Hearts Without Chains

23.

"You really think that's the reason?" He finally speaks. "That he's said a few mean things to you?" He adds on.

"Yeah, I thought so but-"

"It's because he's an asshole, Joey. He sleeps with every girl he meets and smokes pot for goodness sakes." He tells me, putting his hands out for emphasis.

"You smoked pot once." I fire back, and quickly look over my shoulder to see if his mother is in hearing reach.

"I already told you that wasn't pot." He defends himself.

"Whatever." I mutter under my breath.

"Is that someone you really want to be with? Someone who's high all the time and doesn't care who he's with?" He asks me.

I stare down at my feet, my cheeks burning with heat. We sure are getting to the point here.

"I don't even know if I'm with him, so stop saying that. And he's not high all the time." I say.

"So he hasn't asked you out, but you guys are kissing?"

"And doing who knows what else." He adds onto the end.

"I have my father for this Tyler, not you." I'm irritated now, feeling like I'm getting a lecture from my bestfriend.

"Well someone needs to tell you!" He exclaims.

"And how would you know that we are doing anything? How would you know that we aren't just trying to be friends?" I accuse, folding my arms over my chest.

He scoffs and shakes his head, clearly knowing I'm lying.

"So you haven't kissed him?" He asks me, putting me on the spot.

So I look down to my feet once again, knowing I brought this one on myself as I shake my head.

"So you gave up your first kiss to an asshole." He mutters under his breath.

"And like I said, who knows what else."

He's just being bitter now, sitting in the chair at his desk with his arms over his chest, like I do standing in his doorway. I guess he notices my lack of denial in adding something to his last statement, because he looks up to me and begins to speak.

"Jo, you haven't....." He trails off.

"No." I sigh, putting his worries aside of me sleeping with him.

Even though its not his business, I can understand why he would be concerned. To other people who don't know Harry well, they only see the bad parts. And even though I don't know much about him, which the realization of it now makes me frown, I know there is good parts to him.

"Thank God." I hear him sigh.

"Why are you so worried?" I ask in an annoyed tone.

"Because I care for you?" He laughs un-humorously.

"But I wouldn't be telling you to not be with someone if you liked them." I put myself in his position, and know its true. I don't like Kim very much, and I didn't tell him that at all. And if he liked her, I would've let him.

He sighs, and begins to pick at his fingernails, hands resting in his lap.

"I just didn't think it would go like this." I hear him murmur.

I finally walk into his room at this, and sit on his bed across from him.

"What do you mean?"

"Us."

My breath hitches in my throat, and my hands instantly become sweaty, wanting to change the subject desperately. I know things had changed between us near the end of school, that he started to give me butterflies and I began to notice how handsome he was. But now I don't as I sit here, I realize. Because just a matter of a week ago, I almost told him that I liked him as I sat on this exact bed. When, and what made that change? Because he's always been the type of person I've seen myself being with.