forget me not

thirteen

"gemma." i start as we mold our clay into shapes. "yeah?" she says, looking up at me with a smile. "don't be mad... but i need to be honest with you about something." i tell her.

her face looks worried as i take a breath before moving on. "i slept with harry." i tell her. "oh! yeah, i know, he asked if he should wake you up last night but we decided to leave you be." she says.

"no gemma. i mean i slept with him... while you were at work." i re-state. "oh? oh!" she says, realizing what i mean. "did you really?" she asks smiling. "your happy?" i ask. "of course! the pair of you need find someone. even better if it's each other!" she tells me.

huh. i was not expecting her to be happy. i figured she'd make a fuss about how gross i am for sleeping with her kid brother.

later that night i creep into the lounge where harry's couch bed is and slipping under the covers while he talks with gemma in her room.

h a r r y ' s
p o i n t
o f
v i e w

"how was it?!" gemma asks smiling. "what?" "you slept with her! you guys had sex!" she whisper shouts. "she told you?" i ask not even bothering to get flustered.

"yeah, she probably thought i'd tell her off... but seriously, do you think she might remember soon?" she asks. "tha's not how it works gemma. she's not going to remember." i state unhappily.

"was it good though? do you think you two have a shot?" she asks. with any other girl in any other situation i would've wanted to crawl in a whole in embarrassment but not now.

"don't waste time asking questions with obvious answers. of course it was good. it's always good with us." i say crossing my arms.

"she's happy you know." gemma says softly. i look at her hopefully. "are you?" she asks. "she's happy because she doesn't know what she's missing." i state. i was avoiding the question but she knew what i meant.

after gemma gives me a sympathy hug and says she's off to bed i walk out of her room and down the hallway, pleased to see that beatrice was already there, under the covers.

"hi" she says with a smile as i slide into bed next to her. she quickly lays her head on my chest and wraps an arm around my middle once i settle in.

i turn to look her in the eyes and think about gemma's intentions. i don't know exactly what cane over me, but with all the stress surrounding bea's missing memories i found myself needing a distraction, and longing to be as close to her as possible.

i quickly take the arm she had placed over me and hold it against the mattress as i move to hover above her.

"harry, won't gemma hear?" she asks, making her throat buzz beneath my lips. "she's pleased with us sleeping together." i say, pulling away for a moment.

she nods and i continue pushing her sleep shorts down her legs and kissing her neck. "and if you're really so concerned about gemma hearing, just be quieter than you were earlier."

(551 words)