Author's Note: Hi again, the song for this chapter is "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus/1D, enjoy!

Chapter 4: Don't.

A week later...

It was too late. No matter how much I tried to distract myself, I was left with the overwhelming sense that it was too late. Within the space of two weeks I had fallen for Harry and it was crazy but as much as it felt wrong, it had never felt more right. I didn't want it to feel right. He was a bad influence on me and anyway, he said that what we did was a mistake. The situation was simple. He was bored, I was a challenge. That was all there was to it. There was nothing more between us, at least where he was concerned. There was nothing I could do to change that depressing fact but I still spent most of the following weekend moping.

It wasn't until Sunday evening when I came back from the corner shop, red faced and exhausted from carrying all the shopping bags up the stairs, that I saw anyone. I nearly made it back into the safety of my apartment but Katie came out at the same time as I reached my own door.

"Oh, hi Hailey." She said with a bright smile.

"Hi." I said, but I couldn't quite match her friendly greeting.

"Harry was looking for you, he..." She started.

"I don't want to see him." I blurted out a little too quickly.

Katie looked taken aback. "Oh. Ok. I won't tell him that I ran into you then."

"Thank you." I said with a grateful smile.

She tipped her head to the side. "What has he done this time?"

This time. So I was right. This kind of situation was a regular occurrence for Harry and I meant nothing to him.

"It's a long story." I said, shaking my head. "I don't want to bore you."

Katie nodded, accepting my attempt at an explanation. "Do you want to come in? Lucas and I were going to watch a film..."

By the way she trailed off I could tell that she wasn't inviting me out of pity, but on Lucas' behalf.

She smiled. "I know he can be a bit...enthusiastic...but you should give him a chance."

I nodded. I completely agreed. If I knew what was good for me, I would have forgotten about Harry and spent my time with Lucas instead. It was him, and Katie, who had made me feel more at home in my new apartment block. At least I knew that I had someone to rely on if I was ever in trouble.

"So..." Katie said, smiling as she noticed that my resolve was weakening.

I hesitated. Going around to Lucas' meant the risk of bumping into Harry and I wasn't ready to face him, but if I was going to fit in then I would have to start making more of an effort with my new neighbours. "Sure, I'd love to."

Katie's face broke into another smile. "You put your shopping away while I go and get the popcorn."

As I went back into my apartment, I felt my spirits lifting. Harry might not care about me but there were plenty of people who did.

When I had finished unpacking the bags and shoving the contents into random kitchen cupboards Katie still wasn't back so I went next door to ring the bell. Lucas opened the door a few minutes later and I noticed the surprise on his face when he recognised me. Was he really that sure that I wasn't interested?

He was in his pyjamas, hair sticking up all over the place, and he looked embarrassed, shifting from foot to foot, but he shouldn't have worried because the look was endearing.

"Hi...um...Katie invited me over. She said you were going to watch a film, but I can come back later if this isn't a good time."

"No, no, it's fine." Lucas said, his face breaking into his signature grin which made me feel instantly at ease. He held up the two DVD boxes in his hand. "What do you think, action or comedy?"

I smiled. "Ooh, tough choice."

Lucas let me into the apartment and Katie arrived back with a big box of popcorn and a tube of Pringles ten minutes later. Once they switched the film on, I relaxed. A good film, plenty of food and friends, what was not to like?

My phone rang halfway through and I pulled it out of my pocket quickly, muttering apologies to Lucas and Katie. When I saw who was calling, my positive attitude evaporated. It was Heather and I didn't want to speak to her. If she had gone running to my brother to get a reaction then she wasn't the friend I thought she was.

"You can take that, we don't mind." Katie offered.

"It's not important." I replied, rejecting the call, but I couldn't focus my mind on the film after that. I was still furious with her. She was supposed to support me.

My phone rang again and I sighed, getting up. Heather obviously wasn't going to give in. As I walked into the hallway I jabbed the "accept" button without looking at the caller ID.

"What do you want Heather?"

"Hailey?"

The voice on the other end wasn't the one that I was expecting.

"Hailey, are you there?"

It was my Mum, and I hadn't spoken to her in four weeks.

"Hello?"

My finger hovered over "end call".

"Please, don't hang up. Just hear me out."

I stayed silent.

"I want you to come home. It's not right; I don't want you living by yourself. You're not ready for this, you're only seventeen. Come home and I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I'm not coming home while Callum is there."

"Don't be like that. All he's ever done is try to be nice to you."

Her betrayal stung, but I stayed strong. "You know that's not true."

There was a long pause.

"He's not like that anymore."

I bit my lip to stop the tears from spilling from my eyes. "What's changed in four weeks?"

There was another pause. I knew she had no answer to that so I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut as I prepared to say what I had needed to say for so long. "Mum, I'm never coming back home. I will never feel safe in that house again, especially not while Callum is living there too. And it's not just about him. It's about you. I can't forgive you for what you did to Dad and for choosing Callum over your own daughter. Don't call me again."

Then I hung up.

Just thinking about what happened sent shivers down my spine. When he...no. I couldn't go through that process again, the process of going over it all again and again until I drove myself mad.

Taking another deep breath, I walked back into the living room and sat down beside Lucas again. Even after twenty minutes though, I still couldn't get rid of that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

After a while I noticed that Lucas' eyes were on me. When I turned to look at him, he gave me a soft smile.

"Are you okay?" He murmured.

I nodded but the tears were welling up again.

Without saying a word, Lucas put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him. He was exactly what I needed; no questions, no drama, just someone to be there. All Harry was, was a distraction.

The front door bell rang and Lucas reluctantly got up because he was closest to the door. I stayed on the sofa with my head leant against the wall. My eyes were on the TV screen but I wasn't really paying attention.

"She doesn't want to see you..." Lucas' raised voice floated in from the hallway.

I froze. Could my Mum really have got here that quickly? No, she didn't know where I was living, and anyway I hadn't told Lucas about her. That meant...my heart sunk. It was Harry.

"Just leave her alone." I heard Lucas say.

Then there was a crash and images of Harry kicking their door in filled my mind so I jumped up and ran into the hallway with Katie following close behind.

Harry was standing there, fists clenched and a furious expression on his face. "If I want to see her then I'll damn well see her..." He was saying.

They both turned around to look at me. Lucas' eyes were full of sympathy and apology but I couldn't quite read the expression on Harry's face. Was it relief?

"I told him not to come here..." Lucas started.

"It's got nothing to do with you, she doesn't know what she wants right now." Harry growled, advancing on Lucas.

"Excuse me, "she" can speak for herself." I said, finding my voice.

"Sorry Hailey." Lucas said.

"Sorry Hailey." Harry mimicked, mocking him.

I shot him a frustrated glare. Why did he always have to pick on Lucas when all Lucas did was try to help?

"Come on Lucas, leave them to it." Katie said, her eyes pleading. She must have been able to sense, maybe even more than I could, that it wouldn't take much to push Harry over the edge.

Lucas looked to me for confirmation.

I managed a smile, to show him that I would be alright. "Go, I'll be fine."

Lucas still looked reluctant but thankfully, for his sake, he followed Katie back into the living room.

I turned slowly back to face Harry, unwilling to face the full force of those green eyes.

Wearing a bandana that only he could pull off, he looked like he had just walked out of a menswear fashion shoot and he didn't even know it. But the effortless look that was so attractive at first was beginning to annoy me and my frustration with him increased. Was there anything he was bothered about?

"We need to talk." He said, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

"No we don't." I replied, refusing to meet his eyes because he had a habit of dissolving my resolve quicker than I could blink. "You said that the kiss was a mistake, so what is there to talk about?"

"You know I didn't mean that." Harry's tone softened.

My mouth dropped open in disbelief. "No, I don't know. You walked out on me, what was I supposed to think?"

"You told me to go."

He had a point, but I was just trying to test him; I wanted to see that he cared enough to stay, which clearly he didn't.

"Have you been crying?" Harry stepped closer to me, raising a hand to brush my cheek with his thumb.

I batted his hand away from my face. "Don't."

"I didn't mean to upset you."

When I looked up at him, he was pinching his lip between his thumb and forefinger and for once he actually looked genuinely concerned.

"This isn't about you." I said and it was true. My dropping mood wasn't about him anymore. Harry was irrelevant, he had only been in my life for a few weeks and soon he would leave again. But I could never escape from family.

"Tell me what's wrong then."

"No." To avoid looking into his eyes, I kept my gaze fixed on his chest but that didn't help either. Wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and half of the buttons undone, he was still too much of a distraction. I turned to go but he caught hold of my wrist.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To get my phone and say goodbye to Katie and Lucas. Then I'm going to Jamie's." I said, as calmly as I could manage.

"I'll drive you."

"No Harry, you don't need to do that."

"Yeah but I want to."

I tried to yank my arm out of his grip but he wouldn't let go.

"You don't even have to talk to me, just let me help."

His eyes were so soft and full of concern that I had to give in. I wasn't in the mood to get the bus all the way to Jamie's in the rain anyway.

"Fine."

A hint of a smile appeared on his face. "I'll wait for you in the car."

I nodded, going back into the living room with my mind whirling. It was all too much. I couldn't deal with Harry and my dysfunctional family at the same time. I thought that leaving home would solve my problems but it had just added to them. Most of the time Harry just messed with my head but some of the time it felt like I could actually rely on him, and that was dangerous. The day I started relying on anyone but myself was the day that everything fell apart before.

I muttered a few hurried goodbyes to Lucas and Katie, still embarrassed by Harry's attitude towards them, and left their apartment in a rush. It wasn't my fault, but I had caused the situation by avoiding Harry.

I took a deep breath of cold, crisp fresh air as I stepped out of the door at the bottom of the stairs and walked across the car park. The sooner I got to Jamie's the sooner I would be able to stop hiding how I was feeling. But even he didn't know the full story.

Harry got out of the car and opened the door for me when I got close. He studied my face carefully for a few seconds before choosing not to say anything and I was relieved. If we could just get through the thirty minute journey without arguing then I could cope.

Harry handed me the Sat-Nav and I typed in Jamie's address. Even as he pulled out of the car park and took a left onto the motorway he still didn't speak, keeping to his word.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He had put sunglasses on, even though the sky was still a thunderous grey, and every so often his fingers twisted around the long chain with a dog tag on the end that he wore around his neck.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Harry said.

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. Some of the time it was such a struggle to stay serious around Harry. "You're so cocky."

"I made you smile though." He said, turning his head to look at me, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Didn't I?"

I looked away, blushing. "Maybe."

Harry laughed, focusing on the road again as the traffic moved forward. "Have you forgiven me yet?"

"Maybe." I repeated, but I was beginning to give in. After all, I couldn't count the number of times I had blurted out something I didn't mean. If we could just keeping going as we were, laughing and joking, then maybe we could at least be friends.

But it didn't last.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Harry asked, giving me a sideways glance.

"About what?"

"Whatever you were crying about."

"I wasn't crying."

Harry's grip tightened on the wheel as he tensed up. "It didn't look like that from where I was standing."

"Why does it even matter to you?"

"Because I care."

This time it was my turn to tense up. "Stop it. Just stop playing me."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"I know that's what you're doing. I'm not like those other girls Harry, you can't just kiss me once and trick me into thinking you actually like me." I felt tears filling my eyes for the third time that day. Fantastic. He would think I was crying over him, again.

"If you think that, then where does that leave us?" Harry asked, meeting my eyes for a split second.

I tore my eyes away from his, focusing on the road in front of us as we neared Jamie's.

"There is no us. I've got enough going on in my life right now without you complicating everything. So please, just leave me alone."

Harry brought the car to an abrupt stop a few roads away from Jamie's apartment and switched of the engine. "Why won't you just give me a chance? You don't even really know me."

"I know your type."

I expected him to explode but it was hurt, not anger that flashed across his face. He sat back against the seat, visibly deflating.

"I'm sorry." I said softly. "But this is never going to work."

My hand found the door handle but he stopped me.

"Wait." Harry snatched my phone from my hand and before I could react, he added his number to my contacts. "Call me if you need anything, and I mean anything."

I nodded, although doubting that calling him would ever help any situation.

He gave the phone back to me, his hand lingering for a second as his fingers brushed mine. His face was close to mine, too close, and he leaned in further as if he was about to kiss me.

"Don't." I murmured and my hand found the door handle again. The door fell open and as the bitter winter wind blew into the car, Harry drew back sharply.

I felt my face flame red again as I got out and started to walk down the road. I felt awful; he had been so different and I had knocked him back. Although my head told me that he had treated me much worse, that he maybe even deserved it, my heart thought differently. And my heart was winning the argument.

"Harry..." I called, spinning around to run back to the car. But he was already gone.