Paper Airplane

40

MERRY [EARLY] CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!  I hope you enjoy!  If you'd take a moment to let me know what you think in the comments below, it'd be much appreciated <3  Also, on my main account (@simmerup), Paper Airplane is going TEEN FICTION.  So keep an eye on that!  Hope finals are going well for everyone who has them, and I hope you all have a FABULOUS winter break.  Be thankful for everything and everyone you already have in your life this year.  A lot of people aren't as fortunate as you are.  I truly hope 2015 does this world better.  Love to you all xx  Take care, and be safe.  Have a lovely Christmas (or a lovely whatever you celebrate)!

Chapter Forty

 

 

                I felt like I was stepping on eggshells around Harry today, and I hated it. 

                It was because I was so annoyingly aware of this being our last day, and I wanted it to be perfect and I wanted to do something, to say something, but I couldn’t find the nerve and I didn’t want to ruin anything.  Part of me wanted to just step out into the hall for a moment and call Lucy so that she could tell me what to do, but technically I guess she already did.  Now it was up to me to follow through, and I couldn’t.

                I’m such a coward. 

                I think Harry could tell that something was a little off with my attitude, and I wondered what he thought of it.  He never asked about it, though, and to be honest I wished he would.  Maybe then I’d say something.  Maybe then I’d be able to admit to him that I didn’t want him to break up with me and I didn’t want him to date Katie and I didn’t want this to be a fake relationship anymore because somewhere along the line I tripped over another invisible stair and completely fell for him.  And damn him for that – I hope I dumped another smoothie on him.

                We were between movies now, having just finished Love Actually – a favorite of Harry’s.  And somewhere between me tossing out different movie titles for him to choose from and now, we’d completely lost track of time and our original train of thought.  Because movies have been entirely forgotten.

                “You never did explain,” Harry was saying, fingering the watch on his wrist.  We were sitting side by side on his bed, our backs against the headboard, an empty bowl wedged my right leg and his left that had previously been filled with popcorn until Harry ate it all.  “What exactly happened that night with the smoothie?”

                I groaned, bringing a hand up to run over my face.  “Must we discuss this?”

                He laughed.  “I think so, yeah.  It’s our last chance to.”

                Ignoring the way that seemed to pierce my stomach, I sighed.  “Well.  Brady took me to that party thinking I’d have a good time, and honestly, it really wasn’t working.  So I bought a smoothie and decided I was going to escape and just wait in the car,” I began, staring blankly ahead as I remembered that night far too well.  It was the night that started it all.  “I was, like, pretending to be with this group of girls I think, and once I got past my brother without him noticing, I thought I was in the clear.  I think I started running or something?” I laughed.  Harry was grinning, too entranced by the story to laugh along with me.  “I don’t know, either way that stupid, invisible step appeared and I missed it, and as I plummeted to the floor, your, uh, chest happened to catch my smoothie.”