beyond being friends | harrison osterfield

Part 5*

Ever since your trip to Brighton, Harrison's kept his distance from you. He's out of the house a lot and you honestly don't know what he's doing. And you're not sure you want to. What if he's meeting other girls? It shouldn't bother you, but it does. He's also keeping conversations to a minimum, no flirting involved at all and you should be happy, right? Because that's what you wanted. But now you sort of miss him. And him keeping his distance does nothing to help with the fact that you want him. Badly.

Your monthly meet up at the pub is coming up and you're excited to see Sam and Tuwaine since both of them have been so busy lately.

They're both already sitting in your usual booth when you and Harrison arrive.

"There you are!" Sam exclaims when he sees you and gets out of the booth to wrap you in a much-needed hug. You've been craving some physical affection and it's not like you can get it from Harrison. Because you told him to keep his distance. So you relish the familiar feeling of being wrapped up in your brother's arms.

"I missed you" You mumble and squeeze him a little tighter.

"I missed you, too" Sam pads your back "Are you doing okay? Has Harrison been a good housemate?" He quirks an eyebrow.

"Yes, he has" You just wish he'd pay more attention to you. But you can't tell anyone that, not even Harrison, because then you're the one sending mixed signals. You let go of Sam and greet Tuwaine with a hug as well before scooting into the booth next to Sam, Harrison now sitting across from you. You don't know how you're supposed to get through the evening.

You try your best to not focus on Harrison too much all night. But that's basically impossible. Your eyes just move to him as if there's a magnetic pull. Every time he laughs your heart warms.

And the later it gets the more you catch Harrison looking at you as well. It's subtle but the corners of his mouth quirk up just a little bit higher when he catches your eyes.

When it's time to go home all of you are a little tipsy, so you offer Tuwaine and Sam to stay over at your place. You've got two empty rooms and you're certain that Tom and Harry won't mind. But both of them decline and hop in a taxi after saying goodbye. So it's just you and Harrison on your way home. And while the walk to the pub had been nothing but two friends walking to the pub together, you had now almost forgotten about your promise to keep your distance from him.

Your shoulder keeps bumping into Harrison's arm and you do nothing to stop it. It sounds stupid but even that little bit of contact makes your insides flutter. You're already too far gone for him and you don't know what to do.

When you finally reach the house, Harrison unlocks the door and lets you enter first.

"You know, I'm actually not that disappointed that they didn't stay with us"

"Why's that?"

"Because I want you all to myself" he shrugs his shoulders as he takes off his coat, revealing his tight-fitting t-shirt again. There's no one around so you finally get to admire how it hugs his figure perfectly, his bicep straining the fabric just slightly whenever he moves.

"Is that so?" You manage to drag your eyes away from his arms so you can look at his face instead. "And what do you wanna do now that you've got me alone?" You raise an eyebrow. You know that you're playing with fire. Both of you had agreed not to cross the line again but here you are heavily flirting with each other. You've been tiptoeing around each other and it feels like the tension is about to snap like a rubber band that's been pulled too hard.

Harrison smirks and takes a step closer, then his hands are on your hips and all sane thoughts abandon your brain.

"I've got a few things in mind" His voice is gravely, barely above a whisper and it makes warmth pool between your legs.