salute [h.s]

december 14 - receiving horrible presents

december 14 - receiving horrible presents

1D Fanfic/Picture This Extra

Harry/Bea

*

Harry couldn't believe he was sitting here, another Christmas gone, with his sweetheart at his side. He'd never questioned that he and Bea would make it for the long haul. She was it for him. But it had been a long hard year — what with the band going on tour again and Bea starting up her NPO. It had been great because Bea had come along on tour to take photos and they'd gotten to see places in the world together that Harry could never have dreamed of. On top of that, the NPO was going really great. Bea even had a small staff working with her now, which was admittedly just the girls from her therapy group who needed work out of uni but they were a good team, worked well together, and it made Bea happy.

And a happy Bea meant a happy Harry.

Now they were back in London to celebrate their 'One Direction' Christmas with the other lads and everything was going smashingly. Niall had come over early so him and Bea could make the turkey together this year and they'd had such a great time that Bea was completely distracted, forgetting about the fact that her dad wasn't around (again) and that her mum would never be around anymore. She was able to let loose and have a good time. It had been jokes and laughs all evening, no tears, and Harry counted that as a win.

"Presents!" Bea cried excitedly as she tossed packages at each of the boys. Harry sat back, prepared to watch his mates open their gifts. He was surprised when Bea handed him a package as well.

"Shouldn't we do our presents later?" he asked confused. He figured she would have wanted to do their presents in private so that none of the presents from the boys was overshadowed by Harry's gift, and vice versa.

"There wouldn't be a point in waiting," Bea said with a grin as she handed over the gift. Harry took it warily. "Go on everyone. Open them up."

They all ripped through the packaging at the same time, pulling out nearly identical hats. They were quite obviously hand-knit because the stitches were large and uneven, not the type seen with machine knits. All five of them received a navy blue hat with their names stitched onto the front in white. Harry fingered the stitching, his fingers snagging on a hole from a dropped stitch. He figured it was the reason Bea had put names on in the first place.

"I know they're not the best," Bea said in a self-deprecating sort of way as her cheeks blushed red. She was wringing her hands nervously as her eyes jumped between the five of them. "I'm still a beginner."

Harry caught Liam's eye and followed his friend's gaze down to the hat in Liam's hand. Liam stuck two fingers through a hole near the pom pom on the top of his hat and wiggled them. Harry bit his lip to stop himself from laughing aloud.

"They're, uh, they're great," Niall said weakly as he pulled the hat over his head. The brim was sort of loose and didn't hold well so it slipped backward with the weight of the pom pom.

"You don't like them," Bea said quietly as she looked around the room. The bright smile that had graced her lips not two minutes earlier was gone, replaced by a sort of mortified expression. "You hate them."

"No, sweetheart," Harry said but even to his own ears it sounded inauthentic. He didn't hate it, not really, but he wasn't sure he'd ever wear the hat and he knew that Bea would feel bad if he didn't.

"It's sweet you made these," Louis said as he fingered the pom pom on his own hat, "but is this, like, all there is?"

"I don't understand." Bea frowned, her brow scrunching up. Her eyes were crinkled up in a way that Harry recognized. It was the same crinkling she got when she was about to cry. He'd thought they'd managed to make it a whole day without tears. They'd been so close.