Bringing Back Hallie

Bringing Back Hallie: Chapter Twenty-One

"Sooo...." Darla drawls out, twirling her fork around in her bowl of mashed potatoes. The two of us have pretty much had a bonding day, since my mom is out at some meeting with my dad's publicist and my dad and Ethan have been cooped up in the basement working on music for the tour. And although I really just want to be wrapped up in Ethan because we just confessed our love for each other yesterday, I know I can't be too selfish. My dad needs him too. 

And I haven't gotten to hang out with Darla in what feels like forever. I've missed her. While we haven't always had the steadiest relationship in the world, I do love that we've grown closer recently. I never realized how cool of a little sister I have. 

I tweak up an eyebrow at her words, wondering what on earth she has to say with that devious look in her eye. My sister is quite the firecracker, that much I know, and while she can be somewhat threatening sometimes, she's really just hilarious. In a humiliating sort of way. "Yes?" 

She lifts her fork up and points the end at my neck, before saying dryly, "I haven't made fun of you for your necklace of hickies yet. You had to have known it was coming." 

My hand immediately flies to the base of my neck, where I know Ethan has made it quite clear what we got up to yesterday. I'd applied makeup to the three love bites this morning, but I guess it's faded and the evidence is as clear as day. Shit. 

She giggles, saying, "Really Hallie? I've already seen them. Kind of obvious." 

"Shut up," I say, cheeks flaming as I poke my tongue out at her. "I put foundation on them earlier, guess it faded." 

"Obviously," she laughs, shoveling a forkful of potatoes into her mouth. "It looks like he tried to suck you dry for Christ's sake. What? Were y'all role playing and he was Edward or something?" 

"You are thirteen!" I scold, trying my hardest not to laugh at the perverted joke. "You should not know what that is." 

"Oh please," she scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I go to private school. There're some really slutty people there who like to talk really loud. I hear things." 

"My-" I go to say something else, but am cut short by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Damn it. Now I have to get up. I toss my fork into my empty bowl and then after telling Darla I'll be right back, I hitch myself out of the booth and make my way through the kitchen and foyer to the front door.  

Not even bothering to look through the peep hole, I wrench the door open and am kind of struck when I see who's standing in front of me. It's Fred, and judging by the bags underneath his eyes and the paleness of his cheeks, he hasn't gotten much sleep since I last saw him. Instead of wearing a silly hat or some shirt with a quirky statement on it, he's just standing there in a plain pair of jeans and a shirt that looks like it could take a turn in the washing machine. 

This isn't...this can't be because of me, right? No way. There's no way he'd look like this just because I turned him down. Fred would never let himself look this haggard over a girl, especially me.  

"Hey," I say softly, feeling just a bit sorry for him. He's got to be miserable, judging by how he looks. I've seen him look better than this after going an entire weekend with two hours of sleep. "What's going on?" 

Running his fingers through his hair, he says a bit uncomfortably, "We need to talk." 

I know that nothing good is going to come from this; that it's going to just strain our friendship even further if it doesn't just ahead and ruin it. But judging by the look on his face, he's desperate to get things settled and out in the open.  

So that's the only reason that I suck in a breath, trying to steady my nerves, and then pull the door open even further to let him in. I tell him, "Let's go into the study," and then without waiting for a response, I shut the door behind him and then lead him into the room that's built right off of the den. I really don't want Darla to listen in on this, and it's the room most separated from the kitchen.