Chapter 38

Nothing happened.

The dinner had been successful or a disaster, depending on how you chose to look at it. To me, it was all the same.

The clock on the bedside table showed 2.03am and I was shaking as I gathered up the last of my assignment papers and stuffed them into the folder.

It was done.

The last assignment was done.

Whether or not it was correct, I didn't know, but I had finished it and that meant that there was officially nothing left for me here.

In less than 10 hours, I would be in a cab, on my way home before I was off to college, and this whole thing could finally be put behind me.

This whole summer... the lessons... the assignments... Harry.

Harry.

Clutching my pillow and pressing it to my face, I wanted to scream. I felt the furious tears pressing in the corner of my eyes well up, but I forced them to stay down as I gasped in some shallow breaths.

God.

I thought I knew what unrequited love felt like, with my mom never having been able to give me what I needed.

But after this?

Shit, this was a new kind of pain, and let me tell you, it consisted of anger, aching, the urge to scream, punch, hit and then cry until you felt stupidly pathetic about how you could be so... foolish.

This wasn't me.

I wasn't this person.

I was Cassandra, I was fucking strong. I didn't need a man's love. I didn't need his confession.

I didn't need.

Fuck.

Gathering my folder up and grabbing my robe, I swung it on and then headed out of my room in a fast march, going down the marbled stairs.

There was still one thing left to do before I was done here.

Walking up to his office, I opened the door and stepped in, only to find the room bathed in darkness.

For once, when I needed him, he wasn't here.

I was just about to turn and defeatedly leave when a small light behind the protruding bookshelf suddenly caught my eye. I followed it cautiously and suddenly I was headed towards new direction.

Taking a deep breath, I rounded the bookshelf and slowly stepped into his cluttered bedroom. The writing was on the wall (literally and metaphorically) and there, in the bed... was Harry.

He sat perched up against his headboard, a book in his hand and glasses sloped on his nose as read whatever the book contained.

At the sense of movement from the door, his eyes flicked up.

Meeting my eyes, I lingered in the doorway and bit my lip hesitantly as nerves suddenly washed over me. His bedside lamp was the only light burning in the room, and it highlighted the flat, yet carved plains that was his bare chest, and the deep, tired hollows beneath his eyes; The eyes that were watching me, waiting for me to speak or move.

"I finished it," I finally stated, swallowing hard as I decided to step in, moving forward slowly.

"I finished... the assignment."

Stopping at the foot of his bed, I held the folder out to show the finished assignment, and watching his eyes drop to the movement, he let go of a slow sigh and closed his book.

Perching it on the side of his bedside table, he then extended his hand and beckoned me closer.

His eyes stayed on mine as I came forward, climbing in on his bed, rather than going around it to hand him the folder. I crawled up to his side and placed the folder in his hand.

"I finished it," I repeated, as if to solidify the meaning.

I was done here.

His amber eyes softened ever so slightly in the light.

With a slow movement, he then took off his glasses.

"Cassandra.."

And that was all it took.

Launching at him with a furious, yet desperate cry, he caught me as if he had expected it. The moment he spoke my name, my restraint snapped, and I clasped on to him with fervor and rage.

The assignment fell to the floor as his hands grasped me and held me in place as my body climbed into his lap and my lips found his, brutally. I heard his low grunt as I bit into his lip, before taking them in a hard, punishing manner.

The next second though, the wrath melted away from my veins.

His mouth responded to mine, and with not a shred of restraint did I feel his hands slide to my sides as my own clawed at his chest for leverage. His hands slid up and buried themselves in my hair, gripping my neck and my hips as I practically shoved him into the bed.

But he wasn't resisting. In fact, I felt as the heavy bulge beneath the covers pressed harder against the crevice between my legs as his lips kissed mine back.

I registered my own hands ripping at my robe, peeling it off and shucking it away on the floor, but I also sensed hands helping me and exploring my shriveling body the moment the thin barrier was gone.

His hands soothed the chill of the cold night air as I felt them skim down my body, the same time the covers between us were ripped away. I came in contact with his bare flesh and my body noticeably shivered at the feel, especially as I sensed the feel of one of his hands traveling down and cupping my rear.

A feeble whimper came from me before I could stop it, and before I could stop anything else as well, I was already clinging to Harry as I felt my hips grind for what they wanted.

It was the moment I felt us work together to make it happen, I felt the air get knocked from my lungs; The moment I sunk down on him and we both expelled a hard breath, I knew it was game over.

One of us had broken this summer, and it hadn't been Harry.

But tonight, I did.