Bad Friend

18- My Mind

"Okay, so... I might have been wrong."

I felt Harry smile against my bare shoulder. "I'm glad I could change your mind."

For the first time since we'd started this... thing between us, we were cuddling. Barring last night, we hadn't held each other like this in two years, and even then this felt different. His lips were gentle as they grazed across my neck and shoulder while we laid comfortably on my bed together, Cher somewhere down below us. It felt good, nice even. I was never one to have somebody stay in my bed, or to stay in somebody else's for too long. But seeing as I was so tired I could barely lift a finger, I didn't think I had much say in the matter, and I found that I didn't really want to move either.

I was only teasing before; I mean, I thought Harry was sweet and kind and gentle and all of those other things, but I had never seen that other side of him before. The whispers I wouldn't ever repeat, the expert touches, the way he seemed to just take control and still know exactly what I needed in the moment. Just thinking about it now made me excited and slightly terrified by how much I enjoyed it.

Flipping over so I was facing him, I rested my cheek against his chest. "I really was trying to compliment you, you know. I like that you're so nice. It compliments the fact that I'm... not so nice."

"You're nice," Harry argued, his mouth turning into a slight frown. "You are so nice." He kissed both of my cheeks and the corners of my mouth.

"I'm not really, but that's okay. I'm quite cold, I don't like talking to people very much, and I rarely leave this building," I said. It didn't bother me that I wasn't the nicest person in the world. I had the few people I liked, I had my dog, and that's all I really needed.

Harry ran a hand through my hair until his fingers danced along my back. "I think you give yourself too much credit. I'd say you're lukewarm at best."

"Oh, thanks," I laughed, squirming a little when he peppered kisses all over me.

"I mean it, G. You're incredible. And Mitch likes you, for what it's worth."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I met him for like, two seconds, and then I had a meltdown in front of him."

Harry had been placing sweet kisses into the crook of my neck. It was like now that he had me and I wasn't trying to make a quick getaway, he was taking advantage. For a second I thought he hadn't even heard me, but then he popped back up and kissed my forehead. "See? You're great. Not even a meltdown scared him off of how amazing you are."

Harry was trying to make me feel a little better about yesterday, and I knew that, but I still felt embarrassed. I didn't need him or his friend to see me like that, I didn't need them worrying about me, and I definitely didn't need anyone pitying me.

Sitting up, I got out of bed to shimmy into the clothes that I was wearing earlier. When I sat back down on the edge of the bed, Harry had propped his head up one one hand, most likely watching me as I changed. "Perv," I mumbled, pushing his shoulder a bit. Harry only smiled and held the hand that nudged him, lacing our fingers together. I stayed sitting up, wanting to face him while I spoke. It was finally time to talk about yesterday. What happened, why it happened. I dreaded it, wanted to run and hide myself in another room, but I owed this to Harry. I couldn't just break down and pretend like it never happened, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Truth?" I asked, looking down at our clasped hands. Harry squeezed it, a sign for me to continue. It was like he'd picked up on the mood shift in the room, sensed that after being playful all morning it was time to get serious. He sat up too, shuffling closer to me so that our knees were touching.