Hate to Love You - Chapter 65: Chapter 65

Hannah
Receiving a response from Noel, Beth's mother, was a moment I had both anticipated and dreaded, but it finally arrived on the sixth day of my recovery — just as I'd finished corresponding with my advisor. With a racing heart and nerves clawing at my insides, I opened it.
Dear Miss Walker,
Thank you for reaching out.
I apologize for my late response. This week has been a very trying one, and I have not had the time to respond aptly to your email.
I understand you cannot talk, but I have attached my phone number to this email. Please give me a call when you can. I believe it would be more beneficial to discuss everything rather than write it all down. The situation calls for an explanation, one I feel you are owed.
Sincerely,
Noel Masters
Vice Principal at Riverview High School
I was well enough to talk now, and this whole situation had been bothering me for the entire week. I needed answers. So, I made my way to Jace's room, where he was deep in an online game, headset on, eyes glued to the screen.
"I'm borrowing your phone," I announced, already reaching for it on his desk. "I need to phone someone."
"Uh-huh," he mumbled, not even glancing in my direction as his fingers mashed the controls.
Returning to my room and closing my door behind me, I crossed the room and sat down at my desk. My fingers hovered over the keypad for a moment before I finally dialed the number Noel had provided. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
"Hello, this is Noel Masters," she answered. Her voice was calm but carried the weight of exhaustion.
I took a steadying breath, my throat still sore, but I pushed through. "Hi, Mrs Masters. It's Hannah Walker. I just got your email."
There was a brief pause on her end, like she was gathering her thoughts. "Hannah," she said slowly, "thank you for calling. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon... but I'm glad you're feeling well enough to talk." Her tone softened with concern, but I could hear something else—guilt, maybe. "I'd like to apologize for all the pain my daughter... and my stepson have caused you. Should you accept, my husband and I are willing to settle any costs or compensation you might need. We both deeply regret the way things have turned out."
The offer caught me off guard. Money? That was the last thing I wanted or needed from them. I just wanted this whole mess to be over. And then I could focus on my life.
"Oh, no. That's not necessary," I replied, feeling awkward. "I didn't call about that. I just... wanted to check on Beth. The last time I saw her, she wasn't in great shape. I think I broke her nose."
"So... you won't be pressing charges?" she asked, her voice weary, like she'd been bracing herself for more obstacles.
"No. I don't think punishing Beth will help matters. I also want to put this all behind me." Hence the reason I was calling.
Noel was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, a note of relief seeping in. She chose to move on and answer my question about her daughter.
"Beth is... well, she's been at home for the past week, resting and recovering. She's not speaking much at the moment, but I've been making an effort to be with her when I can. I'm not sure how to help, honestly. I've been talking with my school's therapist about the whole situation. She's told me to give Beth time — let her grieve and come to terms with everything at her own pace. She's also agreed to see her on Monday."
I guess that was good news. But I knew Beth was likely in a very dark place right now, and I doubted Dylan's influence over her was completely gone. He needed to stay far, far away from her. She needed to learn how to hate him first, as shitty as that was to say.
"If she ever needs someone to talk to," I offered after a pause, "you can give her my number."
Noel's breath caught, and she let out a small, grateful laugh. "That's very kind of you, Hannah. I'll let her know. Thank you, really. She could use a friend."
A friend felt like a stretch, but I wasn't about to say that. "I just... I know what she's going through. The best thing you can do is be there for her, not judge, and... keep Dylan far away from her."
She let out a humorless laugh. "Believe me, we have not spoken to Dylan in almost two years. After we found out that he was still closely tied to that lowlife — Marcus, my husband, Harrison, finally cut his son off." She sighed. "We've been dealing with Dylan's rebellious behavior since he was sixteen. Harrison tried to help him, even got him into Dale, hoping it would straighten him out, but nothing worked. The final straw was when he visited Dylan after graduation, only to find him still running with the same crowd, still using drugs, and gambling away his father's money while staying at home all day doing nothing."
Drugs? I was glad I had never gotten mixed up in that. If there was one thing Sunday school successfully drilled into me, it was to stay far away from those kinds of substances.
"So how did Beth find him again?"
There was a long pause of silence before she answered. "Beth was always shy, but when her dad passed away from cancer, she got even worse. When I married Harrison, and she met Dylan, she really took a shine to him. Followed him everywhere like a puppy." I heard her sit down before she continued. "At first I thought it was a good thing — But then Dylan started bringing home his... crowd, and we had to put a stop to it. From what we can gather, he found out Beth was staying in a single dorm and asked if he could stay there a couple of times. Of course she said yes. That's when he..." She trailed off, taking a shuddering breath to collect herself.
I understood. It must have been devastating for a mother to learn what her daughter had been through.
After a beat, she said, "Harrison and I have been... at odds this past week. He wants to reach out to Dylan, but I can't bear the thought of him anywhere near Beth. Harrison still sees the little boy who lost his mother. She had heart problems and passed when Dylan was very young. He never really got over it, and I suppose he always resented me for stepping into that role. But Dylan has made his choices, and Harrison just can't see that. Some people really go too far, and Dylan did that when he..." She still couldn't bring herself to say it.
I found myself agreeing with her. Everyone could change, but they couldn't change their actions and how those actions hurt others. Dylan had burned his bridges with us.
We stayed on the phone for another ten minutes, discussing Beth and how Noel might be able to help her recover. I suggested finding something Beth was passionate about, something that could give her a sense of purpose. Noel mentioned that Beth used to play the cello and had been quite good at it. But she stopped abruptly when she was fourteen—the same time Dylan started bringing Marcus around. By the time the conversation ended, Noel was crying softly, upset that she hadn't seen the signs earlier.
Her words left me with a lot to think about, but at least I knew Beth was getting help. It wasn't too late for her, and if I could, I'd help in any way possible. She didn't have to go through this alone.
I sighed, flopping onto my bed and checking the time. Tristan wouldn't be here for a while, not until after his game at the very least. I wondered how I was going to tell him about all of this.
°•°•°•°
Tristan
I chose to skip the after-party and head straight to her. And even though I was MVP this time around — a huge difference from last week's game — the guys still understood when I told them I'd be going to Hannah. They were just happy to have me back to my old self, and they knew it was my last week with her, so no one begrudged the time I spent with her.
I was very conscious of the fact that we were running out of time, but I tried not to let it get to my head. I was already planning a trip to Topeka for a weekend, maybe after giving her a week to settle in. I'd convince her to stay in a hotel with me because her having roommates sometimes got in the way of... things. And considering it would be the first time I'd have my girlfriend all to myself without the looming threat of her mother possibly discovering us — I was gonna use the whole weekend to fuck her deaf, blind, and dumb.
Note to self: stock up on more condoms. We still needed to talk about whether or not we wanted to ditch them altogether. That was the kind of conversation we could have now, because we were actually in a relationship. The thought made me grin.
Never in a million years did I think I'd bag Hoodie-Girl, and yet, here we were — here I was, driving two hours to see a girl I was only going to sleep with — in the boring way. Well, not boring. I'd still always choose to be next to her because that's how I slept best.
She was a natural cuddler, always curling up against me when she was cold — which, in fairness, was most of the time. And I liked having at least one arm curled around her at all times, like she was my pillow. I also liked waking up to that smell — strawberries and vanilla. It was like Crack to me.
When I pulled up near her house, I parked a little down the street, half-hidden behind someone's hedge. I killed the engine, got out, and jogged over to her place. Her window was on the second floor, but I didn't do all those pull-ups for nothing. I scaled the side of the house, grabbed the window frame with one hand, quietly hoisted myself up, and pushed the window open with my other hand before sliding inside.
The room was empty, but her bedside lamp was on, and the door was slightly ajar, so I figured she was in the bathroom or downstairs.
Rolling my shoulder to ease the ache from a hard hit I'd taken late in the game, I almost wished I'd brought an ice pack with me. Other areas of my body ached too, but I was still too wired to go to sleep right now. I always had crazy amounts of energy after a game; it was only the next day that I truly felt the after-effects.
Glancing around me, I smiled when I noticed her room was a lot messier than it had been at the beginning of her stay. It wasn't anything too crazy, but she had a habit of stripping off her clothes and tossing them over the nearest piece of furniture, including her bed — where a pair of dark blue panties lay on top.
My curiosity was piqued. I was only ever taking them off, so I'd never actually taken the time to examine a pair.
I hooked my pinky into the waistband, lifting the panties to eye level. Dark blue lace ruffled the edges, and they were so tiny it was hard to believe they covered anything at all. Rubbing the soft fabric between my fingers, I couldn't help but wonder how something so impractical could feel so nice.
That's when she walked back into the room with a glass of milk, freezing as she saw me — and what I was holding. I realized what it looked like.
"This isn't what it looks like," I blurted out. "I wasn't... sniffing them or anything. Just... looking." I grimaced when I realized that wasn't any less creepy. "I mean..."
Hannah's lips quirked up, a milk mustache above her top lip, and I could see she was trying not to laugh. And then I looked down and saw her bare legs, my self-control taking a serious hit at the sight of them.
She was wearing a tiny top with thin straps and matching pink high-waist shorts. They hugged her body like a second skin and barely covered her ass. I knew all too well that when she bent over, they left nothing to the imagination. They were the worst kind of torture on a day like today, especially when I had no intention of letting things go too far.
Groaning, I muttered, "You just had to wear the little shorts today. Fuck me."
Her brow arched. "Is that an invitation?"
The sound of her voice had my heart rate picking up. It was a little scratchy but so familiar it hit me all at once how much I'd missed it. Dropping the panties, I was in front of her in two quick strides, burying my fingers in her hair and gently tilting her head up as I ducked down to press my lips to hers. Her hands came to rest on my abs as I kissed her, my chest aching with the powerful emotions coursing through me.
She tasted like milk and something sweet. I pulled back to let out a haggard breath, brushing strands of her hair from her face. She smiled warmly up at me, and I marveled at how beautiful she was.
"You can talk now?" I placed a finger under her chin to tilt her head up. "You took your bandages off." My finger trailed down her neck, caressing the dark yellow bruising.
"It looks worse than it is," she assured me, "It only hurts when you press on it, and even then, it's not so bad." Her hand patted my chest. "I'm going to be fine — I'm not as fragile as you think."
I sighed, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "I don't think you're fragile. I just hate seeing you in any pain. This never should have happened in the first place."
"I don't think there was anything you could have done, Tristan. This was my past coming back to bite me in the ass."
"Exactly. The only one who gets to bite your ass is me. Mark my words, Hannah. Dylan will never have anything to do with you again." I cemented this promise in my mind, painting a mental target on that douchebag's back. By the time I was done with him, he'd be too scared to even look at another woman, let alone her.
I glanced down at her just in time to catch a flicker of guilt cross her face. My gut tightened. "Hannah." I waited until she looked me in the eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"
She winced. "To be fair, I couldn't tell you before. But, um..."
I listened patiently as she relayed everything, telling me about this girl's connection to her ex, how she went about looking for information on her family, and the phone call with the girl's mother. I was frowning by the time she was done.
"You should have told me this sooner. Why didn't you say anything?" I ran a hand through my hair as I stepped away from her to think.
"I could handle it on my own. And I made the decision to tell you today. So I did." She sounded guilty enough to erase all my anger.
I nodded softly, sighing. "I'll talk to my lawyers about getting a restraining order against Dylan. I'm pretty sure I can make it happen."
She walked over to her bed, finishing off her glass of milk before setting it down on the nightstand and sitting down on her bed. A smile tugged at my lips as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Leaning back on her hands, she considered what I'd just said, the front of her shirt pulling tight across her chest, accentuating the curves of her breasts and the slight rise of her nipples.
"I don't think he'll approach me again."
"You never know," I argued. "If he does, we'll have a reason to get arrested. Wouldn't you like that?"
"I suppose, but are you sure this isn't too much trouble?"
"I have lawyers for a reason — why not make them work?"
I had no control over my actions as I walked over to the bed and wrapped my hands under her knees, spreading her thighs around my waist. Her shorts covered as much as her underwear did — which, I realized with a glance, she wasn't wearing. I rose above her, resting one knee on the bed as I draped her thighs over mine. She wound her legs around me, pulling me closer.
"Fuck," I groaned as my cock rubbed against her center. "I shouldn't be doing this."
"You started this. And my vagina isn't broken, Tristan." Her hand trailed down my front, tracing the lines of my muscles through my shirt.
I laughed breathlessly against her, my hips giving another involuntary thrust into her. "You don't understand. I'm trying to be a gentleman about this. I want to show you that our relationship is more than just sex. And what about your mom? What kind of an impression would I make if she walked in here and saw me railing her daughter? I'd never earn her approval."
Hannah scoffed. "I'm pretty sure you'll never get it regardless of what happens. She's... yeah. She's not for the faint-hearted."
I smirked down at her. "Is that a challenge? Because you know I can't resist a challenge."
She laughed, her hand curling around the back of my neck. "By all means, go ahead. It'll be fun to watch you try. My dad's crazy about football, so you'll have better luck with him. At least you know Jace is on your side."
"I like your brother," I said, grinning. "He's a good kid and clearly has a good judge of character. I can see that you had a hand in raising him."
I knew my words struck a chord in her by the look on her face. Her lids lowered, hiding her eyes from me and she murmured, "I guess I did raise him. I tried to shield him from our parents as much as possible, but I know he's not dumb. I'm proud of the person he's become." She shook her head, her smile returning. "Anyway, let's not talk about family right now. Instead, I think we should address the giant elephant in the room."
I arched a brow, waiting for her to elaborate.
She gave me a deadpan look. "Your penis. I'm talking about your penis."
I laughed. "I mean, I wouldn't call it an elephant—"
Her finger jabbed me in the chest. "Call it whatever you want — either put it in me or get off. I'm tired of your constant teasing."
Her words surprised a laugh out of me. "Are you accusing me of blue-balling you?"
"Yes," she replied without missing a beat. "A good boyfriend would have put his penis inside of his girlfriend as soon as he noticed all of the hints she'd been dropping him, like deliberately wearing his favorite pajama bottoms." She rocked up into me, rolling her hips against mine, making it clear exactly what she wanted.
"A good boyfriend, huh?" I smirked, squeezing her thigh before pulling back and asking, "Are you sure you can handle this?"
She rolled her eyes. "Unless you're adding choking to the roster, I think I'll be fine. I even did the responsible thing and hid some condoms in my drawer. I've been on all kinds of meds and they can mess with my birth control, so rather safe than sorry."
Shit. That never would have even occurred to me. "Good call. But what about your family? Are they not going to hear anything — you're not exactly quiet, babe."
"There's a bathroom between my brother and I, and he sleeps like me. Nothing's waking him up. My mother is downstairs, probably equally as dead to the world. There's a chance she might be addicted to sleeping pills." She shrugged nonchalantly.
That casual admission made my blood boil. The fact that things like that were normal for her pissed me off. Holidays were definitely gonna mostly be with my family. And soon enough, her brother would be out of the house — so he was welcome to join us. I wanted Hannah to know what a real family was like.
And with both sets of my grandparents being alive, all my aunts and uncles, and the resulting cousins — family holidays were a circus show. But we were all close and they were a blast. I wanted her to feel that kind of love, and I knew my family wouldn't disappoint. They'd see how amazing she was.
But she was right — this wasn't the time to be thinking about family. My hand moved up her thigh, gliding over her stomach before sliding behind her and into her pants to cup her ass.
"We're going to talk about that some more at a later stage." I pressed my lips to hers, murmuring, "Now, where did you say those condoms were?"