Book 1: Into the Woods | Larry Stylinson ❀ [Werewolf AU]

12 - I'm Seventeen

"What's this?" Harry questioned.

"Happy Birthday. It's a present for you." Ed handed Harry the gift and swiftly gave him a side hug before he was walking towards the kitchen.

Harry let out a breathy laugh and looked at the balloon wrapping paper that was covering the box and then was proceeding to follow Ed. Anne and Ed were both at the kitchen table when Harry walked in. There were three glasses of tea set out with Anne already having taken a sip of hers. Harry joined them at the table and sat across his mother before he was placing the box in front of him.

Anne raised her eyebrow in interest as Harry began unwrapping the present Ed had brought him. The first thing he pulled out was a crescent moon key ring. Harry held it up with his finger and looked over at Ed with a giggle, seeing the boy give a lazy shrug in response. Harry rolled his eyes and set the key ring off to the side before he was pulling out the other item inside the box. This gift was a double sided photo frame that had a picture of Harry and Ed. On the left side of the photo frame, there was a picture of Ed and Harry when they were just twelve years old. Harry remembered when Harry brought Ed home from school the first day they met so he could introduce his mother, and Anne couldn't resist pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of Harry's first friend in Colchester. It had been embarrassing at the time, but five years later, Harry looks at it and laughs. The other side of the frame was a more recent picture of the two of them. It had actually been taken before the school year began and before Harry knew anything about Ed being a werewolf.

Harry felt tears start to fill his eyes when he began looking back and forth between each photo, really getting emotional at how far he and Ed had come since Harry moved into town. What Harry thought was a normal friendship between two boys turned out to be a friendship between a human and a werewolf, who may end up being in the same pack one day.

"This is amazing," Harry sniffed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and letting out a breathless laugh. "We were so young here."

Anne got up from her seat and walked to stand behind Harry. The smile on her lips grew when she looked at both of the photos. "Is this one when you first brought Ed over?" Anne questioned, almost in a teasing way, remembering how much she embarrassed her son that day.

"Indeed," Ed giggled. "You were adamant on taking a picture of Harry with his first friend."

Harry closed his eyes and groaned. "Gosh, mum, that was so embarrassing."

"I was happy you made a friend, you were a shy twelve year old."

Harry opened his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his mother, frowning when she began laughing. He then turned towards Ed and softened his face with a smile, walking over to where he was sat in the chair and leaning down to give him a hug. "Thank you. I love it, all of it."

"No problem, buddy."

"Alright, honey," Anne interrupted, wrapping her arms around Harry again and squishing him with another bruising hug. "I have to get to work, but I hope you have a great birthday. I'll see you tonight, and you'll get your present then."

"Okay, bye mum."

Harry gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before she was heading out the kitchen. The cake and the assortment of icing was still on the counter, and Anne left that for Harry to do since it was one of his favorite things to do, so he grabbed Ed by the sleeve of his shirt and yanked him over towards the counter. Ed had been a part of enough birthdays with Harry to know this was becoming a tradition. Anne would always bake the cake, whether it be for herself, Harry or Ed's birthday, and Ed and Harry would finish the cake off by icing and decorating it, so Ed really should have saw this coming.