// CHAPTER TEN:: don't mention it//

RAIN poured down heavily and Audrey couldn't help but groan as she tossed in her bed. She was just trying to sleep, even though it was only a couple of hours earlier than she would usually go to sleep. She checked her phone, noticing it was only ten, but also that she didn't get a text back from Campbell. He was supposed to give her some pills today.

Angrily, she stood from her bed and grabbed her blanket and phone before heading downstairs and into the kitchen. She quickly made a bowl of cereal, not acknowledging that it was oddly quiet in the house since her mom is doing work out of town for the weekend. Audrey then grabbed a bag of chips, a pack of cookies and soda before she headed into the living room to watch whatever was on at the time.

Occasionally she would do this, but she would only snack on so much food when she didn't have drugs or when she was on them. Audrey didn't want to believe she was addicted to drugs because she wouldn't see the problem in craving something to get her high everyday. But yeah, at this point, she was an addict.

She checked her phone again. No text.

Audrey let a loud groan escape her as she channel surfed, only to settle with the late night episodes of Friends- the only distraction beside the bowl of Fruit Loops in her lap. She thought of calling Harry, but then she thought of how he might be with Kelly. He was always with Kelly.

Yeah, she didn't mind it sometimes seeing that he had a life of his own, but she missed him on days like this since sitcom 'Friends' was a very temporary distraction for her. Though, as if summoned, the doorbell rang and she furrowed her brows at the door before getting up to answer it. When it rang again, she huffed out and swung the door open to see Harry.

"Harry? What the hell?" She asked him as he stood on her porch.

He was soaked and his hair stuck to his forehead as he smiled, "Sorry, I should've called first," He apologized before pulling a bottle of bourbon from behind his back, "Want to put this to good use? "

She instantly smiled and stepped aside to let him in, "I'll get you some clothes." He nodded and she walked off to her room, where Harry kept his spare clothes. They used to have sleepovers all the time, so Harry thought it was just best to keep some of his clothes at her house and some of hers could be at his. Though, at his place her clothes are hidden in his bottom drawer and out of sight from Kelly.

She was quick to return with his clothes and he chuckled a little bit, "Was I interrupting something?" He motioned over to the snacks that surrounded where she sat on the couch.

She hit his shoulder lightly as he walked to the nearby bathroom to change, "You actually saved me from internal torment especially since my mom is working late."

"Well, that's what best friends are for." He said from the bathroom, before coming with his wet clothes in his hand for her to take.

When she took them, she headed over to her dryer, but glanced over at him, "I thought you'd be spending the night with Kelly."

He huffed out at her statement, "We got into an argument." They always got into an argument.

"Well, that's what best friends are for." She mimicked and he rolled his eyes before taking her seat on the couch, though she shoved him to the next seat. "I hope you know that nothing remotely good is on TV, besides 'Friends'."

Harry hummed, leaning over to grab the bottle, "That's why I brought this. I was so mad with Kelly, I just raided my dad's liquor cabinet and headed over here." Audrey laughed lightly as he opened the bottle and she put her feet on his lap to stretch out. He was quick to take a large sip from it, hissing slightly at the taste before holding it out to her.

Audrey willingly took it and drank the same amount as he did before cringing, causing him to laugh at her facial expression. She hit him again and he frowned at her, snatching the bottle from her and taking another sip.

"So," She began, "What was the argument about?"

"Where we wanted to go for Winter Break." He explained, "But then it traveled from topic to topic until.. until she asked for us to take a break."

Audrey sat up straight to meet Harry's eyes, "A 'break'?" He only nodded, taking another sip. She bit the inside of her cheek, "Shit, Harry, I know you guys argue a lot, but taking a break is another level. By technicality, that's a break up."

Harry then shook his head, "No, no, it's not a break up. We're just taking time from each other and I think we both deserve it. We've been disagreeing a lot and it's just too much on us both." Audrey didn't respond because she knew better not to, but when he meet her face and read her obvious expression, he sighed, "Shit, I think she broke up with me."

She pressed her lips into a thin line and rubbed his back in comfort as he drank some more. He was hurt by his own words, but he relaxed onto Audrey, still having her rub his back. He then gave her the bottle, letting her drink from it before taking it back.

They sat in silence for an hour, letting the bourbon and chips consume them whole until both were close to gone. Audrey let out a sudden giggle as Harry lost another game of thumb wrestle, "You really suck."

"I'm just letting you win," He slurred before finishing the bottle, which led him to frown, "Damn, we finished this quick."

"You mean, you finished it quick." She retorted and took the bottle along with the junk that lied around to take it into the kitchen.

Harry followed closely behind her, sitting on her countertop as she cleaned up, "You think we'll get back together?"

She shrugged lightly, "I guess so, you seem like you can't live without her either way."

He furrowed his brows and she stood next to him, "What are you talking about? I can survive without Kelly just like I can survive without you."

Audrey scoffed, "Probably, but you love me too much." She grinned as he rolled his eyes, "But, hey, as your best friend, I'm supposed keep your mind off what brought you here, so we shall not mention she who shall not be named."

Harry then chuckled, shaking his head a bit, "Then what should we do?"

"We have the entire house to ourselves right now, we can do anything." She claimed and he smirked at her.

"'Anything'?" He smugly asked and she gave him a look, so he sighed, "Fine, so what can we do that's PG?"

She thought to herself before clapping with joy, "Let's dress up!"

He face contorted into boredom, "I don't think so, Aud."

"Come on," She begged, "We haven't done this since we were kids."

"Please, emphasize on the word 'kids'." He groaned as she pulled his off the counter and out of the kitchen to lead him to her mom's room. She walked to her mother's walk in closet and turned on the light, letting Harry walk in, "Your mom still has your dad's clothes?"

"Yeah, she said that it's a good reminder that he's gone," She explained, "Which is the total opposite of a good reminder if you analyze it."

Audrey and Harry loved to go through her parents clothes, enjoying how oversized yet fancy and professional it made them look. They would play pretend and act as if they were husband and wife going out to dinner, and Audrey's mom would play along and be their waitress to serve them whatever they please- even if it was chocolate and waffles.

"What should our event be?"

"All black theme?" She suggested and he hummed as he looked through her dad's clothes, "This is nice," She turned to show him a black dress with spaghetti straps and black heels, "I'm gonna go try it on."

She walked off into the bathroom nearby and soon enough Harry found a nice black button down with black slacks. He couldn't believe he was giving into Audrey, but he couldn't say no either. She was his best friend, though it felt like she was more. He thought of going to go see some girl that has been flirting with him for weeks tonight, but instead he went to Audrey's. He knew she would be better support than just some random who only likes him for his status since she saw him as more than that and he loved her for it.

He got dressed in the closet and when he put on the button down, the bathroom door opened, "Har?"

"Yes, dear?" He chuckled lightly as he responded, "Are you done?"

"Sort of," She replied before he heard the click of her heels come closer to him. He was busy buttoning up his shirt, but when he no longer heard her heels, he glanced up to see the dress for her a bit more snug than it would when they were children. She laughed as he stared, his fingers stuck on his last button, "How do I look?"

Harry stood silent for a moment, but when she placed her hands on her hips, impatient, he cleared his throat, "You look... you look good."

"Well, I'll look great in a second, once you zip me up," She turned for her back to face him, moving her hair out of the way for him to help her. He hesitantly went towards her, standing only a couple of inches from her before grasping the zipper that rested on her lower back, "I tried to do it myself, but I was close to breaking my arm."

He let out a short laugh, before zipping up the dress, though he didn't realize he was doing it achingly slow, as if time had permitted him to. He stepped closer, having his head right next to hers, but allowing his lips to almost touch the crook of her neck. She felt his breath softly can against her and she shivered slightly, choosing not to say anything. She felt her heartbeat pick up speed, but only by a little when she felt his lips suddenly graze against the top of her shoulder blade and his left hand rest on her hip, though when she felt the dress become secure on her body, she pulled away from Harry and went to the mirror close to them.

Audrey then pushed her hair off her shoulder and stared at herself with confidence, "I would say I look great now."

"Stunning even," Harry inputted lowly, but she glanced at him and met his eyes briefly before she looked at her reflection again. She fixed her hair, letting her curls hangs before Harry came up behind her, "I feel like I'm going to one of my parent's functions."

Audrey nodded and turned to help him with his buttons, "I think it's because we're drunk that we feel like this."

He hummed, "Remember that one time where we got drunk and my dad caught us in the closet?"

"Like it was yesterday," She laughed, "He made us sit in different rooms because we kept laughing and being so loud in front of the guests. I got in so much trouble by my mom after that- I was grounded for almost two months."

"Yeah, I think she still blames me for that day," He told her, watching her go up button by button.

She nodded, "Definitely, she despises you now."

"Damn," He shook his head before eyeing her momentarily, "I hope you don't feel the same."

"Sadly, I don't," She claimed, looking up at him, "I happen to love getting stupidly drunk with you, even if it gets me put in solidarity."

He smiled down at her, noticing her smile back and how close they were. Her heartbeat picked up once more, and now, so did his. He lowered his gaze briefly before looking back up at her, "Uh, do you also remember when we sat in here, playing truth or dare?"

"When I dared you walk in my mom's stilettos," She mentioned, watching his smile get bigger.

"Yeah, and when I dared you to kiss me afterwards.." Harry inched closer to her, a little relieved when she didn't step back, before he scratched the back of his neck, "So, uh, are we still not mentioning she who shall not be named?"

Audrey hesitantly shook her head, "No...why?"

"No reason," He mumbled, his eyes wandering down at her lips, "I just wanted to do something real quick..."

Audrey watched him bring one of his hands to her face and felt the other pulling her close by her waist before he met her lips. Instantly at his touch, she placed her hands at his neck to pull him closer. It felt like sparks went off in her head as she kissed Harry back, as if she was waiting for this to happen.

There were times where she would think of Harry as more as of friend, but then realization would hit her that he's with Kelly. He was always going to be with Kelly.

And that's what crept in the back of her mind momentarily until Harry's hands traveled to her thighs and picked her up to lean her against the mirror. Her legs wrapped around his waist as they continued to kiss until they were out of breathe and he let his lips wander down to her neck.

Harry would also think of Audrey differently, sometimes pretending that they didn't grow up to be just best friends. He loved her a bit more than friends should, but he wouldn't confess that to her thinking that she might his reject him. Though, all of it was in the wind.

He parted away from her a bit to meet her eyes, his chest heaving as he pushed her hair out of her face, "I love you, Aud."

"I love you too," She smiled, but pushed back the one question that could stop him from kissing her again and that was: did he really love her?