Her finger hovered nervously over the send button as Haley re-read her message.
'Hey… Are you awake?'
In the darkness of the cabin bedroom, she scrolled through her previous texts with Andy. She couldn't help but smile when she reached a picture that Andy had sent her just yesterday. Her dad had accidently spilled water down the front of his pants setting up for an open house and Andy had sneakily captured the moment, much to Haley's delight.
The two texted each other pretty much everyday for the past month. Haley just found it so easy to talk to him. He was so funny and smart and legitimately cared about her.
Looking back at the conversations they had shared helped to relieve some of the tension she was feeling about the impending talk they needed to have. With one last breath, she hit the send button.
Dread instantly filled her stomach. She knew she needed to talk to him, to see him, before her mind would stop racing and allow her to sleep. So much had happened today and so much had changed. She tossed in bed again looked over at Alex to make sure she was still asleep. She was.
She checked her phone. It was past 2:30AM, no response from Andy. God, she really needed to see him.
After catching the 'snow' the whole family went back to getting ready for dinner. Haley had been whisked into the kitchen to help Gloria cook. Other than some stolen looks at the dinner table, they hadn't seen much at each other.
She felt her phone vibrate
'Yeah, I'm up'
'Are you okay?'.
She didn't know what to say. She needed to see him in person. Without a second thought, bare feet hit the the cold floor and she padded over to Andy's room. Her momentum carried her through the halls of the cabin and up to his door, her small fist knocking on the wood. She waited, her nerves growing exponentially each second.
"Andy?" she hesitantly called. She felt so stupid. She was about to go back to her room and call the whole thing a huge mistake when the door swung open.
"Haley?" he stood in the doorway in only a pair of Christmas cartoon sweatpants. In his text he had said he was awake, but it definitely looked like he was going to fall asleep any moment.
"Oh, I'm sorry. When you said you were up, I just assumed- I thought you were- You know, I'll just go and let you go back to -"
"Oh no! Please, come on in! I'm sorry. Where are my manners? You're standing out there in the hall. And you're wearing-" his eyes roamed down her body and Haley started to feel self conscious in her boy shorts and tank top. In hindsight, she should've grabbed a robe…or at least a bra, "Wow. You must be cold. Please, come in."
Haley followed him through the doorway and closed the door behind her. He looked back at her, "Um, yeah, have a seat," he offered before moving to his closet.
Haley scanned the room for a chair, but there only appeared to be the bed. Tentatively she climbed to the center and waited for Andy. He finally pulled out a sweatshirt and made his way to join Haley on the bed. He quietly wrapped the warm garment around her bare shoulders. The small act alone made Haley's heart melt. Andy slid to the side of the bed, dangling his feet over the edge, giving Haley some private space.
"Soooo, what did you want to talk about?" Andy asked. Haley looked up at him, at his sweet face and his charming goofy smile. She had been with a lot of men in her life, an almost embarrassing amount, but none of them made her heart flutter as much as Andy. She felt so close now, just sitting in bed, not even touching. It was strange and unusual and it scared the crap out of her. It's because with Andy, it's real.
"How are you doing?" Haley asked quietly, "You know… with everything that happened today."
"You mean finding out my fiancé, the girl I've been dating since the 8th grade, has been cheating on me? I've had better days," Andy sighed unhappily. Haley felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She didn't know why, but her eyes started to sting with unshed tears.
"Oh…" She bit her lip hard. She should never have come to Andy's room in the first place. Andy looked back at her and saw the sadness on her face. He was immediately concerned and crawled up next to her.
"Wait, Haley. I'm sorry. Gosh! I am such a bone head!" Andy yelled at himself. He gently cupped Haley's face in his hands. Haley looked up at him through sad lashes, she was in awe, even now, by how much compassion she saw in his eyes. "I shouldn't have said that. It didn't come out right. I know that you don't want to hear that I'm angry that she cheated on me, but I just want to be honest with you. If we are going to be together and make whatever this is work, I can't pretend that having someone cheat on me doesn't really suck-"
"Andy!" Haley said sternly, affectively shutting him up. "I'm going to ask you something, and don't lie to me, okay?"
"Scouts honor"
Haley took a deep breath before asking her next question because she knew the answer could drastically change whatever relationship her and Andy were going to have. "Did you plan on breaking up with Beth? Or was that just something that happened?"
"Haley-"
"My dad told me-"
"Haley, listen," Andy spoke sincerely, his thumb was tracing the contour of her cheek, "I had every intention of breaking up with Beth. Even if she hadn't- I was still going to end it with her. Your dad made me realize that I needed to man up and figure out what I really wanted." Andy finished with a sigh. Haley moved his hands from her face and properly climbed into his lap, snuggling into his chest. His arms wrapped around her after a slight hesitation. Haley still wasn't sure where they stood, but being physically close to Andy helped her realize what she wanted.
"I chose you… clearly," Andy explained, clearing up what was already pretty obvious. Haley couldn't help but laugh, making a goofy smile spread across Andy's lips. He leaned down and gently captured her lips in a kiss. Haley felt butterflies erupt in the pit of her stomach, an effect that only Andy seemed to have on her. Instead losing herself in his touch like she usually did, Haley remained reserved, kissing him without much enthusiasm. Her lack of passion did not go unnoticed. Andy quickly pulled away and looked at her confused.
"Oookay, so something is definitely still bothering you."
"No, there's not," Haley denied, she sighed trying to hide the fact that he was completely right.
"Haley, you were not into that kiss whatsoever," he called her out.
"Oh, because you're such an expert on kissing?" she teased, climbing out of his lap. She laid down on the bed, her head on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling. She felt the bed move as Andy laid down next to her, his head on the opposite pillow.
"You see, I actually am an expert on kissing," he mused, his warm fingers rested on her stomach, slowly stroking the bit of exposed skin between the hem of her shorts and tank top, "I told you, I have a crazy effect on women, I can't explain it."
Haley smiled and felt warmth spread from wherever Andy touched her. She turned so she was on her side, facing him. Slowly she dragged her nails over the naked flesh of his chest. Andy smiled and moved his hand that wasn't on her waist up to the one she had on his chest. Slowly, he interlaced their fingers and rested them against his chest. She rolled her eyes at how cheesy he was being, but she didn't pull her hand away.
"How do you know you're not going to get back together with Beth?" Haley asked, finally letting her real fears out.
"Haley, my relationship with Beth is over," Andy reassured, "You of all people know that my feelings for her changed a while ago."
"Then why did you propose to her? Why go through with the wedding? Like do you realize that in a few months you could've been married? And, OMG, Andy you could be living in a house and have kids and-"
"Holy guacamole, Haley! Calm down. None of that will happen," Andy reassured with a laugh, taken by surprise by her questions.
"Then why did you propose?!"
"Because I didn't think I could do any better," Andy confessed quietly, "and I was worried that if I didn't propose, that Beth would leave and then I'd be alone." Haley could see the real fear in his, "I don't want to be single my whole life. I wouldn't mind settling down in a year or two. Also, I figured that committing to Beth would help me forget about my feelings for you."
Haley leaned over and captured Andy's lips in a kiss. His lips moved slowly against hers and he moved their intertwined hands to cup her face. They stayed there for a few moments relishing in the feeling of each others lips. Haley scooted closer to him on the bed. She entangled their legs together and moved her hand to run her nails lightly down his back. Andy moaned against her mouth and let his tongue trace across her bottom lip before slowly kissing down her neck. Haley moaned and let her fingers slide down the waist band of his sweatpants to firmly grab his ass through his boxers. Andy laughed against her neck and playfully growled while biting down on the sensitive skin there. Haley squealed and pushed against Andy's chest.
"Shh! Mr. P's room is right next to us!" Andy shushed her, laughing.
"Oh hush, my grandpa can barely hear when he's awake," Haley fought before straddling Andy's lap and throwing off the sweatshirt that he had put on her. Andy looked up at her with a glorious smile, in awe of the beauty that was perched on top of him. His hands automatically went to her hips, his thumbs slipped underneath her shorts.
Haley lifted her arms and looped them around his neck, running her fingertips through his hair, "Um, one thing… I'm not ready…"
Andy looked perplexed, "Not ready… to have sex?" he asked, immediately removing his thumbs from her pants, "cause I didn't expect"
Haley quickly grabbed his wrists and moved his hands back to her waist, "Oh no no no, definitely ready for that," Haley said with a laugh. Andy raised his eyebrows and smiled at her cheekily, "I'm… I'm not ready to get married."
"Oh," Andy said, his face unreadable.
"I'm not saying never," Haley said nervously, "I'm just like a huge hot mess and have so many things in my life that I still need to figure out, I mean, I live in my parent's basement for god's sake!"
"Wait, I'm not asking you to marry me," Andy explained, again he removed his hands from her shorts, Haley was confused by his unusual behavior, "Is that what you thought?"
"Well no," Haley said quickly mentally kicking herself, "you just mentioned wanting to settle down and you were so ready to propose, I just wanted you to know that I'm not ready for that," Haley looked down at his face. Andy was still looking at her like she told him her one goal in life was to marry Santa Claus. She quickly rolled off his lap and made her way to the door, "and now you probably think I'm some crazy person, for even bringing it up so I'll just go back to my room and we can pretend-"
Andy quickly jumped up after her and followed her to the door, "Haley! Stop. Where are you going?" he asked, smiling at her craziness, which only further unnerved her. He had grabbed onto her wrist in attempt to stop her fleeing. Now he slowly let go and moved his hands to rest on her hips, "I'm glad you're not ready to get married because that would be kind of weird if you were. We haven't even been on a real date."
"What about last week when we saw Good Dinosaur and then hooked up in my backseat?"
"That wasn't a date… I was still engaged."
"You paid for my ticket and the popcorn," Haley retorted raising an eyebrow, "and you held my hand and had your arm around me the whole time."
"Okay, well that film had some very emotional moments," he defended jokingly, "and you know I have issues when it comes to my father."
Haley looked up at Andy and couldn't suppress the smile that found its way on her lips. She lifted a small hand up to his cheek and stroked it gently, feeling his stubble against her fingertips. He leaned into her touch and looked down at her, returning her a smile. Slowly, Haley raised on her tip toes and pressed her lips firmly against his in a beautiful kiss.
"Really though, can I take you out on a date sometime this weekend?" Andy asked quietly, "A real date. I'll take you out to a fancy dinner."
"No one does things like that anymore," Haley complained, secretly loving the idea of going out to dinner with him. The last time she had gone out to dinner for a date, some guy had taken her to Denny's and then started a fight with the waiter over how many mozzarella sticks he had gotten in his order. Haley felt like dinner with Andy would be slightly different.
"Does that mean no? Because I pull out all the stops for the first date, and I mean everything. Plus, I look pretty darn good in a bowtie," Andy continued. He moved his hands up to her sides making Haley smile even wider.
"Fine! I'll go on a date with you. Just… act normal for once," Haley teased with a laugh. Andy beamed down at her and captured her lips in another kiss. They could feel each others mouth smiling into the kiss. Without much warning, Andy lifted Haley clean off the floor causing her to shriek again and quickly wrap her legs around Andy's waist to get her balance. However, her shriek was quickly swallowed up by Andy's very talented mouth against hers.
"Do I need to remind you that your family is sleeping on the other side of the wall?" Andy teased, moving hos hands down to cup Haley's ass.
"I guess we'll have to be quiet, huh?" Haley whispered with a smirk causing Andy to just kiss her harder. Haley more than glad, returned the kiss. She still wasn't exactly sure where they stood, and there was probably a gazillion more things they needed to discuss, but in this moment Haley was more than willing to simply let Andy's mouth do it's magic against hers.