salute [h.s]

chapter 24 - macabre mediations & indulgent instruction

"Hi, petal. I missed you." There was no preamble, no how are you, just I missed you right off the bat. It made a squiggly feeling start up in Piper's stomach and she couldn't stop smiling even if she wanted to.

"I brought you dinner if you're up to it."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, attempting to push himself up. He winced and groaned but refused to let Piper help him too much, insisting on torturing himself for the sake of dignity. Typical man. Piper got her revenge because, with only one arm which was lethargic with analgesics, Piper had to hold his plate while he attempted to feed himself. "How was work?" he asked between two mouthfuls of green beans.

"It was good," Piper told him as she reached up to wipe away a smudge of gravy on the corner of his lip. Harry's cheeks pinked at the action but he didn't stop her. "I filed my complaint against Samson today."

Harry's eyes brightened as much as they could for someone who was only barely awake. "Did you?" When she nodded, he smiled. "Oh, Piper, I'm so proud of you."

She flushed all over at that, her neck getting hot as her cheeks flamed. Something about that sentence was just what she'd been wanting to hear apparently because that squiggly feeling exploded into butterflies in her stomach. She leaned up to press a gentle kiss to Harry's cheek, right where a dimple appeared only seconds after. "Thanks Harry."

"'S nothing," Harry shrugged off as he let his fork drop onto the plate, signalling he'd eaten all he could. Piper reached to put it on the bedside table and helped Harry settle into bed. He tried to push her away but she smacked his hand away and insisted on tugging the covers up for him. "Do you have plans this weekend?"

"Hmm, let me think," Piper said as she tapped her chin comically, "no, don't think so. Nothing important happening, is there?"

Harry pouted and Piper had to fight off the smile that tried to slip onto her face. "It's my birthday!" Harry said indignantly, sounding like he was about two years old.

Piper bent over to kiss his pouty lips. "I know it is, stupid," she told him with a grin. "And I plan on making it a very special day for you."

Or at least, she'd been hoping to but Niall put Harry on strict bed rest and a lot of drugs that kept him drowsy most of the weekend. The SIS being the group of arseholes they were had already assigned Harry to assist with training somewhere up in Scotland on Monday and Tuesday so he had to get back as much of his strength as he could. He tried to protest but her, Niall, and Eleanor had all taken a firm stance so he was forced to remain in bed.

On Sunday, Harry's birthday, they spent most of the day watching old episodes of Top Gear while Harry napped on and off. Near the end of the evening, Louis and Eleanor brought up some cake. She gave Harry a lingering birthday kiss and then fed him a slice while they watched celebrities racing on the Top Gear track.

Late in the evening, Piper's phone lit up for the first time all weekend with an email from work. "Something wrong?" Harry asked when she stared at it for a long while, frowning.

"They want me to come in for a meeting with an H branch agent tomorrow morning," she told him, tapping out a polite reply to confirm she would be in attendance. "I think it's about the complaint I made."

"Strange," Harry commented. "Wouldn't they usually just send you a notice that things had been taken care of?"

Piper shrugged because she honestly had no idea how HR worked in the SIS. Her guess was as good as anyone's. "Let's forget that," she brushed off as she put her phone aside and cuddled into Harry's uninjured side. "We'll just enjoy the rest of your birthday properly."