Diva Diaries of Haley Dunphy (Modern Family)

10. Change (Last Chapter)

Dylan had finished taking a shower, it was evident in his fluffy hair. He looked surprised when he opened the door. ''Haley! It's getting a bit late- what are you doing here?''

''Dylan, I..'' Then, I suddenly spent two minutes talking in a very fast tone about how much he means to me, because he does. How much I will always love him, but don't want to hurt him when I'm longing for something- someone else.

When I finished talking, Dylan's face crumpled in confusion. ''Uh, do you want to come in?'' So he's slow with processing things. But it's going to be alright. Dylan's a sweetheart- I'm sure he'll be alright. Right?

All of a sudden, I felt a twinge of fear. But I know better that it was only sadness, not regret.

 ''Dylan, I will never stop loving you, but you need to. Because we're.. Over. '' I paused, taking deep breaths between my choked voice.

Dylan looked more puzzled than his resting face. He took both my arms and looked deep into my eyes. ''Haley, you will never be unloveable to me. Do you know that? ''

''R-Really?'' I quickly caught up with myself. 

''Dylan, it was great being your girlfriend. I don't have anything bad to say about you, but I don't want to hurt you by going into this new stage of life where I know we'll be unhappy together.''

''Wait, are you breaking up with me? Haley- is this a prank?'' Dylan's goofy smile disappeared and quivered a little. Shoot.

''Y-Yes. I'm sorry, Dylan. But it's better for me to end it here than drag you around, like you said you were tired of on our first breakup- you deserve better, that's my point.''

He shook his head, staring at the floor. ''Wow. I thought I'd handle this better than the first time. But you're so hard to get away from, Haley.''

I smiled and put a hand on his chest. ''I know.''

He pulled away my hand, smiling a little. ''I'm sure there's another lucky guy who'll be happy to have a chance with you.''

''I'll remember all the good times we had,''I said, voice breaking a little. ''Like when you climbed up to my room and Luke was on window duty with a water gun.''

He laughed softly, opening his arms to give me a hug.

Rain started pouring down. ''Do you want me to get you an umbrella?''

''Thanks, you should probably go inside. We've been standing by this door for about fifteen minutes!''

When I went back to Grandpa's house, Andy was waiting for me, a concerned look on his face. ''It was raining! Haley, where were you?''

''To a friend's house. But it's okay, they brought me an umbrella. I'm not wet.'' I'll tell him the truth about who that 'friend' was very soon. 

But first, I'll enjoy that he's free for me to kiss. Almost. Half my family was watching. 

Grandpa was shaking his head disapprovingly at Andy, but that's how he looks with every guy I'm with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 12th, Friday.

Dear Journal,

It's my one month anniversary with Andy. So far it's been.. different. 

But different doesn't have to be bad. Change will always be a part of life, but in some areas, change happens more frequently than others.

Being with Andy has opened my eyes to things I didn't see before, and during the times I'd look up college applications, it feels like being with him has put everything in place. 

When I thought he was the first man I've ever loved, I realized I was wrong. Dylan was. And he'll always be special to me; we've stayed friends.

Break ups feels easier to get over now, because among all the things that changes, the root of love doesn't. Or maybe I just got that phrase from some book our school forced us to read.

 As for my popularity at school, I've come to realize that after sitting on the nerd table, some of them were genuinely good friends. Not ones who used each other. So maybe not being popular is okay, but what's horrible is that I'm not quite not-popular.

I belong to the sad, fake society of plastic cool kids and those who hang out just to go to each other's parties. 

To tell the truth, now that I know how fake my friends are, I've never enjoyed the parties anyway.

Yet it looks like I'll have to deal with it, because my popularity will rise again soon, and with my history with school fame, it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. 

After I broke up with Dylan for the first time, the girls made fun of me and were intimidated that I'd steal Dylan back. So when I did, they grew resentful (a new word I learned thanks to Alex's late night nerd-practicing) and thought I was using Dylan to get famous again. 

But I had proven that I'm fine without the fame by breaking up with Dylan before making a move with the cool kids, and in a way, that got me respected.

I don't have time to go shopping on nights with school the next day, anyway. It's already my last year of high school, and it's time to get serious. 

Normally I'd be hesitant or complain about that, but Andy helps me get through everything. Like I help him study for his realtor license exam, or whatever it is. A new relationship means facing fears of the old one. 

I'm graduating in six months, and my parents are right: it's time to start thinking about a life I'm going to build for myself. 

All that seriousness being said, Andy and I can't get our hands off each other. Whatever is in it for our futures, I hope we'll get through it together. 

If not, I won't regret spending any minute with him anyways. 

Author's Note:
This is it! The last chapter, the finale of Haley Dunphy's story! She ends up with Andy, but who knows what the future will hold (I love this message.) Thank you so much to all the readers who stayed until the very end. Please consider dropping a vote/follow if you enjoyed, and tell me what your favorite chapter was!

I will also post this story on ao3 with the same username! If you want more Modern Family fanfic/content from me, go check out my short fanfic of Lily Tucker-Pritchett, up on my profile!

Everyone please stay safe and until the next book,

Tarrwrites