Twinning

Chapter 18

"Harry. What's wrong?" I finally speak up. To my surprise, his bitchy tone speaks through his eyes as he glares up at me. I'll have to admit I'm taken aback and I lean back and cross my arms over my chest, challenging him to answer.

"Nothing." He says, coldly. I clear my throat as if to say 'bullshit' without actually saying it. His glare becomes more intense and I have to soften my attitude a bit before he gets angry and starts bitching at me. He wipes his mouth with his napkin and throws it down on top of his food. "I said nothing. Are you ready to go?"

"No, actually. I'm not. I'm trying to have a conversation with my boyfriend. Is that a problem?" His eyes scan mine, furiously, and I immediately regret those words, but I don't back off. If he's gonna throw a little fit about his brother, then so be it, I don't care. His eyes drop and he stares down at his hands on the table. I watch as he bites his plump lower lip as he contemplates what to say.

"I told you nothing is wrong." He says again and his eyes connect with mine again. I take a deep breath and stand up.

"Then let's go." I'm not gonna push him. If he doesn't want to talk about it, then so be it. But I can see this is going to be a major complication in our relationship. Relationships just do not work out if you can't talk and communicate and that's a fact. But I'm not going to be that pushy girlfriend, either, so I leave the subject alone. He scoffs and stands up as well. I grab my belongings and head out the door to Harry's car. I wait beside it as he gets out his keys and unlocks the door.

"I left my stuff at your house." I say, monotone. "So can we go and pick it up?" He seems so out of it, I almost want to offer to drive, but that'll just piss him off even more.

"Yeah. Sure." I'm so thankful I left my car at his house so he doesn't have to drive me home. I'll give him his space. And he'll call me when he's ready. We arrive back at Harry's house and I walk in the front door and gather my belongings. They're kinda scattered all about, so I have to go to Harry's room to find my phone charger and such. As I walk past the living room, I notice Marcel sitting silently on the couch, just staring forward as Harry waits by the door to say goodbye to me. I don't know what to say, exactly, so I just say a quick goodbye to Marcel and Harry grabs my arm before I walk out the door.

"I'll call you later." He says, still in a very odd tone. I give him another confused look and just nod.

"Yeah, okay. Bye Harry." I say and try to walk out the door, but he tightens his grip on my arm yet again.

"I love you, Jen." And he pulls me in for a long, protective hug.

"I love you, too." I say, my voice is muffled in his shirt. Something's obviously bothering him and I can only hope that he'll keep his word and call me later. Soon enough, I'm out the door and I step in my car, but I just sit there, feeling defeated in a way. I'm exhausted. I just keep thinking about Harry. I mean... The Harry from last night. The sweet and funny Harry that was crazy about me. But now there's this new issue and I have no idea what it's even about, much less how I'm going to address it. After my thoughts scramble through my head for about five minutes, I finally turn on the car and drive home.

As soon as I walk in the door, mom is all over me.

"Jennifer. Where the hell have you been?" I roll my eyes and toss my keys onto the counter before giving mum a big hug. She's obviously not expecting this, but after a moment, she hugs back, cautiously.

"I told you. I was at Harry's. Remember, you already yelled at me this morning?" I say as I pull away.

"Yes. Come sit down. We need to talk." I really don't need this right now. My head is buzzing. But I obey, anyway, and take a seat at the kitchen table.