It's always awkward introducing new friends and you never know whether to refer to Harry as just Harry, which he is to us, or casually drop in his surname.
"Ah, yep, that's me!" He says with an award winning smile which without fail has the receiver melting like butter, regardless of sexual orientation.
Harry and I take the two spare seats that our friends have left for us, together of course, and he drapes his coat over the back of my chair instead of his, a silent indication that I can put it on if I'm too cold and his lips curl into a small, closed lipped smile at me as confirmation.
The loud banter of our tight knit group is filling the room, mainly drilling Mel about her life and how she met Frankie.
We are politely interrupted a few times by people asking for photos with Harry. We are all quite used to it now but as he becomes more successful the more intense the situations can get. He always happily obliges, getting me to take the picture or standing strategically away from the table so I am not in the background.
It's amazing how one photo of me in the vicinity of him opens the floodgate to abuse online. I thought it would all stop after a while but unfortunately I was wrong. Fan opinions often surface calling me a gold digger, saying that I'm using him for my own spotlight or that he is actually in a relationship with Xander and I'm simply a paid coverup.
Those suggestions are so ridiculous that I can handle them but the constant comments about my appearance or weight or clothing are the ones that hit the hardest.
"So... how long have you two been married?" Mel makes small talk across the table after a while as we dig into our food.
"Um, a year ago this month, actually," Harry says almost proudly and takes my hand in his under the table.
"Wow, congrats, they say the first year is the hardest," she jokes as Harry and I both exhale an awkward fake laugh.
"Any kids?" Mel asks innocently, eating a fork full of her meal and my heart catapults into my ribs.
It's such a common question newly weds or couples get asked and I never thought about how personal it could be until we started having trouble conceiving.
"Not yet," Harry smiles softly at her before tucking a curl behind his ear and glancing at me, his thumb rubbing comforting circle into the back of my hand as I take in a deep breath to try and keep it together.
"Oh, did you tell Mel how you planned a wedding in secret and sprung it on us when we were already there? I was in a fucking sweatshirt mind you!" Xander scoffs, butting into the conversation to make it more lighthearted and Frankie nods at him, holding her glass up in agreement.
Harry's chuckle makes my heart swell and I watch as the joy of being around his friends, laughing and joking, shows across his handsome face.
"Wait, you had a surprise wedding?" Mel asks in delight that the conversation has been turned away from her for the first time all day.
Harry does the thing with his mouth I love the most, his finger and thumb dragging down his bottom lip, from the corners of his mouth, to pinch the middle while he laughs, the apples of his cheeks popping and his face has just a hint of smugness.
"Yeah, well wasn't totally secret, our families knew, mainly just these idiots that didn't pick up on it." Harry throws a piece of his bread at Xander who is flipping him the bird.
"Mel, you'll soon start to discover Liv and Harry have some weird, bullshit 'secret' fetish or something," Bec chimes in causing the rest of the group to cackle while Harry's mouth drops open in fake shock.
"See, they THINK they are keeping something a secret but it's fucking blindingly obvious to everyone else around them," she raises her eyebrows at us and the table erupts into laughter.
Harry's hand squeezes down on mine a little as a sign of reassurance.
"You're lucky you missed the drawn out torture of them actually getting together!" Xander interjects and our friends groan in unison.
"Are you fuckers ever gonna let us live that down?" Harry questions and the table replies together in a resounding "No!"
I'm laughing through my embarrassment and I turn my red face away from the group and rest it on Harry shoulder beside me.
I can feel his body vibrating with laughter as his free hand smooths down my hair and he places a kiss to my head before I turn back around and he sends me a little wink.
"Oh and also, as you can see, Liv hates any form of attention, ironic considering... you know," Frankie joins in the group humiliation and points to Harry, "and we're not entirely sure how, but Harry seems to be able to read her mind most of the time."
"Yeah, we're 90% sure he's a vampire but we will continue to monitor if he ages," Xander jokes and Harry throws his head back in laughter and shrugs comically at Mel.
For the first time in a long time, I felt relaxed and at home.
A/N:
YAYYY Whole gang's back together!
Did we miss them all?
This is who I pictured Mel to look like:
Did any one else imagine Frankie to date women?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Remember to vote if you are liking it so far, I think part 3 will be the longest one of the lot!
