him. "Awwww, you liiiiikkkeee her."