Title: Rumor Has It
Paring: Tommy/Hayley
Rating: T
Summary: Hayley's been ignoring the rumors for some time now. Now it's time for her to wake up and realize the truth, no matter how badly it hurts.
Dr. Oliver's been seeing her for a year, his wife has no clue.
Hayley ignored the whispers and kept walking, keeping her head held high. She wouldn't let them see her cry. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry, see how much it affected her. Rumors couldn't hurt her. Unless they're true, a small voice in her head treacherously whispered. They couldn't be true.
He loves her; he just doesn't know how to tell his wife.
Hayley shook her head and continued her walk to the café. It couldn't be true. He wouldn't do that to her. They'd always agreed to be open with each other about everything, even if it meant hurting the other person. She hated secrets, which is ironic to her, since she knew so many of the very thing she despised.
She opened the door to the Cyber Café and stopped short when she saw Kira, Trent, Ethan, and Conner huddled together whispering furiously. Kira looked up and saw her and stopped talking, motioning with her hands for the others to shut up. The four young adults turned to look at her, all of them wearing identical expressions of sympathy. Hayley hurried past them and walked into her office, shutting the door behind her before the tears came.
She sat at her desk and buried her head in her hands, the tears she'd been holding at bay finally falling freely. Even the kids know something is going on. "Focus Hayley," she said to herself, lifting her head back up. "It could just be rumors, nothing more. You know how this town likes its gossip.
You know it's more than just rumors that treacherous voice said once again. You've been suspecting now for awhile. You can see it in his eyes that things are different now. "Shut up," she said to herself. She didn't want to listen. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to face the facts. He was always late getting home from work, claiming detentions or teachers meetings. She could feel it when he kissed her, something had changed. It felt as if he was just going through the motions.
"God I'm an idiot," she said sadly. Now that she was thinking logically, she was irate with herself for being so blind for so long. It'd been almost a year since she started noticing things, little things that were off in their relationship, but she'd loved him so much, she didn't want to pay attention, she didn't want to notice that things were changing. She had pushed those observations away, locking them deep down inside where they wouldn't bother her. "How can I be so stupid?" She murmured to herself.
She needed to talk to him, she needed to tell him her suspicions and see what he had to say about them. She had to give him an out, if he wanted to take it. She didn't want to be in a relationship like her parents', a loveless and stale relationship solely for the purpose of their children. They didn't have children yet, and even if they did, she wouldn't put them through what her parents put her and her sisters through.
"Think Hayley, it's about time you woke up and began using that brain that God gave you," she said to herself as she got up and began to pace. There was always the chance that she was wrong, that nothing was going on and the rumors were just that, rumors. "Direct method, that's the best way to go," she decided and began to plot out exactly what she wanted to say to her husband when he got off work tonight.
Later that night, Hayley was sitting at the dining room table when Tommy came in around 7 o'clock. "Sorry I'm late, I had detentions," he said walking over and giving her a quick peck on the lips.
As Hayley accepted the kiss everything she'd thought out and planned to say went right out the window and she asked him. "Who is she?"
The expression on Tommy's face was all the answer Hayley needed. Talk is cheep, but the price is high when it's true.