𝟱 ✧ 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵
She yells happily and raises her arms as Y/N rides down the road.
I need to feel my soul come alive
I need to feel the strength to get by
I need a little, I need a little faith
Is that too much to ask for?
The couple stopped by a park. They sit at a table where they have some food they bought from the food truck nearby. Around them are various other families, couples, and parkgoers enjoying their time.
Y/N takes a bite of his taco and looks at the basketball court near the playground. He sees a group of kids his age playing a game, along with another group of older men doing so as well.
Hailee takes notice. She takes a drink from her bottle of water and screws the cap back on.
"Do you miss it?" Hailee suddenly asks.
He turns to her. "What?"
She gestured over at the basketball court. Y/N glances back at it and sighs.
"Uh...no. Not really."
His answer wasn't genuine, and Hailee could tell. She gives him a look that makes Y/N chuckle.
"What?" He asks.
"You've been playing for as long as I can remember. Elementary school. Middle school. The first couple of years at Granada High. But then...you stopped."
Y/N doesn't initially respond. He just looks down at his plate. Hailee continues.
"Why?"
The teenager takes a breath.
"The last match I played was a playoff game sophomore year. It was...a pretty big deal. My mom was there...my friends...but..." He pauses. "But not my dad."
Hailee keeps quiet and listens to Y/N.
"The whole game, I would look over at the stands and see if he was there. Every moment I could. But all I'd see was an empty space. It—It messed with me. I was terrible that game. It was embarrassing. We lost because of it."
Y/N swallows and fiddles with his fingers. He continues.
"I found out he was with his new girlfriend at the time. Something came up, and he chose to be with her instead of being there for me. He apologized and stuff, but I never...." He exhales. "Yeah. Nothing has changed since then."
"I'm sorry about that," Hailee replies. "But you also have to understand that your father feels remorse. He understands he made a mistake and that it hurt you."
Y/N stays quiet, but his girlfriend keeps speaking.
"He tries his best to make things right. You should try, too."
He understands that Hailee wants him to try and forgive his dad. To try and mend things with him. Hailee's mother died when she was an infant, so she values the bond between a child and a parent and doesn't want Y/N to keep pushing away his father.
"I know." He says rather quietly.
"And what happened shouldn't stop you from doing what you were amazing at. From following your dream." Hailee adds. "It's still your dream, right?"
Y/N ponders the question. It really was. He loves basketball and once strived to play ball in college and possibly make it to the league.
And thanks to Hailee and his faith in him...it gave him confidence. He still believes he can.
"It is." He answers.
Hailee smiles at him.
"Then what's stopping you?"
In the evening, Y/N drops Hailee off at her house. They stroll up to the back door, holding hands, both very happy. He tells her a joke, and Hailee laughs quietly.
Y/N smiles at her, and the two stop and kiss. Neither notices the door opening behind them. They continue kissing when Reverend Henry calls out.
"Hailee."
Their attention goes to Hailee's father. He continues.
"Say goodnight to Mr. L/N."
He hurries down the steps and over to them. Y/N looks down and backs away from Hailee, letting go of her hand.
"Y/N, go home." Reverend Henry adds. "The night's over."
Y/N sighs and turns to Hailee. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She sweetly says back.
Y/N bids farewell to her father. "Goodnight, sir."
The boy leaves, and Hailee watches him go. Reverend Henry folds his hands behind his back and turns to his daughter.
"Hailee, your behavior's sinful. You're—you're acting with that boy like you were—"
"In love?" She interjects.
There is a beat. It's just silence, and the only sounds are from the Y/N's motorcycle as he drives off.
"Hailee, you are a child." The man says, taken aback by her response.
"Dad. Look at me. I'm not a child."
"Then stop acting childish."
There is another pause. Reverend Henry looks over at the road and sees Y/N ride off.
"I love him." Hailee finally admits with a smile.
Reverend Henry looks down at her, worried. He isn't sure what to say to her at first. He takes in a breath.
"Then be fair to him, Hailee, before things get worse."
He heads back to the house. Hailee looks the other way, where Y/N's bike once was. She then follows her father into the house and shuts the door.
• • •
TWO NIGHTS LATER, Hailee is at the cemetery. She takes her telescope out of a shed and sets it down as Y/N pulls up on his motorcycle. He cuts the ignition and takes off his helmet, carrying a bag with him.
"Hey." He says.
"Hey."
Y/N makes his way over to her. Smiling, he greets her with a kiss on the cheek.
"Will you help me?" She asks.
"Yeah."
They begin walking towards her telescope stuff.
"So, uh, what'd you tell your father?" He asks her.
She picks up her telescope. Y/N helps her by picking up the telescope stand.
"The truth." She answers. "I just left you out of it."
Later, Y/N sits on a bench, rifling through his bag for something. Hailee stands beside her telescope, which is now set up. Y/N's Echo device nearby plays ily (i love you baby) by Surf Mesa and Emilee in the background.
I love you, baby, and if it's quite all right
I need you, baby, to warm these lonely nights
I love you, baby
Trust in me when I say...
"So, what do you wanna see?" She asks him.
He looks up at her and raises an eyebrow.
"Uh...Pluto."
"Um..." She chuckles. "Pluto only rises a few minutes before the sun."
"Right. And..." He stands up and takes something out of his bag. "I have brought us a thermos of hot coffee."
He sets the thermos on the ground and takes another thing out of the bag.
"And um...a blanket."
Hailee smiles. "You planned this."
Y/N spreads the blanket out on the ground.
"Oh, I hoped for it." He replies and sits down on the blanket.
Hailee looks over at Y/N and raises a brow.
"Are you trying to seduce me?"
Y/N replies coyly. "Why? Are you seduceable?"
She smiles and shakes her head no. Y/N chuckles softly.
"That's what I thought. Therefore..." He reaches into the bag again. "A second blanket. One for me and one for you."
He spreads the other blanket out. Hailee smiles.
"Thank you." She says.
Y/N stands up and, smiling, approaches her, kissing her shoulder. He takes something out of the front pocket of his shirt and unfolds it as Hailee looks up at the night sky. She peers into her telescope.
"Can you find this star?" He asks her. "Right here?"
He points to something on the paper he's just unfolded. She rises from the telescope.
"Sure."
Hailee takes the paper. Y/N goes back to his bag and takes out something else. She scans the night sky with her eyes, then goes to look through the telescope. Y/N holds a rolled-up piece of paper in his hands.
"So, why am I looking for this star?" She asks.
He takes a quick breath before replying.
"Because I had it named for you."
Hailee looks up at him, surprised. He smiles and waves the paper in his hands.
"See? It's official." He says and unrolls the paper as Hailee continues to look at him, so in awe. She goes over to him, smiling. "It's from the International Star Registry."
Y/N hands her the paper. Hailee looks at it and grins.
"This is wonderful." She says.
Hailee looks up from the paper to meet his eyes. There is a beat as her expression becomes delicate. At that moment, the song starts to come to an end.
I love you, baby, and if it's quite all right
I need you, baby, to warm these lonely nights
I love you, baby
Trust in me when I say...
"I love you." She tells him softly.
The two take a moment. Hearing those words almost made Y/N want to pinch himself to ensure he wasn't dreaming. But it was all true. Everything's real.
They both lean in to kiss. He cups the side of her face, and their kiss becomes more passionate. Y/N breaks away after a moment and softly chuckles.
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry." He opens his eyes to look at her. "I'm stopping."
Hailee smiles back, appreciating that he respected her boundaries. They then both go to sit down. She nestles comfortably into his arms, and Y/N wraps an arm around her waist, placing his hand over hers.
"This is nice." He says. "You know...I never really celebrate today."
Hailee turns to him. "What do you mean?"
There is a beat before Y/N responds.
"My birthday."
It is, in fact, Y/N's 18th birthday. His mom was the only one who had acknowledged it earlier that day, but Y/N said he didn't want her to do anything for him. All he wanted was to spend the night stargazing with Hailee.
"Oh, my..." Hailee reacts. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugs. She continues.
"We—We could've done something way more fun. Like go to the beach...go eat..."
"Hey, hey." He softly says. "It's okay. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now...than this. It's perfect."
Hailee smiles, looking down at his hand and rubbing her thumb across the top of it. They continue looking up at the night sky.
"So...what's your number one?" He suddenly asks her.
Y/N waits patiently, raising his eyebrows at her curiously. She turns to him, and he smirks.
"Come on. Consider it my birthday gift." He adds.
Hailee softly chuckles. She finally decides to tell him what's at the top of her list.
"To marry in the church where my mother grew up." She answers. "It's where my parents were married."
He takes in her words and smiles. Y/N closes his eyes and kisses her cheek. Her eyes also closed, Hailee leans her head against his. Then she opens her eyes and smiles, all in bliss.
"Happy birthday." She says.
Y/N rubs the side of her arm as she nestles beside him. He smiles as well.
"I love you, baby."
• • •
IT IS MORNING. Y/N walks down the patio, setting his bag on a chair as he approaches his mom, who is working on something at a table in the yard.
"Hey!" He says, grabbing her suddenly.
She gasps. Y/N kisses her cheek to alleviate the sudden scare.
"Oh..." She recovers. "Did you just get in?"
"Yeah."
Y/N goes to sit down with her. She takes off her glasses and puts them down.
"Well, thank heavens, I didn't know. I would've been panicked."
Y/N chuckles. "Sorry."
She looks at him. "Y/N? Were you with Hailee?"
He doesn't even have to say. She can tell just by looking at him.
"Honey, be careful. She's the Reverend's daughter. Please."
"Mom." He begins. "It's different with her, okay?"
"It's different with her?" She asks, a bit skeptical.
He nods. "Yes."
There is a beat. She gives him a look.
"It better be different with her." She replies.
Y/N shakes his head and smiles. Anna reaches into her binder.
"I was doing laundry the other day..." She takes out a folded piece of notebook paper. "...and I found this."
She unfolds it. Y/N leans back in his seat and places a hand on his forehead, knowing exactly what it is. His mom reads the contents.
"Examine a moon rock. Go to college and play basketball. Get a business degree. Get drafted."
Y/N looks up at her, somewhat upset. She looks back at him.
"Honey, these are really extraordinary ambitions. They're—but you're gonna have to work really hard."
"I can do that." He replies determinedly.
"Yeah." She nods. "You can."
Y/N smiles slightly.
"Momma, Hailee has faith in me, you know? She makes me wanna be different. Better."
Anna smiles at her son's words. It made her heart swell hearing it. Now she knew exactly why Y/N had changed and why he wanted to be a better man.
And like Hailee...she has faith in Y/N achieving his goals.
• • •
Y/N AND HAILEE stroll hand in hand. Surprisingly, they aren't in the lovey-doviest of moods as Hailee stares ahead blankly. Y/N's eyes are wandering.
Krystal and Laura emerge from one of the shops they pass. They're both giggling.
"I was so drunk," Krystal says. "I don't remember anything."
All four stop and glance at each other, not saying a word. Then Laura and Krystal go on their way, and the couple resumes walking. Hailee seems to give Krystal a morose stare while Y/N looks at Matthew, who is still inside the shop.
"That's great." Y/N remarks. "From Citizen High to Citizen Low."
Y/N finally turns his attention to Hailee. He gives her a look, wondering what's up with my girlfriend tonight?
Hailee keeps her eyes ahead, still emotionless, and doesn't say anything.
"Are you worried about your college applications?" He asks her.
She shakes her head. "No."
They head into the alley. They're no longer holding hands.
"I'm not applying to college." Hailee adds.
He arches a brow. "I thought you said..."
"No. You assumed."
"And in an investigation, assumptions get you killed," Y/N replies but gets no immediate response from her. "Sorry. I was binging Reacher this week."
Hailee still doesn't say anything. Y/N tries again.
"Gonna take a year off? Try the Peace Corps thing?"
"No." She replies softly.
"Okay."
They stop. Hailee turns to face him.
"What are you gonna do?" Y/N asks again.
She doesn't answer right away. He looks at her, worried, and takes a moment before finally speaking.
"I'm sick."
"Oh. Okay..." He replies. "I'll take you home. You'll be better tomorrow—"
She shakes her head.
"No, no." She sighs. "Y/N."
She pauses slightly. Y/N looks at her, confused.
"I'm sick."
He still doesn't know what she means by that and looks at her helplessly. Hailee swallows and clarifies.
"I have leukemia."
Y/N smiles and laughs a bit, thinking what she's just told him can't possibly be true. He is in denial.
"No. You're—you're 18." He says. "You're perfect."
"No. No. I found out two years ago. I've stopped responding to treatments."
She shrugs and looks at him sadly. Y/N bites his bottom lip.
"So why didn't you tell me?" He asks.
"The doctor said I should go on and live life normally as—as best I could. I—I didn't want anybody to be weird around me."
"Including me?"
Hailee's eyes well up with tears. "Especially you!"
Y/N doesn't say anything. Hailee continues tearfully.
"You know, I—I was getting along with everything fine. I accepted it. And then you happened."
There was a reason why Hailee told Y/N to promise he wouldn't fall in love with her. She didn't want him to love her only for her to hurt him like this.
But their relationship blossomed despite it.
They both love each other. They admitted it to one another. And now...she had to be honest and tell him what she was going through.
Hailee stares down and sucks in a deep breath. She looks at him again, eyes red and watery.
"I do not need a reason to be angry with God."
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