One Plus One

Chapter Twenty-Two

"My shirt looks good on you." Harry spoke as he drove.

I giggled nervously, fiddling with the sleeves that had been rolled up because they were so long on me. We pulled up outside the park and I was helped down from Harry's car. Harry draped his arm over my shoulder as we walked, pulling me into him, so I took the opportunity to side my hand into his back pocket.

"Someone's getting brave." Harry teased.

"Give me a bit more time and I'll show you how brave I am."

"I like the sound of that."

We came to a stop on the hill overlooking the lake. Harry pulled me to sit in between his legs instead of beside him. His strong arms supported the both of us as I leaned into his chest. I could hear the pumping of his heart through his thin t-shirt. I closed my eyes as the breeze blew over us, absorbing every moment with him.

We sat there for what seemed like hours with music quietly playing on Harry's phone in the background. We didn't have to say much, we simply were enjoying each others company. Our beautiful moment was interrupted by the vibrating of my phone. I felt Harry jump behind me. I shuffled away so I could get it out of my back pocket and realised it musy have vibrated against his crotch.

"Sorry." I giggled.

"Who is it?"

I read the text and then threw my phone onto the grass. I tried to lean back into Harry but he stopped me and turned me around. He stared into my eyes. He'd worked out that if I got lost enough in his gaze I'd tell him anything.

"What's wrong?"

"It's fine."

"Marlie."

"It's Jaz. A payment is due on the house but I don't have the money for it."

"Well why can't she pay? You both live there."

"No we don't."

"I thought you lived together."

"We did, but she's moved into Jamie's and left me in a house that I can't pay for. Can you take me home? I need to sort this out."

"Don't worry about it, don't let it get to you."

"Please, Harry."

When he saw that I was getting upset, he picked up his phone and jumped up. He pulled me up and lead me back to his car. Upon pulling up outside my house, Harry leaned over the centre console and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Do you need me to stay?"

As much as I wanted him to, I shook my head. I needed to deal with Jaz on my own. Harry looked at me understandingly. He waited until I was at my front door to pull away. I instantly wished I'd asked him to come in. The cold emptiness of the house hit me as soon as I opened the door. Inside was a letter from the landlord. I dreaded to think what it was going to say.

I cautiously peeled the envelope open and slid out the paper inside. As soon as I read the first paragraph, tears of anger formed in my eyes. I took out my phone and dialled Jaz's number.

"Hello?" she answered.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Jaz?! You haven't put any money down on the house for four months! Where's it been going?"

"I had other stuff to pay for."

"Yeah, like what? And why were you using that money when half of it was mine? I gave you it for the house not so you could go and spend it."

"It's nothing to do with you what I spent it on. I needed to pay for stuff so I used the money."

"I have until the end of next month to get what we owe together. I can't do that Jaz. I don't earn that type of money."

"Well don't look at me for any money. I don't live there anymore."

"Jaz, you're such a fucking child! You were living here up until a week ago! Those four months that haven't been paid are down to you, you owe that money, not me!"

"Tough shit I'm afraid."

"What has happened to you, Jaz? Why are you being like this? Is this because I started with Harry?"

"No."

"Oh so it has nothing to do with the fact you lied to your boyfriend about what happened at the back of the club three years ago?" I harshly spat.

The other end of the phone went dead. She'd hung up on me. The tears of anger I'd been holding back fell in a torrent. I slid down the door of the living room and sat at the foot of it crying until no more tears came out. I couldn't even think of what I was going to do.

*****

"From : Harry

Everything ok, gorgeous? .x"

I'd been staring at the text for around two hours. It was a simple question that I cued quite easily make up some answer to yet I couldn't. I'd typed and re-typed answers but every time I hovered over the send button I thought of something different. Eventually I gave up and threw my phone to the side. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling hoping the patterns would form themselves into some sort of answer for me.

When I woke up in the morning, I had missed calls from both Harry and Jaz. I didn't want to hear what Jaz had to say. She'd made her feelings quite clear to me. So much for family. As for Harry, I'd managed to calm down so I knew I could tell him everything was alright now. I dialled his number and waited for his response.

"Hi, gorgeous. I called you and texted you last night. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, fine. All sorted."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

I could tell he wasn't convinced by the pause before he spoke again.

"Well, listen, I have to babysit Alesha today so I can't see you until tomorrow."

"It's ok, don't worry about it, it'll give me a chance to sort this house out."

"I thought it was sorted?"

"It is, I mean, to an extent. I just have some things to finalise."

"Ok, well, I'll see you soon, angel."

"Bye, Harry."

I felt a bit lost. One thing that would have made everything feel like nothing would have been Harry's strong arms around me, and him telling me everything was alright.