Guys Our Age (Wattys2017) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Chapter 21: I Hate You, I Love You (Hannah)

"I hate you."

"You love me, Hannah." Mason responded.

"I hate you." I repeated.

"You love him deep down." Hailey added. I turned to her with a dirty look.

"I hate you too."

They exchanged a look before exploding into laughter. Hailey shoving at Mason's shoulder when he tried to flick her nose. I groaned at the obnoxious couple, burying my face in my pillow with a sniffle.

"I have got chicken soup and tissues! Superman has arrived!" Justin exclaimed, shoving passed Mason and set another tissue box on my lap and held out a can of soup to me. I swatted it away.

"You're supposed to cook it." I said sarcastically, giving him a serious look. He rolled his eyes.

"I know, Smart Ass. Your dad is in the kitchen cooking, I'm waiting until he's out of there." He leaned forward to kiss my forehead, but I pushed him back.

"You'll get sick, Justin." I shook my head, then turned to Mason with another glare. Hailey had somehow escaped getting sick. How, we had absolutely no idea. Dad and I had got the cold with a force, nearly knocking us both on our backs.

"I'll show you how to use the pot." Hailey dragged Justin out of the room by the collar of his shirt, leaving me to stare at the person who had done this to me.

"I hate you." I grumbled.

"Hate is a strong word, Han." he whispered.

"So is love." I responded just as quiet, "But you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Anger flickered in Mason's usual kind eyes, his lips curling back.

"If you loved my sister you'd say something. You'd tell her how you feel, she'd be excited and happy for once." I could see emotions whirling around in his eyes as his cheeks flushed.

"It's not that easy, Han. If she rejects me, if she says no, then what happens to our friendship, wh-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled, "She is so in love with you that she's beyond realizing it, Banks! You can't think she's going to reject you."

"You don't understand, Hannah. Before Justin-"

"I understand perfectly fine, Banks. I understand that you have attachment issues, that you think you're going to do one thing wrong and break her heart. Well, newsflash, so does she." he reached up and buried his hands in his hair, shaking his head as he tried to think up an answer.

"Who were the flowers for?" I lowered my voice again.

"Hannah-"

"Mason."

"They were for her, okay? Is that what you want to hear? That I'm an idiot that can't become man enough to finally tell her how I feel?" His voice was rising.

"Why didn't she ever get them?" Was all I said in response.

"Because I threw them away." he shrugged, "I can't do it."

"One day, possibly soon, she's going to meet another guy Mason. And she's going to fall in love with him, she'll forget about you, she'll be the one that got away. Then, then many you'll realize what could have been."

*

"So are we still doing the charity thing this weekend?" Justin brushed my damp hair off my forehead, tracing his thumb along my cheek.