oh, anna [-hs]

come into the water

He shakes his head. "Future Quinn won't appreciate me staying the night, and I should go."

"Do you want to go?"

He pauses, staring at me. I wait for an answer to my question but he never gives it. Instead he slowly stands to his full stature and puts his hands into his pockets. "I should go," he finally says.

His answer is frustrating. I press my lips together and stand up to meet him in the doorway. I lean against the frame and cross my arms, locking his eyes with mine.

"I just mean, a lot happened tonight. I think we should call it a night," he trips over his words.

"Sure," I offer. His hands still in his pockets he sways back and forth slightly. "Well get home safe, goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight, Anna," a little smile spreads across his mouth at the name I told him I like. I return the expression. He brings his hand up like he's about to cup my face, or hold a strand of my hair, but then decides against it and walks out the door.

I really wish he had.

But he's right, a lot happened today. I kind of snapped at him. And then he wrote a song about me. And Emma sang along. That's a lot, I'm sure we both need a break.

I deadbolt the door behind him and wander down the hallway to the bedroom, where Emma is. She's laying on her bed, listening to her earbuds. She looks over at me as I appear in the doorway. Her hand gently pulls the earbuds out. They lay strewn about on her covers.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles. I sigh.

"Thank you."

"I shouldn't have sung that with him, he just seemed so sad. And the song was so catchy. But it was wrong of me to sing along."

"Thank you for acknowledging that I forgive you, it's okay." I repeat myself and lay down next to her on the bed.

"So when are you going to kiss him?" She smirks. I roll my eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh shut up," she shoves my playfully in the side. I let out a laugh and turn my head to look at her. "He likes you and you like him but he's waiting for you to make the first move so he knows you're ready. So when are you going to make the first move?"

I shrug and look back up at the ceiling. Emma's stuck glow in the dark stars across her half of the space. They're a faint neon green, almost radioactive, in the musky glow of her lamp. "When the moment is right. We both have to be happy and need it desperately. That's when I'll do it."

"Huh," she chuckles to herself. This time I poke her in the side.

"What?" I ask as she giggles.

"You've put a lot of thought into it is all."

"Why's that a big deal?" I feel my cheeks heating up.

"You just aren't the type of person to think about feelings, Quinn. You're the type of person that embraces them and then leaves a fiery wreck once you're tired of the relationship."

"Well that's a little dramatic," I tease.

"Think about how things ended with Wes, about your relationship with your parents. I don't know, it seems pretty spot on to me."

I shut up.

"So it's interesting to me that you're holding out now."

"Too much therapy today I think," I stand up from her bed and flop onto my own, pulling the cover over my head. She chuckles, but flicks off her lamp. We surrender ourselves to the dark and sleep.