"What kind of game are you trying to play here?" Harry yells and moves towards me. He is angry, beyond angry.
"I am not playing a game Harry! Didn't you see how much he wanted you to come over? He was trying to reach out to you and your were disrespectful!" I am not sure why I'm yelling back at him but I refuse to stand here while he shouts at me.
"Reach out to me? Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe he should he reached out to me when I was a kid, instead of abandoning his family!" The vein in his neck is strained under his skin.
"Stop cussing at me! Maybe he is trying to make up for lost time! People make mistake Harry, and he obviously cares about you. He has that room for you at his house, full of clothes just in case you ever decide to come over" I remind him and he shudders with anger.
"You don't know shit about him Tessa! He lives in a fucking mansion with his new family while my mum works her ass off working fifty hours a week to pay her bills! So don't try to lecture me, mind your own damn business." He snaps and gets in the car.
"Fine Harry! I will mind my own business but I'm going tonight whether you go or not." I say equally as harsh and climb into his his car. So much for our argument free day. I knew the idea was not plausible but I had hoped it could be.
"No you're not!" He grabs his door handle and slams the door closed. If I had known accepting his father's invitation would lead to this I wouldn't have done it, but Harry needs to understand that I will not be yelled at and told what to do. That's one redeeming quality I give my mother credit for, she showed me exactly how not to be treated by a man.
"You have no say in what I do and in case you didn't notice, I was invited. Maybe I should see if Zayn wants to join me?" I'm completely aware that I'm being childish and mentioning Zayn is a sure way to get Harry to overreact, like now. It's obvious that I've pushed him too far when Harry jerks the steering wheel and pulls onto the shoulder on the busy road.
"What did you just say?" The dirt and dust is flying all over his white car.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Pulling off the road like this!" I'm just as angry as he is by this point. Being around him makes me insane, I'm sure of it.
"What the hell is wrong with you is the question! You tell my dad I will go to his house for dinner, then you have the audacity to mention bringing Zayn?"
"Oh year sorry. I forgot your cool friends don't know that Liam is your step brother and you're afraid they will find out?" I taunt him.
"He is not my step brother for one, and two you know that isn't why I don't want Zayn there" his voice is much lower now, laced with anger.
Through my own anger, that ridiculous bubble of hope inflates again in Harry's jealousy. I know it's more of a competition thing for him than actually caring whether I'm with someone else but it still makes my stomach flutter all the same. Even my common sense is imparied by Harry.
"Well if you won't go with me, I will have to invite him" I say, faking an innocent smile. I would never actually invite Zayn to Harry's father's house but he doesn't need to know that.
"Tessa, I really don't want to go. I don't want to sit around with my dad's perfect family. I avoid them for a reason." He sighs and I detect a hint of the vulnerability that he is a master at hiding.
"Well I don't want to force you to go if it will hurt you, but I would really like if you could come with me. I am going either way. He invited me and the look on his face was too much to turn down, I'm sorry." My voice is soft now as I try to diffuse the situation. Harry and I have gone from eating yogurt to screaming that each other and back to campus again. My head is spinning, it had been since I met him.
"Hurt me?" He sounds incredulous.
"Yes, if it will bother you that much to be there I won't try to make you come. I just thought it was a good idea but I see now that you don't agree." I meet his eyes and he quickly looks away. I know that I could never make Harry do anything he doesn't want to do and he has no history of ever being cooperative so why bother?
"Why would you care if it hurt me?" He brings his green eyes back to mine and I try to look away but once again I am under his spell.
"Of course I would care, why wouldn't I?"
"Why would you is the question," he runs a hand over his hair and the look in his eyes give me the idea he is pleading with me, like he wants me to say the words, but I can't. He will use them against me and he probably won't ever want to hang out with me again. I'll become the annoying girl who likes him, just like the girls Steph told me about. I refuse to be one of them, I want to be more but I know that won't happen either, so I'd like to keep a little dignity.
"I care about how you feel." I hope this answer is good enough for him, it's all that I'm ready to say.
Interrupting my embarrassing confession, my phone rings and I reach down and pull it out of my purse. Noah's name and photo flashes on the screen and without thinking. I hit ignore before I realize what I'm doing.
"Who is it?" Harry asks, he is so nosy.
"Noah"
"You're not going to answer?" He looks surprised, he should be. I should be.
"No, we are talking" And I would rather talk to you my subconscious adds.
"Oh" he shortly responds, his smile evident.
"So are you going to come with me? It's been a while since I have had a home cooked meal, so I am not passing it up." I smile, the mood in the car is lighter but tense all the same.
"No, I am not. I have plans anyway." he mutters. I don't want to know if those plans involve Molly. I try not to dwell on them but I can't seem to help it.
"Oh, okay. Are you going to be mad if I go?" It's strange for me to go to Harry's father's house without him but Liam is my friend too, and I was invited.
"I'm always mad at you, Tess." he says and I laugh.
"I'm always mad at you too" I agree with him, it sure does seem that way.
"Can we go back now? If a cop comes along we will get a ticket." I remind him and he nods, putting his car into drive and pulling back onto the road. I'm relieved that our fight ended before it got out of hand.
"What are your...uhm..plans today? I ask, I promised myself that I wouldn't ask but I have to know.
"Why are you asking?" I can feel his eyes on me but I focus on staring out of the window.
"I'm just wondering, you said you had plans anyway so I was just wondering."
"We have a party again. That is basically what I do every Friday and Saturday, except last night and last Saturday..."
"Doesn't it get old? Just doing the same thing every weekend with the same drunk people?" I hope that doesn't offend him but I'm genuinely curious.
"Yeah, I guess it does but we're in college and I am in a fraternity, what else is there to do?" He raises a brow at me. I still can't connect Harry styles and fraternity in my mind.
"I don't know...it just seems tedious, to clean up everyone's mess, every weekend especially when you don't even drink."
"It is, but I haven't found anything better to do with my time so..." he trails off. I know he's still looking at me, but I keep my eyes away from him.
The rest of the drive is quiet, not awkward just quiet.
"Well, thanks for taking me even though I didn't find a car. I appreciate you driving me." I tell him as he parks in front of the dorms.
"Yeah, no problem" he rubs the back of his neck with his hand. I try to think of an excuse why he should come in just so I can spend more time with him but I know there isn't one and I'm beginning to worry about my growing attachment to him.
"Bye Harry!" I call back and he waves me off.
I am flustered, my emotions are in overdrive. I just spent the night and most of the afternoon with Harry and we get along, mostly. It was actually fun, a lot of fun and I'm sad that it ended. Why can't I have such a great time with someone who actually like me? Like Noah, for example I know I should call him back but I want to revel in the way I feel right now, I want to savor the way my blood feels like it's buzzing through my veins, I want to feel young and excited for just a little while longer.
When I get back to my room I am surprised to see Steph there, she usually stays gone all weekend. "Where have you been young lady?" She teases and shoves a handful of cheese popcorn in her mouth. I laugh and take my shoes off before plopping on the bed.
"I was looking for a car." I leave out Harry's involvement, the last thing I want to do is answer her questions.
"Did you find one?" She asks, handing me the bag of popcorn. I shake my head and shove a handful of the popcorn into my mouth.
While I'm explaining the events of the day, sans Harry of course, there's a knock at the door and Steph get up to answer.
"What are you doing here Harry?" She growls. Why is he back? I glance up nervously and he walks over to my bed. He has both hands shoved into his pockets and he is rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots.
"Did I forgot something in your car?" I ask, ignoring the not so subtle gasp from Steph. I'll have to explain to her later, I'm not even sure how we ended up hanging out so I need time to come up with an excuse.
"Ermm...no. I uhm...I thought maybe I could drive you to that dinner tonight. You know, since you didn't find a car." he stutters, surprising me by the nervous tone of his voice. He doesn't seem to mind or notice that Steph is standing in the room with her jaw practically on the floor.
"If not...that's okay too, I just thought I would offer." He adds. I sit up and he pulls his lip ring between his teeth. I love when he does that and it distracts me for a moment. That mixed with the surprise of his offer, makes me forget to answer him for a few moments.
"Yea...that would be great. Thank you" I smile.
He smiles back, a warm and seemingly relived smile. One of his hand pulls out of his pocket and he sweeps his hair back with it before stuffing it back in.
"Okay...uhm, what time should I be here?"
"Six-thirty?"
"Okay...well see you then." he says and turns on his heel.
"Thank you, Harry!" I call as he reaches the door.
"Tessa." He calmly responds before walking out of the door, pulling it shut behind him.
"What the hell was that?" Steph squeals.
"I don't know, actually." I admit. As soon as I think Harry could not get more confusing, he does something like this. I don't know why he would want to drive me, but I'm sure I will find out his intentions soon enough. All I can do is hope for the best, I suppose.
"I can't believe that just happened! I mean Harry...the way he came in here, he was like nervous or something! Oh my god! And he offered to drive you to dinner...wait who are you going to dinner with? And you though you left something in his car, which means you have been in his car today? Or was he talking about yesterday? How do I miss so much! I need details!" She rambles and takes a seat at the edge of my small bed.
I explain to her how he showed up here last night and we watched a movie and he fell asleep, then we went to look for cars today, l leave out all details about his dad except and I'm thankful that she's pleased enough with all other details from today and last night that she doesn't ask again.
"I can't believe he stayed here, that is a huge deal. Like Harry doesn't just stay places, ever. And he never lets anyone stay with him. I heard he has nightmares or something. I don't know, but seriously what have you done to him? I wish I would have recorded the way he looked when he just came here!" Steph laughs, she's obviously very interested in my...friendship with Harry. I don't have the slightest clue what to call this thing we are doing.
"I still don't think this is a good idea, but you seem to handle him better than most, just be careful." She warns again. I get the feeling she has more to say but she fills her mouth with popcorn again.
What have I done to him? Nothing, surely. He just isn't used to being nice and for some reason he's being nice to me. Maybe just to prove a point that he can? I'm not sure and If I think about it longer than thirty seconds it gives me a headache.
I bring up Tristan and she takes the conversation from there. I try to pay attention to her stories from last night's party, how Molly ended up shirtless, (go figure) and Louis beat Niall in a drunken arm wrestling match, she swears it was one of those things that are much funnier when you are there. My thoughts drift back to Harry of course, and I check the clock to make sure I have enough time to get ready for tonight. It is four o'clock now, so I shout start getting ready by five.
Steph thirty and is ecstatic when I ask her to do my hair and makeup. I'm not sure why I'm putting such effort into looking okay for a family dinner that I really shouldn't be going to, but I do anyway. She puts light makeup on me, you can barely tell it is there but it looks great. Natural but pretty, and she curls my hair with the way she did yesterday.
Was that just yesterday? It seems like much more time has passed since. I decide to wear my maroon dress, despite Steph's attempt to have me wear something from her closet. My Marron dress is familiar and conservative, it is my favorite.
"At least wear the lace tights underneath, or let me cut the sleeves off of it." she groans.
"Fine give me the lace tights", I guess. "This isn't that bad though. it's from fitting." I defend my dress.
"I know, it's just...boring." She says, crinkling her nose. Steph finally smiles when I put on the tights and agree to wear high heels. I still have a pair of Tom's tucked in my purse from yesterday so I keep them there just in case.
I'm more nervous for the ride to his father's house than the actual dinner. I fidget with the tights and walk around the room a few times before Harry finally knocks on the door. Steph gives me a strange smile and I pull the door open.
"Wow Tessa, you uhm...look nice" he mumbles and I smile. She very when does he say, "uhm" in every sentence?
"You two have fun" Steph says and winks. Harry flips her off and she returns the vulgar gesture as he closes the door in her face.
Harry and I climb into the car and he turns the radio on but keeps the volume low. I am beginning to feel nervous for the dinner, the drive is awkward and Harry is acting strange.
"I don't know why you got all dressed up just to go to my dad's when I am not even going. it's weird." he snaps out of no where. I roll my eyes and mentally bang my head against the window. I knew his nice behavior wouldn't last.