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When I get back to my place, I find my phone on my charger next to my bed. Whittney must have snuck through my window to bring it back to me. Charlette's not home. Probably staying at Carson's for the weekend, even though she's been talking about ending it between the two of them. Luckily, Mom and Eleanor aren't here either, because there was no way to explain the fight that Whittney and I had without her freaking out.

I was trying hard not to freak out myself. For years, it's been me and Whittney. We did almost everything together, so much that it was rare that you'd see us without the other. Now, I suddenly feel like a part of me is missing.

Just before I can settle into a movie to take my mind off things, the doorbell rings. Austin's car is parked across the street when I glance out the window. I roll off the couch to open the door to find Austin with a fresh bruise and split lip that wasn't there when I saw him this afternoon. Him and Whittney really must have gone at it. Even after the fight Whittney and I had, I can't help but worry about him since Austin looks fine.

For the most part, at least.

"C-come in.." I move out of the way so he can enter, and quickly since he's still fuming.

I bring him into the kitchen and grab a wet cloth before sitting him down. He looks at me with narrow eyes while I clean the blood off of his face and shrink a little under his intense gaze with the strange paranoia that he's observing me.

"Sabrina and I broke up."

My head jerks up after he breaks the silence. "Is it permanent?"

"I don't know." He sighs. "She got the text before I could get there. The bastard even told her bullshit, saying this wasn't the first time I cheated on her."

That makes me frown. Whittney may be a vindictive asshole, but he's not a liar. Austin sure as hell wasn't faithful the first few months him and Sabrina dated. It must've been before he started falling for her because this is the first time I've heard about one of his slip-ups in months.

"Are you going to be okay?" I ask, avoiding his blatant ignorance.

He nods. "I've had worse."

I roll my eyes. "I don't mean you physically."

"Ah, I see." He sits up and crosses his arms. "You're trying to get me to share my feelings."

I place the cloth on the table beside me and sit back. "Hey, it's okay to talk about your feelings."

Austin laughs sarcastically. "The team would slap me on the ass and say I forgot my balls at home."

"Well, I'm not Rodney or any of those other guys. I won't tease you just for being human."

He stays quiet and drops his head.

"Austin?"

"She doesn't want me back," he whispers. "Whittney's convinced her that I haven't changed, and I would have kicked the shit out of him for hurting you and Sabrina, but Jeremy stopped me."

"Shit. Is he the one who hit you?"

"No." He gestures to his face. "This was all Whittney. Jeremy threw some threats around, but I think they were more to mess with Whittney than me."

"Having a brother like that can really mess you up."

There's nothing I want more than to get Whittney out of that damn house. Maybe then he'd have to courage to be himself. There's a good guy in there, I know there is. I've seen him.

Austin chuckles humorlessly. "You have no idea."

"There's more. Isn't there?"

Austin runs a hand through his hair and looks down. "There are cuts all over Whittney's arm."

"Cuts? Do you mean-?"

"They weren't from some kind of accident." He takes a deep breath. "It looked like he did it to himself."

I don't remember seeing anything like that when we were together last. "Shit. Do you know when it happened?"

"No clue, man. They looked fresh, I guess?"

My fingers grip my knees. There's no way that this is a coincidence, him having done this right after hurting me like he did. A part of me wants to drive back there right now to make sure that he's okay, and the other part wants to just forget about him and move on.

"I'm losing everything, Harry." Austin wipes his, tear-rimmed, eyes. "I can't lose you, too. I know I've been a complete dick to you and Whittney lately, and I'm so sorry about that. You have always been such a loyal friend and I've taken that for granted. I'm not sure how you can't hate me after how horrible I've been to both of you."

He looks up after I grab his hand and smile. "I could never hate you."

A frown forms on his face when he looks at our hands. "Whittney said you're gay."

There's a chilling silence as his eyes drill into me. I quickly pull my hand away.

"It's true, isn't it?" He folds his arms. "You're gay and you never told me?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you."

"You didn't think it was something I had the right to know?"

Something he had the right to know? Bullshit. He didn't think I had the right to know that his father beats him, so how is this any less personal?

Austin stands up, running his hands through his hair as he paces around my kitchen.

"Will you please calm down? It's not like I have feelings for you anymore."

I know I've said too much when he stops right in his tracks. The blood drains from his face when he looks at me. "You liked me?"

When my words seem to have fully sunk in, Austin turns to leave.

"You've got to be kidding me," he mumbles as he heads for the door.

"Austin, wait," I plead while on his heels.

He isn't listening to me, so I try to grab him, but he turns on his own accord. His face says it all before he even opens his mouth. "You can't like me. There's no way you and I will ever happen, okay?"

"No. Austin, please don't go."

"I can't do this right now, okay?" He grabs his jacket and hesitates right after slipping out the front door. "I'm sorry."

The sound of squealing tires pushes me over the edge, my tears springing free. I run upstairs to my room and flop onto my bed. All of the repressed emotions I've been holding in are finally let loose and I cry into my pillow, cradling it like it's all I have. After today, it might as well be.

A notification pings and I wipe my blurring vision to read it. Almost thirty notifications and half of them are from Amber. They started with telling me to call her ASAP, then slowly graduated to half nonsense and slurred voice messages saying she didn't feel right.

One of her first voice messages, though, I could kind of make out.

"Get here now." Amber sounds a little out of it in the recording. "Things are going to shit. Rodney kicked Berkley out for spiking my drink and Bradley thinks he spiked Austin's, too. Where are you? Why aren't you answering your phone?" Glass smashes in the background. "Oh, shit! I gotta go."

"Oh my God." I go to my contacts and click on Amber's name. When five rings echo, I start to get nervous. "Come on. Pick up."

She finally answers on the seventh ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I finally got your messages."

A yawn sounds on the other line. "Harry, do you know what time it is?"

I check my phone and see that it's past midnight. "Shit, I'm sorry. It's been a crazy day."

"Same," she sighs. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm fine. I gave Berkley a good kick to the nads before Rodney kicked his ass out."

A small smile creeps on my face. "That's my girl."

She laughs slightly. "I miss you, Hare."

"I miss you, too." My smile disappears faster than it came. Tears start to flow again and my jaw quivers. "C-can you come over?"

"Be there in ten."

I wait outside for her so she doesn't ring the doorbell after I notice Eleanor's night light is on. Her and my mom must have gotten home when I was in my own little world.

The wind bites at my nose while I wait for Amber to get here. I didn't bother putting on a coat, so I just sit on my porch in my hoodie. When she finally arrives, she jumps out of her car and runs over to me, pulling me into a hug. Her arms wrap tightly around me and she lets my tears soak the shoulder of her jacket while rubbing my back.

"Let's get out of the cold, okay?" She says and I nod.

We walk around to the back to enter through the basement and we snuggle under a large blanket on the couch. Amber holds me tight when more tears spill over and squeezes my arm reassuringly.

"Harry, talk to me. What happened?"

"It might be over between me and Whittney, and I think I lost Austin, too." I wipe the tears away. "Whittney told Austin that I'm gay, so I'm sure you can guess how that went."

She closes her eyes and lets out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, hun."

"No." I shake my head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you the last couple days."

Amber turns my head so that I look into her eyes. "This is not your fault, alright? Shit happens, but I'm okay. And you will be, too."

"Thanks, Am." I smile lightly as she snuggles into my chest. "D-do you think that Bradley will give me another chance?"

"Bradley is very understanding." She yawns. "And you are an amazing person, worthy of a second chance. I think you have a shot."

A shot? I yawn, too, fading into sleep. I'll take it.

When I wake up, there's a text from Whittney. Please forgive me.

Two thoughts spring to my mind immediately. The first is that I want to forgive him, but the second thought makes everything clear. Amber almost got assaulted because Whittney sold drugs to Ryan Berkley, and I just can't forgive that. I think on it and send a reply.

Leave me alone. I want you out of my life. For good.

***

So Harry is cutting out Whittney and is going to try and make amends with Bradley. Do you guys think he made the right choice, or do you think he should of given Whittney a chance to explain? Team Whittarry, or Hardley? And what about Austin? I know for sure that everyone has mixed feelings about the OG main character of the series, but I did slightly tone down his reaction in this version, and it happened to flow a lot more smoothly.

Please let me know what you thought about the chapter in the comments! I always love hearing back from you guys and knowing your opinions and reactions! Also, if you thought the chapter is deserving, don't forget to like that little star in the corner!

Thanks, everyone! And until next time,

TheWriterD