I was almost there. I tried to get on the stage but a bouncer was blocking my path.
"So, baby, get beside me in the backseat of your Audi." She starting laughing into the mic when she saw me trying to push past the bouncer.
"We're never getting older!" She yelled, even though it wasn't the right part of the song. She dropped the mic, ran to the edge of the stage, and jumped down into my arms.
The music came to a sudden stop as I wrapped my arms around her waist. And even though we were in a crowded bar in the middle of Texas, it suddenly felt like I was home.
"You always seem to be there to catch me when I fall." She smiled up at me as she laced her fingers behind my neck.
"Hailey, I'm so sorry. I never..."
"Tyler Stevens, nothing you say is going to change my mind," she said, cutting me off. "I love you. I don't want to spend another second apart. You're the only thing in my crazy life that I'm actually sure about. All I know is that I need you."
I pressed my forehead against hers. "I need you too."
"Ow, ow!" I heard Josh yell as people in the crowd starting clapping.
I glanced behind her. The mic had rolled over near us so that the whole bar could hear our conversation.
But who the fuck cared? Nothing in the world mattered except the girl in my arms. I grabbed the back of her neck and brought her lips to mine.
Everyone was still cheering when she pulled back to look up at me.
"And I need you to know that I wasn't too late. I got to say goodbye to him, Tyler. And I'm okay. Now that I'm with you, I know that everything's going to be okay." She tried to blink away the tears in her eyes.
I put my hand on the side of her face. Just like that, the pain I felt seemed to disappear. With her forgiveness, it felt like anything was possible again. For the first time in five years, it didn't feel like anything was weighing on me. She had healed my soul.
Missing Pieces - Chapter 65
Hailey
Tuesday
I woke up with his arms wrapped tightly around me. I hadn't been this content since I was sleeping in his arms in Santa Monica. When I tilted my head up, I was surprised to see that he was already awake.
A smile spread across his face as he looked down at me. "It feels like I'm dreaming. I still can't believe that you're here."
I pressed my hand against his chest. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere."
We stared at each other in silence for a moment. We had talked until dawn, filling each other in on the missing pieces of our time apart. I told him about forgiving my mother. And about realizing that all my dad ever wanted was for me to be happy. He told me that he was finally at peace with his past. We were both starting over. Nothing was holding us back from being together. Except one thing.
The smile on his face grew even wider. "Are you still a fan of fast and crazy?"
"Since everything we do is fast and crazy, absolutely."
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I think we should get married."
It was fast. It was crazy. And I so badly wanted to say yes. But he didn't know everything yet. Even though we had talked for hours, I hadn't gotten the courage to tell him about the baby. I had wanted to know that he needed me just as much as I needed him. His answer was in the way he looked at me. The way he kissed me. The way he held me. He needed me as much as I needed him.
"Hear me out." The smile on his face was contagious. "I'm in love with you. I want to spend every morning for the rest of my life just like this, with you in my arms. We're both starting over. And we're choosing to do that together. We can make a life for ourselves wherever we want. Here. We can go back to Indiana. Anywhere, Hails. The only thing I care about is that we're together.
Yes. A thousand times yes."I need to tell you something."
"Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind, Hails."
Maybe."It actually does change things. Quite a bit." I sat up and pulled the sheet around myself.
"Hailey." He sat up. "I know that I hurt you. And I can't apologize enough times. I just need you to give me one more chance. Because I can't live without you. When we're not together, I don't feel whole. You saved me."
