Our Broken Pasts [Editing] | #Wattys2017

Chapter Nine

Hailey

Jordan and Blake had been a wealth of information on Will. Everything I'd heard had only made me like him more.

"So were you really arrested in seventh grade?"

Will hesitated. "They told you?"

"Yeah."

He sighed and pulled over to the side of the road. "Yes, I was. I was walking by Driftwood Avenue, and these guys were ganging up on a girl. Someone called the cops. I was fighting, so I got arrested, too. Once they heard the story they let me out. But no one else knows that. They think I got bailed out."

"Oh."

For some reason, I could see that happening. With his looks, Will could be some sort of street brawler, but he wasn't. And only a handful of people knew him well enough to to understand that.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That people don't know the real you."

"I'm used to it." The defeated way he said it just about killed me. I undid my seatbelt and moved closer to him, resting my hand against his shoulder tentatively.

"Will?" I said.

"Yeah?" His voice was thick with emotion.

"I like the real you."

I laid my head on his shoulder and kept my hand in the same spot. I silently begged him to let me in, to let me help. I knew what it was to be something you weren't, and it was the worst feeling in the world.

Where he was once strung tight as a cord, Will relaxed. "Hailey... Are you even real?" He murmured.

"I'm real," I promised. "And I'm here."

With that, he laid an arm across my shoulders, pulling me in tight. His other arm wrapped around my other side, pulling me close to him. Such a feeling of safety as I hadn't felt in years welled up inside me, and I held him tight. I breathed in his fresh and smoky scent, the one that relaxed every muscle in my body. Will's nose was buried in my neck, breathing in and out, tickling the sensitive skin there.

"Thank you," he said, softly.

I just nodded against his hard chest. "Anytime."

We stayed there for mere minutes, but I could have stayed that way for hours. Will checked the mirrors, then pulled back on to the road, following my directions to my house.

All through the rest of the ride, I stayed beside him in the middle, his hand holding mine, almost like I was his lifeline. I already knew that he was mine.

-

Ten minutes later, we pulled into my driveway. As always, Marnie was home. I'd texted her to let her know that Will and I were going to be working on our project. She'd texted back saying that that was fine, just let her know when we got there.

"Mom? I'm home!" I called once we got inside.

"In the kitchen!" came the reply.

"You can just leave your shoes on the mat." Now I was nervous. I'd never brought a guy here before, and after four years my skills were a little rusty. "Um..." I was sure I had a totally-freaking-out-here look on my face, and I must have because Will let out a low chuckle.

"Relax, Hails."

I took a deep breath. "This way."

I led him into the kitchen, where Marnie was just taking fudge out of the oven. She made sweets for the many bakeries in town and was always making something new for us to try. "Chocolate peanut butter fudge?" She offered.