Buttercup [H.S]

Chapter Twenty Four

"I'm sorry."

Harry keeps his voice low, to not disturb the others who's tents are only feet away from ours. Though they'd drank enough to drown a small army, I doubt our whispers would wake them.

It's almost pitch black. The sleeping bag Harry leant me is a bit too warm, the cramped space we're sharing not helping.

We're laid shoulder to shoulder, us both on our backs. I'm staring at the peaked roof of the tent, how I had been since I'd climbed in here an hour ago.

"Riley," he sighs, lifting himself up on his elbow so that his face is forced into my view. "Come on. Don't ignore me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Mitch."

"Oh, you mean how he knows absolutely everything about us?" I sneer. "How I've been hanging around him for weeks, non the wiser that he's aware of every little detail of our past."

Another sigh. "Yes, okay, I'm sorry about it all. But I knew if I told you, you'd feel awkward."

"Awkward?" I scoff. "I feel like a fucking idiot. He probably hates me Harry, and I've been walking around utterly clueless."

"He doesn't hate you," he tuts, and I resent the impatience in his tone. "Believe it or not, not everyone gives as much of a shit about what happened ten years ago as you do."

The moment the words are out of his mouth, I see the panic and regret flash across his eyes.

I'm already out of the sleeping bag and unzipping the tent before he can utter a word.

"Riley!" He whisper-shouts after me, clambering behind me as I march away from him toward a cluster of trees. "Riley, where are you going?!"

"Away from you."

He's grabbed my wrist but I tug it out of his grasp. I stop, chest heaving with my back to him, folding my arms together to try to keep in the ache that's fisting my insides like an iron vice.

He sighs. "Look, I didn't mean that. Okay? I'm sorry. You know I wasn't talking about what happened that night."

"Does Mitch know about that too?"

Silence.

The solemn look in his eyes is enough of an answer.

My stomach turns, a sickness welling up inside of me, knowing that Mitch really did know everything.

"Look...Mitch was my friend before we ever met. He knew about you all along...I...I never shut up about you, really. They used to tease me about this mystery girl, they thought I'd made you up. So when everything happened, and you just disappeared-"

"- I didn't disappear Harry."

"You did! Even after I got kicked out of school...I was hurt, and angry but I tried to check in on you. I went to your house but your parents wouldn't tell me anything. I tried to talk to you. I called you, but you never answered! I know what happened, happened to you but it messed me up too. So don't blame me for talking to my friends about it, I had no one!"

I flip around and scoff. "You had no one? You? I'd been kicked out of my house Harry! My parents cut me out totally. No one believed me! I left because I had no where to go. I had no one!"

"You had me!"

He's shouting now, any effort to keep the noise down abandoned, both of us out of breath.

He rakes his hands back through his hair, eyes pinching shut as he tried to control his breathing. His hands slap back down to his sides, exasperated.