Intent [Wattys 2017]

Chapter 40

Emma

"Lina, it's 6 in the bloody morning" I whisper, a little too harshly as I scurry to Harry's sofa so I won't wake him up.

"Well..." she insinuates as I plop down in his leather couch wrapping a blanket over my bare legs as I wait for her to continue.

"Well what Lina?" I ask knowing exactly what she's getting at but far too annoyed to give up any real information about what occurred last night without a little bit of a struggle from her.

I mean she's my best friend she can handle it. I love her I do, she's one of the only constants in my life, but sometimes she can really get under my skin, just completely drive me up the wall.

"Well... how did last night go? You know, your big date!" Shit, I need a lie, a convincing one.

She still thinks I had the nice and hopefully romantic night with some pleasant man, but little does she know that not only was I stood up after almost an hour of waiting outside in the cold but the man in question was none other than the person who she's been trying to get me to admit my feelings for for awhile now. Shit, she's gonna be pissed with me not to mention how's she's gonna act around Harry after she hears what happened.

That's it, no way in hell I'm telling her.

"Oh...uhmmm, well it was fine I guess. He's nice but I'm not sure it's gonna go anywhere" I lie.

"It was fine I guess" she mimics me but in a condescending tone "seeing as you've spent the night with this mystery man I would have thought it was a little more than 'nice I guess'" she repeats me again.

"Lina what can I say?" Honestly what can I say? If I tell her where I actually am and what Harry did she'd never let it go. And again she'd be very pissed, at both of us.

"Just tell me what happened? What was he like? You know, how was he in bed?"

"Excuse me?" Why would she think I already slept with him on the first date? Oh right...

"Oh come on Emma, you're still at his place aren't you? It's rather obvious. Your hushed tones and the fact that you never came back last night, must of been quite a night by the looks of it!" She explains, sounding almost giddy.

"Lina why are you so convinced that I'm still with him?" I retort just as I hear Harry snore to high heaven, shit, please not have heard Lina, please!!!

"If you aren't with him then who was that snoring?"

"How did you even know that I wasn't in my room?" I ask trying to divert the conversation from who I'm with, "stalking me or something?" I joke, but really...

"No Emma, contrary to popular belief I do more than just snoop on my friends but you can't deny that last night was something special for you, I mean you put on makeup for a boy! A boy Emma. When have you ever done that?" She says raising her voice and putting extra emphasis on those crucial words.

"Look Lina, it's honestly not a big deal. It was a date with a boy and it didn't work out the way I had planned it. End of story."

There's a sigh and then silence, as if she's deciding whether it's worth to push this further over the phone or to just wait and ambush me when I get back to the house. I'm so exhausted, I honestly don't know how much longer I can hold her off so she better chose the latter.

You might be thinking why the hell I can't just tell my best friend about my life. It seems simple. Just tell her what happened. But the thing is I just don't want to feel vulnerable and the fact that I let myself get excited for someone who didn't even bother to show up for our first date, deciding to grab a pint alone instead, and who I only hours ago had a raging fight with right before I ended up sleeping in bed with him is the most vulnerable I have felt in a very long time. So ees I'm gonna tell her eventually but not over the phone and not this morning.

"Lina?"

"Emma?" She pushes.

"I'm gonna go back to sleep if you don't have anymore quest–"

"Oh, back to sleep then. Whose bed?" She chuckles.

"I'll be home in a few hours Lina, talk to you later." I giggle with her before I hang up, putting the damn phone on silent as to not wake the sleeping bear sprawled out in bed just on the other side of this wall. At least I know her little interrogation didn't wake him up given the earth rumbling snore I heard not 60 seconds ago.

Discarding my phone and the blanket on the couch I tiptoe back to bed and slip under the covers next to him, his warmth consuming me as I cuddle into his bare chest.

I am welcomed by his long arms wrapping around my waist pulling me even closer. Even Though I'm still more than a little angry about the events of last night I still melt under his gentle touch and raspy morning voice.

"Love, go back to sleep, it's too early" he mumbles, eyes still closed with a lazy small grin on his lips.

He's got a point. I'm so exhausted and although a part of me still wants nothing more than to run out of here to find some solace in my own bed or wake him up and deal with this issue of him standing me up, what I want more is to sleep.

Jesus, even overthinking all of this is tiring.

"Love, stop thinking and go to sleep" he voices, his warm breath hitting my skin sending tingles all over the area.

This boy knows me all too well and it's the most comforting in the world.

I let go of everything, the thoughts, the emotions, the future, the fears, and let the warmth and comfort of Harry's arms flood through me as subtle darkness takes over.

___

A/N: I know it's short but I needed to stop here... next one will be juicy though so stay tuned. 

Hope you all had a great weekend. 

All the love, C.