Harry's been out of the hospital for a little over a week and seems to be feeling much better. The first few days of him back at home were a little rough, but I made sure to help him through it as much as I could.
Last night, we were finally able to go on our little date that he promised me. I picked a restaurant that Jess and I used to go to all the time, Linguini's, and it was a lot of fun. Plus I found out that Linguini's is much closer to Harry's apartment than it is to mine, so we were able to walk, which was nice.
Harry had tried to take me out earlier in the week, but he was still complaining of mild headaches and slight dizziness, so I told him no.
The doctor had given him strict rules about taking it easy until he was completely symptom free.
When Harry woke up this morning, he claimed that he was, which is why we're now standing in his bathroom, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.
The Thanksgiving dinner that I still haven't given Harry all of the details about. I really need to do that before we go because the last thing I need is for him to make a scene.
"I don't know why you insist on doing that." He mumbles with a mouth full of toothpaste as I run the straightener through my hair.
I've been spending most nights at Harry's to keep an eye on him, so a lot of my stuff has made its way over here.
"It looks very nice when it's curly." He compliments.
"Thanks." I say shyly. "But sometimes it's annoying, and I could use something a little different." I add with a shrug.
"Me too." He states, spitting the toothpaste into the sink. "Which is why I've decided that I'm gonna wear my hair up tonight."
He teasingly pulls his hair back into a ponytail, and I laugh at him. It doesn't look too bad, but I prefer it down.
"Hey, Harry." My smile fades, as my voice turns serious. He lets his hair fall and moves on to fully button his shirt. "There's something I need to tell you."
He lifts his head to make eye contact with me through the mirror.
"I wasn't totally honest with you earlier when I told you about Jessica inviting us to dinner."
"What do you mean?" He frowns.
"Well, it's not really...Jessica's dinner." I hesitate. "It's Ryan's...which means that his family is going to be there...which means that Logan will be there."
Once I'm finished, I set the straightener down on the counter and turn slowly to face Harry. I notice his fists clench at his sides before relaxing as he lets out a heavy sigh.
"So, what's the issue?" He asks, catching me off guard. "You told me that I don't have any reason to worry about Logan, and I trust you."
My eyes widen in surprise. I know that I told Harry that he doesn't need to worry, but I'm very surprised that he's actually okay with that.
"Besides, it's not like it's just gonna be us and him, right?" He asks. "I'm assuming there'll be other people there."
"Oh yeah." I nod urgently. "Yeah, Ryan's family, Jess' family. Jess said it's gonna be a pretty full house."
"Then I have nothing to worry about." He repeats, stepping forward and kissing my forehead. "Now, finish getting ready, and I'll meet you in the living room."
I smile contently as he steps away, walking out of the bathroom.
I quickly gather my toiletries from the counter and carry them back into Harry's room to put them in my bag. Harry told me multiple times that it was okay for me to leave stuff laying around, but I didn't want to unpack completely. This is his place, after all.
I grab my jacket from my suitcase in the corner and pull it on over my dress. Looking in the mirror one last time, I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear and slip my wedges on before walking into the kitchen.
I frown when I see that the counter is empty.
"Harry, where's the casserole?" I call out, unsure of where the dish, that I spent a lot of time on, seemed to have disappeared to.
Jessica told me that I didn't need to bring anything, but I felt bad. Harry and I aren't family, and it seemed rude to simply show up and eat their food without bringing anything to contribute.
"I got it." He calls back to me from the living room.
I grab my purse from the stool before meeting him in there. He's standing by the door with the casserole in one hand and his keys in the other.
"You're not driving." I say right away.
"Why not?" He frowns.
"Because, today is your first symptom free day." I remind him. "What if you get behind that wheel and get dizzy or something? You'll end up killing us both."
"I don't think I'm gonna get behind the wheel and get dizzy." He scoffs.
"I'm not risking a car accident because of your stubbornness. Just give me the keys." I argue.
"And I'm not risking my car because of your persistence."
He smirks as I open my mouth in shock.
"You're afraid that I'm gonna wreck your car?" I ask in disbelief as he lets out a laugh. "I'll have you know that I'm an amazing driver."
"You can say it. But that doesn't mean it's true." His smirk grows even wider.
"Fine, then I guess we just won't go." I shrug, plopping myself down on the couch. "It's really too bad though because Jessica told me that she's bringing brownies. But they're not like normal brownies. Jess' brownies are the best things I've ever tasted. The edges are crunchy, but the insides are so moist. They like stick to the roof of your mouth—"
I'm interrupted when he tosses his keys towards me, allowing them to land on the cushion next to me.
"Let's go." He announces, heading to the door without even looking back to see if I'm following.
I giggle to myself, standing up and taking the keys with me.
"Now, the gas pedal gets stuck sometimes, so you have to give it a little bit of a push before you actually go." Harry informs me once I'm comfortably seated behind the wheel of his Range Rover.
"A little bit of a push?" I ask, tapping the pedal.
The car jolts forward slightly, and I quickly hit the brake. I hear Harry gasp next to me as he grips the side of his seat tightly. I let out a laugh, showing him that I did that on purpose.
I glance over at him to see him roll his eyes as I pull out onto the road.
The ride to Ryan's place isn't too bad, and I learn that it's surprisingly close to my apartment building. He lives in a cute little neighborhood just outside of the city.
We pull up to a house that's filled with cars, and I park Harry's car carefully along the curb.
"How did I do, boss?" I ask, shutting the car off and handing him the keys.
"We're alive, I guess." He teases, opening his car door.
I walk around to his side, taking the casserole from him and lacing my free hand through his.
"Who are all of these people?" Harry whispers in my ear as we walk past all of the cars to the front door.
"I guess family." I shrug.
We reach the front door, and Harry brings his hand up to knock. Before he can do that, the door is yanked open by none other than Jessica.
"Oh my god. You guys are here." She cheers, throwing her arms around me.
I'm careful not to drop the casserole as I take my hand from Harry's and hug her back. When she pulls away, she turns to Harry.
"Hey, I saw your fight last week." She says casually. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, actually, I am." Harry nods. If he's surprised by her niceness to him, he doesn't show it. I'm just glad that they seem to be having a civil conversation. "All thanks to your best friend, here."
As Harry talks, he wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side.
"Well, you two get in here. Everyone wants to meet you." She chimes, taking the casserole from me and leading us into the house.
As soon as we're inside, I realize that I was right. All of the cars out front were family, and Ryan seems to have a lot of that. There are so many people in here, but my eyes fall onto one group in particular.
"Bella." A warming voice calls as she walks over to me, engulfing me into a loving hug.
"Mrs. Charleston. How are you?" I ask with a smile, pulling away to look at Jessica's mother.
Her father and older sister walk over as well, each one saying hello with just as much excitement to seem me. It's very nice to see them. They're like family to me, and they've always treated me that way.
"This is my boyfriend, Harry." I introduce the man standing next to me, watching as he extends his hand to shake each of theirs.
"Jessica has told us about you." Her mother says with a smile.
I hope that it was only good things because, if it wasn't, then I'll surely be hearing about it from all of them later.
Harry simply chuckles as more people walk up to introduce themselves to us.
In a matter of seconds, Harry's hand slips from mine and we become separated, each of us meeting a different relative of Ryan's. Thankfully, they're all very friendly and easy to talk to.
I periodically look across the room to check on Harry. I'm pleased to see that he's usually engaged in a conversation with someone else. At one point, I even catch him talking briefly with Logan. Either he's putting on a good show or he's actually having a good time. Whichever it is, it's nice to see him relaxing a little bit.
"So, how did you and Harry meet?" Laura asks me. Laura is Jessica's sister and basically mine too.
"At a party, actually." I answer softly.
"Little Bella Peters met a hottie at a party?"
"It wasn't like that. I was actually there to pick up your sister."
"Now that, I believe." She laughs, taking a sip of her water. When she does, I catch a sparkle on her finger, and I double take.
"Laura." I state, grabbing her hand. "What the hell is this?"
My eyes move straight to the large silver stone adorning her left hand. When my eyes move from the ring to her face, she gives me a small smile.
"Yeah, I kind of...got engaged."
"What? When?" My smile grows. "Why didn't Jess tell me?"
"Over the weekend, actually. She probably didn't get a chance."
"Oh my god. Laura, that's so great." I release her hand and throw my arms around her. "I want to meet him. Is he here?"
She laughs at my excitement, pulling away. "No, he's not. Mark's the on-call doctor at the hospital where we live, so he couldn't come tonight. Don't worry though. I think Jess has only met him once. It's all been moving a little fast because of the baby."
"The baby?" I almost jump from my seat.
"Jess didn't tell you about that either?" She chuckles as her hands fall to her slightly protruded stomach.
"God, no." I sigh. "Jess and I have had a lot of stuff going on. I don't feel like we've sat down and actually talked in forever."
"Yeah, she told me about losing her job." Laura smiles sadly. "Mark's trying really hard to get her that daycare position at the hospital."
"What daycare position?" I frown.
"Man, you two really do need to sit down and talk." She laughs, and I join her.
I really want to spend some time with my best friend, but I've been so busy lately, and she has too. When one of Ryan's cousins comes over to talk to Laura, I excuse myself into the kitchen.
I find Jessica pulling the turkey from the oven.
"Hey." I say softly, and she turns.
"Hey. Are you having a good time?" She asks hopefully, tugging the oven mitt from her hand.
"Yeah, and I think Harry is too...surprisingly." I laugh, walking over to help her get the mitt off. She seems to really be struggling. "So, when were you gonna tell me about the daycare position?"
She lets out a sigh through her nose. "Whenever you decided to come home."
Wow. That hurt a little bit, but I guess I deserved it. I remove the mitt from her hand and set it down on the counter before crossing my arms with a sigh.
"I guess that's also when you were gonna tell me about your engaged, pregnant sister."
She nods silently, pulling a large knife from the drawer to cut the turkey.
"Look, Jess. I'm really sorry that I haven't been home lately. I've just been really worried about—"
"Harry. I know." She finishes for me. "And I get it. But I needed you too, Bells. I've been having to make a lot of big decisions lately, and they'd be so much easier if my best friend would just stop by. Just like twenty minutes to see what's going on."
"Is it too late to see what's going on?" I ask gently.
"If Mark gets me the position at the daycare, it means moving...three hours from here." She lets out a deep breath. "And at first, I wanted to ask you to come with me, but then I thought about it. And you wouldn't want to. And that's okay. You've started a life here...with friends...and a job...and Harry. And I'm so happy for you."
"But?" I know that she's not finished as she sets the knife down and looks up at me.
"But I can't stay." She whispers. "I've thought about it, and I've looked at all of my options, and the only one that makes sense is to take the job at the daycare. I need a job, Bella. I need a purpose. I mean, if I could stay, then I would, but there's no possible way that I would survive a three hour commute every morning."
She lets out a small laugh, but I stay quiet. I don't know what to say as I stand in front of my best friend, while she tells me her plans about leaving. She's been with me through everything, and I know that it's selfish of me, but I don't want her to leave.
"What about Ryan?" I ask, thinking of anything that I can to make her stay.
"He knows the situation that I'm in, and we've talked about different possibilities. I don't really know what's going to happen between us, but I'm trying not to think about it."
"All your friends?" I ask again.
"Most of them were people that I worked with. I highly doubt I'll be seeing any of them once my term at the school ends."
She shakes her head and continues cutting. "What about me?" I ask, my voice breaking slightly. I know that it's selfish, but she has no clue how much this is hurting me.
Jessica keeps her head down as she slides the knife through the turkey over and over again.
"What about you and me, Jess?" I speak again. "What's gonna happen to us if you move three hours away?"
"Nothing, Bella." She finally says, looking up at me. "Nothing is gonna happen to us because you're my best friend. You always have been, and you always will be. I'll call, and visit, and you can visit me, and it'll be great."
Her voice gives out on her, and a tear slips from her eye as she releases the knife and steps away from the counter.
"Hey, hey." I place my hands on her shoulder, not wanting her to cry right now. "We don't need to talk about this anymore, okay? This is supposed to be a fun dinner, and you don't look like you're having fun."
We both laugh as she steps forward and hugs me.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. It's just that...nothing's set in stone yet, and...this is exactly the conversation that I wanted to avoid." She mumbles into my shoulder.
"It's okay." I pat her back. "Let's enjoy dinner, and you and I can sit down and talk about this mess later, okay?"
She nods against me before pulling back and sniffling. I smile at her, handing her a napkin to wipe the tears beneath her eyes.
"Is everything okay in here?" A voice says from behind us.
We spin around to see Ryan standing in the doorway with Harry right behind him. They both take in the scene of the teary eyed girls before exchanging a look with each other.
"Maybe we should come back later." Harry suggests.
Ryan is about to agree, but I stop them.
"No, you guys are just in time." I say, glancing at the turkey and looking back at them. "The meat needs to be cut, and someone needs to get the salad ready."
"No, that's okay. I can handle it, you guys." Jess wipes away another tear and goes to grab the knife again.
Thankfully, Ryan steps in front of her, taking it from her hands. "That's okay, babe. Put us to work."
***
The four of us did a pretty good job of handling Thanksgiving dinner. The food was great, and everyone really seemed to have a good time...even Harry.
"He told me about every war that he's ever been in...and trust me, there were a lot of them." He tells me about his conversation with Ryan's great-grandfather as I drive us back to his place. "And I made sure to save room for one of Jess' brownies. It was just as good as you promised. Although Uncle Rick tried to steal it from me because apparently I took the last one...sneaky bastard."
I laugh at Harry's story, keeping my eyes on the dark road ahead of me. Suddenly, I see a small flake fall in front of one of the headlights, and I gasp.
"What?" Harry asks, sitting up straight in his seat.
"I think it's snowing." I say excitedly.
"Are you kidding?" He scoffs as I squint my eyes, looking for more.
Slowly and steadily, more and more flakes begin to fall from the sky. It gets to the point where I have to turn the windshield wipers on.
"Are you serious right now?" I hear Harry ask, and I glance over at him. His eyes are on me with a look of admiration.
"What?"
"You're acting like you're never seen this shit before."
"Of course I've seen it before, Harry. It's just so...pretty. I like it." I say with a shrug.
I hear him chuckle as he leans forward in his seat. He places his hands on the dash and cranes his neck to look up at the snow. Then, he reaches up and hits a button, causing a panel on the ceiling to slide back, revealing the sunroof.
I look up quickly to see the snow falling onto the window above before putting my eyes back on the road.
"I bet you're wishing that I was driving now, aren't you?" He teases, leaning back in his seat to look up at the snow.
I laugh, shaking my head as I turn onto Harry's street. I pull into the parking garage so that Harry's car won't be subjected to the snowfall while sitting on the street. I notice him pout slightly when he can no longer see the snow.
"Come on, we can watch it from the window in your living room." I grin, climbing out of the car.
He walks around to my side, taking the keys from my hand. "You're such a child sometimes." He teases, leading me through the light snow towards his front door.
"And you're not?" I raise an eyebrow, and he laughs as we round the corner to the sidewalk.
Our laughter ceases, and we both freeze on the path when we see a person sitting on the step in front of Harry's door. She's huddled beneath her large coat, but she stands to her feet when she sees us.
I'm not exactly sure who this woman is or what she wants, but it only takes Harry about point three seconds to answer my first question.
"Victoria?"
***Author's Note***
SURPRISE!
As a special gift to all of my wonderful readers, I'm going to be updating the last few chapters of this book much quicker. I'm hoping to have the entire book finished by Christmas because after that I'm going to be pretty busy!
I hope you enjoy the next few chapters...it's about to get crazy!
~Haley