Contrite ✓

Chapter 40.

I yawned as I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom sometime later, trying to remove my makeup without getting soap in my mouth.

Harry stood beside me and brushed his teeth, fascinatingly studying my every move.

"What?" I said, meeting his eyes in the mirror.

"Nothing, I just like looking at you," he murmured with toothpaste all across his mouth.

"Dork," I giggled and splashed my face with water.

Fortunately, no one had been in the mood to party tonight and it was only close to midnight. Since we were driving back home tomorrow after breakfast, we'd decided it was best to get a good amount of sleep.

Soon we were both settled in bed, laying on our sides facing each other. I gazed into Harry's eyes, which now held so much more emotion than they usually did.

He smiled and blinked slowly. "Are you happy with how the weekend turned out?"

"I am. And I really like Max. I can see why the two of you became good friends," I said.

"Yeah. . ."

We were quiet for a while, both lost in our own thoughts.

"Hey, why don't we go visit your mum sometime soon? I miss her," I said.

His eyes lightened up at the mention of his mother and he nodded. "Yeah, she would love that."

"Good. Maybe we can all cook together or something," I smiled and trailed my fingers over his cheek.

He caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles softly. "Sure. I'll ring her tomorrow."

I squirmed closer to his warm body and gently placed my head on his chest. "Hmm, I'm tired."

Harry circled his arms around my back and let out a sigh. "Sleep, baby girl. It's been a long weekend."

"Sing something for me?" I murmured quietly.

"I don't know, Ella."

"Please? I love your voice," I begged. I couldn't for my life understand why he had such a hard time singing to people when his voice was that good.

He took a breath and I felt him shake his head. "Fine."

Exhaling slowly, he started to hum softly. I didn't recognise the song, so I guessed it was something he'd written himself. As soon as he started to sing the words, goosebumps rose on my arms. His deep, raspy voice sounded heavenly. I closed my eyes and as usual, his soothing touches and wonderful voice eventually lulled me to sleep.

.

.

We had breakfast together around the table the next morning, a comfortable but somewhat sad silence resting over us.

All the luggage was packed and stacked just inside the front door and after we had cleaned up, we gathered outside and watched as Harry locked the place up.

Pam sighed and leaned onto Max, who patted her back. "I wish we could stay longer," Pam said.

"I know, you don't know the amount of angst I'm feeling right now," Madeline agreed.

"Hey, cheer up everyone. We can go back soon," I said to try to lighten the mood.

"Yeah?" Ted said, glancing hopefully at Harry.

"Yeah," Harry nodded in confirmation as he loaded our bags in the car.

We all hugged goodbye and then watched Pam and Max drive away before the rest of us climbed into Ted's car.