We're Heading to a Place Where I'll Prove I'm All You Want and More

Haylee was told to leave the occupant of the room down the hall on the left two doors away from the bathroom alone, but she wasn’t going to listen. The friends that she had been watching the DVD set of That 70’s Show with had passed out. It had been a long day for them, but not for her; she was wide-awake and ready for something that was almost forbidden.
She knew that the one at the end of the hall, Ian, was upset and she didn’t want him to be alone. It didn’t matter to her that he was less than welcoming. There were issues between them because of the things they disagreed on–like music–but she wanted to comfort him.
Ian hadn’t even come out or responded to the fact that all his friends–and Haylee–were watching a show he loved. That had to mean something was really wrong with him. There had to be something bothering him. She had no idea because no one had told her.
One more episode played though as she debated on sliding out from under Johnson’s arm. She wasn’t really watching the episode so much as staring at the screen while she thought. There wasn’t much that any of them would do once she was in the room with Ian; that is if he would let her stay in there with him. The she made up her mind and skillfully slid from the couch and stepped over the sleeping form on the floor, Singer, and made her way quietly past Cash and Marshall.
Haylee took a moment to glance out the large apartment window. The blue Vegas skies had turned to a dark purplish blue that was known as the desert night. No doubt the outside air was still dry but not as hot as it had been just a few hours ago. It might have been nice to step outside and enjoy the night on her own if she wasn’t thinking of the troubled boy down the hall.
The outside weather was just a thought in the back of Haylee’s head as she walked down the hall. She was giddy with the feeling of doing what she was told not to. It always made her feel adventurous.
When her hand reached the door handle to Ian’s room she thought to knock but decided against it. She knew that Ian would just yell for her to leave him alone and she was afraid that if she heard that she would listen. So she turned the door handle perpendicular to its original position and pushed the door in. All this she did without making a sound.
Ian was lying on his bed with his back to the door. Quietly the door shut and he was undisturbed. She would have thought he was asleep if Ian hadn’t sighed sadly though his lips.
The room had an air of sadness to it. An urge came over Haylee, perhaps a maternal instinct, to comfort him whether or not he wanted her to. She moved lightly and quickly to Ian’s bed.
He only noticed her presence when her weight pulled the bed at an unfamiliar angle. He was gathering his words and thoughts so he could tell her to leave him alone but he stopped when her slim but firm arms slid around his waist. Ian closed his eyes and took a deep breath as she shifted to press her warm soft body against his back. For some reason he felt completely comforted by having another body pressed up against him.
Then an urge came over Ian. He followed it as instinctively as Haylee had followed hers before. It was the instinct to be comforted and be soothed by this girl. He didn’t like her much but had felt a soft spot, an unwelcome soft spot at that, growing in his heart for her since he found her in the kitchen wearing his hat.
Slowly he rolled to face her. She kept her arms loose around his midsection to both allow him to roll and to also be pushed away. She knew that had to be coming. There was no doubt he was about to ask her to leave.
As he rolled she saw his face. The instinct to comfort grew stronger in her when she saw his chin quiver with the tears that were coming. To her surprise, Ian pushed his head into her chest so he might listen to the steady beat of her heart as he released his emotions.
To say that she was astonished was not quite right, but it was close. She pulled him closer to herself as he clutched, with tight fists, her shirt. Ian allowed the tears to flow freely and stain her shirt a darker color as he cried.
There was no way he could ever be as hostile to her now as he had been in the past. He was sharing some of his pain with her and she was comforting him though she had no idea why he was upset. He wasn’t thinking much of her now, but later he would see how compassionate she was.
She let Ian cry himself out until he was asleep against her. The warmth combined with her softness had lulled him to sleep easily after he could cry no longer. She enjoyed having him peacefully asleep against her because she knew that she had given him the peace he’d needed.
Though her back was to the wall now, she heard the door open and the soft tread of feet on the carpet. The bed pulled at an odd angle when the intruder sat on the bed.
“How is he?” The unmistakable voice of Alex DeLeon asked.
“He’s asleep. What happened to him?” She whispered looking back at the lovingly nicknamed Singer.
Ian shifted slightly in his sleep. It only brought him closer to her. Singer did not fail to notice when her foot began to gently rub Ian’s calf.
“One of his best friends died.” Singer said quietly looking down. “A friend he’d had for a long time.”
She was stunned into silence. Losing someone close to him must have hurt as bad as when she lost someone. Her head turned to gaze at the mass of curly hair pressed comfortably to her chest. Instinctively her arms tightened around Ian as if she could protect him from the pain.
“We’re going to make some dinner, Cash and I, do you want anything?” Singer asked.
“I’m fine. Bring something for Ian though. He should eat.”
“Will do.” Singer saluted her.
Singer left the room and walked into the kitchen where Cash was preparing dinner. Marshall and Johnson were still asleep on the couch. Singer relayed all the information of what he’d seen in Ian’s room to Cash. They began to speculate as Marshall slowly awoke and eavesdropped on the kitchen conversation. He had to be filled in on the bits he’d missed once he officially joined the kitchen crew.
Johnson woke from the smell of the almost ready food. He was brought into the conversation when he entered the kitchen. Then the four of them began to debate over who would take the food to Ian’s room. They all wanted to see for themselves what Singer had described in great detail.
It was decided that Marshall would go. He was quiet and not that nosey. Marshall gladly took the plate and went down the hall.
Ian had woken up after Singer left. The noise in the kitchen was what brought him from his sleep. He was delighted to find that Haylee was still there holding him tighter then he remembered. He was sure that she didn’t know he was awake.
Haylee heard Marshall come in and looked back to see him place the food on the nightstand. He waved at her and smiled.
In a quiet voice he asked, “Is Ian sleeping?”
“No,” she replied, “I can feel his eyelashes brush my skin when he blinks.”
Marshall nodded and exited the room. Ian was surprised to find that she knew he was awake. He pulled his head away from her chest and then regretted it because he lost the sound of her heartbeat. She shifted and told him he needed to eat.
Ian sat up and crawled over Haylee to sit on the side of his bed. Slowly he started eating. Her left hand was on the small of his back rubbing in little circles that she was unaware of. He was happy to feel that. It was almost like he needed her contact.
She was so caught up in her own thoughts of loss that she didn’t even see what was in front of her. All she was concentrating on was not crying. She took her hand from Ian’s back to wipe under her eyes at an escaped tear. It was a moment before her hand was again in its place on Ian’s back and in that time he felt anxious and fought off the depression that still hung oppressively low in the room. When her hand came back it was like he had a shield for his troubles.
There was still the sadness of losing his longtime friend, but he found it easier to deal with when she was in contact with him; almost as if he felt that she had been though this and understood. She had and she was trying not to relive it at that very moment Ian was thinking she had experienced it.
When he was finished eating he crawled back to his original position and placed his head against her heart. She moved her body so it was against his and her foot began to rub up and down his calf again.
The feeling of comfort and his full stomach left Ian drowsy. He fell asleep quickly. She took longer to slip under like he had.
When they were both out Cash and Johnson came into the room. Johnson picked up the plate and Cash found a blanket to cover the sleeping pair with. As he left the room, Cash turned out the lights and shut the door.
In the kitchen the four converged and began speculating again on what could happen between their friends.
It seemed Singer was adamant, as a direct result of what was happening between Ian and Haylee, that the two would soon be in a relationship. Cash didn’t doubt the possible relationship–friendly or romantic though the latter was less possible–but he thought Singer was wrong about the timeline. Marshall agreed with Cash saying that it might take a bit longer for the two to work out their differences and then get into something more than just friends. Ian could never dislike her as much as he used to because of the support and comfort she was giving him. Johnson just didn’t care as long as they stopped fighting every time they were in the same room. However, he was siding with Cash and Marshall and saying that it would take some time. A night of cuddling wasn’t going to cure their differences. Singer listened to all of this and then started to agree with the other three though he wouldn’t admit it. He liked to be a bit idealistic when it came to love.
The four in the kitchen grew tired and departed to their homes. They made it there safely and crawled into their own beds. Three fell asleep quickly but Cash decided to call his girlfriend. He wanted to opinion on the matter and knew that she was still up so it wouldn’t matter if he called her.
Arielle sat on her bed with the speakerphone feature engaged. She rested her back against the wall as Cash laid the whole situation out for her. He wanted a girl’s point of view and couldn’t get to Haylee until tomorrow. Besides if he spoke to his girlfriend first he could anticipate responses and formulate more targeted questions if necessary.
She gave him her opinion on the matter and then they just talked about their days. They also discussed what they could do tomorrow when they were together. When Arielle started to doze off against the pillows, Cash noticed. He let her get to bed and then curled up himself.
Finally all in the group of friends were asleep. There were no noises at Ian’s apartment except for the occasional creak of the building settling on its foundation due to the dropping temperature. The sky turned more black than blue.
* * *
The soft delicate way her body was pressed against his in the morning when Ian woke up would have been delicious to him had it been any other week. His pain overshadowed the wondrous feeling of waking up with a girl in his bed softly crushing him to her.
Today would be worse for him. Everything would be final. Today was the day of the memorial. He knew he couldn’t go because there was no way he could make it to Seattle in time.
She shifted in her sleep, her body colliding with his body in all the right places. Then her arms tightened around him. He snuggled his head into her chest to get a better listen of her heart. It was the single most soothing sound in his life at the moment.
After a few minutes her left hand slid up his side and started running though his hair. She tugged gently when her fingers caught a knot and then continued. She didn’t know Ian was awake now. She thought he was asleep so she was extra careful with pulling on the knots. Ian liked the way her hand moved though his hair. It was better than having to use a brush. Goose bumps rose on his arms. Ian assumed she noticed so he closed his arms around her for the first time and pulled her to him.
There wasn’t much space between the two of them to begin with, but he still managed to get closer. She was quite pleased to have him respond to her this way. She got a funny feeling that was concentrated in her heart. Ian heard her heartbeat falter and wondered what had caused it because her heart had been so steady all night.
“So I take it you’re awake.” Haylee said quietly.
“Yea, I was awake before you.” He responded.
Nothing was said for a while.
“I have to get up soon. I’ve got to get out of this room.”
“Where do you plan on going?” She wondered.
Ian remembered that he’d never told her why he was so upset. He thought she didn’t know anything. Ian had been asleep when Singer told Haylee the reason for his depression.
“One of my best friends I ever had died. I’ve been locked in here for a few days now and I need air. I need to try to feel comforted since I can’t get to Seattle for the memorial.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She pretended like she didn’t know.
“I should go take a shower and make myself presentable.”
Haylee’s arms tightened unconsciously around Ian. She didn’t want him to go. Ian shifted to lay his head on the pillow next to her. For a while the two of them laid there staring into each other’s eyes. She was trying to hide the pain in hers from him because she’d started thinking of her friend again. Ian noticed the pain though. He would have seen it a mile away. Her eyes were always so happy, that was one of the things he’d unconsciously noticed about her and it had stuck with him.
She saw the understanding mixed with pain in his eyes.
“You’ve been though this too.” He said reaching up to touch her cheek.
He didn’t know why he did that, he just felt like it was the right gesture for the moment. She turned her face into his hand but closed her eyes so he couldn’t read them anymore. She didn’t like opening up to him. It didn’t seem right with their past. They’d always been so closed off to one another. Ian felt uncomfortable as well with how much he was opening up but felt he’d come too far to shut down and push her away.
She and Ian began talking about loss. The both of them slowly became more comfortable. At one point, when she was having a hard time talking, Ian took her hand in his and held firmly. It was his turn to comfort her and he liked that. He felt better knowing that he wasn’t the only one that had suffered this way.
Outside the sun rose and the temperature climbed. The sky grew paler blue than it was half an hour ago. Things were starting up for the day.
Singer was awake in his room scribbling in his notebook. He’d found inspiration for a song after he’d woken up from a dream. He planned to get up and head to Ian’s as soon as he was done writing because he knew that Haylee was still there. Cash was still asleep. Johnson was curled up in a mass of covers watching TV. Marshall was waiting for a reply to a text he’d sent a few moments earlier.
All these things started happening and Ian knew it was getting closer to the time he needed to get up. So he told Haylee he had to and she let him. As Ian gathered his things for a shower she checked her phone for anything she’d missed. She found a message from Marshall asking if she needed him to pick her up and take her home since they’d left her to sleep at Ian’s. She told him that now wasn’t the time. She was going to spend as long as Ian would allow with him and then she would call Marsh for a ride home. She rolled to her other side to stretch before curling back up so she could fall back to sleep in Ian’s bed.
Ian got out of the shower with a question in his mind. He didn’t know what the answer would be because he didn’t know how she’d feel about it. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about it. He knew he had to ask though. He felt like he needed to.
The first thing he saw when he walked back into his room was Haylee asleep. He stood there a moment smoothing his clothes and debating. His selfish side won out and he woke her.
“Are you getting ready to go out?” Were the first words out of her lips.
“Yea, and I wanted to know if you’d come. I’d feel better if I had someone who understands with me. I don’t know how…” He trailed off not knowing what to say.
“Of course. If you need me with you.”
“I do.” He was glad she would come.