Chapter Twenty One: Fix You

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"Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you,"

-Fix You; Coldplay

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Hayley's P.O.V.

"Thanks for meeting me Chad," I tell him as we sit down in the back of the coffee shop. He smiles. "A lot has happened. I slipped into a dark place...a deep depression. I cut up my own skin and I stopped eating. My dad then died after we got back together, but I didn't feel as connected as we were if that makes sense. That's when Jeremy, Kat, and Erica sent me to the hospital. I almost killed myself, Chad,"

"I'm sorry, Hayley. For not being there," he tells me. I give him a small smile.

"It's okay, Chad. You didn't know. I was so mad at them for sending me there, I grabbed my stuff and ran for the car, just to get into a car crash. Taylor found me unconscious and brought me to a hospital. I didn't let him call anyone but my mom because I couldn't let anyone worry. Chad, I kissed Taylor," I tell him guilty as heck.

"I know," he tells me calmly.

"What?" I ask completely confused. "How?"

"Angela is out to get me too, Hayley. She knows things and she tells me against my will to hurt me. Be ready, because you're next," he says. "I'm not mad at you, I know we were fading apart. Taylor will take good care of you. Call me if you need anything, okay? Don't worry about Angela, live life. I'm working on getting you out of this mess," With that he gets up and leaves the shop, leaving me completely shocked.

-----

Taylor is watching the news when I walk in. I slide right next to him and bury my face in his chest. He immediately wraps his arms around me and asked me what happened. "Her name is Angela. She told Chad we kissed as a way of hurting him. I don't know how she knew," I explain quietly. I would probably be crying right now, but for some reason, I feel like I am empty. I don't feel sad, stressed, or anything. Just empty.

"Can we do something? Just us? Something fun and worry free? Maybe like a vacation?" Taylor asks.

"At a time like this?" I ask him coming out from his chest. "We already excluded Jeremy from everything else going on,"

"Jeremy can come, and Kat. The four of us on a weeks vacation. We could go to the beach, rent a condo to ourselves, and have fun,"

"I don't know, I still haven't talked to them since the mental hospital," I tell Taylor.

"Well maybe it's time to make up then," he tells me playing with the ends of my hair.

"I guess," I say.

"Is that a yes to the vacation?" he asks with an excited look. I giggle at him.

"Okay sure, T. A vacation it is,"

-----

I ring the bell and wait for Jeremy or Kat to open it, and it's Jeremy. As soon as he opens the door, I jump into his arms leaving him confused. "You meant well," I tell him, my head on his shoulder.

"Spongebob, you're a good hugger," he responds hugging me back.

"I get a lot of practice," I say letting go of him. "Can I come in? We have a lot to talk about. Is Kat home?" He nods and shuts the door.

"Kat," he calls. She walks in holding Bliss.

"Hayley, how are you?" she asks softly.

"Good, bad, happy, and sad," I tell Kat shrugging. She knows we all need to talk and we sit on couch, Jeremy and Kat facing me. Bliss too, if she counts. "Right after I left, I got into a car accident. Taylor found me and took me to the hospital. No one knew except us and my mom," I tell them.

"Hayley, that's serious, why didn't you say?" Kat asks me.

"I didn't want to cause any trouble. Get ready, it gets better...then worse," I say trying to prepare them. "I kissed Taylor. He kissed back. We are sort of together but I honestly don't know, that needs more time. He broke up with Baylie and I broke up with Chad,"

"I can't help but say that you and Taylor seem to make the perfect couple already," Jeremy says with a smile.

"You're not mad or creeped out?" I ask somewhat shocked.

"No! I don't mind it at all, just...don't...turn him into a short, happy elf, okay?" he asks me. I look at him in relief, shock, confusion, and weirdness; if that's possible.

"I agree. I think you two are going to be lovely together," Kat says.

"Thanks, I think. Especially Jeremy. Anyway, while I was in the hospital, a woman came to visit me. I didn't know who she was, but apparently she is using me and everyone I love to get to Chad. I don't know why, but she is. She said we are all her 'puppets' now, whatever that means. Pieces in her never ending game," I explain. Kat gives Bliss a little squeeze and gulps.

"Why is she using us all to get to Chad? What did Chad ever do?" Jeremy asks me.

"Nothing as far as I know," I respond truthfully.

"That is crazy," Kat says.

"Her name is Angela," I tell them. "Whenever we talk about it we should call her G,"

"G?" Jeremy asks.

"Well we can't copy Pretty Little Liars, can we?" Kat asks him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but okay, G it is," Jeremy tells her.

"Alright, G. I went to talk to Chad about the whole thing and he said to just live life and he will take care of it. Chad is trying to get us all out of it. On the bright side, Taylor had the idea of going on a trip to the beach for a while, to get away from all of this,"

"The beach? At a time like this?" Jeremy asks.

"That's what I said, but I think we should," I wait for a response from one of them and smile a bit. "It'll be fun!"

"Alright then, let's go too, Hairy Face!" Kat says.

"Okay Kitty Kat," he agrees. "Why not?"

"No public display of affection though, alright?" I mention.

"Do you think we should take Bliss?" Kat asks Jeremy.

"I think we should drop her off at my parents, because she's only a couple months old, and this could be too much," he responds.

"We leave tomorrow! My Mom has a condo down in Florida for us to use," I tell them. "We're staying for a week,"

"A week? Well then I'm going to need to give my Bliss lots of kisses!" Kat says kissing her head.

Once back at Taylor's, I walk in and continue with my 'entering Taylor's house' ritual for the hundredth time by jumping on the couch. Taylor walks in and sits next to me. "They agreed," I told him.

"Yeah! Happy Taylor!" he says throwing his fists into the air. "This is going to be fun!"

"Yeah, it is," I say snuggling into the blue pillow.

"Hey, are you okay? Did something happen?" he asks me kindly. Nothing happened. A tear falls down my face silently and I don't move.

"I feel empty. I thought this vacation could help, but nothing is. Nothing is filling this hole inside of me. I can't feel happy no matter how hard I try," I explain hardly audible. Taylor helps me sit up and I rest my head in his lap, he looks down at me, as if trying to find something to tell me but he can't.

"There are other ways to fix it," he tells me. "There are things you will get in the future that you just need to hold on for," I look up at him. His button nose cuter than ever. I pull myself up and kiss him, not yet failing to have the feeling of hope rise inside of me. It is a long kiss, but it isn't sloppy and hormonal...It's just...a thank you. I guess. Once I pull away, he smiles at me. I'm just now realizing I'm basically in his lap.

"I will try to fix you," he whispers to me.

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Awwwwwwwww!

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