When Love Arrives (H.S.)

Chapter 20

Work was a freaking nightmare that day. Erica was working, which wasn't that bad, but we were swamped and understaffed. I didn't mind being busy at work, since it made my shifts go by faster, but it also meant I would be seeing Harry faster. Not that I didn't want to see Harry, per say, but I needed to talk the whole "girlfriend" thing out with Erica. I briefly explained the story to her, and she wasn't surprised, but she mirrored my concern. We kept trying to talk about it in brief fragments before being torn away from each other to work. 

Like, "Well what are you going to do?" she'd say to me while we were both picking up food to run out to tables. And, much later, when we were putting away said dishes I said, "What do you think I should do?" She thought about it before pursing her lips and holding up a finger before running back to her table. I kinda hoped we would have time for one more interaction, but I was wrong. 

"Melissa," one of the hostesses called me. 

"Yeah?"

"Your boyfriend's here, he's sitting in your section," she told me holding out a menu for me to take.

I pulled my lips into a fine line. "Who said he was my boyfriend?" I asked, grabbing it from her. 

She raised an eyebrow at me, looking confused. "Uh... He did?" 

I nodded once. "Okay, I'm taking my break. Can one of you watch my tables for 20 minutes?" 

She returned my nod as I took off my apron and hung it up in the kitchen. 

I walked out into the dining room and spotted Harry looking quite casual in a gray t-shirt playing on his phone. He was surprisingly under dressed, wearing sweatpants and sneakers as opposed to his usual jeans and boots, his hair was damp and disheveled. 

"Hey," I said, sitting across from him in the booth. 

A huge smile spread across his face when he saw me, it was like someone turned on a night light in a room full of darkness. Through all the confusion and stress I'd been feeling today I had to remember that one thing made this all worth it... Harry. "Hey, you," he said before standing up slightly to lean across the table and kiss me. It was awkward, but perfect. But so very not awkward.

"You're in sweatpants," I pointed out when he pulled away, unsure of what else to say. 

He smirked at me. "Yeah, I was at the gym, it's arm day today. I'm so sore, way too sore to be bothered changing," he grabbed his bicep, squeezing and massaging it. The ink on his arms moved with the hard muscles beneath it and I quickly became distracted. I just don't understand how someone who was dating me could look like such a—

"Melissa?"

I jumped a bit, knowing I had been caught staring. "Wh- what?" I stuttered.

Harry just smiled. "I'm sorry. How was your day?" 

"Stressful... The beginning of a new semester is always daunting. Especially when you're a junior," I said, rubbing my temples. "I know that all the big stuff won't be due for a couple of weeks, but I just hate the way professors put pressure on you on the first day, you know?"

"I wouldn't know," Harry mumbled, still smiling at me with understanding. Oh, shit... That's right. We just kind of looked at each other for a few minutes

"Hey, Harry?" 

"Mhm," he said, now reaching across the table and taking my hands in his, rubbing my knuckles. 

"Do you think that... You could tell me about yourself?"

He raised an eyebrow, his thumbs stopping their assault on my hands. "What about myself?"