Undone // hemmings

chapter sixteen

"I don't think I can do this." Hayden complained. "These seats are so god damn uncomfortable."

The three boys and one girl were going to be seated in the coach section of the airplane for the next 24 hours.

"You can sleep on me if you want." Luke said.

"I can't sleep, Lukey. I'm not tired."

"You called me Lukey, oh my god, please don't do that. My mom calls me Lukey." Hayden burst out in laughter.

Calum and Michael were seated in the aisle next to Luke and Hayden, making the third seat occupied by a random.

"Your mom? Oh my god, I'm sorry. Never again, I promise."

"Speaking of moms," Hayden looked curiously at Luke. She had no idea where this was going. "Can you tell me about your mom?"

"Oh." Her body tensed up slowly. "Well, my mom was a really nice woman sometimes. Other times, she was just a bitch. Everytime I asked for something small of her, it was always 'Go ask Calum' or 'Go ask Mrs. Hood'. She was a nice person but a shit mother. She should have never been allowed to have children, let alone four of them."

A small smile crept onto Luke's face. "But I'm glad she did, or else we wouldn't be here right now."

"There's so many things that fell in place and caused me to be here. Anyway, my mom was a bitch. I really didn't like her, but the one day she just dissapeared, I cried. I wished for my mother to be gone almost everyday, but when my dreams became reality, it was tough for me. I mean I was only 9."

"Why did she leave?"

"Luke..."

"Sorry, if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, we can talk about something else."

"No, it's fine. I've just never opened up to anyone about this. Not even Calum."

Luke's jaw dropped. "Not even Calum?"

Her head shook horizontally. "My mom robbed banks. Before she was really into prostitution, she robbed banks. That's how a family of 5 with no dad and a mom without a stable job got by. She left us the moment Calum's dad got into some trouble. She knew the cops were going to investigate so she busted out of there. She left four young children alone in a house until I finally got the common sense to go over to Calum's house."

"Oh my god Hayden, I-"

"I lived with Calum and his mom until I was around fourteen or fifteen. When I was old enough to take care of Jackson, Regan, and Hunter by myself, I moved back into the house. It was untouched for atleast 6 years. I refused to go back because it reminded me of my shit mother. Joy and Calum constantly checked up on us to make sure we were doing fine. Joy raised me into the person I am today, not that horrible excuse for a mother I have."

"So, what about your grandparents? Why didn't they take you in?"

"The state gave my grandparents custody but they died shortly after they got custody. We didn't have enough time to pack our stuff before they died."

"I'm so sorry babe."

"Okay, if you don't want me calling you Lukey, don't call me babe." Hayden giggled.

"Okay, baby girl." A smirk radiated from Luke's face.

"Alright, I guess baby girl is okay." Luke made Hayden smile. She hadn't smiled this much in her whole life time. She was never truly happy, or never had a reason to be happy until now.

"So do you know about your dad at all?" Luke asked.

Hayden shook her head. "Never met the guy. Probably just one of my mom's flings that she thought she was so in love with. The woman obviously didn't know what real love was. She didn't show me any, so I guess she just didn't know what it was. She would meet a guy and the next day, she would come home like Oh Hay! I met a man and he's THE one! Even at my age, I knew it wasn't real."