"That is so cute! You almost kissed! Don't you think, Max?" Emma asked Max, pulling on his arm as he was driving. Max had offered to drop us both home, and in the car with Emma and her boyfriend, it just blurted out, the kiss that Harper and I almost shared.

"I have to say," Max began, looking at me through the front mirror. "It is a bit weird that Harper almost kissed a girl, like properly kissed a girl with emotions and stuff, not making out and trying to get her in bed type," he said, smirking slightly. "And even offered to protect you. Nope, Harper doesn't do those sorts of things." Max's smirk grew bigger. "You must really be special to him."

I blushed at that comment, smiling shyly. Emma gave me a knowing smile and squealed. "Wait, Noelle, do you like Harper?"

"No, of course not," I stuttered, startled by the question. At my words, I felt a nagging sense of regret, unwinding my brain. I flushed, fiddling with the ends of my hair. Emma grinned at my nervous reaction. "Of course you do! You are blushing so hard right now," she winked and Max chuckled. "I ship it," she said in a sing song voice as she turned to face the front of the car again, a triumphant smile on her face, while I still sat there, shocked. Did I like Harper?

Of course you do. You always feel nervous when he is around, you get butterflies in your stomach, you blush like you are a freaking tomato. Oh, and you almost willingly kissed him. There's that too.

No. I can't like Harper Andrews.

Ah, but you do, idiot.

I pushed the thoughts out of my brain. "Okay, as your best friend, it is my job to get you two together." Emma began. "Alright now, first we have to make him admit his feelings. Then you kiss and start dating. Then we go shopping for lingerie- "

"Shut up!" I shrieked, covering my ears and curling up on the back seat. Max had flushed red at Emma's mention of lingerie. Oh gods, Emma. "Emma, we are not shopping for lingerie! I don't like Harper, and he doesn't like me!" I cried out, frustrated. She seemed unfazed.

"Sure, Noelle, but right now, you are in major denial, idiot," she said, smiling triumphantly and facing forwards. I groaned and buried my face in my hands, sighing in annoyance, staying that way till Max reached my house.

I don't like Harper Andrews, I chanted to myself. My mind wouldn't believe it.

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"This, Andrews," I announced, gesturing to the large shelves of books. "Is the library. It is the great land of books, books, books- "

"Yes, I get it, Noelle," he said smirking slightly. "I have been to a library before." I blushed and turned away, suddenly feeling very awkward. I had persuaded Harper to come with me to the library, since we both had the same free period, so we could work on our project. Just one foot in and I had already made a fool of myself. "Sorry," I mumbled, looking to the ground.

I heard a loud sigh and then suddenly someone's arms were closing around me, pulling me to their hard chest. I inhaled slightly, sniffing at their lemongrass scent. My body felt like it was on fire, touching his body, every part of me bursting into flames as he pressed me against himself, my head resting on his chest. I hadn't forgotten about yesterday lunch time yet. "I'm sorry, baby doll," he said, his breath tickling my ear. "Too soon."

My insides still a nervous mess, I smiled against Harper's fitted black t-shirt and reluctantly pushed myself away from him. His face was contorted into an expression of worry. "It's fine," I said cheerfully, watching his face return back to normal, a smile etching into his features. "Thank god," I heard him mumble under his breath. I smiled and continued to walk down the aisles, feeling Harper's eyes on me. "Come on, let's go find a beanbag to work on," I said, turning the corner. "Work?" Harper questioned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and smirking. I groaned and turned away.

We finally found a free beanbag and I sat down, Harper heaving himself down beside me, stretching his arms behind his head, the muscles in his arms flexing deliciously against his fitted black shirt. I blushed, unable to draw my eyes away from the strip of skin exposed between his shirt and his jeans, the curve of his hipbone revealed. I bit my lip. "Like what you see?" Harper questioned, amused. I quickly darted my eyes back up to his. "Wh- what?" I mumbled breathlessly. He smirked, winking at me.

To avoid any further embarassment, I leaned down to grab my laptop out of my bag, bringing it out carefully. Harper raised an eyebrow at my The Mortal Instruments case. I shrugged involuntarily.

I opened my laptop, my hand hovering over the keyboard, ready to type, before I looked up at my screen and froze in horror.

"Baby doll, close that thing, let's get to know each oth- "

Oh.

My.

Gods.

You have got to be kidding me.

Harper had obviously seen the monstrosity in my screen as well, as I felt him stiffen beside me, his body becoming rigid next to mine, cutting him off in the middle of his sentence, hand still outstretched to close the lid of my laptop. On my laptop screen, displayed for Harper to see was my previous search. My previous search was on tampon brands.

Out of all things, tampon brands.

My body was frozen in shock. I made a choked gurgling sound. Thoroughly embarassed, I had my head behind a shield of my hair and I buried my face in my palms, groaning. Great going, Noelle. You embarassed yourself again. I whimpered involuntarily into my hands, trying to cover as much of my face as I could. He must think you're a freak now. I must look like a tomato.

I peeked through the gaps in my fingers at Harper. Although he was stil frozen, a faint blush has tinted his cheeks, flushing over his cheekbones. Harper Andrews was blushing. I glanced up to his eyes, him still not noticing I was looking him. He was looking at me. They were dark green, filled to the brim with an unfamiliar emotion as he continued to stare at me. The emotion in his eyes was heavy, seeming to weigh me down, pulling me in. It scared me. But it was so beautiful. I loved it.

"I'm so, so, sorry," I mumbled, still looking into his eyes. As if breaking out of a trance, Harper jumped, then looked into my eyes. All of the mysterious emotion was gone, replaced with a calm serenity. He smiled. "It's okay, baby doll," he murmered, rubbing my back. The action made me shudder. I sat up slowly, carefully closing the lid of my laptop, when all I wanted to do was throw it across the room then mercilessly pound it with a sledgehammer.

"Do you think I'm a complete freak now? It's okay if you say yes. And it's okay if you leave." I said, awkwardly, fidgeting with the ends of my hair as I continued to stare at Harper. He laughed.

"Of course I don't think you are a freak, baby doll. I mean, you're a girl, it was bound to happen sometime in your life." he smirked. "Shut up!" I squealed, hitting his chest in embarassment as he roared with laughter. I continued to swat at him, and he easily caught my hands, grabbing me by the wrist. He stopped laughing slowly, looking deeply into my eyes.

"And besides, remmber what I told you? I will never leave you." I took in a sharp intake of breath. This was the first time he had mentioned, or even acknowledged, the day of our kiss. He seemed unfazed by my reaction, continuing to stare at me evenly. He remembered.

It meant something to him.

I bit my lip gently, instantly catching Harper's gaze as he stared bluntly at my lip. He started to lean forward slightly, catching my heart in a net. His green eyes were getting closer to mine, I could see every single smooth curve of his lips. My heart ran a marathon in my chest as I tried to inch forward as well, slowly, step by step. My eyes fluttered close, his warm breath on my cheek.

"Look, it's Harper Andrews!" a girl called out, standing with her friend at the head of the aisle. We both jolted apart at the noise. I avoided Harper's eyes, looking to the two freshmen girls, as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. What was he so irritated about?

We sat in silence as my heart beat returned back to normal. The girls by now had long gone, awkwardly slinking away. I finally turned to face Harper, who was lying back on the beanbag, eyes closed. I took this oppurtunity to observe him. His hair was ruffled artfully, strands falling to his head, his jawline perfectly structured. His body was muscular and lean, his shirt pressing against his stomach, jeans hanging from his hips.

"I know you're checking me out," Harper smirked, eyes still closed. "I don't blame you. I would check me out too." his smirk grew wider as I groaned. "Don't worry, you're not the only one who checks someone out when they're not looking," he added, before stopping suddenly, as if realizing what he just said. His eyes flashed open.

Quickly trying to cover up what he said, he changed the subject. "So, baby doll... I don't know much about you." I raised my eyebrow urging him to continue. He smirked. "Tell me about you. Hobbies, likes, dislikes... where you shop for clothes.... " he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I stoop up, giggling. "No way stalker," I teased, straightening up.

"That hurt, baby doll," he teased back, putting his hand on the right side of his chest, aiming to cover his heart. "Wrong side, idiot," I replied sarcastically. Sheepishly, Harper changed his hands, covering the left side of his rock hard chest. I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away, calling out to Harper that I was looking for books for the project.

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I flipped hy hands through the books in the Biology section, searching for one suitable for our project. Finally satisfied, I picked up the book, turning around.

I almost shrieked. The first thing I saw were two very vivid blue eyes, framed my sandy blonde hair. Joshua. I leaned back on the shelf, catching my breath. At least I hadn't dropped the book this time. I mean, hurting a book? That is crime. I had already done it once.

"Oh, hey," I mumbled, bracing myself with my arm on the shelf. "Hey," Joshua answered. "Sorry about that." I smiled, showing him that it was okay. Joshua was looking at me, but not in the creepy way he had done before, as if I were an animal at the zoo, but as if he was genuinely interested in me. I liked this Joshua much better already. He glanced down at the textbook I was holding.

"Oh, do you have that Biology presentation as well?" he questioned. "Um, yeah, I'm actually here in the library doing it with my partner now," I answered, putting myself at ease. Joshua wasn't being creepy. "Oh, my teacher, Mr Hailey, hates me. I mean, he partnered me up with Alyssa Breechwood." he shuddered as I giggled. Alyssa Breechwood was the girl who always thought she was better than else, taking over in projects, screaming you if you got something wrong.

"I almost got partnered up with her one," I added. "Luckily I was sick."

"Lucky," he muttered, slipping his arm around my waist as if he was giving me a hug, inching closer to me. I stood, uncomfortable, but continued to chat with Joshua. His touch was nothing like Harper's, his I could easily ignored. Harper's, on the other hand, sent my heart flying.

"No, really?" Joshua questioned. "Did you seriously have to- "

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice boomed out. I turned my head to see Harper staring at us, a contained fury brewing in his eyes, turning the forest green dark. His jaw was clenched tightly.

"Wow, the asshole is here too," Joshua remarked smugly. I stared up at him in shock.

"Let go of her," Harper hissed, body tensing, ignoring Joshua's crude remark. "Can't you see she's uncomfortable?"

"Does it look like I care what you say?"

Harper advanced, grinding his teeth together. I looked backwards and forwards between the scene before me, Joshua's hand still clamped uncomfortably around my waist. There was Joshua, calm and easy going, smug smile adorning his face, then there was Harper, brimming to the top with anger. "Let. Go. Of. Her." he threatened, clenching his fist.

"It's okay, I think I'll stay with her, asshole," Joshua replied, leaning into me. I shifted away awkwardly.

"You fuc- " I ripped myself away from Joshua, grabbing Harper's fists before they could come in contact with Joshua's body. Reluctantly, Harper averted his eyes away from him, looking down towards me. His gaze softened. I grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him away from Joshua, desperate to get away. I tugged him out of the library, and surprisingly, he followed.

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"What the hell was that about?" I demanded, looking down at Harper. He was sitting on a bench of the bleachers, head hanging down. He ignored me.

"What. The. Hell. Was that about?" I repeated, firmer this time. Harper finally looked up, sighing.

"I hate Joshua." he announced, before looking down.

"Well? Is that all you're going to tell me?"

He looked up again. "Joshua is my cousin. We have always hated each other. In middle school, every single time I had a crush, he would take them away from me, making them like him instead of me. And trust me, it hurt." His words stung. "Every single time. He would always take the girl I had a crush on away from me. That's why he is trying to tak yo- " he stopped, obviously thinking better of it. What was he going to say?

I sighed in exasperation. "I know that's not all of the truth, Andrews," I said, biting my lip. "I know there is more to the story." I finished. He cringed at my words, and that was when I knew I had hit home. I wasn't about to pressure him into telling me. I watched as I practically saw the pieces turning in his head. He still refused to meet my gaze.

"I don't think you should hang out with him, Noelle," he finally said, strain pressing his voice. "What?" I replied, incredulous. "I don't think you should hang out with him." he looked up to meet my eyes.

"You don't have the right to tell me who I can't hang out with!" I yelled, anger sparking inside of me. "Look, Noelle, I think- "

"I don't give a damn what you think!" I shrieked, feeling my body heat up. "It's my life, I can hang out with who I want!"

"Noelle, I don't think you should hang out with him because he's a player. He makes girls fall in love with him then crushes their hearts under his heel. He's a heartbreaker, a player- "

"And you're not?" I countered. Harper went silent, hurt filling his eyes. I clamped my hand over my mouth, realizing what I had just said as I stood in shock and horror at the words that had left my parted lips. "Harper... " I began, whispering. He held out a shaky hand. "It's okay," he choked out. "I deserved that." My heart cracked at his words. How could you be so stupid, Noelle?

I opened my mouth to speak again but he interrupted me. "Is it okay if I... if I just think for a bit?" he asked, avoiding my eyes. That hurt. I nodded, turning around to leave the bench, but someone grabbed onto my wrist. I breathed in sharply in surprise as I turned to look at Harper. He was looking up at me. He grabbed my wrist tightly, sending heated sparks up my arm in a way no one else could. The big gulp in my throat began to fade. "Can you stay?" he murmered. My heart lightened in relief. He wasn't to mad at me. Unconsciously, I nodded, seating myself beside him on the bench as we sat in a comfortable silence.

If we weren't so awkward right now, his arm would be flrtatiously slung across my shoulder, or he would have his hand resting on my knee.

But this time, it was just our thighs that touched, brushing against each other, sending jolts of electricity up my body.

But it was enough.

I am so sorry for the mix up with this chapter! I had to rewrite cos Wattpad deleted the chapter :(
Anyways... so new chapter!!!

150 votes, maybe? Btw, the pic is Noelle :)

-A