Stay with Me

Chapter One

"Cooper we're done, I can't keep going on like this. You constantly hurt me over and over again and I can't take it anymore! You're toxic and I don't love you anymore! You're such an asshole Cooper!" Hannah screams at him.
"Jesus Christ Hannah! Everything I do is because I fucking love you! Why can't you see that?!" He says screaming in her face.
"You don't love me Cooper! You love the idea of having someone, being loved! Not me! Just leave me alone please. I don't need you anymore!" Hannah says tears rolling down her face. Cooper raises his hand to her cheek to wipe the tears but she harshly slaps it away and looks to her side.
"Please stay with me Annie," He exhales loudly.
"I still need you!" He begs her to stay as she turns around to walk away. She stifles her cry and looks back at him.
"I don't need you and I never will again." She says fastly walking away. She looks at her best friends in the car on the side of the road, idling in the cold night air. She makes eye contact with the three boys, Matt, Cyrus and Noah as they look at her upset. The car squeals as she gets into the passenger seat. She breaks down and her body goes cold. This was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. She'd been in a relationship with Cooper since the seventh grade. Now, she is almost a senior and she couldn't believe that it was over. She didn't want to believe what happened had really happened. Her sobs fill the car as the boys watch in sorrow.
"Hannah," Matt says putting his hand on her shoulder. She looks at him with tears actively running down her pink soaked cheeks.
"I-I'm so sorry.." He says trying to comfort her. She closes her eyes and holds her breath. Tears fall from her eyes again quickly. Noah and Cyrus look at each other, there was a small pause and Noah nods.
"Let's head home so we can talk." Noah suggested. Everyone in the car agreed and soon they were on their way home. The car ride home was filled with awkward and pending silence.
Hannah tried holding back tears the way home but she couldn't. As the three boys sat there in silence trying to focus on something else, Hannah looked out the window and cried in the front seat.
"Okay we're here." Matt says parking the car and unbuckling. Cyrus and Noah unbuckle as well. When the four of them talked about certain things, they would always stay in the car or a closed room so their parents couldn't hear them. Hannah sobs loudly and puts her face in her hands. Cyrus frowns and leans forward to rub her back. Noah opens his phone and texts his parents with what's going on. Matt sits there and tears full every inch of his eyes. His best friend was hurting and there was nothing he could do, except comfort her.
"That fucking asshole didn't deserve you Annie. You have the most kind-hearted and purest soul. You are the greatest person I've ever met in my life. He didn't see that, he didn't want to see that side of you. All he saw was a beautiful girl and he took advantage of that. Yes, Hannah you are beautiful but there is so much more to you than that and it's disgusting that he couldn't see past just your beauty." Matt says holding her hand tightly. She smiles through the pain and the tears fall slower.
"He's right Hannah. You are perfect in almost every way and he didn't deserve you." Cyrus says and Noah agrees. Hannah looks between the three boys and her smile fades softly.
"Thank you guys." Hannah says between her sobs and she sniffs. Matt gently wipes away some tears falling down her cheek. She leans into his hand.
"I'm the luckiest person to have best friends like you three. I love you guys so much." She says chocking on her words a little. The boys smile softly, tell her she's welcome and that they love her and start to get out of the car. Hannah wipes her eyes and puts her hair behind her ears before taking a deep breath and unbuckling. She opens her car door and follows the boys inside their house.
"Can I sleep here tonight?" She asks them shyly. Noah jumps up and down and says yes repeatedly. She smiles at him. The twins nod their heads and smile.
"We're setting up a movie so don't take too long." Cy says turning towards his bedroom.
"We won't be long." Noah says rolling his eyes and stepping into his room. Matt and Cyrus go to their rooms and get ready for the movie night. Hannah walks into Noah's room and sits on the cushion chair in the corner. Noah throws an oversized hoodie and sweats at her and chuckles.
"What're we gonna do till the movie Noah? I'm a little bored." She exaggerated quietly putting on the sweats Noah had lent to her.
"We're gonna be up all night talking about the boy, since you know. He confessed he likes me!" Noah says cutely. Hannah smiles. Even with everything going on, she was so happy to see how excited he was about this.
"Good! I'd rather hear about your love life than to think of my own." She giggles softly, sniffling at the end. Noah frowns a little bit.
"Are you sure you're okay with us talking about this? Since what just happened?" He asks patting his bed for her to sit next to him. She nods.
"Noah of course im okay with it, this is important to you! What's important to you is important to me as well, you know that. Plus I could use hearing something good happening with you." She says with a chuckle. He wraps his arms around her waist quickly and hugs her tightly.
"This is why you need a gay best friend." He says and they both laugh softly. Soft knocks occur at Noah's door.
"C'mon in." He says. Matt walks through the door slowly. His eyes fixated on his phone until he's fully in the room.
"What're you guys doin? Come watch a movie with me and twinner Cyrus." He says smiling at Noah. Cyrus and Matt are fraternal twins and they are both 17 and Noah was the youngest at 16. Hannah was in the middle of the boys, and Matt would always make fun of her for that.
"C'mon kiddos." Matt says with a smirk on his face as he walks away from the doorway.
"We're not kids!" Noah complains getting up to chase Matt. Hannah sits still on Noah's bed for a second. She looks down at her hands that are in her lap. She begins to play with her fingers and rings softly as tears well up in her eyes once again. She closes her eyes softly, letting tears fall. She was so broken inside, she didn't know how to fix this damaging feeling in her stomach and chest.
"Hannah come on!" Cyrus called from downstairs. She could hear the laughing from the boys and she shook her head.
"Be happy for them." She says to herself, wiping the tears off her cheeks and standing up. She makes her way downstairs and flops onto Cyrus. He chuckles and begins to tickle her softly. She starts to squirm around on his lap giggling and laughing.
"S-stop! Cyrus!" She says in between loud laughter. Matt and Noah come over and grab Hannah's legs and Cyrus grabs her arms beneath her shoulders. She looks around nervously with a growing smile.
"Put me down! what're you doing?" She squeals with a full smile on her face. The boys started to sway her side to side.
"One," They started. She starts to laugh and call out to them to stop, "Two...Three!" The boys threw her into the couch and the four of them bursted out in laughter. She sits up dizzily and flips them off.
"Don't ever do that again." She suggests her fingers at them. Cyrus smiles and sits down on her left.
"Can't promise you anything Annie." He says with a wink and then chuckles. Hannah looks at Matt, then Noah and smiles.
"Thank you, for everything boys. I don't know where I'd be without my best friends. I love you guys." She says solemnly. Matt sits down next to her and Noah sits in the floor in front of her. Noah takes her hands and smiles tearfully.
"We'll always be there for you Hannah, to pick you up, to save you, to help you out. We'll always be here for you because you're our best friend and because we know you'd do the same for us." He says holding her hands. Matt is rubbing her back and her head is on his shoulder. Cyrus lays his head on her shoulder and links his arm with hers.
"You're more than a best friend Hannah, you're our family." Cyrus says shakily, trying to fight back tears seeing his broken down friend. Matt nods softly in agreement and rubs his thumb against the base of her neck. Hannah sits there stifling back tears. She was so lucky to have them. She truly loved them with everything she was;truth is she loved them more than she loved herself.