Hazel

Chapter 34

Hazel POV

Michael approached me with a warm smile, and I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of relief at the sight of a familiar face.

"Hey, Hazel, mind if I join you?" he asked, his tone filled with genuine concern.

I nodded, grateful for the company. Michael sat down next to me, and for a moment, we both sat in silence, taking in the tranquility of the garden.

"Are you okay?" he finally broke the silence, his voice gentle.

"Of course I am," I replied, trying to compose myself.

"I can tell you've been crying," he said.

"It's honestly nothing," I replied.

"If you say so," he responded. "You look beautiful, by the way."

I could feel my cheeks flush, and I responded, "Thank you."

He smiled, and then he asked, "Why are you here by yourself?"

"I'm not much of a party person," I admitted.

"Neither am I." He paused and then continued, "If you don't mind me asking, why did you come if you don't like parties?"

"Well, Aiden is my... my friend, and I wanted to be here for him," I replied.

"Well, if you had done something like this for me, I would have never left you alone. I would have been extremely thankful, and I would have stayed by your side the entire night," he replied.

"Aiden is the host and is very busy, plus I don't mind being alone. But now that you're here, I'm not alone anymore," I responded.

"You're right. Then I suppose it's a good thing Aiden isn't here. I can have you all to myself, that is if you don't mind my company," he said.

I felt my face grow warmer, and I replied, "I don't mind. You're a good friend, Michael."

"Yeah," he replied, sounding a bit down.

"Why don't we head back? I'm sure Chloe must be looking for me," I suggested.

"Of course," Michael replied, standing up and offering me his arm. I hesitated for a moment but then laced my arm with his.

We walked back to the main area, where the party was in full swing. People were dancing on the dance floor, and I kept my eye out for Chloe. Finally, I spotted her.

"Hayz! There you are. I've been looking all over for you," she said as Michael and I approached her.

"I was in the garden," I replied. "Then I ran into Michael," I said, gesturing to him.

She smiled at him and said, "Thanks for looking after my friend. I was with her, but then this annoying neighbor just wouldn't leave me alone."

"No problem. I enjoy Hazel's company," he replied.

"I know, right? Michael, hypothetically speaking, if Hazel was your girlfriend, would you keep your relationship a secret?" she asked him, and I secretly hit her, but she ignored me.

"Oh no, I would never do that. If Hazel was my girlfriend, I would want the whole world to know how lucky I am," he responded.

Trying to change the topic, I spotted Cara and said, "Oh look, there's Cara!" I waved to get her attention, and she smiled and walked over to us.

"Michael, you came," she said happily upon seeing him.

"Oh hi, Cara. Yeah, I decided to come, " he replied.

"Andrew said he invited you, and you turned him down," she said.

"Yes, well, Hazel here convinced me to come," he said, smiling at me.

"Hazel, how do you know Michael?" she asked.

I was about to reply when Michael said, "Oh, where are my manners? Hazel is the girl from the hospital I mentioned to you guys," he explained to Cara, and then he turned towards me. "And Andrew is the friend who invited me here. I didn't know you all knew each other," he said.

"Chloe and I have been working together for years, and through her, I met Hazel," Cara explained to Michael.

"Well, isn't this a small world," Chloe commented.

"It definitely is," Cara replied. Then a man walked up to Cara. She smiled at him and said, "Oh Hazel, Chloe, this is Andrew."

"Hi, nice to meet you," he responded, and we exchanged greetings. He turned to Michael and was surprised to see him there. "Man, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to come," he said.

"That's what I said," Cara replied. They turned to Chloe and me and said, "You see, we invited Michael here to the party to introduce him to a few girls, but he instantly declined." Then she looked at me and added, "I can see the reason why."

Feeling awkward, I blushed, and then Michael replied, "I don't need you to introduce me to anyone, Cara."

"You're right," Cara said, winking at me.

Thankfully, they changed the subject and started talking among themselves. I looked around the venue, trying to spot Aiden, but I didn't have any luck.

As the night went on, we all stayed together and then headed to a table to have dinner together.

After dinner, I finally spotted Aiden on the dance floor, surrounded by different women. Chloe gave me a look, but I brushed her off, pretending I was fine.

"We should all go dance," Cara suggested.

"Yeah," Chloe replied. Oh no, I didn't know how to dance.

Before anyone else could say anything, Aiden walked up to us and greeted everyone.

"Hey, is everything okay here?" he asked.

"Everything is good, man. Looks like the ladies have been keeping you busy all night," Andrew said.

"Oh no, definitely not. I'm not interested," Aiden replied, brushing off Andrew's comment, but it made me feel a bit jealous

"Well, since you finally can spare us a minute, why don't we go dance? We wanted to go, but we were one man short," Andrew suggested.

"You're right, honey," Cara replied. "Now we all have a dancing partner. Chloe, why don't you dance with Aiden, and Michael can dance with..."

Before Cara could finish, Aiden interrupted, saying, "Actually, why don't I dance with Hazel? No offense to Chloe, but I know Hazel a little better."

"Oh yeah, no problem," Chloe replied.

"Let's go dance," Cara said excitedly.

We all headed to the dance floor, and I looked at Aiden. "I can't dance," I said.

"It's fine, just follow my lead," Aiden replied. I hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed Aiden's steps. Then he whispered, "I'm sorry I haven't been with you tonight."

"It's okay," I replied.

"No, it's not. I wish I could have been able to spend the entire night with you," he whispered in my ear.

"It's okay, I understand," I replied.

"I promise we'll be able to tell everyone soon," he said.

Before I could answer, someone walked up to us. "Aiden, you promised me a dance," a beautiful girl said.

Aiden was about to respond when someone who looked like the girl's father stepped in and said, "That's right, Aiden."

Aiden looked like he wanted to protest and glanced at me. I put on a brave face and nodded. Aiden sighed and said, "Sure," while the girl giggled, and I stepped back to give them space to dance.