Bradleys POV - cont

She's frozen on the spot and I wonder whether I should have revealed that information this way. But what other way was there to say it?

I see her eyes dart from side to side, most probably trying to figure out if she should turn and run away or come towards me and slap me in the face.

I take a step slowly towards her with both hands up beside me. I almost feel like I'm about to capture a scared little bunny rabbit, trying to prove to it that my intentions are pure.

"Lexi..." I begin, and her eyes shoot up to meet mine. "I can explain."

I know what you're thinking. How often does it really go the way you want it to go when you use the line -to someone who has just confessed their feelings for you, to then find out that you are already spoken for.

Yeah I know. I'm reaching.

"I know." She says and I can't help the look on my face. I'm completely gobsmacked. Wow.

She moves a little closer to me but doesn't completely make it to the final destination and I know that even though she is willing to listen, her guard is completely up.

Ok here goes nothing.

"I met Hailey through my mom 7 years ago, give or take. Hailey's mom and my mom were bestfriends and so naturally, we ended up spending alot of time together. We were both in our 20's and we both loved the same things. Food, music, movies, you name it."

"Over time, things started to get serious between us. The cute innocent flirting and light hearted banter turned into full on make out sessions and well... I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

"Ah yep. Thanks" She says, rubbing awkwardly at her neck.

"Things continued to escalate after that and I completely fell inlove with her. She's the first girl I have ever fallen hard for and I was so thankful that she felt the same. Everything felt right and so, after a few months into dating... I asked her to marry me."

"Oh." Lexi gasps.

"She said yes and we agreed to get married within the next 6 months. I mean, if you truly love someone and want to be with someone, and you're already practically with each other everyday... then why wait?"

She doesn't comment and so I carry on.

"Everything was perfect. I was the happiest I could be." I continue. "We were hanging out in her room one day, when she had an unexpected visit by 2 police officers."

"Oh no..." Lexi says, covering her mouth with both her hands now.

"Her dad had just been in a car accident. It was pretty bad. Luckily, he survived but he was left paralysed from the waist down. This means he could no longer be employed in his line of work and he lost many friends, contacts, income and this lead him to go down a very dark path of depression."

"Did he commit suicide?" She asks.

"No... worse." I reply looking down as anger sweeps through my body. "He began drinking and soon he became really violent towards Haileys mom. I never witnessed any of this so I couldn't go to the police without proof and Hailey and her mom begged me not to say anything either. Haileys mom was a makeup artist so she did very well to hide her bruises and cuts, so my mom was none the wiser to what was going on with her bestfriend."

"I truly believe the abuse continued and carried on for a good few months, but Hailey never brought it up again and the few times I did see her mom, she looked happy. Guess it was all an act, because just a few weeks after our last meeting... He pulled a gun on her, shooting her in the back when she tried to throw away his whiskey bottles, killing her instantly as it exited through her heart."

"Oh my god." Lexi gasps.

"Hailey was home that day. She had witnessed the whole thing from the living room. She ran to her moms aid, but already knew she was gone. As she goes to call 911, not knowing that her dad's gun was still loaded, she hears a second shot ring out. Her dad had tried to shoot her but due to being heavily intoxicated, he had just missed."

"Hailey grabbed one of the unopened whiskey bottles from the floor and slammed it over her dads head, before running out of the house and straight to mine just a couple blocks down, all while telling the police, who were still on the phone, what had happened and where to find her once they were done charging her father."

"Bradley..." Lexi whispers.

I turn around, taking a deep breath in as a force my self to carry on.

"After the incident, Hailey started to change. Her behaviour, her persona. She wasn't the same girl I once knew. He had taken everything away from her and there was nothing I could do to change that and soon.. she started to distance herself from me. Refusing to talk to me, see me. I was no longer someone of importance. But not once did she break things off with me. I was sure that she wanted to end things but didn't have the heart to do it and was just waiting for me to let her go. I didn't want to. I never wanted to. I wanted to make it work. I wanted to help her through it. I was still madly inlove with her... But I was no longer her safe haven. Drugs were."

"One night, I came home late and she wasn't in my bed. I found her in the spare bedroom passed out in a pool of her own vomit, with an empty bottle of opium...she had overdosed. I went into panic mode and called my brother and JD straight away. Luckily JD was close by at the time and he brought us straight to the hospital, where Benji met us afterwards. I was a wreck. There are moments where I don't even remember what happened next because my mind was all over the place."

"Is that how.." Lexi begins.

"No.. she survived. Barely. I had gotten to her in time. The doctor said, a few minutes more and there would be no coming back from it. I was completely out of my mind. I was by her side, day and night, waiting for her to get better, waiting for her to regain her strength, waiting for all the drugs to drain out of her system. I tried my best to stay calm but I was absolutely livid. I told her I didn't want to talk about it until we were back home, but she seemed like she couldn't care less what I had to say. Basically, her reason for taking it was so she could sleep, so she could sleep without feeling, without dreaming, without thinking and I get that, I really do. But half a fucking bottles worth? God she made me so fucking angry. She was being so reckless, so ignorant, so... So fucking stupid."

"She promised me that she would never do it again. She could see how much pain it put me through and for a few weeks she really tried. Goddammit, I really wanted to believe she was better. That she was my Hailey again. She really made me believe it was her...But she fucking lied right to my face."

"What happened..?" Lexi asks.

"A few weeks later, she had come home from a long day at work and her car was parked in the driveway and it looked like it has had better days. So I took it upon myself to get it cleaned before she wakes up again. Thought it would be nice you know? Well anyway, I found half a bottle of opium in her centre console and I completely lost it. She fucking lied... but I was the stupid one for believing her. Guess that's what happens when you love someone unconditionally."

"We had a screaming match right outside my house. She was yelling something to me about trust and that I was smothering her and basically things escalated. We both said things I know we didn't mean. She decided she didn't want to be around me for awhile and so she got back in her car and drove off before I could completely calm down, not even realising that she was already under the influence until it was too late."

"She ran a red light and..." I choke as I try to continue and I see Lexi's hand reach out briefly, before she decides otherwise.

"She was t-boned and suffered severe head trauma. There was so much swelling to her brain she fell into a deep coma. Everyday her vitals would drop and the doctors told us that the chances of survival were slim. I had her moved to a private hospital that my dad had invested in so she could be in the best care. I begged my parents to keep her on life support. Everyday I would go visit her. Everyday I would pray that she would wake up on her own. Everyday, my parents would tell me to prepare myself, but there was no way I could bare to say goodbye. This wasn't how it was meant to end. This was practically my life for the next year and eventually it all became too much for me."

"Brad... what did you do?" She asks.

"I turned to the one thing I said I'd never do. The one thing I hated the most. The one thing that landed us in this mess in the first place... I turned to drugs."

"Oh..." She whispers.

"I had shut down. Shut everyone out. My brother, JD, my parents. I even stopped visiting Hailey. I couldn't bare to look at her in her current state because I just felt like a complete useless sack of shit. It was all too much for me." I admit. "The only person I could stand to be around was the one person who was feeding my addiction."

"Her name was Paige. I met her at a party one night. She had these guys doing a line of coke off her body and I watched on, completely mesmerised. She signalled me over and we just... clicked. We were inseparable after that night, much to my brothers distaste. Looking back now, I know we were just using eachother. She would always be asking me for money to buy whatever the fuck she wanted and I was always asking her for more product. For a while, it worked and she was all I needed until something happened to me, something I will never forget, no matter how hard I try."

"Oh god.." Lexi says as she realises what I am referring to.

"I had a little disagreement with Benji one night, leading to an argument with Paige. My head was wrecked and for the first time in a long time, I let myself think about Hailey and everything that had happened. I decided to take a stronger dose that night...that night that..."

"...That Audrina went to your room." Lexi says completing my sentence. I nod in response.

"Bradley..." She begins.

"I'm such a fuck up. None of this should've happened. She wouldn't be lying there in the hospital right now if it wasn't for me...Maybe I did deserve what happened to me. What Audrina put me through..."

"Don't you dare say that. She is a horrible human being who took advantage of someone who was clearly not in the right mind set. She knew what she was fucking doing...and if this is anyones fault, it's Haileys father. He started these chain of events." She says angrily. "There isn't a valid reason that could ever justify her actions. None of this is your fault."

God I wish I could hug her right now. But I've been holding my body upright so tight, making sure I don't break down infront of her, that I can barely move my arms away from my body.

"I just... god..Lexi. It's been 5 fucking years." I reply. "She's lost 5 years of her life because I couldn't protect her. I couldn't be her safe haven. I had somehow managed to push her away and that is something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life."

I feel myself choke up as a tear threatens to slip away from my eyes. "And now after 5 years, she's finally woken up and I... I don't know what to do."

"Bradley... Tell me. What can I do to help?" She asks as she places her hands and head against my back and it's a fucking beautiful gesture. One that I wasn't able to fully appreciate in this moment.

"I think I need to be alone right now Lexi." I reply and she immediately steps back.

"Oh." She says and I can hear the hurt and confusion in her voice. Fuck.

I quickly turn around and give her a small smile, just to reassure her that what I am feeling has nothing to do with her and that I just need some time to think to myself.

"I'll come find you in a bit Love."

A part of me wants to shake it off and stay but my body has already taken lead, as it turns me away from her to head upstairs.

"Bradley wait..please." She says as she places her hand onto my torso, stopping me from leaving. My body is still facing slightly away from her but I remain in her presence. She places her hand on my left cheek, gently turning my face towards her but I still can't bare to look her in the eye.

"I hate that you're going through this. But I want you to know you're not alone. I'll be here, when you need me." She says softly. "I'll be right here."

She's so beautiful.

"Thank you babe." I reply as I finally look into her eyes, letting myself get lost in this moment. I place my hand against hers as it continues to caress my cheek and I bring it closer to my lips, feeling her skin, breathing in her scent, forgetting everything and anything, for just this one moment.

I feel her inch a tiny bit closer as she slips my phone back into my pocket. I smile and give her hand one last kiss, signalling my departure, before I remove her hand from my cheek, letting it slip from my hand as I completely turn away from her and walk away, without looking back.

I trudge up the stairs, making my way to my bedroom , my head throbbing like crazy and I'm desperate to get my head down. Thankfully, all was quiet next door. Seems as though JD and Jules had finally passed out, leaving me to sleep in peace. But who was I really kidding? I was too wired to go to sleep. Exhausted mentally, yes... but completely riddled with nervous energy.

Instead, I strip out of my clothes and head into my en suite, ready for one long hot shower, hoping it will help ease the tension on my shoulders. But no matter how many showers I take, or how many sleeps I have, there was no way around the situation I was in. I knew I had to face it head on, sooner or later. I knew... I had to see her again.

Hailey.

Benjamins POV

Blake slipped into one of the booths in the far back of one of his favourite bakeries. The place was filled with the smell of freshly baked pastries and cakes, along with the sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Audrina offered to place the order for us at the counter, reciting back my usual coffee order that she knew so well, all those years ago. Latte, double shot, chocolate powder on top. Simple.

I wasn't at all surprised that she remembered, she was always very good at remembering the things I liked, but she was grinning from ear to ear in triumph, like as if she won the fucking lottery when I didn't correct her, that I didn't even bother reacting to her brilliant memory.

I threw a $100 dollar bill on the front counter while she carried on with her order. "Just get the boy whatever he wants." I say to her. "Keep the change love, you deserve it after dealing with this one." I say to the girl behind the counter. Her jaw drops open, realising it would probably be a $50 dollar tip, depending on whether Audrina decided to add more to the order.

I make my way over to Blake as he sits patiently on the cushioned seat. I go to take a seat on the bench adjacent to him when he expresses his enthusiasm for me to sit next to him instead. "No no, sit here, sit here. Mommy can sit there and you can sit with me."

I hesitate. My right leg was already resting on the seat when I decide to take him up on his offer, knowing that it would eliminate the option of Audrina sitting anywhere near me. Memories of our early dates, flash into my mind as I remember all the times we would cozy up in similar booths at different cafes and restaurants, where she would, without a doubt always find a way to get her hand down my pants, without anyone noticing that I was getting jacked off, while she skilfully ate her food with the other hand.

The thought alone made me shiver and I wouldn't put it past her if she attempted something like that with me today. Son or no son. I just don't trust the bitch...with anything. Especially my dick.

Audrina was still at the counter, so I decided to get to know Blake a little better without her interfering.

"You like living over here with your mom?"

"Yes." He replies without a second thought, as he continues playing with the sugar sticks on the table.

"Does your mom have friends that are boys that come to your house?"

"No, mommy's always working." He replies, with a hint of sadness. "I don't have anyone to play with me."

Poor kid.

"But you're my friend now, so you can come over to my place everyday right?" He suggests as he places his little hand ontop of mine, looking up at me with those puppy dog eyes.

Just as I'm about to let him down gently, Audrina slips into the seat infront of us with a huge grin on her face and I already know what that stupid look is about. I slip my hand out front underneath Blakes and place them both in my pocket, as I lean back into the seat.

She rolls her eyes at me but that stupid grin doesn't fade. Great, just another thing for her to fantasise about in that sick head of hers.

"You did so well at the doctors office baby. Don't you agree Benj?" She says.