Preacher Man // ross lynch + driver era

85

I have avoided heading next door three times and came up with lame excuses to hold off going to the party. I finally grew the courage and walked into the next hotel. I wore a black floral dress that allowed some wiggle room so it didn't show off my weight loss too much. I don't want to be questioned.

I hesitated going through the doors three more times before I decided to just walk in there with confidence.

The first person I see is Rocky and I immediately make a beeline to him. "Hey," I say, my hand touching his arm.

He turns around, a smile taking over his face. "Hi! Oh my god, I didn't know you were coming," he says, leaning down to pull me into a hug.

I shrug. "A very, very last second decision. Where is Rydel?" I ask.

He looks around then points over to her. "I'll walk you over," he says, placing his hand onto my back and guiding me. "Rydel," he sings.

She turns around and lets out a small screech then sprints over to me in her heels. "Hi, hi, hi," she says, pulling me into her exposed arms.

I squeeze her tighter. "Hi, I missed you."

"I missed you so much more. I'm so happy you're here," she says. "I need to introduce you to my friends." I nod and follow behind her to the group of girls she was with before. "This is Vanni, Sav and my cousin Lori!"

I smile, waving my one hand up. "Hey. You look familiar," I say to the one she pointed as Vanni. She smiles, her dark hair taking me back to the place I saw her previously. "Was she the one you walked around town with? When you came inside the bookstore and she was outside on the phone?" I ask Rydel.

Vanni nods. "Yes! That's crazy you remember. It's great to see you again," she says, pulling me into a hug.

As I'm talking to Vanni about her move to Los Angeles, I hear his voice.

A wave of nausea rushes over me.

"I don't know if you're supposed to give another gift if I already gave you one for your real birthday, but here's a card with a possible surprise in it," Ross says as he approaches us.

I turn around and glance behind me. I see him inhale sharply and immediately begin to cough as he locks eyes on me. He is so caught off guard. I don't blame him. Danielle is next to him, trailing behind as she's texting. My heart begins to race even more.

He leans down and hugs Rydel. "Hello, my favorite sister," Danielle says, hugging Rydel next.

Ross awkwardly walks to us. "Hey Vanni, Hayley. I didn't know you were coming," he whispers to me.

I shrug. "I booked my ticket at 5 PM last night," I admit.

"Babe, let's go say hi to everyone!" Danielle yells from behind him. I immediately turn around to face Vanni once more.

Rydel comes back over to us. "I'm sorry, I didn't even have time to tell him you were coming. I'm an asshole, are you okay?"

I nod, glancing over at the two of them who are now in front of the photo opportunity with Rydel's name in balloons.

I watch as she grabs his face and leans up, her lips touching his. I immediately turn away from the view, feeling a massive wave of nausea. "Yeah, I'm okay! I just need some fresh air. I'll be right back, I promise," I smile and head right toward the exit.

I see the bathroom right before the exit doors and I slide in there instead. I feel like I'm going to throw up. As I hurry in front of the sink, I stare at myself in the mirror. The tears begin to roll down my face.

I wasn't ready to see them together.

I hear the door open and I immediately go to turn and hide in a stall. That was until his blonde head peaked around the corner.

"You can't be in here," I say. "It's the woman's bathroom," I clarify.

Ross shrugs and makes his long strides closer to me. "I don't care. Are you okay?"

I watch as his eyes trail down my body and I'm immediately self-conscious. I cross my arms over my stomach with the tears obvious on my face. "I... I thought I was ready to see you two together. I'm sorry, I'm just... overwhelmed."

"I swear if I even had a thought you'd be coming, I would've came up with some reason for her to not come. I promise you," he rambles. "I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have."

The image repeats in my head and I step back, my heart racing at the man in front of me. "I'm sorry, I just need a moment," I whisper, placing my hands against the wall to collect myself and try to stop the attack.

"Are you having a panic attack?" He asks, his voice laced with guilt.

He feels responsible for all that's going wrong with me.

I shrug. "No, not yet. Just overwhelmed." I reiterate again.

Ross steps closer to me and reaches his hand out to touch me and I immediately step closer against the wall. "Hayley, am I scaring you or something?" He asks, taking a step back himself.

"I haven't touched you since you broke up with me," I whisper.

I'm scared that if I touch him, I will be hit with a train of all of the emotions I was pushing under the rug.

He shakes his head. "I don't want to hurt you. I just missed you a lot. I'm sorry if I'm scaring you."

As he stands in front of me, I feel all my walls wanting to break down. But I can't. I can't go through it again.

"You're not scaring me, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to jump," I apologize, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Ross keeps his eyes on my face and I'm happy he isn't staring at my body. "Can I have a hug?"

It's the end of September. It's been almost four months since I've seen him face to face. We talked twice. A hug is harmless.

"Yeah," I whisper softly. I know I couldn't hold back.

It takes him less than a second to move toward me, his arms going around my waist immediately. The heels do me justice as I wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face into the soft skin there.

You know that feeling when your stomach sinks to the floor, but in a funny way? That's exactly how I felt.

His scent takes over my body and I don't want to pull away from him ever. His thumb is moving slowly along the small of my back.

"I missed you," he whispers into the quiet air.

It makes me stomach swirl.

I lean back a bit. "I missed you too." I slide my hands off his body although I didn't want to. "I - uh, I listened to your album," I blurt.

Ross leans back a bit, raising his eyebrows at me. "Oh, you did?" I nod slowly. "Did it suck?"

"No, you're doing fucking amazing," I stress. "I'm proud of you."

He smiles. "Thank you so much," he replies, obviously proud of himself as well. All deserving. "You... you look better. I don't mean to offend you, I'm sorry if I did."

"I gained back three pounds," I reply. "I've been going to therapy. I'm going to try group therapy too," I inform him.

The future psychologist is seeing a psychologist.

Ross reaches out, his fingers tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "I am so insanely proud of you," he whispers.

"Thanks," I reply quietly. His fingers trace down from behind my ear and to my chin, his eyes staring into each section of my skin he rests his fingers on. "Ross," I whisper in a warning, his touch sending shivers down my spine. He's making me feel too many different ways in this moment.

I watch as his fingers move to the bottom of my chin, tilting it up only slightly. "Hayley," he whispers back.

I don't even have another second to comprehend everything when his lips touched mine.