I'll Fight My Corner

When I woke up, Harry was unbuckling my seatbelt and gently pulling me out. My mind flashed back to the first night when I pulled him out of my car and into my house, and now he was doing the same for me.

"Alright, Em. Let's go."

He gently guided me into his house and this time, I was glad that we weren't greeted by his father. He and I both let out sighs of relief. I wasn't feeling the fog as much as I was before, and I safely made it up the stairs and into his room.

Collapsing on his bed, I looked up at him. He was still standing, looking down at me and running a hand through his hair. I giggled. "Hi."

"What are we going to do with you, little bird?"

"Lie down with me."

"We need to talk about what ha-"

"Lie down with me, please?"

"No, we're going to talk-"

"Harry! Please?"

He groaned. "Fine. But if I lie down with you, can we talk about what happened?"

"Yes, I promise."

He kicked off his shoes and untied mine, setting them down on the floor next to his. Then he walked around the bed and climbed on, lying on his back and looking at the ceiling. I mimicked his actions and his hand found mine. He started to play with my fingers and I laughed to myself.

"So who gave you the blunt?"

"Stacy."

"And why did you take it?"

"She said it would help with the nerves." I paused, then continued. "I would appreciate it if you didn't talk to me like a third grader."

He chuckled. "Sorry. I told you before that you didn't have to be nervous. You're safe with me."

"You weren't there."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. I didn't want you to have to take care of me during your victory celebration. You took care of me last time and you ended up having to watch me vomit and I'm pretty sure that wasn't fun for either of us. I just wanted you to have fun. You look so cute when you're happy and having fun."

I looked over at him and he blushed, smiling that lazy smile. "That's the second time you've called me cute."

My eyes widened. "It's the weed talking."

He shook his head. "No, the high should've worn off by now, especially since you fell asleep."

I covered my face with my hands and groaned. "Why can't I ever compliment you without you calling me out on it?"

"Because it's cute and I want to acknowledge the fact that it's cute, but you never let me!"

I turned away from him. "You're embarrassing me."

He chuckled again and inched closer, resting his chin on my arm. "Anyway, you shouldn't ever think that I'd put alcohol before you. You're more important to me than one night of getting drunk. You make me feel better than alcohol does."

My eyes widened once more. I couldn't believe the words he was saying to me and once again, my heart thumped against its cage and my cheeks reddened.

He rolled away again and I lay flat on my back once more.

"Hey, Harry?"

He turned his head in my direction.

"Why was Zara saying those awful things about you?"

He sighed. "She was one of the girls that I used to sleep with. I've apologized many times for leaving her before she woke up, but she won't take my apologies."

"I don't expect her to. It seemed like she really liked you."

He ran a hand over his face. "I know. I messed up so bad with her. I tried to take her on a date afterwards, but it was difficult. I didn't connect with her, and I couldn't be the boyfriend she wanted. Our relationship wouldn't have been genuine and I didn't want to lie to her."

I took a deep breath and let it out. "So the things she was saying, they weren't true?"

"Well, what exactly did she say?"

"She said you would hold my hand and invite me to all your games and take me to parties, then have sex with me and leave me afterwards. Do you do that to girls?"

He sighed again. I took that as confirmation, and I sat up. I thought about it, and I didn't want to be just another girl. I was just his tutor, and that's all I set out to be. In fact, I didn't want to be his tutor in the first place. I didn't know how it had gotten this far and I realized there was a lot about Harry that I didn't know but should've learned. I wondered just how much of our friendship was real to him.

I reached for my shoes, but he grabbed a hold of the hand that I still had on the bed. "Emma, please don't leave."

"How do I know that everything we've been through hasn't just been another adventure for you? Because you seem to really like adventures, Harry, but I don't want to be one of them."

"It hasn't been. I promise. Emma, please."

I sighed and stopped moving. He let go of my hand and sat up.

"You mean so much to me. If you don't want to believe me, that's okay. But just know that everything that we have done together, everything that I've said to you, it's been real. Trust me. It was all real and I wouldn't change any of it."

I put my shoes down, but I stood up and faced him. "But why me? What is so different about me, Harry?"

"Why can't you just believe that I think you're beautiful and I think you're worth it and I love having you around? I feel like I can tell you anything and I feel like a better person around you. I love spending my days with you, I love being able to see you smile and laugh and open up to me and the world. I have never met anyone like you and when I'm with you, I feel like it can just be us and no one else is necessary."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes.

"I feel like I'm falling in love with you, Emma, and I can't stop."

My eyes fluttered open. "You what? We haven't known each other for that long, how could you possibly be falling in love with me?"

"I think I might be in love with you," he repeated, "And please, please believe me when I say I have never said that to anyone in my life. I don't know how you did it, but you made me fall for you."

I was silent and he stood up and walked towards me until we were face to face. "Please tell me you feel it too."

I was scared to death. The amount of time we had known each other compared to the intensity of what I felt for him didn't match up, and I was frightened that we were, indeed, moving too fast. I wanted so bad to run away. If I admitted that I felt the same way, I had no idea what would happen next. I was still scared that he was lying, but he couldn't have been. He let me in. He showed me his favorite donut place, his room, his father. He let me in further than I could comprehend and he didn't have any problem doing so. He couldn't have been lying.

As he stood there, I took a deep breath and I nodded. "I feel it too."

And even if we were moving too fast or if this was a mistake, I knew what I was saying was true. I felt it, and I had been feeling it for some time. I waited for him to say something but all I felt was his lips on mine. I felt everything inside clicking into place and suddenly, everything made sense. I felt like I was meant to be standing in this room with this boy, and I didn't want to be with anyone else.

"Please don't hurt me, Harry."

"I could never. Don't leave me, little bird."

"I could never."