The Book of Me and You
I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear
“Hayley, Dan gave me your number. Sorry for calling you again but please pick up or call me back. We need to talk. Bye, John.”
She listened to the voice message again and again. Just his voice made her miss him and everything they had. That’s why she never listened to The Maine. It would have been too painful for Hayley to hear his bitter words and raspy voice.
It was a quite sunny morning and Hayley was sitting on her bed doing basically nothing but listening to John’s message. He kept calling her all night, and Hayley couldn’t understand why, but when he finally used the voice mail she realized that John was slightly drunk. He was always emotional when he drank.
As Hayley was lying down on the bed thinking whether she should call him back or not, her phone started ringing.
“Hello?” She picked up without checking the ID.
“Hello there, Miss Johnson!” She immediately recognized that the voice in the phone belonged to Eric Halvorsen.
“How do you know my number, Halvo?” Hayley tried not to sound like a bitch but as far as she knew only her family (and thanks to Dan, John as well) got her number.
“Good morning to you too, Sunshine.” Halvo answered in a cheeky way.
“Sorry, I just had a rough night. Your roommate didn’t leave me sleep.”
“I know. This is why I called you. I think you should come over here Johnson…He’s not doing well.”
“And how is it my problem? Eric, he’s a grown up man, he can handle a hangover.”
“Hayley, you’ve been ignoring him for days. He drinks nonstop and then talks about you and honestly I just don’t give a shit anymore. Please Hayley, talk to him so I can have a breath.” At this point Eric was literally begging.
“Okay. Text me the address and I’ll see what I can do. Bye Halvo” With that she hung up and cursed herself for not being able to say no to Eric.
John and Eric’s apartment was a mess. Pizza boxes and empty beer bottles everywhere. A couple of dying plants in the living room.
“How on earth can you kill a cactus, Halvo? It’s supposed to survive the desert.” Hayley said in a mocking tone as she stepped into the room.
“You still got the sarcasm, Johnson…I guess some things never change.” With a big smile on his face, Eric hugged his long-time-no-see friend. He missed the girl so much. He missed the three of them hanging out together.
“So…where is he?” Hayley asked after Halvo loosened his embrace on her.
“Down the hallway, last door left. He woke up an hour ago, drank a coffee and went back to bed…he’s useless” Eric gave her a sad smile and let go of her. “Thanks for doing this Hales.”
“Everything for you, Halvo…but you owe me big time.” She smiled at him and made her way down the hallway.
Standing in front of John’s room brought back a lot of memories. Memories of Hayley comforting John in his room because he had a fight with his parents about university, cheering him up after his baseball team lost the game, just hanging out on his bed and talking about everything and nothing. She was always there for him when he needed to get himself together.
After a quiet knock on the door she opened it and peeped into his room. It was dark but she could see John’s sleeping silhouette on the bed. Hayley made her way to his bed a sat on the edge of it.
“John?” She asked quietly while shaking his arm lightly. He breathed out a groan which was followed by a sleepy “go away”. “John, wake up.”
“Let me sleep, Bub.” He must have been still half asleep to call here that.
“Get the fuck up, O’Callaghan! You wanted to talk; now here’s your chance to talk!” She felt bad for yelling at him but she came here with a reason. To talk. It seemed to work because John immediately sat up on the bed with a very surprised look on his face. Hayley took this as an opportunity to open the blinds which caused John to put his hands on his face to cover his eyes.
“You really need to put your shit together, O’Callaghan.” She said as she looked around and saw nothing but a pile of mess. “It’s disgusting.”
“What are you doing here, Hales?” John had no idea why the girl was in his room. He felt stupid for not remembering a thing from last night. “Did we do something yesterday?”
“You wish.” Heyley kept looking out of the window smiling. “But you did call me like fifteen times and left a couple voice messages as well.”
“Oh God…I’m sorry…I must have been shitfaced drunk.” He felt so embarrassed and could’ve bet he looked like shit meanwhile she was stunning and beautiful like always. It always had been like that. John, a disastrous mess and Hayley, who took care of John’s mess.
“So...you remember what you wanted to talk about?” Hayley asked now looking him in the eyes.
“Us I guess…I mean…I-I really want to talk about us.”
“There’s no ‘us’ anymore, John. You made that clear a long time ago.”
“Then why did you kiss me the other night?”
“As I remember, you kissed me back without hesitation.”
“But you kissed me first.”
“Bad habits die hard.”
“Hayley.”
“John…?” She looked at him again whit a bit of playfulness on her face. At least that’s what he thought. John stood up and made his way close to her.
“Please, Hales. I just want to talk. It’s been five years. I thought I will never see you again or forgive and forget everything that happened but I think I did the moment I saw you at that bar.”
“Joh…”
“No, please listen. Let’s just talk. Let’s go out for dinner tonight. Not as a date. Just two people who haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“We haven’t seen each other because you didn’t want me in your life anymore, John.” She told him calmly but inside she felt broken every time their past came up. “You maybe forgave and forgot those things that happened but I didn’t.”
“But you’re here. If you wouldn’t give a damn about me you would just ignore me.” John stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulder. “I know that what happened wasn’t just your fault, and I was so stupid and cruel when you left. I’m so sorry Hayley.”
“Just one dinner. But I can’t promise anything.” She sighed. For a moment Hayley thought John’s about to kiss her as he looked down at her lips but then he looked back up into her eyes.
“Hayley?” John asked so quietly she almost couldn’t hear it.
“Yes?”
“Can I…can I hug you?” She didn’t make a sound just nodded and buried her face into his chest.
They stood there hugging each other tightly for a few minutes. It was hard to let go. It always was. At this moment they both realized no matter what happens or how long they don’t see the other; their feelings towards each other are far from done. We'll always be Hayley and John.
She listened to the voice message again and again. Just his voice made her miss him and everything they had. That’s why she never listened to The Maine. It would have been too painful for Hayley to hear his bitter words and raspy voice.
It was a quite sunny morning and Hayley was sitting on her bed doing basically nothing but listening to John’s message. He kept calling her all night, and Hayley couldn’t understand why, but when he finally used the voice mail she realized that John was slightly drunk. He was always emotional when he drank.
As Hayley was lying down on the bed thinking whether she should call him back or not, her phone started ringing.
“Hello?” She picked up without checking the ID.
“Hello there, Miss Johnson!” She immediately recognized that the voice in the phone belonged to Eric Halvorsen.
“How do you know my number, Halvo?” Hayley tried not to sound like a bitch but as far as she knew only her family (and thanks to Dan, John as well) got her number.
“Good morning to you too, Sunshine.” Halvo answered in a cheeky way.
“Sorry, I just had a rough night. Your roommate didn’t leave me sleep.”
“I know. This is why I called you. I think you should come over here Johnson…He’s not doing well.”
“And how is it my problem? Eric, he’s a grown up man, he can handle a hangover.”
“Hayley, you’ve been ignoring him for days. He drinks nonstop and then talks about you and honestly I just don’t give a shit anymore. Please Hayley, talk to him so I can have a breath.” At this point Eric was literally begging.
“Okay. Text me the address and I’ll see what I can do. Bye Halvo” With that she hung up and cursed herself for not being able to say no to Eric.
John and Eric’s apartment was a mess. Pizza boxes and empty beer bottles everywhere. A couple of dying plants in the living room.
“How on earth can you kill a cactus, Halvo? It’s supposed to survive the desert.” Hayley said in a mocking tone as she stepped into the room.
“You still got the sarcasm, Johnson…I guess some things never change.” With a big smile on his face, Eric hugged his long-time-no-see friend. He missed the girl so much. He missed the three of them hanging out together.
“So…where is he?” Hayley asked after Halvo loosened his embrace on her.
“Down the hallway, last door left. He woke up an hour ago, drank a coffee and went back to bed…he’s useless” Eric gave her a sad smile and let go of her. “Thanks for doing this Hales.”
“Everything for you, Halvo…but you owe me big time.” She smiled at him and made her way down the hallway.
Standing in front of John’s room brought back a lot of memories. Memories of Hayley comforting John in his room because he had a fight with his parents about university, cheering him up after his baseball team lost the game, just hanging out on his bed and talking about everything and nothing. She was always there for him when he needed to get himself together.
After a quiet knock on the door she opened it and peeped into his room. It was dark but she could see John’s sleeping silhouette on the bed. Hayley made her way to his bed a sat on the edge of it.
“John?” She asked quietly while shaking his arm lightly. He breathed out a groan which was followed by a sleepy “go away”. “John, wake up.”
“Let me sleep, Bub.” He must have been still half asleep to call here that.
“Get the fuck up, O’Callaghan! You wanted to talk; now here’s your chance to talk!” She felt bad for yelling at him but she came here with a reason. To talk. It seemed to work because John immediately sat up on the bed with a very surprised look on his face. Hayley took this as an opportunity to open the blinds which caused John to put his hands on his face to cover his eyes.
“You really need to put your shit together, O’Callaghan.” She said as she looked around and saw nothing but a pile of mess. “It’s disgusting.”
“What are you doing here, Hales?” John had no idea why the girl was in his room. He felt stupid for not remembering a thing from last night. “Did we do something yesterday?”
“You wish.” Heyley kept looking out of the window smiling. “But you did call me like fifteen times and left a couple voice messages as well.”
“Oh God…I’m sorry…I must have been shitfaced drunk.” He felt so embarrassed and could’ve bet he looked like shit meanwhile she was stunning and beautiful like always. It always had been like that. John, a disastrous mess and Hayley, who took care of John’s mess.
“So...you remember what you wanted to talk about?” Hayley asked now looking him in the eyes.
“Us I guess…I mean…I-I really want to talk about us.”
“There’s no ‘us’ anymore, John. You made that clear a long time ago.”
“Then why did you kiss me the other night?”
“As I remember, you kissed me back without hesitation.”
“But you kissed me first.”
“Bad habits die hard.”
“Hayley.”
“John…?” She looked at him again whit a bit of playfulness on her face. At least that’s what he thought. John stood up and made his way close to her.
“Please, Hales. I just want to talk. It’s been five years. I thought I will never see you again or forgive and forget everything that happened but I think I did the moment I saw you at that bar.”
“Joh…”
“No, please listen. Let’s just talk. Let’s go out for dinner tonight. Not as a date. Just two people who haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“We haven’t seen each other because you didn’t want me in your life anymore, John.” She told him calmly but inside she felt broken every time their past came up. “You maybe forgave and forgot those things that happened but I didn’t.”
“But you’re here. If you wouldn’t give a damn about me you would just ignore me.” John stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulder. “I know that what happened wasn’t just your fault, and I was so stupid and cruel when you left. I’m so sorry Hayley.”
“Just one dinner. But I can’t promise anything.” She sighed. For a moment Hayley thought John’s about to kiss her as he looked down at her lips but then he looked back up into her eyes.
“Hayley?” John asked so quietly she almost couldn’t hear it.
“Yes?”
“Can I…can I hug you?” She didn’t make a sound just nodded and buried her face into his chest.
They stood there hugging each other tightly for a few minutes. It was hard to let go. It always was. At this moment they both realized no matter what happens or how long they don’t see the other; their feelings towards each other are far from done. We'll always be Hayley and John.
♠ ♠ ♠
Hayley's outfit.