Receiving Her (h.s. au)

XIV

Adam steps onto the patio and he gives me his arm, my lips releasing a sigh before my hand grabs his elbow.

"Listen, I know you have no interest in me. Harry...listening to him talk about you makes it clear you two are happy together. But I want you to know that I thought we could have tried a relationship somewhere. Now I get it," he says, my throat swallowing my words. I don't know how to respond to him.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly, his lips curving.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I can't control your feelings. Sure, I'd love to take you out sometime, but if the feelings aren't there, it can't be forced. I don't think our parents understand that," he says, making me laugh.

"I'm thankful you get that," I tell him, his head nodding.

"Are you still studying to be a nurse?" he asks, my head tilting to look up at him.

"Yeah. And you're studying English?" I ask, his head nodding.

He sits on the bench in the garden and I sit beside him, my head turning to look at him. "I saw your sister yesterday," he says, my heart stopping. My sister, the one who hates me with everything in her.

"She still works at Nordstrom and hates the world as usual," he says, my lips pursing.

"I haven't talked to her in four years," I say, his head looking at me.

"Does she still blame you?" I sigh and nod, his arm wrapping around my shoulder.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Emma. It's Johnny," he says, my lips releasing a sigh.

"You don't think I don't already know that. How was I suppose to know she liked him?" I say, pressing my hand to my forehead.

"It's not your fault. She's just jealous," he tries, but I stand up.

"I know it's not my fault but you don't understand what I went through!" I yell, unable to help myself.

"Emma, your sister isn't a nice person," he says, but I shake my head.

"My twin sister is a nice person. I made her hate me," I sigh, my head snapping when I hear the sunroom door slam shut behind the strong male that exited.

"What's wrong?" he asks, clearly having watched me as I sat here in distress.

"It's nothing," I say, his hands grabbing mine and helping me to my feet.

"I refuse to believe it's nothing. What did you say to her?" he directs to Adam, my hands holding him away from Adam.

"I had a question regarding her sister. It's a touchy subject," he says, my heart clenching. I've never talked about my sister to Harry before, only because what I did to her unintentionally has made her hate me.

"Don't talk about it then. Don't make her upset," Harry states, taking me away from the garden. He walks with me down the trail and into the gazebo in the backyard, his arms wrapping around my waist.

"So you have a sister..." he trails, my eyes closing. I press my forehead to his chest and he keeps me close to him, my hatred to this conversation always there.

"A twin sister," I sigh out, his arms staying around me.

"And you don't like her because..." he trails, trying to get me to tell him. But I sigh, gripping his shirt tighter.

"I-I hurt her," I whisper, his lips pressing to my hair.

"In what way?" he asks, my eyes squeezing shut.

"She claimed to love...Johnny, but I had sex with him," I whisper out, his hand squeezing my waist.

"Emma," he sighs, his arms unwinding as he moves back.