Tappin' on Your Window

She does not know why she doesn't just keep her window unlocked. She knows he will be coming over, he always does. A smile creeps on her lips as she turns out her light and crawls into bed. It had been a long day, and though it was only just past nine, she was already fighting to keep her eyes open. Her room was cold and she shivered as she crawled under the covers, but she knew she would warm up soon enough; besides, she could always fall asleep faster when she was cold. When he came over, he would tap on her window, waking her, and crawl into the bed with her, warming her still cold body. He would tell her to just go back to sleep, and she would nod, moving closer to him and lying her head on his chest, and fall back into a peaceful slumber. These were their nights.

When Stephen arrived, he smiled at her as she groggily got up to unlock the window for him. He crawled in quickly, and looked at her oddly, for her room was colder than usual. It was the way she liked it though. Stephen knew this by now, but he still found it to be peculiar, as when he didn't sleep here, with her, his room was always boiling. He shucked off his jeans and shirt, shoes and socks, leaving him in just his underwear, and lied down next to the girl, who was sleepily watching him.

"Go to sleep, Hails," he whispered to her.

When Hailey woke up the next morning, she was curled into Stephen's still sleeping self. She got out of bed, careful to not wake him. He had come at half past eleven last night. The two kids don't even know what started his coming over. It had been ages since he had slept in his room, which in reality, was only just a few days ago. Every weekend, he spends the nights in Hailey's room. It was just decided once and both promptly did not feel the need to remember why. Stephen never told his parents, or even his brother, that he went over to Hailey's every Friday and slept over there for the next two nights, they just knew. Sometimes he would stay for longer, always coming in the dead of the night if he wasn't with her in the evening.

Hailey smiled, remembering the day she became best friends with Stephen. It was a spring day and she had been watching her best friend Kennedy play four square with two other boys. The game, not being one she was particularly fond of, caused her to just watch, occasionally talking to Kennedy, but he had to concentrate. Stephen had come over and asked if he could play. After a few words, Kennedy punched Stephen causing a fight. Hailey had been appalled at the sight of her best friend punching him, so while the two boys had to spend the rest of recess (and three others) sitting on seperate benches, Hailey took to talking to Stephen instead. Mind you, she did make up with Kennedy after a week, but it was too late, she and Stephen were already inseperable.

Stopping to grab clothes, she exited the room, going to take a shower. When she got back, Stephen was sitting up, rubbing his eyes tiredly, looking like a little boy. She smiled at him as he flopped back down. They went through the same ordeal every morning. Stephen always had a hard time getting out of bed and Hailey was an early riser. No matter what, he would always wake up soon after she had left the bed, and complain to himself about getting up so early. He loved it though. Stephen wouldn't trade these morning for anything.

"Morning, Stephen," she said cheerfully.

"This is not a fun time, Hails," he grumbled.

"Maybe if you would just sleep at a normal hour," Hailey turned to look at him, "things would be different."

"Hey, I was here by eleven thirty, so shut up."

Hailey giggled and kissed his cheek. The two of them spent the next few minutes with Stephen tickling her, causing her to laugh to the point in which she almost could not breathe. When she finally got him to stop, they both lied back on her bed, regaining their composure.

"Go get dressed, Stephen," she said after awhile, pushing him off of her bed.

"That was rude, Hailey Jane," he said, pointing at her. "Rude."

Hailey shook her head at him as he quickly grabbed clothes from her dresser and walked out to the bathroom. They were his clothes, it was his drawer, he was over here that often. While Stephen got dressed, brushed his teeth, and fixed his hair, she quickly put on her make-up, thinking about how she woke up that morning. She loved waking up with him next to her. It made her feel safe, secure. It put her mind to ease, but it made her heart flutter inconsistently.

The way Hailey felt about Stephen was more than just a school girl crush and she knew it. She had a crush on Kennedy back when they were seven, and she knew how that felt. When they were twelve, she liked Damon Reid. But when she turned thirteen and Stephen left for the summer with his family, she realized that she liked him. It was slightly awkward, when she first realized it, but she learned to deal with it. There were days when she wanted to make a move on him, but she wouldn't for fear of breaking up their friendship. Just having him next to her when they walked through the streets of Arizona was enough to keep her content with life. She loved Stephen and losing him in anyways would cause such an awful heartache.

When Stephen came back into the room, she was reading a tattered copy of Alice In Wonderland. She was leaning against the wall, with her knees pulled to her chest. Her arms were holding them in place, and she was reading over her knees. It didn't look to be a very comfortable reading position, but that was just Hailey. She could get so absorbed in anything and wouldn't even notice anything uncomfortable about how she was sitting. Hailey hadn't even noticed he came back into the room, that is, until she looked up at the end of the chapter ten minutes later.

"Stephen! You scared me!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry?" He laughed.

"How long have you been sitting over there?" She wondered.

"About ten minutes. I didn't want to interrupt you."

Hailey nodded her head once, placing the book on her night stand. She stood up and grabbed Stephen's hand, pulling him out of his seat. Once he was out of it, neither made notion to let go of the other's, and that was how they exited the room. A few rooms over, Hailey's parents were in the kitchen; her mother, making breakfast and her father, sipping his coffee and reading the morning paper. When their daughter walked in, with Stephen trailing next to her, neither looked surprised. It was all too familiar to them, seeing him so early in the morning, but never hearing a knock on the front door.

They spent every moment they possibly could together. Over the years, they had constant sleepovers when they were younger, almost all of them taking place at her house. At school, when they were not in class, they were always at each others side, always having something new to say. At a party, Stephen hardly ever let Hailey out of his sight. He was afraid of what might happen to her if she was alone. The horrors of what could happen were enough to keep him from getting wasted every time. Their friendship was the best anybody could ever have. It was the kind someone will see and wish that they could have a friendship half as good as theirs. Sure, they fought, every relationship, no matter how platonic (or not), fighting was inevitable. Their fights never lasted long, though. After an hour or two, one of them would show up at the other's door to apologize. More commonly than not, it was Stephen, always coming bearing a flower as a peace offering.

"Morning mom, daddy," Hailey chirped.

"Good morning, Hailey," Her mother said. "Stephen."

"Mornin'." He smiled.

The two kids sat down, letting go of the others hands. Her mother, Catherine, set plates of food down on the table, and sat down next to her husband, Michael. Before the adults began to take the food, Hailey and Stephen quickly dished up.

"What are you two up to, today?" Michael asked.

"I don't know," Hailey said. "Stephen, do you know?"

"Well, there's a show tonight. But up until around seven, I don't know what's going on."

"I'm sure you two will figure something out," Catherine laughed. "Try to stay out of trouble though, will you."

"Can't make any promises, mom!" Hailey joked. "I mean, you know Stephen is such a bad influence on me."

"Nonsense," Stephen jumped in. "It's the other way around!"

The Kenneth household was filled with warm laughter. When breakfast was finished and Hailey had cleaned up the mess, with no help from Stephen, the two left. There was hardly anybody else out at this time. It was late spring, or early summer, of 2009 and all of the children were at school. Adults were working. Hailey and Stephen were in the inbetween. They felt far superior because they had graduated two years before. Hailey still longed to go back to the days of high school, though. It would mean that Stephen wouldn't be gone as much. It would mean that her other friends wouldn't leave her constantly. It would mean that she wouldn't have to be reminded that at any moment, Stephen might forget her while he was gone on tour.

She knew that if Stephen ever forgot about her, she wouldn't be able to handle it. He wasn't like that, and she knew it, but Hailey still couldn't help but worry. Whenever he went on tour and she couldn't go, she always felt like she wasn't going to make it through the days, the weeks, the months. How was she going to sleep peacefully knowing that Stephen wouldn't be tapping on her window in the middle of the night? She had grown so used to it, that when he was away, she always woke up on the weekends multiple times, waiting, before remembering he wasn't coming.

"What are you thinking about, Hails?" Stephen asked.

"When are you going on tour again?"

"In a few weeks," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Why?"

"Just wondering." She frowned. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too. I always miss you Hailey."

"It's so weird when you leave," Hailey said after a few moments. "You've always been here, so when you're gone, it's just, I don't know."

"I know what you mean," Stephen replied. "It's hard to go for an extended period of time without my best friend. You're the person I'm with the most, besides John. The person I talk to the most. So when I go to someone, it's always you, so without you being there, it's like my life is missing something important."

Hailey nodded and leaned into him, Stephen instinctively wrapping his arm around her. This girl was the glue holding his life together, in one way or another. His best friend and he hated leaving her like he does. As the roamed the streets of Scottsdale, he felt the urge to kiss her. He refrained though, not sure if it would be wise.

The two had kissed plenty of times over the years. They kissed each other at twelve; it was awkward and innocent, happening right on her front step; both wanted that kiss to happen so they wouldn't be inexperienced later. When one was leaving for an extended period of time, they gave each other a quick peck on the lips. It was no big deal, they were just extremely close best friends. Lately, Stephen had been wanting to kiss Hailey, spontaneously and passionately. He wanted to be able to leave for tour and know that Hailey wasn't going to find somebody to love her like he did while he was gone. Maybe that was the same fear Hailey had for him. Neither wanted to be replaced in the others life.

As they walked down teh road some more, towards Stephen's house, Hailey distanced herself from Stephen. She walked on the curb of the sidewalk, using it like a balance beam, and had gotten pretty far doing so before she fell. When she did, she tried to use her hand to catch her fall, but that wasn't the smartest idea. And Stephen tried to catch her, but was to late. Hailey toppled to the ground, her wrist slamming against the pavement, her body falling on top of it.

"Hailey," he cried, alarmed. "Are you okay?"

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at him. "It hurts Stephen!"

Stephen helped Hailey stand up and assessed her quickly. Her arm was scraped up, but her wrist, it was starting to swell slightly. "Let me call, John, okay? He can come with the car, because my house is still a good ten minute walk and you need to get your wrist checked out, now."

He held her close to him as he called his younger brother. Her tears were falling fast down her face; she had never been one to deal with pain well. He would have called her parents, because that would have helped comfort her as well, but by now, they would have both left for work. When John showed up, Stephen was trying to console his best friend to the best of his ability. He was wiping away her tears and assuring her that everything was going to be okay.

"What did she do?" John asked as the climbed into the car.

"She fell off the curb and landed on her wrist," Stephen said. Turning back to Hailey, he said, "Hails, it's going to be fine, trust me. It's just your wrist."

"But it hurts, Stephen," she whimpered.

"I know it does, Hailey Jane, but the pain will go away."

After a rather long hospital visit, Hailey left with a green cast on her arm. Green because she couldn't choose for herself and told Stephen to pick one that wasn't black or white. Green because it was his favorite color. A cast because she knew that if they had just given her a brace, she would have been stubborn and never worn it. When she looked at it, she would think of Stephen. He was the first one to sign it, a signature, a message, and a smiley face was all it took to make her stomach flip. John took the black marker after that, signing his messy scrawl.

"It still hurts," Hailey said crossly.

"Do you want to go home?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah. I think I want to take a nap. Will you stay with me?"

"'Course I will, Hails," he told her. "I'll stay with you until I have to leave."

"For the show," Hailey said. "I'm going with you. This may hurt like a son of a bitch, but I'm not missing the show."

"Atta girl," John exclaimed.

At Hailey's house, she crawled under her covers and motioned for Stephen to join her. He sat down next to her and she moved so that her head was resting in his lap. Absentmindedly, Stephen began to play with her hair.

"Stephen?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for staying with me."

Stephen looked down at Hailey. "Of course I would stay. You're my best friend Hailey. I'm not going to leave when you need me."

When Hailey woke up, it was half past six and Stephen was reading her copy of Alice In Wonderland. She smiled at him, for he seemed so transfixed on reading the book. He hadn't even realized she had stirred, but when he glanced up just a moment later, he smiled. A glance at the clock and he frowned.

"You still coming with?"

"Yes," Hailey said tiredly. "Wouldn't miss it."

By the time the two got to the venue, in Hailey's car, it was ten minutes to seven and the band went on in fifteen. Everybody was excited and talking animatedly, not even angry that Stephen was very nearly late. They understood why. After assuring Stephen vigorously, that she would stay backstage to watch the show, he sauntered off to tune his bass.

True to her word, Hailey stayed back, watching from the sidelines. Her wrist was hurting and she was wishing that she could be at home, lying in bed with Stephen instead, but she shrugged that aside. She loved supporting Stephen. Any chance she got, she would head out to one of his shows. Hailey loved watching Stephen on stage, he looked so happy.

When Hailey told Stephen she wasn't going on tour with him for the first time, he was heartbroken and she was lost. She needed to go to college though. Upon hearing how she wanted to be a math teacher, Stephen had laughed. He had hated math in school and was constantly bribing Hailey to do it for him, seeing as how they were never in the same class. Hailey never minded. And just like she did for him, Stephen supported her decision, though he wished that she would take online courses so they could spend more time together. That wasn't what she wanted; Hailey had wanted the real college experience. She lasted a year before she found that she hated it. With every fiber of her being, Hailey couldn't stand her professors, the time her classes were, the workload. It wasn't Stephen that suggested online classes, but her mother. Hailey still wanted to be a teacher and needed an alternate, and that's what she did.

Hailey had gotten a job, too. One that she hated. She quit after three months. Stephen kept trying to get her to come back out on the road with her after that, but she stubbornly refused. She loved going out on tour, but it wasn't a lifestyle for her. This summer, Hailey signed up for classes at the community college. Online classes were fine, but she wanted more. She didn't want to go on tour, or rather, couldn't because there was no room on this one. She needed something to take up her time. Something to keep her mind off Stephen.

Stephen walked off the stage, beaming. It had been a good show. The crowd response was insane and he felt great. Seeing Hailey waiting for him as he walked off stage was refreshing, as she wasn't always there anymore. He worried about her constantly when he was gone. If something were to happen to her like what happened today while he was gone, Stephen didn't know what he would do. He was supposed to be there for her always, and the reality of him leaving soon, made those situations more prominent.

That night, Hailey crawled into bed alone, her window locked. She knew that Stephen would come tapping on her window tonight, and she smiled to herself. Her arm was aching, her heart was beating. And when Stephen stripped off his clothes and lied next to her when he got there, nothing was hurting, but Hailey couldn't be sure if her heart was still beating. Around him, the beats were skipping around, ecstatic that his presence was near. She nestled her head onto his warm chest and felt his arm snake around her. He kissed her head quickly, and she was gone into dreamland.