**Hayden's POV for now**
I had been at the gym for thirty minutes before realizing it wasn't going to work. There was an old friend of mine back in highschool who had a punching bag in his workout room and I was about to make use of that instead.
"You good?" Chance came down to check on me again after I had beat the shit out of the bag for about an hour.
"Yeah." I steadied it and unwrapped my knuckles. "I never knew I would have so much anger just from their words."
"People say shit and never realize how much it hurts others." He scratched his head, "your phone went off while you were down here. I didn't answer it though."
Sighing, I knew it was most likely Dasha and felt my heart slow. I had left her at her apartment like a dick and didn't even think to ask her if she wanted to be at our place. Damn I needed to control my emotions better.
"Thanks." I followed him back upstairs and grabbed my phone to see the emails I had on my screen and the one text from her. I read it carefully and thanked God that she was so patient with me before replying.
'I love you too sweetheart. Forgive me for leaving you like that, I couldn't handle you seeing me like this. I'll clean up real quick and come get you? Give me twenty minutes.'
"I'm going to go, I'll just freshen up at the gym real quick. But thank you again."
"Anytime man, I wish I knew how else to help you. But that situation is tough and I probably would've done the same."
"Yeah. Tell Lisa I said hello."
"Will do, she'll be sad she missed you."
"I'll make sure to bring Dasha over for dinner sometime."
"Sounds good Blaze."
I got into my car with the intention of going back to the gym to shower and decided against it. I could do it at her apartment real quick and then take us back to our place. My only fear was that she would be crying when I got her or silent. I knew I deserved it but it shattered me every time her eyes get misty.
'Door's unlocked, just come in when you're here.' Was the reply I got as I pulled up moments later. Trying not to dwell on it too much, I jogged up the steps and opened her front door.
She wasn't in the living room like I was expecting her to be so I made my way into her bedroom. There were piles of laundry folded neatly into stacks to be put up but hadn't been yet.
"Dasha?"
"In the kitchen sweetheart."
Walking back into the kitchen I saw her pouring a cup of tea while a glass of water was next to it.
"Here," she handed me the water as I drank most of it immediately.
"We can go after you finish your tea?" I hesitated as her eyes seemed guarded.
"That's fine. You can shower in the meantime, I have some of your clothes on my bed."
"Okay." I finished the glass off and put it in the sink before going to the bedroom. As badly as I wanted to touch her, her body language was saying otherwise. There was no telling how to approach her right now.
Peeling my clothes off, I left them in a pile and turned the shower on. Cursing as the cold water hit, I fumbled with the knob to get it warmer so I wouldn't shake as much. It was probably pathetic how much I wanted her to come in and shower with me, but I couldn't help it. Dasha meant everything to me and being with her every second of the day is what I lived for.
**Dasha's POV**
Part of me had wanted to follow him in there but I really didn't know what he was feeling. Both of us were a bit closed off at the moment and that would eventually need to be resolved.
Finishing my drink, I decided to go in there anyways and just brace myself. Not being near him was killing me and I needed him to know that what happened had nothing to do with him nor myself.
The door wasn't closed when I approached it so I took that as a sign that he had done it on purpose. When I stepped in, Hayden's eyes were closed while the water fell on his face. He looked peaceful or as close to it as he could be.
Slipping out of my clothes as quickly as possible, I opened the door to the shower and stepped in behind him. Hayden lowered his head but remained facing away from me as I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my cheek into his back. The water slowly drenched my body as we stood there silently. What he needed from me was just for me to be here, the reassurance would come later.
Kissing his spine softly, I slowly turned him around and looked up. He smiled and bent down to kiss me while threading his fingers through my hair.
"Trust me?" I whispered.
He simply nodded and held me to him, blocking most of the water from hitting my face.
"I love you." He murmured and kissed the top of my head.
We didn't move until the water began to grow cold, signaling that it was time to leave. But at least the tension had died and things were better between us. Later we could discuss anything else that needed to be brought up about today's festivities.
Once we got back to our house, Hayden went to let Jasper outside while I sat on the couch. There were a few things I needed to get done today but it could wait, the first priority was ensuring that he was truly alright. It should have bothered me that my parents hadn't called yet or tried to contact us... then again, I think everyone was in shock at how the interaction had gone that no one knew how to respond. This didn't make me question my parent's "loyalty" to me but a lot of things begin to creep into my mind that I had never considered before.
Since when was interracial relationships such a huge turn-off to society? I figured a lot of people found it romantic, hell everyone always talks about mixed babies anyways. We would be doing them a favor later on when that's all they talk about.
Hayden said nothing when he returned and sat on the couch, a few inches away from me. It was truly difficult detecting what his thoughts were or even what he needed at the moment.
"What are you thinking?"
He shook his head. "Never in my life of teaching or really even attending school have I been... undermined like that. I'm not from another country and even if I was, just because I'm not the same skin tone as you makes me different?" He rubbed his eyes wearily, "I'll stop before I start saying things I shouldn't. It just threw me off guard that's all."
"I know." Part of me wanted to apologize again but I knew he wouldn't accept it since it wasn't my fault.
"Dasha," Hayden's voice brought me back to reality before scenarios could be created within my mind.
"Yes love?"
"What happened today doesn't change anything. I'm still yours and it doesn't make me love your parents any less. Lets just focus on finishing out this semester and then tackling the details of the wedding planning afterwards. Sound good?"
This man was truly too good to me, I thought before bringing myself closer to kiss him gently. "I love you for being the person you are."
His cheeks reddened slightly, "you can thank my mom for that. She deserves the credit. But regardless, this is all part of being with someone. Getting through the difficulties together."
"Promise it's not too much?"
"This is nothing I can't handle." He grabbed the phone and began dialing, "now I know we're all dressed up... but I'm thinking I order Chinese or pizza. Since we kinda left before eating much."
"Chinese food works, and in the meantime we can change into more comfortable clothes. I for one don't want to be in this dress any longer."
Hayden eyed me with a smirk, "I wouldn't mind taking it off of you."
"As tempting as that is, I can manage." I stood up and left to go grab a change of clothes before he could change my mind.
I locked the door as soon as I got into the bedroom since I knew the likelihood of him entering while I changed was high. There would be no denying him if he walked in right now.
Slipping into some nike shorts and one of his t-shirts I made my way back downstairs. Hayden loved whenever I wore something of his, and I loved it especially when it smelled like him.
I heard him ordering stir fry and some other things while I went into the kitchen to get us drinks. There's no telling what the rest of the day was going to look like but at this point I was content with just staying inside with Hayden.
My phone went off as I saw Rose was calling and immediately answered. "Hey Rose."
"Hey, sorry I was just thinking because my mind is trying to think things ahead now... anyways, I was just going to ask if you would still want me to be in the wedding since I may be due around whatever time you two plan."
"Don't be silly, of course I still want you in it! You're the maid of honor." I knew Hayden was still on the phone so I wouldn't be able to ask him about dates at the moment. "Let's get through graduation first. I haven't fully decided when we're getting married since school is first, but we can try to get it to where we have it either before you have the baby or even shortly after. It really doesn't matter to me. But I want you there so you can't go into labor alright?"
She laughed, "I'll try not too. My hormones may go into overload while seeing you get married that it may cause the baby to come out."
"Well then let's do it after you've had the little one. That way you're not on your feet so much and I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind holding him or her during the ceremony."
"That sounds great. How did lunch go with your family? You're back awfully early it seems."
"I'll... explain later." I noticed he had hung up and was flipping through channels on the television, "I don't really have the energy to discuss the events."
"Understandable, I'll make sure to get them later in the week. Just focus on your happiness, that's all that matters."
"You're the best." I ended the call and came back to settle beside him.
"Rosemary?"
"Mhm, she suggested that we should try to plan the wedding shortly after her being due, which I could understand. So late November or even December?"
"If we did December I wouldn't have to take any time off of work, it would be the break from college. That way we could do the honeymoon and such." Hayden grinned as if he was a little kid in a candy shop.
"December it is," I gazed at my ring once more and felt the butterflies hammering inside my stomach. It really wouldn't be too much longer before I got to marry my best friend.
"However, I'm going to contact some people this weekend about looking into other universities. I can't go around with my wedding band if no one from the school has seen my wife... so let's just say we will probably need to move shortly after graduation."
"That's fine, I don't care where we move. As long as you can find a job where you're going to be able to teach what you love I'll manage. You could probably even start your Masters as well depending upon how everything pans out?"
"Mhm, so it's just a matter of researching for now. Which will give me something to do while you finish up these next few weeks. By the way," Hayden trailed, "I still haven't decided what I'm getting you for a graduation present so if there's something you've really been wanting just let me know."
"Yes Sir." I winked while jumping up to answer the door when the knock sounded before Hayden could react.
"Be glad I'm starving and don't want someone seeing me take you from that position because they would get an eyeful," Hayden teased after I thanked the man and took our food.
"My God, I'm glad you're the only male in your family. I'm beginning to worry that if your mother only had boys she would've had her hands full."
"Oh she did. I stayed out of trouble compared to the others, but they don't know how sexual I sound. That's only for you and I to know." He grabbed some noodles from one container before opening another, "but I know you don't mind it."
I proceeded to grab from the same container and piled my plate with the different assortment of vegetables and noodles. "So... hypothetically, if Rosemary got a job in San Francisco. We could move out there too? You know, to help with the baby."
Hayden chuckled, "seeing as you two are inseparable I don't see why not. You know, so our kids can be best friends or something like that."
I tried not to choke on the bite I had taken while chewing as fast as possible. "Thank... you!" I mumbled anyways and made it a point to look into different offerings in California this coming week. It would be a longshot perhaps but the possibility of moving with my best friend was still there.
**I feel like this is somewhat a filler chapter, but then again there's good stuff in it too. Hope to update here again soon, my creativity is just low right now due to school. Sorry! Are we still enjoying this story? I love Hayden and Dasha, they're personally one of my most favorite couples I've ever created!**