The Night We Met

XI

It's a quickie. I prob could have combined the last two chapters but past me didn't want to do that apparently lol

...

Roslyn

I wound up meeting Harry in an empty grocery store parking lot. I offered to pick him up from his house but he declined and said it would be quicker to just meet me halfway. Something about him not wanting me to waste my gas or time. But while although I'm sure that's part of Harry's reasoning for me meeting him in that random location, I also get the idea he just didn't want me coming over. He felt very guarded on the phone over the idea. 

After picking Harry up, and leaving his car behind, we drove around for about twenty minutes before I decided to take him to one of my favorite spots. It's a lookout of Los Angeles that I discovered about seven years ago when I was in high school. It's not super touristy like some of the other ones, which is why I like it. Grace and I stumbled upon it during one of our lunch "dates" and were immediately taken with how secluded it is and the beautiful view of Los Angeles we can see. 

"So how'd you find this spot?" Harry asks me as we get out of the car. He follows me as I lead him to the edge of the lookout that consists of a drop off, a singular nearly broken bench, and a flat sitting rock. 

"When my friend Grace and I were in high school we used to go to Runyon," I tell him in reference to Runyon Canyon Park which is fairly close to where we are now. "We loved going out to talk and just look out at the city. But as we got older we ran into more and more of our peers coming to...spend some time with their significant others. It just became crowded in general but that was the tipping point. We didn't want to see people making out or having sex. We just wanted a quiet place to have lunch and hang out. So one day we went on a drive and stumbled across this little safe space."

I sit down on the big, flat rock and tuck my feet underneath me. Harry sits down beside me, his thigh just barely touching mine. Normally I don't like my personal space being invaded but I enjoy Harry being close to me. I find it comforting rather than distressing. 

"I like it. I'm not a fan of crowded places," Harry tells me in a somewhat quiet voice. I glance over at him and see him staring out at the view. I watch as he takes in the twinkling lights from the city as well as the stars littering the sky. 

"Neither am I," I answer honestly, although our reasonings are completely different. I turn my head away and look forward. "I - well, it's stupid..." I suddenly cut myself off, not really wanting to get into the topic of my anxiety. That wasn't the purpose of me calling him tonight. I don't want to scare Harry away or many him think less of me. I haven't really told him any of the deep stuff I deal with yet. 

I look over and see Harry furrow his eyebrows.

"It's not stupid, love," he tells me, causing me to crack a smile. One of his own slowly appears. 

"You don't even know what it is," I counter.

"I don't need to to know it's not stupid."

I avert my eyes. The honest statement makes my heart flip. Deciding I can trust Harry with this, I take a deep breath before continuing my thought from earlier.

"I just have really bad anxiety," I admit. "I get overwhelmed easily and I'm not a fan of crowded places because of it. Sometimes I'm okay but it takes a lot for me to get over that anxious hump."

I feel small admitting that. I'm fairly open about my anxiety and depression but admitting it to people I'm not particularly close with makes me feel weird. Some people are super judgmental about it. I don't peg Harry to be that way but there's still some doubt since we're still getting to know each other.