Harry's POV

When I get back to the house after dropping Carmen off Liam is waiting for me in the living room. I toss my keys on the counter and he stands from the couch, following me up the stairs.

"What was that?" Liam asks. I shrug. "Some warning would have been nice, mate. She's not stupid."

"I never said she was."

"So you had to lie and say that I asked you to bring her here," he says, following me into my room. He makes it sound so pathetic. "Why didn't you just ask her to hang out?"

"I did." Shit. I didn't mean to say that. When I turn around he's smiling at me, leaning against the doorframe. "What?"

"She turned you down, didn't she."

"Maybe."

He laughs. "Even after the way she acted last night, you still asked her out?"

"Not on a date." Sort of on a date. "Just to hang out. But she said no."

"Try not to sound so wounded," he teases. I roll my eyes. "Why do you want to hang out with her so bad? You already slept with her, so what do you want from her now?"

"I don't know." I honestly don't. She seems like a really cool girl, but I meet girls all the time. I don't know why she's sticking in my head so much when I've only know her for two days. Liam sighs while I think about his question. What do I even want from her? I don't even know why I asked her out. I just wanted to spend time with her, I guess. Get to know her or something.

He sighs and stands up straight. "Well, you can come to the movies with us tonight if you want."

"Really?" He nods and I sit on my bed, thinking about it. "She wouldn't like that, though."

"Probably not. I don't see that stopping you for some reason."

"Do you think she'd ever go for me?" What the hell is wrong with me? I sound so pathetic right now. Liam looks as surprised as I feel; I've never had to or been willing to work this hard for a girl. It's strange.

"She doesn't go for anyone, Harry. I told you that. You can hang out with us tonight and I don't care if you try, but if this is just for shits or for the chase or something then you need to back off," he says, suddenly serious. "Carmen's a nice girl and she doesn't trust people easily, so she doesn't need you trying to get into her life only to peace the fuck out two months later. And don't act like I'm being ridiculous, because everyone knows that's what you do."

Fuck. Damn Liam, always right with his logic and shit. Yes, I date a lot. Maybe usually I do drop girls after a few weeks, but it's not like I'm planning to do that with Carmen. Plus if I have to work this hard to even spend time with her I'm not going to send her away so quickly. I don't even really see myself wanting to send her away. She's different. I don't know what it is about her or what's going on with me right now but it's definitely different than anything I've felt before.

"I want to come tonight," I say finally. "You can stop playing protective big brother, Liam. I have no intention of hurting her."

"This stuff never means much to you, though. That's what I mean. I don't think you're an asshole, Harry and I don't think you're doing this with the goal of hurting Carmen. I just want to make sure that she doesn't become another one of your-"

"I get it, Liam," I snap, cutting him off. "You care about her and shit, I get it. Don't worry about it."

He sighs and finally walks out of the room. What the fuck is the big deal? It's just hanging out and even if we did date, it's not like she'd fall in love with me in two seconds. It's not as easy to break someone's heart as he's making it seem. He just needs to chill the fuck out.

I head for the shower, something that's usually relaxing. Instead I find my nerves growing and when I get out I feel like I might have a fucking panic attack. I sit in my room, trying to entertain myself on my phone while I wait for Liam to tell me when we're going. I don't want to seem too eager, he clearly already thinks I'm obsessed. I'm not going to lie, I can see why he thinks that. But it's not true...no. Not true. Right.

"Harry, she wants to go at seven, is that good for you?" Liam asks, walking into my room again.

"Yeah, I'm not doing anything. Do you want me to drive?"

"Sure. She's going to meet us there, though. She has to get something from the mall so she's going to meet us at the theatre."

"Did you tell her I'm coming?" I ask, standing and walking to my closet to get a shirt. I pull a white long sleeve over my head.

"No, I thought it might be a fun surprise." When I look at him he's actually smiling, so he must not think I'm completely horrible for her.

"How long have you known her, anyway?"

He shrugs. "Two years maybe? She was a senior in high school when we met for the first time. She lived out of town but she was always here to see campus and practice with the volleyball team and stuff. We had a class together last year and became friends."

"Did you ever...."

"No, hell no," he says firmly. "I was already seeing Tal then and I could tell she wasn't going to talk to me if she thought I was going for that. She seemed cool so I wanted to be friends with her."

"You're the only guy I know that can actually be friends with a girl," I laugh. Literally no one else can do it. I know I sure as hell can't. I can't deal with girls. My mother and sister, yes. Every other one, not so much. Not unless I'm actually dating them and there's some sort of benefit.

"It's not hard when you've actually got a girlfriend."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Okay, I'm going to order a pizza or something. You want some?"

"Yeah," I agree. I toss him some money and he heads downstairs without me. I need to figure out my shit with this girl, because I have a feeling that if I do hurt her that Liam would beat my ass. He's probably one of the only guys I know that could actually beat me up and do some real damage. That guy loves to go to the gym even more than I do.

---

"Holy fuck, stop doing that," Liam says, hitting my fingers on the steering wheel.

"Sorry." The tapping didn't stop the whole time and now that I'm actually almost at the movie theatre I'm nervous as hell.

"Calm down, Harry. She's not as intimidating as you think she is."

"She fucking hates me, Liam. I was at the coffee place for like three hours today and she barely even looked at me and when I went to order food that other chick helped us. Then I ask her to hang out and she flat out tells me she's not interested," I gush. I run my hands through my hair and immediately regret saying it. I'm such a pussy.

"Wow," he laughs. "You have some serious balls coming with me, then."

I don't respond, pulling into the theatre and finding myself a parking spot. When I do we both get out and start walking towards the doors. I don't think I've ever been this nervous in my life and I have no idea why.

"Why did you want to come if you think she hates you so much?" Liam asks. I shrug.

"I'm wondering the same thing right now," I mutter. We walk inside and for some reason my eyes immediately find Carmen. She's standing near the ticket sales desk, long blonde hair hanging straight down her back. She's wearing a USC sweater and ripped jean shorts. I never understood why girls do that; a sweater and shorts is a little contradictory but she looks really good, if I'm honest. She's tapping away on her iPhone and doesn't see us until Liam says her name. She looks up and smiles at him, doing a double take when she sees me.

"Have you been waiting long?" Liam asks, hugging her quickly. She shakes her head and stares at me for a moment before turning back to him.

"You brought him?" she asks. He laughs.

"He can hear you, Carms."

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming?"

"I didn't think it'd be a big deal," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "He was bored and we were going to a movie so I invited him."

She looks at me and he steps closer to her as I slide my hands in my pockets. He mumbles something into her ear but I can't hear it. It softens her, though, and when Liam walks towards the concession stand she smiles small at me. They're really fucking close. I am definitely not jealous, though.

"Hi, Harry," she says softly. I smile at her, loving the way my name rolls off her tongue with her american accent.

"Carter," I greet, nodding my head. She rolls her eyes and follows after Liam. I find myself jogging so I can walk beside her. "Hey, that's a joke. I know you're name."

"It's annoying," she says simply, walking straight up to Liam. She's blunt, this one is. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, but I think I like it.

"Play nice," Liam says, smiling at both of us. Carmen rolls her eyes and avoids eye contact with me. "Harry, do you want popcorn?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Carmen?"

"No, I'm okay." She goes back to her phone and Liam nudges her a few times, but she seems pretty irritated with him. I probably shouldn't have come.

"Do you have a game this week?" Liam asks as we walk towards the theatre. The guy checking tickets eyes her shamelessly, but she doesn't seem to notice. Or if she does, she doesn't seem to care. It makes me angry, though. That I do know.

"Yeah, we have one on Saturday. It's just an exhibition, though."

"Who is it against?" I ask. I immediately regret it when she glares at me, but Liam nudges her again and she stops. She's actually scary.

"Some community college or something," she says. "I don't know the name."

"Well you know I'll be there," Liam says. Maybe I'll be there too. Carmen leads the way into the theatre, Liam behind her and me last. I realize now that when we sit down Liam will be between us. Damn. No way to fix that without being completely obvious about it. Liam turns and looks at me with a taunting smile, probably knowing what I'm thinking. This fucking sucks.

"My major is officially switched by the way," Carmen says. "I didn't even lose any credits."

"That's good, so you're officially in Psychology now?"

"I am. I can still finish my degree in five years and do it the same way so I can work and play volleyball."

"Did you tell your Dad?"

"Yeah, he wasn't that happy that I didn't want to do medical sciences anymore, but he'll be alright," she says, shrugging. I have to lean my elbows on my knees to see her and she avoids eye contact with me at all costs. I still haven't been able to see what colour her damn eyes are and it's pissing me off.

Why the hell do I care?

The lights go out and I take one last glance at her. She finally looks back at me and it makes my stomach flip around before I lean back and pay attention to the screen. I don't understand what's happening to me right now.

About halfway through the movie I sit forward again, my eyes pulled towards Carmen without my permission. Liam is enthralled by his phone, probably texting his damn girlfriend, and he's not paying attention to either of us. Carmen is laughing at the comedy playing on the screen and her smile pulls one onto my face as well. I haven't been paying attention tot he movie at all, to be honest. She quickly looks over at me and back to the movie, but when she realizes that I'm staring at her she looks back at me. She slides down in her chair and puts her feet up on the chair in front of her. It looks like she's trying to hide from me.

After about ten seconds she looks away again. Liam puts his phone away and I sit back again so he can't tease me even more. I'm never going to live this down with the boys, I don't know what the hell this girl is doing to me.

---

The ride home is painfully silent and Liam keeps looking at me from his seat next to me. He's making this so much more fucking awkward than it needs to be. Carmen is just staring out her window. The only reason I know that is because I keep staring at her in my rearview mirror like a fucking creeper.

"Thanks for the ride," she says when we get to her house. She gets out without another word and I hit my head back agains the seat. Liam laughs and tells me he'll be right back.

I watch as he runs up to her door, having a short conversation. She seems irritated, but by the end she's nodding and smiling. He laughs and walks back to the car, climbing back int beside me without a word.

"What was that?" I ask. He shrugs. "Damn it, Liam."

"Nothing," he laughs.

"What'd you say to her?" Convincing her I'm not a douchebag, hopefully.

"I just said to give you a chance," he says finally. "We live together so you'll be around so she might as well learn to deal with it."

"Wow, you make me sound so great," I say sarcastically, pulling back out onto the road. He laughs again. "She actually hates me."

"She actually might."

Notes

oh harry. what a cutie. so unsure of himself.

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