Page 187 of Hayden's Stalker

“What? Why do you need to talk to Heather and me?”

Harrison’s confusion is obvious in his tone of voice, and I pray that he doesn’t figure out it has something to do with the drugging. I want him to have as long as possible before he finds out why his life was torn to pieces.

“I just need to talk to you guys about something before I talk to everyone else, that’s all. It’s best to talk face to face.” I take a deep breath and then ask, “Can you come down now?”

“Give me a second,” he says to me. His voice is obviously away from the mouthpiece of his phone when he speaks next. “Hayden wants us to go down to Tati’s room to talk to him.”

“Huh? Why?” Heather asks him.

“He wants to talk to us before he sees the others, and he thinks we should talk face to face.”

I can hear it. I can hear it, and I hate it. Harrison has some idea that what I want to tell him has to do with the worst night of his life. He can’t possibly guess how, but there’s no other reason why I would ever want to talk to him and Heather alone.

She blows out a large breath of air but doesn’t say anything, and Harrison says to me, “Okay. We’ll come and see you now.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

I end the call and look up at Tati. I love her so much, and I don’t want to ask her to leave, but Harrison and Heather don’t know her that well. They need to be able to hear this news in private and from me alone.

“I’d better get changed quickly. They’re on their way down. I don’t want to ask this of you, but…” I trail off, unsure of how to voice the request without it sounding back.

“You’d rather that I wasn’t here with you when you told them?”

I shake my head because I want her to leave, but I’d rather she stay. “No, I want you here, but I’m not sure if they would want it. It’s going to be hard for them, and I want to make it as easy for them as possible.”

It’s a joke to think that this will be easy at all. They’re past it in general, but even last year, Heather slapped a reporter who brought it up to her. So I know those wouldn’t haven’t fully healed.

“Of course. Do you want me to wait outside? Otherwise, I could go upstairs and let the others know that you’re talking to Harrison and Heather first. I’d get Jesse to come down and wait outside, of course.”

I frown as I think about her offer. I’d rather have her nearby, but I trust Jesse and do feel safe with him.

Sarah’s dead.

The image of her dead body comes to my mind, and I push away the nausea that thinking about her brings to me. Instead, I focus on the practicalities of her suggestion, and it makes sense.

“Can you do that? Can you tell them as well? It just—it saves Harrison and Heather from having to go through it all again upstairs if they don’t want to talk about it.”

I know I’m asking a lot for her to take on the emotional burden of revealing this truth to my friends. They weren’t as affected that night as Harrison and Heather were, but all of us felt the ramifications of it.

“I can do that.”

Tati nods and walks over to me. She places a hand on either side of my face and presses her lips to mine. It soothes some of my nerves, and I wind my arms around her neck as I take comfort in this moment before I have to have what I’m sure is going to be a fucking awful conversation.

“If you need me, just call, and I’ll come right back down. Otherwise, I’ll see you upstairs, okay?”

I nod as I look into her beautiful blue eyes. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Tati gets dressed, and I give her one last kiss before I head into the bathroom to get changed. I glance at the shower, with the washcloth lying benignly on the floor, and I have the urge to try and clean myself again. As nice as it is being back with Tati, I can still feel Sarah’s touch sometimes, and it makes me feel dirty.

I splash my face with water and brush my teeth before I walk back into the bedroom. I pace back and forth through the small room before the door opens, and Tati lets my friends inside. Heather is clutching Harrison’s hand for dear life, and both of them have somber looks on their faces.

When they see me, though, both of their faces light up, and Heather rushes over to throw her arms around me. “Oh my god, I’m so glad to see you.”

“Thanks. You, too. It’s been a rough few days.” I wrap my arms around her waist and hug her back just as tightly.

“I’m sure it has been.” She kisses my cheek before she lets me go, and Harrison hugs me as well.

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