Artwork [h.s]

sixty-nine

There was a pale sun in the sky that cold morning of February.

I stared at it for a couple of seconds more before finally pulling the curtain close and turning around, making my way to the desk and taking a paper sheet I'd carefully hidden in the back of one of my drawers. I took it out of the plastic folder that was protecting it and wrote something in the corner before rolling it up and securing it into its new position with a red ribbon.

I nodded to myself and walked out of the room, entering my bedroom and furrowing my eyebrows when I realised that Harry wasn't in my bed anymore. I stopped in the middle of the room, wondering where he'd gone, widening my eyes when I suddenly heard my mother's voice downstairs.

I quickly made my way out of the door and down the stairs, entering the kitchen and finding Harry leaning against the counter in silence, a cup in his hands, as my mother was telling him something. She looked up quickly when she heard me come into the room, and gave me a little smile.

"Hey Sierra" she simply said, "was just talking to Harry here. Considering he already sleeps in here at least twice per week, it just felt fair to get to know each other a little bit."

I nodded quickly, giving her a mildly concerned glance before looking at Harry, that was sipping whatever was in the cup he was holding calmly.

"Well, I'll go upstairs" she continued, sensing the awkwardness of the moment and walking out of the room.

I waited until I was sure she couldn't hear me anymore and then I walked towards Harry, standing on my tiptoes and leaving a kiss on his lips. "Happy Birthday" I whispered to him, staring at him as a little smile curved his lips. "Here's your present" I added quickly handing him the paper roll to him, the quickness masking my nervousness. What if he hadn't liked it? What if he'd expected something better? There were so many things that could've gone wrong, and they all worried me to no end.

"Thank you" he said quietly, carefully taking it and undoing the bow under my attentive stare, unrolling it and staring at it for a few seconds, in silence. "A rose" he said in the end, and I nodded quickly.

"I know you kept the sketch I made for you months ago, so I thought that... if you really wanted to keep it, you should've kept a good one" I explained fast, feeling a bit more on edge than before about it. What if he'd thought it was a stupid idea?

He nodded, looking up from the drawing and at me and giving me a little smile. "Thank you" he said quietly, the honesty in his voice making something inside me melt. "I love you."

"I love you too" I replied gently and faintly, not wanting to risk being overheard by anyone. I was about to kiss him again when my mother suddenly entered the kitchen, almost making me have a heart attack. I quickly put some distance between Harry and I and he closed the drawing again, waiting to know what was going on.

"There's a boy for you outside, Sierra" she told me, a hint of confusion in her voice as she spoke.

I gave her a confused glance, not understanding who could've even come to my house at that time in the morning, but decided to check it out anyway, giving Harry a little glance as I made my way out of the kitchen.

I walked to the door and opened it, my confusion not being lessened in the slightest when I discovered that Zayn was the boy out of my house.

"Is Harry here?" He asked before I could even say anything, and I nodded slowly, staring at him with a puzzled look in my eyes. "Alright then, I'll keep it short" he said quickly. "Today it's Harry's birthday, and I thought it would be good to spend it together, since he seems to like you a lot. This means, leave the birthday plans to me."