Justin, Dad, and I had just finished Guardians of The Galaxy when Hailey stormed in, her eyes wide and frantic.
My fingers paused, buried deep in Justin's dark locks as he shifted his head on my lap and sat up a little.
"Hi, sweetie." Dad offered Hailey a welcoming smile, "How was your day?" Hailey's entire face was engulfed in blush as she shrugged.
"It was fine. I think I'm going to turn in early tonight. I'll see you in the morning." She hurried down the hall before any of us could question her. I gently nudged Justin's head off my lap and stood up, kissing him quickly, then Dad's cheek before slipping down the dark hall after her. I found her sitting in the middle of her bed, looking like she was laughing and shuddering all at once.
"Care to explain what that was about?" I asked, gently shutting her door behind me.
"What do you mean?" she feigned innocence.
"You know exactly what I mean. FIrst you come in all frantic, then blush when Dad asked how your day was." I shifted on the bed beside her, "Oh My God, did you and Mason-"
"Why is that always the first thing your mind goes to?" she almost sounded pissed off now.
"Maybe because I know you both want to admit your feelings for each other, no need to get so defensive." She sighed, scratching the back of her head.
"Don't you and Justin have the weird charity thing tonight?" I knew she was trying to divert the subject, but I didn't press on the issue.
"Yeah." I smiled, "But we have like an hour before we have to go."
"He loves you, Hannah. You know that right?" There was a sadness in my sister's voice that had my heart clench slightly.
"Justin?" I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know."
"No, I don't think you do." She shook her head, "Most guys would be long gone by now if you didn't have sex with them, not laying on your lap and holding your hand." I could see nervousness flickering in her eyes.
"I know. He's great." I whispered, trying to find a reason for her sudden interest in Justin's love for me. It didn't take me very long to come to the realization of what she was saying.
"You're thinking about going to NYU, aren't you?" The words came out choked, a lump forming in my throat. She looked away with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"I mean, as long as Dad has one of us near by, he should be fine, right? And he loves you more than-"
"Bullshit, Hail. He loves us equally." I snapped.
"That's bullshit, Hannah! Do you see the way he looks at me sometimes, the way he'll flinch slightly?"
"We look the same." My voice was barely audible now.
I knew what she meant. I had seen it multiple times. It wasn't Hailey's physical appearance that Dad would wince in response too, it was how much she was like Mom in every other way.
It was in the way Hailey would isolate herself in her room when she got too emotional, or the way sudden bursts of inspiration would cause her to start drawing.
"You promised we'd get an apartment together." I looked away from her, "When she left, Hail. We promised we'd stick together no matter what."
"That was before you had Justin, Han. You have a perfect life laid out in front of you, I can't say the same about me." A tear escaped my sister's eye and rolled down her cheek and she lifted her head to finally meet my eyes. "And sometimes promises are meant to be broken."
**
"Ssh!" an intoxicated giggle escaped me as I slapped a hand against Justin's chest, trying to stop him from making another obnoxious, dirty comment.
"I love you, Han." Justin breathed into my ear before trailing kisses up my neck, my eyes flickering away from him for a moment and to the figures outside. I reached down to push Justin's hands from beneath my shirt, shaking my head.
"What?" He looked up at me, confused, "What's out there?" I shifted on his lap to get a better view out the back window, my lips parting in surprise when the figures stepped into the light.
The smaller, petite figure was all too familiar to me. The lips that were slightly too big for her face, but guys had always loved kissing. The big, brown eyes with thin, perfectly kept eyebrows above them. The long, thick russet locks that fell down her back in waves. The second, slightly taller figure, was just as familiar. The slight five o'clock shadow, the short, spiked dark hair and wavering grin.
It was Sophia and Coach Fuller.
"Han?" Justin slipped his hands beneath me and picked me up, setting me on the seat beside him before glancing out the window with a frown.
"Is that-"
"Yeah." I cut him off, not wanting to hear it said aloud.
Why the hell was Sophia with him right now? After the fundraiser had ended? Had she even been here earlier?
"Fuck." Justin gasped when Sophia wrapped her arms around Coach's neck and kissed him, her body pressing against his. I fixed my loose bra strap before slipping back into the driver's seat of Jutsin's car.
"What are you doing?" He edged forward, his eyes wide.
"I don't want to watch that." I could already feel nausea in the pit of my stomach, and it wasn't from the bottle of Liquor Justin and I had shared either.
"Babe, you can't drive right now." He shook his head, brushing a strand of my hair off the nape of my neck as he moved forward, "You're intoxicated."
I let out a breath of defeat and relaxed against Justin's touch, trying to push the disgust and sense of betrayal that had begun to bubble in the pit of my stomach.
*
I was a little too drunk when we got home. Justin had barely had any of the alcohol and had waited until it wore off to drive us back, occasionally glancing in my direction to make sure I hadn't passed out yet.
When we got back, he had tried to carry me back to my room, but I ended up stumbling into Hailey's, surprised to find that the side of the bed Mason used to lay was vacant.
"Han?" My sister grumbled, sitting up and turning the light on.
"Why were you blushing earlier if you didn't fuck Mason?" I asked. She blinked, either because she was realizing how drunk I was or my foul language.
"Hannan, you need to go-"
"Why? Just answer the question." She shook her head, her cheeks flushing again.
"Did you walk in on him and your coworker?" I guessed. She shook her head.
"No."
"Did you walk in on him jerking off?" It was then, as the words left my mouth, that I realized how much time I had spent with Mason. I would have never said that.
She didn't shake her head this time, but turned away. I tried to reach forward but ended up stumbling and nearly fell backwards.
"Hannah, you need to go to bed. If you wake Dad-"
"Why does it even matter to you? I'm the one that's going to be here for him when you run off to your perfect little school thousands of miles away! Not you, me." she bowed her head but didn't respond.
"You know why Mom left us, Hailey?" I slurred, "Because she couldn't handle that we were going to turn out just like her. Cold and dead inside, you're just closer to it than I am." I waited to feel remorse when my sister flinched, but I didn't. It was probably the alcohol.
"You're weak, Hailey. You're letting the bitch that left us ruin your life and happiness. Mason isn't going to be here forever. He's going to move on, going to find a beautiful girl and he'll invite you to wedding, then his wife's baby shower. Then what, Hail? Then are you going to tell him?" I shook my head to myself and allowed a choked cry to escape me.
"Do you know why I don't want to have sex with Justin?" I whispered, "It's not because I'm scared to lose my virginity or how Dad's going to act. I'm scared that ones he's done it, that he'll have enough of me and leave. But I'm not sitting around and allowing everything to start to move on around me, Hailey. I'm not going to let him be the one that got away if I'm wrong about the entire thing." She looked shocked, her mouth hanging open as I turned and headed back for the door.
"I guess we'll see Prom night. I'm planning on finally doing it that night. Maybe you will too." I stepped out of the room and shut the door behind me, greeted by Justin's chest.
"Come on." He took my hand and led me back to my room, helping me out of my shoes and letting my hair out of its ponytail before tucking me, sort of like Dad used to do when Hailey and I were kids.
"Hannah, I'm not going to leave you." he whispered against my cheek, his lips brushing against it, "Especially after we finally do it. It'll only make me love you more." .
**AN**
Hope you guys enjoyed!
Do you think Hannah was too hard on Hailey? Do you think it was the alcohol speaking?
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~ChasingMadness24