[Jesse dialled Harmony's number and waited while it rang. As he figured, she'd been asleep at this time and he left her a special birthday voicemail for when she woke up.] I wanted to be the first to sing and wish you a happy birthday on your actual birthday. You're probably asleep right now and won't get this until morning so ... good morning ... and here it goes. [He paused, taking a breath before starting to sing] Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... [Jesse smiled] Happy birthday dear Harmony........ happy birthday to you......! [His ending of the song dragged on.] Happy birthday, babe. Meet me in front of your hall at 6 o'clock and wear a nice dress. I want to take you out for a special celebratory evening. I'll see you tomorrow. [He hung up.]
Who: Harmony & Jesse
When: Thursday, August 7; 11 p.m
Where: Room 106, Millard Hall; Harmony's Dorm.
Notes: Harmony and Jesse both agree to take their issues from text messaging to in person. There are minor mentions of Lexi and Mandy.
Jesse left his dorm room and made his way over to Harmony's. He felt terrible for the way he left her feeling through their texts, and he knew he wouldn't sleep until all was resolved. He cared about her so much, but it was hard to let go of that certain promise he made to himself about his performances and it bothered him that she wasn't getting that. He was at 106, and he knocked on her door with less force than he usually would. He had hoped her roommate wouldn't be around. For once he didn't want an audience. "Harm..."
Harmony had been crying since she got away from the theatre and her friends who had showed up. Lexi had gone out for awhile with some of her friends who she had come to the show with so Harmony was alone in the dorm. It sucked. She hadn't even been able to text Mandy or Lexi about it yet because she was too upset to manage to talk about it. Whenever she could during the show, Harmony had been scanning the crowd for Jesse and then waited for him to call or text her when she was still at the theatre. She had people asking her where he was and she had to shrug and play it off. And now she was curled up on her bed, still in her stage make-up but in her pyjamas feeling angry, upset, and sorry for herself. When she heard the knock on her door she stood up, opened the door and immediately walked back to laying back on her bed without saying a word.
Jesse greeted, "Hi" and when she gave no response, the silent treatment killed him. Stepping inside, he closed the door. Jesse took a minute to just look at her and he could see in her eyes just how upset this all had made her. He frowned and suddenly, his stubborn and selfish opinions had already started to blur away. "I never intended to make you feel this way, Harm." He made his way over to her bed and sat in front of her curled up body. "I get now that tonight was really important to you that I show. I shouldn't have done what I did." He was still in the silence, waiting for her to at least say something. "Are you even going to speak to me?" He ran a hand up to her knee. "Harm?"
Harmony jerked her knee back when he touched it, "Intent or not, it hurt me." She pulled the blanket over her head for a moment to let herself catch her breath and think, "I wish you would have realized before how important tonight was and kept your promise to me. I know you can't change the past but I'm really hurt." She peaked her head out the blanket and looked anywhere but at Jesse's face.
Jesse pulled his hand back once she jerked away. He sighed. "I know, I messed up." He mirrored her expression. "Don't do that. Don't hide from me like that." He tugged on the blanket. Seeing her this way made him feel beyond horrible for what he did. He tried again with the touching. "I know you're probably sick of hearing this by now, but it's really hard for me to just drop a show like that. I know it's not a big deal to you, but it is to me. Understand that. Can't I just hug this better?"
Harmony was still so frustrated. She knew Jesse cared about his show a lot but he had promised. And 'It was one performance' kept repeating in her head like a mantra. And then implied that it was easy her for to drop a show which put her into defensive mode. "You can't be serious, Jesse! It's not easy for me to miss a performance. I want to be successful too! But the people I care about ALWAYS come first," She got out of the bed because she wanted to put some space between them, "I made the mistake in high school of putting everything but other human beings first. It pushed everyone away and now you're doing the same thing!"
Jesse turned on the bed as she left him, his eyesight followed her. "I'm not pushing you away. I don't want to. But you know, this is going to happen a lot. Our shows overlapping, rehearsals getting in between our time we have together. I want to fix this before we have another repeat. So tell me what you want. How do I fix tonight? What do you expect from me?"
Harmony sighed, "I don't know. Give me a day or two. I understand you're sorry but I'm still angry." She rubbed her eyes, "All I want for is in the future is for you to come to my opening nights. And if you can't tell me. And promise me you'll come to at least one of the shows." Harmony just wanted to feel like Jesse was giving her the same amount of time and caring she felt like she was giving him.
Jesse looked away from her to bite his tongue. "I'll give you your space." He stood up off of the bed and made his way closer to her. "And I promise I won't miss any other one of your opening nights. And if I do... I'll make it up to you. Which I still want to do. I want to make this up to you, Harm." He briefly half-smiled and made an attempt to hold her hand; then frowned. "I'll go now if that's what you want."
Harmony sighed and wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug. "I'm sorry," Harmony pulled back from the hug, "I need time to figure my brain out." She gave him a small smile and sat down on her own bed. What a shitty night.
Jesse felt some reassurance when she went and hugged him. “I’m more sorry. It’s fine.” He was bothered by the fact that she still needed distance. He didn’t see why. He was willing to do what she wanted in the end. But if this was what she thought was best then…. ”I’ll go.” He turned on his heels and made his way to the door. “When you do that, let me know.” He left the room wanting to return and just scoop her up in his arms until she was left smiling and pretend none of this ever happened. But he had to face reality, he messed up big time. And she wanted space.
