The Hardest Part

Five

I glanced down at my phone once more, double checking to see if Hazel had texted me. Her flight was supposed to land forty-five minutes ago but there was still no sign of her. I am probably being impatient, but I hated crowds especially at the airport. Plus, I was starving, and I just wanted to get out of here to grab some food.

In the distance, I noticed a familiar figure with blond hair. At first, I didn't recognize her because she had cut her hair. Her hair used to fall down to her waist but now the tips were barely grazing her collarbone. She still looked gorgeous, but it was weird seeing her with short hair.

The first thing she did when she came up to me was pull me into a hug. She pulled away looking at me with a enormous grin on her face. "I can't believe I'm here," she said.

"I can't believe it either. I'm so excited!" I grabbed her suitcase before she could, "are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"I know a place."

"I can't wait!"

It didn't take us that long to get to the restaurant from the airport and thankfully, I was smart enough to make a reservation. We got there just in the nick of time to make the reservation. The waiter took us to our table right away, placing two glasses of water on the table while we looked over the menu.

Hazels favorite food is sushi and I knew she was going to love this place. It didn't take her long to figure out what she wanted. It was busy tonight, which was pretty understandable for a Saturday night, so we filled the waiting with small talk.

"When do you go to mom and dads?" I asked taking a sip from my water.

"Tomorrow," she said with a slight grimace. She tried to hide it but it was too late, I already caught it.

"You don't want to go?"

"It's not that. Mom wants me to help her decorate and I don't know. I'm just not in the holiday spirit."

I frowned. Hazel not in the holiday spirit? Christmas is Hazel's favorite time of the year. Her and my mom would decorate the entire house together every single year while my dad and I hid out in his study. They would spend an entire weekend decorating the house because that is how much they love the holidays.

"Did something happen?" I asked. I noticed that she was checking her phone periodically throughout the night as if she was waiting for something. Or someone.

"Not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Hazel sighed. "Nah," she said quickly. Her eyes flickered from her phone back up to me, "I'd rather catch up with you."

I chuckled. The waiter came back at that exact moment to take our orders. We each ordered two rolls and some edamame to start. Hazel's eyes lit up when the waiter brought our bowl of edamame and I couldn't stop the chuckle that slipped out.

"How are you and mom?" Hazel asked.

"We're good. I talk to her like once a week. She seems to be coming around; she even invited Vince over for Christmas."

"Really?"

"Surprisingly."

Mom was getting better. I usually called dad once a week or so and if she was home, she would always try to talk to me. We actually had normal conversations instead of consistent yelling and arguing. It was a nice change.

"How's Vince?"

"He's good! His internship is almost over which means he's going to have more free time soon."

"And how is living with him?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

I rolled my eyes in response. "It's amazing."

"I bet it is," she said suggestively.

"Shut up!" She burst out into a fit of giggles. "What about you? Any boys?" I asked.

Her laughter stopped. The smile was still on her face, but it was forced. "No."

Before I could say anything, the waiter came by with our food. We were quiet for the most part as we piled up our plates. For the remainder of dinner, I could tell Hazel had something on her mind. She did her best at concealing it, but I could still see the worry in her eyes.

By the time we finished dinner, I could see the exhaustion on Hazels face. It was barely nine o'clock, but her eyelids were already starting to droop. I'm surprised she made it this far without passing out.

When we got back to the apartment, the first thing I did was show her to her room. She kicked off her shoes before flopping down onto the bed. Within seconds she was out like a lamp. I draped a blanket over her so that she wouldn't get cold in the middle of the night.

Vince came home an hour later. I was in the living room with the tv on and on my phone scrolling through the latest on social media. I got up from the couch to stand on my tippy toes and lock my arms around Vince's neck. His lips lightly brushed against mine, making me smile.

"How was your day?" he asked, his lips still close to mine.

"It was good. Yours?"

"It's better now."

My smile grew bigger. He honestly knew the perfect things to say. "Are you hungry?" I asked. "I can make you something really quick."

"If you don't mind."

"Not at all," I gave him a quick peck on the lips then headed to the bedroom.

"The kitchen is that way," he said pointing in the opposite direction.

"I know, I just need to change."

His eyes widened. "Oh?" he followed me into the room.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I knew exactly why he was in the room, but I wanted to hear him say it.

"I'm just enjoying the show," he said with a smirk.

I pulled my shirt off and dug around in the dresser for a clean pajama shirt. I didn't realize but Vince had snuck up behind me and tickled my sides.

"Stop!" I screamed while laughing. I managed to push him away. "Get out of here."

"Make me."

He was making his ways towards me once more, a sly smile on his face.

"Vince, don't. I'm warning you," I said trying to sound stern.

"You're not going to do anything."

"Don't test me."

"When you tell me to not do something it makes me want to do it even more." His smirk grew wider.

I rolled my eyes. Playfully, of course.

"I swear Vince if you tickle me again, I'm going to kill you."

I tried to walk out of the bedroom, but Vince blocked the door and crossed his arms. "You won't kill me. You love me too much."

I pushed him. "Keep telling yourself that. Now move."

"Hmm, no."

"No?"

"Say please."

I rolled my eyes. "Please."

He shook his head. "That didn't sound convincing." Vince started to tickle my sides. I screamed and ran out of the bedroom and into the living room to get away from him. He followed close behind, pulling me by the waist.

"Don't! I-" Vince cut me off with a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he began to tickle me again. I tried to pry him off me, but he was to strong. He managed to pin me down to the couch and continued to tickle me.

I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe anymore, and I was worried that I was going to wake up Hazel. I tried asking Vince to stop but I couldn't form any words and he was going to stop ticking me anytime soon when there was a knock at our front door. That mad Vince stop tickling me.

"Are you expecting someone?" Vince asked.

I shook my head. I got up from the couch to get the door.

My mouth dropped open. "Erik," I whispered.

"I need your help," he said sounding desperate.