Hayden rolled over and rubbed his eyes. He was completely disoriented and had a massive headache.
He looked over to see Kristen's sleeping form beside him and the memory of last night came rushing back to him.
Kristen stirred and looked at him. The expression on her face was completely unreadable.
"Good morning," Hayden said awkwardly.
"Good morning," Kristen said quietly.
Hayden sat up on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. He knew that they had complicated their situation tenfold last night.
"Are you okay?" Kristen asked quietly.
"Uh...yeah, I guess. Are you?" Hayden asked, peering over his shoulder.
"I think so," was all she could think to say.
"Listen, I'm sorry if I kind of took advantage of you last night...," Hayden said.
Kristen sat up, taken aback, "you didn't take advantage of me, I wasn't even the one who was drunk...."
I'm sure this sort of thing happens a lot...ya know, relapses," Hayden said awkwardly.
The two sat there for several moments in an uncomfortable silence.
Hayden reached down to pull his shirt over his head, "I better be going. I am supposed to meet Tove."
Kristen nodded weakly.
Hayden jumped up to walk away and turned to look at her.
"We'll talk about this later, alright?"
Again, Kristen nodded weakly.
Hayden turned around to say something else but the look on Kristen's face stopped him -- he could see a look of guilt and regret and it broke his heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You did what?!" Tove chastised him.
"Would you keep your voice down? I don't think everyone needs to know about this," Hayden replied looking around the diner.
The two had met for lunch and were discussing the previous night's activities.
"Dude...you have gone to a whole new level of sad," Tove said.
Hayden rolled his eyes, "what the hell does that mean?"
"I mean...you've managed to let yourself get suckered in again!" Tove exclaimed.
Hayden just looked at him, silent.
"This girl totally blows you off for another guy and one night when you get drunk, you have to make yourself totally available to her...when that other chick wanted you too! Damn!" Tove continued.
"I never said it wasn't a mistake," Hayden said firmly, now really aggravated that Tove was making such a big deal about this. "...but what makes you think this makes me look so weak? Other guys hook up with exes just for the hell of it..."
"Yeah...exactly Hayden, 'other guys'....not you," Tove said. "She knows you're not like that. She knows she still has you."
"You really don't think much of her do you?" Hayden asked.
Tove sighed, "...I guess I don't...not anymore. You're my brother...reverse the situation - if some girl royally screwed me over, you wouldn't be rushing to her defense now would you?"
Hayden was silent - Tove had a valid point. The Christensen brothers were very protective of one another (as well as their sisters) and always had been.
"So what should I do now?" Hayden asked.
"...I'd just let things play out - after all, where was her boyfriend when all of this was going on?" Tove said.
"Out of town," Hayden replied.
Tove shook his head, "whatever you do, don't cave again....you've lost some ground, but you can gain it back. Just play it cool - remember what I said about 'nice' guys...."
Hayden shook his head. Regardless of what Tove said, he knew that it would be difficult to pretend nothing had happened between them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three Days Later
Hayden was pulling into the driveway when his cell phone rang.
He could see that it was Kristen calling him.
He clicked it off so the call would go to his voicemail.
He walked into the house to find his mom in the kitchen making lunch.
"Hey there stranger, nice to see you," his mom smiled.
He kissed his mom on the cheek, "hey ma. I know...I haven't been around much the past few days."
"I know you've been wanting to catch up with your friends from Unionville," she replied. "...just remember to spend some time with your old mom before you go back to L.A."
Hayden grinned, "of course! Maybe we can go catch a movie later if you want."
"That sounds nice," his mom replied.
Hayden grabbed a few carrots from the plate on the counter and walked through to the living room where he found Kaylen and Jon on the couch, watching 'Garden State'.
"Hey guys," he said sitting down on the loveseat.
Jon said hello and Kaylen looked up at him, "Hi."
Hayden was silent for a few moments while the two continued watching the movie.
"I'm gonna grab some chips from the kitchen, you want anything?" Kaylen sat up, asking Jon.
"Nah...I'm good," he replied.
Hayden followed Kaylen into the kitchen.
His mother had since finished up and left the kitchen, leaving Kaylen and Hayden alone.
"So...were you gonna tell me?" Kaylen asked.
Hayden's eyes widened, his fears welling up inside. He feigned ignorance, "...what?"
Kaylen looked at him, "You know what I'm talking about...."
Hayden shook his head in disbelief. "She told you?!"
Kaylen nodded. "Yeah. She and I got together last night- she needed to talk...."
"I thought you weren't really friends anymore...." Hayden said, his tone showing complete confusion.
"We're definitely not close anymore...but she called me and needed to talk."
Hayden closed his eyes. This was a horrendous nightmare that seemed to be getting worse.
"I can't believe this," Hayden said aloud. "...she goes from not being that close to you, to talking about our sex life?"
"Shh!" Kaylen whispered. "Listen, its not exactly something I wanted to hear about...she needed a friend....and apparently, you haven't talked to her since..."
Hayden closed his eyes -- "Kaylen...I really don't know what to say here..."
"Why are you being such a jerk?" Kaylen asked. "You slept with the girl and now you won't speak to her....why would you do that?"
"...because I didn't think she would want to speak to me!"
"She said she's been trying to call you."
Hayden leaned back against the counter and looked up at the ceiling, "I really really don't want to have to deal with this right now."
"Well tough shit, Hayden," Kaylen snapped. "You got yourself into this...you hooked up with her and now you need to face it."
Hayden shook his head - what a complicated mess, he was a complicated mess.
The two were silent for a couple of minutes. Kaylen silently got a bag of chips and walked back out of the kitchen.
Hayden knew he couldn't let the discomfort of this get in the way...he needed to handle the situation.
He grabbed his cell phone from the counter and hit the speed dial.
Within seconds, there was an answer.
"Kristen? Can we meet up? I think we need to talk...."