Change My Mind

ERIN

Really? He just pushes me away like that after he’s been saying how much he wants me? Screw him, I’m done! I thought to myself as I looked at myself in the downstairs bathroom mirror. My face was red and I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. Why was I so upset? I’ve been saying for weeks how he wasn’t right for me anyway. I splashed some cold water on my face and took a few cleansing breaths. I had to get myself under control before going upstairs. I took one more look at myself in the mirror and convinced myself that I was done crying over him, before leaving the bathroom and heading up into the living room.
When I got upstairs I was happy to see that Harry had not made his way into the house yet and if he had I didn’t see him in the living room. I saw Stefanie and Corrine laughing in the corner at Niall, who was currently acting like a fool to impress Corrine. I marched over there and grabbed Stefanie’s arm to get her attention.
“I really need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, sure. Have you been cry—“
“Shh…please can we go in the other room?”
“Yeah okay…”
Corrine looked over and said, “Oh are we gossiping? I’m in.”
They followed as I led the way into my bedroom, closing the door behind me I let out a few more tears.
“Oh no, Erin…what happened?” Stefanie said pulling me in for a hug.
“Nothing except that Harry is a huge jerk!” I said starting to cry even harder.
“What did he do?” Corrine asked.
“He…He just—“ I said having a hard time forming sentences because I was crying too hard. “You know, I can’t. I’m sorry I thought I wanted to talk about it, but I’m so angry I can’t…Can you guys just stay with me and let me cry a bit?”
“Of course hun, whatever you need.” Stefanie said hugging me again while I let out a few soft sobs.
After a minute Stefanie asked, “Do you want a distraction?”
“Yes please.” I said hoping it would work and I would be able to stop crying for good.
“Okay, so you know how Louis and I came upstairs before, and we were arguing?”
“Yeah…” I responded, waiting for more.
“Well he was angry because he caught Liam and I kissing down in the hot tub.”
“Oh...” I choked back the tears that we starting to rise in my eyes again, “No, I’m sorry.”
Stefanie noticed the pause I took to regain my composure but knew me better than to ask why I was upset, and continued with her story.
“Well, I followed him in his room and we argued for a bit before I told him the reason I was making out with Liam was because I was trying to get over him, and then he pushed me up against the door and kissed me.”
“What?!” Corrine shrieked while hitting Stefanie on the shoulder in excitement.
“Ow!” Stefanie said looking at Corrine.
“Sorry…I was excited?” She offered up an explanation.
“Yeah—well now you can be excited over there.” She said gesturing to the other side of the room.
“Your attitude…Sucks.” She said laughing.
Stefanie just laughed at her sister and continued, “Anyway…I’m not talking a quick peck on the cheek, I’m talking, major lip locking, bodies pressed against each other, loss of breath kind of kissing. Ugh. It was amazing…you know until Harry barged in and ruined it by insisting on talking to Louis right away…”
“Yeah! That’s because Harry’s a jerk! I’ve been saying this all along but nobody has been listening to me!” I said realizing that I was focusing on the wrong part of the story, “Right, so what does this mean?”
“I don’t know…wait what do you mean?”
“I mean the harsh reality check that is his girlfriend back in London…is he breaking up with her or was this a one-time thing?”
“Oh, right…yeah…”
Suddenly the bright smile she had on her face just two minute ago was gone…way to go Erin…
“I guess it must’ve been a one-time thing. I mean it kind of has to be he has a girlfriend, and let’s face it…he’s not leaving her. They never do.”
“Well, you don’t know that.” Corrine offered.
“Yes I do.”
“I wouldn’t write this off just yet, Stef.” I said trying to bring her smile back, “We know you two have a physical connection but what if there is something more? From what you said it sounded like he was really angry when he caught you and Liam together, which by the way, remind me to teach you how to use a room with four walls and a door because you and Liam seem to be under the impression that if you make out in public places this secret fling of yours isn’t going to be discovered. But getting back on topic…He was angry. Most guys don’t get angry like that for just a physical thing. I think he may have actual feelings for you and I know you do for him too. Why else would you have chased him through the house to explain yourself? You never do that.”
“Yeah but I don’t want to be responsible for breaking up an otherwise happy couple. I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.”
“Yeah, but could you live with yourself if you sent the love of your life packing simply because he was in a relationship when you two met?”
“Yeah…What if he’s the one and you let him go because of your pride and what happened with some other guy who happened to be an ass, and prove himself unworthy of your time?” Corrine agreed.
Stefanie looked at us both for a second taking what we just said into consideration, “I guess…I just don’t know if I can go down that road again.”
“Just hear me out. You can’t avoid him for the rest of the week and with the way you two were looking at each other before, there’s no way what you two started is finished. I say you use this time to really try to get to know each other and see what else is there. If there is something more then he will have to make a decision…if not…well then you and I will go out and get so drunk we forget all about our One Direction boy troubles…deal?”
She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Deal.”
“Great!” I said putting my hand out to shake Stefanie’s as she did the same.
“Besides, it’s not the same road if it’s a different guy.” Corrine said, “I have a feeling this guy may surprise you and lead you down a different road.”
“Ha ha very funny.” Stefanie said, “You know what? I think I wanna have a good old fashioned sleepover tonight. What do you think, Erin? Can Corrine and I sleep in here with you and we’ll just stay up and talk, and laugh like we used to?”
“Sound like a plan to me, at the very least it’ll keep me and Harry separated.”
“You know eventually you’re going to have to tell us what he did so we can hate on him too.” Corrine said.
“Trust me,” Stefanie started, “Whatever he did, I’m sure she’ll be over it the next time he smiles at her the right way.”
“Well.” I said looking offended, “That’s rude.”
“It’s also true.” Stefanie said laughing hard at my expense until I threw a pillow at her. She threw it back at me and just as I went to block it there was a knock at the door distracting me long enough that I ended up getting hit with the pillow.
Niall opened the door and peaked his head in, “Hey ladies. Are we coming back out soon?”
“Oh, yeah, no sorry we decided we are having a little girl’s night instead now.” Corrine answered.
“Yeah and also, no boys allowed!” I said playfully throwing the pillow at him.
“But—but…I was getting to know Corrine…”
“You can still get to know her tomorrow.” Stefanie pointed out.
“Yeah, but…”
“See ya later Niall.” Stefanie said.
He pouted his lip as he closed the door behind him, and we thought he had given up but apparently that wasn’t the end of his efforts to stay for girl’s night. A few minutes later we heard Liam yelling from the living room as the door opened again, “Give it up Niall! They aren’t going to let you stay.”
“Shhh! You don’t know.” He said before turning to us, “Hi again ladies, look what I happened to find in the bathroom. I have some nail polish here and I also took the liberty of bringing snacks. Now I may not be the best at painting nails but I’d be more than willing to let you paint my nails if you let me stay.”
There was a loud roar of laughter that came from all of us as we listened to Niall’s proposition and realized he was serious.
“Sorry, Niall. The answer is no.” I said firmly getting up to take the snacks and polish, “But thank you for bringing us all this stuff. We really appreciate it.” I said kissing his cheek before placing the items down on the bed and turning back towards him.
“Would it help if I wore a wig? A dress?”
This time I fell back on the foot of the bed from laughing so hard. Stefanie and Corrine joined my sentiments as they rolled around on the bed, barely able to breathe from the hilariousness of the situation.
“Ow…my stomach!” Stefanie said laughing again while grabbing at her abdomen.
I looked up and wiped the tears from my eyes, ready to tell Niall once again that he was not invited to girl’s night and that he could see Corrine tomorrow. When I saw Harry pass by on the way to the room he was sleeping in. He looked in and we made eye contact for a second before I turned away, crossing my arms as I did so.
“Niall, really. You and I will have plenty of time to get to know each other tomorrow. I want just a little time with my sister before you guys steal her away for this big tour of yours. Okay?”
Niall slumped his shoulders, “Yeah okay, but tomorrow it’s just you and I, right?”
“You got it.” Corrine said brightly. “Goodnight, please close the door on your way out?”
Niall did as he was asked and we enjoyed about another ten minutes of girl time before we all passed out from exhaustion after a long day.

As the sun shone in through the windows I tossed and turned with flashes of images dancing through my mind. Me in the hot tub with Harry, me straddling Harry, kissing him, and then starting to strip until he stood up and rejected me. I tossed a few minutes more until I heard Stefanie’s voice.
“Really, Erin?” she said as she nudged me with her elbow, “If you aren’t going to hold still I’m going to kick you out of your own bed. Why don’t you go in by Harry and cuddle up next to him if you are insisting on pushing up against someone.” She said with a yawn.
I sat straight up, my heart suddenly beating faster from the anxiety of having to interact with him after last night. There’s no way that all really happened…that’s not like me…is it? Everything was kind of a blur but I do remember getting out of the same bathing suit from my dream before passing out last night. I looked over to see that it was still on top of the hamper in a damp ball. Oh man…did I really throw myself at Harry last night, and even worse…did he say no?
Stefanie slowly sat up and looked at the horror on my face as I tried to work out the details of last night and must’ve thought she upset me, “Sorry E, I didn’t mean that. You know how cranky I am after a late night.”
She looked over to see that my body still hadn’t relaxed and continued, “Okay Erin, spill …What happened between you two last night?”
“I’m—I’m not really sure…”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean like, I don’t remember…at least I don’t think I remember. I’m having all these visions that seem like flashbacks but I can’t really be sure if they actually happened. Like some of the things I’m picturing don’t seem like something I’d ever do, and yet…I’m picturing these things that seem so real.”
“Erin, I’ve never known you to be so drunk you don’t remember what you did the next day. Think hard. Is it possible at all that any of these things happened? Or is it something that absolutely had to be a dream?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay…tell me something what happened in your dream and why it seems so real?”
“Alright, I dreamt that Harry and I were in the hot tub making out, and the bathing suit I was wearing is now in the hamper.”
“Okay, so then why did you come in all upset last night if you were making out? Was he a bad kisser or something? Did he try to take advantage of you?”
“No! From what I can tell I was enjoying it…The other thing I dreamt was that I tried to take it further and he turned me down.”
“Okay…how did he turn you down? Did he say ‘Ew gross’ or did he say something like ‘You’re too drunk for us to be doing this’?”
“More like the second one…”
“Okay, yeah I can totally see that being the reason you were upset, you put yourself out there and he says no?…I know you were in the hot tub because you were wet when you came upstairs last night and you were wearing the swimsuit. And Harry was also wet and wearing swim trunks, so he was down there too.” She thought for a minute before continuing, “I think everything you’re dreaming of actually happened. Like I said I’ve never known you to get so drunk you don’t remember the next day. You need to talk to him.”
“Ugh…I don’t want to talk to him right now, do I really have to?”
“Yes! And you should definitely do it today.”
“Why? He’s the jerk who turned me down after weeks of chasing me.”
“You know why you have to talk to him, and knowing Harry, he probably only did that because it wouldn’t have been right to take advantage of you being drunk like that…this is the same guy who didn’t take advantage of a sober you when you leaped into his arms during movie night.”
“Whatever…why must you remember every detail?”
“Because I’m your best friend and I want you to be happy, and because I honestly think Harry would make you very happy if you’d just let him…why else would you throw yourself at him?”
“Because I was drunk?”
“Because you secretly know I’m right and he’s perfect for you?”
“Nope! I’m convinced it was because I was drunk and make bad decisions when I drink.”
“Then you should stop drinking.”
“Never.” I said with a giggle.
Stefanie laughed along with me, “Seriously…please talk to him?”
“Yeah, yeah…but only because you’re my best friend.”
“Yay!” she said hugging me.
Corrine rolled over and said, “You two have to be the worst people in the world to have a sleep over with! First there’s tossing and turning, then there’s heartfelt conversations, then we have miss yay over here being excited because you’re her best friend…Can’t a girl get any sleep around here?”
We laughed at her as she covered her head with a pillow dramatically as she turned away from us.
“Okay…we’ll go in the living room so you can sleep.” Stefanie said.
“Well I’m up now so what does it matter if you do?” she said getting up, “What’s for breakfast?”
“I think we have cereal?” Stefanie offered.
We all got up and headed into the kitchen where Niall and Harry were already sitting down at the counter eating.
Niall jumped up the second he saw Corrine and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “Mornin’ beautiful.”
She giggled, “Morning.”
Harry looked at me and I could tell he wanted to do the same as Niall, instead he fidgeted in his seat for a moment before mumbling, “Morning.”
“Morning.” I said barely whispering.
“Good morning.” Stefanie said brightly, “So, what are everyone’s plans for the day?”
“Niall and I are going out, but we haven’t decided on exactly what we are going to do yet. How about you guys?”
“I think I’m going to try to find Louis and see if he wants to go for a walk…Has anyone seen Liam?”
“Oh uh yeah, he drank way too much last night. He’ll be passed out until noon at the very least.” Harry said again fidgeting as if he was uncomfortable, probably because he didn’t know how much I shared with the girls and was afraid to say the wrong thing and having us jump down his throat.
“Oh okay then…” Stefanie started. “Erin, what are your plans for today?” she said very pointedly looking at Harry and wagging her eyebrows.
I wasn’t going to let her force me into this first thing in the morning, “I thought I’d take a shower, and then get some sketching in to clear my mind a bit. Then I might take a drive into town…” before she could say anything to suggest we talked in great detail about last night I looked at Harry, “Harry, if you aren’t busy with your own plans, would you like to join me?” I forced a polite smile to go with the less than polite tone in my voice.
“Uuuhh…” He looked around the room trying to read all the faces in it. He clearly didn’t see that one coming, which I’m hoping means he doesn’t expect to actually talk to me about last night. “Sure...?” he answered, definitely confused as to what I was up to. I know I should talk to him, but I just don’t know if I can admit to him that there are feelings there. He’d take it as a sign that he should keep trying to win me over and I just can’t let that happen.



LOUIS

I let the hot water run over my body as the memories of last night ran through my mind once again. Every time I tried to forget the way her skin felt against my own it came back full force and suddenly I was in that room again pushing her on the bed. After a few more minutes I shut off the water and got out of the shower. I dried off and went back to the room where Stefanie and I shared that amazing moment and as I sat on the bed I pictured it again. I wanted nothing more than to have her in here so we could finish what we started. I swear it was like Eleanor could read my thoughts because at that moment I heard her text tone on my phone. I reached over and looked at the message.
Having fun on your trip?—Elle
I sighed and took my phone off the charger as I thought about how to answer. With Eleanor I couldn’t simply say yes because she knew that Stefanie was here and it would start a fight. I had to make it sound neutral, like it wasn’t the worst trip but that I’d rather be with her.
It’s okay…lots of snow! I’m so cold without you next to me ;)—L
I felt so guilty for what happened with Stefanie. If I had any self-control I wouldn’t have even dreamed of kissing her last night, or even better I’d just stay away from her until I figured things out like I promised Harry I would, but I just couldn’t do it. I had already jeopardized my relationship, so at this point I didn’t see the harm in seeing if there was something more than just a physical attraction. I had finished getting dressed and was about to text Eleanor to see how the last two days for her had been when there was a soft knock at the door.
“Come in!” I called out and the door slowly creaked open. I looked up and saw Stefanie peak her head in.
“Hey…” she said quietly.
“Hey.” I said almost a little too happy to see her. I put my phone down and gestured as I said, “Come in.” again. Sitting on the side of the bed
A smile played on her face when she saw that I was in a good mood. “I just wanted to see if you had any plans for today?” she walked across the room and sat next to me, her shoulder brushing up against mine as I started to answer.
“Oh yeah, loads.” I said with a slight sarcastic tone in my voice, “Yeah, I’ve got a photo shoot at ten, a football game at noon, and then I have a concert at eight, oh wait a minute…nope I’m on vacation, thanks to my beautiful tour manager…hmm…nope! Nothing going on today, I’m all yours if you want me.”
She giggled and bit her lip and from the color that rose in her cheeks, I just knew she was keeping her comment about wanting me to herself so she could stay focused. “Um yeah I actually wanted to see if you wanted to go for a walk? Maybe talk about some stuff.”
“Like the stuff that happened last night?” I asked even though I knew the answer.
“Yeah…that would be what I was referring to.” She playfully shoved my shoulder and then looked deep into my eyes. I was staring at her, and before I could force myself to look away she bit her lip again. I felt myself leaning in to kiss her when she stood up from the bed and said, “So you wanna go… or?”
“Yeah, just let me get my shoes on and we’ll be off.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you outside.” She said tucking her hair behind her ear and turning to walk out the door.
I hurried up getting ready and headed towards the closet to look for a spare coat when I’d realized I never sent the text I was working on to Eleanor. I looked outside and saw that Stefanie saw me and decided I’d just finish talking to Eleanor later on.
I walked outside, closing the door behind me and by the time I’d made it down the stairs I saw Corrine’s car pulling out of the driveway with a slightly unhappy Niall in the passenger seat.
“Hey.” I said as I approached Stefanie placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. “Where are they going and why doesn’t Niall look pleased?”
A slight blush spread across her cheeks and she said, “They are going into town for a bit to do some shopping and apparently Niall isn’t exactly thrilled that Liam is tagging along.”
Ha! Karma oh how I love you.
“Huh…oh well. Looks like he’ll have to find a way to get closer to Corrine with someone else there.” I said with a laugh. “So…where do you want to go on this walk?”
“I figured we’d just walk a little North of the property and see what we come across there.” She answered.
“Okay great.” I said gesturing for her to lead the way since she was the one who actually knew where she was going.
We walked for a minute or two in silence and when I looked over at her I could see she was thinking. If I had to guess she had multiple thoughts circling around inside her head.
“Okay.” I said snapping her out of her thoughts for a second, “Why don’t I start? I know, that some stuff happened last night that maybe shouldn’t have, and I know that we do need to talk about it, but for now?” I waited for her to look at me again before continuing, “Just for now, can we pretend it’s just you and I, and close out the world around us? Can we see what else is here?”
“I mean, I guess. I just—I—“
“Please…let me say this? I just want to enjoy this walk and get to know you more. I want to see what it would be like if we hadn’t met under the circumstances that we did, If our lives hadn’t been where they are now. Can we please do that?”
She smiled with understanding, “Yes. We can.” She said and held out her hand for me to grab in my own.
We walked on for what seemed like such a short time but we’d learned so much about each other. We shared stories from when we were younger and what it was like growing up. I told her all about how hard it is trying to get used to being recognized every time I go out but trying to stay humble, and she told me about the struggles she had trying to get used to the city when she first moved from this small town to New York. We laughed at each other’s jokes and exchanged stories about some of the hobbies we had growing up and what we did when we hung out with our friends.
We were getting along really well, but every once in awhile when there would be a pause in conversation I’d see her start go deep into thought about something like her mind was wandering back to reality.
This is where I’d usually say, “Hey, here and now remember? We can worry about it later.”
“Will we though?” She responded.
“We will, but right now…it’s just us. Us and this beautiful waterfall.” I said the last time I pulled her back to here with me.
Stefanie looked out at it and agreed, “It is beautiful. I love how even during this harsh winter weather the water still runs over the ice.”
We looked out together for a moment before she continued, “I just can’t help wondering what all this is to you.” She looked at me and waited. While she didn’t really ask me how I felt about her I knew that’s what she needed to hear.
“Listen…When I first laid eyes on you, I was captivated by your beauty. Nobody had ever caught my attention that way, not even—nobody has ever made me feel this enamored or confused. Ever. And the more I get to know you the more enamored I feel. That’s why I want to forget about the outside world. I want to know why these emotions hit me so hard and so fast. I—“
“I know what you mean. Sorry, but I get it. The closest I’ve ever had to feeling this way was with a guy named Luke. The only difference is, I knew you weren’t single going in and that’s why I’ve been pushing you away. I can’t let myself get caught up in that mess again. I think the only reason I’m even entertaining this little adventure is because I never fell so quickly for someone. I know what you’re asking of me but it’s so hard to be around you when it’s just you. But when I see you with Eleanor…it’s so much worse. It really breaks my heart to see you two together—“
I saw the pain in her eyes and maybe it was the worst thing I could’ve done at that moment but it’s the only thing I wanted to do. I kissed her, slowly. Passionately. I hoped that my kiss told her everything that she wanted to know about my feelings towards her and how much I didn’t want her to hurt at seeing Eleanor and I together.


HARRY

It had been an hour since everyone had left and I still found myself sitting in a completely different room from Erin. I knew that I needed to talk to her, scratch that I knew that I wanted to talk to her. I wasn’t an idiot I was completely aware of how drunk she had been the last night but there was a part of me that couldn’t help but wonder how she had felt about all of it. I knew people let their inhibitions down when they drank…so did that mean that the way she acted was how she’d really wanted to act underneath all of those mixed signals. Was it possible that she wanted me the way I wanted her?
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I searched the house for her and finally came across her sitting in the upstairs sun room with a sketch pad in her hands. I knocked quietly before walking in and couldn’t help but chuckle as she jumped slightly at the sight of me.
“Hey,” she mumbled, while simultaneously starting to gather her things up and pack them away, “I was just going to go take a shower…give me two seconds and the room is all yours.”
So, she was planning on avoiding me…again.
But this time I wasn’t going to let it happen.
Just as she reached the door, I slid it closed in front of her. She looked back and forth between me and the door a couple times before finally speaking.
“Um….excuse you?” she commented, clearly annoyed.
“We need to talk,” I replied deadpan and I watched the panic spread across her face, wordlessly she attempted to move passed me but I maneuvered my body blocking her. She kept trying to get around me forcing us into this awkward dance that seemed never ending.
“Just stop!” I raised my voice, reaching forward and gently grabbing her shoulders and much to my surprise she actually listened.
“What? What do you want to talk about?” she asked, placing her hand on her hip. Which admittedly was kind of cute.
“I want to talk about what happened last night, I can’t stop thinking about it,” I admitted honestly, sliding my hands down her arms to link my fingers with her own. Her eyes widened for just a moment but then her expression closed down immediately
“What are you talking about?” she asked, the uneasiness in her voice was apparent. She wasn’t getting away from this that easily.
“You, me….the hot tub. Sound familiar?”
Without hesitation, Erin replied, “Nope.”
I gently squeezed her hand, “Erin, you seriously don’t remember?”
She closed her eyes tightly before pulling her hand from mine and moving further into the room. I watched several expressions cross her face as she paced back and forth through the room. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know whether I should keep pushing or if she would start talking on her own.
“Erin?” I called gently and her head whipped around until her eyes met mine. When I saw the tears that were building inside of them I suddenly felt terrible.
“Of course I remember,” she spoke, so quietly that I barely heard her, “It’s just not something that I really want to talk about, Harry. To say it’s embarrassing would be a major understatement.”
Embarrassing? She was embarrassed?
“Don’t be embarrassed,” I offered, taking a step towards her, “There was nothing about last night that you should be embarrassed about. It was sexy…You were sexy.”
“Oh yeah, so sexy that you couldn’t help but shut me down,” she snapped and at the sound of her words it finally clicked in my head why she had been avoiding me. She thought that I didn’t want her.
I moved so that I was standing right in front of her, reaching my hand out and gently running the back of my hand along her cheek, “Please don’t think that I didn’t want to be with you. There was nothing in the world that I wanted more in that moment then to be with you but I knew you were drunk. When you and I finally get a chance to be together I want to know that all of you is there with me. I want to know that you are feeling everything that I am feeling and I want you to remember every single second of it.”
As she listened to what I was saying she bit down on her bottom lip ever so gently and I fought the need to do it for her. Now was not the time.
“Come on, let’s just go hang out,” I offered. I wanted her to be comfortable around me and enjoy being with me not constantly being concerned about the night before. “Let’s go into the hot tub.”
Erin smiled a little smile at first and then suddenly burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I asked completely confused.
“Yeah, let’s go in the hot tub,” she said walking towards the door, “And this time I promise to not strip my clothes off.”

Even though the snow was falling outside, the warm water of the hot tub completely took away the chill against my skin. Erin had told me to wait outside for her but after tap dancing back and forth on my cold feet for a little while I opted to wait for her in the perfectly warm hot tub.
A few moments later she finally emerged, wearing a short pink bath robe that ended about two inches above the top of her knee. I was mesmerized by the sway of her hips as she walked towards me, her robe falling lower and lower on her shoulders as she moved. I had told myself that I would behave and just hang out with her, but without even trying she was incredibly sexy and making this more difficult for me then I’d imagined was possible.
“Cute robe,” I commented with a smirk and almost instantly her cheeks began to redden as she subconsciously pulled the robe tighter around her perfect body.
“Thank y…AH!” she shrieked and without any explanation ran towards the hot tub and jumped in, bathrobe and all, causing the water to splash out the sides.
“What the bloody hell are you doing?” I asked Erin and it was then that I noticed she was shaking.
“There’s a…a….oh my god,” she attempted to explain but the words couldn’t seem to form. I grabbed her, wrapping my arms around her and began rubbing her back, willing the shaking to stop.
“A s-s-s-snake,” she stuttered and I watched as her shaky hand pointed back towards the house.
“A snake in the house?” I asked. She began shaking her head ‘no’ and pointing down towards the ground, “No, no , no! It’s right there. I almost stepped right on it! It could have me bit me! The poison would have spread through my body and I would have died!” she continued in her hysterical rant, “I’m not leaving this hot tub!”
It took everything in me not to laugh. Snakes, she was afraid of snakes. Shaking my head I gently moved my arms from around her and began to climb out of the tub.
“Are you crazy?” she yelled, gripping my upper arm, “This isn’t freakin’ bambi this time, Harry! It’s a snake! A venomous, deadly snake! It can kill you!”
This time I couldn’t hold back the laugh. As I unclenched her hand from my arm I began to climb out of the tub she tried desperately to stop me
“Harry!” she yelled and I couldn’t help but laugh even harder, “Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, love, “I replied calmly, “I hear you loud and clear and while everything you pointed out was definitely valid you are forgetting that it is the middle of winter and this is Pennsylvania. I walked over to where the snake was and found it just as I’d expected, frozen and dead. Looking around I found a fallen tree branch not too far from where I was standing.
“Where are you going? You can’t just leave me here!” Erin exclaimed but I just kept on task.
“I’m not leaving you.”
Grabbing the stick I walked back over to wear the dead snake still laid and picked it up with the stick, throwing both the stick and the dead snake further into the woods.
“It was dead, Erin,” I pointed out just in case she missed it. Her face turned a deeper crimson than I had ever seen it turn before.
“I knew that,” she said, her voice still shaking, “I was just checking to see if you knew that.”
I laughed again, holding my hand out to help her out of the hot tub.
“I’ll make you a deal, if you don’t ever mention the deer thing again, I won’t mention the snake to anyone,” I offered and after a moment of consideration finally she answered, “I guess that’s fair.”
Shaking my head, I leaned forward and placed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose, “Come on crazy girl, let’s get you inside and dried off.”

Notes

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of the story so far. We'd really Love to know what you think!