Nowhere In Particular // H.S.

Twenty-Nine: Birthday Baby

Now Harry's fingers are laced with mine, pulling me down a street I'm completely unfamiliar with. After nearly pushing him in the shower this morning he decided slow and leisurely wouldn't be the pace for the rest of our day, walking with a stride I find difficult to keep up with.

The sun is out and it's much warmer than I was expecting. I don't think about where I'm walking, trusting that Harry won't cause me to run into something as he drags me along, and instead I focus on the buildings around me.

It feels strange to be in a city after weeks, months, of mostly small towns and long highways. This is the first time we've stayed in a real "city" since we started our hours of bus rides. I've never been to Chicago until now and even though we've only been here roughly eighteen hours it's already a favorite of my many stops with Harry. That's probably not a fair judgement though considering the minimal amount of the city I've seen.

"Harry," I turn my head to focus on him moving quickly ahead of me, no longer allowing myself to daze off as he pulls me along. "Where are we going?"

For the first time since we left our ritzy hotel room Harry walks like a normal person, slowing down so I no longer have to run to keep up with him. His grip on my hand loosens a little but not to the point where he lets go completely.

"We're going to a party," he answers simply.

"A party?" I respond quickly, feeling a mixture of emotions with this idea... but mostly just confused.

"Yes," he nods, smiling now. "It's a birthday party... for you. But it's not until tonight."

This statement confuses me even more because most the time you need more than two people for something to be considered a party. Harry has a lot of tricks up his sleeve but I'm not expecting a party with friends and family or anything else along those lines.

"What?"

"Well, actually it's for you as far as I'm concerned," he looks off to the side. His eyebrows scrunch together and I can tell he's thinking of the technicalities of whatever this party is. "But it's a fancy party. You know, sequins and tuxedos... that sort of thing. So we need to go shopping for gowns."

"Gowns?" I find myself laughing at the word choice along with his emphasis on "we" and the plural-ness of the word.

"Yes," he nods like nothing he just said is out of the ordinary. "Greta, this is a serious matter."

Despite his words I can tell this is only half true because a smile pulls across his face as he rolls his eyes at my laughter. His hand moves to the top of my head, scruffing up my already messy hair and then he walks off, trusting I'll still be following him.

Of course I do. He did promise me gowns so I don't see how I couldn't.

We walk a little further, Harry still looking determined as he scans store fronts. We're quiet but we walk close to each other, our arms nearly linked together, and Harry gives me his sunglasses when we're on a stretch of street where the sun shines straight into our eyes. I don't know if he has much of a plan besides "gown hunting" but it's nice to get a little more perspective on the city we're currently in.

When Harry's eyes meet the window of a store that's filled with colorful things that are all different from each other I can tell he's found what he's been looking for.

He doesn't say anything as he turns his head to me, grinning widely. His look is enough confirmation for me to know exactly what he's thinking and seconds later I'm being pulled in through the door, the bells at the top ringing loudly when it closes behind us.

"Now I'm going to let you get the nicest one since it's your birthday," Harry laughs as he starts to walk through the store. "Any other day though... I'd take you down in a gown-off. These long legs of mine are good for something I'm sure."