Chapter 10: Hayden's Necklace
The rest of the time in Minnesota flew by for both Justin and Hayden. The spent their days exploring the city and the evenings cuddle up together on the couch. Hayden even took Justin back to her parent’s house for a day. She never brought anyone back home to meet her parents, ever since everything with Josh happened. It’s not like she was embarrassed or anything, she just never felt the need to introduce her parents to someone, when they weren’t going to be around. But things were different with Justin; he made her feel like no matter where their lives take them, he’ll still be there. That little bit of information there scared her; this was the first man to work his way into her heart in a long time.
Since all good things must come to an end, Hayden, Justin and Riley decided to spend their last night in Minnesota together at the apartment. Riley had been so caught up in all of her schoolwork that she barely had any time to spend it with Justin and Hayden. However, she was not oblivious to what was going on between Justin and Hayden. Finally, Hayden was opening herself up to someone; she just hoped Justin was ready for it. She wanted to get Justin alone and see where he stood when it came to Hayden. Riley really liked Justin but at the same time she had a responsibility as Hayden’s best friend to look out for her.
“Hey Hayden…Justin and I are going to run to the store quick and pick up some food for tonight.” Riley said grabbing her keys. “We’ll be back soon.”
“That sounds good…have fun.” Hayden yelled from her bedroom where she was busy packing all of her stuff up.
Justin was surprised that Riley wanted him to go with considering they’d barely talked and when they did, Hayden was never far away. He could feel the butterflies start in his stomach as they walked out to the car. He knew he was about to get the third degree from Riley.
“So did you have a good time up here?” Riley asked while pulling the car out of the apartment complex and heading towards the store.
“Yeah I did, it was fun to just kick back and relax like a normal twenty-five year old. Thank you again for letting me stay in your apartment.” Justin said while fidgeting with his pants and smoothing his sweatshirt out.
“You’re welcome back here anytime you want, you know that right?” Riley said as she made the turn onto the street heading towards the grocery store.
“Thank you…I appreciate it.”
“I just hope I’ll see you up here again soon.” Riley said.
“What do you mean?” Justin was definitely curious as to where Riley was taking this conversation.
“Listen, I’m going to be totally blunt with you because…well….I just don’t feel like playing stupid games.”
“I’d appreciate the honesty.” Justin could feel his palms start to sweat; this was not how he wanted to spend his last night in Minnesota. Riley pulled into the parking lot of the store, turned the car off, and shifted in her seat to face Justin.
“I love Hayden to death, she’s my best friend and nobody understands me like she does. The same goes for me, I understand her better than anyone else.” Riley looked at Justin making sure he was following along with her. Justin nodded his head slightly encouraging her to go on. “I can see that she’s falling for you, I just want to know how you feel about the situation…Hayden’s been through a lot in her past that you would never be able to understand… it is extremely hard for her to give her heart away and I don’t want to have to help pick up the pieces again.” Riley said.
It took a couple of minutes for Justin to process what Riley was telling him. “She’s falling for you...those words kept replaying in his head and he could feel his pulse speed up when he realized he was falling for Hayden as well.
“I’ll be completely honest…Hayden captivates me. I can’t help the way I’m feeling about her and I want to be there for her. She’s there to hold my hand when I get nervous and she’s there to make me laugh. This trip has only made my feelings for her grow. She’s a genuine person and I love that about her. But to be honest, she still shuts me out when it comes to her past. I’ve asked her about her necklace twice now and she has yet to tell me anything.”
“Her necklace…if she tells you about that, you’ve definitely made your way into her heart. Tyler and I are the only ones that know about it, she hides it whenever she goes home. Justin, her past has scarred her when it comes to love and I don’t blame her. She’s definitely been dealt a rough hand in relationships. Just be patient with her, when you find out the truth you’ll understand why she’s so skeptical about everything. She’s just waiting for the right man to come along, someone who will help rebuild her faith in love.” Riley said looking Justin in the eyes.
Justin tried to digest everything Riley was saying. He couldn’t deny it; his feelings for Hayden were getting stronger. She was always there for him and he wanted to be there for her too. But her past was definitely something they would need to get through and Justin was willing to do whatever it takes to make Hayden trust him. He wanted to protect her. This trip to Minnesota was exactly what he needed to realize how special Hayden was to him.
“Thank Riley…Hayden means a lot to me and I’m not going to hurt her. This past week has been wonderful and I can’t wait to go back to California and have her with me. She’s very important to me and I’ll do whatever it takes to make her trust me. Justin said honestly.
Riley could feel the smile take over her face and she reached out to give him a hug. Hayden has been waiting over two years to find someone like Justin. Riley only hoped that Hayden would wake up soon and let him in. Justin was everything Hayden needed in her life. Hayden just had to trust him with her heart…and that was something Riley knew she kept guarded.
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Riley and Justin had been gone for nearly 45 minutes and Hayden was starting to worry. The grocery store was only five minutes down the road, what in the world could be taking them so long. Just as Hayden picked up her cell phone to call them, the door opened and Justin walked in carrying a couple of bags full of food. Hayden couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face, walking up to him she helped put that bags down and wrapped her arms around him.
“Whoa…what was that for?” Justin asked surprised by Hayden’s gesture.
“I just missed you.” Hayden said as she pulled away from him and started to unload the groceries.
Justin felt the butterflies in his stomach and he knew without a doubt, he had fallen for Hayden. She was nothing like the girls he dated before. Hayden was happy just spending the night at home watching movies; she didn’t need the fancy dinners or the exotic vacations to make her happy. Just being with each other was enough and he loved that.
After unloading all of the groceries Hayden, Justin, and Riley settled into the living room for a night of eating junk food and drinking beer. Their laughter filled the room and they were surprised no one in the complex was complaining about the noise. Not only did they have the music blasting but Riley and Justin decided to make the living room into a dance club for a while. Hayden couldn’t stop laughing at their ridiculous moves; they were officially bringing the eighties back.
“For the love of God, please stop doing the running man…I can’t take it anymore.” Hayden said while wiping the tears away that had formed in her eyes from laughing so hard.
Justin and Riley continued their obnoxious dance moves until they both nearly collapsed from laughing. It wasn’t until they sat back down did Riley realize how tired she really was.
“Are you ditching out on me already?” Justin asked Riley when he noticed a yawn escape her lips.
“Yeah I am…unlike you two weirdoes I have to go to class after I drop you off at the airport. I can’t go relax on a three hour plane ride back to California.” Riley said while picking up a bunch of the garbage and throwing it away.
“Awe…poor Riley, well if you want to, you can come back to California with us.” Justin said.
“Trust me, I wish I could…but unlike some people I still have to go to class to graduate.” Riley said while looking at Hayden.
“Hey you should’ve been a marketing major then…”
“Yeah…yeah…well I’m going to head to bed. Plan on leaving here tomorrow morning around eight. Goodnight guys!” Riley said before heading into her bedroom and closing the door. Truth of the matter, Riley wasn’t all that tired. She just wanted Hayden and Justin to have time alone to figure things out before they headed back to California.
Hayden started to clean up the rest of their mess after Riley had left. Justin quickly grabbed some stuff and helped too. They had the living room back into shape in no time and instead of lying down on the couch like they had previously, Hayden grabbed Justin’s hand and they went into her bedroom.
“I know we usually end up on the couch…but I don’t know…just thought I’d switch it up.” Hayden said sitting down on her bed.
“No problem.” Justin said sliding onto the bed next to Hayden. He gently reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips giving it a quick kiss before letting it go.
Hayden felt her stomach flip with that simple gesture. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done. “So did you have a good time here, honestly?”
“I did…this has been one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. Thank you for showing me around and putting me up in your apartment.”
“It was my pleasure…to be honest with you I’m really glad you came.”
“Oh yeah, why’s that?” Justin asked.
This was it; she could own up to her feelings and let him in or she could blow them off like she had done with every other guy before him. This time was different though; there was something honest and pure about what she felt for Justin. “Because it gave me a chance to really get to know you. We’d spent a lot of time together doing stuff for your album but we never really took the time to just learn about each other. The one thing I worry about is once we get back to California, nights like tonight won’t ever happen again.”
“I can promise you that nights like tonight will definitely continue to happen…” Justin said intertwining their hands. “I promise.”
Hayden smiled at his gesture, this was it…she was going to let him in. “There’s something I wanted to tell you…” Justin nodded his head slightly and squeezed her hand encouraging her to continue. Hayden reached inside her shirt and pulled out her necklace so that it was clearly visible to him. “You wanted to know the story behind my necklace…I’m ready to tell you. That is if you still want to know.” Hayden said looking cautiously into his eyes.
“Of course, Hayden. I want to know anything and everything you want me too.” Justin said trying his best to comfort her. He knew this was difficult for her.
Hayden took a deep breath and proceeded to pour her heart out to him. “The chain itself doesn’t really mean anything…but the ring around it belonged to my boyfriend, Josh Hayes. He was my everything. I had found my soul mate when I was seventeen years old. I know we were young, but that doesn’t take away from the feelings I felt and what our love stood for. He was my high school sweetheart and I knew I wanted to marry him after our first date.”
Justin gently tightened his fingers around hers; he knew he needed to be strong for her. She was having a hard time getting this all out and reassuring her that he would be there was the only thing he could think of to do.
“Josh had a crush on me our entire junior year of high school. To be honest with you, I didn’t give him the time of day. He wasn’t normally who I dated and I tried to just push him away. He was a persistent man though. On our first day of our senior year, he put a pink rose and a card in my locker. Riley actually gave him the combination to my locker. I was so mad at her that day…” Hayden laughed thinking back to that day. “Anyways though, in the card he wrote some of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. He told me that I was the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen and that he would be the luckiest man alive if I would go out on a date with him. He promised that if I never wanted to see him again, he’d leave me alone…so I agreed to go out with him. I figured one date and I’d be through with him. That Friday night he picked me up and took me to dinner at one of the fanciest restaurants here. He was dressed to the tee and I could tell he spent hours getting ready. He was definitely on a mission to impress me.”
“Sounds like a good guy…” Justin said softly.
“He was a great guy. That night he knocked me off my feet. The conversation flowed freely between the two of us and he complimented me so much. He made me feel like I was the most breathtaking person out there. After dinner we spent hours just walking downtown talking and laughing. I was actually enjoying my night with him. Once we made it back to my place he did something that no guy has ever done after a date. He gave me a hug and never even tried to kiss me. I knew right then his feelings for me were genuine. He just wanted a chance to show me how he felt.”
Hayden’s eyes started to tear up and Justin was quick to notice. He lifted his hands up to her face and gently brushed away Hayden’s tears.
“If you don’t want to finish…you don’t have too.” Justin said softly.
“No, I want you to know this about me….Needless to say, I was definitely taken with Josh. Riley couldn’t believe it when I told her what a great time I had. Josh was perfect for me. He was always finding ways to make me feel special. Ever since that first date, Josh and I were inseparable. We were voted cutest couple and most likely to get married…he was my first true love…” Hayden trailed off.
“What happened?” Justin asked.
“After high school, we made the decision to stay in Minneapolis and go to college here. It took us over a year to finally realize what we had and we certainly weren’t about to let it go. The next two years flew by blissfully, I knew we were going to get married it was just a matter of time before it happened. Then on February 10th, my life changed forever.” Hayden’s tears were now steadily falling from her eyes, she was trying to push them back, she needed to tell Justin, no…she wanted to tell Justin.
“Josh had spent the night at my apartment and got up early that morning to run a couple of errands in Rochester. Instead of waking me up, he left me a note and that was the last I would ever see or hear from him again. He was driving and he must’ve hit some black ice…his car spun into oncoming traffic and he was hit head-on by a truck.” Hayden was sobbing and trying desperately to finish her story.
“He was killed instantly and I swear my heart died right along with him. I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call, I mean he was just laying next to me a couple of hours ago…it couldn’t be real. I was in shock and Riley tried her best to comfort me but she was dealing with her own loss too. I had just lost the love of my life…and you know what the worst part about it. When most people were celebrating their love…I buried mine on Valentine’s Day. The ring around my necklace was his…I just haven’t been able to take it off…in some way I feel like he’s still with me when I have it on.”
Justin couldn’t believe everything she was telling him, no wonder Hayden didn’t give her trust or even her heart easily. It was still healing from losing Josh. Justin couldn’t imagine going through what Hayden did, he thought breaking up with Britney was tough…he couldn’t imagine having your love ripped away from you.
“Oh, Hayden…sweetie…” Justin cooed as he pulled her close and started rubbing his hand up and down her back. “I’m so sorry…”
“Please, don’t be sorry…I wanted to tell you because…I feel myself starting to fall for you…and it scares me to the end of the earth to feel that way again. I went through hell losing Josh…I can’t imagine going through it again. I know I’ve been hiding this from you but I want you to know now. I don’t want to feel like I need to hide anything from you…” Hayden said burying her head into Justin’s chest.
“Hayden…you never have to hide anything from me. I will always be here for you…I’m not going anywhere and…I…well…I think I’m falling for you too.” Justin said slipping his finger underneath her chin, lifting her head up.
Hayden felt a sense of relief telling Justin; it was like a burden was finally lifted off her shoulders. It was as if, she finally started to feel herself let go of everything in her past…and of Josh. Hayden watched Justin closely for any sense of doubt in his face but saw none. Getting her courage up she leaned in and pushed her lips against Justin for the first time. It wasn’t a desperate kiss, but one of healing. Their lips moved together in a slow and meticulous way. Justin reached his hand up to hold her face before deepening the kiss and letting his tongue slide into her mouth, playfully brushing against her own.
This night was exactly what Hayden needed. She needed someone to take the pain away and she needed someone to just listen. She never thought it would be Justin, but it didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that Justin was kissing her in a way that she never thought she’d experience again. She was allowing herself to open up and love again.
Author's Chapter Notes:
OK, so here's a big part to the whole story! Hope you like it! Please Please review!! :)
Story Tags: justin college
