Chapter 24: Big Brother's Advice
It has been nearly six months since the shooting. Once Tyler came out of the coma, he spent an additional month under supervision, but ever since then he’s been back home resting and recuperating. Hayden’s been right by his side throughout this whole ordeal and now she’s been living in California taking care of him. Their parents stayed out in California about a month while Tyler recovered in the hospital, but flew back to Minnesota since Hayden was there to watch over him.
Knowing her brother would need all the help he could get in the next couple of months; Hayden quit her job in Minnesota and moved out to California. Even though, she loved her job it couldn’t compare to her love for her brother.
Tyler’s condition was steadily improving each day. He was up walking around again; however he still needed the support of crutches. The bruises on his face had faded and he was starting to look like her older brother again. Although, he wasn’t quite ready to go back to field work anytime soon, the police force often visited and sent their well wishes. Once a week, Tyler would head to the station to do paperwork, but those days usually drained him and then he’d spend the rest of the week recuperating from his exertion.
As for Justin, Hayden hasn’t seen him since he left the hospital six months ago. Although, she had broken-down and called him to let him know Tyler was out of the coma that day. Since then though, she hasn’t called and Justin finally stopped trying to reach her. She couldn’t blame him for giving up; she never put in the effort needed and as time passed her pride got in the way of it. She figured she was too late to patch anything up.
Instead of addressing her broken heart, Hayden engrossed herself in helping her brother. From taking care of the house, to his needs, to working…Hayden did it all. Tyler incessantly asked her to slow down and take some time for herself…but Hayden always refused. She put her smile on everyday and masked her feelings from the world. It wasn’t until nighttime, when she was alone, did the tears come.
Today was Hayden’s day off and she planned on spending the day inside watching movies with her brother. It was another rainy day in California and the weather was starting to match her moods lately.
“Hayden hurry up…I put in Elf.” Tyler yelled from the couch.
“Why are we watching a Christmas movie already…it’s only November.” Hayden said while sitting down next to Tyler. Hayden instantly pulled her feet up and tucked them underneath her. Setting the bowl of popcorn in between them, she settled in for a sure laugh. Hopefully the movie would take her mind off Justin; it seemed lately he was consuming her mind.
“Well…it’s almost Christmas and I don’t know…it looked good.” Tyler said while shoving a fist full popcorn into his mouth.
Hayden scoffed at his antics. “You know, the popcorn’s not going anywhere. You don’t have to shove it all in your mouth at once. Damn Ty.”
Tyler laughed at his sister, deciding not to pick a fight with her he turned his attention back to the movie. The two of them sat on the couch for most of the afternoon, laughing, joking and reminiscing about old times. It felt good to get her mind off of things although once the fun stopped; it was like her head immediately went back to Justin. It scarred her that he had so much control of her.
“So what do you want to do now?” Hayden asked once the movie was done.
“I’m kind of tired…I’m thinking about taking a nap.” Tyler said grabbing his crutches and hobbling over to the stairs.
“All right…I guess…I’ll find something to do.” Hayden said walking into the kitchen and pushing herself up onto the island.
“Why don’t you do everyone a favor and just call Justin?” Tyler said halfway up the stairs.
“What makes you think I want to talk to Justin?” Hayden tried her best to make herself sound nonchalant about the whole thing.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re miserable without him. Hayden you’re a pain in the ass lately with your mood swings. You know I love you…but you are. Just call him.” Tyler said before disappearing up the rest of the stairs and into his bedroom.
Hayden continued to sit on the counter and think about what Tyler said. I’m not miserable without him! Hayden felt the anger rise in her stomach and she shot off the counter. Feeling the need to defend herself, she flew up the stairs and stormed into Tyler’s bedroom just as he was getting situated in his bed.
“You’re lucky I wasn’t naked or anything…busting in her like that.” Tyler said situating the pillows behind his neck.
Hayden chose to ignore that comment and go after the real issue instead. “I’m not miserable without Justin!” She pouted at the door.
“You are…I’m your brother. I know these things.”
“You don’t know that. Plus, where do you get off telling me how I should live my life?” Hayden said stomping her foot on the ground
“Are you done throwing your tantrum?” Tyler asked, completely unaffected by Hayden’s mood. Once Hayden nodded Tyler patted the spot next to him on the bed. Hayden reluctantly obliged and sat down on his bed. “Hayden, I’ve known you your entire life. We’ve been best friends…well since forever. I know when you’re happy, I know when you’re sad and I know when you’re hurting. Just like you can do the same for me. We’re always going to understand each other better than anyone else. I know right now your pride is what’s preventing you from calling Justin and apologizing for everything.” Tyler finished before repositioning the pillows once more when he started to feel a shooting pain in his back. The physical limitations from the accident were still a constant day to day struggle.
“Tyler…I’m not miserable without him. It’s for the better that we’re apart.” Hayden said trying to convince her brother, but more so herself.
“Oh one more thing…I also know when you’re lying. And that was a lie!” Tyler pointed out matter-of-factly.
Hayden felt a small smirk take over her face. He always understood, even when she couldn’t find the words to explain. “Tyler it’s been six months since I last saw him or even talked to him. I don’t even know where he’s at, what he’s doing, if he’s seeing anyone else. I think I’ve passed the point where I can just call him up and expect things to be the same.”
“You’re right…I highly doubt things will just fall into place. You guys have been through a lot together. But he put himself out there for you…he even came with when I was in a coma. He didn’t have to, it wasn’t like you guys were dating, but he wanted to be there for you Hayden, when I couldn’t be. Don’t you think you owe him that same kind of effort back? That is if you even want to work things out?” Tyler questioned.
Hayden felt his eyes on her and she knew if she tried to deny everything, he would see right through her anyways. “Yeah…I want to work things out. At the very least, I want his friendship. I miss talking to him. I miss seeing him when he gets done with a show and his eyes are lit up like the fourth of July. I miss hearing him say good morning Beautiful. I miss his kiss and I miss his touch. I miss being the one he runs to. Tyler, I hate everything about the way we are right now.” Hayden sighed when she finished. It felt good to get everything off her chest. She had been holding everything in for six months and releasing it made it all so much clearer to her.
“Hayden…you’re head over heels in love with him.” Tyler sighed and gave her hand a quick squeeze.
“I know Ty…I guess it took saying it out loud to really register in my head.”
“Only you can fix this…Justin’s put himself out there for you and you pushed it away. You can’t change what happened. But you can change what’s going to happen. Listen to your heart and for one time in your life take a risk, sometimes they actually pay off.” Tyler said before a yawn escaped his lips.
Hayden took that as her cue to leave him alone. “Thanks Ty.” Hayden said while wrapping him in a hug and tucking the covers up around him.
“That’s why I’m your big brother…I’ll always be around to knock some sense into you.” Tyler joked before closing his eyes in hopes of getting some much needed rest.
Hayden closed Tyler’s bedroom door and walked into her room. She needed to do something and it started with a long overdue phone call. Grabbing her phone she dialed the numbers and hit send before she could turn back, the phone started ringing.
“Hello?” The familiar voice answered.
“Hey…Johnny…It’s me, Hayden.”
“Hey sweetie. Long time no talk. How have you been? How’s your brother doing?”
“He’s doing well. He’s still recovering but he’s almost back to his old self.” Hayden laughed.
“That’s good to hear. Well, what can I do for you? I haven’t heard from you for what…five, six months?”
“It’s been about six months now…The reason I’m calling is I need a favor.” Hayden hesitantly asked.
“All right…shoot.”
“Please, don’t tell Justin you talked to me or that I called you. I wanted to know what his schedule is like in the upcoming weeks. I have some apologizing to do and I need to know where I can find him.” Hayden sighed; today she was definitely taking a step in the right direction.
“Well, we’re actually in London right now. He’s doing some promotion for his movie Alpha Dog. But we’ll be back in Los Angeles next week on Monday night. Then, he has December off for the holidays. I know he’s planning on heading to Memphis for Christmas but otherwise…he should be around.” Johnny said while looking at his calendar for Justin.
“Thank you Johnny! I really appreciate it!” Hayden said excitedly. She had a week to plan something for Justin and it had to be the mother of all apologies.
“You’re welcome. Give me a call if you need anything else.”
“Will do. Talk to you later Johnny.”
“Bye Hayden.”
Hayden threw her phone down and sat down at her desk, immediately opening her laptop. Rapidly, she started looking at different pages…she had an idea of what to do; now all she had to do was plan it. Hayden realized for the first time, she was about to fight for the man she loved.
________________________________________________________________________
It had been a week of steady promotional work for Alpha Dog and Justin was exhausted. As soon as his tour wrapped, he went straight into promoting his movies. Damn, he was looking forward to the upcoming weeks off. He planned on doing absolutely nothing and it sounded wonderful. After a ridiculously long flight back to Los Angeles from London, his bed sounded heavenly.
Wearily, Justin dragged his bags along with himself up the driveway and punched in his codes for his house. Desperately wanting to get into his bed, he threw everything down by the door and started for the bedroom. Not paying much attention to what he was doing, Justin swung the door open, fully intending on falling into his bed and succumbing to the sand man. However, he was shocked when he found a basket sitting on the middle of his bed with an envelope propped up beside it. His interest peaked; he examined the contents of the basket and smiled when he saw bottles of water, Tylenol, and brand new copies of Pirates of the Carribean 1 & 2. Opening the envelope, he immediately recognized the handwriting.
Justin,
Where do I even begin? I guess I’ll start with hey. I can’t believe it’s been six months since we last saw each other. Time sure has flown by. Congratulations on a widely successful tour. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to watch you finish it. Just know that I was thinking about you. Ok, enough babbling. I thought I’d return the favor and bring you a basket full of goodies. I know you just got back from London and I’m sure you’re exhausted, so here’s some stuff to take any pain from your travels away. Oh, the copies of Pirates…well you said your copies were skipping and I know how much you love my Johnny Depp fascination so I wanted to get you some new ones. Anyways, there’s so much I want to talk to you about and I don’t blame you if you never want to talk to me again. But I’m hoping you’ll give me a second chance. However, it can wait till the morning. Get some rest babe. Call me whenever you wake up. I have some things planned. I miss you!
Hayden
Justin felt a small smile on his lips at her thoughtfulness. He was still hurt by what had transpired between the two of them but this was definitely a step in the right direction. Tiredly, he lifted the basket from his bed and put it on his nightstand with her letter in plain view. Once he crawled into bed, he felt every muscle in his body relax and he shut the lights off. Swiftly, he reached for his cell phone and dialed the numbers that had practically become ingrained in his head.
“Hello?” A sleep filled voice answered.
“Thanks Hayden…” Justin whispered into the phone.
Hayden felt a smile take over her face once she heard his voice. Damn, it’s been a long time. “You’re welcome Justin. I told you to get some sleep though.”
“Trust me, I’m going to bed…I just wanted to say thanks.”
“Oh all right. Call me tomorrow morning. Goodnight Justin.”
“Goodnight Beautiful.” Justin said before closing his phone and rolling himself deep within the covers. Almost instantly, sleep overcame his body. As tired as he was, he couldn’t wait for the morning…to talk to Hayden.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello, Hello! So here's another one...I hope you like it! Please please continue to review...it's great to hear from everyone! So thank you, thank you and more thanks! :) Ok...I'm done! Enjoy!
Story Tags: justin college
