I didn't meet Harry in town. We met at a little park a ten-minute walk from Alice's house, away from the business of the town centre. I didn't feel like bumping into anybody that I knew, and that tended to happen down by the harbour. Harry was waiting, sitting on a bench and looking out towards the countryside. I called his name and he turned, smiling when he saw me. He got up and headed towards me, pulling me into a hug. When I drew back he put a finger under my chin and tilted my head up, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. I gave him a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey. Are you okay? You sounded kind of upset on the phone." Harry's expression was concerned, his brow furrowed.

I looked down. "Um, yeah. No. Ish." I took his hand and led him back to the bench, sitting down with him next to me. "I... you were right. God, I hate admitting that."

He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tilting up slightly. "I mean, unsurprisingly, but about what?"

I rolled my eyes with an exasperated shake of the head. "About Dylan. Alice ... she did cheat on him."

"Oh." He was silent for a moment as if trying to figure out what to say. "Um... well, I'm sorry that she lied to you."

"Yeah. Me too." I blew out a long breath. "I just... I've known her for years. I live with her, for crying out loud. It sucks."

Harry looked over at me. "Yeah. So, she admitted it?"

"Not at first, which makes me even madder. She was getting angry at me for accusing her–" I broke off. "It doesn't matter. We fought, we'll get over it. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Well, I am a great listener." Harry draped an arm round my shoulders, and I leaned into him. "I'm also good at providing hugs and kisses to make you feel better."

I gave a huff of amusement. "Thanks." In response, he pressed a kiss to my temple. It felt good to have his arm around me, to know that he liked me. I didn't realise how starved I was of human affection. "But anyway. At least it's all out in the open. I had a good talk with Dylan. You know we used to be like best friends?"

"I did not know that. But you seemed to hate him so much." Harry frowned.

I shrugged. "That's because of what I thought he did to Alice. But yeah, before secondary school, we were close. I...I've only just realised that I kind of ditched him. But that wasn't an excuse for the way he acted after," I said quickly. Just because of everything that I'd found out, didn't mean that Dylan was some kind of saint or god – even if he thought he was. "Whatever. Just your daily dose of drama in the Moore house."

Harry gave me a glance. "What, is it super dramatic living with them?"

I paused. What to disclose and what not to disclose? "Well, not really. I just..." I hesitated again. I liked Harry, but I didn't know him that well. "I don't know. There's just some weird stuff going on in their family, but I don't know what. Not to say that I don't like living with them, because I do." I forced a small smile. "I'm so grateful for them."

He nodded slightly. "How come... I mean, do you not have any relatives? Why do you live with Alice's family?"

I bit my lip slightly. "Uh... I have a couple of relatives, but none my parents kept in touch with." Someone creeped into my mind, but I pushed them away. "Alice's parents have always been like my second parents. They were the best people for me to live with, in the case of..." I swallowed and looked away, unable to finish my sentence. "You know."

Harry's arm around me tightened ever so slightly. "Yeah. I know."

I closed my eyes for just a second, composing myself. "But, uh, anyway." Time to change the subject. To... "It's crazy that you and Millie used to date."

His eyebrows raised in slight shock at first, and then furrowed. "Oh. Um, yeah." He shook his head to himself. "I always forget how small this town is. Nothing goes unnoticed."

I looked at him apprehensively, noting a subtle defensiveness in his tone. He saw my glance and quickly waved a hand in dismissal. "No, no, I mean, it's fine, we're on good terms now, but–" Now he gave me a slightly suspicious look. "How did you know that?"

"Um, Joseph... told me." I trailed off a little. I just kind of felt awkward talking about Joseph with Harry.

"Joseph, Alice's brother, Joseph? The one who–" Harry broke off in a guilty way as if he'd been about to reveal some kind of big secret. Maybe he had been.

"The one who...?" I prompted.

Harry met my gaze, seeming to recover himself. "Oh, just the one who went to Shirebrook. With Millie. That's how they know each other, right?"

"Uh, I guess." I narrowed my eyes at him, still suspicious. There was definitely something going on here, but no one seemed to want to tell me what it was.

He noticed my doubtful look and rolled his eyes, smiling. "Oh, don't look at me like that. That's what I was going to say, honestly."

"Mm hm," I said, letting it go for now. "Sure. But how did you and Millie know each other?"

"Oh, friends of friends. We met at a party. You know, there is a surprising amount of parties for a town this small."

"It's all Dylan," I said matter-of-factly. "He's been having parties since we were like, fifteen." I frowned a little. "Makes me realise how little his parents must have been around."

"Yeah." Harry nodded slightly, an expression of unease on his face. "Not every family is perfect."

Now that, I thought to myself as I contemplated the Moore family, was definitely true.

For the next forty-five minutes or so, Harry and I just chatted and joked in an easy manner. And it was easy. I wasn't thinking about much, it just felt... effortless. Simple. I liked being with Harry.

Before I headed back, Harry kissed me, and I leaned into the kiss, dragging it out. I mean, I was a girl, with hormones, and Harry was a very attractive guy. How could I not enjoy kissing him?

When I got back, Alice's parents were still out, and after a brief glance into Alice's room, I saw that she was out, too. From down the corridor towards Joseph's room, there was the faint sound of music. I automatically started towards his room, but then I stopped myself. Was it weird that I had just been with Harry and now wanted to see Joseph? Well, maybe, but... I wanted to see Joseph. So I carried on down the hall, the music getting louder. The door was ajar so I stuck my head round the door, seeing Joseph sitting at his desk – shirtless, I might add – drawing... something.

"Hey," I said softly, going into his room and peering over his shoulder to try and see what he was drawing.

Joseph twisted around and smiled when he saw me. I couldn't say that my heart didn't beat a little faster at that. "Hey."

"What are you drawing?" I was never going to be not curious about his paintings.

"You're nosy, you know that?" he said, but his tone was light and teasing. I was so happy we were back to normal.

"I'm... inquisitive," I corrected. "And also pretty nosy." I rested my arms on the back of his chair and leaned down, looking closer at the drawing over his shoulder.

"There's something wrong with it," he said, and I scanned the picture. It was incredible, as always: a pencil sketch of a seal in the sea, waves breaking around it.

"Are – are you joking?" I squinted at the picture. I could see nothing wrong with it. In fact, it was so good that I could even see the mischief in the seal's eyes. "It's... insane."

Joseph shook his head. "Something's off, but I don't know what."

I rolled my eyes and moved round to face him, perching on the edge of the desk but making sure not to touch his work. "You're way too self-critical, you know that?"

He rubbed his face in what looked like stress. "So I've been told."

I eyed him suspiciously. "Are you okay? You look stressed."

Joseph sighed, and to my surprise, he lightly ran a finger over my hand resting on his desk. The trail he traced left goose bumps in its path. "I am stressed. I still haven't

found a job."

My eyes, which had been fixed on where his hand was touching mine, snapped up to his face. I'd completely forgotten about that. It had been just over two weeks since he lost his job – so much seemed to have happened between then and now. "Oh."

"And if I don't get a job soon, I'm not going to have enough money to go travelling in March." His fingers were still brushing light circles over the back of my hand and his eyes flickered up to meet mine.

I bit my lip. "Travelling. Yeah. For how long?"

"Six months." With his eyes still on me, a small smirk grew on Joseph's face. "Why? Are you going to miss me?"

"No." Joseph's face wore a knowing expression, and I just rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Whatever. So what are you going to do? What jobs did you apply for?"

His sly smile faded. "Random ones here and there. Bartender at the pub, job at the gym like my parents think I'm doing... but nothing."

"What about Melissa's?" I suggested. "They're probably hiring."

A slight grimace crossed his face. "I don't know."

I frowned slightly. "Why not? If it's because you don't want to work with me, I'm going to be offended, just so you know."

Joseph gave me a look, but one corner of his mouth was tilted up in a smile. "Not you. Millie."

Confused, I said, "But you guys are friends. Right?"

"We are, and we've known each other for a long time, but...sometimes she gets a bit much."

I lightly smacked the back of his hand. "Hey, if I can deal with her – me, someone she does not like – then you can too."

"Yeah, well, she doesn't–" He winced. "Have a...crush on you."

I feigned surprise. "What? She has a crush on you? I am so surprised. Who would have thought?'

"It's that obvious?" Joseph's eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion. "I didn't realise for a while."

"Oh my god," I groaned. "Boys are so oblivious."

He flicked me. "Not to everything." He raised his eyebrows at me in a slightly suggestive way, and I felt colour beginning to stain my cheeks. This definitely felt like it was pointed towards me, and towards what I... felt about Joseph. Which I still wasn't really sure about.

I couldn't help the small smile on my lips, and I looked away for a second in slight embarrassment. When I glanced back at Joseph, he looked like he was very much trying not to laugh, his eyes bright with playfulness. I rolled my eyes and said, "Just... think about Melissa's, okay? The pay is pretty good."

Joseph didn't speak for a moment, but then said. "Fine."

"Good." I got up and began to wander to the other end of his room, looking around. "Because I know that working with me all day long is your dream come true."

Joseph let out a light laugh. "Sure. And what are you doing? Are you looking at my stuff?"

"Told you I was nosy," I said without turning around, running my fingers over the spines of the books on a shelf. "These books sound super smart. I knew you were a nerd."

"I'm not a nerd," Joseph said from behind me in a disgruntled voice. I heard him get up and walk towards me until he was standing far too close to me. "I just had to read all these books. You know, for school and university."

University. Economics. "Yeah. Alice told me you're studying economics."

"Yeah." His voice was right by my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I still didn't turn around. "And before you tell me I should be doing art, I shouldn't."

At this point I turned, trying to ignore the fact that we were inches apart. "But–"

"No, Lily." His voice was hard and firm. "Yeah, I love art, but realistically this degree is going to be more useful to me after university. Plus, I'm actually good at it."

I frowned but didn't argue. Yes, I was nosy and stubborn, but I knew that it was not my place to tell him what degree to do. "Fine, fine."

"It doesn't mean I can't still do art," Joseph reminded me. Then he gave me a look. "You know, you seem more invested in my art than I am."

I scowled at Joseph, pushing his chest lightly in annoyance. "I am not. I can just see how much you love it."

"I do. And one day I'll come back to it. But for now, it's just..." he shrugged. "It's just for me."

I nodded slightly, understanding. And then I had a thought. "Is it... do you think it's weird that I know about your art, but your family doesn't?"

Joseph's eyebrows furrowed while he contemplated my statement. "I guess it's a little weird. But, I don't know. It felt easier telling you."

"Why?" I asked, aware of how close we were standing to each other. If I had to guess, there was about a hand's length between us. "We barely knew each other when you told me."

Joseph frowned, looking down at the floor. "I know. And maybe that's why." He ran a hand roughly through his hair, ruffling it up in a way that was far too attractive to me. He moved away from me and sat on the edge of his double bed, resting his chin on his hand. "My parents... they've always had these ridiculously high expectations for me, even when I was like... fourteen. They wanted me to go for Oxford or Cambridge. They didn't even really approve of my gap year, but whatever. I never wanted to tell them about my art because..." He swallowed and looked down at his hands. "I thought that they would be... disappointed in me. They would say that the time I spent doing art, I could have been studying, or whatever."

I bit my lip, not really knowing what to say. So I just sat down next to him, my shoulder against his.

"I know you live with us now and everything, but before you did..." Joseph shook his head to himself. "It was bad. My parents never gave me a break. Always yelling at me for doing something wrong. There was a point where I thought that I hated them. And I know that I don't actually, but..." He sighed. "In their eyes, Alice can do no wrong."

I thought about that for a second. And I was pretty sure that before I moved in, I never thought that Alice could do wrong, either. "Yeah, well, everyone fucks up. Even Alice."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joseph glance at me, but I avoided his gaze. Just because I was mad at her didn't mean I was going to rat her out to her brother. I was pretty sure he would not be happy about the fact that she cheated on Dylan with one of his close friends, and it wasn't my place to be the one to tell him about it.

While Alice and her parents were still out, I stayed in Joseph's room, nosing around, teasing Joseph, and having him tease me back which I was not used to. Joseph was starting to open up to me, and I was beginning to realise that every single touch, every flirty remark, set my heart racing. And it was becoming pretty clear how I felt about Joseph – I liked him. And that was a problem.