Hailee has been ignoring me after our little date night a couple of weeks ago and as much as I wanna confront her about it, I stayed quiet and just gave her the same treatment.
Two can play at this game, Steinfeld. I thought to myself once again as I tinker around with my laptop while trying to figure out what more touches needs to be done with Colson's collab with Hailee. Although the song is 90% done, it's still incomplete.
"Is there anything I can get you, Ms. Baker?" My personal assistant, Rebekah asked.
"I'll just have my usual coffee. And no sugar this time love, please. Thanks." I looked up to her a bit with a small smile and she nodded as she wrote it down her mini notepad.
She went around to the rest of the team in the other room and asked the others if they want something to eat or drink.
"I'll just have the same thing Y/N asked. But with sugar please, Beks. I don't wanna pull an all nighter like her." Cole whispered the last part making Rebekah let out a chuckle while I just looked at my brother with a small smirk.
"Of course, Mr. Baker. How about you, Ms. Steinfeld? Is there anything I can get you?" I can basically feel my ears perk up a bit as soon as I heard Hailee's voice.
"Oh, I'll just have a hot choco please." She said as Rebekah made sure she heard our orders right before leaving the room.
An awfully deafening silence engulfed the room the moment the door shut close that you can heard crickets ringing around.
"So... Any changes we need to do, sis?" Cole asked in hope to lighten up the slight tension.
"Why would you ask me? I'm just here to produce your song and help tinker around the flow. You should ask your collaboration partner." I plainly said, not bothering to take my sight away from my laptop screen.
I can feel Hailee's eyes on me while I said those but I never bothered to look at her even a little bit.
I felt the couch I'm in sink a little bit and I casted a side glance and saw Colson moving close beside me.
"Seriously... How long are you two gonna ignore each other? What the hell happened after that date night? You said you'd tell me the next day but you never did."
"Date night? What date night are you talking about?" I shrugged a bit while I pressed some random buttons on my laptop.
"Don't fuck with me, sis. You know damn well what I'm talking about." He said seriously.
"Oh that date night. The date night where everything changed. It was nothing special. What would be so worth talking about that?" I said without any emotions.
"Nothing special? Don't "nothing special" me you little shit. You were so hell bent on making that night a very special night for the both of you, especially for Hailee. You went home looking so happy, went to sleep with a big ass smile on your face and the next day, you acted like that night never happened." He ranted.
"It's what she wants. What Hailee wants is what Hailee gets." I tried to suppress a scoff but failed causing Cole to only sigh and at the same time, Rebekah came back with our orders. She gave us our orders and was about to sit down when Cole suddenly stood up.
"I will need to talk some things with the uh- other team on the other room. Rebekah, mind assisting me love?" I caught him giving a small glance towards me and Hailee and Rebekah nodded.
"R-Right." Rebekah stuttered as she followed Colson out of the room after Cole went to Hailee and whispered something. I swear to god with that guy.
Again, I can feel Hailee's eyes on me but I chose to keep my eyes on my laptop and put on my headphones instead. Bitch this silence is killing me.
I started humming the instrumental tune I made for their collab while pressing some buttons on my laptop in hoping it might help with the EDMs and shit and somehow it's helping.
"Uhm... Y/N." I heard Hailee's voice but chose to keep quiet.
"Y/N." She called once again. Still no response.
"Y/N Baker." Once again, silence.
I heard her groan and I felt like my ears were cut out with the way she yanked my headphones.
"How long are you gonna be like this? Seriously. What the hell?" She said.
"Oh sorry, you were calling me?" I asked with a bit of sarcasm in my voice.
"No shit, genius. What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked, causing me to snap at the question.
"Me?! Oh, so now the problem is me? Funny that you mentioned that cause in fact, I should be one asking you, Steinfeld. After that dinner we had, the next morning I got a text from you that I should stop whatever gesture I was planning to show you. Forget that that date even happened and everything we did. And when I asked you why, you just went on your pretty little way and blocked me. So don't go asking me what the hell is wrong with me when the real question here is what the fuck is wrong with you and what the hell did I do wrong." I snapped at her as I stood up and went out of the room not bothering to turn around when she called my name once again.
I heaved a deep sigh as I felt the tears I was holding back escape my eyes. I closed my eyes a bit before wiping my tears away and left the studio.
----
"This song is amazing, Y/N!" Cole exclaimed once they finished hearing the full demo.
"Thanks. I did what I could." I plainly said as my phone started ringing.
"I gotta take this. Rebekah can help you with the recording. I'll be back in 2 hours." I grabbed my car keys and went to the door. I saw Hailee looking at me sadly.
A week after our argument, we both acted like the other wasn't even there. The only times we would actually exchange words with each other is when it's related to the song. Other than that, it's ghost.
----
"Excuse me, what now?" I almost choked on my drink with what I saw from Cole's phone.
"That's damn fucking right sis! You have been nominated as Producer Of The Year!! At My Best ft Hailee was also nominated for Collaboration of the Year. The song gained almost 1Billion streams on Spotify now!" Colson said.
"Wait so that means..."
"Damn right! We'll be at the BBMA's next week my dear sister so you need to have a date by then."
"A date? Why the hell would I need a date to the BBMAs when I have you?" I snickered.
"In case you forgot, woman... I'll be going with my wife and our kids." He said with a plain face.
"Oh shit, that's right. I'll just go alone then." I shrugged.
"What?! You can't be going alone! You need to have a date!" He exclaimed once again and his eyes lit up while I can basically see a light bulb perk up above his head.
"How about you go ask—" he said but I cut him off.
"NOPE. Not gonna happen." I plainly said as I take a sip on my drink.
"You haven't even known whose name I'm gonna mention!" He facepalmed.
"Yeah, I do. You're gonna tell me to ask Hailee to be my date at the BBMAs which is not and never gonna happen." I looked at him.
"Okay, fine. You caught me." He raised his hands in defeat causing me to smirk.
"Like I'm gonna be needing a date to the red carpet and to the whole event. I'll be fine going without a date, thank you very much." I chuckled causing him to chuckle as well.
"And besides..." I suddenly became serious causing him to look at me.
"She's going with Niall. They got back together remember?"
"Right. Ugh, why did she even got back with that dude when he can't even treat her right?" Cole made a disgusted face making me laugh.
"Don't know, don't care. And don't beat yourself too much in knowing the reason why, bro." I shrugged as I chugged down my remaining beer.
"You two still haven't talked after your little heated argument?" He asked and I can only nod.
"Like I said... What Hailee wants is what Hailee gets." I say as I look at the empty bottle in front of me.
"You still haven't told me what the hell happened on your dinner date." He said, still not dropping the topic.
"It was just a dinner. Not a date." I told him eventhough it really was a dinner date. "And honestly, I don't wanna talk about it." I sighed as I ran my hand on my hair.
"Sis... You know I'm here for you right? You can always tell me anything that's bothering you." He placed his hand on mine, making me let out a small smile.
"The dinner was fine and it was perfect. After we had dinner, we drove around while enjoying the view of the city lights. She found a perfect spot to gaze on those lights, we sat at the hood of my car, enjoying each other's presence and shared a kiss. Another perfect moment. Our night ended with me driving her home, walking her to their front door and made sure she got inside before I went back to the car and drove home myself. When I got to my room, I let her know that I was already at home and even told her good night." I said and sighed.
"Okay... So what the hell was the reason why you two started ignoring each other. Cause to be honest with you, it was starting to piss the fuck out of me." He rolled his eyes.
"The next morning when I woke up, I messaged her with good morning and the next thing I knew she told me to just stop whatever gesture I'm showing her, forget that that night even happened. Basically she asked me to stay away from her." I kept my eyes on the empty bottle.
"Holy fuck." He smirked.
"What?" I looked at him.
"You are so fucking in love with Hailee!!" He grinned.
"Wow, I'm surprised at how fast you figured it out." I sarcastically said.
"I mean, I know you like her but I never knew you're inlove with her!"
"Doesn't matter now anyways, does it? She's back together with Niall, she's happy with this arrangement and so am I." I shrugged.
"Yeah, keep telling that lie to yourself, sister." He playfully scoffed and head upstairs.
When I found out she was back with Niall, I was devastated to say the least. I had mixed feelings. Jealousy, anger, sadness... Pain. I never let it show to anyone but obviously my brother saw through me.
I have admitted to myself a long time ago that I'm inlove with Hailee. To be honest, if things weren't shitty and turned out like this, I could've asked her to be my girlfriend already and I could've made her happier than anybody.
"Fuck you for giving me something to overthink tonight, Colson." I groaned to myself and went to my room.
-----
"You ready, my dateless sister?" Cole poked fun at me as soon as we were done parking our cars and is already making our way to the red carpet.
"Call me that again and I'll kick your ass all the way inside the building." I playfully rolled my eyes at him making him laugh.
"Y/n, over here!!"
"It's the Baker siblings!!"
"Y/n, I love you!!"
"Congratulations on the nomination, Y/n!!"
Those are just some yelling we can make out from the crowd and paparazzis that are taking our photos while walking the red carpet. I smiled at the crowd and waved as best as I can while continuing on my way inside.
"Congratulations on the nomination, Y/n! It must've been a shock to see your name as one of the nominees! How does it feel?" A reported asked me.
"I was literally speechless when Colson showed me the list of the nominees. Every nominee here tonight deserved these nominations and I'm really really happy that I got to be a part of the roaster this year." I said smiling.
"Awesome! Now there were speculations and dating rumors about you and Hailee Steinfeld after photos of you two were posted on the internet, coming out of the studio together multiple times and break up rumors between the two of you also surfaced when she was seen in public with her now boyfriend, Niall Horan. What's your say about that?" She asked.
"Okay, first of all, Hailee and I never got together and we never dated. We were never a couple. We were just good friends. I mean, yeah we were out public together for other people to see but that's just it. Just two good friends that was hanging out. Hailee was a good friend. A great friend to be honest. And she's so passionate and dedicated with her work. I'll be the first to say that she deserved to have a relationship with anyone she wants even if it's her previous ex and now boyfriend again." I tried to keep my composure as I answer other questions regarding Hailee.
-----
I went around trying to find Colson after the event, but I was only greeted by two familiar voices arguing. One sweet and angelic voice and the other one is an annoying little Irish voice.
"Y/n there you a—" I placed my hand on Colson's mouth and quietly gestured to him that Hailee and Niall are arguing. He went near me and listened as well.
"You kept looking at her the whole time, Hailee, admit it. Even when you were performing the song with her brother, you just can't stop staring at her." I heard Niall say.
"Oh God, Niall. You're overreacting. I was looking at the crowd." Hailee defended.
"And by crowd, you mean Y/n? This is bullshit. I shouldn't have agreed to go with you as your date tonight. The only reason I'm here is because you begged me." He said. I see Hailee's hurt reaction with everything Niall said.
"I didn't beg you. You said you'd love to come with me as my date for this event." Her voice started to break. She's at the point of breaking down.
"Oh great, here we go again! The typical dramatic Hailee Steinfeld is back everyone!" He sarcastically clapped his hands and looked around. There were still a few people, ordinary audience and celebrities alike and some of them are watching.
"I'm not being dramatic Niall. P-Please stop that." Hailee's tears started to roll down her face.
I can feel my blood boiling and so is Colson's. He was about to interrupt them but I put my arm out in front of him, never taking my eyes away from the two of them. I felt him looking at me and he backed off a bit when he noticed me tightening my jaw, trying to hold back every anger I'm feeling towards Niall.
"No, Hailee! YOU should stop. Stop being so dramatic already. Now I'm regretting of even taking you back. Y'know what, I'm done. I'm not doing this bullshit again. You really are the worst. Goodluck finding someone who can handle your dramas in life." Niall walked away and I took it as my cue to walk over to where Hailee is.
"Haiz, it's okay. I'm here." I gently turned her to my direction and she immediately wrapped her arms around me and broke down in tears.
Once again, Colson was about to chase after Niall but I stopped him. I signaled him to stay with Hailee and I pulled away from our hug.
"Stay here. I'll be back." I placed a gentle kiss on Hailee's forehead as I went after Niall. He's just a couple of feet away from where we were so it was easy getting his attention.
"Hey ass-wipe!" I called out to him. The moment he turned around to face me, I gave him one hell of a right jab straight to his face causing him to fall down with a loud thud as the people around us gasps in surprise and some were even cheering with what I did.
I looked down on him as I grabbed him by his collar and made him stand up, blood is gushing out of his nostrils but I didn't care and instead, I gave him another punch in the face.
"If I ever hear you talking shit like that to Hailee again, you'll be receiving more than just a punch on that face of yours. Stay away from her, you little shit. And if I ever see you near her again or even found out you try to reach out to her, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life. Got it?" I looked at him intently as he nodded fast.
"Now get the fuck out of here and don't ever contact Hailee again." I pushed him hard causing him to stumble backwards as he immediately stood up and ran out of the building.
Once he was out of sight, I calmed myself before turning back to where my brother and Hailee are.
"Haiz..." I gently put my hand on the small of her back in an attempt of getting her attention.
"Y-Y/n..." She sobbed as she hugged me once again.
"That was some hell of a punch, sis. There's no way in hell he'll never get the message with that punch." Colson snickered causing me to chuckle a bit as I hold Hailee in my arms.
"Let's get the hell out of here." I whispered to Hailee and I felt her nod. I pulled away and gently held her hand as we walked out of the building, towards my car. I ushered Hailee to the passenger seat before going to my side of the car.
"Do you wanna head home already?" I asked her as I started the car. She gently shook her head as a no.
"Can we... Can we just drive around for a while? And maybe... Maybe spend the night at your place tonight? I don't wanna go home just yet." She hesitantly looked at me and I only let out a small smile.
"Sure. If that'll make you feel better. I'll let Griffin know you're with me and will be spending the night at my house." I backed off from the parking lot before driving off to the main road.
The drive was quiet and only the sounds of my car engine and the cars passing us by can be heard throughout the whole drive.
"Do you still remember that spot where we stopped by after our dinner date?" She asked softly which took me aback by surprise a little bit.
"Yeah. Why?" I glanced at her.
"Can we go there?" I gave a small smile and nodded as I drove off to the countryside.
The car came to a stop the moment we arrived there. I turned off the engine as we both sat in silence.
"Why'd you do that?" She started as she looked over to me.
"Do what?" I looked back at her.
"Coming in to my defense."
"Did you seriously expect me to just stand there and listen to him bad mouth you the whole time? Cause if you were expecting that I would stay quiet while he insults you, then you're pretty dumb." I chuckled a bit but then became serious.
"Every insult he said about you are not true Haiz. Trust me. And besides... You're too good for him anyways. That jackass doesn't deserve someone like you." I smiled a bit at her causing her to blush a little.
"Y/n... About what happened to us... I never wanted to shut you out like that. I was having troubles." She said as she looked down her lap.
"Troubles? About what?" I asked, confused.
"Troubles in figuring out what I really felt. When we started to work together for the collaboration, I started to think of you in a different way that I never thought I would. I kept telling myself that maybe we were just spending too much time together. But when we shared those kisses, I knew right there and then that I'm already sure with what I actually felt but I still chose to ignore it in hopes of getting over these feelings very soon that's why I started to act like those nights meant nothing to me even though it hurts like hell seeing you so fucking down because of the way I was treating you until you started treating me the same way and I felt how you probably felt that time too." She started pouring her heart out.
"Hailee—"
"I love you, Y/n. I realized it now. You were always there for me. During my best days. But especially at my worst. I took those for granted and I know what I said just now was no excuse for how I treated y—" I cut her off by placing my lips on hers with my right hand on top of hers and my left hand pressed on her cheek.
"I love you too, Hailee. I always have. When you told me those things the next day, I had mixed feelings. Anger, sadness, guilt... Especially pain. I don't have much idea on this whole love thing shit that's why it was all new to me when I started to develop these feelings for you for the very first time I produced one of your songs. Even the pain I felt that day was also new." I admit as soon as I pulled away from the kiss.
"Y... You love me?" She asked as tears formed on her eyes.
"Always have, always will, Haiz. Nothing can ever change that." I smiled as I took her hand in mine and placed gentle kisses at the back of her hand.
"Your knuckles..." She looked at the hand I used to punch Niall earlier.
"Don't mind that, love. It's just a bruise. It'll heal in a few days." I lifted her chin up to make her eyes meet mine.
"Would... Would you still love me even if I was at my worst days or at my lowest? Would you still love me the same?" She looked at my eyes.
"At your best, at your worst, the ups and downs of your personal life and career... I will always love you and stand by you. No matter what. I'll be with you every step of the way." I smiled as I leaned in close again.
She let out probably the biggest smile I have seen from her tonight as she closed the remaining gap after whispering a quick "I love you" to me.
"I love you too, Haiz. Always." I whispered back in the kiss.
The rest of the night was filled with spoken promises, kisses, hugs, a bit of laughters and assurance. I promised Hailee that I will always stand by her and I intend to make sure that promise is kept till the end of our lives.
-----
Here's the part 3 of At My Best like you've always wanted! To be honest I was actually planning to make this ending tragic but I would then feel bad if I do that and break your hearts. But who knows... Maybe on the next oneshots, it'll be heartbreaking 🤣 lol jk guys! I love y'all, I can't break your fragile hearts 🤣 see you on the next!
-Ash