"Can you stay?" Harry mumbled into neck.  He had thrown himself down next to me, slinging his arm across my stomach and hugging his chest into mine.  My hand curled around his back and stroked the back of his hair absent-mindedly, loving the feel of his soft strands sliding through my fingers. 

"Won't your mom care?" I asked quietly.

"Is it bad if I don't care?" he chuckled, nuzzling his face further into the warmth of my skin.

I giggled, surprised by his answer.  "Yes, Harry."

"Oh well," he said.  His fingers brushed slowly up and down the skin on my ribcage, tickling me softly. 

"Do you want me to stay?" I asked, smiling already because I knew the answer.

"Yes," he said. "I never want you to leave."

"Good, 'cause I'm not going anywhere," I said, my grin stretching even further as I kissed the top of his head.  His body felt warm against mine in the most comforting way possible.  "Never ever.  You're stuck with me."

"Never ever?"

"Nope. Not even when you grow up and get a job.  I'll follow you to work.  And in your car.  Even to the bathroom.  Everywhere, even when you beg me to leave you alone," I teased, giggling.

"Okay, changed my mind, I want out," he joked, lifting his head from my neck and looking at me with wide eyes.  He shook his head as if terrified.

"Nope, too late.  You said it," I smiled, raising my eyebrow playfully at him.  A grin stretched across his face.

"Well, looks like I better get used to you, then." He shrugged.

"Looks that way," I laughed.

"I still don't think I'd mind that," he said seriously, ghost of a smile still playing on his lips.  "You could be with me every second of every day and I'd never mind."

My laugh faded as I looked at him, heart melting for what seemed like the thousandth time at his honesty.  "Never? Really?"

He shook his head, holding my gaze.  "Never."

A smile pulled at my cheeks as I bit my lip before leaning down to kiss him.  It was a slow, languid kiss that burned my very soul, his lips shaping softly against my own.  The way his lips fit against mine was too perfect to be a coincidence; I was convinced he was made for me, and I for him.

Our kiss broke as Harry pulled back and smiled softly at me, green eyes absolutely glowing.

"So you'll stay?" he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

"I'll stay," I grinned.  I had known I would stay the moment he asked me.  Everything he had said about never wanting me to leave and wanting to be with me every second of the day had hit home with me, expressing how I felt exactly.  To know that he felt the same way I did made me so inexplicably happy I could barely comprehend it. 

Besides, it was already really late, and I knew I wouldn't have been able to sleep alone tonight after everything that had happened.  I needed him. 

"Good," he said simply, smiling at me once more before rolling on his back and pulling me with him.  I couldn't help the girlish giggle that escaped my lips as he did so, settling so I was on sitting on his hips, knees resting on either side of his body. 

He leaned back into his pillow and grinned up at me, his hands resting above my knees as I sat upright.  Goose bumps rose on my skin as his thumbs trailed lightly across the skin on my thigh while my fingers toyed innocently with the fabric of his boxers that he had put back on.  My eyes roamed across the soft skin on his stomach, covering the deliciously firm muscles that shaped pleasingly down his torso.

Still, even now, I was shocked by how incredibly fit he was.  My fingers released the fabric to run a trail up his stomach, tracing the outlines of his abs, one by one, until I had worked my way up to his chest.  He watched me explore his skin as he chewed on his lip, neither of us speaking.

Once my hands were done feeling the tight muscles of his chest, my fingers walked down each of his arms, tickling against his skin until I reached his hand.  I picked one up and brought it to my lips, kissing his palm before tangling my fingers into both sets of his, leaning into our clasped hands lightly. 

I could find absolutely no flaw as I smiled down softly at him.  His eyes were burning into mine, intensity stemming from somewhere deep beneath the surface.  My breath hitched in my throat at the captivating look he was giving me, and my heart felt almost heavy. 

I was unable to look away from his face as I felt his hands pulling me down to him, bending at the waist until he had my chest pulled against his.  He didn't release my hands as he tugged me down, so my palms were now pressing his into the mattress as I supported myself. 

His lips hovered inches away from my own as he spoke.  "I love you."

The corners of my mouth twitched up happily. "I love you, too, Harry."

He smiled softly before raising his head off the pillow, neck muscles straining against his skin as he pressed his lips to mine once more, resuming the slow, burning kiss from earlier.  His hands pulled out from beneath mine to wrap around both sides of my face, holding my hair back and searing against my skin all at the same time. 

After a few minutes of kissing, I pulled back and kissed the corner of his mouth, sighing happily as I stretched out my legs and slid down to lay next to him.  I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my leg around his, tangling it between his.  My arm hugged around his chest as I managed to weave myself as close as possible to him.  His hand tickled soft patterns across the skin of my arm as he kissed the top of my head.

"Goodnight, Joey," he whispered, tugging the covers up around us.  I snuggled even closer to him before replying.

"Goodnight, babe."

***

I never slept as soundly and peacefully as I did with Harry.  No matter how tangled our bodies became, I never felt uncomfortable while we slept.  It was the exact opposite, in fact.  The more closely meshed together we were, the better I felt. 

I knew Harry felt the same, because whenever there was so much as an inch of space between us, he would pull me closer, vanishing the gap whether he was awake or asleep.  Even when he was unaware, he was constantly pulling me to him. 

We spent all of Sunday together, lost in our own world where I could ignore the impending sadness that awaited me at my own home.  With Harry, I could forget everything to do with my parents and be blissfully ignorant, more than happy to elude the draining heartbreak that dwelled in my house. 

We passed the time doing a vast variety of nothing; we lay in bed, simply enjoying our limbs being tangled together.  We watched TV and made our own stupid comments about whatever was going on.  Harry played me some songs on his guitar, refusing to sing but finally caving after I begged for fifteen minutes solid and threatened to tickle him.  We ordered a pizza and ate it in his bed, Harry scolding me when I got crumbs in his sheets. 

Best of all, though, was just being with Harry; being able to touch him, feel him, kiss him, hug him, anything I wanted, whenever I wanted.  To have such a privilege made me, without a doubt, the luckiest girl in the world.  He was mine to explore, mine to love, and mine to give myself to in every way possible.  

To say I was disappointed to finally leave him was an understatement.  It had taken me nearly an hour to leave, only after Harry hugged me tightly and promised to pick me up for school in the morning, which was only a few short hours away. 

When I got home, no one was there.  My mother had left a note saying she had gotten called into work, and I had no idea where my father was.  I wanted to believe he wouldn't just take off again without saying goodbye, but I would be lying to myself if I said it wasn't possible.  My chest felt as empty as my house as I climbed the stairs and crawled into bed.

Only the thought of Harry, his sweet words and his gentle touches, was enough to make me smile to myself before I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he picked me up for school, just as he promised he would.  When I climbed into his SUV, he greeted me with a cheery smile and a quick kiss.  He seemed far too happy for how early it was, shooting me cheesy grins every few seconds and happily weaving his fingers back and forth between mine.

"What's with you this morning?" I asked, unable to suppress the grin that had spread to my face after seeing his infectious expression.

"Nothing, just a good day," he said, raising my hand to his lips to kiss the back of it before throwing another grin in my direction.

"Okay..." I said, not really believing him.

"I'm just happy we're back to this normal type of thing after everything that happened," he said honestly, eyes facing forward as he watched the road.  His fingers squeezed mine and I smiled.

"Me, too."

After parking the car and grabbing our backpacks, we walked through the parking lot and into the school, Harry's hand never leaving mine.  The hallways were filled with milling students, as usual. 

For what felt like the first time since Harry and I had gotten together, it seemed as if we made our way through the crowd relatively unnoticed.  No one stared, no one snickered or made rude comments, nothing.  Finally, it appeared as if the students had grown up.  Either that, or just gotten bored of us. 

Either way, I was more than fine with it. 

I was digging through my locker, listening to Harry tell me a funny story about his sister when he suddenly stopped talking.  I could feel him tense up next to me and immediately felt a sense of foreboding. 

One look at his face told me it wasn't what I feared, which was another interaction with Colt.  He didn't look scared, anxious, or angry, simply confused.  I raised one eyebrow at him before turning to see what he was staring at over my head, on the opposite side of me.

Immediately, a scowl pressed itself to my face when I saw who was standing there.  Haley and Lydia stood next to me, Haley with a strategically blank expression on her face while Lydia looked guilty and... scared.  She looked scared.  Of me.  I couldn't help the flare of pride that shot up inside me. 

"What do you want?" I said harshly.  I had nothing to say to these two.

"Joey..." Harry scolded softly behind me.  Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he wore a stern expression on his face, eyebrows pulled down and mouth set in a downward sloping line.  He didn't approve of my rash tone. 

I ignored him, because he really had no idea what these two, along with the rest of my friends, had done.  Or not done, really.  I still hadn't told him what happened at that party, which seemed like years ago now, and had no plans to. 

"I- we- wanted to apologize," Lydia said shyly, looking like a kicked puppy. 

"Yeah, right," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"No, really," she continued.  "I feel terrible for... what happened and it's been killing me.  And we miss you."

"You don't feel bad, it happened weeks ago.  If you really felt that bad you wouldn't have waited so long to even speak to me," I shot. 

"Listen, Joey, I know it's been a while or whatever but we've been friends since we were kids! You're not gonna forgive us after all those years of friendship?"  Haley said, adding to Lydia's statements.  Anger bubbled inside me.  At least Lydia legitimately seemed sorry and upset- Haley just seemed annoyed by it all, like she did with everything.

"Nope," I said firmly.  I felt Harry's hand brush against my lower back, silently urging me to be nicer to them.  If only he knew.

"Joey, please, I'm so sorry," Lydia pleaded.  She looked like she was on the verge of tears.  "At least let us meet you later to explain?"

"Yeah, Jo, please?" Haley added, showing her first sign of sincerity in what felt like months. 

"Babe, give them a chance," Harry whispered in my ear, his lips nudging against my lobe.  I signed heavily, annoyance coursing through me.  They were lucky Harry was here and was such a good person, otherwise I would have shared some choice words with them about where they could shove their apology.

"Fine," I huffed.  Relieved smiles split both of their faces, and Lydia leaned forward as if to hug me before thinking better of it and pulling back.  Good decision.  "I'll meet you guys for coffee or something after school, but no promises on being forgiven," I told them sternly, refusing to even let anything close to a smile settle on my face.  They had a lot of groveling to do, in my opinion. 

"Yes! Oh my god, thank you, Joey," Lydia said, unable to control her ridiculous grin.

"Yeah, thanks, Jo, it means a lot," Haley added, smiling at me.

"Yeah, yeah.  I'll see you guys later," I told them before they waved and pranced off, clearly pleased with themselves for speaking with me and avoiding getting hit.  I turned to Harry and shot him a reproachful look.

"Thought you were on my side?" I asked, only a little annoyed with him for prodding me towards forgiving them when he had none of the information.

"I am, which is why I want you to at least talk to them," he said.  I cocked an eyebrow at him, about to speak before he cut me off.  "Look, babe, I don't know what they did but they were your best friends.  For years, like they said.  You deserve to at least give them a chance to explain, no matter what they did.  I'm sure you miss them, even if you won't admit it."

I sighed and studied his face.  He looked so innocently hopeful and kind, so very opposite of me at the moment, and it was what I loved about him.  He was right.  Of course he was right, he almost always was.

"Fine.  They're lucky I love you so much or I would have told them to shove off," I said, brushing my hair out of my face. 

"Lucky them," he said quietly before leaning forward to give me a quick peck.  "I'm proud of you."

My heart swelled.  Hearing that alone made the entire exchange, and what was sure to be a painful reunion after school, completely worth it.  I smiled as he took my hand, closed my locker for me, and led me down the hall to class.  No doubt about it, this boy was the absolute best thing to ever happen to me, in every single aspect of my life.

Thank you to everyone who re-read, re-voted, and re-commented on my last chapter! That was so weird, I'm not sure what happened.  What did you think of this chapter?

Also, in case you haven't seen, I posted the preview to my second book I mentioned a while ago called "Resolution."  It's not related to "Always" and will be significantly more mature, but if you'd like to take a look at that as well and provide any thoughts/ideas you may have, I'd be so grateful :) 

Love you all! xx