Harry and Taylor had texted almost non-stop the next few days, with a whole lot more flirty playfulness than they usually allowed. But a line had been crossed on Friday night, and as much as Taylor was a trained psychologist and Harry owned one of the fastest growing tech start-ups, they were just two people in love, who had no idea how to handle themselves.
They hadn't explicitly stated that fact to each other yet, but it didn't even go over the head of a certain nine year old. They were obvious. It was only a matter of time.
Text from: Taylor
> Don't! Ring the doorbell.
> Need to talk to you downstairs
> Text me when you're here
Harry laughed to himself as he meandered up Taylor's path, quickly tapping a quick "okay, here" and locking his phone. He had left work a bit earlier than he was accustomed to, and had driven over to Taylor's townhouse (thankfully, not on a day when her ex would be anywhere near them). He was there because, even though he and Taylor were quite willing to be apart and get their shit together, Kennedy had not forgotten about the movie the two adults had promised her. And so here he was.
The young girl's insistence at the movie evening had caused the two adults' inevitable conversation about feelings to be pushed forward about three days. Harry, having repeated over and over – in his head, and out loud – what he wanted to say to Taylor, still felt as if he wasn't ready for their conversation.
But judging from the buzzing of his body after the events of Friday night (and the days following) he had a feeling he wasn't going to mind the shift in their relationship. He was at her door, smirking slightly at what had happened just on the other side of if, when it swung slowly open, revealing the woman who hadn't left his mind in the past four days (and nights).
Taylor was in relaxed flowy shorts and a white graphic t-shirt, looking completely refreshed, like she'd had a good, restful day. Her smile was conspiratory as she ushered him inside and into the consulting room and shut the door.
"Sorry for the secrecy," she excused herself as she sat on the long couch and patted the spot directly next to her, wanting him close by. He settled on the soft cushions, their thighs touching as they both slowly made eye contact.
"So-"
"Uh, about what happened on Friday," she paused and he gestured for her to continue, "I don't think we can pretend that kiss didn't happen."
Her heart leapt momentarily as she flashed back to their thrumming bodies pressed flush against each other, and how she'd missed his warmth ever since; which was the reason for their close proximity currently.
"I don't particularly want to, either," Harry said softly, leaning closer to her, smelling her scent – lavender, and a faint hint of the apple shampoo he knew she liked.
"The thing is – wow, I am such a cliché – but our friendship is so important to me, Harry. Would we be able to come back from this if we, you know, pursued a romantic relationship?"
It was quiet for a long while as both of them sat, eye contact unbroken as Harry struggled for a moment to articulate his thoughts, and Taylor searched his expression with a blank stare. "Taylor," he sighed, finally beginning to wade through the mess in his head, "I value our friendship a lot. But—but if I'm contented with what we currently have," he made sure she was looking directly at him: he didn't understand what sort of expression she was giving off, "I still... I still feel like I can't win."
He saw her eyebrows come together at that, and slowly, a small smile graced her features. "You, what?" the smile got bigger, "You want to be my," she laughed this time, and so did he. "You want to be my boyfriend?"
It sounded so juvenile – like they were in high school and they were giddy teenagers instead of fully grown adults.
"I mean, yes, Taylor. If that's what you're offering."
Her eyes shone and the radiant smile on her face was the good sign he'd been hoping for the past few days. Suddenly, irrationally, his nervousness came back. No, not irrationally. Never, did he think someone who understood him as intuitively as Taylor would be interested in him. And he had not anticipated wanting to be with anyone like her – not since...
"Taylor, I know if we are together, I'm going to make mistakes. I don't, uh – I don't know how to be uh," he stopped and swallowed, pulling a hand through his hair, "the kind of person you deserve to be with. I know I still have so many things I need to work on. I want to treat you right, but a small part of me just keeps thinking about how I'm sure I'm going to hurt you because I'm me."
He sat back on the couch and they broke eye contact for the first time since they'd begun their tête-à-tête.
"Harry," she called and he looked back her now-misty face. She looked at him like how she might look at a wounded little bird. "I like you because you're you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't have opened up to you, I wouldn't have befriended you. I certainly wouldn't have let you get so close to my daughter. And making mistakes? I'm going to do plenty of that. But, I don't know – you are nothing like anyone else I've been interested in – and a vast improvement intellectually. But I just really like you, and I really believe in the two of us; you shouldn't forget that."
It took his frail nerves a moment to assimilate what she had said. He nodded slowly.
"So, Taylor Swift, will you be my girlfriend?"
Taylor laughed and tucked her head into his chest as he pulled an arm around her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and nodded slowly. His heart soared. With pure bliss pumping through his veins, he dipped his head down slowly and pressed a kiss to her cheek, which brought a blush that he could see easily, thanks to her lack of makeup.
"Hey – one more thing," she suddenly remembered, jumping up and padding over to the desk in the corner and pulling a manila folder from the top drawer and bringing it to him on the couch with a pen swiped from a cup.
"What's this?" he said slightly amused as she pulled a document from the envelope and flipped to the last page.
"A patient release form. I can't date you if I'm still your psychologist."
-
"Harry, you're here!" he heard a high pitched voice squeal as soon as he followed Taylor up the stairs into the causal living area he'd grown so accustomed to being in. It was early evening, the soft lights on the streets coming on and complementing the soft lighting of Taylor's Christmas lights indoors.
"Hey Kennedy," he found an easy smile already on his face when he said her name, a detail that was not missed by Taylor.
"Yeah, Harry's here for the movie, Ken," Taylor smiled and disappeared into the door that led to her bedroom, presumably to fix her mussed hair before Kennedy noticed anything off about her mother.
Her mother, who had, after Harry had signed his release form, kissed him within an inch of his life. He had no idea how she could hold her breath as long as she did, but when she pulled away, he was breathing like he'd just run a marathon, eyes wide in amazement. Taylor relished the look of utter adoration that he gazed at her with, as she'd delicately climbed on top of him where he'd flopped down on the sofa and showed him just how much their relationship had changed.
"We're watching The Boss Baby tonight, Harry," the bouncy girl put down her iPad and pulled Harry toward the sleek, silver kitchen down the hall and to the fully stocked pantry where they began the hunt for the microwave popcorn flavour of their choice. Kennedy settled on salt and vinegar, while Harry preferred just plain salted; like Taylor did.
He programmed the microwave and placed their bags inside, leaving Kennedy as the guardian of the popcorn, while he pulled a bag of Skittles from the pantry and went to go and set up the movie. Just then, as he'd found it and waited for it to load, Taylor had emerged from her bedroom. A small, optimistic part of him wondered how long it would be until he was invited in there, to share her space.
She was in the same Rolling Stones t-shirt, but now had a pair of grey sweatpants on; more in tune with the chilly weather. She came up behind him and said softly, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've been waiting to see this one. Kennedy made us wait 'til you came over."
"Well that's nice of her," he spun around to face her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms settled naturally around her small waist, holding her close. His body screamed in relief at finally being able to express his admiration of the woman in his arms without fear of making her question his feelings.
"When you two are done," came an annoyed voice that moved from the doorway to the sofa, "I'd really like to actually see this thing."
Harry and Taylor pulled apart, fast as if they were pulling a hand away from a hot stove; but Taylor was chuckling, which, had also made Harry relax. The two of them settled together, next to Kennedy, who had brought both bowls of popcorn from the kitchen. With the lights off and a throw blanket covering the three of them, Taylor could hardly imagine a more comfortable evening.
Harry, on the other hand, had as much fun watching the girls as the girls had watching the movie. The awestruck look on Taylor's face at the little animated babies was much more beautiful than he could have imagined. She had her face in her hands; unable to comprehend the cuteness of the babies being powdered and dressed in the assembly line. He also observed her pull her own baby closer; even if she was nine years too old.
For the first time, Harry had wondered if Taylor was still interested in having any more children. He knew being a single mum all of these years had not been easy on her, but he also knew that she loved her daughter more than anyone on this planet and he wondered briefly if she still had any more love. Harry shook his head of the thoughts.
The two of them had literally only started dating less than an hour ago. It was way too soon for anything of the sort. He clamped down the thoughts; even though he had a feeling he and Taylor weren't all that far from anything that deep, given their emotional connection.
Both ladies found the film delightful, especially Kennedy; whose face transformed into the most heart warming grins whenever anything funny happened to the main protagonist. About halfway through, Taylor had dared to rest her head lightly on his shoulder and they both felt their bodies sigh in relief at being together again. How they'd managed to keep their obvious attraction to each other in check all the times they'd sat on that very couch and watched TV was a mystery. It was as if the floodgates had been opened by that first kiss the previous Friday, and now there was no going back.
Predictably, Kennedy didn't make it much further than that. She'd fallen asleep right as the plot had reached its peak. That meant Taylor was way too invested in what was going on in the movie to be bothered to prioritize tucking her into bed, which was probably why she didn't even flinch when he'd offered to carry the little girl to bed.
Placing a gentle hand under knees and under her back, Harry found it easy to pull her into his arms and walk slowly through the dark apartment to her room. Mentally remembering the single small step that went down into her room, he made it—thankfully – without waking her up. Slowly, he pulled the Disney bed sheets back and placed her in the middle of her bed, covering her up with the blankets again. After ensuring she was tightly tucked in, he allowed himself a moment to look down and smile at the obnoxious, yet undeniably lovable young girl who had stolen his heart almost as much as her mother had.
It was when he was readying to walk out that she had stirred slightly, stretching out her body and curling up under the blanket. "Hmm.." she had groaned and he hung back, seeing if she would wake up, but she stayed truly asleep as she mumbled a little bit as she tunnelled deeper into the warmth of her pink bed.
It was low, quiet and mumbled sleepily, but it was still unmistakable when she'd said, "Love you, Harry."
-
Despite what he thought when he'd settled into a cuddle with his girlfriend (!!!) to finish the movie, he was actually the first of the two of them to fall asleep on the couch. He'd been lulled by the happiness and calm that washed over him due to the events of the day; and before he knew it, he was out cold on Taylor's soft couch.
It was at nearly two AM when his phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him awake. He almost fell off the couch in surprise, and it took him a long moment to gain his bearings and figure out where in the world he was. Once he'd remembered, he noted the empty spot next to him on the couch that was long cold. The blanket was draped over him more securely than he remembered it being when he was still awake.
Sighing, he figured Taylor had long retired to her bed, and he lifted his hips and reached in the back pocket of his jeans for his phone, to check the time and see if he could manage to fall back to sleep on her couch. Harry heard crunching, and confused, he felt his chest area and lo and behold, found a sticky note stuck to his jumper. He peeled it off, laughing internally at how very Taylor leaving a note was.
He fumbled around, opening the flashlight on his phone, and pointing it toward the square of pink paper.
Harry,
YOU fell asleep. Haha. I'm going to bed now. I didn't want to disturb you – sorry I can't carry you babe. You can stay on the couch but you're absolutely welcome to join me in my bed. Just to sleep obviously.
btw: the end of the movie was great
- T
It seemed Harry was being invited into her bedroom way sooner than even he had imagined. It was really a no brainer on whether he should stay on the (albeit comfy) sofa, or share a bed with the most beautiful woman in his world.
Throwing the blanket off his body, he trudged blindly through the darkened room to the door of Taylor's bedroom – which was slightly ajar. He couldn't really make out too many details in the deep dark that had blanketed the room, but he could see her bed in the centre of the room, with a human sized lump on one side of it. Thankfully, the light in her bathroom was on, and the illumination that came from beneath the door ensured he didn't stumble on any furniture as he made his way to the empty side of the bed.
He debated for a while whether he should remove his jeans. He didn't want to seem as if he was making himself too comfortable in her bed the first time he was there. He decided to keep them on, however uncomfortable he might get; out of respect for his gracious host.
Sliding in the covers, he was immediately surrounded in her scent. The smell of lavender and a little bit of detergent permeated his olfactory senses from every corner of her bed. After settling into the pillows – which were incredibly soft – he admired how comfortable her bed was. It was just how he liked his – soft, but not incredibly so.
He exhaled, finding himself relaxed by her smell all around him. Her bed was big enough for both of them to not be touching as he lay down, but not so big as to have her out of his reach if he stretched his arm out.
He quickly found his eyelids drooping and his heart rate slow as sleep began to pull him under again.
"Huh," a groan from beside him. It was such an intimate sound, one that he felt sort of privileged to have been around to hear. "Harry," she moaned again. "Hold me," she commanded, still mostly asleep. Harry too, was only semi conscious and obliged without even thinking, pulling Taylor's body into his; sharing her body heat. She curled into him; her head tucked into the crook of his shoulder – and that was how they'd fallen asleep; completely content.