It was a Thursday afternoon and Harry and I were gathering our things from our lockers, about to leave school.  The week had passed fairly calmly, with no further sign of the hated Katie, which I was more than pleased about.  A small part of me had feared she would suddenly enroll in our school and I’d be forced to see her everyday, but she was nowhere to be found. 

“I can’t believe we graduate in like less than a month,” I said as Harry closed his locker.  We had just gotten out of a group meeting with our advisors to make sure we had everything in line to graduate.  “That’s so surreal.”

“I know,” he nodded.  “It’s gonna be so weird to be free to do whatever we want soon.”

I smiled, very much liking the idea of being able to do whatever I wanted with him, whenever, and not have to worry about parents or curfews or getting caught sneaking around. 

“It’s gonna be amazing, you mean,” I said lightly, grinning at him.  He returned my smile quickly.

“Definitely.”

We were nearly out the door when we ran into Haley and Lydia, who had just come from the other end of the hallway.

“Hey, guys!” Haley greeted happily. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” I returned as Harry smiled at them.

“Great, so happy tomorrow is Friday,” Lydia said, rolling her eyes.  “I need a drink after this week.” 

I didn’t really know what she was referring to, but it seemed like she always needed a drink, or seven, at the end of the week so I just smiled at her.

“Yeah, are you having another party or what?” I asked. 

“Well obviously,” Lydia said, rolling her eyes playfully.  “You guys coming?! I know the boys would like to see you, Harry.”

“They would?” he asked in surprise.  They had been so nice to him since the first party, but I don’t think Harry realized that they actually liked him rather than were just tolerating him for my sake.  They considered him a new friend, now.

“Oh, yeah! They’ve actually been asking about you guys and why you never eat lunch with us,” Haley added accusingly, glaring at us playfully.  I grinned sheepishly.

“That’s my bad,” I admitted. “I dunno, Harry, do you wanna go?” I asked, turning to him. 

He shrugged.  “Could be fun, yeah, let’s go,” he said, smiling at me. 

“Yay!” both the girls squealed in unison.  They were so easily excitable it was hard not to smile at them.

“Looks like we’re going,” I said, grinning at them both.

“Awesome, I’m so glad you guys are coming.  Okay we gotta go but we’ll see you later!” Lydia said, raising her hand in a wave that Haley copied before they carried on down the hall, talking excitedly about tomorrow night.

“Well if this party is anything like the last one, we’re in for another interesting night,” I laughed.  “Hopefully we can avoid another damn fight this time.”

“Well I don’t imagine Colt will be making an appearance since he’s still covered in plaster and seems to have had a change of heart, so as long as you behave I think we’ll be fine,” he teased, nudging me in the side with his elbow. 

“Hey, as long as no one messes with you, I’ll be happy,” I said.  He grinned at me before slinging an arm around my shoulders and tugging me into him, pressing a kiss to my temple as we walked outside. 

“I’m a big boy, love,” he said, puffing out his chest and tilting up his chin.  “You don’t have to protect me.”

“I know,” I agreed.  “But that doesn’t stop me from trying to.  And it makes me feel better about myself, okay?”

He chuckled and squeezed his arm around me. “Okay, baby.”

We reached his SUV and climbed in, settling into our seats as Harry backed out of the space. 

“So are we gonna go three for three on sneaking away from parties?” I asked cheekily, grinning at him as he choked on his breath, cheeks tinting a light pink, surprised by my forward question.

“Naughty, Joey,” he said after he caught his breath.  “We should learn to behave, don’t you think?”

“No, I absolutely do not think,” I said, only half kidding.  He laughed as he glanced at me.

“You know if you wanted to, there would be absolutely nothing I could do about it.  I have no self-control when it comes to you.”

I grinned widely, pleased that he felt the same way I did.  I felt like he was constantly seducing me, ninety percent of the time without meaning to do so or even aware that he was, and my body constantly craved his.  It got so bad sometimes that I couldn’t even think straight. 

The thought of already sneaking away with Harry at the party tomorrow night electrocuted my body, running a current through my veins.  Biting my lip, I tried to resist the urge to dive across the seat and attack him right then.

“I think I have even less self control than you do,” I said honestly as I crossed my legs tightly in my seat, squirming around in an attempt to control my hormones.  His hand reached across the seat to rest on my thigh, fingers slipping to my inner thigh as he squeezed gently.  It could have been an innocent touch, but the smirk on his face told me he knew what he was doing to me.  He could probably see how I was feeling written all over my face. 

“Hurry up and get us home,” I told him, my voice catching in my throat as his hand inched higher up my leg.  His smirk deepened as he drove, turning on our street finally. 

“You’re too easy, Joey,” he said quietly, his fingers tickling against me as I squirmed in my seat even more. 

“I know,” I huffed in frustration, gripping his forearm and pulling his hand closer to my knee.  “Stop, you’re killing me.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, feigning innocence as he pulled into his driveway.  As soon as he parked his car, he turned to shoot me a smug look, sliding his hand back up my leg as he watched my breath become shallower, eyes trailing from my lips down to my chest that rose and fell quickly.  His tongue slipped out to wet his lips as he watched me fall further and further under his spell.

He bit his lip into his mouth and I lost it; I launched myself across the seat at him, my lips colliding with his as his hand instantly wrapped along the side of my neck, fingers twisting firmly into my hair as he held my face to him.  My lips didn’t move against his because they were pressing so hard together, our breath exhaling at the same time and mixing as he kissed me hard.  I shifted in my seat to press myself closer to him and my fingers roamed frantically across his chest, clutching at whatever I could grab. 

I pulled back suddenly, needing a breath desperately.  When I drew back, I could see his eyes were as wild as mine probably looked, wide with want and dark with lust.  My body wouldn’t sit still as I repeatedly arched my back with each breath I took and my hands desperately searched his chest.  His fingers clutched in my hair as his eyes shifted back and forth between mine and my lips, his breathing also increasing. 

“Let’s go inside,” he said, voice laden with need and full of gravel.  I smirked as we both jumped out of the car.  I followed Harry up the walk, pushing playfully on his back while he tried to slow down, taking his leisurely time to build my frustration.  I strained as I pushed him, laughing as my feet reached out behind me, my hands splayed on his back. 

“Harryyyy,” I groaned. “Come onnnn.”

I had finally pushed him up to the front door, where he turned the knob but didn’t open the door.  He turned around to face me, gripping my wrists in his hands with a wide grin on his face, pleased with himself.  Pulling on my wrists, he pulled me into his chest, ducking his head to kiss me and pull be backwards through the door, lips connected to mine. 

My arms wrapped around his neck to follow him as he walked backward, his lips parting mine to let his tongue dart into my mouth.  I rose up to my toes to press my chest tighter against his, my fingers tangling into his hair as I clung to him.

A sudden loud, deliberate clearing of a throat caused us to spring apart.  I cursed internally, a string of curse words flowing through my mind as I turned sheepishly toward the source of the sound.  Embarrasment flooded through me again as I saw Anne sitting at the kitchen table with a clear view of how we had just come through the door.

You have to be kidding me.

We had just gotten over the whole getting-caught-at-the-wedding thing and now she had just witnessed us all over each other again.  This had to stop happening or I would surely die of embarrassment.  My humiliation was quickly replaced by a different emotion, however, when I saw who sat across her: anger.

Katie sat across the table from Anne, arms resting complacently on the wood as she watched us with an unreadable expression on her face.  Irritation flooded through me and it took everything in me not to cuss her out right there.  How dare she show up at Harry’s house and sit here with his mom like they were still the best of friends?  I instantly knew that Anne didn’t know the story between Katie and Harry, otherwise there was no way she would be sitting here so calmly with her. 

“Harry, Katie stopped by to say hello,” she said brightly, recovering from her disapproving expression to smile at Harry.  At least she didn’t seem to be too upset about catching us making out.  At least we had only been kissing.

“Why?” he asked, sounding probably the rudest I had ever heard him.

“Harry,” Anne scolded, looking surprised at his tone.

“Why are you here?” he asked, ignoring his mother and looking at Katie, who was smiling innocently at him.  I stood there and scowled at her, not caring if Anne thought I was rude. 

“I just wanted to catch up with you, Harry.  It’s been years since I’ve seen you,” she said pleasantly. 

“That’s alright,” he said shortly.  “You don’t need to do that.”

Anne frowned at us, confused as to why Harry was being so cold to her.  He really should explain what she had done; if she knew, she wouldn’t be being so nice to her and would probably never have even let her into the house.  It didn’t surprise me that Harry hadn’t told her; he was very difficult to get things out of, especially before I came along. 

“Harry it won’t kill you to talk to her for a bit, you were best friends,” Anne said.  Harry glared at his mother, trying to mentally tell her he didn’t want to.  Whether she got his message or not, she appeared not to care. 

“I just wanted to talk, Harry,” Katie piped up.  I glared at her.  If she thought I was going to let him talk to her alone, she was crazy.  I was this close to slapping that stupid grin off her face. 

“I’ll be out here,” Anne said, shooting another confused look in our direction before disappearing into the living room.  Harry looked at her reluctantly, clearly displeased with the situation.  As soon as she was gone, he crossed his arms over his chest, widening his stance as he frowned at her.

“What do you want?”

“I told you, I just want to talk,” she said sweetly.  I didn’t trust her and her stupid façade as far as I could throw her.  “Alone,” she dared to add, shooting me an extremely pointed look. 

“No,” he said firmly.  “Joey’s not going anywhere.”

My heart swelled in my chest, incredibly happy that he wanted me here.  She didn’t look pleased, and I could have cheered.

“Please, Harry?” she said, blinking at him.

“No.”

She sighed in disappointment.  “Okay, well, I just wanted to you know, start hanging out and stuff again.  I’ve missed you!” she said excitedly, beaming at him as if that was something he wanted to hear.  He just stared blankly at her.

“No, that’s alright.”  I almost let out an excited yell.

“Why not?”

“You’re not serious?” he asked skeptically, sarcasm dripping from his tone. 

“Harry that was so long ago, can’t we move on?” she pleaded, refusing to let her ridiculous smile drop. 

“I don’t see the point in that, really,” he said coolly.  She shot me an annoyed look, smile faltering finally on her face before returning her gaze to Harry.

“Okay.  That’s fine, I guess,” she said, sadness leaking into her voice.  It sounded extremely forced to me, and I knew Harry picked up on it as well because his face reflected the skepticism in his voice. 

He stared blankly at her.  “Yeah.”

“I guess I’ll just go then,” she said, trailing off as if hoping he’d stop her.  He didn’t.

“Okay.”

She rose slowly from the table, smoothing out her clothes as she looked down at him with disappointment and ignored me.

“I’ll see you, then.”

“Yup, see you,” he returned coldly.  She glanced quickly at me, finally making eye contact as I narrowed my eyes at her.  “Joey.” She nodded curtly before leaving, showing her out of the house.

“I don’t like her at all,” I told Harry instantly, his green eyes turning to me.

“Me neither.”

“She’s so… fake. And slimy. And annoying,” I said, thinking of another thousand words I could use to describe her. 

Harry chuckled and leaned across the space between us to press a kiss to my temple.

“I love you, Joey,” he said lightly, laughing at my anger.

“Love you, too babe.”