this chapter's dedication goes to hemmingsinmyhood and keylimemalum. thank you for all the comments and support! we <3 you
The next two weeks seemed to go by fast for me. I focused on school and work, barely even having time to talk to Violet. I could tell she was getting worried about me, but before she could even ask I assured her that I was fine, I was just busy. And I was fine. I supposed it was a good thing that school and work had me booked because I didn't think about Harry often, not even a little bit, which I was incrediblely thankful for.
I saw him for the first time on the exact two week marker of our zoo fiasco. I was late to work and jogging down the sidewalk in flats with three books in my hands. He was coming directly towards me, talking on his phone, and when we saw me, he stopped right in his tracks and hung up on whoever he was talking to. He obviously had something to say to me, but I, on the other hand wasn't really in the mood for talking.
So, I huddled behind an old woman, acted like I didn't see him and headed towards Nebula. My heartbeat quickened and pounded in my ears. It only just occurred to me that he knew where I worked and would probably follow me when I walked through the door. When I rushed in, Macy was sitting at the front counter. I hopped over and ducked down.
"I'm not here." I said, crouching under the counter.
The the bells above the door chimed and I cringed at the sound of boots hitting the floor and the heavy breathing from running after me.
"Hi, uh, is Jenson here?" Harry addressed Macy.
"No, she doesn't work today," she lied easily, and I thanked the lord she was so good at it. "But I could take a message if you'd like."
"Uh, no that's okay." Harry said, sounding confused. "Thank you, anyways." I heard the bells ring out again, and Macy slid her stool back a bit so I could get out from under the counter.
"Why on earth would you hide someone so damn hot?" she gaped. I scowled at her mouth and she bit her lip and shrugged.
"You do not want to know. He's just an arse, that's why." I answered. "Now hop up, it's my day to work the register."
///
My schedule was jam packed the next day, and I didn't have time for any funny business, which, with my luck, would be the day that it really began.
I was listening to an audio book we were assigned to read by my Music 101 teacher because she was more into learning about composers than the music itself. I was also painting Wilber from Charlotte's Web for my Art class for a grade that I was attempting to get entered into a contest to be hung in the children's hospital downtown. I was sitting on my stool painting in the middle of the room when a harsh knock on the door echoed through the dorm.
I wasn't expecting anyone so I assumed the knock came from a pizza delivery guy coming to the wrong room. Our noisy next door neighbors loved to order pizza and give the wrong room number. "Wrong room! The girls next door ordered the pizza!" I called. I went back to painting, but the knocks repeated. I groaned, yanking out my ear phones and slamming my brush down. I had a deadline to make and distractions and interruptions weren't exactly what I needed at the moment.
I pulled open the door, not even thinking to look through the peep hole. "The girls next door can't memorize their room number-" I said, but the rest of my sentence caught in my throat as I looked at Harry leaning against the doorframe in front of me. Immediately I went to shut the door but he stuck his foot out, keeping it wedged open.
"Jenson!" he complained, putting his face up to the gap and looking down at me.
"Go away." I snapped at him. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."
"I just want to talk to you." he said, attempting to open the door further, but I kept my palms firm on the wooden barrier separating us.
"Why?"
"Because I was dumb and I want to apologize."
"Save it. You don't like me, so what? You don't have to apologize for that because I don't blame you." I said. His features softened even more as he looked down at me, shaking his head.
"Jen, I just need to explain. Just let me explain." he begged. I shook my head.
"No, Harry. Please leave. I'm trying to paint and I have a deadline and I can't deal with this or you right now." I told him. He sighed.
"Will you just let me-"
"No!" I cut him off and his lips pressed into a thin line. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to treat me like shit and then show up two weeks later with an explanation for why you're such a douchebag. Just leave me alone." and with that, I stomped on his foot, causing him to pull it back, and I slammed the door in his face.
I stared at the door for a moment before taking a deep breath and returning to my easle. Unfortunately, after my second encounter with Harry, I couldn't focus on much. My painting was turning to shit; the lines began to look runny and the colors just wouldn't work, so I decided to take a break.
A nice, warm bath would be good for me right about now, I thought. Violet took bubble baths quite frequently, so I knew she had exactly what I needed. I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I began the water and after a second the steam had already begun to relax my tense muscles. I bent down to search the cabinents for the bubble bath soap and tealight candles, finding them easily.
After undressing, I lowered my body into the hot water and shut my eyes, sinking down until the bubbles tickled my chin. This was the first moment of "down time" I'd had in days. It was nice to have a minute to myself, to just relax and clear my head.
But of course, how could I maintain a clear head when Harry just kept making his way into my thoughts? I thought about how rude he had been when we first met and how he'd ruined some of my sketches. I remembered him saving my purse from getting stolen, visiting Romeo's late at night with him, and his offer to help with my sculpting project. I thought about all the times we kissed. Then, I thought about how he laughed in my face when I told him I had feelings and how he had the audacity to beg me to let him explain himself. I literally rolled my eyes at that. What a load of bullshit. Like I'd ever let him trick me into believing a word he said or a thing he did ever again. He brought on too many negative vibes and I wished to return to my happy, jovial self. I promised myself to do just that and return to the standards I set before I came to university and before I met him. No boys, no crushes, no boyfriends, no heartache.
At the end of my bubble bath, I felt refreshed and renewed. I promised to focus on my schoolwork and art and writing only from then forward. I crawled into bed, telling myself I would finish my painting in the morning, once I had one good night's sleep.
///
The next morning, I got ready for my 8:30 Music 101 class. I plugged my earphones in before leaving the dorms, cursing myself for not at least finishing the audio book about composers last night when I had been taking a bath. I prayed my professor would give us an extra day to complete it, considering at least half the class most likely didn't even start it. I may be a bit of a procrastinator but I was nothing compared to majority of the kids at Hallows.
I dodged the make-out couple standing in front of the elevators and held back barf at the sight of their writhing tongues. I walked quickly, hoping I wouldn't be late. This particular professor was a stickler for tardies and interruptions, although that usually wasn't an issue for me, but he closed and locked his door every morning at 8:30 on the dot.
I was almost to the Musicology and Creative Arts building when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I pulled out my earphones and turned to face the person... who just happened to be Harry. I silently groaned before saying, "What do you want, Harry?"
"For you to listen to me." he said simply. "I brought you a coffee. Still hot." I looked at the coffee he lifted up and raised my eyebrows at him.
"Really? I thought I made myself clear to you last night. You don't have to explain anything to me," I turned toward the building and took one step before he grabbed my shoulder and forced me to face him again.
"Jenson, stop. Take the damn coffee, and listen to me for one second," he said with a slight growl.
I scoffed and crossed my arms in front of me. "Is that seriously how you think you're going to get me to accept your explanation, or whatever the hell you're trying to do?" His mouth opened and closed again but he didn't speak. I looked at the coffee before grabbing it out of his hands. "Thanks for the coffee, Harry, but I have a class to get to. Have a great day," I said with a slight hint of sarcasm.
"Jenson! Jenson, wait!" he called after me. I didn't turn around.
When I got to the Music 101 classroom, I turned the handle and it was locked. I stood and stared at the door for a moment with a gaping mouth. Damn it Harry, I thought. This is all your fault.
So, I turned back around and made my way back to the dorms where I managed to finish my audio book and painting, and forced myself to ignore the thoughts of Harry that creeped into my mind.
///
The Kooks were on full blast in my earphones as my eyes scanned the pictures in front of me. Our newest assignment for my art class was to analyze a certain photo and then write an essay of how we interpretted the message to be made by the author. I was currently staring at a picture of a little girl holding her doll as she looked under her bed for monsters, while the real monster was lurking behind her. I wrote that it meant to watch your back, because you never know what's going to be creeping up on you.
If only I'd been listening to my own advice, because at that exact moment my earphones were ripped out and I jumped out of my seat, ready to snap at whoever was disturbing me. Much to my surprise (honestly, I should have expected it), I was staring into Harry's eyes.
"Jenson, we need to talk." he said. Seriously?
"Oh my god, could you just leave me the hell alone? I don't want to talk to you!" I sneered, scooping my binder and bag into my hands and walking towards the small exit behind a book case in the crook of the library I'd chosen. Except, as I tried to make my way out someone stepped in the way and blocked my path of escape. Someone who was about 6 foot tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Niall, what the hell?" I snapped.
"I'm sorry, Jenny girl, but I had to." Niall said, glancing from me to Harry nervously. I was trapped, and Niall, one of my good friends, was in on it. I felt slightly betrayed.
"I could scream." I said in all seriousness with a shrug. "I don't have to be forced into talking to you."
"Except you and I both know you're not going to throw a kicking and screaming fit in the library and cause a scene." Harry smirked. That fucking smirk, even more annoying when I knew he was right. I didn't want to cause a scene.
"Fine, I'll call Violet." I seethed. I was pissed, to say the least. How dare they force me into talking to Harry? What kind of messed up scheme was this? Harry was the one who rejected me, wasn't that enough? Why put me through even more embarrassment? What was the point?
"Niall took her phone, it's turned off in his pocket. Go ahead and call, she won't pick up." Harry shrugged. I hated him. I fucking hated his guts.
I struggled to think of another way to avoid talking to him. Instead, "What do you want?" I snapped exasperatedly, moving away from Niall and leaning on the table I was previously sitting at. I was so tired of him bugging me, I just wanted to be left alone. Maybe if I pretended to listen to what he was saying I could get away without anymore casualties to my feelings. After all, I had decided I was completely done with him.
"I want to talk about what happened at the zoo." Harry said calmly.
"Why? So I can embarrass myself and you can laugh at me some more?" I laughed in disbelief. "There's nothing to talk about. You don't like me. End of story."
"Jenson, I was an idiot. I'm sorry, I apologize for acting like that. I was just... I was scared, alright? And now I need you to listen to me."
"What the hell is there to be scared of? I'm five foot two, I have the confidence of a pre-teen, and I paint for fun. I am literally the least intimidating person you know!" I frowned throwing my hands up.
"You put your feelings out there, and you didn't even blink. It was like second nature to you to just say what you felt. And I'm not good at that, in fact, I'm shit at admitting my feelings. I like you, though, I do. I know I said that I didn't like you like that and that I'm not that kind of guy but I can't pretend that I don't feel different with you." he sighed. I gulped, a frown etching over my features.
"You're just confusing me!" I fumed, pushing my hands through my hair. He wasn't helping his own case at all. He was just twisting the story and how he felt even more. "You made me feel like total shit and then you decide two weeks later that you like me now? Why?"
"Jenson, I liked you then, too. I was drunk and scared and I know its not an excuse but I'm a dick when I'm drunk. It was reactionary." he reasoned.
"You're such a prick.." I mumbled, shaking my head.
"Hey, I'm trying here! Can't you see that I'm trying?" he was right in front of me now instead of the couple of meters he was distanced before. "I know I messed up. I've been getting hell from both Violet and Niall since it happened, and I've been bugging you for a week, don't you think if I wasn't serious I would've given up by now?"
"What do you want then? 'Cause I don't want to play around. This isn't a joke to me," I said.
"I want to take you out." Harry answered easily, stepping closer to me.
"Take me out? Like on a date?" This was a joke. It had to be. Harry didn't go on dates.
"Yes, like a date. I want to take you out on a date." Harry repeated, his face turning into a grin.
"You're serious?"
"As a heart attack," he said, reminding me of the exact thing I had said to him at the zoo. "Please, Jen. Give me one more chance. I won't mess up again."
I chewed at the fingernail on my thumb, going back and forth between choices. On one hand, Harry had the potential to hurt me again and that could be avoided by just simply saying no and walking away. But I couldn't just assume something bad was going to happen, that wasn't how I typically felt about things. On the other hand, I could forgive him and award him another chance, with the possibility that we could actually work. Why did he have to go and complicate everything even further? I wondered, mentally slapping him.
I looked him in the eyes and he raised his eyebrows slightly. "What do you say, Jenson?"
I was going to go against my better judgement, I decided. I would give him another chance, just like I hoped he would give me a second chance if I were to mess up like this. I shook my head with disbelief in myself. "Well, ask like a proper gentleman, then." I said.
Harry rolled his eyes but still grinned nonetheless. He crossed his hands behind his back and leaned even closer to me.
"Would you, Jenson Arlington, please go out on a date with me?" Harry asked quietly.
I pretended to think it over. "Yes, I will, but I haven't forgiven you yet." I answered. "You're going to have to prove that I'm not making a huge mistake like Violet is going to tell me I am when I get home."
Harry's smile grew and he nodded, then held his arms open for me to walk into. I did, reluctantly, and was immediately surrounded by his delicious cologne and mint scent. The smell of Harry. "I won't let you down." he said, kissing the top of my head.
I sure hoped not.
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author's note:
all I have to say is HEART EYES EMOJI EVERYWHERE. (and also we hoped you love this chapter as much as us because we worked really hard on it.) ((double also, make sure to vote and comment if you liked it, we love your feedback))