Chapter 58

"Why is Harley annoying, Hope?" Gabriel asked, getting Harley to curse under his breath as Hope raised her eyes to him. "I think he's really cool."
"Oh uh..." Hope cleared her throat as she reached for he flask of warm milk and poured into her cup. "About that... I'm sorry... Harley." She said in a mummer but luckily every out could hear.
Harley couldn't resist a smile as he glanced up at her. Locking eyes for a split moment before she looked away uncomfortably. He furrowed his brows a bit as he glanced back down at the tablet.
"Your dad gave us some tasks, they're a few than yesterday's. Merely just about the winter food storages." He pointed out as he scrolled down the list of the food items they have.
"Oh." Hope nodded, still feeling uncomfortable that he really didn't seem to remember saying anything to her yesterday. "Um... Harley...?"
"Hm?" He glanced up at her with raised brows.
"Um... About yesterday-"
"You don't need to apologise any further." He chuckled out. "I forgive you. I can still be your best friend but tell me straight up if I'm annoying you next time." He smiled, glancing back down to the tablet whilst taking a sip on some coffee as she bit onto her lower lip, staring at him.
"No I mean..." She glanced towards Penelope who shrugged her shoulders. Not sure if it was okay for her to remind him or not. "You don't remember, but you said you love me yesterday."
With that, Harley chocked back on his coffee, squeezing his eyes shut as he placed the mug down and massaged his neck. Hope, Penelope and Gabriel all glanced at him.
Gabriel being the most shocked from, news, since he hadn't been told about it, shifted his gaze towards Harley in disbelief.
"You told Hope... What!?" He asked in terror and Harley cleared his throat, leaning back on the seat as he sighed out slowly, now realising it wasn't so much of a dream as he wished it was.
"Did I really say that?" Harley chuckled nervously as he glanced towards Hope with a nervous smile, getting her to glance down at her plate in shyness.
"Yeah, you said a lot of things." Hope nodded her head as she grabbed a cookie and took a nimble from it. "That it's the reason you'd never support me if it had to do with someone other than you."
"Since when!?" The once silent Gabriel asked in shock, still staring at Harley who looked away from him instead. "Since when did this happen? When did you start having feelings for Hope!?"
"Why do you seem so against it?" Penelope asked with a bored expression as she glared at Gabriel. "So what if the best friends are finally in love, that shouldn't be your problem-"
"Well it is. First of all, how on earth were you able to walk around Hope all day knowing she's married?" Gabriel asked, still having Harley avoid his gaze. "Second of all, Hope seriously never minded about walking around with her nightgown on or some dress shirt of hers, what were you thinking about then?" He asked and Harley chocked on air as Hope bit onto her lip in embarrassment, shoving food into her mouth as her cheeks warmed up. "I doubt she looked 'normal' to you."
"Okay, look, it wasn't much of a big deal." Harley rolled his eyes as he finally stared into Gabriel's eyes.
"Oh yes it was." Gabriel furrowed his brows in annoyance. "You saw her as someone you love, obviously seeing her in revealing clothes was a 'big deal'."
"You know... Now that he mentioned it, what were you thinking, Harley?" Penelope grinned out as Hope kicked her under the table to stop her.
"You two are really annoying." He sighed out, taking a sip from his coffee as his cheeks burned from their questions. "That's also another reason I didn't want to say it. I wouldn't have but I guess I drunk too much to stop myself."
"We're not complaining." Penelope smiled charmingly. "I, for one, I'm excited to see where this goes." She giggled as she glanced at Hope who looked away and continued to shove food into her mouth nervously. "I think you got what you wanted. Hope sees you as a man now."
"Penelope just eat!" Hope hissed out, throwing a muffin at her as she laughed out. "I-If you're done, Harley, we c-can go start our job." She said, completely avoiding his gaze as he glanced up at her.
"Oh... Right." Harley nodded nervously as well as he stood up and grabbed the tablet.
"I've never seen Hope blush like that-"
Before Penelope could finish the sentence, Hope grabbed Harley's wrist and rushed out of the dining hall, feeling too embarrassed and shy to stay any longer and constantly being reminded of the fact that Harley isn't the Harley she thought he was. He was not someone who had feelings for her.
She stopped once they stepped out of the building and she sighed out. She nervously glanced towards Harley who rose his brows when their eyes met.
"Don't mind them." She chuckled out nervously only to suddenly withdraw the hand holding Harley and tucked it behind her, now feeling uncomfortable to hold his hand. "So what's the first thing on the agenda?" She asked as she looked away, getting Harley to frown a little as he noticed how uncomfortable she was.
"You know. I haven't changed. I'm still the Harley you hanged out with. We don't have to do anything or change the way we talk. Like I said, I'm not going to try to convince you." He sighed out and she eased her shoulders with a small nod. "If you are uncomfortable around me then I guess I can stop following you around for a while."
"Wouldn't that make it a little awkward when we meet?" She asked as she turned to face him now, locking eyes together.
"Well if I'm not too annoying then I'll keep following you." He chuckled as she smiled at him.