The Story of us

Chapter 22: When dealing with a heartbroken teenager, never offer them alcohol

Wayne, Pennsylvania - 411 miles 

"Lexi? Could we...could we, uh, talk for a minute?"

I could feel my body stiffen ever so slightly at the sound of his voice. I blinked slowly as I set my phone down and glanced up at him, my blue eyes making contact with his green ones for the first time in days. After avoiding each other for this long, him seeking me out now had definitely taken me by surprise, but I wasn't going to push him away the same way he had with me. I nodded my head and then, in a tone that sounded far too high pitched for my liking, I said, "Yeah, sure. Come and sit down."

Harry looked relieved at my invitation, but I noticed that when he sat down next to me, he kept his distance. And I think that was what made me realize that whatever had happened between us the other night could never happen again. It wouldn't–he didn't want it. But then I remembered everything he had said about me to Travis earlier this morning, and I realized that I couldn't be so sure of that anymore, after all.

I waited for him to say something, since he was the one who had initiated the conversation, after all. But after more than a few minutes had passed and he still remained silent, I sighed heavily and asked, "So. What did you want to talk about?" I was playing dumb; acting like I hadn't been avoiding him the same way he had with me for the past few days. Unfortunately, he had always been able to see right through me.

"I think that you know what I want to talk about," Harry said quietly, and for a second, I allowed my hopes to rise. But it was only for a second, and besides, they were crushed anyways, when he continued, "I think that we just have to forget about what happened that night."

"Forget what happened that night," I repeated back to him slowly because apparently, I was a fucking parrot now.

He nodded his head, but I knew him well enough by now to tell that he was clearly uneasy. Part of me wanted to argue with him, to tell him that I knew this wasn't what he wanted because I had heard him earlier this morning, but I didn't say any of that, because I knew he wouldn't know how to deal with it. And so I forced them down my throat and made myself deal with them instead.

"I completely agree," I said once I realized that I had been silent for far too long. "I mean, that kiss...It was stupid."

"Completely ridiculous," Harry agreed with me.

I swallowed back the bile that was beginning to rise in my throat and nodded my head right along with him. "Horrifying, almost. I mean, me and you? Together?" I let out a forced laugh that came out sounding a whole lot louder than I had intended it to be, and then finished, "Never. It would...never work." But I still wanted it to.

If I didn't know better, I might have believed that he looked surprised by what I was saying, but I didn't want to think about that right now. "You're right," he said. "You and I...it was a mistake." And for some reason, even though he had said it to me before, hearing it this time somehow made me feel even worse.

I didn't respond to that, figuring it was the end of our short-lived, uncomfortable conversation, but before I had the chance to get up and walk away, he placed his hand on top of mine. I glanced down at it with wide eyes, and then quickly pulled away. To this day, I'm still not sure who was more surprised, me or him.

Harry recovered quickly from my subtle rejection, and instead of questioning it, he asked me, "So....we're friends again?"

I blinked, reviewing his words over in my head. I must have been taking too long, at least for him, to respond, because he quickly said, "Cos you mean a lot to me, Lexi...as a, uh, friend, and I wouldn't want to lose you because of something stupid like this."