You know that feeling that you get when you feel like you’re being watched? Your body goes stiff, and your adrenaline starts pumping to get you prepared for what’s to come. All of your senses are turned on, and you can detect the smallest of noises. Your heart beats so quickly that you can hear it pounding in your chest, and feel the vibrations throughout your entire body.
Yeah, well, if you’re familiar with that feeling, then you know how I feel right now.
Running a hand through my slightly disheveled hair, I stepped out of the bathroom at around one o’clock in the morning in my cotton pajama shorts with sleeping monkeys on them and my white off-the-shoulder t-shirt. As soon as the door to the bathroom was opened, my adrenaline started pumping, and I knew I wasn’t alone.
I couldn’t see them, because the hallway was dark, not a single light shining through even the smallest of cracks. The moonlight shining through a window gave the hallway an eerie, blue glow. I scanned my surroundings, searching for a silhouette. With the lack of light, and my half asleep state, I couldn’t see a thing, or make sense of what was going on. And that part scared me the most.
Deciding that the only way to get out of this alive was to run, I took my chances and ran up the hallway, but I only made it to my parents’ room before a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, and a hand clamped around my mouth.
I tried screaming through the hand, but that only awarded me with a husky, “Shh,” in my ear. If the hand wasn’t pressed so tightly over my mouth, I would’ve been able to bite this evil and murderous man.
I squirmed, trying to break free, but failed. Whoever this guy is, I hope he knows that Andrew is going to come save me from whatever plans he has of raping me, murdering me, seducing me—
“Hailey,” the voice whispered again. Okay, so the creep knows my name. Lord, please just kill me now. “Hailey, calm down. It’s me.”
Who’s me? That’s not very specific you idiot.
The man released me, grabbing my shoulders to turn me around, forcing me to stare into his wonderful, entrancing blue eyes. Wait, those eyes look awfully familiar…
“Andrew!” I whispered in a furious tone. “Are you trying to scare me to death?”
A low chuckle came from the darkness. “Sorry, I thought you saw me.”
“No, apparently I don’t have night supervision goggles built into my head. Sorry to disappoint.” My voice was thick with sarcasm, but that’s what he gets for scaring the shit out of me.
Even in the dark, I could see him rolling his eyes. “What are you doing up?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I think the real question is, what are you doing up?”
He crossed his arms. “I asked you first.”
“Oh, how mature. Come on, spit it out.”
He let out a long sigh, mumbling a few curse words under his breath. “I’m just… going down for a midnight snack.”
“Really?” I took an intimidating step closer to him. “So why are you fully dressed?”
“Because…” he glanced down at his fitted t-shirt and jeans, in his signature colors: gray and black.
I rolled my eyes, nudging his arm a little. “Andrew, stop lying to me and tell me what you’re up to.”
Once again, a long sigh escaped his lips, and he took a moment to continue. “I’m going out tonight, okay? But you can’t tell anybody.”
“That depends. Where are you going?”
“Just out. It’s not a big deal, but promise you won’t tell.”
I moaned, covering my face with my hands. “Fine,” my voice was muffled behind my hands. “I won’t tell. But first,” I added, removing my hands from my face. “You have to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid.”
“Um… I think I can manage that. You’ve got yourself a deal, Adkins. I won’t do anything stupid as long as you keep your mouth shut.”
I nodded once. “Good. I’m glad we’ve reached an understanding. But, um, just be careful, okay? I don’t know where you’re going, or what you’ll be doing, but I don’t want to have to play Nurse Adkins.”
He smiled sadly. “Okay.” He reached out and touched my face, bending down as if he were going to kiss me. Seeming to change his mind—leaving me very disappointed—he kissed my forehead instead. “I’ll see you,” he said once he removed his lips from my forehead.
“You better,” I lightly punch his arm, which got him to chuckle. He may have thought I was joking, but I really meant what I said. And I swear if he comes home with even a scratch on him, I’ll kill the guy that did it to him. I know what you’re thinking: How could I possibly kick someone’s ass when I’m just a weak, nerdy girl? I’ll tell you…
As soon as I think of something.
Andrew gave me a quick peck on my lips, turning to leave. He kissed me so naturally now, like we’re a couple. Honestly, I don’t know what we are, but I do know that we’re much more than friends, yet not quite boyfriend and girlfriend. I don’t know, it’s complicated.
When he disappeared down the stairs and the front door slammed shut, I made my way to the window to see him out. Expecting him to take his own car, I was surprised to see him climb into a black Porsche with dark windows. As soon as the clean car sped away into the night, a new bad feeling came into my stomach. The driver didn’t seem like good news, and I felt very uneasy with Andrew going—wherever they were going—with him. I just really hope more than anything that he remembers the promise he made me.
I haven’t known Andrew long enough to know if he’d be the type of guy to break a promise, but I really hope he isn’t. I’ve never been this worried about anyone before, and it’s making me quite scared. These newfound feelings for Andrew are becoming too much.
He’s a big boy, Hailey. He can take care of himself.
I sighed, telling myself this over and over, hoping that Andrew coming home half passed out and intoxicated was out of the question.
For the majority of that night, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t speak, move, or even properly slide the soft covers over my body properly. My mind wouldn’t stop wandering to Andrew. I was constantly debating whether I should call the police, then thought that was a bit much. Thousands of questions were a never-ending stream of words in my head. Every time I might have an answer for something, another question comes into place. The frustration of it all finally got me to get up and leave my room, sitting against the wall in the hallway. If Andrew was to come back anytime soon, I would know right away. I silently begged for him to come soon.
About two hours later, I heard slow footsteps coming up the stairs, and I jumped up, immediately knowing who it was before I saw his gray t-shirt and dark jeans.
“Andrew!” I jumped up from my position on the floor and threw my arms around his neck, nearly making him fall over. I subtly inhaled, smelling his perfect scent… and something else. Alcohol.
Immediately, I released him and studied his face, which I now noticed was flushed and sweaty. His eyes were slightly red, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It took me a moment to realize that Andrew—who was now swaying—could barely hold himself up. He must’ve had heaps of the toxic beverages.
“Andrew,” I sighed, placing my hands on my hips. “I told you not to do anything stupid. You promised me, remember?”
He grinned, leaning against the wall. “Nope.”
I rolled my eyes at his drunken state. Of course he wouldn’t remember, Hailey. He’s drunk for crying out loud.
In an exasperated manner, I sighed again, running a hand through my hair, trying to think of a way to sober him up. I’ve never dealt with a drunk person before, so I’m new to this. Unfortunately, before I get the chance to do or say anything, Andrew is making his way towards me, pushing me against the wall.
“I missed your hair,” he said, running his hands through my wavy blonde hair, twirling it in his fingers. This action sent my heart fluttering, which proves that even when Andrew is drunk and has no clue what he’s doing, he still has a big impact on me. “And I missed your smile, and your curves…” he takes a step closer to me after each sentence, running his hands along my body in a very intimate way. His face was only inches from mine now, and the stench of alcohol was even stronger. “Your lips,” he finishes, leaning in to kiss me. His lips graze mine, sending my heart into an uncontrollable flutter.
I so wanted him to kiss me, so full of passion and desire that we wouldn’t be able to breathe, but we’d keep going anyway because we were too scared to stop, afraid that we might lose the other if we let them go for even a minute. I was waiting for this to happen, yet there were butterflies in my stomach from nerves.
Suddenly, Andrew started laughing, and stumbling all over the place, reminding me that he was drunk out of his senses. I sighed, deciding it was best to put him to sleep.
Whoa, wait a minute. Don’t kill him Hailey. Just because he didn’t kiss you the way you wanted him to doesn’t give you the right to murder anyone.
I grabbed the cackling Andrew by his arm and yanked him into his room so he wouldn’t wake the others with his laughter. Quickly shutting the door, I put my hand over Andrew’s mouth so he would shut the hell up.
“Quiet,” I reminded him.
He mocked me, giggling. “Quiet, Hailey.”
I rolled my eyes and lowered him onto his bed. “Now lay down and go to sleep.”
He huffed, falling back onto his pillow. “I’m not even tired,” he mumbled under his breath. But all the same, his eyelids drooped down in long, slow blinks. He was staring at the ceiling, and I could tell he was fighting to keep his eyes open.
“Good night, Andrew,” I bent down to kiss his forehead, and was about to leave when he reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me.
“Will you stay with me for a bit? I don’t want you to go just yet.” Hearing his words brought my thoughts back to earlier today, when he confessed his feelings for me. He likes me.
I smiled. “Okay,” I replied, going on the other side of his bed to sit down next to him. For the few minutes it took for Andrew to fall asleep, we would stare at each other, smiling and blushing. And then, Andrew fell asleep after kissing me—a real kiss this time—good night.
I could’ve left when he went to sleep, but I didn’t. I felt like it was my job to stay here and make sure that nothing happened to him. For a while I anticipated whether or not I should stay, running my hands through Andrew’s soft hair as I thought. He looked so sweet when he was sleeping. His whole body looked like he felt at peace, with his face no longer tensed up he looked much nicer.
I don’t know why I did what I did next. I guess I became confident with him being asleep and all, and I suddenly thought that I could do anything.
Yeah, knowing myself that’s probably the reason.
Because, if he weren’t asleep, I wouldn’t be sliding my hands from his hair and inching lower and lower to his bed, so as not to disturb him. And I most definitely wouldn’t be pulling the covers over myself and snuggling close to Andrew. Nope, I would never do this.
Except you are, you stupid girl.
Why is that voice in my head always so willing to piss me off? I’d like for her to take a walk in my shoes, then we’ll see if she wants to keep running her big mouth.
As I began drifting off to sleep, I wondered what Andrew would think of this in the morning. He’d probably freak out and call me a disgusting little—well, you get the idea. But one thing’s for sure: he most certainly wouldn’t be happy with me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Hey there wonderful people!! So I want to start off by apologizing for not updating on Friday. But it was the 4th of July, so I was very busy with celebrating and helping my family with stuff. Second, I've decided to update every Monday, because doing Monday and Friday was too much work. There might be some weeks where I update earlier, but we'll see.
So Andrew and Hailey are finally getting somewhere with their weird relationship, and in this next chapter they go on a little outing. Sorry, spoiler. As always, thank you for your support and reads, and enjoy!!!
Note: this is unedited!!!