*One month later* (Lana's POV)

"No, Harry, that's not the right equation."

He groans in frustration and leans down face first into his textbook. I laugh and begin to erase his work, encouraging him to start over. "I'm going to fail this class," he says, moaning into the book.

"Harry, stats is like the easiest math class seniors can take. I think it's legitimately impossible to fail. Plus the test isn't until wednesday, so we have a few days to get you all ready."

He sits up and rolls his eyes at me. "Just because you understand everything instantly doesn't mean everyone else does, Langley."

I take my turn rolling my eyes and point to his notebook, making him try the problem again. I go back to my own studying. I steal a glance at Harry who is furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. I learned that he did that a lot when he was concentrating on something. I had learned a lot of things about him over the past month, and I had to admit we were really close, especially for only having known each other for a short time. The first week after he decided we should be friends was really awkward, and I thought it wasn't going to work, that I'd lost him for good. Then he asked me for help with statistics, and I happily agreed to be his tutor. I just wanted to spend time with him. Of course I still had feelings for him, and they only grew as we spent more time together.

"Umm..." I say quietly, noticing a mistake he's made. He looks up at me and back down at his work, trying to spot what he's done wrong. I stifle a giggle, but I can't help but let a small one escape my lips. He looks so damn cute when he tries so hard. When he hears me laughing he looks up, looking wounded.

"I don't think the teacher is supposed to laugh at the student. Probably harms their self esteem," he says, holding back a smirk.

"I can't help it. You look so adorable when you concentrate."

He raises an eyebrow and smiles at me, and I frown a little as he returns to his work. He sees the mistake and goes back, fixing it and continuing with the problem. I'd tried many times to bring out Harry's flirtatious side, but he was good at keeping himself in check apparently. I frequently had to refrain myself from staring so he didn't notice. He was just so handsome, it was hard not to stare. The dimples, his smile, and don't even get me started on his eyes.

I'd done what Harry wanted me to. Josh and I had a number of screaming fights after the party at Lou's house, and now we were on somewhat friendly terms. He told me everything he'd lied to me about during our relationship, much of which didn't surprise me after hearing he'd slept with Cassidy. I was confident that I'd gotten the closure I needed. I moved on, and I was done with Josh. I'd limited what I passed onto Harry, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. The first time I really felt like we were getting close was when he'd come over to ask about a math problem and I opened the door in tears. He just held me while I cried, not asking for details. We didn't speak for hours. I didn't even know I was able to cry that much. I fell asleep in Harry's arms and woke up in my own bed. That's when I really felt like we were friends.

Now we'd been meeting three days a week for tutoring and we usually hung out on saturdays with El, or Brooke. Or both. And Louis, who Harry had also gotten really close with. The girls really liked hanging out with Harry as well, and I told them not to ask me about my relationship with him. If something happened they would know. But at this point it didn't seem like Harry even liked me anymore. He never looked twice at me, and he never made any attempt to go beyond friends. He seemed extremely happy with the status of our relationship. Good for him.

I finished my set of problems and set my pencil down, closing both of my books. I get up and walk over to the fridge, pulling out two cans of pepsi and taking a bunch of grapes and putting them in a bowl. Harry and I always met at his place; I wanted to avoid my parents. Plus, I was starting to feel like this was my actual home, like Anne was my real mother. She treated me more like a daughter than my mom anyway. I felt so at home here it was hard to believe.

I set the second can down in front of Harry and start popping grapes in my mouth, watching him while he works. He's moved on to the next question, staring at his list of formulas trying to figure out which one to use. I watch his face, seeing the wrinkles form on his forehead as his eyebrows pull closer together. He's biting his bottom lip and I can see this eyes darting to different points on the page, trying to determine what to do. I smile at him, throwing grapes up and catching them in my mouth. Harry looks up when one bounces off my face and rolls against his textbook.

"What are you doing?" he asks, looking up at me and picking up the grape.

I smile innocently and open my mouth, waiting. He laughs softly and throws the grape. It hits my eye and lands on the floor.

"That was probably the worst throw I've ever seen," I say, leaning down to pick up the grape. I pop it in my mouth and he makes a face of disgust.

"That was on the floor, Lana."

"Five second rule," I reply, shrugging. He laughs and opens his mouth, asking for a grape. I pluck one off the stem and aim, tossing it up and he moves a little to the left, catching it in his mouth. He smiles widely and puts his hands in the air. I laugh and pluck another one, aiming again. He catches it easily and laughs again.

"At least give me a challenge, Forester."

I raise an eyebrow. "Fine. Stand up, then." Harry gets up and moves to the open area between the table and the island. He rubs his hands together. "Hit me," he says, beckoning with his hands.

I pluck off about ten grapes, getting them ready. "Okay, Styles. Get ready for some rapid fire." I position myself in my chair, getting ready. He smiles and I start throwing grapes, making him go back and forth and up and down to try and catch the grapes and I start laughing at his attempts.

When I'm out of grapes I bend over, laughing. "Did you even catch one?" I ask, breathless.

"Two actually! Thank you very much." He takes a small bow.

I keep laughing as I pluck off more grapes, now just chucking them at him. He jumps around, dodging them and making karate-type sound effects. As I'm laughing uncontrollably Anne walks into the kitchen, walking into the path of one of the grapes Harry's managed to dodge.

"What the-" Anne looks down on the grape on the floor and looks at us with narrowed eyes, trying to hold back a smile. Harry turns to look at her glaring at us, and points back to me, blaming me. My hands fly up, feigning innocence.

"You two are nothing but trouble," she says, rolling her eyes and reaching into the cupboard for a glass. I glare at Harry, who's still pointing at me. I walk over and smack his hand, making him put it down. We start picking up grapes and laughing, joking about Harry's ridiculous dodging skills.

"I should probably become a ninja or something. I don't even need any training, obviously."

I chuckle, shaking my head. "Right, 'cuz I hear there's plenty of openings in the ninja field. What kind of pay do they receive?"

"Oh I bet with skills like mine I'd make millions."

"Oh yea, for sure. I'd like to remind you that despite your unbelievable dodging skills, you have the same ability to sneak around as an elephant."

"What! Not true! Mum, tell Lana about all the times I used to sneak up on you as a kid," he says, standing up and looking to Anne for support. I pick up the last grape and look at her to see her laughing and shaking her head.

"Darling, you never snuck up on me. I knew you thought it was hilarious, so I pretended to be scared every time so you wouldn't feel bad. I could hear you from a mile away, Harold." She confesses, walking into the living room. I start laughing as I walk past Harry, dumping my grapes in the garbage. I turn around as he's leaning down to dump a handful in the garbage as well and I find my face extremely close to his. I gasp softly, holding my breath. It takes everything in me not to kiss him. He slowly pulls back, expressionless.

"I think I'm done with stats for today," he says, taking a few steps backwards before turning and walking to the table to put away his books. I lean back against the counter, steadying my breathing. Could he seriously not be phased by what just happened?

Harry's POV

I lean over behind her, tossing some grapes in the trash as she turns around to face me. Our faces are about two inches apart and I hear her breathing hitch. I force myself not to look at her lips, not to show any expression. It's killing me to be this close to her and not touch her. I've missed it.

"I think I'm done with stats for today," I say, taking a few steps back and turning to go to the table. I start collecting my things. I look back to see her staring at the floor, leaning against the counter. She seems distracted. I want to believe it's because we were so close a minute ago, but I stop myself. Don't go there.

I pick up my pile of books and stuff them into my bag. How much longer could I go like this? I must say, I'm impressed with how well I've kept myself together the last few weeks. I stopped flirting with Lana altogether, and it resulted in probably the best friendship I've ever had.

"Do you have any big plans? It's friday night after all and the terrible threesome never pass up a party," I say, referring to Lana, Eleanor and Brooke. Two people I've also grown to be friends with. I knew I would eventually be friends with El, but my closeness with Brooke is surprising. Probably to everyone.

"We might do a girls night. I don't think there's anything huge going on tonight anyway. What are you doing?"

I breathe a sigh of relief, happy she won't be going out and drinking. I still felt very protective of Lana. "Lou and I were thinking about doing something. Not sure what yet. Maybe we'll crash girls night. Sounds like it could be fun," I say, holding back a wink. I had to stop myself from doing so many things that felt so natural to do around her. I watch her reaction, seeing her laugh to herself and roll her eyes.

"Well just give us some warning at least."

"Why?" I ask, taking my pop can and sitting on one of the island stools. She leans on the counter of the island, fiddling with her phone.

"Haven't you ever watching the movies? Girls do slumber parties in their underwear. Can't have you boys seeing that, now can we?" She looks up at me innocently as I feel my eyes go wide. Did I hear that right?

Lana quickly starts laughing and sits beside me. I roll my eyes and punch her arm lightly. "You should have seen your face!" She continues to laugh. "Do guys actually believe we do that stuff?"

"Well, we'd like to. So don't go ruining our fantasies."

"Ew." She says, getting off her chair. "Well, I should probably go home. I need to make sure I have supplies."

"Supplies?" I swivel in my chair to look at her.

"Yea, you know. Like ice cream, nail polish, face mask cream, tons of junk food. Oh and a good chick flick. Can't watch Love Actually over and over again like some people," she says, winking at me. I blush a little and turn back around. I really wish I'd never told her that.

"You know, you only get to use that to make fun of me so many times, and I think you've nearly reached the limit."

"Whatever, Styles, you like girlie movies." She throws her bag over her shoulder and walks past me, stopping at the door to put her shoes on. "I'll text you later," she says, and I wave bye as she walks out the door. I look out the window and watch her walk back to her house. When she walks in the door I hang my head and close my eyes, wishing I could run over there and tell her the truth about how I feel.

Lana's POV

I close the door behind me and lean up against it. I close my eyes, sliding down and slumping on the ground. My heart was aching right now. I could feel myself falling in love with this boy. This boy who told me we should just be friends. Who knew being friends with someone could be this much torture.

Notes

not the most exciting chapter but I wanted to skip some time so they've known each other longer! comment and vote please:)