Hayden - third person perspective --
Katherine and Hayden had arrived back to the rented townhouse a little after midnight.
"Well, now we can finally be alone," Katherine said, walking over and grabbing the front of Hayden's shirt to pull him in for a kiss.
His reaction stunned her as he pulled back, away from her.
"What's wrong with you?" Katherine asked Hayden.
"It's nothing -- like I said, I'm just really tired...its been a long week," Hayden said, putting his keys on the front table by the door.
"Yeah, but its something else...I thought you invited me out here to get back together but you've barely touched me -- I feel more like a buddy than a girlfriend," Katherine said in a cool tone.
"Listen, I just have a lot on my mind right now.....why can't you just understand that? Please, just give me some time, alright?" Hayden in an exasperated tone.
Katherine didn't say anymore but he could tell that he'd just royally pissed her off.
She stalked back to the bedroom and shut the door.
Hayden sat on the couch, putting his head in his hands.
He was completely and utterly confused and didn't know what to do.
The more Katherine was here, the more he could see what a mistake it had been to even invite her back into his life. Things were never going to be the way they once had been...too much had happened between them to go back. He'd been devastated to find out that she'd been giving one of her journalist friends very confidential information about his life. The life he'd worked so hard to maintain private....
I must be crazy to have willingly walked back into this, he thought to himself.
Deep down, he knew exactly why he had done it -- Laurie -- but it had never been about games or jealousy where she was concerned. He'd brought Katherine here to help him forget -- because he felt like he needed to forget about what he couldn't have with Laurie, for more reasons than one.
He was attracted to her and very intrigued by her -- but he wasn't a novice to this scene. He knew how long distance relationships worked -- most of them never seemed to work that well for him.
He wasn't the fling type --besides, he had way too much respect for Laurie to even consider that as an option.
It wasn't really like him to fall this quickly for someone either -- a notion that both scared and excited him. After all, what did he really know about this girl? They'd only known each other a few weeks....but he'd been intrigued by from the very beginning. That's why he'd found it almost impossible to even really speak to her until Kaylen had discovered his interest had subtly intervened.
He could see now that having Katherine here wasn't helping him forget about Laurie. If anything, her presence was only serving to prove that he would be happier with someone like Laurie.....
Hayden sighed deeply. He knew something was going on with Laurie -- and he couldn't get it out of his mind. He'd snuck away from the others at McArthur's to call Mandy but had gotten a cryptic response at best....he remembered Mandy saying that Laurie would be staying with her for awhile so something major must have happened.
He shook his head, trying to get his mind on something else -- not allowing himself to complicate matters further.
He walked to the bedroom door and tried to open it but it was locked.
He jarred the door but it wouldn't budge, "Katherine! Let me in - the door's locked."
"I think I just need to be by myself for awhile so please leave me alone," a voice called from inside the room.
He stepped back, looking at the ceiling and trying to keep his anger at bay. This girl was too much -- he'd never been around someone so high maintenance. You couldn't even express a real emotion to her without some sort of dramatic fallout ensuing.
He walked back to the foyer, grabbed his jacket and his keys and walked out the front door.
He had a particular destination in mind and knew he was taking a big chance but it was something he had to do.