It seemed like their moment in the hallway lasted an eternity until Hayden finally broke the silence. “I…I need to go get some air. I’ll see you.” And with that he stormed out.

He was pissed off, and there was no better way to put it. He was pissed at Emily for not telling him in the first place. His best friend, of all people, lied to him! His mind reeled at the thought that it probably wasn’t her first time lying to him. She was pretty calm after all. And his brother. Tove would have to be dealt with.

Hayden sat in his car and pulled out of the driveway. He just drove. This is what he did when he got mad. He mentally slapped himself for not bringing his cigarettes with him. How could Emily do that to him? He persuaded himself to believe that had he told her when she found out, he would’ve been fine, well, better than he was now. Then he thought about his career, his agent would have to know about this, it would somehow get out to the papers.

Everything just got more and more fucked up as he thought about it. He took the highway back home and pulled into the driveway. It was midnight. Storming into his house, he was met by his brother. “So, how was it? You’re home late, so I assume it went-“

“Tove, why didn’t you just tell me that Sophie was my daughter?” Hayden asked. “Why didn’t anybody in this house tell me?!”

“It wasn’t our place.” Tove answered. Though he was the taller of the two, he did not have Hayden’s temper, and he was often frightened of it. “Emily told us that it was her job to tell you.”

“I can’t believe she waited! My agent is going to kill me. I won’t be marketable, I’m gonna lose everything I’ve worked for!” Hayden ranted. He really wanted a cigarette now, he was about to explode from the tension.

“HAYDEN.” Tove yelled, and he shook his brother. “Listen to yourself! Up until now, I never thought you would become a selfish…prick! I guess other people aren’t important to you anymore, since you’re a star.”

“Family is always important.” Hayden said, indignantly. He stormed upstairs and slammed the bathroom door. A hot shower always seemed to do the trick whenever he was pissed off. But this time it didn’t. He mechanically lathered and rinsed, and turned the water off, just standing there and thinking about, everything. He decided to sleep on it.

At least he tried. He was lying in his bed when he heard something at his window. He looked outside to see Emily standing there, wearing a sweatshirt and some jogging shorts, looking like she hadn’t even thought about sleeping. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and went downstairs. He walked outside and met her on his lawn. Barefoot, her face was tear-stained and her eyes were puffy. She looked at him.

There was a long silence between them before Emily finally spoke. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know if that’s gonna cut it, Em.” Hayden said, impassively. His face was just as blank.

“Hayden…I, I can’t believe you.” Emily said, looking at him. “I made a choice to take care of her myself, the least you could do is accept her! Accept us!” She was raising her voice now, and Hayden wasn’t doing any better to keep it down.

“Emily, this is too much for me, right now.” Hayden said, brushing her off. “I can’t just come home, get my daughter that I didn’t even know existed and expect things to be the same.”

“That’s not what I’m asking for!” Emily yelled, tears brimming in her eyes. She slumped to the ground. “I don’t know what I want from you…I think I just wanted happily ever after, but you know, life’s too complicated for that.” Hayden, still standing, didn’t know what to say. “Look,” She said, getting up. “You know, I’ve been fine without you for the last three years, we don’t need you. So…go back to bed. I don’t need you.”

Hayden quickly tried to remedy the situation and stammered an apology, but Emily just walked back to her house next door, turned off all of the lights, and left Hayden standing outside in the middle of the night.

The next evening, Hayden sat idly in the living room, pretending to rifle through a magazine when he saw Emily, looking strikingly different than when he saw her last night, happy, that is. She was watching Sophie in the front yard, who was being entertained by another neighbor, who brought their brand new puppy to play. Something told him to sit outside, where he could see them better.

Emily went inside, informing her neighbor that she had to get her camera to take a picture with the puppy. Sophie, having never actually played with a dog, was getting a little…rough. Hayden could see that from thirty feet away, and he slowly made his way onto his porch. Then the front steps. The walkway.

And just as he expected, Sophie pulled on the puppy’s tail, and all animals, young and old, react instinctively and scratched the threat on the arm. He didn’t know why, but he ran, faster than he ever did to the girl, before it even registered that there was a very nasty looking surface scratch on her arm. He knelt down to be level with her and held her, smoothing her hair as she cried. “Is there anything I can do? I’m sorry, she’s just a puppy.” The owner said apologetically.

“It’s okay, I won’t hold it against you.” Hayden said over Sophie’s cries. Emily had just run out of her front door when she took a misstep on her porch. “Oh, not you too.”

Emily stood up and limped over to Hayden and Sophie. “My poor baby, here, let mommy clean it up.” She winced as she struggled to find a comfortable position.

“Hey, you just sit still, Em. I can clean it.” Hayden said. Sophie had quieted down except for the hyperventilating that comes with a loud cry, she seemed to tough it out. He sat her in front of him, and he looked her in the eye. “Sophie, this is going to hurt a little, okay?” He wiped the scratch, which was actually no more than a bad scrape, and covered it with a band-aid. “See? All better. Now just sit tight, and I’ll see if we have to take your mom to the hospital.”

Sophie stood up next to Hayden to see what he would do to her mother. Emily looked at him, with, was he fooling himself when he saw a bit of admiration, mixed with a smug ‘I-told-you’? “Your ankle’s swollen, but nothing feels broken, and I’ve broken my ankles plenty.” Hayden said. “Come on, Em. Let’s get you into the comfy chair, with some ice, an ottoman, and some tea.”

He scooped Sophie up, and let Emily stand, using him as support. “You’re a natural, you know.”

“At what?” Hayden asked, as they slowly made their way to the door.

“With her. It took her four months to trust Tove, and you don’t even look alike.” Emily quipped. “And you, you come here, and she lets you carry her, heal her up.”

Hayden smiled as he pushed the front door open. Emily limped over to the big chair and put her legs up on the ottoman. “Is it too late?”

“For what?” Emily asked from her spot on the chair.

“To apologize.” Hayden answered. He put Sophie down, and she scampered off into the breakfast nook, turning on a TV. “For being a complete jackass.”

“I’m all ears.” Emily replied. “You came to your senses.”

“I just saw her playing there, and something told me that I should keep an eye on her, so that if something bad happened to her, I could be there.” Hayden said.

“The Force, it was.” Emily said, doing her best Yoda voice.

“Em, I’m serious.” Hayden said, through a smile. “Look, I’m really sorry for brushing you off, and treating you like..” He looked up to see if Sophie was nearby. “Like shit.”

“Apolo-“

“Not done yet.” Hayden interrupted. “I just didn’t think that someone so small could make me completely bend to their beck and call.”

“Such is the power of children.” Emily said sagely. “Den…if you pop me a Tylenol, I’ll be able to bathe and change Sophie.”

Hayden did as he was told. Later, he followed Emily and Sophie upstairs, and watched with amazement at the patience Emily had, with Sophie’s constant splashing. And when Sophie refused to get tucked in, how Emily just sang her a lullabye, and though she may have sang it many times, Sophie finally succumbed to sleep.

“She’s a stubborn one to put down.” Emily sighed, looking at her. “But when she’s asleep, she looks like an angel.”

“You liked being put to bed.” Hayden said to Emily, putting his arm around her as he helped her walk to her bedroom.

“Being in bed with me is different from putting me to bed, Den.” Emily replied, nudging him gently in the ribs.

Emily opened her closet doors in search for something to change into for bed. “I need to go and change. I’ve been brooding in these clothes up until the injury fiesta.” Hayden replied, not looking at her as she changed.

“Oh Den, don’t be so noble. It’s not like you haven’t seen me before.” Emily said, slinging her underwear at him. “Um, if I could have that back.”

Hayden shook his head, smiling, and tossed them back. “Spare key’s still in the same place, right?”

“Yeah.” Emily said, now fully clothed. “You will come back, right?” Hayden walked over to her. “Because, if not, you have a set of clothes here from, jeez, it must be high school.”

“Em…” he said, laughing. “I’ll be back.” He kissed her forehead and left.

Emily couldn’t get the grin off of her face.