Echoes of Aphasia

Chapter 12: I Miss You's And Angry Best Friends

After that night Hayden stopped texting me as much as he used to. We hardly ever saw each other at work and most days after work, I would directly go home and start preparing supper for myself and Caden some he was there almost every night. We spent a majority of our time going over the same facts we already knew, re-watching the same videos and trying to look for something new in the same old photos. Every effort seemed to prove to be worthless, but Caden never gave up. He kept on looking.

When we were exhausted for the night, we would watch a movie together and even tell each other about our lives. I had a great friendship with him, but it was not the same. He was not my Hayden. He was not my best friend. And I missed him. Boy did I miss my goofy, incredibly handsome best friend. I longed to just have a normal conversation with him, something other than “have you finished the reports for me?” I missed us.

It was raining hard again tonight, like it had been the past couple of nights. I was busy watching a movie when I heard a knock on my front door. I assumed that it was Caden at the door, so without thinking twice about my outfit, which consisted of tights and Hayden’s hoodie, I opened the door.

Instead of Caden standing there with his normal cup of on-the-go tea and a latte for me, was a drenched Hayden standing with a box of Lindt dark chocolate and a bouquet of red, pink and lavender colored roses. As soon as I saw him, I threw my arms around his neck, whether he was drenched or not didn't matter to me, and I hugged him like he's my lifeline. His arms immediately circled my waist and he buried his head in my neck. Home. That’s the first word that popped into my mind when he threw his arms around me. I can’t believe how much I missed this handsome guy.

“I missed you so much AllyBear. So, so much!” I heard him mumble in my neck. His breath tickled my son and goose bumps made their way over my skin.

“I missed you too, Hayds.” I held him closer to me and signed in content as I stood there, engulfed in his strong arms. After a while, I pulled back and opened the door for him to enter in to. I still had some of his clothing that he left with me the last time he was with me so he was able to take a hot bath and get into clean clothing while I chucked his wet clothing into my laundry basket in my washing room. I’ll wash it tomorrow. I thought to myself. I quickly ran to my room and got dressed in something else so that I wouldn’t get sick from his cold hug.

He came out looking as red as a tomato, and yet, he still looked breathtakingly handsome. He probably took an extremely hot bath to help him warm up from the rain. He immediately walked over to me when he saw me and then he pulled me back into his arms and together we just stood there, holding each other, without uttering a word to one another.

“I'm sorry about being cold the past three weeks AllyBear, I just.. I was hurt that you would blow our face time over to spend time with a man who mentally and physically abused you. Are you guys, you know, back together?”

“It's fine Hayds, I get it. Caden and I made peace that night. We are actually back together currently and we are trying to also be good friends now instead of just jumping randomly in the relationship without spending any time together. He apologized sincerely for how he treated me and I forgave him, since I kind of cheated on him also.”

“So just because you kissed me twice, now you decided to give him a chance after he slept with my ex girlfriend and said those horrible things about you?” I could tell he was getting worked up. I couldn't for the life of me understand why it bothered him so much, but I did however realize that it probably felt too him like I've somehow replaced him. I know, because that's how I've been feeling since he started dating Penelope.

“No Hayds, both of us messed up and I like him. I want us to give the relationship a better go at it. Though, he is here almost every night since my best friend abandoned me the minute he got himself a new girlfriend.” I tried to act as playful as I could, but I know he could hear the hint of sadness in my voice. He knew me too well to not be able to pick up that I didn't feel playful at all.