Ever Since New York // H.S. - ON HOLD

CHAPTER 30 - THAT'S WHAT I'D DO

A/N - Okay a couple things: 1) Have a listen to the song above! I love it and most of it applies to how H feels about Ev and 2) Dissociation is discussed in this chapter...all info is simply based off my own knowledge from my psychology courses in uni so if it's not 100% accurate, pls don't cancel me

Anyway...enjoy <3

. . .

With Lisa's mocha-colored eyes glaring straight through my icy-blue ones, she raises her brows impatiently. Creating wrinkles in her forehead as she crosses her legs—which are covered by a simple pair of leggings compared to her normal dashing dress pants—she taps her pen on her chin inquisitively. Rolling my eyes, a breathy groan releases from my throat as I lean my elbows on my knees and bring my hands to the roots of my hair, tugging generously in frustration.

You wouldn't feel so overwhelmed if you hadn't skipped your sessions to begin with, idiot.

Harry creates an ample amount of distance between us as he sits slouching with his legs spread comfortably with his left arm hung across the back of the couch. Due to the lanky nature of his limbs, he is easily able to reach me with his fingertips without moving from his position opposite of me. Running the cool fingertip of his index finger up my arm—still topped by his sweatshirt—he brushes stray strands of hair off my shoulder. Evidently turning my gaze to him, I take note of how relaxed he appears with a soft smile covering his lips and his emerald eyes turning jade in fondness.

Just start talking. It's what he deserves.

Clearing my throat and shaking my head slightly, I lean back to get comfortable once again as I take a deep breath, allowing my lungs to fill to the brim with air and nearly bursting at the seams before releasing it. Harry's unconscious actions of reassurance come without fail as he slides a few inches closer to me, entangling his fingers in my hair and dancing them across the base of my skull.

"So...He knows my name is Evelyn..." I start, finally mustering the confidence to meet Lisa's intense stare again.

"Yeah, no shit." She chuckles, readjusting herself in the chair. Rolling my eyes again, I try not to take her sarcasm to heart as I know she is still disappointed that I cancelled this week's sessions.

"Okay, listen...It was not how I intended for him to find out, but it happened nonetheless, and um—"

"—I guess you could say I kind of snooped through her mail." Harry interrupts as soon as he feels my body tense in anxiety. His fingers don't stop massaging my scalp as he continues to speak. "Ev had her hands full with G, so I brought her mail in for her...I wasn't intentionally snooping, I just saw that there was a different name on one of the envelopes, and eventually I put the pieces together."

Hiding a smile, Lisa nods her head in acknowledgement before aiming her response to me. "And I assume that did not go over well?" She flicks her wrist, flipping a page over her clipboard before bringing her pen to the page.

"No, obviously not. He called me Evelyn out of nowhere and I was caught off guard, clearly not prepared to explain why I was lying to him." Words finally begin to spew out at a quicker pace than they had been all night. "He was really angry, understandably so. I mean I gave him a fake name and given the nature of his career and lifestyle in general, he pretty much assumed the worst..."

Peering my eyes over to him quickly, I catch a glimpse of the guilty expression waving a cross his features as he recounts the details of our exploding argument from that night. He had every right to react the way he did, but I appreciate the remorse he feels for lashing out at me.