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Something Good Can Work

King of hearts.

Walking down the hall to my next class left me with a very uneasy feeling in my belly. I still had to speak to Niall about yesterday and I really wanted to find out what the drama was between him and Harry--I was scared to find out though, what if this changed my view of sweet caring Harry? "Summer, hey." I hear his voice before I see him, he came out of nowhere. "Hey you." I say softly, turning to face him. We still had a few moments before the class officially begun, but not enough to get a full conversation in. "I'm so embarrassed." He said blushing, a smile playing in his lips as he looked down to the ground. I felt for him, I really did. "Oh stop, don't be. I do expect full details on what the issue with Harry is though. I'm very out of the loop." I informed him, giving him a playful stern look. "Yeah, that's definitely something we should discuss elsewhere. You got plans after school? Maybe we can get some tea or coffee and chat?" He offered. It was a good idea, I gave him a nod and then turned to walk into the classroom, he followed behind me and took his seat beside mine. "There is a place near here we can go, just wait for me by the stairs out front when you're done with class." He spoke as he pulled books from his bag. "Sounds good to me." I say following his lead, the professor walked in not long after that and began his lesson. -last period- "Plans after school gorgeous?" I hear Harry say as I'm packing my backpack up to leave for the day. I look over at him with an arched brow. "As a matter of fact, I do have some. With your arch nemesis at that." I say lightly, teasingly. "Oh? That damn magneto!" He said loudly as he stood up, a few girls looked back and giggled at him but he just smirked. "Sorry Xavier, not that one." I retort rising from my desk and walking out the door with him. "I'm actually going to find out your dirty little secret. Niall and I are gonna grab some coffee." I can see his expression change instantly, that infection smile replaced with a worrisome frown. "Oh." Was all he said, I nudged into him and he nudged me back. "Remember it was years ago, I'm different now." He said with a grin, I think he knew that he had some hold over me because his worry quickly dissolved. "You got it sir Harold, I'll text you tonight!" I said as I skipped away, making my way to the front stairs to wait on Niall as promised. "Ready to go lass?" Niall asks as he rounds the steps, giving me a grin. "Sure am. Let's go." I join him and we began walking toward the coffee shop, it was about a ten minute walk and once we made it there was quite a few people crowded inside. We shared a look and he said "we'll get it go then." After ordering our drinks we'd somehow made it down to a small park. It wasn't the prettiest park, there were dilapidated benches and the water was dark and murky. I could see a few fish in there, but nothing compared to the lake near my old house. We walked across a questionable wooden bridge, avoiding the missing planks, and finally ended up on a nice grassy area beneath a tree that had falling orange leaves. I leaned against the trunk and looked over at him. "Speak." I said and looked up toward the sky, I didn't want my eyes giving him more pressure. He inhaled deeply and then looked up at the sky with me. "Harry and I were the best of mates growing up, he used to live right between Louis and I. Every day we were together, it was like the, err, three amigos? Yeah. We were tight." He sighed and slouched down some, his back pressed to the grass as he fiddled with a leaf he'd picked up. "There was this girl, her name was Elizabeth. We called her effy for short. She was always around, wanting to hang out with us, to get into trouble and we included her occasionally, but mostly we ditched her when we could because, honestly what young boy wants a whiny girl around?" He said, offering a small chuckle. I gave him a smile, making sure he knew I was listening. "Alas we reached puberty. Effy included and we started to notice her more. It turned into a bet, which one could bed her first...I'm not proud of it...honestly I was a right twat..." He sighed and looked over at me, I could tell he was embarrassed. "Well, Harry won. He was the first, but by that time we'd all fallen for her. It really created a rift in our friendship. Like I couldn't see him the same way because after he slept with her he was done. Like he just did it to win the stupid bet. Things were different after that, he started hanging out with zayn and getting into trouble and he moved into a smaller house with his mom. Effy was different too, she dressed different, she seemed sad all the time. It was like everything changed She moved not long after, haven't heard from her since. We were only 14 and 15 when this all happened, I mean I was playing the game too and I really don't have the right to be upset with Harry, I just am..." He had spilled it all to me, I was staring at him now and listening intently, my jaw gaping with each revelation. "Oh..." I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to feel. For some reason I felt bad for Harry, more than for the girl. Did that make me a bad person? "Do you ever think that maybe Harry changed because he lost your friendship?" I asked, a brow arching. Niall nodded, he had a slight mist to his eyes that wasn't here before. "I think about it a lot. I am just as guilty as him, I was a sore loser to a game we never should have played." I chewed on my inner lip, leaning over to give him a tight squeeze. "Maybe you should talk to him?" I offered, maybe it was time to make amends.