Chapter 4 New Year’s Eve 2028 #2
We move into the living room, where the first cage sits by a window overlooking the street.
A green parakeet tilts its head at us, feathers puffed like a tiny, feathered pom-pom.
Hailey coos softly, sliding open the latch with practiced hands.
There’s a sign with stats in front of it with a price tag.
She motions for me to hold the travel carrier open, and when the parakeet hops inside, she grins like we just pulled off a heist.
“One down,” she says.
I nod, even though I’m mostly distracted by how the late afternoon sun slants through the lace curtains, making her eyes lighter. Or maybe I’m just a lovesick idiot. So much for casually seeing her. So much for not catching feelings.
We creep toward the next cage, and she adds quietly, “Pigeons can recognize themselves in mirrors, you know. Smarter than most people give them credit.”
I bite back a laugh. “So you’re saying if I buy a pigeon, it’ll judge me?”
“It already is,” she whispers, eyes twinkling.
“But that’s not a pigeon,” I whisper back.
“No, that’s a conure.” She holds the small parrot in her hands before adding him to the bag I’m holding.
She continues until all four birds are secured in bags.
She carries two outside, and I follow with the other two.
The porch door closes behind us, and this time, instead of tiptoeing, she runs and opens the back door of the van, jumping in as soon as the bags are settled on the floor.
“Come on. Go, go go!” I do as I’m told, driving as fast I can without breaking the law.
Somehow, rescuing birds in a small town in Florida feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Everything else I’ve been worried about this past year fades into the background, because all that matters right now is making this girl happy.
She smiles ear to ear on our way back to her place. Her head rests on the back of the seat, and with her eyes closed and her feet on the dashboard, she mumbles the lyrics to whatever song is playing. Something about a getaway car or something.
I don’t speak so as not to disturb her from this peaceful, fulfilling moment.
She looked so happy and so incredibly proud when we made it to the rescue center and they knew exactly what to do with the birds.
She also called every pet store and sanctuary nearby to leave complaints about the lady.
Most places didn’t answer, considering it’s nine PM on New Year’s Eve, but she still left voice messages.
I’m in awe of this woman, completely in awe.
We pull up to her house, and this time, she actually lets me open both doors for her—the van and the house. It’s not much, but it makes me feel helpful, like my job here is being done.
Something I’ve learned about Hailey in these past few years is that the girl doesn’t know how to ask for or accept help. The fact that she not only asked but also is letting me is a big deal. At least for me it is.
She plops herself on her cocoa couch, laying her head back and perching her shoeless feet on the arm rest. I take a seat by her feet, placing them on my lap.
“We’re already late to the gala,” I say.
She lets an exasperated breath out.
“Fuck the gala.”
She surprises us both, but I don’t even have time to ask anything, because she promptly continues, “I don’t want to go.
I don’t want to get all dolled up to do the same thing I’ve done for the past decade.
I already bought a ticket, or I guess you did, and my sister knows I support her.
I just want to maybe enjoy a quiet New Year's Eve here.”
Hailey lifts her head to look at me. “But I’m old and tired, and you’re young and hot. You should go.”
I clear my throat, shaking my head. “Do you think I flew all the way from Alaska so I could go to a gala just for the sake of going?”
“I mean, isn’t that what you’ve done since we met? I figured the gala had some important meaning to you or something.”
How is it that we’ve never talked about this? Oh yeah, I’ve never told her. Why would I when everyone around me just assumes whatever they want to assume and I just let them? It’s a lot easier than the contrary.
She was so brave today, and that’s admirable.
People think I'm brave too because of what I do for a living, but really, it’s not bravery.
It’s the feeling of being needed and wanted somewhere.
It’s the feeling that when they’re about to lose hope, I’m the one bringing it back to them.
But I can show some bravery now and just tell her.
“I crashed the gala the first time we met.”
“What?” she asks, sitting up and giving me her full attention.
“I grew up near Atlanta and went to school with three guys: Travis, who you met briefly, Holt, and Axel. Axel moved to Amelia Island with his parents right after high school. Holt, Travis, and I were visiting him before starting bootcamp and decided it would be a good idea.”
“Well, was it?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not donating money to charity?”
I raise my hands in defeat. “We were three broke kids, okay?”
She huffs. “Well, continue.”
“One thing led to another, and then the spill happened, and I met you. I couldn’t get you out of my head, so Travis said he was in when I suggested we go back the following year. And now, well, now, it’s the only time I get to see you.”
She looks confused; maybe I just need to tell her with words.
“It was never about the gala, Hales.” She sucks in a breath. “It was always about you.”
She opens her mouth, but I don’t let her utter a word. I want her to hear me loud and clear. I need her to know.
“If you were to tell me right now you’d like to meet in Hell every year, I would give you a list of sins I would commit just to make sure I was able to get in.”
“Ash.” I want to record the way she whispers my name so on long nights, I can listen to it on repeat.
So on short days, it’s the only sound I hear.
So when I miss her, I can remember how lucky I am to have someone in my life who cares about me and the things I have to say enough to lose her voice in feelings.
I’m undeserving, but I want to bottle it up.
“It’s true.”
“Are you sure you’re twenty-three? Because I know older men who would never speak like that, let alone someone your age.”
I pull her by her hand until she’s sitting up straight, and I reach over to hold her face.
“What you don’t understand is that age is just a number. It truly doesn’t matter. My soul is aging with yours.” She gasps when I pull her into my lap, my dick immediately coming to attention at the feel of her near me.
“I would also love for you to stop talking about other men in general, and I’ll gladly make you forget there’s anyone else out there but me.
” My hand traces her back until my fingers find the edge of her shirt and slide up, touching as much skin as I can.
She’s silent, not breathing. She’s just looking at me in complete shock.
“And I'm almost twenty-four,” I whisper against her lips before kissing her feverishly.
All Of The Stars by Ed Sheeran
“Do you really have to go?” Hailey asks, her face buried in my chest. We spent three days together, completely tangled in each other, lost in the bubble we created.
We hiked, shopped, baked, and cooked together. We slept together, side by side, sharing a bed while we learned more about each other.
I like her. A lot. And judging by how she's acting, she likes me too.
“I—”
“I know it’s unfair of me to even say anything at all, but I’m going to miss you, Ash,” she interrupts.
“I’m going to miss you too. If you promise to still send me letters, I’ll call.” She peers at me through her dark eyelashes, and I can see her beautiful, glossy eyes. There are no tears, but they’re full of an emotion that reaches deep within me.
“I’ll write,” she replies, twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers.
“Then I’ll call.” She eyes me with something I can’t name, because what I think it is . . . it’s definitely not what I want. I don’t want to hurt her. That’s the last thing I want to do, but there’s nothing we can do when we live so far apart.
“Come here.”
I open my arms again to her, and she takes the step to land in them.
She fits perfectly, her head tucked against my chest, my chin resting above her head, her arms wrapped around me and mine holding her tight.
We belong in this bubble of time where nothing else exists.
Maybe, if I had something to give, we could make it work, but all I have is my job, and there’s no station here.
She has her family and friends here, all whom she loves.
I can’t ask her to move away. We’re stuck in the in-between, and it sucks.
Time passes, quicker than I’d like, but it does.
Another reminder this is not a dream, and real life awaits.
She has to go be there for the kids in the hospital, and I have to go help keep people safe.
I hope we find a way to heal from our own heartbreak or to let each other go if we can’t.
This is harder than I thought it would be.
“I have to go,” I whisper against her soft hair.
I take her in, letting the lemon and orange scent fill my lungs, allowing my fingers to commit to memory the way her hair feels between my fingers, the way her heart beats steadily in sync with mine.
I take it all in one more time before kissing her head and taking a step back.
“I know.” She drags her feet as she takes a step back and offers me a forced smile. “No complications, right?”
“If the stars align . . . ” I let my words rest between us.
“And the seasons change,” she echoes my words from last year.
“We’ll see each other again,” I complete the phrase. “Same time, same place.”
She nods and starts walking back, unknowingly giving me the strength I need to take that plane back to where I belong.
“Goodbye, Asher. See you in twelve months!”
“Twelve months, Hales.”
I wave shyly, waiting for her to turn and leave. Please leave so I can do the right thing and get on my way too.
She does eventually, and after her dark hair disappears through the glass doors at the Jacksonville airport, I go through security and head back to the place I now call home.