H.S Imagine

Chapter 1

I was drunk. My boyfriend, Josh, of nine months, had just dumped me at a bar. He'd told me I was 'great,' but I just wasn't pretty enough for him. I suppose that justified his reasons for screwing another girl behind my back. Dick. I've been drowning my sorrows in shots of vodka. I started at eight and now its two thirty am. The bar is closing and I need a ride home. I try and get up from the bar stool and immediately fall. My knees are like jelly and movement is impossible. It also doesn't help that my head is spinning and I think I see stars… "Excuse me?" someone calls to me. I look over. It's the bartender. "Is there someone I can call for you madam? You look as though you could use some help." Call someone? Who can I call? Josh? No, fuck him. My parents? No, they'll have a field day. Wait I know, Harry! "Yes please!" I stutter to the bartender. I hand him my phone and say "Harry. S please." Harry's my best friend. We grew up together. My mum and his mum were cooking class partners when they were pregnant. I look at the wooden surface of the bar in front of me. It looks comfy. I'm so tired. I lay my head down, close my eyes and can briefly hear the sound of the phone dialling…

Chapter 2

I wake to someone shaking my arm. I blink. It's dark. I'm still at the bar. The bar tender is looking at me, concerned and Harry is next to me. He slips his arm under my shoulders and helps me to my feet. My head flops onto his chest. He slowly steers me towards the door, the bartender following. "Thanks for staying with her and calling me. I really appreciate what you've done tonight," Harry is saying to the bartender. "No problem, if she was my girlfriend I'd want someone to do the same," replies the bartender. We stumble out onto the street and Harry directs me towards his car. He gets me safely in the passenger seat and gets into the drivers side. "Abby," he says softly "Do you want me to take you home or back to mine?"

"Back to yours," I mumble sleepily.

"Alright," I hear him say as he starts the engine. Once again I drift into a state of unconsciousness.

Chapter 3

My head hurts. It's thumping. I sit up and blink, disorientated. I'm in Harry's room, on his bed. How did I get here? I don't remember getting out of the car. I look at the clock. Four thirty am. I hear breathing and look to my right. Harry is on the sofa next to me sleeping. He looks so peaceful. I slowly stand up to get a glass of water from the bathroom and my stomach lurches. I gag and run to the bathroom and am violently ill in the toilet. I feel a strong pair of hands holding my hair back. Harry. I stand up and he hands me a bottle of mouthwash. I swish a bit in my mouth a few times then spit it out. He helps me back to bed and sits at the end of the bed, across from me. "Abby, what happened tonight? When I got that call from the bartender… I nearly had a heart attack. This isn't like you." His concerned eyes met mine and I swallowed. "Nothing," I tried to reply, my voice breaking. He moved next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Abby c'mon," he said looking directly into my eyes. With this everything came tumbling out. I cried into his shoulder telling him how Josh had cheated on me, told me I wasn't pretty enough, how I'd been absolutely gutted and sculled god only knows how much vodka and I don't feel good or pretty enough for him. All the while Harry stroked my hair and listened without interruption. When I was done he told me not to think about it anymore and to try and get some rest, though his voice sounded strained as if angry for some reason. I did what he said and burrowed down into his blankets.

Chapter 4

I awoke to harsh sunlight in my eyes. I squinted to see the time. Eleven o'clock. I move my head and see somebody next to me and almost jump out of my skin. God. It's only Harry. His eyelids flutter open. "Morning," he says smiling.

"Morning," I reply returning his smile. I jump up and go to his closet where, luckily, I keep a clothes stash. I grab shorts and a tee and head to the bathroom to shower. I reek of alcohol and the smell alone is enough to make me want to hurl. After my shower I return to find Harry, in fresh clothes, reading. As I enter the room he looks up from his book and says, "Breakfast at Benny's?" I grin and nod. Benny's is our favourite café down the street from his apartment. They do the best chocolate chip pancakes. We head down to the café and Harry doesn't say a word the whole way down. When we go inside he says, "You go save us a booth and I'll order." I nod and sit at our favourite booth, up the back away from other customers. He joins me a few minutes later, sitting across from me. Still silence. I start. "Look," I say awkwardly "I just wanted to say thanks for coming and getting me and looking after me last night." He looks at me hard. "I'll always be there for you, no matter what." I blush and look down. "Now," he says, his tone serious. "I want to get a chance to say what I didn't get to say last night." I meet his gaze, questioningly. "What Josh said to you is a load of crap. You're the smartest, most genuine person I know. How dare he say such outrageous lies to your face. Anyone who cheats on a girl like you is seriously messed up." I look down. My eyes are tearing up again. "Look at me," he says roughly. I look up and his eyes and tone soften. "I've seen enough pretty girls to know that you aren't pretty. You're beautiful. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met and don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Our eyes were locked in the most intense gaze. The waiter, delivering our food, interrupted us. I broke away and smiled at the waiter and thanked him. We returned to our usual, joking conversation while we ate our late breakfast.

Chapter 5

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the park, feeding the birds. It was beginning to get dark and the temperature had dropped a fair amount. I shivered as we were making our way back to Harry's apartment. He looked sideways at me and unzipped his jacket, passing it to me. I smiled gratefully and zipped it up to my chin. By the time we reached his apartment it had just started to rain. We hurried inside and I put the kettle on so we could have some tea to warm us up. Today had been such a fun day with Harry cheering me up, I didn't want it to end. "Harry?" I said nervously. "Would it be alright if I crashed here again tonight? I don't want to be alone." He looked down at me and smiled, "Sure Abby, you're in for a special treat." I raised my eyebrows, questioningly. "HARRY'S FAMOUS EASY MAC PASTA," he bellowed. I cracked up laughing. While he started preparing the food I went to his bedroom to find something to sleep in. Unfortunately I didn't have a spare pair of pyjamas handy at his place and my clothes from last night reeked of alcohol, so I headed for his chest of draws. I found a grey t-shirt and a pair of elastic waistband boxers and decided they'd have to do. I threw them on and headed back to the kitchen to join Harry. He was busy at the stove stirring the pasta, his back to me. "I borrowed some of your clothes to sleep in," I told him. He nodded, chuckling, his back still to me. "They're probably double your size, must look ridiculous."

"Hey! I'll have you now that the Abby-sten-ator can pull off anything." I could hear him laughing as he turned around to look at me. A gaze that swept over my body replaced the laughter in his eyes. He was staring at me. Not looking away. Still staring… "Harry?" I asked, uncomfortable. He dropped his stare and turned back to the stove. "You're right. You can pull anything off," he said softly. Embarrassed I got up and headed for the lounge room. "I'm going to pick a movie for tonight," I called over my shoulder. I sat down on the couch and my head spun. What's got into Harry? Does he like me? Do I like him? He is unbelievably good looking, with curly hair, strong arms, smouldering green eyes, kissable lips… Stop it. Even if he did like me, we're best friends. It would be weird. Would it? I snapped out of my internal conversation with myself and picked 21 Jump Street to watch. I went into Harry's room and put the movie in his DVD player so we could watch the movie there. Harry joined me a few minutes later and handed me my dinner and I started the movie. After the movie finished Harry brushed his teeth, I used mouthwash on mine and we got into his bed. There was now a full blown storm going on outside and it was freezing. I snuggled deeper into his blankets and I felt his arm next to mine as I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 6

When I woke up my head was not on my pillow. It was against Harry's chest. Fuck. My arms were wrapped around his torso and his arms were wrapped around me, cuddling me to his chest. Shit, because it's so cold we must have moved closer to each other for warmth. I slowly tried to untangle myself from him without waking him up, but failed. He woke up straight away. He sat up, releasing me and smiled. "Morning," he mumbled, yawning.

"Morning," I replied grinning. My phone beeped and I reached over to look at the message. It was from mum. It read: 'Mandatory family lunch today at home.' Ugh great.

'Can I bring Harry?' I texted back. I got a response straight away. 'Yes, see you at noon.'

"What's happening?" Harry asked.

"You and I are invited to my parents house for lunch today," I said. He grinned, "Great, I love your mum's cooking," he said. I got up and stretched.

"I better go home and get presentable," I said grinning. We said our goodbyes and I left.

Chapter 7

When I got home I said my hellos to the family and went and showered and dressed. I put on my new black dress since it hadn't got a wear yet. I went downstairs to help mum set the place mats and I noticed we were setting the table for five instead of four. "Is someone else coming?" I asked mum. The doorbell rang. "Yes, I invited Josh, that'll be him now, she said bustling over to the door. Crap. Carp. Crap. I hadn't told my parents about Josh. They thought he walked on water they loved him so much. I can't believe he came! I feel sick. I go to the bathroom and lock the door. Breathe Abby. I can hear my mum and Josh laughing. Shit and Harry's coming. He's going to go mental when he sees Josh. I splash cold water on my face and come out of the bathroom. "Abby! My mother calls, "Josh's here come say hello." I walk over ad plaster a smile on my face. "Hi Josh," I say trying to look civil.

"Oh Josh you have to help me in the kitchen there's a light globe that needs replacing and I can't reach it," my mother said, steering Josh into the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I ran to answer it. It was Harry. "Hey Abby, long time no see," he said, giving me a cheeky grin. "Hey," I replied, pulling him inside then dragging him into the spare room. "What's wrong?" Harry asked. "Sidenote that dress looks amazing on you." I blushed and whispered

"Josh is here, my mum invited him because she doesn't now we broke up." Harry's face flashed with anger. "And that asshole has the nerve to show up after all those things he said to you? I don't think so." He started to move for the door, but I stopped him. "Harry," I whispered. "Please don't say anything. I just want to get through this lunch and not ruin my mum's meal. I'll tell her myself when he's gone." Harry looked torn. "Please," I begged.

"Fine," he said.

"Thank you." We went back out into the dinning room and Harry and my Dad shook hands and started talking. Mum and Josh came out of the kitchen and she announced that she was serving lunch, so we all took our places. I sat next to Josh and Harry sat across from me. I looked over to see Harry giving him the death stare so I kicked him under the table and shook my head. He dropped his stare. Lunch was served and it turned into a Josh-fest. Josh talked the entire lunch about himself, while my parents hung on his every word. When lunch was over Harry cleared the plates, mum went to prepare dessert and dad went to refill his scotch. That left Josh and I alone. We stood next to the window and looked out onto the garden. I finally looked at him. "Why did you come here?' I asked him. He looked at me and said "I thought it was the least I could do since your parents love me so much, it puts you in a good light." I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. "Anyways," he continues, "Its always nice to see you all dressed up, even though with your height you can't pull off looking older than a twelve year old." Tears spring to my eyes and he gives me a playful clip on the chin, like I'm a child, as he starts to walk away. Out of the corner of my eye I see Harry by the kitchen door and he looks livid. Harry strides up behind Josh, grabs his shoulder to swing him round and punches him in the face. Josh lets out a cry of pain at the impact and falls to the floor. My parents come running in. "Harry! Have you gone mad?!" my mother cries, running over to Josh and cradling his head. "No actually, I think I've done just about the most logical thing I can think of," Harry replies. My parents are looking at Harry like he's insane. "Why would you hit him? He's such a nice man," My mum asks bewildered.

"Nice man? Nice man? Harry yells, "Would a nice man cheat on your daughter with another woman? Would a nice man leave your daughter alone, intoxicated at a bar? Would a nice man tell your absolutely stunning daughter that she isn't pretty?" My mum and Josh are slowly getting to their feet as Harry's yelling. "Finally, would a nice man tell your daughter, in her own house, that the beautiful dress she's wearing makes her look like a twelve year old?" Harry finishes, looking red in the face. There is silence in the room. My dad looks at me, "Is that true," he asks. I nod. My mum turns to look at Josh.

"Get the fuck out of my house," she says and slaps him hard across the face. Like a baby, Josh whimpers and flees for the door.

Chapter 8

I'm sitting out the back in the cold, looking out at the garden. Harry comes and sits next to me. "You alright?" he asks. I nod and smile.

"Thanks for saying all that stuff in there," I say.

"I meant every word," he says looking intently at me. I meet his perfect green eyes and smile. "Abby," he says, "I've wanted to say this for a long time now." He takes a deep breath. "I love you, I love everything about you. You're so beautiful and funny and you just get me. I want to be with you." He leans forward and before I know it, we're kissing. His beautiful, handsome, angel face is kissing me. And man, he is a good kisser. I love him. I've been blind this whole time. He really appreciates me for who I am and I can see there's no doubt in his eyes that he loves me. "I love you too," I whisper. He smiles and gently cups my face and I know that this crazy, cheeky, loved up boy will always be there for me, by my side.