Prove It (H.S)

Chapter Eight

"Not involved, huh?" Aubrey is staring at me and I can't make out the expression on her heavily made-up face. Is it amusement? I don't know, but when I look over at Harry, he's fooling with the rings on his fingers, staring at the ground. "I, uh...Aubrey, what are you doing here?" I decide to turn this around on her, rather than have her corner me and make me explain what's going on with Harry. She rolls her eyes. "Oh please, this isn't about me. I'm more focused on why "Mr. Not Involved" is sitting on your bed with swollen lips and you decided not to tell me," she says, throwing her arms to her sides. I think her expression now is...hurt?

Harry stands and walks next to me. "Listen, you can't just walk into her dorm like this and start accusing her of things," he surprises me by saying. Aubrey is quite a bit taller than me, but Harry just completely towers over her. She raises her eyebrows and recrosses her arms. "I'll do whatever I damn please. And stay out of this, Harry. You don't even know her." I look at the green eyes next to me and they narrow slightly. His jaw clenches like I've seen once before.

"I do know her." Aubrey laughs out loud. "Not better than me, I promise you." I can tell this won't end well so out of instinct, I put my hand on Harry's chest. It's firm and defined. "Harry, I think you should go. I'll call you." He looks down at me, his emerald eyes sparkling and dancing in his head. I can feel him relax under my palm. "You really want me to?" I nod smiling at him. He swiftly kisses my cheek and gives Aubrey one last glare before leaving the room.

"What the hell?" I step closer to her, placing my hands on my hips. "No, you don't get to be annoyed at me! I'm your best friend, Claire! You tell me everything as I do you! You told me that I would be the first person you tell when things got serious! What happened to that? Don't think I don't know that you were sucking face before I knocked on the door, because I didn't hear any conversation, not to mention, both your lips are fucking pink and swollen!" She takes a deep breath after her long rant. Her eyes are red and she's inching closer and closer to my face. I back away from her.

I can tell that if she wasn't so worried about her make-up, she would be crying right now. "Aubrey," I begin as I take a seat on my bed,"this really isn't such a big deal! I'm sorry, but things still aren't serious, and even if they were, me not telling you right away should never make you this upset!" Her face is bright red in anger and I swear I see a single tear run down her cheek but she quickly wipes it away. "Still not serious? Really, Claire? Did I not just walk in on you wiping his spit off your mouth? I wouldn't be surprised if he's gotten into your pants already!"

As soon as the words leave her mouth, I can tell she regrets them. Her eyes soften slightly and she opens her mouth to speak. "Claire, I-," she begins but I cut her off. "Get out." I'm so hurt and angry that I don't even notice the hot tears running down my face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." I shake my head at her. "I said get out." She nods her head, her eyes glossy. I don't even look at her to see her leave, I can't bring myself to.

What just happened? Why was she so upset? How did that escalate so quickly? I'll tell you one thing I know. Aubrey is no longer my best friend.

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Harry's POV~

I'm anxiously sitting on a bench near Claire's dormitory when I see Aubrey run out to her car. At the same time, my phone starts ringing. It's Claire. "I'm coming in," I say into the speaker. "Thank you," she sniffles. Is she crying?

I open the door to find Claire curled up on her bed, with wet cheeks and red eyes. I hurry over to her, bringing a box of tissues with me. She takes one and pats it under her eyes. "What happened?" I ask, sitting next to her. "I don't know." I nod. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She shrugs," I don't know." She takes another tissue and quietly sobs into it.

I don't know what to do. I've never been in a position like this. I begin to think about what Aubrey said. You don't even know her. I do know her. Many people may say a week or so isn't long enough to get to know a person, but it is. From the day I first met Claire, I felt like I knew her.

I take it upon myself to wrap my arms around her small shoulders and let her cry into my chest. Her tiny hands softly cling to my back and I kiss the top of her head. "You do know me," she surprises me by saying. "What?" I look down at her and she pulls away from my grasp. "You do know me. I've told you things about my life that I haven't told a lot of people."

It's true. Over the days that Claire and I've texted or walked back from class together over this past week of knowing each other, we've shared a lot. "I know," I tell her, wiping a tear from her cheek. She sighs and takes my hand into both of hers.

"What are we doing?" She asks, twisting my rings around my fingers and sliding them up and down my knuckles. "What do you mean?" She snaps her blue eyes at me. "What is this?" She motions between us. "What do you want it to be?" She smiles at me and bites her lower lip. Goodness, I love when she does that.

"I want us to be just this. I like this. Sitting here, hand in hand." I smile at her and pull her onto my lap. "Is that code for girlfriend?" She giggles and squirms off the bed to stand in front of me. "Maybe," she says as she moves her mouth onto mine.