Always

Chapter 55

"I accept the blame," he laughed.  I tugged on his hands, pulling him back into me and giving him a lingering kiss. 

"So you can take over cooking then, right?" I asked, grinning widely at him and raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, yeah.  You're never going to learn if you just let me do it all the time," he joked, shooting me a challenging look.

I shrugged. "Eh, I'm not too worried about it." I grinned at him.  "Thaaaank you!"

He rolled his eyes playfully at me before kissing the knuckles on one of my hands.  He released his grip on me and moved over to the stove to tend to our dinner.  After it was done, we ate at the counter top.  I teased Harry about his adorable style of eating while he pretended to be offended and refused to eat any more until I had apologized profusely. 

My mother came home from work about an hour later, smiling happily at us both, even though she was clearly exhausted.  She talked to us for a little while, asking politely about our day and school before excusing herself to bed.  I didn't have the heart to ask about my father when she didn't offer it willingly.

I could tell this had occurred to Harry- that my father was mysteriously absent- but he didn't bring it up.  He knew me well enough to know that if I wanted to talk about it, I would.  I loved that about him; he didn't push me to tell him anything I wasn't ready to and trusted that I would whenever I was ready. 

We spent the rest of the night lounging around watching TV, cuddled together on the couch in a warm cocoon of blankets.  My legs lay bent over Harry's lap, his arm crooked around my back as his fingers traced little patterns on the skin of my ankles.  We watched some made-for-TV movie he insisted was amazing, but I couldn't hold back the giggles that escaped at the cheesy dialogue. 

At first, he protested my laughter and assured me it wasn't that bad.  After a while, though, he couldn't deny that I was right, and started cracking up along with me whenever one of the characters said something ridiculous.  Soon both of us were cackling at the screen, unable to contain ourselves as the movie got progressively more difficult to watch.

Finally, it had gotten late and Harry had to leave.  As always, I was sad to see him go.  Again, I felt the nagging feeling in my stomach that arose whenever I had to be separated from him.  It was a dull ache that was constantly present whenever he wasn't around, only to be relieved by our reunion.

Reluctantly, I walked him to the door to say goodnight.  He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, completely enveloping me in his warmth as he hugged me to his chest.  My arms wound around his slim torso as I buried my face in his neck.  He pulled back enough to duck his head down and press his lips to mine, lingering for a few seconds before drawing away.

"Goodnight, Joey," he whispered.

"Goodnight, I love you," I returned, smiling gently up at him.

"I love you, too," he said, grinning.  He gave me one last peck on the nose before releasing his hold on me and moving toward the door.  "Pick you up for school tomorrow?"

I nodded, grinning wider now.  I loved driving to school with him.  "Yes, please."

"Okay, see you soon, babe," he said as he opened the door.

"See you soon," I returned, smiling at him and waving my fingers by my head.  He gave a small wave back before slipping out into the cold night air.

***

As promised, Harry retrieved me just as he said he would for school.  It was freezing out when I exited my home and ran out to his SUV.  When I climbed in the car, he immediately handed me a thermos, grinning proudly as I took it.

"What's this?" I asked, smiling at him and accepting his gift.

"The best peppermint hot chocolate you will ever drink," he said, smirking at me.  Clearly he was very proud of his concoction. 

"For me?" I asked, chewing my lip as I unscrewed the top to take a sip as he backed out of the driveway.  It was extremely hot, almost burning my tongue, but I couldn't deny it was, in fact the most delicious hot chocolate I had ever had.  The rich chocolate flavor was accented by the perfect hint of peppermint, blending together in a delectable mixture.

"Wow," I said in awe.  "You're right.  You made this?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep.  When are you going to stop being surprised at my prowess in all things cooking?" he laughed, shooting me a playful look.

"I guess you'll just have to keep providing proof," I giggled.  "I won't complain." He chuckled as he focused on the road.

We arrived at school with no problems, parking his car and hurrying through the stiff, freezing wind until we were safely inside the building.  Almost immediately upon entering, we were accosted by two familiar, recently friendly, faces.  Haley and Lydia seemed to have been lingering by the entrance, waiting for us to arrive.

"Morning!" Haley called cheerfully, smiling at us.  I couldn't help the feeling of apprehension creeping through me.  I still wasn't used to being on friendly terms with them, and my instinct to protect Harry from them was hard to fight. 

"Good morning," I replied calmly, giving them a tentative smile.  I grabbed Harry's hand.

"Good morning, Harry," Lydia said, grinning pleasantly at him.  He looked slightly surprised she had acknowledged him but recovered fairly quickly. 

"Hi, Lydia, how are you?" he said politely.  I couldn't help but grin at him.

"Great!  You?" she beamed at him, clearly happy that he hadn't been rude or ignored her.  Of course he wouldn't- he's Harry.  It occurred to me that she didn't really know that; she didn't know the Harry I knew or how amazing he really as.

"I'm fine, thanks," he replied, giving her a small smile.  It was weird seeing them all interact so politely, so... normally.  I began to wonder, hope even, that this was how it could be.  Maybe someday I could have them all at once and have them be normal together. 

"So, guys, we were wondering..." Haley started, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"Would, um, would you guys come to my party this Friday?" Lydia asked, her grin growing even wider.

"No," I said immediately, not even thinking before reacting.  Their faces fell in disappointment.

"Why not?" Lydia asked sadly.

I gave her a blank look.  "You're not serious."

"That won't happen again, we swear! Colt won't be there, I'll make sure of it," Haley said earnestly. 

I could feel Harry's confused glance burning into me.  Oh shit.  He didn't know what happened last time and would surely have some questions for me.

"We'll go," he said suddenly, shocking me.  I jerked my gaze to him, mouth hanging open.  Haley and Lydia squealed with excitement next to me, clapping their hands together.

"We will?" I asked him.  "Harry, we really don't have to."

He looked at me, a curious expression on his face.  "No, it's fine, babe, they want us to go so we should go."  He stepped closer to me as he spoke, brushing his fingers across my jaw gently.

"AW!" Lydia exclaimed suddenly.  "You guys are fricking cute."

I held Harry's gaze for a second, making sure he really meant it before turning back to the girls.  He smirked at Lydia's comment.  "Okay, yeah, we'll go."

Harry smiled at me, pleased I had agreed.  He had never been to a party before, so I really hoped everything would go well and he would enjoy himself.  If things didn't go well, there would certainly be some people I would have words with- words that would definitely not be nice.  I sincerely hoped they wouldn't be necessary.  

Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it.  Also, thank you everyone for the feedback I got on "Resolution" and for voting, it means a lot :) xx