"What the fuck do you mean I have to hide?" I harshly whisper as he leans up off me, his eyes full of panic.
He glances between me and the door. "Please, we don't need anymore trouble," he begs. "Hayley, please."
"Where?" I ask, jumping out of the bed and grabbing my cell phone. If it wasn't for the pleading in his voice and understand the harsh consequences that could follow, I wouldn't have moved so quickly.
Yet again, I glance around the room for anything that'd tie me to the room. "My closet? I'm sorry, I love you."
I nod and quietly dart over there. I open the doors and slide in, quickly closing them behind me.
This is exactly what I don't want to happen. I know it'll be sneaky and how much of this can I endure?
I watch through the crack as Ross lays back down like he was napping. Not even a moment later, there were light taps coming from the door. "Hey," I hear her voice just as she opens the door. I made it just in time.
Ross lifts his head up and glances over at her. "Hey?" He asks, acting confused.
"I'm sorry, I tried texting you but you didn't answer. I was in the neighborhood leaving Michelle's so I figured I'd stop by," she says as she walks over to the bed.
I'm standing as still as I can be, making sure I don't knock anything over. I feel bad for listening in, but what else am I supposed to do?
Ross nods and rolls over onto his back then leans up a bit. "What's going on? You okay?"
Danielle nods and walks to the bed, sitting on the edge. She's turned sideways so I can see her face a bit.
"Where's your ex?" She asks.
My heart drops. Did I leave something in his room?
I begin scanning the room as Ross looks at her with a confused face. "I don't know. Why?"
"Her shoes are by the front door," she replies. "And Rydel was the one who let me in so I don't know where she'd be."
Ross laughs. "You do know she's friends with my entire family, right? Like my dad loves her. Rocky's dating her roommate. She could literally be anywhere in this house and it wouldn't be that unusual."
Danielle grabs the back of his neck and pushes her lips on his as soon as he finished talking. It makes my stomach sink a bit. Just as I'm about to look away, feeling too invasive, Ross pulls away.
"Why don't you want me?" She asks, her voice sounding broken. "I know we aren't like... really dating, but you don't even want to try. Why not? You don't even want to kiss me or touch me."
Ross sighs, laying back onto the bed, his arm still extended out toward her leg. "Danielle, I just... I told you this before. It's nothing about you, it's me. And that's so stupidly cliché, but it's true."
"Is it because of her?"
He inhales. "Don't - don't cry, Danielle," he says, leaning back up to put his hand onto her back in a way to attempt to comfort her. "I'm just not over her. You know that I was thrown into this while I was still dating her. I wasn't expecting all of this, you know that."
"I know," she whispers, sniffing as she speaks. "But you don't even want to try?"
Ross sighs. "I don't think it's a good idea. We can still act like we always do, but we shouldn't privately. It's not fair to you. If it's really starting to hurt your feelings and you don't think you can handle it, tell your manager or publicist. We can figure something out. I care a lot about you regardless, I don't want you crying."
"You're the first boy to ever be nice to me and not try to get into my pants," she laughs, wiping her tears.
Ross smiles and leans over, wrapping his arms around her. "I care about you, Dani. You're a nice girl. I'm sorry this isn't working out like you hoped."
"Well I'm glad I finally grew the balls and asked," she squeezes him against her. "I've had enough heartbreak for today. I'm sorry for barging in on your nap. Michelle gave me a good pep talk so that's why I came."
He smiles and watches as she stands up. "I'm happy we got it sorted. I'll pick you up for our date Monday," he winks.
She laughs. "Perfect. I'll see you then," she smiles and walks out of the room, the door shutting softly behind her.
Ross waits a couple moments and I still don't want to move. He gets up then walks to the door, locking it before making his way to the closet. He slowly opens both doors and smiles sadly at me.
I stare up at him like I don't know what to do. "You can come out," he whispers.
I nod and walk the two steps out of the closet. "Are you okay?" I ask.
"This whole weekend just keeps sending me into different spirals. It's crazy," he admits and walks to the edge of his bed and places his hands over his face. "These last few weeks have been exhausting. I feel bad for hurting her, but she needed to know."
I nod and sit beside him, placing my hand on his back. "You were nice about it," I say.
Ross glances over at me, placing his arms down. "I hate hurting people. Let me text Rydel and see if she's still here in case she tries walking in again."
He reaches back and grabs his phone, sliding it open to their texts.
Rydel: (1) ROSS!! (2) Danielle is here (3) she's coming up in a min (4) I asked her to help me find a nonexistent earring on the floor (5) she's coming NOW!!!!!
I lean my cheek against his shoulder. "She really helped us out," I whisper.
He nods then texts her.
Ross: is Danielle still here?
Rydel: No
He tosses his phone behind him, groaning into the air. "I didn't get my nap," he pouts.
"So take a nap," I suggest. "I think I'm going to head back to the hotel, take a proper shower and maybe go explore."
Ross leans forward and wraps his arms around my waist. "No," he whispers. "It's only 2:30, we can figure out something to do."
I stare down at him, placing my hand on top of his head. "With who?" I question, my fingers going through his hair.
"It can just be us," he mumbles into my lap.
I nod. "Okay, so let's go. It seems like every time we are together in this house, something happens."
I slide from under him and stand by his door, crossing my arms and waiting for him to get up. He moans like a child then gets up to go into his dresser. As he opens the top drawer, he digs through to find socks and I see some brown leather in the bottom. Knowing exactly what it is, I cross the short distance to the drawer and place my hand in to grab it.
As soon as my fingers grasp around the binding and pull it out, he glances up at me from leaning over to put his socks on. "Hayley," he growls as I begin to back up. "Give me that back."
I hold the journal with both of my hands behind my back as I press myself into the corner. "Nope," I reply.
"I'm not kidding," he warns, walking toward me.
I shrug. "You took mine without permission," I say.
"Hayley," he says, his voice turning into a beg. He reaches his hand out to my arm, placing his warm fingers on my shoulder. "Please, don't make this hard."
I raise my eyebrows, pressing my butt into my hands so there's more pressure. "What'd you write about?"
"It's my song lyrics," he explains and pulls me toward him.
"Okay, so let me see then. It's equal!" I yelp as he yanks my hips toward him.
As he is much bigger than me and could definitely take me down in .02 seconds, he manages to grab it out of my hand. As he pulls it, something falls out.
He immediately steps over the item and it makes me grow even more curious. "Please, don't. You're going to embarrass me," he whispers.
I shake my head. "No, I wouldn't."
Ross groans. "I feel so guilty about your journal," he whines.
I lean up on my toes, kissing him quickly. "So let me just see real quick. If they're just your song lyrics, then why are you embarrassed?"
"Because you and I are too alike sometimes and it makes me fucking nauseous," he replies, taking the few steps back so he sits on his bed.
I furrow my eyebrows. "Why?" I ask cautiously, not sure what he is getting at.
"I wrote down how I felt when I was going through it. They're not really song lyrics, but they were ideas for how I was feeling to turn into lyrics. I gave it to Rocky not too long ago so he can read them and tweak them into lyrics because I was too sad to look at them. It's fucking lame, okay?" He says, avoiding eye contact.
I glance down at the picture upside down on the floor. I bend down and pick it up, flipping it around so I can see the image. It was him and I kissing on New Years Eve, my favorite picture of us to exist.
I pout and walk closer to him, moving his arms off his legs and straddling him. "You're so precious," I admit, the picture hanging from one hand as my arms are around his neck.
"That's really not what I wanted to hear," he says. "This is fucking lame and I hate that I'm ever admitting this to you. But, this is my Hayley journal. It allowed me to talk about us." He opens the journal to the first page.
Written in a nice script was my name along with a heart. I shake my head, extending my hand out to the page. "We don't have to do this, I promise."
Ross shrugs and flips through the pages. "It's just about how much I love you."
He flips to the page where it says, you weren't my first, but you were my first love.
I smile and lean down, closing the journal. "I love you," I reply.
I don't want to embarrass him.
"I had it hidden from Dani obviously. So I kept it tucked away. I had the picture of us in there to provoke my feelings so I could write," he explains. "And I need this back," he smiles, plucking the photo from my fingers to slide it back in.
I lean down, pushing my lips on him. "I love you," I say again, although I have said it so many times today alone.
"I love you. I'm sorry for everything I have put you through. I'm an absolute asshole who believed I was doing the right thing. In the long run, I realized it was the worst mistake I could've made. I want this to work so bad because I can't picture my life with anyone but you." He says, his fingers rubbing my thigh. "That was fucking cheesy."
I laugh and kiss him once more. "I loved it."
With a knock on the door, we both immediately stop what we are doing and glance toward the door. "Yeah?" Ross yells.
"It's me," his dad voice says.
With looks of relief passing over our faces, Ross stands and allows me to place my feet down. He unlocks the door.
"What's up?" Ross asks as he opens the door.
Mark smiles. "Ready to go flying?"
He nods in response. "Yes, absolutely. Let me grab a shirt," he says then rushes to his closet.
I stare between the both of them with wide eyes. "Um... I don't know," I admit.
His dad laughs. "Why not? You don't trust me?"
"No, I trust you. Two days ago was my first time flying in a plane... ever! I'm not ready to go into a small little airplane," I say quickly, my feet glued to the floor.
Ross glances over at me, throwing a shirt over his body. "You'll be fine. I promise," he replies with a smirk.
"Rydel is coming. Be ready to leave in 5! You too, Hayley," Mark smiles and walks toward his bedroom.
I look at Ross now with wide eyes. "I really don't think I can do it. My heart is pounding already and we haven't left the house," I say.
He walks over to me, his arms going around my waist. "I would never put you in danger. My dad has been flying for so many years, he knows what he's doing."
I frown. I place my hands onto the bottom of his shirt, gripping the t-shirt. "I'm really scared," I whisper.
"We'll go there and see how you feel. I promise you, it'll be fun." Ross leans down and pushes his lips on mine several times.
Once he pulls away, his eyes stop at the door. I immediately look over my shoulder. "I'm sorry for yelling and being mean," Rydel says as she steps into the room. "I don't know what was going on with me and I'm not like that. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I reply with a smile.
He pulls away from me entirely and walks toward the door, gently shoving her shoulder. "Try me again like that and we are really going to have an issue," he says, fake boxing the air in front of her.
She rolls her eyes and latches her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I love you both so much."
"Let's go," Mark says as he passes the bedroom to head downstairs.
As I'm scrolling through my google search on the car ride there, Ross leans over and peaks at my phone. "Are you serious?" He whispers, snatching my phone from my fingers. "You're only going to scare yourself more."
"I'm already scared and need to know the statistics!" I reply quietly, reaching for my phone to continue reading about the likelihood of accidents in small planes.
He slides my phone into his back pocket then faces forward, ignoring my eye roll and huff. "We're here!" Mark says maybe thirty minutes later.
I get out of the car and I can literally feel my legs shaking as we approach the garage where the plane is. "You look like you're going to throw up," Rydel says.
I shake my head. "No, I'm okay," I reply.
As he unlocks and pulls up the door, the plane comes into view. I immediately back up, fear creeping into all parts of my body. Ross and Mark walk over and get it ready.
"You don't have to go if you really don't want to," she says.
I shake my head again. "No, I'll suck it up. It'll be fun. Yeah, it'll be fun."
She laughs at me and before I know it, the plane is ready to go. Ross walks back over to me as Mark climbs into the seat. "Ready?" He asks, a smile on his face.
He drags his finger down my hair as he awaits my answer. "I'm very scared, but yes. Can you please sit in the back with me?"
"You're sitting in the front!"
I shake my head. "No, no, no."
He smiles and kisses me. "Yes, I'll sit in the back with you. Come on."
As soon as I made Ross double check I was all set with everything on properly, Mark gave me a rundown of what we were doing. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.
As we slowly make our way down the runway to give us room to speed up for takeoff, I keep my eyes focused on the window. The plane begins to speed up quicker and I squeeze my eyes shut, gripping onto the seat in front of me.
A moment later, I feel a hand touch my thigh. "You're okay," Ross says. "Look."
I peak one eye open to look outside of the window. As we continue to gain elevation, more of the world was coming into view.
It's crazy to think that we are in a small plane.
I glance over at Ross who is already looking at me, a smile on my face. "Wow," I whisper.
Although I can still hear my heartbeat pounding against my ribcage, I continue staring out of the window to take in the views.
"Hayley, you ready for the flip?" Mark asks.
I quickly dart my head over to Ross, my eyes wide. "What?! No!" I reply.
He leans over to me. "You're so gullible," he teases, pushing his lips out to a pucker.
I roll my eyes and kiss him quickly before glancing back out of the window. As we circle around the Los Angeles area, it wasn't long before it started to get dark and we were preparing for landing.
As we climb out of the plane, I walk over to Mark. "You're amazing," I compliment.
He laughs. "Thanks, Hayley. I'd be more than happy to give you a plane ride every time you come to visit until you move down here."
I smile. "Deal."
"Did you like it?" Rydel asks as we go to the car.
I nod. "Yeah, it was a bit nerve wracking but it was awesome."
The drive back wasn't too bad. I just had Ross in my ear. "Sleepover," he begs softly so nobody else can hear.
"At the hotel," I reply back.
He shakes his head, his nose brushing right above my ear. "My bed is comfier."
"So is the sleep we can get if it's uninterrupted but literally anyone. Greater chance of that happening at your place," I reply.
He groans and leans back into his seat, not admitting that I was right as usual.
He further complained the entire way to the hotel once he grabbed his stuff. I simply stood in the corner of the room, my arms crossed and waiting as he moped around.
As we walk into the hotel, a girl around 15 came running up. "Oh my god. Are you Ross Lynch?"
I immediately walk to the side, desperately trying to not get Ross into trouble. I can tell this whole sneaking around will never become easy.
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a/n: i'm in finals week rn at my college so i'm a bit distracted! hope y'all are having a good week! <3 preacher man just surpassed 61k reads. thank you for sticking along and reading this story. appreciate you more than words can say x