Issues // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Eleven

We entered the cafeteria, and Harry grabbed a tray to hand to me. I shook my head, "I'm not having anything."

He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to me, "Why not?"

I shrugged casually, "I don't usually buy lunch here. Normally I just go home and make myself something to eat."

"Well I'm buying, so load up."

Giving him a look I say, "No, Harry, you paid last time-"

"I don't care. I'm not letting you skip lunch. I know you've got back to back classes after this, and then work. You probably won't eat until late tonight." He insists.

"I'll get a snack at work." I push back.

"It's really not a big deal. I can pay for us. I don't want you to be hungry."

"And I don't want you to have to pay for everything all the time."

"I don't mind-"

"I do! I don't want to use you for your money."

"Daniella-"

"No." I say firmly, "You don't get to use my full name, and make my heart beat fast and knees weak so I'll give in to you."

The corners of his lips turn up in a poorly concealed smile before his hands squeeze my biceps and rub them gently up and down. He steps closer to me, and says lowly, "Daniella, I suggested bringing you to the quad to have lunch. Next time we'll go back to yours and make something, okay? I'm not having you go hungry, because you're too hard-headed to let me pay for your food." I give him a pout, but he just chuckles, "And don't think for a second that I believe you're using me for my money. I know what that looks like, and you, baby girl, are not like that. Now let me spoil you in the smallest possible way I can."

I sigh, but nod my head after he gives me a quick peck on the lips as a last attempt to soothe my worries. I hadn't really thought about it too much, but I knew Harry had money. That was obvious when I figured out who his father was, always the type to pay with his platinum card, thick and heavy in my hand when I'm serving him. Even before that, I had semi-expected it mainly from seeing the people he hung out with. Once I started to get to know Harry, it was obvious that he didn't need to ever worry about that stuff. Not only was his dad rich from owning a successful company, but his mother was a renowned heart surgeon.

I could tell, however, that Harry didn't like to talk much about his money or families money. This was the first I had heard him speak of people previously using him for his money, but now I had questions. From what I've gathered, he knows a lot of people, but he's only close to a handful. He only trusts the smallest amount of people, and somehow I have become one without even really trying. It's like he trusted me before he knew me, and I adored that about him. It was how I felt about him that first time we met, how strangely comfortable I was around him.

He finds us a seat to the side, so we aren't surrounded by the vultures we go to school with, a small little table that has just enough room for the both of us. Harry went overboard with my food, like I knew he would, a grilled cheese, tomato soup, a pre-packaged salad that I'm sure he got so I could eat before my shift tonight, a bag of cookies, water, and a hot tea. I actually chuckled a bit when he just kept putting stuff on my tray, my heart warming that he cared so much and already knew me enough to know I probably wouldn't have eaten until well after my shift tonight.

"What are you doing for Halloween this weekend?" He asks me once we settle.

I shrug and dip my sandwich into the steaming soup in front of me, relishing in the heat surging down my body. "I'm not sure about Friday. Wanted to check with you first, but I've got plans for Saturday."