The End Of You And Me | BOOK 1 (Completed) & 2 (Currently Writing)

TEOYAM | 10. Heart Like Stone

"Yes, he was." I nodded, looking down at my barely touched food, as if it was not a big deal, "he was also the one who took care of me when I got sick on my 18th birthday. You know, that day when you suddenly had to go away for some 'business meeting' and I was left all alone to fend for myself." I finally looked up at her, making quote signs in the air when I said business meeting. God knows she didn't have a business meeting on my 18th birthday.

"I see." She gave me a small smile, completely ignoring my last statement. I could see how annoyed she was getting because of my behavior, causing a smirk to appear on my lips. That smirk, however, was quickly wiped away when she spoke the words: "Listen, Veronica. I think we need to have a talk."

I absolutely hated hearing those words. We need to talk. Why do people even say that? I mean, aren't we talking now? What's the point in pointing out the obvious?

"Talk about what, mom?" I faked a smile, tilting my head to the side.

"This... boy. We need to talk about this boy." She placed her hands on top of each other. Her eyes were locked on me as she talked. "He's not from our world."

But of course, of course she'd say he's not from our world. The urge to tell her Harry's not an alien and that he's only British was so strong, but I fought against it.

"I get it, it's exciting because he's a new face in the crowd. But eventually, you'll get tired of toying around with this boy." She shrugged, completely sure of her accusations.

This is so typical. Of course she'll think I'm just fooling around. I know I'm partially to blame for that, given my track record when it comes to relationships. Oh how I wish this was just 'fooling around'. Life would be much easier if that was the case.

But anyone with two eyes-- no, anyone with a brain can clearly sense that that wasn't the case for me and Harry.

I cared about him. A lot.

I cared about him too much, actually. The past two weeks of suddenly not talking after spending every single day of the past two years talking with Harry was driving me mad. Was he okay? Did I hurt his feelings? Okay, that was a stupid question. Maybe he did not vocally admit anything, but he did make a move and he did kiss me so that means something, right? Or was it a kiss that didn't mean anything? I mean, people always kiss just because they want to and not because they like the person, right? See what I mean when I said this was driving me mad? This was driving me completely insane. Not knowing the answer to so many questions was taking a toll on me, my mood, my way of dealing with things and I didn't like it.

"He's not a toy, mother." I sat up straight, crossing my arms in front of me. "He's my friend. A very good friend of mine, actually."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that he's down there and you're up here." She spoke as a matter of factly, making me roll my eyes. "For crying out loud, Veronica!" My mom's voice rose as she inched closer to the table. "You're the heiress to the multi-billion Rockefeller Group of Companies. You're New York's It-Girl. You're a regular on US Weekly. The page 6 won't be the page 6 without you in it. Fashion week is around the corner and your uncle Amancio couldn't be more proud that you're the face of Zara. And this boy is what? Nothing of importance in our world. Don't throw it all away for some low class boy from the streets."

"You don't know a thing about Harry, mother." I slammed my hands on the table, appalled by my mother's choice of words and how she just degraded someone important to me. "He's not nothing. He's not as irrelevant as you make him seem. He's been nothing but kind, caring, supportive-- hell, we can even say he's been-- well, loving. He's been loving towards me. I mean--" I stuttered. Since when did I freaking stutter? Gross, I know. "I'm not saying he loves me. I mean, he probably does. But not in that way-- in a more than platonic way-- I think. That's not the point. I'm not gonna go into-- he's my friend to say the least. He's important to me. I don't see why this is an issue now. I mean, you didn't seem to mind our friendship two years ago. Why is it such a big deal now?"