Hearts Without Chains

34.

~"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights~ Maya Angelou

*mature content in chapter*

Harry-

After wasting even more time at home, I knew I didn't want to stay home with my mum and my sister all night. After all the thinking I did as well about everything going on, I knew I had to clear my mind, and I can't be home for that.

I had long, strained thoughts about how Jo told me she would find somewhere for me to stay. Could I really just leave my mother like this? Let her go to England with my sister? I should be spending the most time with her as I can, not running away from it. But that seems like what I do. My selfish habit.

But this time the selfishness isn't over myself. It's over Joey, being too selfish to leave and go to England, to leave her behind. To leave the thing that finally brought me some happiness and contentment. I roll down the window in my truck to let in some fresh air, and pull out a smoke, turning the radio all the way down to give myself some peace. The sun is already going down and I've already called Joey once, not allowing myself to do it again. I'm guessing she got her ass in trouble, so that's why when I drive by her house, I make sure her parents car is gone before parking across the street.

I put out the cigarette underneath the sole of my boot, shoving my cold hands into my pant pockets as I walk up the driveway. I knock on the front door, and when it opens, Joey stands there with a piece of pizza in her hand, her hair piled on top of her head, sweats covering her body.

"Oh." She says as she sees me, stepping aside for me to enter without permission.

"I was thinking," I start, dodging pointless hellos.

"That I can't just leave her." I turn to see Joey, and her eyes are understanding as she nods her head, still shocked at my sudden arrival.

She takes a bite of her pizza slice, bringing me into the kitchen with her. She slides into a barstool, and I stand across from her at the counter.

"So you want to....go with them?" She asks me, brown eyes big behind her glasses, her lips paler than usual.

"No, not at all." I say.

"But how could I just....stay, and leave her? Especially when I don't know how much time she has left."

As she takes another bite of her pizza, she nods her head towards the open box on the counter to offer me a piece. I take one, and lean my elbows on the counter, picking at the crust. Joey tosses her crust into the cardboard box, making me look up to her.

Josephine-

I'm caught looking at his face when he looks up to me after throwing my remains into the pizza box, my lips tugging up a little at the corners.

"You don't like the crust?" He asks me.

I shake my head, "Its gross."

He picks it up and takes a bite off of it, and when I laugh a little it makes him look at me again, asking me why I am laughing.

"Nothing, it's just Tyler never ate my crust. It's like he thought I had germs or something." I tell him, thinking back to the last day of school when we were at the pizza parlor, and I was confused with my feelings for him and he denied my offer for him to have my crust, which I knew he liked.

Harry rolls his eyes at the mention of Tyler, and there is a soft pang in my chest at the mention of him as well. No matter how annoying he is being about this Harry situation, I still miss my friend.