Losing the Light [h.s.]

02

They did hang out again. The next weekend, Harry took Marlee to the ice rink to skate again. Marlee was more comfortable around him that time, but there were still furious knots in her stomach. She really didn't know why she was nervous, though--Harry was probably the most approachable person she knew. He was so easy-going, it made him the person she wanted to talk to all day and everyday, but she was afraid he didn't want that.

When Marlee tried to ask Harry if he wanted to come over, she got nervous and apologized for bothering him on a Sunday. 'I love hanging out with you,' he'd texted back. 'Do you want me to say it some more so you believe me?' She told him yes, and he went on to say it in three different ways.

'I think it's very fun to hang out with you. I'm glad I get the opportunity to see you so often. I very much enjoy skating with you, Marlee.'

He said he could go on, but Marlee told him she believed now.

'So, 10am tomorrow?' Harry asked. Marlee said yes, and she felt some of her nerves fade away. 

He wants to see me, she told herself. He really does.

-

Over the course of winter break, Harry and Marlee were basically inseparable. It didn't take them long to become best friends, and they promised each other that nothing would come between them. If one of them had a date, the other promised not to mind because their friendship was more important to them than a short-lived romance.

Their parents told them that they wished they had a friendship like theirs when they were younger. To each other, Harry's parents talked to Marlee's parents all the time about getting them together. It was obvious that they were more than "just friends" to them, but maybe it seemed that way to each other. The parents, of course, didn't understand the concept of "shipping" two people--though the kids had explained it countless times that it was a relationship--but that was exactly what they were doing.

Marlee's mother asked her why she and Harry were friends only, and Marlee said, "You need solid friendships in this world. He's really important to me, mom." She didn't want to talk about it anymore after that, and Mrs. Evans left her alone. Marlee could hear her mom talking on the phone in the other room, though. It was Anne, Harry's mother, and they were talking about her and Harry. Marlee only groaned and pulled a pillow from her bed over her ears.

Harry's mother asked him the same question, and his answer was, "I love Marlee to death, I really do. But I'd rather be her best friend for a long time than be her boyfriend for a few seconds. If she needed my help, I would go to wherever she was in a heartbeat. It doesn't matter where." He and Anne had had a long conversation about the two kids and their friendship, and Harry only told her the same things over and over. She was too important for him to throw away.