Hope

Chapter Ten

After a year, I finally got my taste in happiness again. I was afraid at first; I didn't think it was possible. There wasn't any reason for me to happy.

Until now. I found it, or rather him. My personal haven.

It took a year for me to let go, to accept that my parents are gone and it isn't Jeff's fault, or mine. It took Harry for me to realize that happiness and love exists, that the world isn't hell.

Jeff didn't give Harry a hard time like I expected. In fact they've been getting along pretty well, they've been best friends in the past three months.

Harry and I have been inseparable. School has become more unendurable because we were apart. I'd become more and more anxious during the day but my worries would soon vanish when I see him, leaning on his tree, looking gorgeous as always. But I don't have to worry about the obnoxious six hours of school, at least for a couple of weeks.

“So what are you doing for Spring Break?” Jeff asks, flipping through a magazine on the kitchen table.

I shrug. “I don't know. There isn't much to do here.”

He hums in response. “Where's Harry?”

My heart responds immediately to his name, hammering against my chest. “He had some errands to run, but he said he'll be back soon. Maybe this time you can beat him at chess. Or not,” I tease, despite the growing knot in my stomach. I could sense that there was something wrong with Harry when we parted this afternoon, but I couldn't put a finger at it.

Harry practically lives here, but he goes back to his apartment when Jeff feels like it's “enough for one day” using my homework as an excuse.

Jeff rolls his eyes. “We'll see. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Where have those tricks been hiding?”

He taps the side of his head with his index finger.

“They took a while to surface. That must be a thick skull.” I dry the last dish with a towel and place it in the cupboard.

“Don't you have some homework or something?” Jeff asks and I laugh.

“It's Spring Break,” I point out.

“Unfortunately,” he murmurs. I snicker.

Anxiousness rises within me again and I desperately look for something to do.

“What are you going to cook today?” I ask.

Jeff is an incredible cook, his food s irresistible. Whereas I, on the other hand, am a horrible cook who'd probably burn the house down just by boiling water.

“I don't know. Maybe mac and cheese, why?”

“I just wanted to help.” I shrug.

“You'll probably end up hurting yourself or me, severely,” he says. I laugh.

He looks at me, his expression almost astonished. “What?” I ask.

“You've been doing that a lot,” he says.

“Doing what?”

“Laughing.”

I chuckle. “Okay...”

“You're happy, and I'm guessing it's because of Harry,” he says. “Thats the main reason I didn't kick his ass the first time I met him. He makes you happy and... you deserve to be happy.” He looked uncomfortable.

I didn't know what to say. It wasn't like Jeff to say something like this; like me, he didn't like to express how he felt.

“Uh... Thanks, Jeff,” I say awkwardly.