Tappin' on Your Window

Hailey's parents had respectable jobs. Catherine worked as a pediatric nurse at the local clinic and Michael worked in advertising. They were ordinary nine to five jobs that they loved. Neither ever expected much from Hailey so long as she did her best and was happy. When she told them she wanted to be a math teacher, they were happy, but uneasy. Hailey excelled in school but they knew she wouldn't do well in college alone. Still, they put her through classes, got her into the online courses, and supported her decision. Hailey was a dreamer and for the longest time, they had thought that she would choose an unrealistic career path, like Stephen had.

Long ago, Hailey's parents had grown accustomed to her attachment to Stephen. He was like a son to them. He had been Hailey's best friend for eleven years and had always been there for her. They bought him birthday and Christmas presents, watched him when he was younger, and saw to it that he didn't hurt himself in any way possible. They were almost thankful to him for being there and knew he was there to stay for a long time coming. Though they didn't care for his career path because of how hard it was to get into, they did support him. And they were there for Hailey when she fell to pieces when he departed.
She loved her parents for caring. Hailey had always been close to them and hoped she always would be. She hadn't gone to them for things as much in the later years of her life though, because she had Stephen. Always, it was Stephen. Stephen who knew everything about her, sometimes even before Hailey herself. Parents weren't supposed to know everything and neither were friends, but the relationship between Hailey and Stephen was different. Nothing about them was the definition of normal.

Whenever Stephen would leave, whether it be for a tour or to go and visit family, Hailey wouldn't know what to do with herself. Her other friends were there, sometimes, but unfortunately for her, quite a few of her friends were in bands or did band related activities. Not all of them went on tour at the same time, luckily for Hailey. Otherwise, she would be caught in the desperate times of dialing the numbers of kids she hardly ever talked to, when she finally cracked from being alone and needed social interaction.

"Hailey, what are you doing at home?" Catherine said as she walked into the living room.

It was around seven and her mother had just gotten home. After work, she had stopped by at the store to pick up a few things they needed before the weekend. Typically, Hailey wouldn't be home alone at a time like this; at the very least Stephen would be over here, sitting on the couch with her.

"I'm not feeling too well," She admitted. "My head hurts and I don't know I just feel blah."

"Hailey Jane," her mother sighed. "You know better than to describe your ailments as 'blah'. Have you vomited?"

"Perhaps," Hailey responded quietly.

"Go lie down in your bedroom. I'll make you some broth for dinner."

Hailey nodded and shuffled into her bedroom, where she changed back into her pajamas and crawled under the covers. Her pillow was cold, just how she liked it, but the rest of her room was freezing. It was too cold, but she had already lied down, she didn't want to get back up and turn the heater up. If she had been shivering in the living room, with no air conditioning, she was far worse in here. She wrapped her arms around her second pillow and promptly fell asleep hugging it.

There was a tapping sound. A short rapping against the window pane and Hailey just wanted it to go away. Her head was still pounding. She had thrown up three times since her mother had been home. Her body ached and she was so hot now. Slowly, she stood to her feet to go open the window for Stephen, but she didn't head back to bed right away. She sat down at her desk, watching as he made his way through the window. He paused in closing the window to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Keep the window open," Hailey said. "It's too hot in here."

"Are you still feeling sick?" He asked, worried.

Hailey nodded and brought her legs up on the chair as well, resting her cheek on one of her knees. Stephen frowned, watching her closely as he undressed himself. She was extremely pale, her eyes were cloudy, and her bangs were sticking to her forehead. Hailey did not look well at all, and Stephen just wanted to fix her. He wanted her to be smiling at him, even in the dead of the night. He wanted her complexion to be rosy and her hair to be in odd positions because of how she slept on it. He wanted her to be lying in bed already, her head on the pillow, waiting for him to crawl in next to her.

"Come on, Hailey," He said. "You need to go back to sleep."

She jumped up suddenly and ran into the bathroom. Knowingly, Stephen followed her, and sat on the edge of the bathtub, holding her hair as she retched. Catherine, hearing the opening of her daughter's door and the sound of feet padding against the ground, sighed and got out of bed to go assist her. At the sight of her daughter's head in the toilet bowl, with Stephen clad in only his underwear holding her hair, Catherine took a step back, surprised. Stephen looked up then, his face turning bright red at the sight of his best friend’s mother in the doorway.

"Oh," she said, surprised.

"Um, hey, Mrs. Kenneth," he said awkwardly, almost letting Hailey's hair slip out of his hand.
By this time, Hailey had stopped vomiting, had wiped her mouth and was looking at her mother, unsure of what was about to happen. It wasn't completely obvious that Stephen spent the nights in Hailey's bedroom, but before now, things had been a bit suspicious. And not once in the years that this had been going on, had he been caught.

"Well," Catherine said, "this is a surprise."

Hailey sat back, wiping her mouth and Stephen awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Both of them looked up at her mother, wondering what she was going to say, or what she was going to do. Catherine had to pause for a moment, to gather her thoughts and figure out what she should do about this situation. Despite the fact that she had suspected Stephen slept over quite often, now that this suspicion was confirmed, she didn't know what to do. Any other time it would have been fine, but because Hailey was sick, it seemed slightly inappropriate to have him over. On the other hand, Catherine knew that Hailey was probably loving having Stephen over when she felt so bad.

"Hailey, you need to get back to bed," she said. "Stephen, go with her. We'll talk in the morning, you two."

"What do you think that my parents are going to do in the morning?" Hailey asked when the two were back in her bed.

"I don't think we are going to be in trouble, if that's what you mean, Hailey. It's just going to be awkward as hell."

"Why awkward?" She murmured.

"Your mom just saw me in my underwear," Stephen laughed.

Hailey giggled, and then shivered under the covers and instinctively moved closer to Stephen. Her head rested by his, sharing the same pillow, and she drifted off into sleep. Stephen however lied awake for awhile. He wondered what was actually going to happen in the morning, despite the fact that he knew nothing bad would happen. Catherine liked him and it wasn't like she would call his parents and tattle, causing him to get grounded. It was probable that she wouldn't say anything, that she would just let it go because whatever she had to say (more than likely) would not stop him from coming over late at night.

The following morning, Hailey woke up feeling better and Stephen woke sick. When Hailey had returned to tell him to go shower, he wearily awakened, only to roll over and moan. His head hurt, his body ached, and he was hot all over.

"I'm going to die," he groaned.

"Stephen, you are not going to die," Hailey told him. She was sympathetic because he was sick, and embarrassed that she had gotten him so, but she knew that he was a hypochondriac. "You have the same thing as me. I'm doing much better after twenty-four hours."

"We don't know this, Hailey, for all I know, I could have picked something up elsewhere, and it could be fatal."

"Breathe, Stephen," Hailey sighed. "You are not going to die. It will go away in a day."

Catherine walked into her daughter's bedroom and smiled bemusedly. "This would be why you don't spend the night when the person is sick."

Hailey and Stephen glanced at her abashedly. Catherine smiled at the two of them. It was only the fact that the suspicion had been confirmed that shocked Catherine last night. That and the fact that Stephen actually came over while Hailey was sick.

"I have been called into work," Catherine told them. "Emily called in sick, so they asked if I could fill in."

"Okay, mom," Hailey said. "Is daddy downstairs?"

"Yes, but I think he said something about going to play golf with Rick this afternoon."

"Okay, that's cool."

"Because you were sick yesterday," Catherine said, "I don't want you going out, okay Hailey?"

"That's fine."

"And I'd advise you to stay in bed, Stephen," Catherine laughed. "You had to have caught Hailey's bug."

"I'm dying," Stephen informed her.

"You are not dying, Stephen, I can promise you that. Just get some rest."

Stephen nodded and lied back down on the bed, closing his eyes. Hailey looked at him and smiled before hugging her mother goodbye. Once her mother had left the room, she looked at Stephen and sighed. He opened his eyes and coughed, making her laugh at his obvious attempt of being pathetic. Stephen was always like this when he got sick. Hailey rarely complained about anything, even if she was vomiting every hour and had a fever as high as 103, she wouldn't say too much about it. Stephen however always felt like the worst was coming for him. Death was around the corner at the slightest headache in his mind.

"Stephen, why don't you just go back to sleep?" Hailey suggested. "I'll stay up here and read. I probably shouldn't overexert myself."

"Are you sure?" Stephen asked. "I can always go home. Make John take care of me from my sickbed."

"You know that John won't do much," Hailey laughed. "I don't mind. Besides, you came over last night for me."

"I should have come sooner. But practice..." he trailed off.

"It's cool Stevie, I swear it's fine. Now just go back to sleep."

Stephen nodded and shifted under the covers until he was comfortable again. Hailey smiled, watching as he fell asleep, before she grabbed a book off herself and lied next to him to read. She didn't mind staying in for the night with Stephen in her bed sleeping. She didn't mind tending to him while he was sick, like he didn't mind tending to her. The closeness of his body, the sound he made when he snored lightly in his sleep, could make her smile for hours. And that's all that really matters. Happiness.