Thursday Nights | ✓

FIFTEEN | 8/13/15

FIFTEEN | 8/13/15

"THIS IS OUR second to last Thursday spent in Cherryhill," Harrison tells me, a tone of disbelief hidden under his voice, "Then we're off to college."

His head is resting on my lap, and my fingers run through his soft black hair. I honestly don't remember how we got to this point of our relationship, where we're so close but not yet there. It's so simple and easy between us, and whatever this is will definitely continue into college, no doubt, especially since Harrison and I are both going into Pennstate University.

It's a dream, and I don't even know how I reached it.

"We should do something fun tonight," I reply, continuing to play with Harrison's hair, "since we're gonna be occupied with the party next Thursday."

"What do you wanna do?"

I sigh, thinking about all the possibilities, "I don't really know, Harrison. You're the one who comes up with the ideas."

"It can't be anything illegal," he says, "I don't need us to get kicked out of college before we actually enter."

"Look at you," I tease, flicking his nose, "Harrison I-Don't-Give-A-Shit Gage is actually giving a shit! The world is ending!"

He sits up and grumbles, "Shut up, Arden."

I grin at him and continue, "Is someone's feelings getting hurt?"

Harrison sticks out his tongue and childishly crosses his arms, reminding me of a little kid who doesn't get what they want, "Arden, you're terribly mean to me."

"It's okay because I'm your most favorite person in the world entire world!"

Harrison shakes his head in a joking manner, "Gosh, babe, you're so full of yourself."

I lie down on the bed, laughing as I throw back a comment, "You are so infatuated with me, babe."

Harrison suddenly hovers over me, all signs of playfulness gone, and his voice low and raspy as he says, "Fucking hell, I really want to kiss you."

Feeling as if I've been shocked by a million lightning bolts, I gulp and stare into his blue eyes, "Why don't you?"

He leans down, his lips barely brushing against mine when a voice from the living room calls out, "Arden, are you home?"

Harrison immediately pulls back in shock and rolls over to lie down next to me, letting out a groan, "Of all fucking times."

"Sorry," I whisper to him before calling out to my dad, "Yeah, Dad! I'm home!"

There's a few moments of silence, bit it's broken once my dad shouts, "Is Harrison here?"

More silence.

Harrison looks at me with terror and frantically shakes his head, "No, Dad!"

The young man next to me adorably puts his thumb up, praising me for my answer. It's short-lived, however, because my dad yells for me to come downstairs and bring Harrison along with me, or else we're both dead.

I don't wanna die.

We quickly scramble off the bed and exit my room. I glance at Harrison, feeling bad for him. He looks absolutely terrified to face my dad, especially since he was just in my room, where he almost kissed me. That's the nightmare of all fathers. Oh, and my father isn't too fond of my hanging out with the rebellious boy, even when he has a soft side for him. Just great.

Once we enter the living room, Harrison's fear is masked by his I-couldn't-care-less expression. It'll be okay. If he can act calm, so can I.

My dad crosses his arms once he sees us, "Arden, I thought you didn't hang out with Harrison?"

Shit, I forgot about that lie.

"Well, I, uh--"

"Have you been lying to me?"

Yes.

I glance at Harrison, who sends me a little nod of encouragement, "I'm really sorry, Dad. I've actually been hanging out with him, well, ever since you and I first met him."

"But Harrison's a--"

I finish my dad's sentence by cutting him off, "--bad influence? Dad, he's been nothing but good to me. We're there for each other, even when we least expect it. It just works like that."

"And Sheriff," Harrison steps in, a light smirk on his face, "I'm completely infatuated with your daughter."

My dad scrunches up his eyebrows, processing all of this information given to him and most likely wondering when this even happened, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Let's just have dinner."

Harrison and I share an incredulous look before heading to the dining room, where we heat up leftover pizza from the night before. My dad sits across from the two of us, and we're all indulged in an awkward silence.

So much for having fun tonight.

At this point, I don't understand what's happening anymore. My dad is acting really calm, but I don't know if he's actually angry inside. Oh god, he's going to murder us after he's had a nice dinner. He's going to grab the kitchen knife and stab Harrison first. Oh god.

"So, uh," I awkwardly say, taking a sip of my soft drink, "What's on your mind?"

My dad takes a bite of his pizza and gives Harrison and me a pointed look, "I'm thinking about how disappointed I am."

I gulp, "I'm really, really sorry, Dad."

"Sheriff, I wouldn't do anything that would hurt Arden," Harrison quietly says, which feels so unlike him, "I don't want you to think that I'm a bad influence. Arden makes me a better person, sincerely. It's been two months since I last got arrested, sir. Two months. I don't know what else I can tell you."

"Dad, we made a promise to Harrison on our graduation day," I say, remembering the important words, "We were going to be the ones to be there for him. I'm here for him now, and you can't just take that away."

As if he's ashamed, my dad looks down at his plate. The air is filled with silence once again, but it doesn't feel as intimidating as before.

"Harrison," he says, "I said that you were a good kid a while back, and I guess I just forgot that you still are."

"Thank you, Sir."

And the night doesn't turn out bad.

Just like Harrison Gage.

_______________________________

IDK HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. OH WELL. Y'ALL WILL LIVE.

BUT AHHHHHH, AN ALMOST KISS BETWEEN ARDISON. THEIR SEXUAL TENSION IS SO REAL RIGHT NOW, AND THEY NEED TO KISS AND DO THE DO AND SAY "I LOVE YOU."

HA, THAT RHYMED.

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED!

SEE YA WITH MY NEXT UPDATE! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

besureto:

vote•comment•follow

--islandarc