Tale of Two

Chapter 3

"You’re bluffing.”

"Bluffing? No. I asked you a question, but you’re too much of a coward to answer. Why are you doing this to me Harry? Why do you keep insulting me even after all these years?” The words were rushing through Cora’s lips and this time there was no trace of humour in them. The conversation took a rather serious turn and neither of them liked it.

“I didn’t say one bad thing about you...” He smirked, trying to navigate back to friendlier waters.

“Oh, no? So you implicating that I can take a hard fuck, is not an insult. What is it then? A compliment?” Cora stood up, totally intending to get into Harry’s face, but something kept her back, so she just stood awkwardly in front of the much taller man.

“Well, if you put it that way... I reckon it could be a compliment...” he said, trying to sound firm and cocky, not showing how much of an impact Cora’s words had on him. There was no need to do that though, because Cora was wasted and she didn’t notice the big gulp he took when those nasty words left her mouth.

“You are so full of shit... I don’t even know why I thought that maybe you’ve changed. You’re exactly the same as you were. No! You’re worse!” She pushed her hands against Harry’s bare chest, making him take a step back, but he quickly recovered. “You’re rude and arrogant...” She pushed once more, but he didn’t budge this time. “And fuck... You’ve gotten strong!”

“God Cora, you’re making it worse for yourself,” he laughed, catching Cora’s wrists in his hands, efficiently stopping her pointless efforts to push him away. “Stop trying to seduce me. Don’t be pathetic.”

Harry’s eyes were wide, his expression clean and honest, because he really meant what he just said. Cora on the other hand was silently raging, because Harry’s crude words hit home. They stung deep inside her soul and although she knew that she shouldn’t care, she shouldn’t even listen to them, she did anyway. Harry was gorgeous and likeable, he only acted this way when they were alone hence she couldn’t help but think that it was her fault.

She really felt pathetic for a moment, unable to make a comeback. The room was dead silent, but the noises of the wild party were creeping into their ears through the thin gap under Harry’s door, littering the air of the room with the remains of the thumping bass and laughter.

“I would never want to seduce you,” she said finally, averting her gaze down to her toes.

“Good. Because you never could.” He was still holding her hands against his slightly heaving chest. He felt like it was a few degrees hotter in his room even though the windows were open. They could hear the shouts and giggles and the distant sound of the buzzing night, overflowing with youth and carelessness.

And that was the exact moment when the door flew open, hitting the wall with a loud thud, and a figure stumbled into the room, nearly falling on the carpet. He was absolutely pissed and brought the smell of beer and cigarettes with him, making Cora’s stomach churn in disgust.

“Bloody hell, get out of my room you idiot!” Harry boomed, suddenly letting go of Cora’s hands and stepping away from her. She felt dizzy and tired, already forgetting the whole unpleasant incident with him, but the newcomer’s words quickly reminded her how suggestive the situation was. She was wearing Harry’s t-shirt, the long hem covering her jean shorts and Harry was still topless. Yeah, not awkward at all.

“Oi Harry what you’ve got there!” The lad slurred, grinning at Cora, stumbling forward until he reached Harry and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “It’s tiny shorts, isn’t it? Very well done mate, very well done.”

“Oh Lou, fuck off already,” Harry rolled his eyes, hastily pushing Louis out of the room, who just turned around, the idiotic grin still plastered on his face and sent a wink towards Cora. She grimaced, not finding the lad amusing one bit and also because the shallow twisting of her stomach had gotten so much worse that before Harry could shut the door in Louis’ face and before Cora could raise her hands in front of her mouth, she suddenly hunched forward and hurled her guts out on Harry’s pretty beige carpet.