Page 49 of I Always Will

Why did everything have to be so complicated when it came to Alexandria Daley? Why couldn’t they just be that insufferably in love married couple she’d always wanted them to be? Why couldn’t they have stayed together, beaten the odds, and been blissfully in love, instead of whatever this was?

She knew why, but the logic offered little comfort. Especially when Alexandria was so close and still so far away.

Besides, they’d see each other soon. Alexandria had been back each weekend to prepare for the wedding, and they’d run into each other time and time again. They even saw each other when she was only back for a few hours. They weren’t going to miss each other this time, not when she was here all weekend and it was only Friday night.

As she was busy groaning into one of her sofa cushions, frustrated with her own uselessness, someone knocked on her front door. She stopped groaning, pulled the cushion from her face, and frowned, wondering who it was. Most people let her know before they came by, and it wasn’t likely to be people selling anything at this time of night.

She wandered to the door, not bothering to flatten her hair from where the cushion had messed it up. She wasn’t sure exactly what it looked like, but she could see flyaways fluttering around her forehead, so she imagined it was interesting, to say the least.

The peephole was no help. All she could see was the back of a figure, shrouded in night. She really needed to get an outdoor light.

She cracked the door, keeping the chain on, and hoping whoever the figure was wouldn’t murder her.

Alexandria’s beautiful, familiar laugh was not the sound she was expecting to hear, but it was the sound that hit her as the figure turned to look at her through the crack in the door.

“It’s you,” Hailey said, so shocked that her mind went blank of anything other than the fact that Alexandria was on her doorstep. On a Friday night.

Was this a booty call?

She shuddered at the fact her brain had thought that. Even more so when she realised it had been a little hopeful as it did. Even if Alexandria was the booty-call type, she would never do it with all of their history weighing between them as it was.

“It’s me,” Alexandria confirmed with a smile as Hailey’s brain finally kicked back into gear and she manoeuvred the door to take the chain off and open it fully. “Sorry for showing up unannounced.”

Hailey shook her head, taking in the guilty way Alexandria was shifting about. Nothing was wrong, she was just here. Visiting. The knowledge zipped around excitedly inside her. “That’s okay. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, uh… I was supposed to stay with Daniel but he and Esme got bored driving back from wherever they went to get his suit for the wedding, so they booked a hotel for the night. He didn’t call to tell me until I was standing on the kerb outside the station, waiting for him to pick me up.” She rolled her eyes but Hailey knew she would forgive Dan with ease. “I made the mistake of wondering aloud what I was going to do for the night and they… gave me your address. Sorry. I probably still should have gone somewhere else… I can still go somewhere else if you like. I wasn’t planning to stay all night, I promise. I just thought I’d stop here while I book a hotel and then I’ll go there, but I now realise even that was a little presumptuous.”

Hailey stared at her, somewhere between amused and confused. “Do you really think I’m not going to let you in?”

“Well… no,” Alexandria said, looking like she was absolutely dying of mortification.

Hailey laughed. “And do you really think I’m not going to let you stay here and send you to a random hotel instead?” She didn’t need to ask why Alexandria wasn’t going to her parents’ after last weekend.

“Maybe?” she replied, but the way she winced suggested she didn’t, she just felt weird about the situation.

Everything was weird lately. Throwing one more thing into the mix hardly made a difference.

“Come on in, trouble,” Hailey said, grinning and stepping aside to let Alexandria in.

As her gaze moved into her house, following Alexandria, she suddenly realised she hadn’t considered whether it was actually a good idea to have her here. She’d wanted it so badly, and had been so excited to see Alexandria, that she hadn’t assessed whether it was safe. Nothing appeared to be too problematic at first glance.

Her eyes caught on the heavy wooden bookcase in the corner. Everything was fine so long as Alexandria didn’t pry too deep or ask too many questions.

She closed the door and turned back to look at Alexandria, her stomach exploding excitedly at the fact that she was there. And nervously at the fact thatshe was there. In Hailey’s home. Finally.

Alexandria frowned and Hailey panicked for a split second over what she’d seen before she said, “Are you okay?”

“I’m great. Why?” Hailey asked, her eyes wide.

“You look…” She waved her hand over her own head, but Hailey knew she was referring to her chaotic hair. “Hectic.”

Hailey ruffled her hair, hoping it would begin behaving. She regretted the fact that she’d been screaming into a cushion when Alexandria arrived and that she hadn’t even bothered to tidy herself up before answering the door.

In her defence, she definitely hadn’t been expecting Alexandria, though she didn’t think explaining that whole thing was a good idea.

“I’m great,” she said, casting around for an excuse. “I was just… booking my flu jab.”

Alexandria’s eyebrows shot up. Hailey loved how expressive Alexandria was around her. Even now, years later, she was still every bit as real and authentic around Hailey as she’d ever been. Around others, she’d been taught to keep herself on lockdown. Hailey didn’t know whether she was consciously letting the walls down or whether it just came naturally with her. She didn’t care which it was. They both made her feel warm and fuzzy.

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