Change

Chapter 9: Bruise

My eyes shot open at the sharp sound of the door bell. I got up quickly, accidentally making my head spin and feel super heavy. I hurried to the door, trying to keep my balance the whole way through.

Opening the door was the worst thing ever because the light literally felt like it was burning my eyes. I held a hand up to protect my eyes, while squinting to see who the tall figure at the door was.

"Em, hey," Harry said awkwardly, "I was just getting coffee and figured you were awake so I got you a vanilla latte," Harry said with a smile.

"Come in," I told him as I lowered my hand covering my eyes and grabbed the latte out of his grip.

"Thanks for-" I paused noticing he was now looking at me wide-eyed. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Emma, your right eye is all swollen and bruised!" He shouted, "What happened!?"

Oh crap. I ran upstairs to my bathroom and looked in the mirror. He was right, there was a faint purple and blue bruise starting to form around my eye. I leaned forward to get a better look. Oh my god, this is horrible.

I turned to leave the bathroom but Harry was blocking the exit. I swallowed hard trying to think of an excuse.

I looked at him. His eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Did someone hurt you?" He asked in a low voice.

"N-no," I stuttered, "I accidentally hit myself yesterday while I was packing. It's no big deal."

"Yes, it is a big deal! What if you damaged something? Does your eye hurt? Can you see fine? Does it feel okay?" He questioned moving closer to examine my eye.

"Yes, MOM I'm fine," I exhaled jokingly as I pushed him away gently.

"Come with me," he ordered. Before I had the chance to even think, he grabbed my hand and dragged me into the living room, making me lay down on the couch.

"You need something cold on your eye to reduce the swelling," Harry said as he jogged over to the freezer to get an ice pack. He jogged back, handing it to me.

"Here, put this on your eye," He said.

I grabbed the ice pack from him and lightly placed it on my eye. I bent my knees, and made room for Harry as he sat down.

"Why don't you put your feet on my lap? You'll probably feel much more comfortable," He recommended.

I took him up on his offer, extending my legs out onto his lap. Harry rested a hand on my leg and flung his other arm over the top of the couch.

We sat like that for a while. Neither of us saying a word.

"Harry..." I said breaking the silence, "I appreciate your help and the fact that you took the time to talk to me about Tyler. I remember it being such a chore for Amber to just listen to me vent about it. So, I wanted to thank you for it." I kind of feel bad that I was such a jerk to Harry the past couple of days. He was only trying to be nice and I kept pushing him away. At this point, he seemed nothing like Tyler. Harry was much more caring, and a wee bit cheeky, which I liked.

"You're welcome Em, what are friends for?" Harry said. A second later his phone buzzed.

"It's Amber, she wants me to head over to her place." I'm not sure why but hearing that felt like it stung. I couldn't be jealous...no way. He wasn't even mine. Plus, Amber was much more of his type considering she was wild, spontaneous, loud, sexy, gorgeous, blah, blah.

"Okay, see you later then," I told him as he headed out the door.

"Bye Emma, stay rested. Elevate your head and keep that ice pack on your eye," Harry finally said before closing the door behind him.

I couldn't believe this. Was I actually starting to like Harry?