Begin Again

Chapter 19

Eva's POV

I looked at Harry as he began to speak. I couldn't help but notice the stress on his face as he looked at his hands. His eyebrows pulled together, causing lines in his forehead to appear as he thought about his words to say. He continued to drag his tongue over his lips as he fiddled with his thumbs.

Finally, he looked up at me. 

"In eighth grade," he began, looking down, "when I was starting to become closer with the other guys, they uh...they made me make a deal with them."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I shrugged, "what kind of deal?"

"They made me make a bet," he said, "that in high school, I'd try to reconcile with you and get you to fall for me...so that at prom, I'd ditch you and break your heart."

I felt my heart drop and my face heat up at his confession. I was about to get up when he spoke again.

"But I stopped it and backed out before we even started talking," he continued, "I couldn't go through with it. I don't think I would've ever gone through with it.."

"How the hell should I believe you?" I snapped, suddenly feeling extremely betrayed and unsure, "how am I supposed to know based off of all the shit you pulled in the past."

His sad green eyes snapped up to meet mine as he tilted his head, "you have to believe me Eva. I want nothing to do with them now, especially now that I have a chance of clearing things up with you."

I pursed my lips and nodded, looking down, "I can't trust you completely. Especially not now."

He nodded, "I know that. I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't find out from someone else. Also, I wanted to warn you."

I scowled, "warn me?"

He nodded, "I told Niall and the rest of them that I would no longer be going through with the bet, but ever since, it's like they've taken it upon themselves to go through with the bet on their own. I wouldn't know though, because I haven't spoken to any of them, but I just wanted you to be on your guard."

I nodded and soon started to feel my eyes water, "why me? Out of all people, why me?"

Harry looked at me sadly, as his own eyes started to water as well, "I wish I knew, babe. All I know now is that I'm deeply sorry and totally desperate for you to forgive me. Or at least try to. That's all I want."

I bit my lip and shrugged, "I need to think about it."

Harry nodded and sighed, "that's all I ask. Is that you give me a chance."

I nodded and looked down as I let his new confession sink into my mind. If this was something that he had been hiding from me for so long, God knows what else he was hiding from me up in his mind of his. I furrowed my eyebrows as I fiddled with my shirt. I wanted to trust him.

In all honesty, after I thought about it, there was nothing more I wanted than to make up with Harry and be best friends again, but past experiences kept me from doing so.

"Harry," I whispered, "if I do give you another shot, will you promise me one thing?"

He nodded instantly, sitting up straighter as he looked at me. His green eyes shined with expectancy and anticipation.

"Don't hurt me," I said, "ever again."

He nodded and smiled softly, eyes showing a hint of remorse as he looked down.

"I wish I never left you," he pouted, "now I have to compete with Evan who is ten times more sassier than I am."

I quirked an eyebrow at him before I noticed the smirk that played on his face. I realized he was serious about the first half of his sentence and only wanted to lighten up the mood by joking around a bit. Nonetheless, despite what awful timing it may have been, it didn't stop me from letting a small chuckle escape my mouth. 

"You're an idiot," I muttered. He shrugged and leaned back against his chair. 

"I've always been one," he winked. I sighed and shook my head.

"So, how is this going to work," I asked, "do we start over? Pretend like nothing happened? What?"

He bit his lip and sat up, "start over? I know for a fact that there is no way for you to forget everything that happened between us just like this."

I nodded and bit my lip, "so...new beginning?"

"New beginning."

We nodded and sat silently for a while, probably trying to come up with something to say to each other. We stole quick glances at one another, smiling awkwardly from time to time. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and looked at me.

"Should we do that thing that the people do where they stick their hands out and introduce themselves?" he asked. I laughed and shook my head, scrunching my nose.

"No," I denied, "I hate those cliches." 

We laughed and began to talk about random things again, just like we did the other day.

~

"And then, I accidentally slipped on a banana peel and the pie flew straight into Gemma's face," Harry cackled as we rode in his car. I giggled as he told me this story of how he embarrassed his sister in front of her boyfriend at the time a couple of months ago at a family get together.

"Of course, the guy was a douche though," he snorted, "I wanted him to think that her family was crazy so he'd break up with her."

I quirked an eyebrow, "I don't think he was a douche if your sister chose to date him?"

Harry shook his head, "no he was. He was already cheating on her with this other girl. I saw him making out with her at the mall."

I widened my eyes as I looked at Harry, "wow. You care about your sister."

He scoffed and nudged my shoulder, "of course I do. The only reason I didn't care about her when we were younger was when I had no sense and thought girls were gross."

"You didn't think I was gross," I countered. He pursed his lips and thought.

"Yeah but you didn't exactly possess feminine traits, my dear," he joked. I gasped and pretended to get offended as I punched his arm. 

"I was a tomboy when I was younger, fuck you," I laughed. He shook his head and laughed as we finally reached my house. He pulled up into the driveway and smiled at me. I smiled at him as well before I sighed and reached for the door handle.

"I should go," I said, "but thank you for all of this. I'm glad we're trying again." 

A look of relief crossed his face as he nodded, "me too. I'll see you around, Eva."

I nodded and exited his car, watching him as he drove out of our driveway but not before offering me a small wave. I smiled and waved back before I slowly made my way up to my house. The entire time, I kept reviewing our hangout.

It wasn't bad. 

We went to the diner, ate dinner. Then after that, we drove around town and just talked about stuff. It was nice. It was like we were friends again; like we never stopped. 

As much as it confused me to admit, being with him made me happy. Just like being with Evan did...except when I was with Harry, I felt..different.

It was a different kind of happiness that I felt with Harry. I wasn't sure what it was yet, but it scared me.

And yet, I didn't want that feeling to go away.

---------------------------------------------------------------

She's starting to slowly cave. 

What do you think is going to happen? I'm tired af but I hope you liked this update. :)

Vote,

Comment,

Love,

S.