Between the Pages

sixteen

Playlist - cigarette daydreams by audreyisfab

There will be a lot of flashbacks in this chapter, so anytime you see italics what's happening is in the past.

(A)

The warm sun feels great against my skin. I readjust my position on the lounge chair and let my my eyes close, relaxing. My sun is suddenly gone, opening one eye I see someone standing at the edge of my chair. He's not anyone I've seen before which is a shame. His hair is a blonde mess, blue eyes, and a smile that could kill. He looks older than me, most likely in his twenties.

"Who are you? And why are you in my backyard?" He laughs at my questions.

"I'm Steve's son, Cody," Steve was my mother's newest boyfriend. It was hard to believe that someone like him could possibly have a son this attractive. Cody reaches for my hand, picking it up and gently kissing it. "It's lovely to meet you?" He trails off, looking at me pointedly.

"Andrea," I respond quickly. "And likewise," I smile at the blonde. He lets go of my hand and bring his own to his chin, rubbing the stubble that lies there. His eyes scan me up and down. I shift uncomfortably under his gaze and he smirks.

"Well Andrea, darling, we're going to get along very well," He winks at me before walking away. I watch his figure until it's out of sight. He was trouble. I liked that.

"Andy are you okay?" I open my eyes slowly, taking in my surroundings. I was in Harry's room, in Holmes Chapel. I was okay. "Andrea answer me, you're worrying me,"

I wince at the use of my full name, because I don't hear Harry's voice but the man of my nightmares. "I'm fine just a bad dream. And you know I don't like being called that," Harry gives me one last worried glance before going to shower. My hands run through my hair, my head in my hands. I feel like shít. I'd barely gotten any sleep last night. Memories that I'd been trying to ignore were flashing in my mind all night, like my own personal horror movie. I dragged myself away from Harry's bed, quickly throwing on my clothes from yesterday.

I knock on the bathroom door, "Harry I'm going home to change. But meet me at that little coffee shop down the street from school," He yells back that we'll miss homeroom. "One absence won't kill you," Anne smiles at me on my way out, offering me some breakfast. I politely decline, despite how good it smells. The car ride home is silent and I'm left with my thoughts. Even the ones I'd like to avoid.

"Come on Andrea, it's just a party. No need to be scared darling," I roll my eyes at his condescending tone. I was not scared. I just wasn't keen on going to a a party filled with people I didn't know. It seemed like a typical house party, nothing too outrageous. We were in the really nice part of town too. I really didn't need to be so nervous but here I was nervously playing with my hair, my stomach in knots. Something about the party left me completely uneasy. Maybe it was because the house was less a house and more a mansion, or maybe it was being here with Cody. I just had a terrible feeling about this entire situation. I glance back at Cody his smirk still in place, waiting for me to make a decision. The more rational part of my mind tells me that I have nothing to prove to him, for god's sake I barely knew him. But my ego told me that I in fact did have something to prove, something I needed to prove. That I wasn't scared of anything, that I didn't need condescending smiles because I wasn't some pitiful little girl. So I rolled my eyes at Cody and mustered up every ounce of confidence I had to walk up to the door. My knuckles make contact with the red door, my heart beating faster each time. Cody stands a few feet behind me his stare boring into my back, only making me more anxious.

A man swings the door open, wine glass in his hand and bloodshot eyes. He smiles looking me up and down. "How can I help you little lady?" I hear Cody chuckle from behind me. I pray that my cheeks don't turn red under his stare. His eyes move from me to Cody and he suddenly stands up straighter, his chilling smile gone. "Cody I didn't know you were showing up. Is she one of your girls?"

His girls? What did he mean? I glance at Cody confusedly, my lips pouting at the lack of things I seem to know about this boy. Cody moves so he's next to me, his arm loosely bringing me into his side. "Not exactly, this is Andrea," The man at the door quickly reaches his hand out for me to shake, going on about how glad he was we came and to hurry on in. As I reach out shake his hand my eyes land on the skin of his forearms. Cody guides me into the house, and the last thing I see before we're inside is the other man closing the red door, my stare trained on the needle marks littering his skin.

The memories keep coming, each worse than the last. I'm barely aware of my own actions as I slip out of yesterday's clothes and into clean ones. It's like I'm on autopilot. I don't snap out of it when my mother asks me where I was last night, or when I'm driving towards the school, not when I park in front of the small coffee shop, or when I sit in the booth I love because it's right by the pastries and always smells like cookies. It's not until Harry is across from me, his deep voice calling my name, growing louder each time.

"What did you say?" I scrunch up my nose at how upset I sound. Harry has a similar reaction his eyebrows scrunching together in concern. I clear my throat and give him the brightest smile I can manage. "I'm fine so stop making that face. You'll get wrinkles," The crease between his brows only grows with my words.

"Andrea-" He starts but stop when I flinch at the sound of my name. "You're really worrying me," I realize that I desperately need to calm down, not only for my sake but Harry's. I try to clear my head of everything but my current surroundings. There's a couple sitting on the other side of the shop, a single worker at the register, and Harry. I focus on Harry taking in the details, how he wears one of his white button downs but no sweater vest, the sleeves are rolled up showing some of his tattoos, the first two buttons are undone and his necklaces fall directly in the open space, his hair isn't slicked back but he wears his glasses. It occurs to me that Harry reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger, changing to prove my worth. The thought doesn't sit well with me because Harry had nothing to prove. He was intelligent and sweet, and he was going places. Which reminds me why I asked him here.

"I'm okay. I swear," I ignore how he obviously does not believe me. "I invited you here because I figured you wanted to know why I was so upset last night," Harry nods eagerly. "While I can't tell you that I do want to tell you why I had been avoiding you prior to last night,"

He looks at me questioningly, nodding for me to continue. "Okay well after the soccer game, Zayn was livid. He doesn't handle humiliation very well. He was determined to make you regret what you'd done. So I decided to intervene. We made a deal, I date him and stay away from you and in return he stays away from you too," I bite my lip, trying to gauge his reaction. Harry's face is unreadable. He stays quiet for a while and it grows increasingly tense.

"I'm not a child Andrea," I stop myself from reacting to the use of my full name.

"I know I was just try-" He puts his finger up to stop me from continuing.

"Just stop," Harry gets up from the table, pushing his chair back loudly. I watch as he angrily stalks off and I wonder if I should stop him. Explain that I didn't want him to get hurt, that I cared about him enough that I had to help. But I don't say any of that, I don't even get up. I just stare in the direction he left, thinking that maybe this was for the best.

A/N: Look who finally updated I know it's shocking right? But seriously I apologize for making everyone wait so long. Picture of Cody (Alex Pettyfer) on the side! ALSO THANK YOU FOR 2K READS THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY This chapter is kind of important plot wise so pay attention to the flashbacks. Leave what you think happened with Andy and Cody in the comments! Remember to vote, comment, and fan. Ily x

P.S. If anyone would like to make a trailer for this story that'd be super cool bc I suck at making trailers