Page 97 of The Prospect

“Hart.” I can hardly find the strength to sputter out his name as I stumble backward and out of Green’s grasp. “What…what are you doing out here?” I can’t help but wonder.

“Hazel, you…” Hart’s eyes scan over my body, the coat that rests along my shoulders, before he’s back to peering into my eyes desperately for answers. “You never came back. I got worried. I asked Green’s mum where you went and that's when she said you went this way after…”

His voice trails off, and all the while I’m forced to watch as reality washes over him.

“What…” Hart’s baby blue eyes wander between Green and me before he settles. “What is going on here?”

“Hart…” It’s all I can pathetically think to say.

What else do I say?

“You and Green?” It takes him no time at all to pick up on the evidence before him. “You’re…you’re together?”

Fuck. I’m a terrible person. An awful person. I can’t believe I’ve done this.

“Hart.” I’m back at it again with nothing but his name pathetically falling from my lips. “I…I didn’t plan for this to happen. I’m sorry, it just?—”

“I can’t believe this.” Hart stumbles backward, refusing to hear me out. “I… What the actual fuck?!”

“Don’t be mad at her, Hart.” Green comes rushing to my defense, but it’s no use. Hart has every right to be mad at me—mad at us. If I thought he and Green had tension before, I can only imagine what is about to transpire from this. “It’s not her fault. It’s mine.” Green takes the blame, but Hart, Hart says nothing. Absolutely nothing as he peers back over at me, eyes like daggers as they pierce through my heart.

“I trusted you, Hazel. I…I thought you liked me? Cared about me. I…” He can hardly formulate a complete sentence. “I told you about my past. I told you about...”

“I know and I’m so sorry, Hart.” I take a step toward him before he can say her name, but it only makes him recoil. “I should have never led you on. I should have never of?—”

“I’m done.” Hart shakes his head in discontentment. “I’m going. I’m leaving.”

“Hart, wait!” I call out to him, but it’s too late. He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t even consider it.

“Please,” I cry. “I’m sorry!” I attempt to go after him, but now tears are falling out of my eyes and I can no longer see ahead of me.

“Hazel.” Green steadies my frame, holding me in place and wiping my face dry. “Let me talk to him, okay? I’ll sort this out.”

“No,” I protest. This is my fault. My mess. I’m the one in the wrong here. “Let me.” I attempt to wriggle free, but his grasp on my shoulders is too firm.

“Please, baby.” He tries once more. “He’s my friend. Regardless of everything that’s happened, he’s my friend. I…I need to figure this out.”

The tears don’t let up when it comes to rolling down my cheeks as I stand, sobbing in silence. “I…” I sniff back. “I feel like I've broken his heart, Green.”

“Hazel.” Green pulls me in tight, speaking into my hair. “By the sounds of it, his heart has been broken a lot longer than you think.”

I shake my head defiantly, urging myself forward to go after him, but my strength falters, and eventually, I realize that Green’s right.

“Go.” I gesture my chin in Hart’s direction. “Talk to him,” I tell him with certainty. “Go.”

GREEN

Somehow, I manage to catch up to Hart, following him through my family's back garden and into the house, only finally getting within arm's length of him when he approaches his car and swings open the driver's door.

“Please, Hart,” I plead, slamming his door shut and blocking the way in with my frame. “It’s not her fault!”

“It takes two to tango, Green,” he fires back. “Now, get the fuck out of the way before I?—”

“Before you what?”

I know better than to taunt him, but right about now it seems like it's the only way. Let him punch me. Hit me. I deserve it. Neither of us once considered Hart amidst everything that happened tonight and if releasing this pent-up anger will evenremotely compel him to forgive us, then I’ll take one for the team.

I wait for the impact of his fist, but it never comes. Instead, in defeat, Hart drops his head to the floor and leans up against the hood of the car, rubbing along his brow in frustration.

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