Tomorrow's Blues

19. Parks and Seals

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."