"So you do what again?" Harry's voice echoed from the living room. He was interviewing roommates. I'd offered to help, but he insisted he wanted to do it on his own. He was the one who would have to live with them after all. I heard a mumbled response and a tell-tale sigh from Harry. He had been having rotten luck.

As the interview wrapped up, I continued to pack my boxes. Aaron had offered to pay all the costs and let me stay with him in the meantime. I only came to the flat to meet with the landlord and pack my belongings.

Later that night, I began to move the boxes out of my room and into the hallway for the movers. Harry sat in the living room, watching me struggle.

After I nearly dropped a box on my foot, he finally said, "Do you need help?"

"No." I replied, pushing a box of books across the floor.

I felt his eyes on me while I loaded box after box into the hall. After awhile, I decided on a break, bending over a box to plug in my phone. As I searched the wall for the outlet, I felt Harry behind me. He ran a finger on the skin between my shorts and my shirt, prompting me to straighten up.

"Are you fucking serious, Harry?!" I snapped and whirled around to face him.

"Honestly, I can't help it," he grinned, "Your arse is perfect."

I frowned at him. He refused to back away, instead leaning into me, putting his hands on either side of my body and backing me against the wall.

"Stop it," I said, holding my ground, "That's how this whole mess got started. Neither of us could keep it where it belongs." I gestured to our crotches.

"Really, Vivian?" he whispered as he tried to kiss me. I turned away and slid away from him on the wall.

"Yes, Harry," I said and sat on a box, watching my phone charge. He ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

"So," he started, "That was all it was. Sex?"

"Yes," I quipped, "Great sex, but just sex." I added, refusing to look at him. I felt him perch on a box next to me but I continued ignoring him.

"Vivian, look at me, please," I put my phone down and glared at him. He flinched, but continued, "Can't you see what you do to me? What you've done to me? I feel like its so obvious."

"What's obvious Harry?" I asked, genuinely confused. I rarely saw him like this. His eyes were soft, his body was hunched almost like he was afraid that I was going to hurt him. I lessened my glare. "I'm listening," I said, letting myself open up to him.

"I want you," he confessed.

"What?" I asked, I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"I want to be with you and only you," he said simply, I could feel those words pierce my heart. I looked away.

"Why?" I mumbled.

"I don't know why. But I do." He said as he searched for my face, "You have to look at me Vivian, I can't say this to your back."

Carefully, I looked back at him and asked, "What happened to friends with benefits? And not doing relationships?"

"I knew you wouldn't leave Aaron for me. You'd never date a guy like me. So, if sex was the only way I could have you, I'd take it." He looked heartbroken.

"Harry," I said as I let my hand rest against his, "if you felt that way you shouldn't have done that. You should have just asked me out."

"You're intimidating, you're hot and smart—" he rambled as he interlocked his fingers with mine, content that I was letting him touch me.

"You date actresses and models, there is no way that I scare you," I cut him off. He stopped and just held my hand. He didn't seem to be taking it any farther than that so I let him. We sat together in silence for a long moment, neither of us sure of what to say.

"Vivian, you terrify me," he whispered.

"Why?" I breathed. But some part of me already knew the answer.

"I..." he started, "I don't say these words lightly. I don't say those words at all, unless I absolutely mean them. And its not just because I don't want you to leave but..." he trailed off and turned away from me. I pulled him back.

"What?" I asked.

"I...I wish I could say I'm not, but I'm in lov—"

"Stop! Don't say that!" I snapped, pulling my hand away from his and got up. I began to walk away but he grabbed my arm.

"Why not?" he said as he turned me to face him, "You drive me crazy. Just...Vivian...please, don't leave," he begged.

Wrapping his arms around my shoulders, he held me against his body, resting his head on my shoulder as he held me as hard as he could.

My heart was in my throat. I'd never seen him like this. He nuzzled his face into my neck and inhaled my scent. Then, almost reflexively, he sighed, "I love you."

I was completely disarmed. I froze in his embrace as my eyes burned with tears.

"No," I whispered, putting my hands between us and slowly, but firmly pushing him away. Tears began to run down my face, "You don't get to say that to me. Not after all you've done."

After one last push, he finally let me go. I turned away, walked down the hall to my room and slammed the door shut.

•••

I watched as the movers took the last box. I stood in the kitchen and signed the paper work. Harry lurked in the living room. He was silent, but his eyes said it all, he was rather upset.

Aaron was perched in the door of the flat. He had a shit eating grin plastered on his face. It was clearly for Harry more than it was for me. As I rolled my suitcase to the front, Aaron pulled me in for a kiss. I flinched.

"What?" he asked, searching my eyes. Could he tell that I had cried all night? I smiled and quickly pecked him on the lips.

"I'll meet you downstairs," I said, "I have to give Harry the keys."

"Don't be long," Aaron said. It wasn't a cute thing that would usually be said between a couple, it was a very clear warning. I nodded.

When I heard the door close, I turned to Harry. He looked up at me from the sofa, his eyes were cold and hard.

"Here are the keys, and my forwarding info. Once you find someone let me know and I'll work out a deposit situation with them." I set them on the coffee table.

"Okay," Harry said as got up and powered up the Xbox. He watched the screen intently as the game loaded.

"Goodbye?" I said, unsure of what to do.

"Whatever," Harry mumbled as he logged in. I stood there for a moment, but it was clear, this was no longer my home and I was not welcome. I got out of there as fast as I could.

Aaron was sitting in the car waiting for me. I got in.

"So?" he asked,

"What?" I responded as the car pulled away. I couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness growing inside of me.

"How did it go with Harry?"

"Whatever," I said, "He's fine."

"Okay?" Aaron asked, clearly not satisfied with that answer.

"The Xbox was more important to him than making sure he got my keys," I snapped, hoping to shut him up.

"Wow," he breathed, "What an arse." He reached for my hand, "We're going to get through this, don't worry." I smiled back at him, but I wanted to smack him. I also wanted to fuck him. I wanted to fill the hole that was growing in my heart.

He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. I pulled his hands to my waist and kissed him, hard, on the mouth. He tried to push me away, but I just sucked his tongue into my mouth. He moaned and melted into me. His hands grabbed the small of my back and pulled me against him. I needed this. I needed the comfort. I needed the escape. I began to kiss down his neck.

"Vivian," he groaned, starting to say something in protest until I found a spot on his ear that, apparently, made him lose his ability to speak. I brought my hand to his crotch, he was semi hard. I began to massage him through his jeans, he didn't stop me. I worked him over until we felt the car stop.

He grabbed my bag and dragged me past the doorman and into the lift. He pressed me up against the wall and kissed me. I let out little moans into his mouth. We got to the flat. He threw my bag down and slammed me against the wall. I gasped, he smiled. He put his hands around my ass and hoisted me up around his waist. He walked me into his bedroom.

Aaron laid us both down on the bed, grabbed my wrists in his hands and pinned me to the bed. He kissed my neck and slid my dress up and off my body. I didn't have on a bra, and my knickers were wet. I wrapped my legs around him and began to grind against him. He grabbed my tits and pinched my nipples, I yelped. He put his hand down the front of my knickers and felt how wet I was. I gasped as he found my clit and reached forward to undo his jeans and get his cock out.

Clumsily, I used my other hand to pull off his shirt. He let his jeans fall to his ankles and dug his fingers into me, it hurt, but I didn't care. I just repositioned his fingers and pulled his cock into my mouth. He tried to finger me, but couldn't concentrate with my lips around him. Feeling my wetness in two places was proving to be too much for him.

Once I felt him get hard enough, I laid back and spread my legs. Aaron wasted no time. He slammed himself into me. I moaned and grabbed his butt. I did not want him to stop. He just grabbed my hands and pinned them over my head. He tried to fuck me hard. To teach me a lesson. To hold me down like, a strange bizarre version of Harry, but he just wasn't really doing it.

I let him fuck me for a bit, work up a sweat before I began to thrust back on him from underneath. But, as soon as I did, I saw his brow furrow and his hands went to my hips and clenched them tightly. Before I could do anything, he came. Soon after he collapsed next to me with a huge smile on his face. He began to curl up under the sheets.

I curled up next to him and waited until he fell asleep before getting up and going to the bathroom. I needed a shower. I ran the water and grabbed a towel. Aaron had one of those rain shower heads, where the water drizzles down from right above you. The thought of washing my hair got very tempting. I began to dig through the cabinets to find shampoo. Of course, there were plenty of options.

As I began to open them and smell them, pretty soon I found one that I couldn't put down. The moment I inhaled it I felt oddly happy. It wouldn't be until later that I realised that it was because it was the same brand Harry used, but as I took the bottle off the shelf, what I saw behind it took my breath away. There, nestled between the bottles of conditioner and shaving gel was a box.

A very specifically sized box in a very specific shade of blue. I heard foot steps. I whipped around only to see Matty. I breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his head. Maybe it wasn't what it very clearly was. Plenty of things come in blue boxes, maybe it was some fancy face cream. I carefully removed the box and eased it open. What was inside was unmistakable.

My heart dropped into my stomach at the sight of the most beautiful engagement ring I'd ever seen sparkling back at me.