Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
HARLEY
Lana
We’re not related.
Gracie
Okay!
Noah
Everything okay?
Cole
Fuck off.
Logan reads the messages and doesn’t reply, but I know he’ll be there, he always is when I need him.
And fuck if I don’t need him right now.
All of them.
The revelation from Savannah is only one of my many issues, and the most glaring one that I want resolving as soon as possible is us.
Having the full picture, all of my anger and resentment has wilted away, and I just want to see what we can be without the pain and hatred, without the threats and bitterness.
But I have no goddamn idea how to get through to her, how to make her see that we could actually be something.
Those few weeks I had with her in the summer before we started college have been something that haunted me, but now, instead of thinking negatively about them, I’m seeing them for what they really were.
They were real.
The moments we shared, the vulnerability, the feelings… they were all real, and now I need to find a way to get us back to that place.
Which is why I’ve called a family meeting, and I’m gonna get the fuckers I call best friends to help me figure it out instead of going it alone.
If I had just talked to them about everything years ago, maybe everything could have been avoided, so now it’s time to tell them everything and get their help.
I make it to the theater room and find Noah and Gracie already waiting for me, concern written on both of their faces, and I grin at them, letting them know there’s nothing wrong.
Physically, at least.
Considering this is the first time I’ve ever called everyone together like this, it’s not surprising they’re worried. I stand at the front of the room, and just as I turn to the sofa, Cole and Lana walk through the door with Logan following after them.
Good, everyone’s here.
“Why are we here?” Logan grunts, and I gesture for everyone to take a seat.
“I need your help,” I say boldly to the room of blank faces looking back at me. “I need to find a way to get Savannah to see we belong together.”
There’s silence for a moment, and then Cole snorts and mutters, “Jesus fucking Christ.”
Gracie sits forward in her seat, her eyes intent on mine. “Can you give us a little more context?”
I sigh and proceed to spill the details.
All of them. Every secret, lie, and threat.
I lay it all out on the table, telling my friends what I should have told them a long ass time ago.
Once I’m done, Logan and Lana don’t look surprised—probably because they already knew the details—while Gracie sits with a frown on her face. Cole blinks at me, clearly surprised, and Noah… well, Noah is smirking.
Why the fuck is he smirking?
I tilt my head and study him, wondering what’s going through his mind, but my attention is dragged away from him when Lana says, “You could buy her a pretty knife and let her cut you with it.”
“Oooh, you could leave her notes pretending to be someone else,” Gracie says.
“Or you could trap her into living with us,” Cole adds.
“Nah,” Noah says with a shake of his head. “You should just kidnap her.”
I stare at my friends, not having any words for the shit that just spewed out of their mouths.
What the fuck is wrong with these people?
“Yeah, you should do absolutely none of that,” Logan says, speaking for the first time since coming into the room.
“Savannah would kill you for any single one of those. If you’re serious about this—and I mean if Harley, because you can’t just get back into her good graces then fuck off—then you need to remind her of what you had before everything went to shit. ”
My eyes lock in on him, a smile creeping onto my lips.
“Like, show her how happy I can make her, remind her of the good times we had, that sort of thing?” I ask, plenty of ideas coming to mind, and he nods once.
“That’s fucking brilliant. Okay, I have shit to do, so you’re all dismissed,” I say and wave my hand toward the door, only… no one moves.
Fuckers.
“Nope. Firstly, you’re gonna explain why the fuck you didn’t tell us any of this sooner, and then you’re gonna tell us what you have planned,” Cole says, and I fight not to roll my eyes.
Why is he delaying me? Doesn’t he know that I have shit to do and a girl to win over? Times a wastin’.
Realizing he’s not going to let this go, I sigh and take a seat opposite them.
“I don’t know,” I mutter. “I guess at the time, it was all just so raw and fresh that I didn’t really want to talk about it.
I was embarrassed and hurt and so fucking angry I could barely think straight.
Then time went on, and her and I started playing this cat and mouse game, and it felt like it was too late to tell anyone what had happened, too late to open up. ”
I feel awkward as fuck telling them this, but these are the people I trust most in the world, and they deserve to know why I kept them in the dark for so long.
“You could have come to one of us at any time,” Noah murmurs and gives me an understanding look. “But I get why you didn’t. We’re here now, so how about you tell us whatever it is you have planned to fix this shit with your girl and let us help.”
I mean, I guess it couldn’t hurt…