Song for the chapter-- Hurt somebody by Noah Kahan and Julia Michaels (I was listening to it and I think it fits for a lot of reasons)

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Later that day, after we left Hayden's place, I make my way up to my room until someone pulls me back. I turn around to come face to face with Alex on the stairs.

He looks a little anxious.

"You and Daniel are sharing rooms?" He asks, narrowing his eyes as he grips onto my forearm to keep me from walking up the steps.

I snatch my arm from his grasp.

"This isn't any of your business, but yes."

"Baby, I'm begging, I know you don't trust me but Daniel-" I cut him off.

"I know," I say definitely.

"You know?" He repeats, completely perplexed.

"Yeah. This doesn't change anything between us." I tell him seriously but he's still grinning with hope in his eyes.

Alex did make a pretty girl but as Hayden said, Daniel did me wrong, but for some reason, I still couldn't blame him fully. I guess it was because I used him in the beginning too.

I never loved Daniel and I'm sure he never loved me.

Wanted, maybe? But never love.

His want and his desire for me was a smoke screen, it made me believe that what we had was what I was looking for, and it almost made me believe that what we had was love.

But Daniel could only want me for so long. And I realized that now.

"I'm sorry Char, I know you liked him," Alex says and I smile weakly, shrugging with one of my shoulders.

"Just because I'm sorry doesn't mean I'm giving up though," he adds quickly and I chuckle, it comes out in a small titter of breath through my nose.

Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm reaching from where I am on the step above him to wrap my arms around his shoulders. He smells familiar. Like mint and something else that just brought back memories.

Hugging Alex makes me so sad.

I do miss him and for some reason, even though he is basically trying to sabotage my life, I'm glad he's here.

"Thank you," I whisper into the crook of his neck.

Alex wearily hugs me back, before his grip tightens like he doesn't ever want to let go. The thought hurts me. Why can't he understand? Why did things have to be this way?

I want him to be happy but I want to be happy too.

It was so frustrating.

I pull away and smile, he just looks at me with his hazel eyes which look almost entirely green in this moment.

"Remember to lock the door before you go to bed, we don't want anyone walking into a surprise in the morning."

Alex chuckles before nodding and I walk back up the stairs to my room.

When I get there, I shut the door behind me to find Daniel walking out of the bathroom in shorts and a fitting shirt.

He was running a towel through his hair which means he already took a shower and brushed his teeth I suppose.

It wasn't Daniel's fault; I did tell him I was using him so it wasn't his fault. But when he sees me, he smirks and I try to smile back but I can't.

"You tired?" He asks, throwing the towel on one of the chairs in the room. I shake my head, sitting on the edge of the bed and he follows after me, our legs brushing.

"Then what is it?" He asks.

"It's nothing." I smile forcefully, trying to turn and get into bed before his strong arms wrap around me instead, laying me down himself so that he was hovering over me.

I gasp in surprise, my emerald eyes searching his electric blue ones, a few blonde strands nearly cover them.

Why is he still doing these things when it was obvious he was no longer interested?

"Why?" I ask him, just like the time he insisted on walking me to my dorm for the first time. Daniel furrows his eyebrows to feign confusion just like before as well. "Why are you trying so hard to make me fall for you?" I clarify, just like before.

I know the answer before he even says it, I just need to hear it one last time, to give me clarity.
Daniel's eyes are wide, searching mines for answers he probably could no longer find.

"Because I like a challenge. That's why." He states, but there's a frown on his face this time when he says it. I feel my eyes start to burn.

It all makes sense now and I think it does for him too. I was a challenge at first but when Alex came along, she was the one everyone was after. She is the one Daniel feels he can brag with.

I gave into Daniel's charms just like he said I would and now...

...now he was bored.

"Daniel," I start and I feel like he knows what I've realized because he removes himself from off of me. "Thank you." I surprise him by saying.

Daniel played a huge role in me finding myself.

In the end, he might not have given me what I wanted but he made me realize what I didn't want. And I would always be grateful to that.

"But I think this is over," I add and Daniel blinks.

"Are you breaking up with me?" He asks in disbelief. I nod slowly. "You can't I-"

"Daniel listen," I start by cutting him off and he shuts his mouth. "You don't want me, maybe you did but you don't anymore. You were hoping this would come to an end but since I was the one to break things off you think you still want me but you don't. You like a challenge remember?"

Daniel makes a perplexed face when I say this.

"You were right, in the end...I did fall for your charms but you never really cared about me Daniel, you just wanted me. And I never really cared about you when it came down to it, I used you."

Daniel remains quiet as I speak and I'm grateful he's not interrupting, I'm happy he isn't making this harder than it has to be.

"So this is really over?" Daniel asks and for some reason, he sounds a little disappointed. I guess I'm also a little sad this is over but it's for the best and I know he believes that too.

"Yeah," I whisper.

"We can still be friends, right?" He asks hopefully and I smile, a real promising smile of my own.

"Yeah." I agree. "We should probably not sleep in the same bed anymore though; I don't want people getting the wrong idea."

"Just for tonight," Daniel waves his hand in the air dismissively; wriggling his brows suggestively and I roll my eyes, smacking his arm playfully.

Some things never change.

He chuckles, lying on his back and I do the same and we both stare at the ceiling in silence. It's a welcoming silence.

"I'm sorry, Charlie." He whispers before I drift off to sleep. I don't know what exactly he's sorry for, of course I had an idea that it had to do with his interest in Alex.

But the way he said it, made me feel like there was more to it.

...

The next morning I wake up to find Daniel is no longer in bed.

I yawn and roll off the mattress, walking into the bathroom to take a bath with a change of clothes in my hands. I brush my teeth as I get the water running, dumping the strawberry scent bath oil inside before sinking into the tub with a sigh.

Baths are amazing when you're stressed.

I lay my head back, my eyes fluttering shut and hoping that today will be better than the one before.

After I change my clothes, I head downstairs to find everyone gone. How long was I asleep? Checking my phone to see the time, it's only 11 am.

Weird.

I decided to call Alex. His phone rings for a while before he picks up. "Good morning sleeping beauty," he says through the other end, clearly amused.

I don't give him a reply to that. "Where are you guys?" I ask instead, searching every room downstairs.

"We're at Hayden's beach house, he's making breakfast." He says, through a mouthful this time with his pretend high and girly voice and I feel my stomach grumble.

He's eating while talking on the phone, that pig.

"You better hurry over before Hunter and Jack eat everything," he whispers the last part before the line goes dead.

I make a face when I pull the phone away from my ear. Did he just hang up on me?

With an annoyed sigh, I stuff the phone back into my pocket and head out.

It takes about a minute to cross the distance between the houses, I don't need to knock; the door is already left wide open for me.

The wonderful aroma of Hayden's cooking hits my nose and my stomach grumbles again as I shut the door behind me, eager to get to the dining room.

Everyone is seated, talking comically around the table as they do so.

When I knock on the side of the open archway that leads to the dining room, everyone turns to face me.

"You're finally awake," Clark teases and I roll my eyes at her.

"Shut up, it's only 11. Why didn't you guys wake me up?" I ask, taking my seat beside her.

Daniel is the one to speak up from across the table. "Hayden said not to." He explains with a shrug the instant Hayden walks in with more pancakes on the tray.

Jack and Hunter reach for it with greedy hands and he smacks their hands away, his eyes eventually finding mine.

"Mornin'." He says nonchalantly.

"Good morning," I reply back just as coolly. Hayden takes his seat at the end of the table, not saying anything further. Alex grins through a mouthful my way and Daniel just watches him with admiration.

Yuck.

Couldn't he tell that wasn't at all ladylike!

I can tell Mary and Jack are getting really close, they were always talking together about something, I'm guessing it's about the play they were working on.

"So what're we doing today?" I ask no one in particular.

"There's this beach party some people I know are throwing later today. But before then, I guess you guys could take a tour around the place, there's a lot to do here other than going to the beach." Hayden answers me with a shrug.

"I'm actually not feeling a party today," Jack says. Hunter looks at him with furrowed eyes and so do I; Jack loves parties.

Heck, that was supposed to be my line, but seeing the way Alex looks at me as if he's testing me makes me want to go even more.

"Same here." Mary nods.

"It's up to you guys," Hayden says, taking a bite of his pancake covered in syrup from his fork, licking at his lips before his eyes meet mine again.

"You coming, right Char?" He asks after he swallows.

My eyes break away from his, finding Alex's that has his narrowed. "Yeah, sure."

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There will be a lot more Hayden moments from now on :)

But don't get too happy about it, everything is still in my hands hehe;)

Vote and comment you gorgeous people!