I'll Fight My Corner

The light from an open window opened my eyes and I awoke to hear a buzzing next to my ear.

My phone was threatening to fall off the edge of a bed that I didn't recognize and I grabbed it only to see that my mother was calling. When I didn't answer in time, the screen read,

Missed Call: Mom (5).

I rushed to call her back and held a hand over my eyes, dreading what was to come.

"Emmalee Katherine James, where the hell are you?!"

I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm fine, I promise, I was with Harry and we-"

"You were with Harry again? You've been spending too much time with that boy, Emmalee, I've told you many times not to get involved, you don't have time to get involved..."

She went on and on and I just put my hand back over my eyes. My head started to throb and I sat up, trying to keep quiet so she wouldn't know that I wasn't listening.

"Mom, I'm fine, and I'm sorry. I'll be home soon, and I'll explain everything."

She didn't say anything and simply hung up. I had never done anything against her wishes so I knew she didn't know what to do when scolding me.

I set my phone back down next to the pillow I slept on and shifted my eyes to the sleeping boy next to me. I was glad to see that when he slept, he looked peaceful and the crease between his eyes had disappeared. Last night was a long night and thinking about it put a grimace on my face.

I looked down and saw that I was wearing a t-shirt that didn't belong to me, but I figured it was Harry's. It was white and quite large and had drawings of hands all over it. Somehow, between the time we sat down on his bed and the time we fell asleep, I had changed into this and he changed into basketball shorts and a hoodie. I could recall telling him not to look, and waiting a little to see if he would actually listen. I remembered laughing because he peeked through his fingers and I smacked him in the arm.

We talked all night about everything and nothing at all, avoiding the topic of his father. What Harry had to say was so profound that I couldn't believe my ears, and my heart swelled with every word.

At first, it was hard to wrap my head around the idea of sleeping in the same bed as him, but he insisted. He said it was repayment for the time I had to sleep on my floor while he slept on my bed. My bed's big enough, he said. And I told him we were just friends and he said he knew that, but he would never let a friend sleep alone on a bad night. And so he let me set up a wall of pillows between him and me but sometime during the night, we had both inched closer to each other and now the pillows were all over the bed and floor.

He turned his body to face me and his eyelids slowly lifted to reveal his green eyes that sometimes seemed gray, and his lips moved to show the smile that made my heart beat so fast. "Who was that?"

"My mom."

"You were fighting with her." It was a statement and not a question and he seemed worried but how could I compare my small fight with my mother to the one he had with his father last night?

"It's okay," I whispered as I looked at his hair, almost laughing. It had become wild during the night and it looked funny. It was sort of like a cowlick, but all over his head. His curls stuck up in some places and were pressed flat in the back.

"Are you sure?"

"It's just that I've never not come home before, and it scared her." I left out the detail that she was angry because I had been spending "too much time" with this boy.

But I was sure that I almost loved this boy and I wanted to spend all my time with him. Was that so bad? In the back of my head, a voice told me that yeah, it was bad. It sounded the slightest like my mother.

He sat up next to me. "I'll take you home now."

I remembered when he said that last night and his eye was swelling, and I peered up at him and saw the blooming of violet around his eye. I brought my finger up to it gently, but touched it only enough to feel the very outside of his skin. I was careful not to put pressure on it in fear of hurting him, even just a little bit. I knew that the color would pass with the days, but I hated seeing the proof that anyone had even dared to hurt him.

"What do you tell people when they ask about the marks?" I asked, slightly distant as I was preoccupied with studying his face.

Despite the darkness, his face was still beautiful. I moved my finger from his eye and traced my eyes around his jawline, coming back down to the middle and focused on his cut lip.

"I tell people that I get into bar fights. Some think I lie just to build my reputation, but that's not the case at all. I could never tell anyone, though."

"Why not? I mean, you could get away from your dad and he could get help."

He shook his head. "If anyone found out that my dad was an abusive alcoholic, his career would be over."

I looked at him and I couldn't comprehend how much love Harry had inside his chest, and suddenly I was livid once more. Even though his dad was abusive towards him, he still cared enough to sacrifice his safety for his dad's job.

"You shouldn't have to worry about things like that."

He shook his head. "You shouldn't have to worry about me."

"You asked me to take care of you, Harry."

"This is one thing that I can handle myself. Emma, I'm serious. I've made it this far just fine."

I pursed my lips and decided to let the subject go for now. He stood up off the bed and rubbed the sleep from his good eye.

"As much as I'd like to keep you all day," he mumbled with sleep still in his voice, "We really do need to get you home."

I chuckled and looked for the clothes that I was wearing last night. He turned around once I had retrieved them and I pulled on my jeans and changed out of his shirt, pulling on my own and folding his neatly and placing it on his messy bed.

Looking around one last time, I said, "You are one messy boy, you know that?"

He smiled his cheeky smile and he replied, "I know."

We made our way downstairs and as we were about to walk out the door, Harry's father appeared.

I could feel myself getting defensive over Harry and my hands slowly curled into fists. I was surprised at myself, but didn't question it.

"Good morning, dad."

"Good morning, Harry. What time did you get in last night?" he asked, as if nothing had happened.

"Around 2. I think you were sleeping already."

I looked from Harry to his dad in slight disbelief.

"What happened to your eye?" His voice was laced with concern, like a real parent, but I knew that he wasn't one at all.

"There was a drunk guy at the party we went to last night. He got a little too rowdy with me."

His father sighed. "Did you put ice on it?"

Harry smiled. It wasn't the same as the ones he gave me. "Emmalee held the ice pack until we fell asleep."

It was then that Harry's father made eye contact with me and I tried my best to hide the anger in my irises.

He nodded and said hello, and I did the same.

"I'm going to take her home now. I'll be back later. Bye, dad."

His dad simply waved and we kept making our way out and through the garage and into his car. I couldn't find any words other than, "What the hell?"

Harry sighed as he put the keys in the ignition. "He has blackouts. He never remembers when he drinks too much."

I kept quiet and he backed out of the driveway.

"I haven't had anyone over in a really long time," he informed me. "I'm glad I had you over, though."

I pushed the thought of Harry's dad to the back of my mind and grinned at him. "That's the first sleepover I've had since middle school."

He looked at me when he came across red lights, but didn't say anything.

Finally, I turned and asked, "What?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because."

"That's not a full sentence. There's no subject or verb."

He held one hand up. "Jeez, okay. You're such a tutor."

I laughed quietly. "Harry, stop."

"It's just - you - I don't know how to explain it. It was just adorable the way you looked like you were about to eat my dad alive earlier."

My eyes widened and I smiled. "Adorable? Are you kidding me?"

"Yeah. Like a baby tiger."

My jaw dropped slightly. "A baby? You're calling me a baby?"

He grinned extra wide and I just huffed and turned to the window, muttering, "I'm not a baby."

Harry just kept humming along to the radio and I got another call from my mother, but ignored it. Harry wasn't bad for me. She would understand.

The silence increased but suddenly, at another stop light, he tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, hey Emma. What do you call a nosy pepper?"

My brow furrowed and I turned to him. "What?"

"I said, what do you call a nosy pepper?"

I shrugged.

"Jalapeño business!"

As soon as I heard it, I pressed a hand to my mouth and burst out laughing.

"Get it? Like all up in yo business!"

I just kept laughing as I looked over at him and saw the look of pride on his face.

"So you're cute and you come up with bad jokes, too? I've really hit the jackpot," I told him once my laughter waned off. After realizing what I had just said, my eyes widened and I gasped quietly to myself.

"Did Emmalee James just call me, Harry Styles, cute?"

"I said you have bad jokes," I informed him, trying to change the subject.

"And that I'm cute."

"Really? Puns? That's all you've got?"

"You think I'm cute?"

I knew I would regret that the moment I said it because he wouldn't let me forget it.

I thought for a moment and finally said, "I think you're fascinating."

His smile grew. We arrived at my house and I sighed, resting my head on the window. "I don't want to go home."

He joined in on my sighs and said, "I'll call you."

I smiled. "Sounds good."

"What are you doing today?" He asked me that question like he was genuinely interested, even though all I said was, "Nothing."

"You should come with me somewhere after practice."

I shook my head sadly. "My mom thinks I spend too much time with you."

His eyes widened. "Does she really?"

I nodded. "That's what she was mad about today. Once she found out I was with you, she lost it."

"I've yet to meet a mom that doesn't like me."

I scoffed playfully. "I'm sure you haven't."

My phone started to buzz again and I unbuckled my seatbelt. "I promise I'll call you."