You Only Want Me When I'm Taken

Chapter 56

I stared at the letters on the table, absolutely furious at Jasmine for hiding them. After I’d found them last night, I wasn’t even thinking of reading them. All I could think of was Jasmine and how she’d hid them when she knew how devastated I was because I thought Harry didn’t care anymore. She knew, she knew all this time.

  I was sitting on the table in the kitchen eyeing the letters, waiting for Jasmine to come home from the airport. I was supposed to pick her up, but I texted her saying that “I was too sick to drive”, so she had to find another mean of transportation.

  Jasmine was supposed to be here at 6, and it was already 6:20, where the heck was she?  I was about to text her and ask about her whereabouts when she burst through the door with her huge suitcase and a bag of Chinese takeout.

  “Hi” she beamed excitedly, rushing towards me to give me a huge hug “I missed you so much, Em! You should’ve come, Prague was amazing! I also got you Chinese since I know how cranky you get when you’re sick!” she said, smiling sympathetically. I didn’t say a word. I just sat there on the chair, looking blankly at her. The way she acted made me sick; pretending we were all good when she hid something major from me “What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly, putting her things down. I remained silent and waited for her to catch on. She opened her mouth, ready to say something else when her eyes caught the letters from Harry on the table “Where’d you find these?” she asked, her face growing pale.

  “It doesn’t matter where I found them” I hissed “How could you?” I yelled with exasperation.

  “Emily, I know this looks bad, but I only did this to protect you!” she justified herself.

  “Protect me? I can’t believe you! You out of all people should understand that these letters could have changedeverything! You heard me cry myself to sleep every night! You knew how devastated!”

  “I’m sorry!” she interrupted me “All you two did was fight, and I was sick of seeing you crying all the time, so I did this for you. He doesn’t deserve to be around you anymore! You deserve better than him! You deserve better than Niall!” her hand immediately rose to her mouth when she realized that she’d said Niall instead of Harry.

  “So this is what this is all about” I said with realization “This isn’t about me or Harry, this about you and not being able to get over Niall” She stared at the ground without saying a word. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.

  “I’m sorry Emily” she said sincerely “I am so, so sorry. I thought I was looking out for you, I really did…it’s not over for you and Harry, you can—”

  “He’s getting fucking married!” I yelled with tears streaming down my face “It’s as over as it will ever be! Now I don’t even know what could’ve happened if we had given it another try thanks to you” I grabbed the letters and made my way to my room.

  “So what happens now?” Jasmine yelled after me.

  “Nothing” I said turning around to face her “From now on, we’re nothing but roommates until I can afford another apartment, and you get to sulk in the glory since your brilliant plan worked. Congratulations, I’m as safe as ever now” I got into my room and slammed the door. I sat on the ground, burying my face into my hands trying to stop my whimpering.

  First I’d lost my mum, then Harry, and now my best friend. Things just kept getting better and better, didn’t it?

HARRY’S POV:

  “I swear we’re just friends” I explained to Madison for the 16th time “And you’ve met her already. You said you liked her”

  “Yeah, when I didn’t know that she was your freaking ex!” she yelled, freaking out.

  “She has a boyfriend” I said, giving her another reason why she should trust me around Emily “And I have you” I said, moving closer to her and holding her hands which seemed to calm her down “You’re my fiancée, I love you, and nothing is going to change that. I just need you to understand that she was a huge part of my life, and getting her back as a friend would mean a lot to me” She looked at me for a couple of seconds, processing everything through.

  “I guess” she sighed “She did seem really nice when I met her…” I smiled, stroking her cheek gently with gratitude.

  “Thank you” I whispered, kissing her slowly.

  “I want to meet her formally” she said, pulling away “You know, we can double date and stuff” she smiled at me expecting me to agree to this. I looked at her blankly. She wanted to double date…with my ex…and her new boyfriend who hates me…well that made perfect sense.

  “Uh, I’m not sure about the double dating thing” I told her slowly, watching as her face dropped “But you’ll definitely meet her someday.” She smiled at me with a vague look in her eyes. I didn’t exactly know what Madison was suggesting or what her motive was; jealousy, anger, acceptance, irritation, sadness, happiness; I had no idea. Come to think of it, I don’t think I knew anything right now. I wasn’t sure about how I felt about Emily being a part of my life as a friend again, or how I felt about this whole wedding, or even about Madison.

  I couldn’t help thinking what would have happened if she’d read the letters; if she knew that I still loved her. Would we be together? Would I have been engaged to Emily instead of Madison?

  I spent the rest of the evening with Madison, but my mind kept trailing back to Emily. I’d pull out an old memory of us when we were teenagers, then my eyes would spot the huge diamond ring on Madison’s finger and I’d instantly snap back to my bitter reality. I wondered what Emily might be doing at this moment; probably painting, or watching re-runs while munching on pop-tarts, or trying to cook something extravagant. God, I even missed eating her under-cooked pasta. I could never forget the day she invited me over for a ‘fancy dinner’ and tried to cook some fancy Italian dish for the both of us.

  “You hate it, don’t you?” she asked worriedly as I took a bite of the gooey pasta she’d cooked.

  “No, it’s delicious” I lied, trying to repress spitting out the food with every fiber of my being. The pasta was absolutely horrible, but she’d worked so hard trying with setting up a lovely dinner table with candles and everything. I managed to give her a grin and a thumbs up. I think she figured out I was lying. She laughed, sitting in my lap.

  “How about we order some pizza instead?” she asked, still laughing lightly.

  “Pizza sounds amazing” I said with so much relief, spitting out the food in a napkin, engulfing her in my arms. I remember how we spent the rest of the night cuddled up in one blanket, wrestling for the last slice of pizza.

  Even the lightest touch from her fingers was stuck in my head; how she used to run her fingertips smoothly against the back of my neck before cupping my face with her small, soft hand. How her small plump lips felt against mine; brushing lightly against them before she pressed them onto my lips.

“Earth to Harry!” I heard Madison’s voice ring in my head as she nudged me. I looked down at her next to me on the couch to find an aggravated expression on her face.

  “I’m sorry” I said still a bit distracted, swallowing my throat “What were you saying?”

  “I was telling you that we should go pick out the invitation layouts tomorrow” she said still ticked off, standing up “But you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll just plan our wedding all by myself” She stormed off to the room, slamming the door behind her. I threw my head back with frustration, feeling a headache coming along. What went through my head when I proposed?