Never Gonna Quit It [h.s.]

Chapter Twenty:

Scarlett shrieked as he took hold of her hands and began skating backwards at a rather fast pace.

"Harry! Stop! I'm gonna fall!"

He didn't listen and started laughing. Somehow, his laughing and pulling her calmed her down and she had stopped caring so much about falling and laughed with him.

It didn't take too long before he bumped into someone and fell, pulling Scarlett down with him.

Their laughter increased and more people began to stare at them, the crazy couple lying in the ice and laughing hysterically had suddenly become even more of a spectacle.

Harry's laughter ceased abruptly and was replaced with a massive toothy grin, "Marry me?"

Scarlett stopped laughing and breathed in deeply, his words suddenly registering and sending her heart beat raving at too fast of a pace to be considered normal, "What?"

"I waited three months and this moment finally felt right. Will you marry me Scarlett?"

She was beyond ecstatic that he'd asked again but she needed to make sure that he still wanted all the implications, you know, specifically the dying one.

Tears threatening to fall over, she asked, "You still want to marry a dying woman?"

Harry's smile grew, if that were even possible, "I don't want anything else."

Scarlett nodded quickly, her smile now mirroring his, "Yes."

His lips melded with hers instantly, kissing her like it was her last day on earth, which it easily could have been, and stealing her breath away.

When he pulled away, he placed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, "By the way, I fell on purpose."

Harry winked and Scarlett rolled her eyes and laughed lightly, "Of course you did."

Scarlett moved to stand up but Harry pulled her back down.

"You forgot the ring sweetheart." He reached into his coat and pulled out a different box than the last time prompting her to ask, "Please tell me you haven't carried that around for three months?"

Harry only shrugged, "Was that a bad idea?"

Scarlett laughed even harder, "I love you."

He slowly opened the box so that she could see the ring itself before he put it on her finger, "I got a better one just for you so you better like it and if you don't that's okay, just don't tell me."

"Harry, I'd like it if it was a ringpop." Scarlett joked and he laughed as he slipped the ring on her finger and helped her get to her feet.

Now it was his turn to tell her to shut it, "Shut up!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, "I really do like it, thank you Harry."

Scarlett kissed his cheek and Harry smiled, "Now, let's see if I can teach you how to ice skate properly huh?"

* * *

"I'm never letting you take me ice skating ever again. That was absolutely horrid."Scarlett clarified as Harry unlocked the door to their little apartment.

Harry only laughed as he pulled her through the door behind him so that their bodies were touching, the contact had her holding her breath in anticipation for a kiss, "You loved it!"

The moment her back hit the mattress in their bedroom her phone rang obnoxiously.

Groaning, she answered nearly immediately, "Hello?"

"Hello Miss Silverman, I'm calling about your recent tests here at the Hoffman Cancer Center. Do you have a moment?"

The tone she was using was all too familiar and Scarlett knew that it wasn't good.

Sitting up she answered, "Yes, I have a minute."

Catching her worried expression, Harry rubbed her back as she listened to the nurse on the other end, he was worried himself about what was going on, "I have some bad news. According to your tests, your tumors have spread further and have grown in size. Dr. Reineke would like to see you this Friday if that's alright with you?"

It shouldn't have been a surprise, she knew she would only be lucky for so long and that she was already dying. Nonetheless, she couldn't stop the tears. The news only meant that her time dwindled even further than before. And she had just told Harry the one word that tied them together until the day where she would finally get to wear that stunning white dress she'd always dreamed of.

She heard Harry's solemn intake of air followed by what she was thinking in a breathy whisper, "No...no that can't be right. It can't be..."

Hastily wiping her eyes she took a deep breath, ignored Harry momentarily, and answered the nurse, "Yes, that's fine."

"Have a good night Miss Silverman, we'll see you on Friday."

The moment she hung up she curled into Harry and sobbed, everything hurt. It seemed like a cruel joke to finally be turning things around only to die quicker in the process.

To top it all off, she'd finally fallen in love. And God, how she loved him more than the very existence of love itself.

"It s-spread and got w-worse." Scarlett cried into Harry's shoulder as his hands held her closer, he didn't seem to be bothered at all by her shaking body or the gross fluids leaking from her nose as she cried.

Harry's hand rubbed small circles on her back, his head resting just slightly behind her shoulder, "I know baby, I'm so sorry."

There was nothing more he could say and she knew it. She felt terrible because he loved her more than the moon and stars and everything else in between and she would be gone long before he would.

"I don't want to die, I want to live my life like I should have been doing before and l-love you until we're old and can't hear what the other one is saying."

Harry was crying now to, "Don't say that. It isn't over yet, okay? I've been saving money for your surgery and-and Mum has a charity that's raising money for you-"

That only made her more upset than she already was, "I'm sorry I ruined your l-life. I didn't know we'd fall in l-love."

Harry released his hold and lifted her chin so that her eyes met his, "Scarlett, you didn't ruin my life, you saved it. And I love that we fell in love, no matter what happens. Don't be sorry for anything, just let me love you until I can't love anymore."