A/N : I had lots of inspiration for this new chapter and I hope you'll like it ! :))

Blanche
~

Talking to Ms. Lockwood was very nice. It felt good. She was my true confident. I told her everything that happened during these last few weeks and she listened with curiosity.

Wait-

Actually, there's one thing I didn't tell her about...

My boxes.

I didn't tell her that they stole them from my apartment.

I didn't tell it to Michael, either, honestly.

I didn't really know how he would have reacted if I did. Would he have been angry ? Sad ? Disappointed ? Or maybe he wouldn't have cared...

That was my fault, anyway.

At that moment, I thought about something. Something quite surprising.

What if it actually happened for a reason ?

Maybe everything that happened these last few days were meant to make me realize something...

I wanted to change. I wanted to forget Michael. I couldn't forget him if memories of our past relationship were always with me, reminding me everyday that I didn't deserve the situation I was in...

I wanted to start my life over.

That's what I wanted.

And that's what I needed.

Michael ruined me, okay... But I had to rebuild myself. Be stronger.

Be stronger.

I smiled as I repeated these words in my head. How it felt good to realize that...

That day, I decided to go to Jerry's and see him eventually. He probably was worried, too.

When I opened the door of the café, my smile still glued to my face, I widened my eyes slightly when seeing the amount of people inside.

There wasn't that much people, but I had never seen so many customers inside of Jerry's.

I tried to look around and catch a glance of Jerry but I didn't see him anywhere. Maybe he was still sick, which would be weird...

I furrowed my brows and decided to just sit on my usual stool and wait for someone to come to me. Hopefully, nobody was sitting there.

I looked at the customers that were already sipping on their coffees, chatting and laughing.

The air was warm and the smell of coffee was flying around the café.

I wrapped my jacket tighter around me and continued to smile to myself.

"Hi, may I help-" I turned around and saw Harry looking at me with big eyes and an open mouth. "Blanche ?!"

"Hi, Harry," I chuckled and blushed in front of his strong stare.

He continued to look at me without saying a word, and I had to clear my throat to push him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," he mumbled and looked down in embarrassment. I snorted to myself and looked around again.

It looked like all the customers had received their orders.

"Would you like to sit with me ?" I asked shyly and looked in his piercing green eyes.

I almost regretted it.

"Sure, you want something ?" he asked with a soft smile and I turned off his offer politely.

I just wanted to talk.

He sat on the stool next to me and rubbed his face tiredly. I watched him do so in silence. His light brown hair was messy. His eyes looked tired and his skin didn't look as fresh as last time I saw him.

But he was still an handsome man.

"Stop staring," he smirked and I widened my eyes, my face turning red and becoming warm. I mumbled a small apologize and looked at my hands under the counter.

He was mesmerizing, honestly...

"So, where have you been ?" Harry finally broke the silence and held his head against his hand, looking at me deep in the eyes.

"Well I told you I was going to my parents'." I reminded him and took a deep breath. "But when I came back, someone broke in my apartment," Harry gasped and widened his eyes.

"Who did that ?" he asked, his voice sounding... angry ?

"I don't know..." I breathed and looked at the wood of the counter.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly and I looked at him with surprised eyes.

"It's not your fault, you know ?" I chuckled and played with my fingers.

"I know. But you didn't deserve that." he sighed and I felt my heart jump in my chest.

Why was he so cute ?

"Where did you go ?" he asked worrily.

"To a friend." I replied immediately. I didn't want to say the truth. But, honestly, I wasn't lying either because Hayvenhurst was Janet's house. And Janet was my friend. Right ? There was nothing wrong.

Harry nodded.

"You should have called me." he sighed and hurried to complete his statement. "-or Jerry." he blushed.

He was so adorable when being shy.

"Yeah I should have..." I answered and sighed.

I would have preferred staying at Harry's or Jerry's than at Hayvenhurst...

"And, also, Blanche," Harry started, looking at me with seriousness. "I wanted to apologise for what I said the other day... You know, about your relationship with Michael. That was totally inappropriate and I'm really sorry." he apologized slowly, giving me a small and sad smile.

I almost had forgotten about what he said last time. It was true that his words hurt me that day, but, I didn't really care, now.

"It's okay, Harry." I reassured him with a genuine smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about, really. I'm not with Michael, anymore. I shouldn't have been hurt by your words, anyway."

I smiled and he seemed to relax a bit.

A small silence followed and Harry and I couldn't stop looking at each other shyly, blushing whenever someone caught each other's stare. The customers' voices made the silence not too awkward, and I was glad for it.

"Hey, can I ask you something ?" Harry finally broke the silence and I could finally turn my entire attention to him. I nodded for him to continue with curiosity. "I'd like you to have dinner with me... Someday, y'know ?" he proposed with a blush and I looked at him with surprise.

Was that a date ?!

Seriously ?!

I thought about it for a few seconds and found no reasons to refuse.

"Yeah, sure." I answered shyly.

"It's okay if you don't want to." he rushed to say, his expression full of dread.

"No, of course not !" I exclaimed. "It would be a pleasure." I told him truthfully.

He smiled at me and chuckled softly.

He probably thought I was going to say no.

But I really wanted to have dinner with him.

Michael
~

I sighed and looked in the distance, biting my lip nervously.

What the fuck was I doing here ?

I had no idea.

I had searched for Blanche's new apartment lately, and my brain decided to make me go to it.

Hopefully, I stopped myself before my knuckles made contact with the door and I decided to just remain in my car.

I groaned when my fake moustache fell off my upper lip. I caught it and tried to pull it back on.

"What am I even doing here ?" I asked myself again in a whisper and put my hat back on top of my head.

I tightened my grip around the steering wheel and sighed once again.

Suddenly, I saw a car drive in from the corner of my eye. I turned my head to the side and saw a dirty grey car which parked right in front of me.

A man stepped out of the car and I watched him approach the building in which Blanche lived.

He had short brown hair and a light skin. He was wearing a pair of dark trousers, a brown coat and dark boots. He seemed younger than I was.

When he passed the door, I waited ten minutes before seeing him again and this time-

"Blanche ?" I gasped and looked at her walk with the guy. She had a stunning smile on her face that made my heart jump in my chest and she just looked gorgeous.

She was wearing a light beige dress going down to mid-thigh length, a pair of black tights, a black coat and a pair of dark heels.

She literally took my breath away.

I hadn't seen her in such a pretty outfit in a while. Not that I didn't find her beautiful in her usual clothes ; not at all, but, she was just-... wow.

They walked to the guy's car and Blanche almost looked in my direction but hopefully, she didn't look directly at my car.

I heard their car's engine switch on and panicked.

What was I supposed to do ?

I couldn't stay there knowing that Blanche was with a man that wasn't me.

I had to do something.

Without thinking it twice, I switched on my own car engine and followed their car from a small distance not to get myself caught.

My heart was beating fast and loud in my chest and I couldn't stop biting my lip, tapping my fingers against the steering wheel in anxiety.

I couldn't believe that.

Was that her boyfriend ?

I greeted my teeth and took a deep breath.

In truth, she had every right to have a boyfriend. We weren't together anymore. But, gosh, did it hurt me...

Imagining her in another man's arms, kissing him, hugging him, sleeping with him...

That sounded so wrong.

But then, I remembered that I did the exact same thing with Lisa...

When the car finally pulled off in the parking of a restaurant, I parked mine a few meters away from them, waiting for them to enter the restaurant before stepping out.

I walked to the door with messy steps, my palms sweating and my ears buzzing.

"Good evening, sir." the waitress greeted me when I passed the door. I tried to hide my eyes from her, worried that she could recognize me.

I greeted her back and followed her when she led me to an empty table. A sigh of relief came out of my mouth when I sat not so far from Blanche and the man's table.

I had a perfect view and could see Blanche's face and the guy's back. She was still smiling softly at him and giggled at something he said as they both looked at the menu.

God, her giggles...

I couldn't take my eyes off from her. She was so pretty and... happy ? That was something I didn't see when she was at Hayvenhurst. There, she always had a frown and kept her face neutral most of the time, when she wasn't crying.

How could I have made her so unhappy ?

I felt so stupid there, sitting meters away from her and spying on her.

Why did it matter that she was with a man ?

I couldn't do anything to keep her away from men.

Maybe she had boyfriends during these last two years. And that was none of my business, anyway.

"Would you like to order, sir ?" the same waitress asked me and took me out of my thoughts.

I nodded slowly and ordered a boring salad with a very long name. The waitress smiled at me and left.

I looked back at Blanche and saw her listen to her boyfriend/friend carefully. Her eyes were sparkling in a stunning way, something that I didn't witness in a while.

Her soft cheek was pressed to her palm and her lips were slightly agape. Her hair was falling down her shoulders in the most beautiful way, a few curls adorning her forehead just like mine did.

I sighed dreamily as I couldn't stop staring at her. Minutes passed, but my eyes remained of her.

Soon, my salad was placed in front of me, but I didn't look at the waitress, nor my plate.

Blanche was just a true piece of art and it was impossible to tear my eyes away from her.

Suddenly, she turned her head in my direction and looked directly at me.

I felt my heart jump in my chest and looked at my untouched salad with a huge blush.

I begged God to make her not recognize me and wiped my sweaty hands on my thighs. I twirled my fork around my plate and furrowed my brows.

I crossed my fingers with my other hand and prayed that my fake moustache and hat was enough comouflage.

I waited a few more seconds and lifted my head slowly to make sure that she's wasn't looking at me anymore.

Hopefully, she wasn't.

Her eyes were turned back to the guy in front of her.

I wondered whether or not she thought he was handsome.

I didn't have a clear view of him earlier, but he seemed quite good-looking.

Oh my God, I hated saying that...

What if she was falling for him ?

Or maybe she already did...

I sighed and rubbed my face tiredly. My stomach let out a loud rumble and I pressed my palm against it, groaning lowly.

All this thinking got me starved, and I hurried to take my fork and picked a few leaves of salad, shoving them inside my mouth.

I kept a look on Blanche to make sure she wasn't doing anything too crazy and continued to eat my dinner alone.

Unexpectedly, the guy's hand was placed on top of Blanche's hand on the table and I felt my blood boil and my cheeks turn red of anger and jealousy.

I saw the blush on Blanche's face and the guy's thumb caress her fingers softly and-... oh my God how I wanted to stand up and punch him right in the face !

Blanche was my girl, and he had no right to touch her like that !

I tried to remain calm and kept my hands under the table to avoid the urge of beating the shit out of the guy.

I saw him point a finger to one of the waiters and asked for the bill.

Then, he was the one to paid.

Good.

I watched them stand up from the table and saw the guy take Blanche's hand, entertwining their fingers and-

As soon as I saw his face inche closer to hers, I couldn't control myself anymore and lifted myself from the chair. It took me a few wide steps to be right behind him and I pushed him by his collar before his mouth could touch her lips, and turned him around, throwing my fist right in his nose with fierce.

All I could see was red at that moment, not even hearing Blanche's screams and other customers'. The guy stumbled back but didn't fall to the ground. His nose was bleeding but my brain thought it wasn't enough.

Right when I was ready to punch him again, I felt someone pull me off of the guy's face and woke up from my adrenaline rush, watching blood on my hands and the guy hiding his face.

"Michael ?!"

A/N : who knew Michael could get so aggressive ?? :((( pooor Harry honestly...
I hope you liked this chapter because I loved writing it ! xx