I hurt you, and my heart and bones break,
Suffocating me, drowning me in a never-ending ache.
A never-ending ache.
The hole in my heart paved road to despair,
And brought out my eternal nightmare.
But then you reached me and gave me peace,
And now you’re the light that heals me.
You uplift me.
Without you I’m lost,
But with you I’m crushed,
You’re my everlasting sorrow
And my sweetest rush.
I hurt you, and my heart and bones break,
Suffocating me, drowning me in a never-ending ache.”
The bass guitar grew louder, building tension that led to a soul-stirring climax, and Hayden stopped dancing. His hands on the small of my back held me flush against him as he gazed at me, and my heartbeat turned erratic.
“So now that you know all my highs and lows,
And now that I know I can’t let you go.
It’s time to say goodbye to hate and pain.
You’re my next reason to be happy (I’m here to stay).
You’re my next smile (I’m here to stay).
No more pain, no more doubts.
No more pain, no more doubts...”
The music quieted for a few moments, and Hayden crashed his lips against mine. I brimmed with joy, at the tower of happiness Hayden created in me.
“Without you I’m lost,
But with you I’m crushed,
You’re my everlasting sorrow
And my sweetest rush.
I hurt you, and my heart and bones break,
And now after everything
I’m burying all that hate...”
Hayden tilted his head back to see my reaction and traced my waist with his hand as our warm breath mingled.
“After everything we’ve gone through...
...You’re my only fate.”
The keyboard took over, carrying the last notes of the powerful, mesmerizing ballad that took its place in our minds and hearts. The song finished, and everyone started applauding, but I could barely move.
“This was...” Phenomenal. My voice broke, and I took a deep breath.
The intensity in his gaze created a throbbing ache in my chest that grew stronger with each heartbeat. “This was what?”
“So beautiful. Hayden, everything you do is so beautiful, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to experience all of this with you.” I grabbed his cheeks and planted a kiss on his lips. “You know how much I love you?”
Before he could answer me with a kiss, Mel clamped her hands on our shoulders and got into our faces. “Such a devoted boyfriend, right? Count on him to win a girl over with a song.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me and patted Hayden on his shoulder. Her glassy eyes and slurred words gave away just how drunk she was.
Hayden rolled his eyes. “Your breath stinks. Get away from me.”
She burst into laughter. “Ha! That’s a good one! You stink of cigarettes, but you don’t see me complaining.”
“But I’m not the one who’s getting in your face. Now stop touching me.”
He stepped aside and pulled me next to him. My grin grew bigger as I watched their banter. Their relationship had changed a lot this past month. Melissa enjoyed teasing him, but she wasn’t bitter anymore, and Hayden didn’t get angry by her remarks anymore. Or at least not much. They had accepted each other and became more understanding of each other’s characters, even though they were like water and oil.
“That song was so emotional!” Jessica squealed. Her arm wrapped around Kevin’s as she rested her head on his shoulder, clearly having trouble keeping her balance. “I just love the lyrics!”
The corners of Hayden’s lips curved up. “Thanks.”
“Maybe Hayden can create lyrics for your songs,” I told her, glancing between Hayden and her. Jessica played guitar and sang her own songs, and it would be amazing if Hayden and Jess could combine their talents.
“Th-Th-That’s a good idea!” Kevin bobbed his head excitedly. “Th-That would be an amazing collaboration!”
Mel scratched her neck and sneaked a glance at me. I knew exactly what she was thinking about. Him having a crush on both Jess and Hayden was so complicated that none of us knew how to react to it. If only Jessica could respond to Kevin’s feelings, then maybe Kevin could get over Hayden.
“I’d like that,” she said in her tiny voice; her cheeks were covered with a deep shade of red. “But you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“Why not? It could be fun,” Hayden told her.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I smiled at Jessica. It was amazing to see Hayden getting along with my friends, and we could all have a fun time together. However, the same couldn’t be said for Blake and Masen, unfortunately. They didn’t go out of their way to bother them, partly because Hayden had asked them not to, but that didn’t mean Jess and Mel would become their favorite people any time soon. This led to many awkward situations that made me feel like I had to run interference.
This didn’t matter tonight, though. As I looked at Hayden’s and my friends, I felt happy that we could all gather and celebrate my birthday. Maybe we all had some differences that couldn’t be solved at the moment, but at least we’d made some progress compared to only several months ago. Hayden and I had changed, so maybe they would change for the better too.
It was almost midnight when the doorbell rang, announcing more people. Hand in hand, Hayden and I reached the front door, and I opened it to reveal the girls from the cheerleading team, math club, and one girl from my writing club. They had apologetic expressions on their faces.
“Hello,” they said almost simultaneously.
Anna, the cheerleading captain, stepped forward and handed me a basket filled with cosmetics. “Happy birthday.”
I stared at the purple bow wrapped around the handle, surprised by their gesture. “Thank you. Come in.”
I stepped aside to let them in, but they didn’t move. Anna glanced sideways and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Hayden and I looked at each other, both confused by their odd behavior.
“What’s going on?” Hayden asked them.
Anna shifted on her feet, meeting my gaze. “We wanted to apologize.”
My jaw almost dropped. “Apologize? What for?”
She tucked another strand of her hair behind her ear and looked at the dark skinned girl next to her, who was a member of the math club.
Mia, if I remembered her name, cleared her throat. “We want to apologize for how rude we were before. We treated you poorly and talked behind your back.” Her eyes went to the ground, and she cleared her throat again. “I was one of the people who created memes about you.”
I stood stock-still as erratic thoughts rushed through my mind. I didn’t know what to say.
A girl from my writing club stepped to the front. “We were so stupid back then. We didn’t like you, and we helped spread nasty rumors about you, but it was so wrong. We were so wrong.”
Another girl from the cheerleading team shifted closer to me. I remembered seeing her at Josh’s and Natalie’s trials about two weeks ago, when they were finally convicted for their crimes.