strawberries & cigarettes ➸ johayden

XIV. the breakup

STRAWBERRIES
& CIGARETTES

"SLOW DOWN YOU JERK!" Johnny shouted as he chased Hayden down the sidewalk. The wind felt cold against his face but he didn't mind, the blushing helped keep him warm.

"Not my fault you're slow!" Hayden shouted back as he began to pick up his speed.

Johnny also began to pick up his speed in attempt to catch up to his friend. The boys continued to run after one another until Johnny finally caught up with and passed the curly haired teen. "I... I win!" Johnny yelled happily but out of breath

"Johnny Orlando!" The voice of a young girl suddenly sounded

"Hi" Johnny smiled at the girl

"C-Can I get a picture please?" She asked, her smile wide.

"Of course" John answered happily

"Johnny you cheated" Hayden unintentionally cut in to the moment "I was gonna win if you hadn't tried to smack—"

"Are you one of Johnny's friends?" The young girl asked, still smiling

"Um... sure"

Johnny chuckled, his face slightly blushing "Yes he's my friend. Now let's get that picture!" He said and gently grabbed the girls phone before holding it out to Hayden "Take it please"

Hayden playfully rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face as he took the phone. "Say oranges"

Johnny and the girl smile as Hayden clicked the button to snap the photo. He hands back the phone and watched as the young brown haired girl smiles while looking at the picture "Do you like it?" Johnny asked

"Oh my god yes" The fan answered excitingly "Th-Thank you so much Johnny and... um.. what's your name?"

"Hayden Summerall, you might recognize my name from some stuff with Johnny but my face is pretty forgettable"

"More like just pretty" Johnny whispered under his breath, no one heard him though which he was thankful for.

"Thank you Johnny and Hayden"

"You're welcome, have a good day!" Johnny replied and the unknown girl walked away giving the boys one last happy smile "I love running into fans"

"I bet, it seems fun"

"You'll have fans one day Hayday, don't worry" Johnny said as he patted Hayden's back lovingly "My fans are your fans"

"Well thanks" Hayden chuckled as blush formed across his cheeks probably from the fact that Johnny had put his on his back.

The two boys walked down the long sidewalk chitchatting about random things for while, they enjoyed the time together. It had been two hours of walking, talking and playing around before Hayden realized he had to go. Sadness filled Hayden as the thought of leaving John crossed his mind, they hadn't spent enough time together yet. "I have to get going" Hayden frowned

"Oh... I should probably too. I have to finish recording this song anyway" Johnny responded with sadness and disappointment laced within his tone of voice "Maybe we can get together tomorrow?"

"I'd like that" Hayden answered with a small smile. Seconds later he awkwardly warped his arms around Johnny for a hug, of course Johnny hugged back and to John, Hayden felt so warm. Hugging him felt like being in a cold room with a warm blanket over you... or in other words, amazing.

As Hayden got in his car he sighed and decided he needed a cigarette before anything else so he got one of his beloved cigarettes out of the pack and lit it in his car. The toxic smoke filled his small vehicle causing him to cough even more but he sucked it up and finished the thing. Hayden rolled down the window to let some of the smoke out before exiting the parking lot.

The drive home wasn't short but it felt as if it had gone quickly, most likely because Hayden was dreading this. He locked his car and went into his home, the lights were off which meant Jessie wasn't home so at least he had a little bit more time. Hayden kicked his shoes off and pushed them to the side of the front door before he walked into the kitchen to make a small dinner.

Roughly an hour later Hayden heard the front door open and close "Oh my god babe I can't believe what just happened" Jessie said as she rushed into the kitchen

"What?"

"Okay so me and the girls were at the mall right? Well there was this little girl who was lost and we totally saved her. Her mom had went into a store that kids weren't allowed it and the poor thing just wondered off, I'm sure if I hadn't helped her she coulda died"

Hayden laughed silently "I think you're exaggerating a bit but that's a nice story. Glad the kids safe"

"I am not exaggerating but okay. What are you making?" Jessie replied as she took a seat at the kitchen island

"Nothing fancy, just spaghetti" Hayden answered

"I'd say ew if I didn't love spaghetti so much" Jessie chuckled "Oh uh what'd you wanna talk about baby?"

"W-we can wait until dinner" He stuttered nervously, he avoided looking at Jessie by focusing on cooking the meal.

"Whatever you want"

The food was done. The table was set. It was time.

"How's it taste?"

"Super"

Hayden's heart was beating faster than it ever had before. Him and Jessie were together for awhile, at least it seemed like it. Was he a jerk for ending things? A good guy for being honest? No matter the answer he still felt sick to his stomach, he couldn't seem to think of any words to say either. "So um well I.. I just wanted to talk about uh, I- We-"

"Hayden... are you okay?" Jessie asked with concern

"I'm fine I just— I don't know to say this- Um" Now his palms were sweaty, that didn't help anything

"Oh my god, do you wanna have se—"

"No! I- No, I don't want-" Hayden ran a frustrated hand threw his hair as he looked down at the table to avoid eye contact

"What's wrong"

"Fuck it. I wanna end things" He confessed knowing he wouldn't be able to find the right words

"Um... what?" Jessie asked slightly shocked but mostly confused

"I don't wanna be with you anymore. I wanna breakup" Hayden answered in a calm voice

"What the fuck!? Why?"

"I just need time to be myself. I love you Jess I do but I can't be with you anymore. We have to breakup, I want to"

"This is bullshit!" Jessie angrily stood up "Y-You make me a nice a dinner and make me think something happy is gonna happen and-"

"How did I make you think that? I did nothing to imply that"

"I-I'm gonna go" Jessie quietly, her voice soft and low, she was sad. She grabbed her keys, her purse and walked out into the cold night. Hayden didn't know that by the time she closed the door her eyes were flooding with tears

STRAWBERRIES
& CIGARETTES