Thrift shopping was definitely not one of Harry's fortes. We hadn't even been in the shop for fifteen minutes, and already he was getting impatient. Although he didn't tell me and tried to act as if he was okay, as if he liked being here, I could see right through it. He took in longer breaths and didn't stand as tall as he usually did.
I had warned him while we were eating at the restaurant earlier; I had tried to tell him that if we were to come to this shop, we would be spending quite some time there. But he had brushed it off, insisting that all he wanted was to spend time with me, no matter where it was.
His words had warmed my heart in a way only Harry could, but it didn't change the fact that I wanted to make the most out of my trip to the store. It was a good forty-five minutes drive away, which made it really complicated to visit as I lived in the city and didn't own a car.
Plus, I couldn't really afford to come here too often since, whenever I did, my bank account would suffer immensely. I couldn't help it, this shop was filled with wonderful treasures impossible to resist.
Although Harry was clearly not as fascinated by the shop as me, he did make the shopping experience much nicer. All he needed was for me to encourage him to explore the store with an open mind. It took fifteen minutes but once these minutes passed, he started to be silly with all sorts of object that he could find. Sure, this wasn't his favourite thing to do, but at least he still tried to make the best of it.
This Harry was my favourite, happy and carefree, it felt as if we were back to five years ago, when our relationship was nothing more than friendship, when Harry seemed worry-less, and when everything was just so much simpler.
"Look!" Harry called me from another aisle.
I put the picture frame I was holding back on the shelf before looking his way. He was wearing a hat, one that I expected to see on an old man's head. It looked funny, sort of good, but still funny.
"What is that?" I asked cautiously, hoping that I wouldn't hurt his feeling by doubting his choice.
He rolled his eyes. "It's a hat," he replied, mocking that it was obvious.
I clicked my tongue. "I know that," I replied, walking to him. "I mean, why are you wearing that?"
"It's nice, innit?" He asked, a small pout on his face.
I shrugged. "I guess so," I admitted. "Unusual, but I guess it's nice, yeah."
He smiled enthusiastically. "And with my long hair, I think it's cool."
I shook my head, laughing softly, knowing that it was better to end the conversation there and preserve Harry's joy, than to try and argue with him. He was a stubborn one after all, so arguing would be a waste of energy anyway.
I went back to my aisle, searching through all of the picture frames while considering how odd Harry's attitude was. Not that it felt fake or wrong, but it was definitely not something I was used to with him. For the past two years, he had kept pushing me away, he had been distant and I don't think we ever laughed as much as we did on that day. It all felt surreal, as if we were both in that little bubble, as if we had both unconsciously decided that we were leaving our worries behind for today.
"How about this?" Harry asked from a few aisle back.
I turned around and looked him up and down. He still had the hat on, but he also put on some sort of aviator jacket.
This time I laughed without holding back. "You're being ridiculous."
I shook my head, but still smiled at him. I couldn't help it, he was being so different, a good kind of different. He was messing around but there was no time to lose, I wanted to have a look at everything, so I went back to my treasure hunt.
"What'cha looking for?" Harry whispered behind me. I jumped slightly. He had crept up behind me and stood close, his head peaking above my shoulder. "I could help you find it," he suggested.
I turned around. "I'm not looking for anything in particular, I'm jut hoping that I'm going to find special pieces that I will want to buy. Small treasures if you will."
I laughed softly as I saw his face fall. The small shreds of hope that he entertained towards us leaving soon faded, as the words left my mouth. "So basically, we're going to be here forever," he stated his tone playful, but his desperation real.
"I'll try and be quick, but I want to look at every shelf." Harry scoffed and I raised my brow in challenge. "I warned you, you're the one that insisted."
"Yeah, well, because I thought you were exaggerating, I thought we would be here twenty minutes, tops."
I laughed again. "Nope, definitely more than that."
Harry sighed before his face suddenly lightened up. "You know what, that's fine. I'm going to look at all the shelves too, and I'm going to find you your treasure."
I didn't even have time to say anything back, that Harry turned on his heels and walked, determined, into another row. I looked at him, for a few second, not even bothering to wipe off the lovey-dovey look on my face, before coming back to reality and continuing my own shopping.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see Harry going through the aisles and looking intensely at every object he thought was somewhat worthy of being brought to me. It was distracting; I could barely concentrate on the shelves in front of me, since I kept wondering what he would come back with. I somehow expected him to bring back the perfect object, simply because he knew me well.
To him, this wasn't just a challenge or something to keep him occupied; it was a way to show me that he cared, a way to apologize for our previous problems.
My basket filled up slower than usual, it seemed harder to find the little treasures when my beautiful but broken best friend was in such a good mood. But I was happy with what I had found so far: a cute tea set, small picture frames and a throw blanket. I liked things that were unique and quirky, I liked when objects had history and weren't completely new. Wendy often thought that the things I brought back were odd at the first look, or on their own, but when I would arrange it in a particular place, she would often change her mind.
This was the beauty of thrift shops, they were filled with small objects that looked out of place alone, but belonged when placed right. Just like the hat and jacket Harry had picked up - and was still wearing - they looked odd on their own, but on Harry, they looked good. Or maybe Harry was just too handsome and made everything look perfect on him.
"Okay, I think I found the perfect thing for you," Harry came back after a good thirty minutes of searching through the shop.
I looked up and raised a brow, acting skeptical. "Really?"
I put down my basket and Harry smiled like a child, hiding the object behind his back. "I did," he replied confidently.
"All right. Show me," I said, getting more excited by the second.
He didn't move for a second, and then he took a deep breath before pulling the object from behind his back.
The moment I saw what it was, I almost felt my heart melt in happiness. I had no doubts that Harry would find the perfect object, but I had underestimated just how perfect it would be. It was a white vase with splatter of paint on the bottom, it was quite big but I could perfectly picture it on the top of my dresser. I loved it the second my eyes landed on it and I loved Harry even more once I realized just how much he knew me.
"So?" Harry asked anxiously. I hadn't said a word since he had shown me the vase and it was obvious that he was starting to doubt his choice.
My eyes and my smile widened. "It's... it's perfect," I told him, my voice low.
Harry bit his lower lip, restraining his smile from spreading wider. "Yeah?"
I walked closer to him and grabbed the vase, observing it from up-close. "It is," I confirmed before hugging him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered against his chest.
His arms came around me and he rubbed my back before pressing a quick kiss on the top of my head. "You're welcome," he mumbled in my hair.
We hugged a little longer than needed before pulling away. Our eyes met briefly, before looking down awkwardly and we both started to chuckle nervously.
"I think I'm ready to go," I said as I picked up my basket on the ground to put the vase in it.
"Yeah?" He asked as he grabbed the vase from my basket. "Let's go then," he said before turning around and heading towards the cash registers.
I frowned and followed him. "What are you doing?"
"Paying?" He said before turning around with a teasing look. "You didn't want to steal this, now did you?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course not, but I can pay for it."
He shrugged. "That's okay, I found it for you, I want to pay for it," he insisted. "Plus I have to pay for these," he said while pointing to the hat and jacket he still wore.
I sighed but didn't reply anything, too overwhelmed to fight him on this.
Harry let me pay my things first and while I put everything in a bag, Harry paid for the vase and his clothes. He ripped off the tags as soon as he paid and put the clothes back on. He smiled, clearly satisfied with his new attire.
We then walked to the exit and I was glad that my bank account hadn't suffered too much today and that I still found the little treasures I hoped for.
"Do you want me to carry the bag," Harry suggested as we came out of the store. "It must be heavy with the vase."
I frowned. "I didn't put the vase in the bag," I replied. "I thought you were bringing it."
Harry chuckled. "I didn't pick it up, though you did. I'll be right back," he said before turning around and going back to the counter to grab the vase.
I waited for him outside of the store. The temperature was comfortable, the sun was warm but it was balanced by a small wind blowing softly. I closed my eyes and breathed in, enjoying the fact that today had been good, in every aspect of it. It didn't feel possible; it didn't feel like it was real. I was so used to seeing Harry stoned or breaking down in front of me, not happy and laughing, but I was thankful that everything seemed to be heading in a better direction. Although I knew, at the back of my mind, that Harry and I's relationship didn't work that way. We were bond to have something go wrong.
I regretted thinking that way, even for a second, because it seemed to be enough to bring trouble into our day.
"Emily?" I heard someone call my name.
The voice sounded familiar. I didn't even need to open my eyes, even if I hadn't heard that voice in years, I knew exactly who it belonged to. I hoped I had heard wrong; I hoped that the person that had called my name wasn't the one I thought it was.
I wasn't so lucky.
"Gemma?" I said as my eyes landed on her.
Gemma, Harry's older sister, seeing her, right in front of me made me so incredibly nervous.
It's not that I didn't like her; I actually loved her a lot. I had spent so much time at Harry's that with time she had become the older sister I never had.
But I knew that Harry wouldn't be too happy to see her once he would come out of the shop.
I might not know what happened two years ago, I might not understand why Harry was so broken now, but I did figure out that it had something to do with his family, that he hadn't talked to his parents for two years, and that he also hadn't talked to his sister.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, with a cheery tone before coming in to hug me. "Oh my god! It's been so long!"
I hugged her back. "Two years now, at least," I replied, a small smile on my face, trying to hide how awkward the situation felt to me.
Her smile faded, "Yeah, well it's been since Harry stopped talking to us," she said, trying to keep her tone light, but failing miserably. "How is he, by the way? Are you still talking to him?"
I nodded. "Yeah, he's okay. Actually, he's-"
The loud sound of glass shattering on the ground interrupted me. I turned around and saw that the vase Harry had brought for me had fallen to the ground and exploded into hundreds of pieces. But it didn't matter, because Harry's eyes didn't shine the way they did only moments ago, his smile was gone and the mask was on. He wasn't the Harry I loved so much anymore.
"Gemma?"
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dun dun dun ! Here comes trouble !
You'll get a few hints in the next chapter about the big event that changed Harry's life and I really wonder if some of you will be able to guess what it is!
Please, as always, tell me what you thought about the chapter and share your predictions ! I love reading them !
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, if you did, don't forget to vote !
I should update Saturday or Sunday, I have a realy busy week, so I won'T be able to update earlier, sorry.
lots of love
Karry xx.