Love Heals All

by Addie McKenna

  I washed my face and pulled out the messy bun, letting my hair cascade down my back in its natural beach waves. Then I changed out of my jeans and returned to the bedroom, lying down again.

  I looked at the TV and saw that he had changed it to Cartoon Network. The Amazing World of Gumball was on.

  “Yay, The Amazing World of Gumball! You. Are. The Best.”

  “Do you know what would be better?” he asked slyly.

  “What?” I didn’t have a clue what he was thinking.

  “Ice cream,” he said, and I squealed.

  “Yes! Please carry me, Hayesie?” I asked in a sweet voice.

  “Fine. Only ’cause you’re cute.” He smiled and turned around so his back was to me.

  “Yay!” I kissed his cheek.

  And we were off into the sunset! No, we were just going downstairs to the kitchen. But you could call it a sunset if you wanted to, because the Grier kitchen was beautiful!

  Once we got there, he put me down like I was a piece of glass. I walked slowly to the fridge, my stomach hurting like . . . crap. I couldn’t take walking anymore, so I just lay down on the ground, holding my stomach and wishing the pain would go away. I was crumpled up in a little ball and my eyes were shut tight. I was trying to will the pain away. It was like a period cramp times ten! Yeah, that bad.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Hayes rushed over and dropped down next to me, easing my head onto his lap so it wasn’t on the cold hard tile.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just my stomach,” I wheezed out.

  “You don’t look too fine.”

  “Well, that’s a way to boost my self-esteem, Hayes. Thanks,” I said, looking up at him.

  He smiled and laughed. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

  “I know, now help me up, doofus.”

  He pouted, but immediately smiled afterward and started to help me up.

  But once he took my hand and pulled just a tiny bit, I groaned and released his hand. My stomach really, really hurt.

  “Oh my gosh! Autumn, are you sure you’re okay?”

  I shook my head from side to side.

  “Come on, we’re going to the couch.” He scooped me up off of the kitchen floor and walked into the living room. He put me down on the couch and lay down next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and gently playing with my hair.

  My face was against his chest, and I was oblivious to the world around me. I didn’t like this feeling, the feeling of being weak and unable to do anything about it. It sucked. I wanted to cry, but I was not going to.

  “You can cry if you want to, baby,” Hayes whispered.

  That’s what I loved about him. He knew what I was feeling. It freaked me out sometimes, too, because, like at this moment, he knew what I was feeling even though he couldn’t see the expression on my face. It’s like he could read my emotions or something.

  “I don’t want to cry. Crying is for the weak, and I’m not weak,” I said lightly.

  “Everyone cries. Babies cry, kids cry, girls cry, guys cry, moms, dads, old people, everyone! I cry! It shows that you’re strong. You’ve bottled up enough feelings and you just need to let them out every once in a while. I know you want to cry. Just cry, it’s okay.” He rubbed my back.

  “I just don’t want to. Crying shows you’re in pain, and I don’t want to show I’m in pain. I want to be happy even when I’m not. I just want everyone to be happy,” I cried. I actually cried.

  “Autumn, you don’t have to make other people happy. If they want to be happy, they will be—just give them time. The world isn’t always a happy place.” He pulled me closer, which seemed kinda impossible, considering we were already pretty close. The couch was cramped . . .

  “Well, the world should be a happy place,” I mumbled.

  “Not everyone is as happy as you. They aren’t as lucky as you,” Hayes said, kissing my forehead.

  “I love you, Hayes. You know that, right?” I said, looking up at him.

  “I know. I love you, too. Forever and always.” He started wiping my tears.

  I laid my head back on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was very soothing and made me just forget everything bad in the world.

  But then I felt another pang in my stomach, and our little moment was ruined. I curled up into a ball and barely got out, “Call Cam.”

  Hayes yelled for him, and Cam immediately came downstairs. He saw me on the couch holding my stomach. We’ve known each other all our lives, so he knew what to do when I was sick. He picked me up and sat me in his lap, whispering soothing things in my ear as we rocked back and forth on the couch.

  I closed my eyes as tears streamed down my face. I leaned my head on his shoulder and whimpered. Stomach pains are the worst pains. I couldn’t handle them, I really don’t know why. “It’s okay, Autumn. Everything will be all right,” Cam whispered in my ear.

  Cameron

  I was playing on my phone in my room when I heard Hayes scream my name. I knew exactly why, though. Autumn.

  I ran down the stairs as fast as I could and saw her crumpled on the couch. I ran over to her and immediately pulled her into my lap. I started whispering soothing things in her ear to calm her down and rocked her back and forth to try to ease the pain.

  I was always there for Autumn. Especially when she was sick. She would often get sick when both of her parents were out of town at the same time, even though they barely took care of her when they were home.

  I mean, her mom was caring, but not caring enough, and her dad worked nonstop and didn’t even call to check on her. I was always the one to make soup for her and take her to the doctor. I’d get her medicine and calm her down when something like this happened.

  I wasn’t complaining. It was nice to know that I could help her, but I wished that her parents were there for her more often. They should have known what was going on in her life.

  My poor little Autumn was crying in pain, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. We couldn’t get her prescriptions until tonight, so she had no pain meds. I felt so bad for her. I knew how much she hated stomachaches.

  But we just had to wait.

  Hayes

  I felt so bad for Autumn. I just wanted my baby to be okay. She was in pain, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to sit and watch.

  After about fifteen minutes, her stomachache seemed to ease a little bit, so Cameron passed her over to me and I carried her upstairs.

  I laid her down in our bed and turned on the TV. I changed into sweats and no shirt, then lay down next to her, turning off the lights before I did.

  She turned to me and put her head on my chest, looking at the TV with red eyes. I wrapped my arms around her small waist and pulled her close.

  I just hoped she’d get better soon.

  Autumn

  Hayes and I were lying down watching some weird TV show. I grabbed the remote and changed it to where the Xbox showed up. I got up and slowly turned on the Xbox and set it to Netflix. I went to Gossip Girl and put on season two.

  I walked back over to the bed and lay down in the same position I was in before, listening to Hayes whine and complain.

  Hayes groaned, “Really? We’ve already watched the entire first season!”

  “And we need to watch the rest,” I said with a smirk.

  “Ugh. Only for you,” he mumbled.

  “Yay!” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Now shush, it’s starting!” I snuggled deeper into his bare chest, getting comfortable.

  I was really into it, staring at the screen intently. I don’t know why, but I was tracing circles on Hayes’s stomach with my finger, drawing shapes and spelling out names. I always seemed to do that for some reason.

  “Xoxo, Gossip Girl,” the TV said, and the screen turned black. I looked down and drew more as we waited.
>
  “You seem to do that a lot when I’m shirtless,” Hayes said while we were waiting.

  “Do what?” I asked.

  “That. You draw stuff with your finger on my stomach.” He laughed.

  “Well, do you want me to stop?” I asked.

  “No! I like it,” he said casually.

  “It still seems to give you goose bumps every time.” I giggled.

  “Does not.” He blushed.

  “Does, too. Look!” I grabbed one of his arms, shoving it in his face to show him the goose bumps.

  “Fine, it does,” he said. I laughed, and he did, too.

  “Oooh, it’s back on!” I said excitedly.

  “OMG, Gossip Girl!” he squealed like a teenage girl. I laughed and hit his chest.

  “Shut up and watch the show.”

  And that’s pretty much how our evening went. I drew shapes on his stomach and watched the show intently, while he acted like his weird self. It was a pretty good end to a slightly horrible day.

  I would say Hayes became a Gossip Girl fan.

  Autumn

  I woke up, practically lying on Hayes, feeling refreshed. I really don’t think I had the flu, probably just a twenty-four-hour bug. Stupid doctor . . . I was not going back there again.

  I decided to wake up Hayes to see if he wanted to penny board to the lake today with Sky. I got up and started jumping up and down on the bed.

  “Hayes! Babe! Wake up!” I plopped down next to him, my face inches away from his.

  “C’mon, babe, wake up.” I started poking his face and chest. He groaned and rolled over.

  I huffed and decided to get out the big guns. I walked to Nash’s room and pulled him up off of his desk chair.

  “We’re waking up Hayes,” I said. He nodded and walked to the bathroom, grabbed some shaving cream, and opened up Vine on his phone.

  We approached Hayes’s bed, quiet as could be, shaving cream in hand. I walked over to one side of the bed.

  “Smack cam,” Nash whispered into the camera. He gave me a thumbs-up, and I smacked Hayes as hard as I could. He jumped up about to slap his attacker, but then he saw it was me and stopped his hand in midair.

  I smiled and gave him a slight wave, giggling a bit. He smirked and pulled me down on top of him and started tickling me. The bad thing was, he knew all my tickle spots.

  I was laughing uncontrollably, not able to stop him from tickling me because he was stronger.

  “Hayes, stop! I’m sorry!” I laughed, swatting at his hands.

  “Sorry’s not gonna cut it, babe,” he said, tickling me more.

  “Well, then, what will?” I cried.

  “Say ‘Hayes is the best boyfriend ever,’ ” he said.

  “Hayes is the best boyfriend ever! Now stop!” I said, panting from laughing so hard. I was sitting on Hayes’s lap, facing him.

  “Dang, that was easy,” he said, pouting. I laughed at him and kissed his nose.

  “Y’all are so cute! Never break up.” Nash awwed, holding up his phone. I’d almost forgotten he was there . . .

  “We won’t, I’ll make sure of it,” Hayes said, kissing my cheek.

  “Ditto,” I said.

  “I’m gonna go back to sleep. I’m tired.” Nash yawned as he walked out of our room. I turned toward Hayes excitedly.

  “You seem like you feel better,” Hayes said, stating the obvious.

  “Oh, I do! I think it was just a twenty-four-hour bug. Those doctors are stupid,” I told him giddily.

  “Well, I’m glad you feel better, ’cause now I can do this.”

  And he kissed me. I immediately kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. He tightened his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

  “Got it,” I heard someone whisper. I ended the kiss and looked over to see Nash in the hallway in front of our door, doing a happy dance. I giggled as Hayes laughed, and I rested the side of my head on Hayes’s as we watched Nash be his stupid self.

  “Oh, sorry. Go back to what you lovebirds were doing,” Nash said awkwardly, backing away, but not before taking another picture of our position.

  “Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wanted to penny board to the lake and take Skylynn?” I asked Hayes, hopeful he would say yes.

  “Yeah, sounds fun,” he said.

  “Yay! Sky and I will get dressed, and then we can go,” I said in a rush, kissing his cheek and hopping off his lap. I ran to Sky’s room.

  She was playing horsies and talking to Nash while he was Vining her. She was saying she was five, and Nash was telling her she was still four.

  I giggled and walked over. I sat down beside her and pulled her onto my lap.

  “Autumn! Nash is getting on my nerves,” she said, annoyed. I laughed and looked over at the pouting Nash.

  “Nash, leave. We are gonna talk girl talk,” I said seriously. He left immediately, and I turned to Sky, who was back to playing with her horses.

  “How would you like to come to the lake with Hayes and me?” I bopped her on the nose.

  She squealed, “Yes! I wanna wear my purple bathing suit!”

  “Okay. Whatever you wanna wear, Sky.”

  I laughed as she hopped off my lap, going over to her drawers to get her bathing suit. She got it out, and I helped her put it on. I brushed her crazy mess of hair and put it in little pigtails. Then I grabbed her white cover-up with rainbows on it so she could put it on.

  “Why don’t you go downstairs and wait for Hayes and me on the couch, okay?” I asked her.

  She nodded and ran downstairs with a horse in her hand. I went back to the room I was sharing with Hayes. The door was closed, so I knocked repeatedly and waited in the hallway for him to finish changing.

  He finally opened the door with a pissed-off look on his face, but it softened when he saw it was me. He had on red swim trunks with one of his many tank tops and a snapback. He looked very cute.

  “Can you go downstairs and wait with Sky? She’s all alone down there, and I don’t want her to be lonely,” I asked Hayes, putting my hands on his chest.

  “You’re too nice of a person. Of course I’ll go sit with Sky. Just hurry up so we can get to the lake!” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pecked my lips.

  “Thanks, hon,” I said, shooing him off down the stairs.

  I first picked out which bathing suit I wanted to wear. I didn’t really want to get in the water today, so I picked out a floral bandeau hanky top from Forever 21 with matching black bottoms.

  I got out my NORMAL IS BORING caged back tank top from Body Central, peach shorts from American Eagle, and black Rainbows.

  I went into the bathroom and did all my bathroom stuff, then walked back into our bedroom. I slid on the Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses that Cameron bought me for my birthday a couple months ago, grabbed my penny, and ran downstairs.

  When I got to the bottom, Hayes was playing horsies with Skylynn. I silently giggled and got out my phone to take a picture. Once I snapped the photo, I walked over and stood behind Hayes. Skylynn saw me, and I put my finger over my lips. She went back to playing horsies, and I leaned over until I was in Hayes’s face.

  “Hi.” I smiled. He slightly jumped and then started laughing.

  “Did I scare you?” I questioned.

  “Psh, no, of course not,” he said, and waved me off.

  “Hmm, sure. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and reached for Skylynn. She wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder.

  “You coming?” I asked Hayes, who was still lying on the ground.

  He got up and grabbed his penny board by the door. He slipped on his Vans, and we were off.

  We decided to walk the first half instead of boarding, since Skylynn wanted me, not Hayes, to carry her. So I had Sky on my hip, her arms around my neck an
d her head on my shoulder. She was probably asleep.

  Hayes was walking next to us, his fingers intertwined with mine. He was holding both of our penny boards. “How’s your back?” he asked me. “Do you want me to take her?”

  “Nah, it’s feeling pretty strong,” I replied.

  Once we got to the Griers’ dock, I handed Skylynn to Hayes. He sat down, her head on his lap, and began playing with her pigtails. I smiled and knelt down next to them.

  “Hey, Sky, we’re at the lake, sweetie,” I spoke lightly, shaking her shoulder.

  She picked up her head and looked around, smiling her cute little smile. “Can we go get some ice cream?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

  “Sure, let’s go,” Hayes said, putting her on his back. She giggled and held on tight.

  Hayes and I put down our penny boards and started to ride slowly down the sidewalk. We rode hand in hand, as I checked on Skylynn every five seconds to make sure she was okay. My sister senses were kicking in, as Hayes said. He’s crazy, but I love him!

  We got to the ice-cream parlor and walked up to the counter. Girls kept staring at Hayes and whispering at their tables. Can’t we have time out together in peace?

  We ordered our ice cream and sat down. Skylynn sat next to me and Hayes sat across from us, having a staring contest with Sky. It was adorable!

  “What do you wanna do next, Sky?” I asked the little girl as we were finishing up.

  “Let’s go swimming.” She was still licking her ice cream, and still staring at Hayes.

  “Do you wanna go now and just walk?” I looked over at Hayes, and he looked back at me. He nodded and we left, his arm wrapped around my shoulder. I held Skylynn’s hand. No one asked for a picture, luckily enough. I mean, I love the fans, but we need our privacy.

  The rest of our day consisted of swimming, tanning, Hayes throwing me into the lake multiple times, and overall just having fun! That was one of the most fun days at the lake ever.

  Autumn

  Skylynn, Hayes, and I got home around seven p.m. We were really tired, and Sky was already asleep in my arms.