*Harry's POV*
I should call her. It has been over a week. I have not seen my girlfriend in over a week. We have texted, barely, but she is always saying she is too sick to see me.
I pick up my phone off the couch, only to reconsider and throw it back down.
No, I will let her get better and when she is ready she can talk to me.
But what if she is waiting for me to call her? I have probably been reading into this wrong, and she wants me to call first. That has to be it.
I pick up my phone again and quickly type in her phone number. I bring it up to my ear. The phone rings more times than I can count, and I am so close to just giving up.
"Hello?" I faintly hear her say before I hang up.
"Jess?" I respond. I must sound excited, but I really am, so that is okay.
"Yeah, Harry?" She sounds as if she has a cold.
"How are you?" I say first. I genuinely cannot stop worrying about how she is, because it has kept us apart for this long. I hope that she is not sick anymore. But I really hope that she was not mad at me this entire time and just never told me.
"I'm tired. It's seven in the morning, babe," she says through a yawn.
"Sorry." I frown, even though I realize she cannot see me. "I couldn't wait to talk to you any longer."
She laughs. My heart jumps. I am really glad that this is going okay so far. I was honestly terrified that she did not want to talk to me. "That's sweet."
I smile. "I haven't heard your voice in a week."
She pauses. "Ye-yeah."
"It's nice to finally talk to you again." She says nothing back. "I love you." She takes a long time to answer. Long enough so that I wonder if she hung up on me. "Jess?"
"Oh-I, I love you, too. I'm sorry, I was just thinking- about nothing- it was nothing. Nothing important, I mean."
Any hope that I had of her and I not having a problem is gone. I cannot lie to myself, though. I called her knowing that there was something troubling her, and I knew we were going to have to talk about it. I guess now is as good a time as any to bring it up.
"Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" I urge. I keep my voice calm and level. I doubt using force will get it out of her. And I need it to come out of her.
"Everything's fine," she responds quickly.
I am positive there is something wrong. "Was it something that happened at the party?"
She does not answer.
"Is it because I asked about Zayn?"
She sighs into the phone. "No, it's none of that. It was nothing that you did. I've just had a bad week."
"Okay." She is lying. She is the worst liar I have ever met, but I will not push it. I still have to ask if she wants to go to laser tag with me. "So listen."
"Yeah?"
"A couple of friends are going to play laser tag on Friday. If you think you'll be better by then, I was thinking that you and I could go."
"Laser tag?" I can hear in her voice that she is relieved from getting off of our last subject.
"Mmhm."
"Isn't that for kids?"
"No, it's not just for kids."
She laughs. "Who's going to be there?"
"Erm, Louis, Eleanor, Zayn and Niall, I think."
"Right." She sighs, but still does not give me an answer. I wait for her to speak again. "Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'll be better by Friday."
I was truthfully not expecting her to be so willing. "So you'll go?"
"Yeah. And listen." She stops. "I'm sorry, for not really being around the past week. I've just been having trouble with a few things and I've needed time to deal with them."
"I understand. I'm just glad that you're getting better now."
*Jessie's POV*
"I love you, Harry."
"I love you, too," he says back eagerly.
"I'm going to go. It's too early for me to be up still," I say, rolling around under the sheets.
"Okay. Sleep well."
"Thanks, bye."
"Bye, babe."
I hang up the phone. He does not realize how much this is hurting me. I cannot blame him for my pain, though; it is one hundred percent my own fault, and I do feel awful for it.
Louis has been pestering me nonstop to tell Harry. I keep saying I will. And I will, but the longer I put it off, the harder it gets, and I keep putting it off, so it keeps getting harder.
But I know that Louis is running out of patience, if he has not already. I am going to tell Harry when we go play laser tag- after we play laser tag. Then I will not be ruining the game for Harry and he will be in a good mood.
I still feel so selfish- as I should. Every decision I have made for the past week regarding Harry and I has only benefitted me. Who am I kidding? I do not just feel selfish. I am the epitome of selfish. I kissed one of Harry's best friends, did not tell him, and then I isolated myself from him so that I do not have to be reminded of my guilt. How can I even truthfully say that I love Harry when all I keep doing is things that will hurt him?