Never Make A Promise

Never Make A Promise 22

"As you know, seven years ago..........." Ed began.

"Seven years ago......." I repeated.

"I had some....anger issues," he said.

"Really?"

"You never noticed?"

"Well, thinking back at it....kinda, yeah," I said, thinking back to when he used to get mad and when he used to knock things over and break things- like the lamp I always thought he broke on accident- and when he went on screaming rampages against Mom over the tiniest things. For example, there was this one time when Mom teased him a little bit when he tucked his shirt in when he was going on a date- he never tucked his shirt in like a 'perfect gentleman'- and he threw an absolute fit. Think of a little little kid's reaction when they've just been told 'no' to getting a toy they really really want. That was what his reaction to her teasing him was like. Scary stuff, isn't it?

"Off that now, as you most likely don't know......you're dad tried to see you seven years ago," he said slowly. My eyes widened and the phone slipped from my hand. He just said what now? I tried to say something, but my mouth wouldn't form the words. It was going dry. He tried to see me. My dad really tried to see me. Which means.....that...he...he tried to find me. He DID find me. He kept his promise, it was never broken. I picked the phone back up.

"He did?" I choked out.

"He did."

"Whe- when was this?!"

"The day before......IT happened."

"What? The day before?"

"Yes."

"Why....why didn't Mom tell me?!"

"She didn't want him to see you."

"Why not?"

"Because he hadn't seen you in five years and she thought you were finally getting over leaving him and she didn't want to ruin that by bringing him back into your life."

"That wasn't HER call to make! I WANTED to see him!"

"You think I didn't know that?"

"Well you didn't have to go kill her for it!"

"Your dad was my best friend. Your parents met through me and I got a little upset when she told me that he found her at work and didn't tell me until the day after. She told him not to speak to her ever again and that she was just going to take you away somewhere else again if he came near you. I told her she was being unreasonable and that there was no reason for her to keep you away from him and that he deserved to see you."

"Why did she want to take me away from him in the first place? Why did she leave him?" I asked, near tears.

"He thought she was cheating on him and she had enough of his easily triggered jealousy and decided to leave him. As punishment for him, she took you with her and made it so he couldn't see you or find you. But your old man....he's good. He found you two and wanted to see you again."

"If you thought he was such a great guy and he was your best friend, why didn't you help me find him? You knew I wanted to see him as much as Mom knew."

"Because she told me she left him for a different reason. And let me tell you, it took everything in me not to go kill him when she told me."

"What did she tell you?"

"She lied to me and told me that he was beating the crap out of you and she was worried that he'd start on you," he said. I froze.

"HOW COULD YOU BELIEVE THAT?! HE WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

"Shh, Hayley calm down."

"I CAN'T calm down. All these things happened to me in my lifetime and for the most RIDICULOUS reasons! Is that why you killed her? Because she wouldn't let him see me?"

"That and she talked badly about him. She said some things that I don't really care to repeat and, you know, me having my anger issues. I found a solution to stop her from talking about him like that."

"So you killed her," I said flatly.

"Why do you got to say it like that?" he groaned.

"How the hell else am I supposed to say it. Be all bright and bubbly and say 'so that's why you killed her'," I said, using a bubbly and squeaky voice at the end.

"Not exactly," he said slowly.

"Bottom line is, you killed my mom for no good reason. You could have convinced her to let me see him."

"It was a spur of the moment kind of thing," he mumbled. I sighed and looked down at the counter top. There wasn't really anything else that I wanted to ask or talk to him about other than what I already got out or got answered.

"Okay, we're gonna go now," I said.

"Hayley-"

"I'll come back later," I told him. Then I hung the phone up and stood up quickly.

"What did he say?" Damon asked worriedly, but with some anger. I jumped, forgetting he was here.

"I'll tell you later," I said softly, walking past him. He followed me out of the visiting room and we went to the same desk to sign out. After that, I practically ran out of there. As soon as we got outside, I did run.

"Hayley!" Damon called after me. I went as far as his car before I stopped to breathe. He caught up with me a couple minutes after I stopped. "God, you run fast." I just looked down at the ground and didn't reply. He opened the passenger door for me and let me in. He went around quickly and got in and started the car. We left the institution as quickly as we had gotten there. I didn't know if I would really come see Ed again. There was so much to consider in order for me to make a decision on that one. Once again, there was an uncomfortable silence in between me and Damon.

"Sorry," I said, breaking the ice.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"Running."

"You just talked to the very same man who killed you mom and from what I heard it was for no good reason," he said. I looked out my window, fighting against the tears that wanted to come pouring down from my eyes. I didn't want to cry. Not now. "Look, if you don't want to tell me what he said, you don't have to."

"What are you acting like this?" I asked suddenly.

"Acting like what?" he asked, taken aback.

"Like........caring and not your usual self."

"I don't really think this is the time to be my usual self," he said.

"Okay, I know you want to smirk, but you're not," I said, watching his facial expression. NOW he was smirking.

"Better?" he asked. I nodded.

"Better. At least now I don't think the apocalypse is coming or anything like that."

"Just because I didn't act like my normal annoying self?"

"All I heard was you're annoying."

"Yes, I admitted it."

"It's about time," I said.

"I want you to know that you noticed that I'm annoying before anyone else did."

"That's because I'm the only one you enjoy bugging."

"I bug you?"

"From time to time, yes. Like when we first met for example."

"Oh, when I kept trying to get you to go out with me?"

"Yes, that would be what I am referring to. And now we're friends."

"Yeah....friends," he said slowly and painfully. I didn't want to pretend like I didn't notice.

"What? You don't want to be friends with me?"

"No, that's not what I mean...."

"What do you mean then?"

"You don't.....I can't be friends with you, Hayley."

"Why? Is it because of the gang, because I already told you that I'm not going to tell anyone. And if it helps, I'll stay by your side. I'll keep being your friend."

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" I asked. He slammed on the brakes on an empty road- once again- and made me fly painfully against my seatbelt. I never realize how fast he drives until he slams on the brakes like that. "Okay, third time you've done that- with me in the car at least. What was it this time?" I asked him, but he was already getting out of the car. Confused, I watched him come over to my side and open the door.

"I need to talk to you."

"And this isn't something we can talk about in the car?"

"So stubborn," he muttered to himself, getting on his knees in front of me. "Hayely, I'll admit that when we first met, you were another gorgeous girl that I wanted to take off my list. But you and I ended up spending more and more time together and I.....I started....FEELING things. Things that I've never felt before. For example, every day I'd be excited to go to school simply because of the fact that I would see you there and get to talk to you in class and I hated going home after school and I wouldn't be able to wait for the next morning to see you. You're stubborn, you're smart, you're ridiculously gorgeous, you're kind, you're sarcastic, you're easy to talk to, and you aren't afraid to tell people what you're really thinking. I have been trying to tell you this since we left Aspen, but there was always some sort of interruption. And now-" he said, turning his phone off and putting it back in his pocket. "There are no interruptions."

"My phone is on-"

"I love you, Hayley," he said. My heart immediatley stopped beating and when it picked up again, it was beating ten times faster than it was just a couple seconds ago. He....he loved me. I was...........I felt..........I don't know what I felt. I knew that I loved him too, but the feeling I felt then was.......indescribable. I wanted to jump right into his arms and squeal. Oh gosh, how girly of me. Girly and cliche. Keep calm, Hayley, I thought. It's not like he asked you to marry him or anything. I didn't even realize how long I had kept quiet until he said something.

"You know I would feel a lot better if you said something," he said. I inhaled.

"I love you too," I blurted. Then I slapped a hand over my mouth. I didn't mean for it to come out like that! All rushed and somewhat hard to understand. But I could tell that it didn't matter how I had said it, just the fact that I told him mattered. He grinned, wrapped his arms around my waist, and put his forehead on mine.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that," he whispered. I smiled and did something that I know he's wanted me to do for a long while and it was something that I, myself, wanted to do. I pressed my lips against his and kissed him. He kissed me back gently and we actually started moving back. As in I was just about laying on my back with Damon hovering over me. Yes, it was uncomfortable. An incredibly annoying sound scared the crap out of both of us and caused him to jump off me.

"That would be my phone," I said, reaching in my pocket to get it. I looked at who was calling and sighed. "It's Joyce."

"You should probably get that," he said.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Hayley," she said.

"Hey Joyce."

"I just wanted to let you know that a couple friends of yours that I ran into here told me to pass you a message."

"What message?"

"I'm not sure what it means, they said that you would know what I'm talking about. I think they said it's for some game."

"What's the message?"

"We're still watching," she said. I felt the color drain from my face, earning a concerned look from Damon. Then Joyce giggled.

"Joyce?"

"Sorry, Chris was tickling me," she said.

"Chris is there?" I asked, pretending to be surprised. She must have remembered that she was talking to me, not whoever she thought she was talking to, and then started stuttering something that was far from understandable.

"Yeah, ran into him," she summed up. Okay so she was giving me some story about running into Chris in Chicago. Got it.

"I see," I said.

"Yeah....I have to go now, so I'll talk to you later. Bye!" she said quickly and hung up. I closed my own phone.

"What did she say?" Damon asked. I remembered what she first told me.

"She said that there was a message a couple friends of mine told her to give to me."

"Who?"

"I.....I forgot to ask her. She said something about Chris being with her and yeah, you heard that. But I think I know just from the message."

"What's the message?"

"We're still watching," I said. He knew right away who it was from.

"Jake and Larry," he said aloud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Phew! Finally finished typing this. I've had so many distractions since I got home, and a lot of you who were talking to me over chat wanted to know when I would have this up and I said soon, but it's like 12:45 and I said soon some 8 hours ago. Yeah, Nikky, that's REAL soon.

Well? What'd you guys think? She finally found out, there was a little bit of a surprise in her uncle's revelation, AND Damon FINALLY told her. Lol, I bet you're all thinking 'about freaking time!'

So....................comment and vote pretty please! Tell me what you guys think! Do you like this part? Do you NOT like this part? I wonder.......Tee hee.