Twenty Four Hours ✿ Hayes Grier

vi // 9:48 pm

dear hayes and nash,

thank you for everything, but it was wrong of me to rely on you for a ride. i shouldn't have gone with you.

i'm sorry,
ava

"fuck!" hayes swore aloud, rereading the short note and hoping he missed something. "nash, come here!"

nash broke away from his conversation with cam and the jacks to walk over to his frantic brother. hayes handed nash the note, his eyes scanning the brief words quickly.

nash closed his eyes and sighed. "shit, i hope she's gonna be okay by herself."

hayes furrowed his eyebrows. "by herself? what are you talking about? we're gonna go find her."

nash opened his mouth, as if trying to speak but not able to find words.

"nash! we have to find her! she's all by herself in la, at night." hayes grabbed a jacket and tied his shoelaces.

"what's wrong?" cameron asked, joining in the conversation.

"ava left." hayes said. "the truth is, she isn't just our friend. we found her in the middle of the street, and she needed a ride to la so she can go see her aunt. and now she's gone., because she thinks that she isn't important. but she is. and i wish she would know she was. and nashhole here is refusing to go out and find her."

cameron looked confused for a second, taking in all the information hayes had just told him. "what are we waiting for? lets go find ava."

hayes smiled.

+

the search for ava was going successfully until hayes and nash remembered both of them had failed to get ava's phone number.

"how. how could you forgot to get her number for god's sake." cameron said, while leaning back in his chair, clearly frustrated.

"i don't know! it never came to my mind! we were with her the whole time, i didn't think we would need her number." hayes said. "were never gonna find her, are we?"

no one answered, because no one could really know for sure. and that scared hayes. he couldn't imagine ava out in the dark all alone.

they searched in silence for almost a half-hour. it felt like multiple hours. hayes leaned his head against the glass window. his heart sunk as he realized that he would probably never see her again.

"holy shit!" nash suddenly shouted. "i think i found her!" nash pulled over to a nearby bus stop. it was definitely ava, her long hair was unruly and her head was leaned against the wall. she looked miserable, even though he couldn't see her face.

hayes opened the car door as soon as nash pulled up to the stop.

"fucking hell, ava!" she turned around, her face tired and worn out. "how could you leave?"

"hayes! i said that i don't need you, just leave me be." she turned away and scooted to the opposite end of the bench. "i appreciate the ride here but i don't need your help anymore."

"ava, stop! i want you to stay! i want to spend time with you! is that such a fucking crime?"

"i'm not stupid, hayes. i don't need you to watch over me like i'm five years old. i don't need anyone." she took off in a fast walk. hayes chased after her.

"ava, please just-just stop." he had to jog to keep up with the fast-paced girl. her legs were relatively long and she was hard to catch up to. "can i just tell you something?"