The Middle Child

Chapter 20

Once she gets back up to her room she nearly screams as she sees Hayden sitting on her couch examing something. It catches the light and instantly she knows what he's holding.

"Hayden, what are you still doing here?" Alyson asks her throat tightening.

"The guys and I heard you yelp, so I came back and told the guys I'd catch up with them. But as I came back inside, the light caught this on your bathroom sink. So naturally I went to examine it and I found a razor blade covered in dried blood." Hayden says his eyes holding so much that Alyson couldn't place it all. She saw anger, sadness, and most of all hurt.

She gasped as she remembered that before she fell out of the tree she was debating whether or not to press blade to skin and let it leave its mark.

"Hayden, I haven't done that since I've met you, I swear," She says but she wasn't 100 per cent honest, a few days after they left her she did cut a thin barely there scratch, but it didn't bleed and went away within a few hours.

"Prove it," Hayden spits his tone aggressive yet his voice soft almost like he was about to cry. Alyson's heart sank, this is the exact reason she couldn't cut to draw blood. She could imagine Hayden's face of heartbreak when he found out, now she didn't have to imagine it because that nightmare was staring at her expectantly. She shrugged off her hoodie and unwrapped the bandages.

Her scars on full display though there weren't many they were thick deep wounds. Hayden gently grabbed her arm and his face said what he was thinking without needing to say a word, Why?

"Hayden, I..." Alyson started but didn't know exactly what to say.

"Why?" He says finally putting his words out there.

"Hayden, You have to understand that before I met you. I was always just somebody's sister. No one remembered me, I didn't have...I didn't have anyone...My family forget I even existed half the time, for christ sake! The only kind of interaction I had was when I was in the forest! I didn't have anyone to turn to, I only did it when everything became too overwhelming. I swear it was never because I wanted to die, I just wanted something I could have control over and to make sure I was even alive." Alyson explained as tears streamed down her face. Hayden held her hands tightly as he rubbed small circles into her skin.

"I'm so sorry, Alyson. If I knew what you were going through, I wouldn't have left you for so long," Hayden said his own eyes becoming watery.

"You're not supposed to cry," Alyson says her voice held a hint of playfulness, yet her heart hurt at the sight of Hayden crying.

Hayden gives a soft chuckle at Alyson's attempt to lighten the mood.

"I swear I haven't made myself bleed since I met you. Every time I tried your face would come into my mind and I wouldn't be able to do it. I swear," Alyson says as she gently cups his cheek. He pulls her into an embrace.

Hayden's familiar smell of mint, pine trees and just a hint of wet dog, not enough to were it was overpowering but just enough to know it's there.

Hayden broke the hug first and pulled away, Alyson felt suddenly very cold. They locked eyes and an image of their kiss passed through Alyson's mind and made her feel dizzy. Her earlier headaches disappeared.

Both leaned in as if a magnet were between them and when they met in the middle their lips pressed softly. A dizzying feel hit Alyson as she deepened to kiss. As if waiting for her cue Hayden's kiss became more intense, this kiss much more intense then the first one. Both seemed to try and pull the other as close as possible until no even a single particle could get between them. They remained like this for what, to Alyson, felt like forever until Hayden suddenly pulled away.