Forever's Not Supposed to End

Hayley's point of view

*ONE MONTH LATER*

"No, I'm coming to to Chicago tonight I promise," I grinned into the phone.

"Aww hurry back OK? Nathan and Jenna are going all smoochy and I miss having you here to cuddle with," he pouted.

In the past month Matthew and I had barely seen each other. There had been a few stolen nights where I had snuck away from the band and driven the ten hours to Chicago, spent a few hours with Matthew, and then driven back to be home in time to head to the studio in the morning, completely exhausted. I had missed him a lot and it had been almost two weeks since we'd seen eachother at all now.

"Aw Matthew. I'm practically on my way, I just have to head over to Jeremy's place and pick up the demo copy of the CD, and I'll bring it with me so you guys can take a listen. You gotta remember it's one song short though, we don't have a last song yet," I added quickly.

"I can't wait to hear it, and hopefully write you that last song," he said.

"How long can you play your bass for now?" I asked, holding the phone to my ear as I bundled my bag into the trunk of my car.

"Uh.. I'm up to seventeen minutes before I conk out I think," he chucked slightly.

"My hero," I giggled.

"One day, I'm gonna be back on stage, rocking my way through an hour and a half set, just like the good old days, I promise you!"

"And I'll be right there with you, like a little groupie screaming at you from the front row," I smiled as I climbed into my car.

"Aww. You can be my only groupie that actually gets to come home with me," he laughed.

"I look forward to it. But hey I gotta go If I'm gonna make it in time for breakfast with you, I need to set off now," I said, glancing at the clock as I started up the engine of my car.

"I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight knowing you're on your way. Drive safely OK? I worry about you in that stupidly powerful car," he said sternly.

"My car is not stupidly powerful. It's nice. I like it," I defended. My sporty white Audi TT was my one vice. I did like to drive fast, I couldn't deny it, but the car needed to be driven like that. It was the one gift my Dad had given me that I'd never tried to give back.

"Whatever you say... but seriously, drive safe. And its snowing up here so be careful of that," he warned.

"Ok, Mom," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I'll see you in the morning OK?"

"I'll see you in a few hours, I'll crawl in and wake you up nicely," I smiled to myself knowing exactly what I was planning for when I got there.

"Oooh. Sounds sexual," he said, I could practically hear his smirk.

"You'll see, but don't be too disappointed if it isn't," I giggled, hanging up the phone and starting to drive over to Jeremy's house.

I hung out with Jeremy for a few minutes, making small talk as he burned the demo's to a CD for me.

"Is it done yet?" I asked, hopping up and down.

"Yes, gosh, someone's impatient to get back to their boyfriend," he laughed, handing me the disk.

"Just a little. I just want to be with him you know? And now I get to go and spend almost a month in Chicago with him, it's exciting, and he's doing so much better every day," I grinned.

"He didn't deserve what happened. He seems like an awesome dude," said Jeremy sadly.

"Nobody would have deserved what happened to him. But he's bouncing back you know? And I'm going to be there for him," I smiled.

"You're adorable. Now go and hug your hubby!" he laughed, practically pushing me out of his house.

I skipped to my car and climbed back in, throwing it into first and pulling away from the kerb a little faster than I had intended, not even putting on my seatbelt I was in such a rush.

I put Attics To Eden by Madina Lake in my CD player and turned it up loud as I got onto the highway, shifting my car into sixth gear, my foot was on the floor.

"You can't break, can't change, can't take us down... WE RUN THIS TOWN!" I practically yelled along to the music, my voice was so sore from recording that I didn't care about tune, I just wanted to sing to this song.

I glanced at the time again, it was now almost ten-thirty and I was running almost two hours behind my planned time. Deciding that I'd scrap my planned rest break, I urged the car faster, pressing my foot to the floor again.

I watched the needle pass ninety, then a hundred miles an hour.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as the next song started, 'Let's Get Outta Here'. It was one of my favourite from the album, and Matthew had told me it was always incredible to play live, because everyone jumps to it in perfect unison.

All I could think about was the baby. I'd lied to myself so many times that it was Matthew's that I was even starting to believe it. I was looking forward to the first sonogram in a few short weeks, at my three months date. I'd tell Matthew a few days before it. I was relatively confident he'd take it well, I'd seen how he behaved around Dan's baby boy Aysa.. he turned to mush and wouldn't stop cuddling him.

I continued to drive faster than I should have been, determined to get to Matthew as fast as I could, the music still blasting.

I didn't realize I wasn't wearing my seatbelt.

I didn't realize I'd forgotten to put it on outside Jeremy's house in my rush to leave.

I didn't realize that the car in front of me was about to blow it's front tyre and flip across my path, causing me to smash into it at a hundred miles an hour, with no chance of reacting or stopping in time.

At the point of impact I jolted forwards, both arms immediately covering my head, like a lightning fast reaction. There was nothing I could do to avoid being thrown forwards though, and my chest and stomach taking the full blow of the impact into the steering wheel, despite the airbag going off.

All the breath was forced from my body.

The car finally stopped moving, and everything went black.

***

Matthew's point of view

I knew something was wrong.

I tossed and turned and couldn't get to sleep, I couldn't get comfortable. Something was telling me that somewhere, something was wrong.

Crawling out of bed, I stumbled through the dark apartment to Nathan's room and knocked the door gently.

"Yeah?" he called, he sounded wide awake.

"I have this horrible feeling that something is... wrong?" I said, peering round the door at him. He was laying in his bed, but the lights were still on in his room and he was clearly still wide awake.

"You know what... me too," he said, nodding.

"Are you feeling OK in yourself? Not gonna drop dead or anything?" he asked, looking slightly worried now.

"No.. I don't think it's me or you. I'm gonna call around some people, see if anyone's sick or anything," I said slowly, walking from his room back into mine.

A strange feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that something was very, very wrong somewhere tonight, and I could't fight that worry, I couldn't shake it off and tell myself I was imagining it.

It was so similar to how I had felt the night Nathan and I lost our Mom. I couldn't sleep that night. I went into Nathan's room and he wasn't sleeping either. We talked about feeling weird, then the next thing we knew, Dad was telling us that Mom was in the hospital and we needed to go, right then, in our pyjamas and everything.

We were too late.

A horrendous thought crossed my mind and I dialled Hayley's number with shaking hands.

With every ring I felt more and more sick.

When it went to voicemail I knew something had happened to her.

"Nathan! We gotta go! Something is wrong with Hayley!" I yelled, rushing into my room and pulling off my pyjamas, switching them for my grey skinny jeans. I pulled on the first shirt I found, a sweater and then started searching for my coat.

"How do you know that?" he asked, walking into my room.

"Because I can feel it. She's not picking up her phone Nathan, something is definitely wrong," I insisted.

He nodded.

"OK, get your shit together, I'll go start the car up. Let's road trip," he said, grabbing his own coat from near the door and his keys.

"I don't need anything, just myself and my phone right now," I said, pulling on my own coat and following him out of the apartment. We locked the door and both rushed downstairs.

My cellphone started to vibrate in my pocket and I pulled it out so frantically I dropped it on the floor in the hallway. Nathan dived and picked it up, handing it to me. The caller I.D. said Hayley.

"Hayley? Thank God! Are you OK?" I said so quickly I'd be amazed if she caught any of it.

"This isn't Hayley, it's her Dad," said a man's voice. I didn't like that he sounded like he was upset.

"Oh. Is Hayley OK?" I asked, already knowing the answer deep in my heart.

Nathan's eyes fixed on me. I could see deep concern there as he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hayley has been.. in a car accident. I'm at the hospital right now-"

"WHAT?!" I sputtered, cutting him off.

"I'm on my way. Don't let her go anywhere, don't let her go, tell her I'm coming for her," I said, dragging Nathan down the corridor.

"Who are you?" her dad questioned, sounding thoroughly confused.

"Sir, my name is Matthew, and I'm in love with your daughter," I said, desperately trying to stop my voice cracking as Nathan and I piled into his car and he sped towards the highway.

"Where are you coming from boy?" he asked.

"Chicago."

"Ten hours at least then. I think she's stable, but they won't let me see her yet..." he trailed off. He did sound genuinely as worried as me.

My heart was pounding and my stomach was churning. I could see Nathan's hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.

"Stay with her, I don't want her to be alone," I whispered, tears starting to fall.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving her alone. Drive safe kid," he said. Had this been any other circumstances, I would have told him that I'm almost thirty, and not a 'kid. But this wasn't the time.

"See you soon I guess," I said, hanging up the phone.

I looked to Nathan.

Tears were streaming down his face freely. He'd overheard the whole conversation. My mind was racing. I was praying with every molecule of my being that she was OK, that it was minor, that she was just shaken up.

"Matthew.. I have to tell you something," he whimpered, eyes fixed on the highway stretching out in front of us.

"What is it?" I asked, sniffling, looking at him carefully.

He opened his mouth to speak then closed it again, blinking hard.

"What is it Nathan?" I asked again.

"Hayley is..."

He stooped and looked at me for a second before trying again.

"Hayley is... Hayley is pregnant," he whispered.