Falling | h.s

twenty-seven

JANIE'S POV

Charlie stood on Harry's doorstep, fists clenched and eyes on fire.

"What are you doing here?" I call out to Charlie. Harry still has one of his arms stretched out in front of me, still attempting to protect me from Charlie. 

"I didn't know you were going to be here, Janie. I came to talk to Harry," he scowls out, lips pursed in anger. He takes a step down to face Harry at eye level and I feel Harry tense up beside me. 

"About what?" I ask, bewildered at the sight of my boyfriend here. "How did you even get in here?" Charlie got close to Harry's face, a little too close for my liking. He was a few inches shorter than Harry and I could only imagine how intimidated he felt by Harry's height. Harry lowers his arm and attempts to push me farther behind him as he stares Charlie cold in the eyes. His jaw clenched tightly as his back tensed. 

"I came to tell him to stay the fuck away from you," Charlie growls, ignoring my second question. As he inches even closer to Harry with clenched fists, I push past Harry's arm to get in the middle. 

"Charlie, back off," I say protectively, attempting to push his chest away from Harry's. This was getting heated quickly and the last thing I wanted was for Harry to get hurt. When Charlie doesn't budge, I repeat myself, saying "I'm serious, Charlie. Back the hell off."

"It's alright, Honeybee. If he has something to say he should say it," Harry smirks, provoking Charlie further. I wince at the use of the nickname and hope that Charlie didn't notice. 

"Stay out of this, Janie," Charlie growls and uses his left arm to push me to the side. I stumble into a bush next to his sidewalk before catching myself, but when I turn back, it's Harry's turn to get into Charlie's face. 

"I know you didn't just push her," he barks at Charlie who simply shrugs. Harry shakes his head in disbelief before cracking his knuckles. I have never seen Harry like this before; like he was on fire with rage. His eyes flick to me and they soften, worry pulling his brows together. 

"Both of you! Enough!" I say, exacerbated, before pushing between them again. "Charlie, Harry has nothing to do with this. We're not doing this here," I fume, doing my best to seem as intimidating as Harry. I had pushed my body between them, one hand on each of their chests. I could feel both of their hearts beating furiously. 

"Fine," he hisses, finally ripping his eyes away from Harry. "Let's go." His fingers wrap around my arm and squeezes tightly, making me wince. When I look up at him, his eyes are still hard and angry. 

"Woah woah woah!" Harry protests and reaches out to rip his hand off of me. "What did I say? Don't grab her like that!" 

"It's fine, Harry," I shake my head in protest as Charlie begins leading me down the sidewalk. 

"Let go of her," Harry protests, following us. 

"Harry, it's fine. I got it," I call to him as Charlie continues to lead me down Harry's sidewalk. "I'll text you later."

"Like hell you will," Charlie scoffs under his breath. I ignore him and instead turn to look at Harry. He's stopped halfway down his sidewalk, his chest heaving with breaths. His hands were still clenched in fists at his sides as his eyebrows were pulled together in anger. He mouths the words "Call me," and I nod quickly in response before Charlie opens the passenger side door and practically forces me inside.