Operation Beautiful

"I'm going out in about fifteen minutes," I tell Matt over a late breakfast.

He looks up at me from his bowl of cereal. "Haley's?"

I nod. "Yeah. Clarice called and I just thought it would be a good idea. Spike's going, too."

Matt rolls his eyes. "Girls. Dude, she's not even your girlfriend. Why are you listening to her?"

I shrug. "I just feel guilty, that's all. I mean, I'm part of the cause."

"Yeah, but now I feel like I should be helping out. You want me to go pound Christa's face in?"

"I don't know. Call Janice. She'll probably want to go with you."

Matt laughs. "The girl hates me!"

"She hates everyone," I remind him.

"Touché," he mutters.

I put my bowl in the sink, jumping slightly at the noise of someone bounding down the stairs.

"Good morning!" Jessica yells happily. Emmaleigh waves groggily from behind her.

"Are you still tired?" Matt asks with a laugh. "It's 12 o'clock."

"She got up in the middle of the night a couple times," Jessica explains. Emmaleigh just nods.

There's a honk from outside the door.

"Okay, I'm leaving. I'll probably be back in an hour or so."

"Where are you going?" Jessica asks.

"Haley's," I say, already sure of what she'll say. I shouldn't hang around my ex so much. Sure enough, Jessica's face twists into a frown. I run out the door before she can complain.

***
"Hi," Haley says uncertainly, letting us inside. "It's nice to see you guys."

"Who is it, Haley?" comes a voice from the kitchen.

Haley leads us over to meet her mom. "Mom, this is Corey and this is Spike."

A woman with Haley's eyes turns to greet us. "Nice to meet both of you."

"We'll be upstairs," Haley says.

"Okay. Should I bring up some snacks?"

"I'm fine," Spike says.

"I just had breakfast," I add. We head upstairs. I look over at Spike and realize something. I'd never met Mrs. Waters before, and far as I knew, neither had Spike. So, essentially, a guy with long hair down to his shoulders and a snakebite walks in with another guy and Haley's like "I'll be upstairs alone with these people you've never met" and Haley's mom is like "have fun"?

"It's odd I don't freak your mom out," Spike says, his mind on the same topic.

"Don't think so highly of yourself," Haley teases. "But, yeah. I've told her about you guys already. Besides, she works for a fashion magazine. She's seen bigger creeps than you guys."

“Thanks,” I mutter. “I think.”

Spike laughs as we finish climbing up the stairs. "You've told her about us? Only good stuff, I hope."

"Only the best," Hakey reassures with a smile, opening the door to her room.

"So," I begin as we all sit down on the bed. "How are you?"

"A little confused," she admits. "You both know the story. Are you here to talk me out of it?"

Spike smiles and rests his head on her shoulder. "We're here to support you. That's what friends are for."

I mimic his action as Haley smiles. "That's what Clarice said," she remembers.

"How's it feel?" Spike asks. "You haven't spoken to Trevor since Thursday, I'm guessing."

"I miss him. Which is weird. It's only been two days." She rubs a hand over her face in annoyance.

"It's normal," I tell her. "You guys are really close." She shrugs and I notice for the first time how pale she is. "Did you sleep well?" I ask. "Any nightmares?"

"Just a minor one," she says. "I've started locking my door at night and I've told my mom not to call Trevor over no matter what happens."

"Why lock your door?" Spike asks.

"I don't have the heart to tell my mom that she makes my nightmares worse," she says. "I hinted at it once and she looked so hurt that I haven't dared bring it up again. So I just tell her she can't come in."

There's a long, comfortable pause.

"Haley, why are you doing this?" Spike asks, his head still on her shoulder. She gently lies on her back, causing both of us to fall next to her against the comforter.

"What do you mean?" she asks. "I already told you. We were spending too much time together and I just feel too dependent on him."

"Haley," Spike cuts in gently. "There's something else, isn’t there?"

She doesn't speak for a few seconds. "It’s nothing." But her voice is thick, like she's choking on tears.

I scoot closer to her, holding her hand in one of mine and stroking it gently. I really don't want her to cry. I've never seen her cry before and I'm pretty sure neither Spike nor I would know what to do.

“What’s bothering you?" Spike asks softly.

There's a long silence and I can feel Haley's control return. I move my hand and wait.

"I'm scared." She sits up and folds her legs, whispering the words into her knees. "I'm scared that I need him more than he needs me."

We sit up too, and Spike wraps her in a hug. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“What if...what if he gets tired of all this crap?” she asks. “What’ll I do then?”

“Haley, Trevor is totally infatuated with you,” I say. She doesn’t respond.

“Trevor needs you just as much as you need him,” Spike says soothingly. “Just in a different way.”

“How long is he going to be up at three in the morning, or leave parties early or drop everything and come running because I need him? It’s not going to last. He’ll,” the words come out in a whisper. “He’ll get tired of it. He’ll get tired of me.”

“I don’t think he will,” I say.

“Feelings change, Corey,” she says. “They change all the time.”

“Feelings change all the time,” Spike agrees. “But relationships don’t. And you and Trevor have one hell of a relationship.”

“It’s good to be able to learn to depend on yourself instead of Trevor,” I say. “But Spike is right. Relationships don’t change easily. And it’s the relationship that determines how you feel about each other. If you try hard enough, you can always change a relationship for the better. So don’t give up, okay?”

She nods, then stands up and gives both of us a hug. “Thanks.”

“Good,” Spike says. “Now why don’t we go hang out, just the three of us?”

So I call home and tell them I won’t be back until four. We go downtown and walk around. “Hey, look at this store!” Haley calls, peering through the window of an antique store.

“It looks old,” I say wrinkling up my nose.

“Yeah, old but mysterious at the same time,” Spike says. He turns to me and grabs my arm. “Honey, let’s go check it out. Pleeeaaase?”

Haley laughs.

“Just for you, baby,” I play along, patting him on the head.

“You’re the greatest!” Spike says. And he positively skips into the store.

“Well, that’s one way to emasculate yourself,” I joke to Haley.

She laughs and shakes her head. “And yet that makes him even cooler.”

“Agreed.” We enter the store together, Spike already inspecting some of the antiques in a corner. Haley looks at the rack of jewelry while I go stand by Spike.

“Having fun?” I ask him.

“We should do this more often,” he says. “This store is boring, but hanging out like this is fun.”

After a few minutes, Haley approaches us. “I found something pretty cool. We can leave now.” She puts the brown paper package into her her pocket and we head out the door.

“Have a nice day,” the rusty old lady at the register calls after us.

“Thanks! You too!” Haley calls back. We turn back onto the street, enjoying the sun warming our backs and the cool wind breezing through my unzipped hoodie.

“Anything else look interesting?” I ask.

“Ice cream!” Spike says. “Let’s get ice cream!”

“What did you end up buying?” I ask Haley over a cup of chocolate ice cream.

“It’s just a necklace I liked. Do you want to see it?” She’s eyeing us skeptically, as if certain we’ll say no.

“Yes,” says Spike, spooning Rocky Road into his mouth. “It better not be a hooker necklace or something.”

“A what?” Haley asks incredulously. “How does that even make sense?”

“I was trying to come up with a manly reason for wanting to see this necklace you picked out,” Spike explains, rolling his eyes and speaking as though she should have known this all along.

“Okay, well...” she pulls the chain out and shows it to us. It’s, well, you know, a necklace. Buttons and cloth flowers and other things create a long, curving pendant. It’s...odd.

“It’s weird,” I say finally. “I can’t visualize anyone wearing that.”

Haley laughs and holds it up to her neck. And now it looks pretty cool.

“Nice,” Spike says. “I like it better on than off.”

“Agreed.” I take another bite of ice cream.

She puts it away with a smile. “Thanks, I think.”