Chapter 5

When I woke up, the yelling had finally stopped and Austin had gone back to his own room. It was finally the weekend, and even though I'd only been back at school for two days, it felt like a lot longer. I got up, showered and got dressed, then went to check on Austin.

He wasn't in his room, which was opposite mine, so I went downstairs and found him and mom having breakfast in the kitchen.

"Hey, are you doing anything today?" I asked Austin.

"Nah, I think I'll just try and finish a dance I've been working on."

"Did you wanna go for a walk first?"

"Sure."

I grabbed some toast, then I quickly ran upstairs to grab a jacket and check my phone. I had three missed calls from my dad - which I ignored - and a text from Cheanne asking if I wanted to hang out with everyone. I replied saying I was with Austin this morning but I might drop by later.

"Ready to go?" Austin asked as I got downstairs.

"Yeah, come on."

We walked for a while until we got to the beach and then we sat down for a bit.

"Hey, Hayden?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does dad hate me so much now? It's not like I've changed, I'm still the same person."

"I know, I don't get it. I'm sorry," I felt so useless. Nothing I said would make a difference, it's not going to change what my dad thinks about Austin. "Don't listen to him, focus on the people that actually care about you."

He turned to me with a watery smile and I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't we dance for a bit?" I suggested, hoping it would take his mind off everything.

"Yeah, sure."

We ended up spending most of the day on the beach, just dancing and having fun. Around lunchtime, we stopped to grab some food from a nice cafe nearby and Austin was telling me more about his relationship with Dylan. It was great to finally spend some time with him since we hadn't hung out much before we moved.

After we ate, we headed back down onto the sand to keep dancing. The tide started coming in around mid-afternoon and we kept getting splashed with water but it didn't matter, we were enjoying ourselves and Austin seemed to be smiling a lot more.

"Is that Dylan?" I heard Austin say a little while later.

I turned to look where he was pointing and saw a figure walking down onto the beach, towards us.

"I think it might be." How did he know we'd be here?

"Hey," Dylan said when he got closer, "We're just over the road at Taco Bell and I saw you guys as we walked up there so I thought I'd come and say hi."

He seemed to be talking more to Austin as he said that. Austin went over and hugged him but Dylan looked panicked for a second and glanced over at me.

"Does he know?" He whispered to Austin, but I still heard him.

"Oh yeah, is that okay?" Austin answered. "Sorry, I should've asked you before I told anyone."

"No, it's fine, I was only checking, just let's not tell anyone else yet. I can't be bothered with all the questions."

Austin nodded. I was starting to feel a bit like a third wheel so I said I was going to head up to see everyone else and left them alone together.

"Oh, hey!" Cheanne called to me when I walked into Taco Bell. It was only over the road so it didn't take me long to get there.

I went over and pulled up a chair so I could join their table.

"Did Dylan find you alright?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, I left him talking to Austin," I said, realising too late that that looked a bit weird - they hardly knew each other. "But I was really hungry so I went ahead." I quickly added, hoping I hadn't just dropped them in it.

We ordered some food and about ten minutes later, Dylan and Austin joined us. Austin kept blushing and laughing way too much at everything Dylan said. He couldn't have looked any more suspicious. No-one mentioned anything but I noticed Harry kept glancing between them.

When we were leaving, Dylan offered to give me and Austin a lift home, as well as Ashton. I was in the back with Ashton.

"I saw you dancing earlier," He said, "You're so good!"

"Thanks," I said, feeling myself go red. I always did that whenever anyone complimented me.

"Do you compete or anything?"

"Yeah, I used to, before we moved anyway."

Ashton got dropped off first and then we finally got home. I was about to get out of the car when Austin turned around in his seat.

"Hayden?" He said, "Do you think you could cover for me, please? I'm gonna spend the night at Dylan's."

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow then."

We said goodbye and I went inside. Mom was in the living room watching TV so I quickly made up and excuse for Austin, then went upstairs and flopped down onto my bed. I checked my phone and saw a text from my dad: "car shopping tomorrow still on?"

Ugh, I forgot about that. I was really excited to finally get a car, I'd managed to save enough, but I didn't want to see dad. Especially not so soon.

I texted him back: "no I've decided to wait"

That was a lie. I was still going, just not with him.

The next day, mom drove me to the car dealership and I managed to find and buy a car in a couple of hours. I was about to go for a drive just to get used to it when Austin called, asking if I could pick him up - he knew I was going car shopping today. I drove round to Dylan's, following directions from him over the phone, picked Austin up, and then we went to grab some food from Pizza Hut.

"So how was it at Dylan's?" I asked while we were waiting for our food.

"Great, it was nice to finally spend a lot of time with him. Until now, we've only been able to meet up for a couple hours at most."

"Is that where you kept disappearing off to when we first moved?" He'd been sneaking out the house and then coming back hours later with no explanation.

"Yeah, was it that obvious?"

I nodded. Not long after, our food arrived and we started eating. Austin's phone kept ringing but he just looked at the screen then ignored it. Finally though, after the fourth ring, he answered.

"Dylan? What's wrong? ... Okay, yeah ... I'm on my way."

"Austin? Where are you going?" I asked as he got up to leave.

"I need to go to Dylan's."

"Why? You only just came from his."

"Sorry," He said, grabbing a slice of pizza and rushing out of the door.

I was left alone at the table with a giant pizza I could never finish on my own. I tried to eat a few slices but I felt weird sat there on my own. People were staring and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. I decided to leave and just drove around for a bit.

I turned a corner and spotted someone walking who I thought I recognised. When I got a bit closer, I realised it was Ashton so I pulled into the side of the road and rolled my window down.

"Hey, Ashton!" I called.

He turned around, saw it was me and came over.

"Hi! I didn't know you had a car," He said.

"I only just got it today. I was driving around trying to get used to it when I saw you. Did you want a lift?" I offered.

"Oh no, I'm alright. I'm only going home, it's not that far from here."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

"Er, okay then." He went around to the passenger seat and got in.

"You're gonna have to give me directions, sorry."

He guided me down all the side streets until we eventually got to his house. It looked very similar to mine but there were more plants in the garden and it seemed brighter.

As I pulled into the side of the road outside in front of the driveway, his mom came over to say hello.

"Thanks for bringing him back," She said, smiling. "You must be Hayden, right?"

I nodded and smiled back.

"Would you like to come inside?" She asked.

I glanced over at Ashton and he seemed okay with it.

"Er, yes please," I didn't have anywhere to be and I was on my own since Austin left.