bestfriends (h.s. au)

8. THAT NIGHT WAS A DATE, DON'T LIE.

"No."

That's what Willa wanted to say. What she should've said in response to Harry asking to speak to her alone. She had nothing to say to him, quite the contrast from the two of them always being able to speak and never running out of anything to say. In true Willa fashion though, she nervously nodded which was a signal for Harry to come inside the room. Mental note—stop being such a pushover, Willa thought.

"Why aren't you speaking to me?" Harry immediately asked as the door was closed and Willa looked everywhere but him.

"I'm just busy. 'M working on my doctorate, i've been working a lot." It was a good excuse, a great one even, if Harry didn't know Willa and know how she was.

"Bullshit. You found time for me before, what changed?" A look of hurt crossed his face as he watched the blonde uncomfortably shuffle on her bed and fiddle with the rings on her fingers. It was enough she hadn't been speaking to him but now blatantly lying to his face?

Willa could feel her palms grow sweaty and her lips get dry from the pressure of the situation. She licked her lips and looked at Harry, "I don't know what else you want me to say, Harry. I have no other reasoning. I'm sorry if you expected a huge issue but there isn't." The lie left her lips perfectly but even then, she felt sick.

She wasn't one to lie but she didn't want any drama between Anna and Alex, especially if it was her fault. Harry would tell her if Willa just opened up and yelled about how he hurt her. What boyfriend would hide that from their girlfriend? Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Can you not be honest with me or something, Willa? Come on. We've been friends through thick and thin now."

"No. I can't." The words slipped out of Willa's mouth. Word vomit. Her eyes widened at her own admission and she looked at her lap.

Harry was taken aback but the admission, "What? Why?"

"It's not im—"

"Don't you say it's not important! It is important. Friendships are built on trust and you clearly don't trust me, Willa."

"If they're built on trust, why not tell me you're going to date Anna rather than ghost me and string me along? Huh? You tell me you feel something for me and then the next day, it's like nothing ever happened." Willa was a lot more calm than she expected she'd be in this situation.

Harry paused for a second before speaking, "Wil—"

"No, you don't get to talk. I heard you while
I was falling asleep saying you felt something for me. You chose to hurt me." Willa could feel the tears brimming in her eyes now threatening to spill as her mind recounted the night.

Harry had his arms wrapped around the smaller of the two while they laid in his bed as they did most nights. Willa let her head rest on his chest while she stared at the dresser across the room, drawing patterns on his bare abdomen.

The silence in the room was comfortable and the pair was tired. Alex always went crazy on her birthday and Willa had to learn to keep up with the birthday girl. Her eyes began to flutter shut, feeling Harry's thumb rubbing over the exposed skin of her shoulder. As she was drifting off, she heard the soft words from Harry spoken,

"You make me feel something and it scares me."

Harry's lips parted from the revelation. Not only did he not expect Willa to hear it but he wasn't ready to face the conversation of what was said. He kept his eyes on Willa, her blue eyes now a green shade as tears slipped down her soft cheeks.

"It doesn't fucking matter anymore, Harry. It all makes sense now. I always knew the date was a friend sort of thing but everything else? Yeah, you just needed someone there for the company."