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Dedication: Agirl292 for the cute cover! Thank you!

Recap:

"Stay awake," Hayden instructed and I let out a

I nestled my head into his arm, just as he leant down and pressed his lips softly to my forehead.

I laid my head against him, a goofy smile on my face, as I faced the T.V.

If Mia knew this would happen, there is no doubt in my mind, she would not have kicked that ball at me.

A double update for all my lovely readers out there. This is a thank you for voting and commenting. Your comments and encouragements are what help inspire me to write. I love writing this story and it's awesome that there's people out there who enjoy reading it! <3

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Rubbing my eyes, I reach out for Hayden and feel my fingers clutch at thin air.

My eyes snap open as I realise I am in bed, alone. A soft knock meets my ears, making me realise that was the reason I woke in the first place.

"Hey," my mum greets with a smile, poking her head through the doorway of my bedroom. "How are you feeling?"

I take a moment for my mind to catch up with what has happened. My head throbs and I wince.

Mia. Sport. The ball.

I let out a groan, rubbing my forehead gently.

"My head hurts."

"That's to be expected," she informs me. She sits at the end of my bed. "Hayden had to leave, to go cook dinner for him and his mother."

I nod slowly, a little disappointed he didn't get to stay. I enjoy having him here.

"It makes me a little anxious that you were both here, alone," she frowns. "But you were both passed out when I came home."

"If you must know," I sigh, still massaging my temples. "Our physical contact has been updated to a kiss on the forehead, so you can rest easy for a little while longer."

"I'm glad you aren't rushing into anything," she smiles. "Last thing you want is to fall-"

"Stop with the pregnancy lectures, please," I whine. "My head hurts enough already."

"Okay, sorry," she apologises, still looking like she wants to continue discussing the matter but instead purses her lips.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Quiet day at work?"

She laughs at my word choice. "Quiet day? No, the school called."

"Aw and you came to check on me." I tease.

"Of course. What would you like for dinner?"

"I'm not really that hungry."

"All right, let me know if you change your mind."

After squeezing my knee gently, she exits my room and instantly I am reaching for my phone and dialling Hayden's number.

"Hey," he answers. I can hear sizzling in the background, indicating he is cooking. The thought makes me smile.

"Hey there."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but better. Weren't you meant to stop me from sleeping?"

"Yeah, well, that was the plan," he chuckles. "I don't even remember falling asleep."

"Me either," I admit. "What are you cooking?"

"Marinated pork chops and steamed vegetables," he answers.

"Wow, you can cook better than my mum."

"I've had a bit of practise. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Leisel's having a party. Do you want to go?"

"Sure. Are you drinking?"

"I don't drink," he replies quickly and a little snappy, if I say so.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"Will you be drinking?" he asks me and I can hear the judgement in his voice.

This is something I want to know more about.

"If you won't, I won't," I tell him honestly. "Deal?"

"Sounds good. I'll pick you up at 6."

"Okay. I don't know if I'll go to school tomorrow."

"That's fair. Milk it while you have the chance,."

"I wonder if Mia will feel bad," I say thoughtfully.

We are silent for a moment, before we laugh, both agreeing that she wouldn't.

"Let me know if you do end up coming to school and I'll pick you up."

"Okay, thanks. And thanks for this afternoon, too."

"Any time."

"Bye, Hayden."

"Bye, Grace," he replies in the same tone, before the line goes dead.

I let out a sigh, before putting my phone down.

"Not meaning to eavesdrop," my mum suddenly says, appearing in my doorway. "But you're not going to school tomorrow?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "With a headache like this, a long day of boring school and grilling swim practise, doesn't sound appealing."

"Well, considering you did get a written slip stating you have a concussion, I guess you can skip school. If you're up for it, I thought we might be able to go shopping? If I can get the time off?"

"Sure," I smile. "That would be nice."

"Okay, I'll let you know. I'm having some rice and chicken, if you want some."

"I'll come down in a bit," I tell her.

I begin to reply to Harvey's text when I feel my eyes growing heavy again. After hitting send, I lay my head back and fall asleep within seconds.

***

Running a hand through the loose curls in my hair, I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

Even with my make up on, I can't hide the egg on my head and the bruising bordering it. It isn't anything too drastic but big enough to be noticeable. I decide to simply ignore it. I can't hide it, anyway.

The wind is especially cool tonight and I have a thick coat on that hasn't been worn in months.

"You look nice," Hayden compliments as he walks in, catching me off guard. "How's the head?"

"Thank you," I reply earnestly, turning around and leaning on my bathroom sink. "It's okay. Bit sore and there's a lump."

He steps towards me, almost as though he wants to hug me in greeting, but instead offers a small smile and disappears through the door.

I enter my bedroom and study him. His long frame is fashioned in a pair of faded blue chinos, and a black sweater. He has the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with a pair of Lacoste sneakers. In other words: He looks fucking fantastic.

I let my eyes run over his tanned and unblemished skin. His soft, pink lips more inviting than ever as he wears a lazy smile on his face, looking at photos of me that are scattered around my room.

He raises a dark eyebrow at me, his smile twisting into an amused smirk. "What?"

"Huh?" I ask, realising that his attention is now on me.

"You were looking at me."

"Oh," I look down at my feet as I shove my foot into the left boot of my Dr Martens. "You look good."

"How good?" he asks and I feel my cheeks warm as he stares at me.

"Pretty good."

After successfully getting my shoes on, I stood. He wanders over to me and my breath hitches in my throat as he collects my face in his hands. His warm breath dances over my lips as he intently stares at my forehead, his long fingers running over the lump. They're warm and sot and gentle and God damn he is close to me.

"Was a good hit, I'll give her that," he murmurs, his voice sounding a little deeper than it did just before.

"Yes," I whisper back, my eyes trained on his lips.

His tongue snakes out, moistening his bottom lip. I feel my own part as I watch his tongue move, wishing desperately to taste it against my mouth. I inch my head forward, my body acting on behalf of my mind's promiscuous thoughts.

He steps back and grabs my bag from the mattress. I feel the cool air rush onto my face as he broadened our proximity. My cheeks flame as I realise he pulled back from me.

"Let's go," he says curtly before exiting my room abruptly.

Swallowing uneasily, I follow, turning off my light.

Maybe I have this all wrong... Maybe we really are just friends.

***

The music is loud as we enter Leisel's house, making me thankful I took an extra dose of pain relief for my head ache.

"You came!" Leisel slurs, stumbling over to me.

She wraps her slender arms around me in a tight hug. I let out a laugh, hugging her back.

"Are you..." her voice drops dramatically as she presses her lips to my ear. "Dating Hayden?"

I definitely wasn't after the way he acted before we left.

I giveher my usual smirk. "No."

"Uh huh," she grins, before giving Hayden a sloppy hug. He doesn't embrace her back but stands there awkwardly, with an irritated look on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" I asks with a frown.

"Drunk girls annoy the fuck out of me," he states loudly, causing a few people to glance in our direction.

"I must have annoyed you a lot then," I reply simply.

"Yeah, you did."

He walks from me and I stare after him, shaking my head. We had such great times together in the past two weeks. Why was he suddenly acting like he used to?

My phone dings, drawing me from my thoughts. I stare down at the screen, my forehead crumpling in confusion. It was from my school email.

Ashton: Grace, are you free tomorrow? I would like to see you. We need to talk.

I stare at the cryptic message.

Grace: What about?

Ashton: Just tell me when and where.

I bite my lip, knowing this is a bad idea. I need to cut all my ties from Ashton. I look up, planning to ignore Ashton's message, when I see Hayden leaning against the kitchen counter, a can of coke in his hand, as he speaks to Mia and Mike.

My lips spread into a thin line as I loo back at my phone and typed.

Grace: Your place, 10am.

Ashton: Look forward to it.

I push my phone into my back pocket, feeling like a drink. No matter how Hayden is acting, I didn't want to go against our deal. With a sigh, I walk into the kitchen.

"How's the face?" Mia asks sweetly.

I pour myself a glass of water, before facing her.

"Still better than yours," I smirk, earning a snort from Mike, before I exit the kitchen, hardly sparing a glance towards Hayden.

Two can play this game.

***

"Hello gorgeous," Ryan purrs as I dance with Leisel.

Hayden has still been acting like a dick so I was out on the dance floor with Leisel. She had our hands entwined as she sways, moving to the music, her eyes stained red from alcohol.

"Ryan," I greet him with an automatic, flirtatious smile.

"Am I allowed to talk to you or will I get punched?" he jokes, moving closer to me, so that I can hear him over the music.

"He doesn't decide who I can and cannot talk to."

"Good," he murmurs. "What a drink?"

Yes.

I am so tempted to reach out and take the red, plastic cup from his hand and down the contents. I glance over to see Hayden watching me, his arms folded.

I let out a sigh. "Not right now."

"All right," he replies, skulling the rest of the drink, before tossing it onto the floor.

Leisel moved to dance with David, sending a glare towards Ryan. Ryan edged closer to me, placing his hands on my hips.

"Let's repeat the beach party," he suggests huskily, his eyes darkening. "The kissing part, that is."

I wasn't into this at all, I was just sick of Hayden going from hot to cold all the time. I hate how he thinks he can treat me however he wants and I'll stick around.

Suddenly, Ryan is pulled back. Hayden's fingers wrapped around my arm. He pulls me roughly and I let out a cry in surprise. He drags me outside. The cool air slaps me in the face as I wrenched my arm from Hayden, my hair flying around my face.

I fold my arms across my chest and stare at him, my eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?" he snaps. "You're embarrassing me."

"Me?" I whip back. "You're the one who started ignoring me and acting like a dick. Hanging out with Mia, really?"

"Mia and I have been friends for a long time, regardless of how much she annoys me. We generally do hang out at parties because that's what you do with your group of friends."

"Right and the ignoring me part?" I push, still not satisfied with his response.

He exhales loudly. "Look, what almost happened at your house kind of freaked me out."

"The thought of kissing me freaked you out?" I ask slowly, feeling my ego take a punch on the chin.

"I've just had a fucked up history with girls, okay? I don't want to rush into anything because things have been good. Like, really good. I don't want to ruin anything between us, okay?"

I throw my hands up in the air. "Why didn't you just say so? Ignoring me like that only makes me feel insignificant and like you're using me."

"I'm not good at expressing myself, obviously."

"And that's okay. It is. You just can't ignore me. I really hate when you do that."

"I got really good at ignoring people, after Carrie. Whenever I got annoyed or angry, I just ignored people. I kind of enjoyed making people feel like shit because it made me feel better. I don't know. It's messed up."

"It makes sense and I get it. But that's not going to happen between us otherwise you're just going to push me away."

He nods, digging his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders. "Yeah, alright."

"I'm happy to go slow. My past has been nothing but jumping into things without thinking and acting on impulse," I tell him with a smile. "But not too slow because I have hormones and you look really hot."

He chuckles, reaching out to me. His fingers slid through mine. He pulled me to him and wraps his arm around me. I hug him back, burying my face into his chest.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

"Ryan really pisses me off," he mumbles, his lips pressed against my hair.

"I know."

"He wants you."

"Who cares what he wants?"

Hayden's arms tighten around me, before he lets go. He flicks my nose softly and I smile up at him.

"Let's get back inside."

"Sounds good to me," I smile, tugging on his hand, leading him back into the house.

Guilt gnaws at me. I should have come clean about Ashton, right there and then. I was so scared to tell him because the risk of him losing him, was high. I wasn't ready to lose Hayden.

The music is still shaking the walls, but people aren't dancing as much now. There is a large circle on the floor and I grin, knowing all-too-well that a drinking game was in action.

We both found a spot on the floor. This is definitely weird, being a part of a drinking game when I'm not drinking.

"Truth or dare?" Mike asks Mia.

"Dare," Mia replies, flickering her eyes to me in annoyance.

"I dare you to give me a lap dance."

A few people whistle loudly and the rest of the group clap. She rolls her eyes and pushes to her feet. Mike high-fives David, before going to sit on the lounge.

Mia looks at Hayden. I turn to look as well, only to see that his eyes are already on me. He has a smile on his face and I smile back.

When I turn my attention back to Mia, she is beginning to twerk on Mike. I let out a laugh, along with everyone else. Mike looks like he is on Cloud 9. She moves her hips sensually, spreading his knees, before grinding her butt against him. Everyone cheers her on and I can't help but join in.

She pulls him to his feet, before running her hands down his chest, moving down his body. He suddenly grabs her, pulling her up to him, before pressing his lips to hers. I am shocked as they make out passionately, in front of everyone. They part soon after and Mike throws his hands up in triumph. David and Zach went over to him, doing the shoulder-hug thing that guys do.

The group settled down soon after and the game continued.

"Leisel, truth or dare," Mia said calmly, her cheeks red but other than that, acting like she didn't just act like a stripper in front of all her friends.

"Dare," Leisel chirps back, knowing that everyone would just 'boo' her if she chose truth.

"I dare you to kiss David."

She shrugs, glancing over to the other side of the circle briefly, before crawling over to him. She presses her lips to his. It continues a little longer than necessary, before she wobbled back to where she was sitting, a drunk, goofy smile on her face.

"Hayden," Leisel suddenly says, pointing at him. "Truth or dare."

Mia scoffs loudly, causing a number of us to look her way. "Hayden doesn't play. He's too much of a pussy."

There is a collective "ohhh" as everyone turns back to see how Hayden will respond. No one ever spoke to Hayden like that, let alone Mia. He quirks an eyebrow at her, before smirking.

"Dare."

Everyone quietens, shocked that he is actually participating.

"I dare you to take Grace up to one of the bedrooms for five minutes," Leisel smirks back.

There are a few gasps shared between everyone. They all look from Hayden, to me, to Mia. I think the vein in Mia's temple is going to burst.

Hayden gets to his feet and strolls casually over to me, considering we had separated when we sat on the floor. He extends his hand. I let him pull to my feet.

"Be back in five," he announces, before grabbing my hand and leading me towards the stairs.

Loud cheers and whistles erupt from the group and I can't help be secretly thrilled about all of this.

We walk into what looked like a spare room.

"Mia is going to stab me in my sleep," I say to him with a small smile.

Without another word, he strides towards me. He pushes me against the wall and I gasp in surprise, feeling his warmth.

"Woah," I exclaim in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Something I've been wanting to do for a long time."

I let out a shaky breath as our lips were are millimetres from touching. "I thought you wanted to take it slow?"

"Fuck going slow," he growls, before pressing his lips to mine.

He hungrily kisses me. His hands dug deep into my hair, pulling on it slightly. I grip his sweater with my fingers, pulling him closer. I wind my arms around his neck, crashing my body to his.

He breaks the kiss and removes my arms from his neck. I breathlessly stare at him, confused, before he yanks my coat off. It pools on the floor around our feet. He leans his head in, pressing his lips to the base of my throat. A soft moan escapes me as his lips dance over my throat, giving me goosebumps.

His tongue twists and I know he is giving me a hickey. I hate hickeys. I think they're trashy and completely unnecessary, but the way his tongue and lips are moving, is making my thoughts disappear and my eyes roll back into my head. My knees wobble together and I feel unsteady.

His hand travel up my side, feeling every curve of my body. Grabbing his chin, I pull his face back to mine. His lips are warm and wet against mine. His tongue brushes my own as he enters my mouth. I love the taste of him. He tastes better than I can even imagine. 

His warm palms press against my cheeks as our kiss deepens. My hands ran down his chest, before going underneath his shirt. My fingers are cool as they trace the outline of his defined abs, making his stomach suck in from my touch.

"The things I want to do to you," he groans, his hand fondling with my chest. "Why the hell did I want to take things slow?"

"I have no idea," I whisper back.

He grinds his hips against mine as we continue our heated make-out session. My nails scrape down his shirt, the material bunching up around my fingers.

"Yo, it's been more than five-" Leisel drunkenly announces, walking through the door. "Oh my God!"

I pull back and stare at her, my chest heaving.

"Yes!" she squeals. "I have been waiting for this!"

"Me too, now get the fuck out," Hayden croaks hoarsely, before pressing his lips back to mine roughly.

She giggles, before stumbling back out.

"Hey guys, you won't believe what I just saw!" I hear her yell out but my mind is only occupied with one thing right now.

Hayden.

My mind was going to be occupied with him for a while.

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You're welcome. :)