The Ashes

Chapter 9

I pulled away. What the hell was I thinking? Harvey sighed softly.

"You okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I-"

"No, it's not that, I just... I don't know. I'm not sure what... I mean- Oh, I give up. I can't ever explain myself."

He chuckled. "It's okay, kitten."

"It's really not."

"Yes it is.", he smiles, hopping off the wall. There's a dash of emotion crossing his face, but before I can identify it, it disappears. "It's like 2am, we should probably get Kat and take her home."

"Sure." I agree vaguely. I feel annoyed at myself. It's not that I didn't want to kiss him, or like I felt I wasn't ready emotionally or whatever. I just sort of panicked. I shut people out systematically, without even wanting to most of the time. After I grab a bottle of water, we find Kat, who is incidentally completely drunk, and I walk down the street next to her giggling figure and Harvey's, lost in my thoughts.

"You have such nice hair!" she gasps, running her fingers through it. "It's all bronzey and shiny and soft and long and-"

"Okay Kat." I snigger. "Let's get you home." I realise I don't even know where she lives.

"Noooooooooooo... I don't wanna. I'll be all alone. And then the demons will get me!" she says sadly.

"Do you want to come back to my house?" She nods her head vigorously, a huge smile lighting up her features. And then empties the contents of her stomach on the side of the road. Gross. At least she'll sober up a bit.

I give her the rest of my water bottle out of sympathy.

"Thanks." , she says, rinsing out her mouth and then taking a long drink. "Jesus, I'm going to have a killer hangover tomorrow." She whines, the alcohol still slightly affecting her. "It's not fair."

"Your fault." Harvey smirks.

"Well not really, if you think about it. You forced Thalia-"

"- I didn't force her -"

"- to come to the party, and she invited me, so it's all your fault." She laughs.

"You chose to drink."

"I wouldn't have had to choose if I hadn't come, and I essentially came because you forced Thalia, so -"

"Okay, we get the point." I snigger. Kat moans something about feeling sick again.

As we reach my house I unlock the door, pointing out the bathroom to Kat, which she hurries into.

"So." Harvey says.

"So."

"See you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday."

"I know. It's a surprise, I'll pick you up at 11."

"Can you not? I hate surprises."

"You'll love this one."

"If you say so." I say doubtfully. He smiles, then pauses.

"Do I get a goodnight hug?", he asks, holding his arms open. Oh, what the hell.

"Okay." I acquiesce, wrapping my arms around him. He slides his arms behind my back and pulls me to him. Neither of us lets go until someone coughs behind us. James and Kat are standing in the doorway, Kat with her eyebrows raised and James looking suspicious, glancing between the two of us. Well, crap.

"See you tomorrow," he smiles maliciously, pulling away from me and leaving, leaving me to walk straight towards a soon to be overprotective brother.

"Care to explain?" James frowns.

"A friend." I sigh.

"Of course." Luke says. I hadn't realised but he's been standing behind James. "A very friendly friend, is all."

"Bro. No. Let's go, Kat." I insist, pulling her up the stairs behind me. My parents go on business trips a lot; if they aren't back by this point it means it's going to last a few days.

"So. You and Harvey, huh?" Kat smirks once we reach my room and I begin to pull out the spare mattress. She tucks her feet under herself, sitting cross-legged on my bed. "Cute."

"Oh, be quiet." I say, feeling my face heat.

"Success!"

"What?"

"You do like him."

"I honestly don't know." I say, and it's true. He's sweet as hell; damn, he's pretty much perfect. I don't see any reason why I don't. Maybe I do, actually, but there's no way he's going to find out. Okay, I do.

"Don't lie to me.", she says sternly.

"Okay, fine."

"I was right!" she concludes excitedly, once my blush has given me away completely.

"You can't tell him!" I panic.

"Obviously not. What kind of friend would that make me? On the other hand, I'm not letting you hide it completely like you are now. The poor kid is obviously clueless that you like him, especially since he's head over heels for you."

"He is?"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

"Um, I don't know."

"I know a crush when I see one." She states. It's not surprising, she probably gets boys throwing themselves at her feet. It's odd, because you'd only expect people like Courtney to experience that, but she's her complete opposite and every guy looks like that lovesick emoji when they see her.

"So what do I do?"

"Well, I kind of heard everything. Oh and it's only fair to know your brothers did too. Incidentally they're cute, but that's besides the point. So I'm going to wait here while he takes you out and then you will tell me everything. And you will be open and friendly and flirtatious and friendly."

I groan. "Kat", I whine. "I'm a social lost case."

"Bullshit, have you seen your sass? Use it." She jokes.

"Kat."

"Okay, okay. Just be open, you'll be fine."

"Okay." I say hesitantly. "Night."

"Night."

~~~
Wtf okay that sucked, especially the end
Anyway
Go listen to Troye Sivan he's amazing and idk I'm listening to Fun now and the bass is amazing.

So there was another chapter. Idk if you liked it but hey, don't care. Well I do, but I like to pretend I'm badass sometimes, don't judge me cos you do too.

Loooooveeeeeeee
Alice x
P.S. You see that little star? When you click it it looks prettier and it automatically delivers unicorns to you, so go click it