skinny || h.s. au [Rewrite Now Up!]

sixtysix

As they walk out of the fancy restaurant, hand in hand, Marley can't stop smiling.

More snow has started to fall in large flakes and they coat her hair as they walk to Harry's car.

He is telling her about the time he and Xander dared each other to sneak into the animal enclosures at the Zoo. Which ended in them getting chased by the zookeepers until they hid behind the cotton candy stand.

They couldn't have been older than fourteen at the time.

"Did you know Xander before you moved here, then?" Marley asks. Laughter still lightening her tone.

"Yeah. He went to that private school I used to go to. Not far from Cannon Valley. In fact I probably could have gone to CV if my parents hadn't enrolled me in private." He shrugs, "I guess they thought I'd get a better education there or something."

"Why did you stop going there? If it's so close?"

They reach his car and he opens the door for her. Doesn't answer her question, though he probably should.

He isn't sure if she should know the reasons behind his troubled kind of green eyes. It's in the past, anyway. It's not a big deal, right?

She raises her eyebrows after he has slid into the driver's seat. Still waiting for an answer. "What? You don't want to tell me?"

That's exactly it.

So he decides to be vague. "I was kicked out."

Marley is shocked. Her good-hearted, green-eyed, summer grass and warm breezes boy was expelled from his last school? "For what?"

"It was nothing." He shrugs. "It was dumb stuff that I shouldn't have gotten into. Xan left that school before I did. And I made friends with the wrong people."

Marley doesn't want to push for more information, so she just nods. But can't get the idea out of her head as she stares out the window, watching the dark shadows of trees and buildings along the road fly by.

What if he beat someone up? Or fucked a teacher?

She rolls her eyes at Maria. Harry did no such thing. Marley was his first. And the Harry she knows now couldn't hurt someone. He's too good. Too kind.

Right?

The energy in the car has shifted over the past few minutes. And as they pass the dark parking lot they pulled into just a few hours ago, now covered in a light layer of fresh snow, Marley wonders if they're mere minutes away from a goodbye.

"Are you driving back home tonight?" She asks. Notices the time on his dashboard. It's getting late and if he is, he should go soon. Especially if the snow is sticking to the roads.

"Yeah," he glances over at her sad expression. Takes her hand on her lap, "I couldn't convince my parents that staying in a hotel nearby was necessary."

"Stay with me." Marley says. But realizes he can't. Having parents that can tell you what to do really sucks.

"I can't. You said your dad--"

"I know." She sighs and squeezes his hand tighter. The street starts to look familiar. And Marley can see the lights of her new house in the distance. "It's just not fair that we can't even have a full twenty-four hours together."