As soon as I entered the party and ignored Sky Halter's presence, Caroline and her friends jumped on me, unexpectedly. They were old friends from school but to be honest, I didn't remember half of them except Caroline and a few faces that were moving their hips on the dance floor from a small distance. You're so handsome, Hawk Wale. They said to me. Thank you, ladies, but my queen is standing right next to me. I replied with so much confidence. Hazel felt special and proud.

Hazel was uncomfortable, the evidence was marked all over her face. She was the only one who didn't know anyone from the party. It was tough but she wanted me to stay by her side and it was an impossible call. My old friends from school kept dragging me from my original spot. It was really hard to give her the attention that she needed. I wanted to catch up with them at the same time. I was enjoying their company.

The party was going great but after a few good hours, it started to get out of hand. The crowd was going crazy, drunk and wasted. Some of them were smoking weed in the corner. I wanted to take Hazel home. It wasn't safe for her. I felt guilty for ignoring her for hours and hours but I didn't do it on purpose. I needed a distraction. It was already three in the morning and my eyes started to scream for mercy. I was really tired and I didn't want to sleep on the road with Hazel by my side.

"Have you seen Hazel?" I pulled Jack to the side from the lousy crowd. "I searched for her everywhere. She's nowhere to be found." I tried to sedate pieces of information from his mouth.

"No," He replied, with a serious face. "Oh yeah, I did. She was sitting right there like two hours ago but she wasn't alone." He took a sip of his lemonade juice. "She was really pale."

"Who was she with?" I was running out of patience. Maybe Hazel was with a random drunk guy. "Who was it, Jack?" I rephrased my question with a better scenario from my bad imaginations.

"Oh," He shared a nervous smile. "She was with a girl." He explained. "They were talking to each other. That was the last time I saw her. I promise." His words made the situation worse.

"Where did she go?" I said to myself, worried. "Where is this girl?" I reached out for my phone but it was dead. Jack tried to call her on his phone.

No answer.

"Hawk, everything is going to be okay," Jack assured. " Just breathe." He suggested, patiently. "She's probably outside or in the bathroom. Stop overreacting."

"I checked everywhere, Jack." I panicked. "Where is she?" I panted, nervously. "What if she's with a guy right now? What if she... What if she..." I stammered, trying not to think about the worst possible things.

"You need to calm down." Jack grabbed me by the shoulder to comfort me. "Hazel is fine." He promised.

"Try to call her again." Caroline interrupted us. Jack greeted her presence with a decent compliment.

"The birthday girl is killing it. Your dress is gorgeous by the way." Jack complimented Caroline. "Do you have plans after the party?" He tried to seduce her with his silly words. "I'm free."

"Jack, stop playing with me." Caroline laughed. "Hawk? Are you okay? Why do you look so distant? Is everything okay?" Her questions made me uncomfortable. I wasn't in the mood to share my personal issues with an old stranger.

"She's looking for his girl," Jack stated. "Have you seen Hazel?"

"Who's that?" Caroline played the victim. "He's talking about the girl you came with, Hawk?" I nodded my head 'Yes'. "She left an hour ago. She was talking to Cassidy." She measured her pride to steal my full attention. "She obviously doesn't care about you. She left you without saying goodbye. That's pretty messed up."

"Why would she leave without telling me?" I said to myself. "I'm leaving. Thank you so much, Caroline for inviting me to your party." I hugged her, rapidly. "It was fun."

"You're so welcome, Handsome." She caressed my arms. "You don't have to leave right now. We can chill in my room." I swallowed my saliva disgustingly as soon as her words splashed in my ears. "What do you think?"

No Caroline. In your dreams.

"I'm good..."I declined. "Caroline, I'm really sorry but I have to leave." My heart wanted to tell her that she was never my type and I never felt the same way but It was her birthday after all. I didn't want to ruin her glorious day. "Take care." I patted Jack's back and headed straight outside.

****

As soon as I parked, my eyes noticed a white car in front of the house. Hazel wasn't by herself. I entered the house and threw my keys on the little table in the living room and climbed the stairs one by one, attentively. The sudden knock caught their attention. Hazel was laying on her bed and her new friend, Cassidy was sitting on the large chair beside the bed.

"Ladies." I greeted them. "What did I miss?" I joked around. Cassidy forced a nervous smile on her face.

"Hey," Hazel replied with a petty tone. "Did you forget something?" She tried to remind me of the long hours at the party and criticized me for my selfish actions. "You're finally home."

"Uh," Cassidy interrupted. "I was just leaving. I didn't want to leave her by herself." She admitted, purposely. "I can come back tomorrow." Her suggestion was possible to conquer in her own mind.

"No, it's okay," I replied, quickly. "You can stay with Hazel if you want."

"It's fine. I'll just come back tomorrow." Cassidy insisted and gave Hazel a kiss on the forehead. "It was nice meeting you, sir. Good night."

"Let me walk you out."Hazel implied. "Wait up." Her eyes judged my presence as she headed outside the bedroom with her.

The taste of her anger was vengeful. She was secretly dying to curse me out inside her head. She had a good reason, I left her, by herself, in the middle of the party. That was wrong of me and I was ready for the consequences. At the same time, she should've told me that she was leaving. Her new friend was just a stranger and I felt responsible for my own actions.

I should've stayed by her side.

I was trying my best to come up with my best excuses but I realized that I was failing slowly in my mind. Random flirty pick-up lines work sometimes right? No. Aw, man. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I should just stay quiet. No, she's going to say that I don't care about her feelings. How about if I just try to kiss her? Bad idea. She might slap me. If I apologize, she's going to start something and I'm really not in the mood to argue with her. if I start talking about her new friend, Cassidy, she's going to think that I'm into her.

Girls are so complicated. It's hard to make up your mind, sometimes. Hazel doesn't give up. She loves when she's right.

Holy Heaven! She's coming. What do I say? What do I do? Oh Lord, help me.

Please, God. I'm really trying to get some tonight.

"Uh, So..." I cleared my throat. "How's your stomach?" She glanced at me and forced a petty laugh. "Are you still feeling nauseous?"

"I'm good, Hawk." She responded, gently. "I'm really tired. Are you coming to bed?" She enveloped herself under the cold sheets.

Bed? Huh? What? Wait!

What if she has a knife under the sheets to stab me in my sleep? Should I take the chance? Her evil request is suspicious. Maybe I should decline it. No, I can't do that. No, no, no.

"So?" I dragged the word from my mouth. "You're not mad at me?" I begged her throat to spit something positive. Her patience tasted like Ice on a hot summer road.

"Why should I be mad?" She questioned, confusingly. "Oh, I was mad but I'm over it." She assured but I was not over the fact that she left without telling me where she was going.

"Why did you leave without letting me know?" I asked, peacefully. "I was worried, Hazel," I spoke my mind. "You should've told me. Don't do that again, please." I gave her a simple warning.

"I wanted to tell you but I couldn't find you." Her tone matched her words. She was sincere. "I'm sorry. I should've told you." She apologized, unexpectedly. "Now, can you please come to bed?" She gestured, tapping the bed with her bare hand. "Let's just forget about it. I promised you that I was going to try my best not to start anything and that's what I'm doing. I hope you don't give me a reason to break that promise."

"You're right." I agreed. "I'm sorry too." I took my shirt off and drove myself to the bed. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, sure."

"Do you love me, Hazel?" I placed my elbows on my pillow and laid on my stomach. "I want the truth."

"Of course, Hawk." She quickly responded. "Why are you asking me that? Do you think I'm only with you for your money? Is that why you're doubting my love for you?" Her tone was harsh and painful. It was obvious, my question destroyed her completely.

"No," I made myself clear. "I just wanted you to say it because you barely do that. I feel like I'm the only one who's trying to win your love."I sighed, impatiently. "Look, I just want you to prove to me that you'll always be there for me. I'm falling for you even more and it scares me. I don't want to lose you, I don't want you to walk away from me without a fight." I grabbed her chin and caressed her soft face, gently. "You're like my phone charger, without you I'd die." I sighed, amusingly. "And no, I didn't find this pickup line on google. Okay, maybe I did but that's not the point here." Hazel laughed. "Can you be my charger? I want you to charge me with your love and affection."

Hazel blushed.

"You're a joke." Hazel laughed. "Come here." She grabbed my neck and covered my lips with kisses. "I'm not going anywhere." She promised. "I love you, Hawk."

"I love you too, my love." I wrapped my hand around her sensitive neck and choked the center of her throat with my thumb. "Goddamnit Hazel, I'm hard." I chuckled as I tried to cover my embarrassment with a nervous smile. "Why do you always do this to me?"

"Me?" Hazel laughed. "What did I do?"

"So are you just going to stare at it all night or start jumping up and down atop me?" I licked my upper lip and then the lower in a sexual procedure. I started to undress her under the warm sheets. "Or should I start with my tongue?" She let out a soft moan as soon as my tongue entered her right ear. "Let's finish what we started earlier..."

"Hawk..." My name tasted like syrup in her tone. "Pl--pl--please... Don't start..."

"Too late..." My head flew between her thighs. "This hunger is petrifying my lungs." I pulled down her underwear with my strong teeth, rapidly. "I can't help it..." I placed her feet on top of each shoulder as I spread her legs wide open. "I'm hungry..."