Phoenix | hs au

20 - Paper Bag

Harry flits his eyes back to mine. I know what this looks like to him. I know it doesn't look good. Peter is just my friend! I just wish I could get him to understand that.

"Hey Harry!" I wave Harry over to us, brushing Peter's hand off my shoulder quickly. Frozen in place for a moment, Harry blinks hard and walks over to us on the grass. He's frowning and looking pointedly at the ground, not making eye contact with me as he walks over.

"I saw that you forgot your lunch, but it seems like I'm to late." He says, flicking his eyes at Peter. His tee shirt sticks to his skin, he must've been walking all over campus to find me. If my heart wasn't hammering out of my chest, I would think that was incredibly sweet of him.

"Thank you." I say, taking my crumbled brown paper bag from him. He remains standing above us, very interested in the clot of dirt between his shoes.

"I told Peter about our show tonight, are you excited?" My attempt at small talk is feeble at best. Harry scoffs, running a hand through his hair at the same time.

"Yeah, I've got some prepping to do with Ash. I'll see you at home, Katie." He turns and walks away without even waiting for me to say anything in response. Great, now I have to deal with this again.

The air is thick and uncomfortable between Peter and I. I can tell he's eating his lunch out of a curtsy of not wanting to make the situation worse.

"Is he okay?"

I take a deep breath and sigh dramatically, "He's touchy sometimes. He probably got the wrong idea with us sitting so close and being all chummy." As the words come out of my mouth, I realize how sour that sounds.

"That's not-" Peter begins to wave his hands between us but I stand up abruptly from the grass, picking up my half-eaten sandwich and crumbled paper bag.

"I'm gonna go to the bookstore. I forgot I needed something." A stupid lie, way too vague to mean anything.

As I walk down the hill, past the library, I manage a glance at Peter's reflection. He laid down not he grass, with his hands covering his face. He probably thinks it's his fault.

But I think it's all mine.

---

My stomach has been in knots ever since my encounter with Harry on campus. I almost rear-end somebody on the highway, I was so lost in my own head. After a few honks and swearing cars, I make it back to our little yellow home. 

I walk inside, ready to be reprimanded. Instead, I find the house empty. I check and double check my phone–no messages from Harry. Great, I must've really pissed him off.

I send him a quick text, just Where are you?

Frustrated, I hop in the shower to get ready for the show tonight. I scrub my face hard and yank a brush through my wet blond hair. I dwell on the look on Harry's face when he saw Peter's hand on my shoulder. He was comforting me, not trying to make a move!

Still in the bathroom, I hear the front door open and shut. My heart starts beating faster, I can't remember if I locked it or not when I came in. I listen hard for the telling sounds of Harry's footsteps, and am relieved when I hear his ring tone chiming in the kitchen.

I put my ear on the door to listen in.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we'll be there."

"I don't know, I think she's in the shower."

"I've got a new song for tonight, I want to try it out."

"No, it's a pretty basic drum beat, we'll be fine."

"No, I don't want her to."

Me? What doesn't Harry want me to do?

"Yeah, thanks Ash, I'll see you in a bit."

I back up from the bathroom door. I'm not sure what other female he could be referencing in his phone call to Ash. Harry's voice sounded strained.

I finish drying my hair and getting dressed. I walk out of the bathroom and find Harry sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees, hunched over.

"Can we talk?" I ask pointedly.

"Ash and I are just going to do a set tonight."

I take a step back, "What do you mean? Without me?"

"We're going to do some old songs and some original ones. And you've never practiced our original ones." He doesn't lift his head to look at me, just continues starting at the rug.

"So why not just continue with songs I do know?" I cross my arms.

"Let's just take a break. Ash and I already talked about the set tonight."

"Harry, Peter means nothing to me. He's a friend. I don't know why you're reacting like this."

"It always starts with a friend. I saw the way he was looking at you Katie, it's how I look at you." He finally lifts his head and I see his eyes are red. Was he crying?

I shake my head, not believing what he is saying.

"Harry," I blink back moisture, "I had just told him about my scars, of course he was looking at me like that. He's been nice to me!"

"You've known him less than a week and have already told him about your deepest darkest secret?" He scrunches his brows together, looking at me like he doesn't recognize me.

"Harry, he's my friend." I say quietly.

He ignores the hurt look on my face and says, "If you're still coming to the show tonight, we need to leave now."