5.

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000d, 00h, 0m, 00s

I didn't blame The System.

I blamed him.

Out of all the things, I blamed him most for making me doubt it in the first place.

"So?" Eniola's voice snapped me out of my own thoughts, my eyes dragging up to meet hers. "When are you introducing us to him?"

"Hm?" I had to suppress the urge to sigh loudly at the mention of it alone, playing dumb instead, while simultaneously hoping she'd drop the subject as I diverted my eyes again.

I understood why she wouldn't. I wouldn't if I were her.

I was supposed to be over the moon, proudly introducing friends and family; falling in love at rapid speed.

Instead, I threw myself into unnecessary work-load during the day and tried my best to avoid my friends outside of that by simply telling them I was meeting him.

"It's been two days; you haven't told any of us... well, anything, really." Her voice carried a hint of concern with it. The last thing I wanted was spark concern, of all things. "Did anything happen? Did something go wrong—?"

Eyes a little wider, my head forcefully turned to look at her again before I shook it. "No," I quickly interrupted her train of thoughts, almost offended she'd suggest something like that before realising her suggestion wasn't far from the truth. "No, of course not. The System never—"

Eniola rolled her eyes, a playful frown playing on her lips as she did so. "—Never fails. I know, I know."

I nodded in agreement, my body relaxing before I even realised it had tensed up in the first place. Taking a deep breath, I enjoyed the way the air expanded my lungs a little more. I sighed then, tiling my head and giving my best friend a wide smile.

I wanted to believe it myself; that's how real it felt on my lips. Though I knew nothing about the subject would actually make me smile. Not right now. Not when everything was so messy; so uncertain.

"I'm just trying to get to know him myself, En. That's all. Without all of you meddling," I forced a singular laugh out of my mouth, and the sound made her lips twitch into a smile as well. "It's Audelle's birthday tomorrow, maybe after— Next week sometime—?" I cut myself off, not quite sure how I could promise she'd ever meet him.

I wasn't even sure if I wanted her to. If I wanted any of them to meet him— let alone if I wanted to see him again.

My nose scrunched up at the thought just slightly, and I shook my head to rid myself of it as quickly as I could.

Eniola let out a pleasant sigh before she spoke again. "Oh, little Audelle Gray already turning— what? 16?" She mused, belittling my sister like she was her own sibling, instead.

At the realisation, I, myself, let out a small huff, shaking my head in disbelieve as a small, genuine smile spread across my lips. "I know," I mumbled. "I like not to think about it too much."

She nodded, though steered the conversation right back onto the one topic I didn't want to talk about. I was either really good at pretending, or she was just too nosy to notice.

"Well, I would've honestly thought her birthday would be when you'd introduce them— considering it was so close to the date, and everyone is already together." She raised her eyebrows in interest as she observed my reaction closely.

If I was being completely honest, that's what I planned on doing, too. It would've been the perfect opportunity to do so. Though, that was before my countdown ran out; before I met him.

"Oh." My brows twitched, and my mouth opened and closed while I tried to find the right words to say. "Yeah," I exhaled loudly. Nervously playing with the loose strand of hair, pushing it behind my ear, I shrugged. "Maybe I'm just...I don't know? Nervous?" I directed my eyes her way with a questioning glance, almost sighing in relief when I saw a comforting smile on her face.

I wasn't sure if she'd believe the nonsense I was spewing, but she did, judging by the way she looked at me.

"Nervous that they don't like him?" — Nervous because I didn't.

"Yeah," I huffed in relief, and she nodded in agreement.

"They'll adore him just like—" She cut herself off, a moment of silence following her words before she scoffed almost in disbelieve, eyes piercing into mine. For a second, I thought somehow, she figured it out. But then, she laughed. "Him, him; I keep saying him, and he," She shook her head at the realisation. "What's his name? Jesus Christ, at least that you'll be able to tell me, hm?"

She seemed humoured by the idea that I wouldn't even tell her his name. Honestly, I would have if I knew it. But I didn't.

It took everything within me not to slap my opened palm against my forehead at the sheer stupidity of not even asking for a name.

"Ah," A singular laugh escaped my mouth in hopes it would cover the panic rising from the pit of my stomach. A name; any name. "His name. of course, of course." Another nervous laugh interrupted me, hopefully buying me enough time to figure something out.

She looked at me, her brows raised in expectation, urging me to just spit it out.

"His name is H—" The letter slipped out before I could stop myself, and I could hardly take it back now. His name started with an H, then. Great. My mouth was still wide open, though no sound was escaping it.

My eyes were wandering through my living room, anywhere but on her. "H—uhm," I cleared my throat once. "Harry," I shrugged, eyes closing for a moment before they snapped back onto her. "Harry Parker."

That was a stupid name.

"Harry Parker?" She knitted her brows together tightly, testing the way the name sounded coming from her lips. Her eyes dragged up and down my body, landing back on my face before she diverted her eyes completely to look out of my window.

She nodded, then. "Alright, well, don't worry about being nervous!" She cheered lightly. "Your family will adore Harry Parker just as much as you do."

God, I hope they didn't. 

-

PLS the name Harry Parker is so bad it's almost funny again jhgufzdt

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter and I'll see you in two days! <3


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