Aquarelle [h.s]

forty-six

Harry smiled a bit. "I like to think that by the time the books get to me the best ones have already been picked" he replied, "sometimes I do find quite tedious ones, though. But I'm just very picky when it comes to reading."

I smiled to myself and went back to eating, feeling a lot calmer now that the ice had been broken, resorting to listening to Harry and my father talking to each other - which was a weird mix, but not one I hated.

I wanted my parents to like Harry just as much as I didn't want Harry to get too overwhelmed by my parents, and so far it looked like they were finding the perfect middle ground between the two.

"Hang in there, a good one will come soon! And if it doesn't, well, the money will be enough to keep you satisfied" my dad said, earning a little chuckle from Harry.

"So you live in London, right?" My mother asked him, and he gave her a nod.

"I do."

She nodded, sending my dad a little glance before speaking again. "Did you study there? Sierra did" she asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Maybe I'm regretting letting her go a little bit now, since we almost never see her anymore!"

I rolled my eyes but smiled at her words. The fact that I didn't visit as often seemed to be her strongest argument - she was ready to mention it to whoever would listen. On one side I understood her because it would've been nicer to see each other more often, on the other, though, considering that we lived a few hours apart, it wasn't easy to actually get organised and go see her. I knew she knew it too, but that didn't mean she would've stopped complaining about it.

"I didn't, I studied in Manchester. I moved to London for work-related reasons" Harry replied, surprising me with his willingness to give out information. But then again, it was a clear indicator that he was feeling relaxed, so I definitely wouldn't have complained.

She raised her eyebrows, not seeming to have expected that reply. "Oh, how long have you been living in London then?"

"A little over six months" he said taking a sip of his water, and she gave him a nod.

"Did you settle in nicely?"

"There were people I already knew there, so it wasn't as hard" he replied, and I pursed my lips as I thought about his words.

It was June, which meant that he'd moved to London sometime around January. That certainly explained why I'd met him only in February - he hadn't been living there for long, and of course Liam had decided to introduce him to Louis as well on that fateful night to help him settle in, because he hadn't known anyone else back then. Which also explained why he'd insisted on me picking Harry as my new model. Which left me to wonder if I was one of the people he was talking about, or not. It wasn't like we'd been particularly friendly during those first weeks.

It was crazy to remember that I'd been so mad at Harry at some point - now the simple thought of shouting at him made something inside my chest hurt. I didn't want to argue with him ever again. A few months really had changed everything between us.

"Oh, right" my mother said with a little nod, "you're friends with Liam too, right? I think."

"I am" he confirmed, much to her pleasure.

"He's a good one, Liam" she told him, "I would've never allowed Sierra to move to London if it wasn't for him. Knowing that he was there looking after her made me feel better!"

Harry gave her a little nod, not replying and going back to the food on the dish in front of him.

"So how's work going, Sierra?" She asked turning to look at me, seeming to remember only in that moment that I was there as well - not that it'd been a problem until then, of course. It'd been nice to listen to Harry talk, and I was happy that my parents had managed to make him feel like what he had to say was important - especially because I knew he'd never got that kind of attention in his adoptive family, and if he had, it'd been a predominantly negative one.