Crossroads - H.S.

Chapter 27

"The blood is rushing to my head. It's filling up like a tick." I say as I turn myself back around to sit on the couch correctly, and Harry follows, pulling me to sit on his lap as soon as he can.

"Careful, I'm already lightheaded." I warn when I crash into his chest and he wraps his arms tight around me.

"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you, baby." He says and presses a soft kiss to my cheek.

"What? I didn't even notice." I say sarcastically.

"Oh hush. I don't want you to feel like I don't want to pay attention to you. You're my favorite part of being awake." He smiles lightly, and I roll my eyes at his cheesey comment.

"I guess I like being around you too." I joke back and he drops his brows while he sticks out his lip with a dramatic pout. He unwraps his arms from me so he can lean back and fold them across his chest.

"Oh c'mon," I swing my leg over his so I can face him while straddling him, "you know I'm joking. I used to not want to wake up before you. Now I only go to sleep because I know I'll see you when I open my eyes." I rest my hand against his face softly, and he looks at me with his pouty green eyes.

"I don't like that you used to think like that, and I don't like that you still might. Stuff like that doesn't just go away when you meet someone. Especially someone like me." He says with his eyebrows pinched tight together.

I don't want him to worry about me. I know he has bigger fish to fry, and I just want to be able to support him and make sure he's okay.

"Hey, I'm okay," I try to reassure him, "I didn't say that to upset you or to make you worry. I want you to know more about me. My past will always be there, and that's just a fact. You're the only person I've ever wanted to tell about it."

Harry reaches his arms up and wraps him around my shoulders, pulling me to his chest and squeezing me tight.

"I'm always here for you, Jude. Always. Even if you think whatever you have to say will piss me off, I want you to tell me. Be who you are, like I am who I am."

How sentimental we're being is starting to make me overwhelmed and uncomfortable, and although it's gotten better, I still don't want to go through sob stories.

"Hey, why don't you tell me something you've never told anyone before?" I offer when I pull out of the hug, trying to lighten the mood, and still find a way to get to know him better.

"Well, you know me. Just an open book. This is gonna be tough." He jokes and I roll my eyes.

"Don't be a jackass." I warn and shove his chest lightly.

"Okay- uh... I have a weird obsession with fortune cookies. Like, I love them."

"Fortune cookies?" I scrunch my face up at the random confession.

"Yeah," he laughs, "I don't know what it is. They're good, and you get a little saying in the middle. What, you don't like fortune cookies?"

"I don't, actually."

"Why? Weirdo." He pokes fun at me, his dimples popping with his smirk that he can't seem to get off of his face.

"I actually used to get Chinese food with my mom all the time. It was our thing, and we took our fortunes very seriously," I smile at the memories, "One time when I was 16, I got a fortune that I loved. It said 'Good things are coming your way'. I thought it was cute, so I decided to keep it. And that following year was the hardest year of my life. My dad went off the rails, and you could see that my brother was soon to follow. I could see how much stress my mom was under, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. And then she died. It's like that cookie had a fucking voodoo spell put on it."