The Step Brother

Chapter Twenty*

I stare at Harry as he sleeps peacefully next to me in my bed. It's three in the morning, but I haven't been able to fall asleep. My damn mind won't shut up for one second.

Honestly, I'm still stunned at what Harry told me just a few hours before. I had no idea what he was going through, and it's an odd feeling now that I'm able to hold most of his behavior responsible to what he experienced.

I know he's still hurting incredibly, but I hope that now, because he's finally told me what's going on, that I can help him through this all. My heart is still heavy and full of emotion with the words he spoke to me... even when it was difficult for him while he was divulging his secrets, he still had the power to sweep me off my feet.

"I always think about her, wish she was still here, regret what happened... but there was one good thing that came out of this situation. . . I got to meet you. I got to fall in love with you."

"Ever since I met you, the void in my heart has gotten smaller. You made me happy again, Chlo. You've helped me more than you'll ever know."

I smiled at the memory of his words. He loves me. And although that scares the hell out of me, I can't deny that it's all I've ever wanted. Yes, Grant loved me, or at least claimed to, and I told him I loved him back, but in hindsight, I realized what we had was never love. The feelings I had experienced with Grant were not even remotely close to what I'm feel with Harry.

That's the problem though. I'm afraid. I'm afraid to tell him how I truly feel, even though he was confident enough to tell me how he felt. I have this terrible feeling that we're moving to fast, and for the time being, I just want to take this day by day and work my way to telling him that I have fallen deeply for him.

"You still awake?" I startle as Harry's raspy, sleep-filled voice pulls me from my thoughts.

"Yeah," I smile and kiss his cheek. "Just thinking."

"Well think tomorrow, it's three in the morning baby." Baby. My heart flutters every time he calls me that.

I kiss him once again and decide I should probably try to sleep. School tomorrow will be the death of me if I don't get at least a few hours of sleep.

I snuggle into his side and allow the tiredness to sweep over me. I eventually drift off, my dreams not straying far from my reality. I can't complain though; my reality has become something I don't mind dreaming about.

I ended up waking up again at six, and Harry was still sleeping. I decided to let him sleep as long as possible, because I knew the weekend was exhausting for not only myself.

I hated missing school, but I felt me and Harry needed a day to be close after everything that's happened in the last few days. Harry's always been important to me, but with the knowledge of his secret, I feel like we've moved to a whole new level in our relationship.

By the time Harry woke up, I had showered and gotten ready for the day. I didn't know what we would do, but I was glad to spend the entire day with him and have no interruptions.

"Isn't it Monday?" Harry asked as he rubbed his eyes, obviously confused as to why I had let him sleep so late on a day that we have school.

"Yeah, I figured you'd rather sleep in and maybe we could just spend some time together today." I told him from across the room where I was putting my earrings in.

"You figured right." He smiled and crossed the room to pull me into his arms. "Thank you." He whispered and kissed me passionately.

"You're welcome." I told him. "So, what do you want to do? Hang out here? Go out?"