love & hate | wroetoshaw

e i g h t e e n

i groan as i poke at the heating panel, unsure on how to use it. i've never been very good with technology, and this stupid touch screen thing is starting to piss me off. it's currently freezing in the apartment and i can't figure out how to turn the temperature up.

tommy sits there laughing at me as i continue to poke at the panel. he's no use with this kind of thing either so looks like we're gonna be wrapped up in blankets for the rest of the night.

"why don't you just call harry?" he smirks, "i'm sure he knows how to use it."

"no!" i turn around quickly, shaking my head.

"why are you avoiding him?" he questions, sipping on his glass of red wine, "i thought you were friends now?"

"i'm not avoiding him," i say, getting underneath the blanket with him and picking up my own glass and taking a sip.

"yeah, okay," tommy says, sarcastically, "what's the deal with you two anyway."

i look at him with wide eyes, "what do you mean? there is no deal."

"last time you avoided someone like this was in school, when you avoided johnathan preech because you had a big fat crush on him," he laughs.

i dart my eyes down at my glass, swirling it around and awkwardly moving in my seat. i try my hardest to avoid his gaze as i don't say anything, suddenly feeling very hot.

i hear him gasp from next to me and i cringe, seeing him place his glass down on the coffee table and turn to face me fully, crossing his legs.

"how? why? when?" he says, quickly, slithering closer to me, "isobella button, look at me, now."

i slowly look at him, raising my eyebrows, "yes?"

"you have feelings for him," he whispers, "don't you?"

"no! i don't have feelings for him–" i pause, thinking about what to say next, "i don't think."

"what do you mean you don't think," he throws his hands up in the air, "honey, you either like him or you don't."

"well, i mean, we're just friends," i cringe, still having a battle with myself over whether i do have feelings for harry or not. i've been pushing down any sort of feelings towards the boy ever since i moved to london, especially after that night we went to the park.

"just because you're friends doesn't mean you can't catch feelings," he smiles, picking his wine back up.

"i have a date," i blurt out, trying to avoid this conversation as much as possible.

"what," tommy says, confused, "with who?"

"this guy named george, i met him at the shop the other day," i smile, an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

tommy stays quiet for a moment, examining my face, to which i awkwardly look away. he always figures out anything i'm thinking just by looking at me, it's quite scary, to be honest.

"i get it now," he claps his hands together, "you have a date, but you don't want to tell harry because you feel a little something between the both of you and you're scared that he feels the same and you don't want to hurt his feelings because you don't want to fall out with him. so, instead, you are avoiding him."

i stare at him with my mouth hanging open, shocked at how fast he figured everything out. not that i feel anything other than friendship towards harry.

"close your mouth, doll," he sniggers, "you'll catch flies."

i close my mouth and exhale, downing the rest of my glass of wine, "you scare me sometimes."