"Four shots Steph!!" Amy cheers as I walk towards them after hitting four skittles down. Harry looks at me as I pick up my first shot glass from our table, followed by another and then two more. I cough as the liquid burned my throat, I can feel it travelling down on to my chest.

"Looks like you've got to buy the next round." James says as he picks the empty tray up and holds it out to me. I roll my eyes and take the tray, I make my way towards the bar. This game isn't exactly fun, it's expensive and pointless but Amy loves playing it.

"You know, this game is pretty lame." Harry says as he suddenly appears at my side. I put the tray down on the bar as I wait to be served. I look at Harry, he moves some of his hair from his face as he leans forward on the bar.

"I know." I sigh as I try to get the bartender's attention. "Amy always wants to play so she can get drunk, then James gets drunk and then..." I stop as there's no need for me to go into detail. Harry nods as he understands what I mean.

"Why don't we just get out of here?" Harry asks as he turns his body towards me. I look at him and raise an eyebrow. "I'm pretty hungry.." He hints. I glance back at the others as they wait for their shots, my eyes meet Jason's who is sat on his own. I look back at Harry.

"Yeah, let's go," I say as we both start to walk away from the bar. We go to the change over desk and take off our bowling shoes, we place them on the counter and the girl behind gives us our own back. "Thanks" I say as we take a seat on the chairs, putting our shoes on I look back up to try and get Amy's attention.

"So where's good to eat around here?" Harry asks as he stands up, I stand up too and try to think what take outs are close by.

"Stephanie?" That voice gives me goosebumps. I slowly turn around and come face to face with Jason. "I've been meaning to talk to you, I need to explain what happened." He says as he looks at me with his pleading eyes. My heart starts to race as he still has so much affect on me. Harry shuffles awkwardly as he stands beside me. I look at him.

"I'll meet you in the car.." I say as Harry looks at me frowning, "I'll be five minutes." I add. Harry sighs as he shakes his head and walks away, heading towards the exit doors. I look back at Jason. "Five minutes, spill." I snap as I try to not let his charm brain wash me. He sits down and I copy him.

"I never cheated on you, what Mia said was a complete lie. I swear." Jason says in a pleading tone, he looks at me but I avoid him by looking straight ahead at my friends who are trying to figure out where their drinks are. Jason starts to repeat himself but I just can't bear to hear this from him. I was dating Jason for about two months, everything was good and I really liked him. In fact I couldn't believe my luck when he said he liked me too, but then I'm told by several people that he cheated on me with a girl called Mia.

"Why would Mia go out of here way to contact me about you sleeping with her?" My voice cracks as I ask him. I still can't look at him, but I feel his eyes burning into me.

"Because she is jealous Steph! Why can't you see that?" He asks and he grabs my hand. I jump at his touch and quickly pull away from him, I stand up,

"Don't touch me!" I snap as I quickly walk away from him. This was such a bad idea to let him try to explain, all it's done is make me upset again. I walk out the front doors and I feel him grab me as I suddenly swing round to face him. "Get off Jason! You fucked everything up! You don't realise how much it hurts that you cheated on me, then you have the nerve to lie to me, to my face!" I cry as I feel the tears starting to build. I hate myself for being so weak towards him.

"Steph, I need you to know the truth.." Jason says in a deep and low voice. "I can't lose you." He adds as he still holds my wrist. He pulls me closer to him.

"Hey! Get off her." Harry shouts as he runs over to us. I try to loosen myself away from Jason's grip as I look at Harry. Harry pushes Jason back causing him to let go of me as he stumbles back a few steps.

"This is none of your business." Jason says as he starts to square upto Harry. Oh shit, this can't be happening.

"It is when she came here with me" Harry snaps as he gets closer to Jason. Jason suddenly grabs him by his shirt and shoves him against the wall.

"Jason stop!" I shout as I begin to pull Jason back. Harry leans forward and pushes him away, I stumble back and they are suddenly on the floor. I look to Harry and his eyes turn cold, they're no longer the sparkling green that easily invite you in. I freeze as Harry leans over Jason, he hits him a few times but Jason thumps him in the face.

"Harry!" I hear Amy shout as she runs over, she leans down and pulls Harry off Jason. She glances to me. "Help me Steph!" She shouts as Jason stands up but James quickly steps in and holds Jason back. Harry stands up straight and puts his hands up as if to say he'll stop.

"You wait till I see you again!" Jason shouts at Harry, as James tries to walk him away, Harry glares at him as his face turns to stone.

"What the hell happened?" Amy asks as she looks at me and then to Harry. I go to speak but I can't find any words.

"He's a prick.." Harry says as he walks towards his car, I watch him as he runs a hand through his hair, Amy looks at me.

"What's wrong with you? Why did you just stand there?" She asks as she looks at me confused."Steph?"

"You should have seen the look in his eyes." I say as I look at Amy. She frowns as she puts her arm around me. Everything I've thought about Harry has changed, I've seen a different side to him tonight, I really didn't like it.

"Come on" Amy says as she walks me towards his car. Harry is waiting in the drivers seat. I open the passenger door and climb in, I put my seat belt on and I look over to him. Amy climbs in the back and we hear her shut her door. Harry immediately starts the engine and begins to drive off.
"Harry.." I say softly as I feel so guilty that he's just got into a scrap with my ex. Harry looks at me then away again. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry." He says as he doesn't look at me. I'm not great with words, especially when someone is pissed off or angry. I inhale deeply as I go to continue.

"I do. You're here to change and tonight has made that so difficult." I say as I look away from him.

"Welcome to my world. That was nothing so I wouldn't worry." Harry says, his voice is calm and he doesn't seem too bothered. How can he suddenly go from being uptight to being calm? I shake my head, ignoring the confusion.

"Well I do worry. You should never have got involved.." I say and Harry shakes his head, I look at him. The side of his face show me the cuts recovering from his last scrap, he hasn't been here long and now he's just added another bruise.

"How could I not get involved? Your family have put me up for the next two months, the least I could do is look out for you." He says as he looks at me, I look away avoiding his eyes as I feel a myself getting wound up.

"I don't need looking out for Harry. These are my friends that I see almost everyday, it was just the off chance Jason decided to come along." My words linger in the air as he doesn't say anything. He doesn't even look at me. I look at Amy who is sat in the back quietly, she looks at me and half smiles. I look back to Harry.

"We won't tell my parents about tonight." I suggest and Harry flicks his eyes over to me.

"Okay." He says as we suddenly pull up to Amy's house. I didn't realised Harry must have been speeding. I look to Amy and she gives me an encouraging look, I watch as she takes her seat belt off.

"Thanks for the lift." Amy says and Harry looks at her through his mirror. "See you later Steph" she says as she opens the door and climbs out.

"Bye!" I say as she shuts the door. I watch her walk to her front door and we start to pull away. "Are we going for food?" I ask Harry as I try to lighten the mood. The tension in his car is horrible and I hate feeling awkward with anyone.

"Not tonight." He answers as we begin to go faster. I hate going fast in cars, I'm always worried that something could go wrong, or an animal could jump out at anytime. I sit up right and my body stiffens a little, I look out the window as I don't say anything else to him; I don't want the speed increasing any further.

---

"Hey, how was bowling?" Mum asks as we walk through the front door. Harry mumbles something and quickly runs upstairs out of sight. She frowns and looks at me.

"He's not feeling to great." I lie as I smile to her. "But it was good thanks." I add as I start to head upstairs.

"Stephanie.." My Mum says in a patronising tone. I stop and look back at her and she folds her arms whilst raising her eyebrows. "What's happened?" She asks.
"Nothing, we were just bowling and then Harry wanted to come home. He said he felt sick." I say as I try not to break eye contact, my Mum can usually see straight through me when I am lying.

"Oh, well I better check he is okay?" Mum says as she looks a little worried. I shake my head and she frowns.

"He said he wanted to be alone, I'd leave him for a while." I say and my Mum nods. She doesn't look convinced but she don't ask anymore questions. "See you in a bit!" I smile as I quickly run up the last few steps. I open my bedroom door and I quickly sit down on my bed, I don't know whether to try and talk to Harry or to leave him. I lay back as I have an inner debate with myself.

---

Harry's Pov

I sit down on my bed and lean forward as I think about tonight's events. I tried so hard to watch Stephanie with Jason, but when he grabbed her and pulled her towards him, I just felt the anger that I know so well build in my stomach. How can anyone watch a male dominate a female without doing anything to help. I look to my left as I go to lay down, but I stop as I notice a few photographs scattered. I take one and I can't believe I'm looking at Stephanie,Jed,Gemma and Myself when we were kids. We are stood in a row smiling for the camera, my arm is draped around Stephanie. I can't help but smile as she has a few teeth missing in her cheesy grin. I look back again and take another photo. It's me and Jed playing football, both wearing Manchester United kits. I remember those days well. Then I take another one and I smile as it's Me and Stephanie in her tree house that Ryan built. We're both sat on the floor, looking to the camera smiling. I completely forgot about that tree house, we loved playing up there, just Stephanie and I. Gemma and Jed were too 'cool' to hang out there, but I loved it and so did Stephanie. Looking at the photo brings back so many feelings I once had as a kid.

"Harry?" I hear Stephanie say as she knocks on my door. I look up and tell her to come in, the door slowly opens and I look back at the photo. "Harry, we need to talk-" she stops as she looks at me and spots the photos. "What's that?" She asks as she shuts the door and sits next to me.

"They were on my bed when I came home.." I say as I pass her the photos. She looks down at them and begins to smile.

"Oh my god, look at me!!" She laughs as she holds the group photo. "And look at you Harry!" She gasps as she tries not to laugh. I look at her and smile, she then takes the tree house photo and her eyebrows rise. "Oh my.." She says as she goes quiet. We both look down at the two innocent faces that rest in her hands.

"I forgot we hung out there.." I say so quiet it's basically a whisper. She nods as she continues to study the photo.

"We called it our home." She says as she looks up at me. I smirk at the innocence and I look away, I'm starting to get wrapped up in the past and that's something I try not to do. "I bet my Mum fished these out." She adds as she looks at the one of Jed and I. I stand up and walk to the window, I look out at the garden. The tree house is no longer how it used to be, only a few little parts of the wood remain as the others have rotted away.

"I wanted to talk to you about tonight.." She says as she puts the photos back down on the bed and she turns to look at me. I look at her and I shake my head. "It's just, you can't flip out like you did Harry." She stops as I frown at her.

"I flipped out because I was looking out for you. Your ex who is a complete twat, was out of line." I snap as I fold my arms protectively. Stephanie sighs as she stands up and looks sympathetically to me.

"I appreciate that Harry, but you didn't have to fight my battle. I can handle Jason, I know him well enough. The last thing we need is you bringing trouble into our lives." She adds and I can't believe those words just left her mouth.

"Me bringing trouble? You're the one that went out with him! You brought him into your life." I say as I look at her but she looks away from me. She's never been too keen on me being here, I've sensed that, but to accuse me of bringing trouble to her is a joke.

"And like I said I can handle it Harry!" She starts to snap. "Look, you may behave like this back at home but we don't handle things the way you do! You can't just run in with all guns blazing" She adds as she starts to get wound up.

"You didn't look like you were handling it, Infact Stephanie, I don't know why I'm bothering to argue with you. I'll stay out of your problems and out your way if you stay out of mine." I snap as I can't be bothered with her drama. It doesn't matter who I'm with or where I am, I always get stuck in the same old shit.

"How do you expect us to do that when we live together?!" She raises her voice clearly pissed off at me. She shakes her head and sits down on the bed. "You have no idea about how anyone feels do you?" She asks in a stern voice.

"I'm not doing this. I don't do all this open emotion shit. I'm out of here!" I walk to the door and swing it open as I make my way downstairs. I hear her call after me but I don't answer, I open the front door and I slam it shut behind me. I unlock the car and open the door.

"Harry just stop!" Stephanie shouts as she runs to the front of my car. I turn the lights on and she covers her eyes, blocking out the brightness. I put my gears into reverse and I see Susan and Ryan step outside. I reverse back, and drive away. I grip tightly onto the steering wheel.

"Fuck!" I shout as I speed up. I have no idea where I'm going but I also don't really give a fuck.

Notes