Thoughts.

You can't stop them. Confused, guilty thoughts.

After what happened with Paige, you can't help but feel something new.

Harry. You love him. He's not speaking to you and you worry his knowledge of what you've done will make sure he never speaks to you again.

And as lovely as the moment with Paige was... it's not right, at the end of the day. Clearly lately she's not been properly sound.

You should set the record straight with her first before anything else.

So, you sit her down.

"Paige? Can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course." She smiles at you expectantly. You feel vaguely uncomfortable.

You sigh and say, "I just want to talk about when we..." your voice trails off.

"Kissed?" She smiles. "Wasn't it so... different?"

"Yeah. Paige. I really like you. You're smart and beautiful and creative, but... nothing more can happen between us." You choose your words carefully. "You're a wonderful friend. And I need you in my life. But first of all, this isn't right for me, and second of all, it's definitely not right for you. You need to focus on getting better."

"Oh. Well, um, that's fine. I don't know what was going through my mind if I'm being honest." She laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, no, I get it. I get why you'd say that.'

"Paige...?"

"Hm?"

"It's not you. It's not because I don't love you, or I don't think you're good enough. It's because I'm in a relationship and I need to fix things there. And you need to take some time out."

"I get it." She smiles. "Thank you for telling me straight. I don't think I could have done with a week of dancing around the subject."

"Of course." You smile. "Friends?"

"Always."

Next issue. Harry. He doesn't need to know about this, right...? Plus, gal pals kiss all the time. You know the emotion behind it wasn't platonic, but Harry doesn't need to know that.

White lies. Nothing wrong with that, right?

So you gather what you want to say and find him.

"Harry, please listen to me."

Harry is about to leave, but he sighs. "Okay. I'll listen. I think maybe we've let this go 0n too long."

You nod. "Yeah. Look, do you get where I was coming from? I'm not saying it was right, but I overthought it, and I couldn't stand the thought of my friend being... you know. Remember the beach? I told you about everything? Don't you understand?"

He looks down. "I hate that I do. You know what? Maybe I made a mistake. It was just because you were worried... but maybe in future you should stop and think before ransacking people's things."

"You're right." You smile and walk towards him. He opens his arms, and you fall into them, where you fit perfectly. He kisses your head tenderly.

"I love you."

"I love you too."