Adore You Too [H.S]

51 // We're Both Stubborn, I Know

a/n: happy early easter!

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Harry

I walked away from Lili, feeling slightly irritated. I knew she meant no harm by asking for something so simple like her phone, but it bothered me, and the worst part is, I couldn't tell exactly why. I was mentally blaming it on the fact that she hadn't talked to me in a while, and now that she had the opportunity to, she was choosing not to. While I sat here waiting for her, giving her space just like my mum told me to, the first thing she wanted when she came out of her short hibernation was her phone.

Although I think that was a fair way to sum up the reasoning behind why I felt the way I do, I think there was a bigger picture I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I decided to join Mum in the kitchen. Maybe she needed help with whatever she's doing in there, and I needed a distraction of some sort. I shouldn't be angry, I know I shouldn't. This is such a small, stupid thing to be upset over. But I am upset.

Mum's head turned to face me as soon as I was close enough to come into her peripheral vision. She was placing the steel kettle on the stovetop, presumably making tea. Mum always makes tea whenever she wants to have a conversation with someone, or if she was trying to make someone feel better. The flavor of tea always determined which.

"Hi Harry," she greets me with a smile, wiping her hands across the fabric of her jeans.

"Hey," I say bluntly, accompanied by a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Her eyebrows draw together in concern and her lips turn down into a frown. "You seem upset."

"I'm not," I lie with a shake of my head.

She places a hand on the countertop next to her, shifting her weight onto her leg closest to the cabinets, staring at me with a straight face. I could tell just by her expression that she didn't believe me, and the way she stood told me that she was waiting for me to tell the truth. You learn things about your mother's body language over time, especially after your teenage years.

I fold my arms over each other as I stare back at her, trying to fight her intimidation. But just as I always do, I fail miserably, cracking under the pressure of her death stare.

I uncross my arms, letting them fall back down to my sides in defeat. I roll my eyes, the annoyance that went away for those split seconds coming back to me all at once. That irritating feeling I originally came in here to distract myself from washed over me like a tsunami, but this time stronger.

"Come on, what's the matter?" Mum repeats, seeing she was able to break my guard down.

I rolled my eyes, still unsure how extensive I wanted to go. There were quite a few things wrong. They may have all been little things, but little things build up to form big problems.

"I'm just annoyed," I mumble, but it was so quiet I wasn't sure if she heard me or not.

"What?" She says, proving my theory to be true.

"I'm irritated," I say, much louder this time.

"Harry, what could you possibly be irritated about?" Mum says, shifting her weight onto her other leg, popping her hip out.

"It's just..." I trail off, looking up at the ceiling as I search my brain for the right words to say. I didn't know how to express how I was feeling, not verbally at least. I knew I was annoyed, but I had a dumb reason for feeling that way.

"Are you mad at Lili?" Mum lowers her voice to a whisper, a weary look on her face.

I sigh. "No, I- I'm not mad," I try my best to explain, but then again I didn't know how to. "I'm just...slightly annoyed."