"Maybe because you were rude to him, Harper?"

"What?"

"Harper, he may have overstepped his boundaries a bit but he meant no harm by it."

She sighed audibly, opened her mouth, but snapped it shut instead, releasing a hard breath through her nose. She walked off toward the bedroom, examined the plaster ceilings and walls. I followed her as she inspected the size, before she moved on to the bathroom.

"It's nice," she said to me, failing to meet my eyes.

"I agree," I said in a hushed tone.

She stopped, examined the white hexagon tile beneath her feet. She ran her toe over the black grout. "Do you really think I botched our chances?"

"I don't know, Harper," I sighed loudly, running both hands through my hair and leaning against the marble countertop of the bathroom sink.

She sat on the toilet seat, burying her face in her hands. After awhile, I notice salty tears dripping from the sides of her hands. Oh, God. You were too harsh, Callum. I hastily grabbed some toilet tissue from the roll next to her and handed her a few squares, moving to sit on the edge of the pedestal tub beside her.

"I'm such an idiot and I'm sorry. Please stop crying. I don't know why I was so short with you." I paused for a second. "Well, it was probably because Sam came over today and anyway, please forgive me."

She sniffed loudly and wiped at her nose. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just in a horrible mood. I'll apologize to the guy."

"Why? Have I upset you?"

"No! No. I mean, of course not. You've been nothing but kind to me. It's just, well..."

But before she could continue, Kenny opened the front door.

"Hello!" He called out.

I squeezed my eyes shut. "We're in here!" I yelled, wishing we could have had just five more minutes. It felt like the world didn't want us to talk about anything of substance.

Harper quickly wiped her tears away in front of the mirror, attempting to erase all signs that she was upset. I could tell it was something she was practiced at because when we met Kenny in the ancient wood floored bedroom there was no trace that she had been crying less than two minutes before.

"Kenny?" She asked, humility seeping from her pores.

"Yeah," Kenny said, trying hard to be light hearted but failing miserably.

"I'm really sorry about downstairs. I'm having a crap day and I took it out on you."

"Oh, that's cool," he said but I could tell it made him feel a lot better because his face brightened a bit. "So, are you guys interested?"

"What's the rent?" Harper asked, a slight grin tugging at her lips.

"Um, this unit is nine seventy-five. We've had difficulty letting it."

I could barely contain the excitement in my voice. "What do you say, Harper? It is the best one we've seen all day and we don't have much time before school starts."

She took a deep, cleansing breath and her eyes sparkled a bit before she answered, "I think it's amazing. We'll take it."

An hour worth of paperwork later, Harper and I were ready to sign the dotted line.

"I'll just need the first and last month's rent and a five hundred dollar deposit," Kenny says.

Harper reached for her bag to pull out our cash but Kenny stopped her.

"Not yet. I'll need to see if you're approved first but as soon as we get the thumbs up, you can swing by and we'll take care of it then. Do you guys have a number I can reach you at?"

"Do we?" Harper asked.

"Uh, sure. I'll give you Cherry's cell." I grabbed a sheet of paper and jotted the number down. "Just let her know who you are and why you're calling and she'll take the message."

"Alright, I'll let you know in a few hours," Kenny said.

Harper Before Callum and I boarded the packed train back to Charlie's to put all the sheets back on his bed and put up a few things, Callum found a nearby pay phone and rung Cherry to let her know to expect a call from Kenny.

"So, where should we go after Charlie's?" I asked as I plopped next to Callum on the subway.

"I'm not sure, sweet. I haven't gotten a chance to think it through yet."

I could tell he was sort of sweating it. He kept rubbing the palm of his hand against the back of his neck, running his long fingers through his hair, and scrubbing his face.

"Dude, if you're getting cold feet about moving in with me, remember that you don't have to do it. I understand if I scared you with that crap I pulled back there. I don't blame you if you want out."

"What? Shut up, goof. I'm stressed about Sam."

My stomach plummeted toward my feet. "Oh, I understand."

When he revealed that he liked her back at Charlie's, I wanted to burst into idiotic tears which was so unlike me. As I was fighting the urge, the burn subsided a bit because I realized that Callum had softened me like a stick of butter left in the sun. It scared the shit out of me, actually. The last thing I wanted was to feel weak in a vulnerable situation and here I'd gone and let him do it without my knowledge. I wanted to clobber him and kiss him all at once. The fact that he liked Sam was like a punch to my gut.

"Really? Well then what do you think I should do about it?" He asked me.

"I think you should, well, listen to what your heart says."

His brows furrowed. "That's vague and not at all helpful," he teased with his glorious, slightly crooked smile. "It doesn't matter anyway because I don't think Charlie cares for her that much," he stated.

So, he for sure likes her, then. Why would he say that otherwise? Is he worried that Charlie will be offended if he asks Sam out? God, I am such a dweeb. He was never interested in me. He's just a master flirt.

I promised myself that I'd stop liking him, move on. I turned my head toward him and actually watched him think about her. I wanted to kick my laughable ass all the way back to social services. I wondered if he thought about her hair the way I wanted him to think about mine. I wondered if he fantasized about the way she smelled or memorized her lips. Just the thought of him wanting her the way I wanted him made me nauseous. I was so pissed at myself for thinking that he was starting to become mine.

I opened my mouth to let him know that I was the one who was going to bail on our deal because I'd started to fall in love with him and I just couldn't deal when a man tripped over my bag and sprawled face first into the floor of the train.

"Shit! Are you okay?" I asked him, standing up.

Callum stood and helped the guy to his feet but he just walked to the end of the car without so much as an acknowledgement.

"Weird," I said.

"Yeah," Callum said, sitting back down.

The walk to Charlie's was quiet and uncomfortable. Callum was preoccupied with, I'm sure, thoughts of Sam but he surprised me when he said, "Our appointment with Sylvia is on Monday."

"I know. What made you say that?"

"Just wanted to remind you is all, can't have you bailing on me," he teased down at me through a gleaming smile.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I said. Are you flirting with him? Ugh! You are such an idiot.

He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to Charlie's floor. I could feel his muscles bunch and strain through the back of his t-shirt, sending me spiraling down an imaginary tunnel. Good God, Harper! Get a hold of yourself.

When we reached the door, an unexpected sight greeted us. Sam and an unbelievably gorgeous man I could only assume was Charlie were sitting and talking on the couch.

"Charlie!" Callum said.

Charlie stood. "In the flesh!" He said, dramatically extending his arms from his sides. Charlie had the thickest English accent I'd ever heard and was tall, probably six foot three. He was blonde with clear blue eyes and longish hair that stuck out at strange angles. It would most likely look ridiculous on anyone else but it seemed to fit Charlie to a T. "And who is this lovely?" He asked, walking toward me, his stride long and confident.

"Charlie," Callum said, still holding my hand tightly, looking down at me with what seemed like pride. "This is Harper. This is the girl I was telling you about." He squeezed my hand a bit harder.

"Harper," Charlie said warmly, a smile reaching the corners of his eyes. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you." He took my free hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing the knuckles softly. I'd be lying if I told you it didn't feel nice or that I wasn't completely charmed by him in that moment and just as suddenly I finally got to see what Callum had been talking about.

"You, too," I lamely said back.

Charlie righted himself and winked at me before turning to Callum and hugged him with heavy slaps to the back. He lifted his friend off the ground and shook him around.

"Good God, Callum. It is so good to see you."

"What do you think of Harper, Charlie?" Sam piped in, seemingly from out of nowhere.

It's a miracle! She does know my name.

Charlie laughed slightly, the smile meeting both his eyes. "She is breathtaking, Callum. How in the world did you find her?" He asked.

"We met at social services of all places but I'd like to think it was fate," Callum said, tucking me into his side.

Blossoming warmth seeped into my body and I felt the blush reach even the tips of my ears as it swept across my face.

"That's sort of cool," Sam said, pathetically wrapping Charlie's arm around her shoulders. "Did your parents die too, Harper?"

"Samantha!" Charlie said.

"I'm sorry. Did I say something offensive?" Sam asked him, feigning innocence. God, she's good.

"Sam, apologize," Callum said, his body tensing beside mine.

"No, it's okay," I tell him, squeezing him around his waist. "No, Sam. Actually, I have no idea who my dad was but my mom was young and addicted to drugs when she gave me away at the hospital."

Sam seemed appropriately horrified for a moment but her expression cooled as she wrinkled her nose in mock sympathy.

"So, uh, Harper and I have to leave," Callum said abruptly, surprising everyone in the room, including me. "We have some paperwork to attend to and need to catch up with Cherry. I can't thank you enough, Charlie for letting us crash here. How can I ever repay you?"

"Just have Harper here save me a dance on Saturday and we'll call it even," Charlie flirted. Despite what Callum said, I can tell that Charlie is just being polite, albeit a bit cheeky, and really meant no harm but Callum's grip on my hip tightened slightly, sending a secret thrill up my side.

In that moment, I glanced Sam's way and she had Callum's attention with her brow raised with an invisible 'I'll have you yet, Callum' hanging in the air. Callum hugged Charlie once more and we left them alone inside as the door clicked behind us.

"It feels weird leaving there," I said.

"I know. It was our first home together," he said absently, not realizing what that meant to me to hear him say.

Callum and I found the nearest pay phone and rung Cherry to see if Kenny gave us the apartment or not.

"Cherry bomb! What's up, baby doll. Hey, any word from Kenny?" Callum's eyes widened and he nodded at me. I am so excited, I can barely keep myself from jumping up and down, screaming. "Okay. Alright, cool. Thanks, Cherry berry. Love you! Bye!"

Callum hung up the phone. "We got it!" He yelled, picking me up and swinging me around. His arms crushed around my torso and I selfishly wished he would squeeze me harder. His hands were the most amazing things I'd ever felt in my entire life and I found myself threading my hands in his hair and kissing his neck in glee. He slowly set me down, sliding my body down his. We both shifted uncomfortably, staring at one another, slightly embarrassed.

"What did she say?" I asked, trying to move our attention towards something slightly less awkward.

"She Kenny needs the first and last month's rent in a cashier's check. She mentioned it'd probably be smart for us to open a bank account."

"Alright then. Well, where should we go?"

"Cherry banks right around the corner. That's as good a place as any, I think."

"Alright, lead the way, Mister Tate."

Callum and I flew around the corner and entered the bank, breathless and oh so high off where our hard work was taking us. We signed our names onto the list to see a banker and sat on a non-descript sofa side by side. There was several people there and I was forced to wedge myself close to him, his warm, hard body felt so good next to mine. Callum grabbed a pen off a nearby desk and we played tic-tac-toe on the back of a deposit slip while we waited. It ended in a draw every single time.

"Cat's game," Callum says. "How many is that?"

"Eleven draws."

"Why do you think they call it a cat's game?" He asked me, leaning his head against the back of his chair and rolling the deposit slips into a tube.

I leaned my head as well but tilted my face towards him a little. He met my eyes and smiled.

"It's called a 'cat's game' because no matter how many times a cat chases his tail, he can never truly latch on. He does it anyway because it's still fun to chase," I explained.

"Seriously? How do you know that?"

"I don't know if that's true but it's what I heard once."

"Cool."

"Harper Bailey and Callum Tate!" The banker called out with a little bit of deja vu'.

We stood and walked arm in arm toward their desk.

"Hi, I'm Asa." He gestured towards the chairs and we sat. "What can I do for you guys today?"

"We'd like to open a checking account," Callum said.