“Okay….” She flinched a little as she sat up from the ground and sighed out shakily. “I came here just to try to make you stay. The only way I could was by convincing you I was returning the feelings. But then… after you kissed me… I guess my actual feelings for you came out. I felt… a different kind of…. Feeling and I… I wanted more of it. Just with you. So… if that didn’t mean I like you… then I don’t know what…. That means.”
“what if it’s only lust you feel for me?” he asked as he stared at her with a sad gaze. “I mean… you said you only felt it after you kissed me…. Right?”
“Harley…” she sighed as she stood up and walked towards him, standing in front of him. “…. Maybe it is but… I really don’t feel like it’s that. I don’t want to lose you, I want to keep you by my side and I feel all kinds of things when we kiss… things even more than I felt with Ace… Isn’t that proof enough that I’m starting to… fall for you?”
Harley stared down at her pleading eyes, pleading that he actually gets the point she was trying to make.
He slowly but onto his lower lip as he glanced down to the ground while the stared at him hopefully. Hoping he would accept it.
She clenched onto her dress as she shifted her glance towards the floor, feeling the nervousness fill her entire body as she clenched know her jaw.
Please Harley… just agree to it. She thought as she squeezed her eyes shut.
“I don’t know.” Harley said, getting to flash her eyes open in shock as she glanced up at him. “I don’t want to… lose you because of a failed love situation. That’s why I never said anything in the first place.”
“It doesn’t need to fail… right?” Hope asked as he laced and unlaced her fingers. “Harley… please don’t do this… I really love you.” She begged a she stared at him hopefully.
He glanced away for a moment while she got up from the ground with a thudding chest.
She walked up to him, her knees and legs like noodles as her palms began to feel sweaty and her heart raced, pacing uncontrollable, as though it would break out of her chest any second.
She quickly reached for the edges of his jaw and turned him to her. Without a second to lose, she rose to her toes, instantly plastering her lips against his as she then circled her hands around his neck and pulled him to her, locking him in her hands.
This time, he didn’t push her away, instead he leaned back, deepening the kiss as he slipped his tongue in, getting her to let out a soft moan.
“H-Harley?” a voice, though sounding cloudy in their mind. “H-Hope?” the voice said once more. “aren’t you two…. Best friends?”
It wasn’t just a voice.
It was Anna.
Hope and Harley instantly pulled away from each other in shock. They both turned their gaze towards Anna who was at the door, staring at them both in disbelief.
Her eyes slowly began to water as she shifted her gaze towards Harley who shifted his gaze to the ground instead in embarrassment.
“I thought…” Anna trailed off as she batted her eyelids quickly, trying to dry up her pilling tears. She sighed out shakily as she tried to compose herself, yet she was failing.
Miserably.
Hope cleared he throat as she turned towards the door with a nervous smile as she laced her finger, failing to stare at Anna who stood staring furiously at them both.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Hope sighed out as she ran a hand through her hair. She wasn’t really feeling sorry for Anna, instead, she felt delighted that Anna managed to get herself to the scene without needing to tell her the next day. That way, Anna would eventually think of someone else other than Harley. That was all she wanted all along.
Hope simply wanted Harley to herself, simply because he always have he his attention and she loved it.
Losing Harley was just the same as chipping off a large part off her life. After all, Harley had always been there. Everywhere.
As her best friend, her brother, a mentor, a supporter, a challenge and her joy. Harley was everything to Hope and she simply realized it the moment he turned his back on her and directed all that attention to Anna.
She felt jealous for Anna. She didn’t want Harley to give another woman his attention.
She had always wanted Harley to have a mate.
But the mate didn’t have to be anyone else other than her.
She discovered that she didn’t want to let him go. For him to care about someone else. For him to fall in love with someone else.
Hope had always wanted Harley beside her unconsciously. She would always spend the entire day talking non-stop with him about silly things. It didn’t have to be a serious conversation. Anything could work. Even a conversation about why milk is white was a topic enough to talk about. As long as she got to talk to him, even a little, she would be happy.
Before Harley became her shadow, Hope didn’t spend as much time with Harley just because his sister was always hugging onto him, not wanting to let him go. She was overly protective of Harley and he loved it. Sadly, after she passed on, he lost a large part of his life. She had never asked much about it because he didn’t want to. So losing Harley, to her made her feel the same as he lost his sister.
Despite Harley confessing first and admitting to his feelings for Hope, Hope might have been the first one to have fallen in love with Harley… because ever since he glued himself to her, she had always wanted him to remain by her side.