I'll Fight My Corner

He leaned in again, but I put my hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. The reality of the situation started to hit me, and suddenly I was panicking.

"Why is it that when I really think about this, I realize that we've only known each other for almost no time at all? And logically, I barely know you, but in reality, I feel like we've known each other forever. How did we get this close this fast?"

He sighed and sat down on the bed, taking my hand and gently pulling me to sit next to him. "I know you're scared, Emma. I'm scared too. I've never felt like this in my life. And the thought that you managed to bring this feeling out of me in so little time terrifies me. But it'll be okay. We'll be okay. We can take it slow, if you want. I promise we will be okay. Okay?"

"Okay."

"This was bound to happen sooner or later. Please don't push me away. I want to be with you."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in and out. I just hoped that I wouldn't regret this later on.

He chuckled. "Wow. We're not the most traditional people, are we, Em?"

I shook my head. "No, we definitely aren't."

"Look, we aren't an equation. I've said this to you before, haven't I? We don't need to make sense, because we're people, not numbers. We're not always going to have an answer for everything, but that's alright. If we feel whatever it is we're feeling, we can't fight it. It'll only make things go wrong."

I thought his words over. Yes, we definitely did not know each other long enough to be feeling so strongly about each other, but we were. And what could we do about that? The feeling was there, so why fight it? We were scared to death, but we were scared together. We would sort this out together.

But for now, I needed to think by myself. "Can you take me home?"

"Now?"

He pouted slightly and I laughed.

"Put that pout away. It's almost two."

"Just sleep here!"

"Do you want my mother to hate you?"

He mulled it over and sighed. "No, I guess not."

Harry stood up and off the bed. He pulled me up by the hand and we walked out of his room and down the stairs. Before we walked out the front door, I stopped. "Is your dad asleep?"

Harry nodded. "I checked before we went into my room. Don't worry."

Once we were in the car, I texted my mom to tell her I was on my way home and he backed out of the garage with the radio playing. I noticed an empty pack of gum crumpled up next to one that was half empty. "You're still chewing nicotine gum?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? But I think we have to watch out for you; we might have a future drug addict on our hands."

My jaw dropped slightly. "It was three hits."

He laughed. "I just cannot believe you got high."

I shook my head. "I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea! Not a good idea, but not a bad idea. Just an idea. An 'adventure,' to put it in your words."

"And did you like it?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I didn't like lacking things to say. I felt reduced to laughter, and I didn't like losing control over myself. I also didn't like seeing you upset."

"It just scared me, that's all. I didn't know how much you had smoked or if you had done anything other than that. God knows what Stacy would have gotten you into. And I was also half upset at myself for leaving you."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop. It wasn't a big deal."

He shook his head. "Last time I left you, that boy gave you vodka in a bottle. And this time, you ended up faded."

"You're making me sound like a child." I looked out the window, seeing the buildings outside go by in almost blurs.

"I'm not saying you're a child."

I turned to face him again. "What's your deal with Stacy? She seems like a very nice girl."

He stayed silent for a while, biting his lip. "She is. Stacy and I were very close when I first got here, and we still are. She took me to all these parties and introduced me to the people I know now. But she does some things I'd rather stay away from, so I'm always wary of her when I see her at parties."

"What does she do?"

"She does weed, obviously, but she's tried cocaine, shrooms, Molly, all sorts of stuff."

"Oh. Wow."

He just nodded and said, "Mmhm. But when she's not at parties, she's very fun to be around."

We were silent for a while and I yawned, almost falling asleep again. He grabbed a hold of my hand and I smiled. We intertwined our fingers and I lifted my other hand to play with his rings.

"I love your fingers." I giggled because it was such a weird thing to say, but it was true. Now that we had both admitted our feelings, it was so much easier to say the things on my mind.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And I love your hands. And your arms. And your tattoos. And your jawline. And your nose. And your lips. And your eyes. And your hair. And your voice, your words, your heart, and every part of you that exists."

"Do you really?" He chuckled.

"And you know what else I love?"

At a red light, he turned to look at me. "What's that?"

I yawned. "Not you." He raised his eyebrows and I laughed quietly.

"I'm just kidding. I'm actually quite fond of you."

He chuckled. "I wasn't able to tell. And just in case you didn't know, I'm quite fond of you, too."

I smiled. "Well, I'm glad. Because as far as I'm concerned, people only kiss each other when they're fond."

"Then I'm glad we're fond of each other because I really like kissing you, Em."

Even as I yawned, I felt blood rushing to my cheeks once my mouth was closed.

We were silent again and all I could hear was Kings Of Leon playing on the radio.

"Remember when we first met and you were so sure that you hated me?"

I covered my face with the hand he wasn't holding. "Yes."

He laughed. "Look where we are now."

"Shut up. I let you sleep on my bed, so I couldn't have hated you that much."

He pulled into my driveway and I yawned one last time. Even though I truly didn't want to leave him, I was happy to be home so I could sleep and think about what had happened tonight.

"Goodnight, Emma. I'll see you tomorrow for tutoring, yeah?"

I nodded, trying my best to smile without yawning again. My eyes drooped down, threatening to shut at any moment. He pressed his lips to my forehead.

Walking to the door was a challenge, and I was proud of myself for getting there without dropping my keys. Once I was inside, I collapsed on the couch, convinced this entire night was a dream. Harry had feelings for me just as I had feelings for him, and I had gotten my first kiss, all within a few hours. I had gotten high for the first and hopefully the last time, too. I was indescribably happy, the happiest I had ever been. Granted, I was also very confused, but I was happy. Once again, I found that I was very grateful that Harry had stumbled into my life. He had singlehandedly changed everything for the better. I decided I would worry about the rest later and my eyes slowly shut. I fell asleep only thinking about the curly haired boy who called me little bird and told me he was fond of me.