Jake knocked on the door and stood patiently outside Hailey and Zander's house. He was excited to hang out with Hailey but deep down inside him,he felt a tiny bundle of nervousness that kept picking his guts. He wasn't sure why or what the warm feeling was whenever he was around Hailey but he decided to not think too much about it. After a couple of seconds of waiting,Zander opened the door. Jake shivered and immediately backed away. Zander gave him a glare.
"You're lucky I care about Hailey's feelings or else I would've snapped you into pieces" Zander said with a cold,icy look in his eyes. Even after Jake got closer to the music club,Zander still didn't trust him. Yes,he did forgive him for the past bullying but he couldn't bring himself to trust Jake. He was also very overprotective of Hailey.
Jake's expression darkened as he shivered in fear. He certainly didn't want to be hurt by Zander. "Zander, relax. Jake isn't going to hurt me" Hailey said as she came up from behind Zander. Jake sighed in relief. Now that Hailey was here, Zander for sure couldn't hurt him.
"Yeah,why would I want to hurt Hailey? She's a really good friend to me so I wouldn't dare do such a thing" Jake said with a light smile. Zander glared at him.
"Do anything to my sister and you are dead" he said with a very serious tone of voice. Hailey sighed before walking towards Jake.
"I-I won't! I promise I won't!" Jake yelled out in panic. Zander made eye contact with Jake. Complete fear in his eyes? Check. Fear heard in his voice? Check. Good,that meant Jake was serious about what he said.
"Good,you better not....and no kissing either!" Zander yelled out as he pointed at Jake and then at Hailey. Hailey and Jake immediately looked at each and blushed. There it was again. That warm feeling swirling inside of Jake. Cheeks heating up for Hailey. Oh how difficult young love was. Zander smirked.
"Ohoho now I see two tomatoes. Well you guys have fun. Just remember no hurting Hailey, Jake" Zander said as he gave Jake one last serious look and went back inside the house. Zander's tomato comment ended up making Hailey and Jake turn even more like tomatoes. Jake turned towards Hailey.
"So uh wanna get going now?" he asked with a nervous smile.
"S-sure" Hailey replied,having that same nervous smile on her face.
They started walking to the small restaurant where Jake recommend they have lunch. It was currently 12:00 pm and all sorts of people were wondering around the streets. Flowers could be seen everywhere and the Sun offered warm rays of comfort. Bees were flying everywhere too. Spring was sure beautiful.
Jake and Hailey got too lost into conversation that in no time,they arrived to the restaurant.
"Nora's Noms Noms" a big sign read at the outside of the restaurant. A bell rang the moment they stepped inside.
"Welcome! Welcome! Will it just be a party of two today?" A waitress asked as she walked towards them. She had long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and looked like she was in her late 20s.
"Yes just a party of two today" Jake responded with a polite smile. The waitress smirked. "So I see, you guys are enjoying a lunch date! I mean you can't tell me I'm wrong" the waitress said with a huge smirk. Hailey and Jake's eyes widen with shock as their faces grew red once again.
"No it's not like that! I'm not his girlfriend! We're just close friends!" Hailey yelled out with a flustered face.
Friends.
If only she could be more than friends with Jake but she knew that most likely wouldn't happen. Jake's face was full on red. He wasn't sure why though. Why was his face red when he didn't like Hailey that way? Wait.....
Did he like Hailey that way? Was that what the warm feeling inside him was? He wasn't sure but he wanted to figure it out soon.
The waitress chuckled.
"Oh well,I guess I got it wrong this time. Well my name is Mary and I'll be attending to you guys today. Come follow me to your table" Mary said with a smile as she walked ahead. Hailey and Jake didn't say a word to each other as they followed Mary with flustered faces.
When they got there,Mary laid the menus down on the table and left to give them some time to look over the options.
"So that was quite awkward wasn't it?" Jake said with a small smile as he picked up the menu.
"It sure was. It isn't that hard to see that we're just friends" Hailey said as she face palmed. She hated using that word,considering her feelings but she couldn't say anything else. She truly was just a friend to Jake.
"Heh yeah...anyways has Zander always been this overprotective of you? Or is overprotective now because you're hanging out with me?" Jake asked with a smirk. Hailey chuckled.
"Don't flatter yourself too much but he's always been overprotective. You're just lucky he isn't as overprotective over me as he is over Luke. Now that you would've been in some boiling water in that case" Hailey said,returning that same smirk. A small smile grew on Jake's face.
"I figured" he said with a sigh. Hailey and Jake looked through the menu and Mary came over when they were ready to order.
"I'll have the steak club sandwich with a side of fries and some fruit punch" Jake said as he looked at the menu. "Alright,what about you Miss?" Mary said as she wrote down Jake's order.
Hailey opened her mouth to say her order but then she was interrupted by Jake.
"Oh wait I got this! Miss Hailey will have a chicken salad with a side of onion rings and orange juice" Jake said with a proud smile. Hailey's jaw dropped. How in the world did Jake know exactly what she wanted?
"Alright I will get back with the food as soon as it's ready" Mary said with a smile as she left.
"How did you know what I wanted?" Hailey asked as she blinked her eyes rapidly. This sure was a first for her. The first time someone's actually guessed what she wanted right. Jake chuckled.
"I know you Hailey and because I know you,it was easy to figure out what you wanted" he responded with a wide,bright smile. Hailey blushed and looked away.
Jake laughed. He enjoyed this time with Hailey. He decided that they should definitely hang out more often. "I always wondered,how did you get so into music Hailey? Sean told me you know how to do pretty much anything music" Jake asked with a curious face. He had gotten to know all the members,especially Hailey really well over these months but he still didn't know where her passion for music came from. Hailey smiled as she looked back at Jake.
"Well my passion for music came since I was little. My mom loved music and she knew how to play all sorts of different instruments so I grew up hearing music all the time. She would play a beat on the drums or the guitar for example and my dad would sing me a song to go along with it. My dad's the singer and my mom was an expert in all things instruments. I got so used to music and it brought so many good memories " Hailey explained with a look in her eyes that made it seem like she was looking back at her past. Almost as if those memories were flashing back right in front of her. Jake smiled and blushed.
"That sounds like a really great childhood. What happened to your mom though? You said she was an expert instead of she's an expert" Jake pointed out with a curious face. A frown grew on Hailey's face. "She passed away when I was in 4th grade. My dad eventually moved forward and married Zander's mom. I still miss her with each passing day but music helps me remember her and keep her memory alive. Whenever I play, I still feel connected to her. When I sing,I remember all those nights she played music and my dad sang to get me to sleep" Hailey said as she looked down at the table. Small tears were starting to roll down her cheeks as she tried to hide them from Jake. However,Jake still noticed.
"That's terrible to hear Hailey,I'm sorry that you lost your mom. I didn't mean to bring it up...but it's a good thing music still keeps you connected to her. I bet she smiles down at you whenever you play or sing. You always have us to make new memories with too and you don't have to hide your tears. It's okay to let your emotions out, that's what you said to me after all" Jake said with a small smile and comforting,soothing voice.
Hailey sniffled and looked up Jake.
"Yeah I suppose you're right. That is a good way to look at it. Thank you Jake" Hailey said with a small smile. Her cheeks were a bit red from all the rubbing she did on her face to hide the tears. Some were still rolling down her cheeks. "It's no problem Hailey,anything for you. You always have me to go to as well if you ever need to talk about anything. I'm here for you" Jake replied. He slowly reached his hand over to Hailey's face and gently wiped some tears away.
"You deserve to be happy" Jake said softly with a smile so soft,so gentle,it warned Hailey's heart. Hailey blushed but she didn't push Jake's hand away.
"Thank you Jake and you deserve to be happy too" Hailey said with a smile.
The other customers at the restaurant turned around and looked at them. They didn't say a word but gave them smirks instead. Even they could see the love between Jake and Hailey.
A/N:Yes, two chapters released today because I haven't uploaded in a while >:D
Also, as a reminder, this story was written long before episode 8's release so the past given to Hailey in this chapter might not exactly like up with her actual past in the series ^^