i procrastinated so hard the past few days because i have been absolutely OBSESSED with 'queer eye' looool i watched both seasons (+ yass episode) and like every youtube video that exists of them looool so sorry about the delay but i hope you enjoy the chapter :))
======================
XII: Unspoken
Harry and I stepped into the café, the warm air immediately warming me up. I scanned the tables to look for William and found him sitting in the back with his husband beside him. I was about to tell Harry, but by the time I opened my mouth, he was already walking towards them, leaving me behind. I silently followed Harry really feeling the awkwardness between us.
We haven't had a proper conversation since the one we had last night. We only exchanged a few words this morning when I notified Harry through his door that we had to leave soon for brunch and he replied back with an 'okay'. Our ten minute car ride to the café was silent. I really wanted to speak up and apologize to him, but I didn't have the courage.
"Hey, good morning!" William said with a smile on his face as he stood up to greet us. He opened his arms for a hug.
"Good morning," Harry said softly and hugged him first since he was in front of me.
"Morning, William," I said with a smile when it was my turn.
"Charlie, Harry, this is my amazing husband Aaron. Aaron, this is Charlie and Harry." Aaron had a warm olive skin tone, dark hair, and hazel coloured eyes. He looked like he was in his 30s, around the same age as William. Aaron smiled at William before smiling at me and Harry. I returned the smile. They looked really good together.
"Nice to meet you," I said and gave Aaron a hug.
"Nice to meet you too, Charlie."
Harry said the same thing to Aaron and they hugged as well before all four of us sat down at the table. I sat across William and Harry sat beside me. We took off our jackets and hung them along the back of our chairs.
"Have you guys ordered already?" I asked.
"No, we haven't," William spoke up. "Should we order now?"
"Yeah, I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything so far today."
All of us stood up again and walked over to the counter. They had their menu written out on the top of the wall. All their food looked so appetizing to me that I had a hard time deciding what to order.
"I'll pay for the meal," Harry quickly offered.
"Oh, you really don't have to. I don't mind paying," William immediately replied.
"No, please, I'll pay," Harry really insisted with a small smile.
"Thanks, Harry." William gave him a small pat on the shoulder.
They all walked towards the register to start ordering their food. I glanced back up at the menu to try to narrow down my options. William went for their classic breakfast option along with a coffee. Aaron ordered a chicken souvlaki sandwich from their lunch menu and a fruit smoothie. Harry glanced at me and I shook my head to notify him that I still needed some time. So Harry told his order next, which was a ginger-miso spinach salad with chicken and a matcha latte. When he finished, his head turned to look at me once more.
"Uhh," I said as I walked up to the register.
Breakfast burrito or grilled halloumi gyro?
"Any day now," I heard Harry say with a chuckle, repeating the same line I said to him last night.
"Could I get the... breakfast burrito and a London fog please?" I quickly sputtered out.
"Of course. Is that all?" I stepped back and looked at Harry who stood closer to the register. He looked around at all of us and we each shook our heads.
"No thank you."
"That will be ninety dollars and eighty-five cents please." Harry pulled out his wallet from his pocket, took out two red fifty dollar bills and handed it over to the lady. "You could keep the change."
"Thank you. Your food will come in around fifteen minutes."
"Thank you."
As we walked back to our seats, each of us thanked Harry for paying. First was William and Aaron to say thank you and then it was me. I said it quietly and timidly since I knew we had yet to have a proper conversation about what happened last night. There were so many unspoken words between us that it was awkward and even a bit tense. After I thanked him, Harry nodded his head and said a quiet 'you're welcome'. But that was the extent to that conversation if it could even be called one.
"So have you guys played any of the games or explored the island yet?" William asked us when we all got settled in our seats.
"We played a few games yesterday actually," I told him. "We also started the puzzle. But we didn't explore the island yet. I wasn't feeling too well yesterday but I think we might do some exploring today." I actually had no idea if we would do any exploring. I was feeling a bit better so I would be up for it, though I had no idea if Harry would be. "Where did you guys go yesterday?"
"We went Ruckle Provincial Park," Aaron replied.
"Oh, I want to go there," Harry commented. "Is the view nice?"
"So nice! You guys have to go there!"
"You really do," William agreed. "We also visited a gallery, an indoor market, and a pub in the evening. And I think today we are going on a cycling tour around the island if we still feel like it."
"Yeah, why not?" Aaron said to William.
"Okay, then I guess we are going on a cycling tour."
"You could always join us if you want."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass," I smiled at them. "I'm still trying to recover from a cold so I think resting my body as much as possible would be the best thing to do right now."
"Oh, true. Yeah, it probably won't be the best idea to cycle for a few hours," Aaron said with a chuckle.
"Probably not," I let out a chuckle as well. "But I hope you guys have fun! It's great that today is the perfect weather for cycling—sunny and not too cold."
"Oh, for sure!" A waiter came and gave us the drinks we ordered. We all thanked him before taking a sip of our drinks. The warm earl grey tea instantly warmed up my whole body.
"I heard you're from Toronto?" William asked me.
"I am," I nodded my head, a smile appearing on my lips at the thought of home.
"Have you been away from home this long before?"
"No, this is the longest I've been away from home, but not the farthest. I'm still in Canada so I don't feel too homesick."
"Where's the farthest you've been?"
"I went to France for a trip in high school for two weeks."
"Oh, nice. Used any of the French you learnt in school?" We both chuckled.
"I actually did use a bit. My French teacher was very pleased about that."
"How about you, Harry?" William asked. "Missing England?"
"No, I'm a big boy... I'm joking. Of course I do." If that didn't sum up Harry in a nutshell, I don't know what would.
"You're a busy, well-known actor. How long are you usually away from home?" I turned to Harry, the question bringing out the curious nature inside of me.
"I usually always go back home after each job, unless I have another one booked immediately right after. But even if I have a few days or a week, I always try to go home."
He's a family person. For some reason, I didn't really expect it. He seemed like the type of guy who would always be in LA if he wasn't working.
"Which city is home for you?"
"London... and Holmes Chapel." Harry leant back in his seat and loosely crossed his arms over his chest. "Enough about us. How about you guys? How long have you been together?"
"Eight years," they replied at the same time. They both laughed and smiled at each other. They were so sweet and adorable that it was really making me feel so fucking single.
:
On the car ride back after brunch, we passed a sign to a shop called The Glass Foundry. It sounded interesting and I remembered seeing the name on the paper William had given us yesterday. I immediately asked Harry if we could drop by there quickly to have a look around. He didn't say anything, only just nodded his head. His silence just kept reminding me that I had to apologize to Harry and make things right between us. But I really didn't want to have that conversation while he was driving in case it didn't go well.
Harry followed another sign that pointed to a small path off the main road to a small house. He parked in front where one other car was also parked. I jumped out of the car and walked into the store. I didn't know what to expect, but I was taken aback by all the displays of glasswork scattered around the store. There were lots of tables and shelves that were completely filled with the owner's work from every sized plate possible, to vases, cups, and even cute little animal figurines.
"Good afternoon," a man sitting at the front table said to me and Harry.
"Good afternoon. Did you make all of these?" I asked him as I looked around the store once more.
"Yes, I did indeed. And they're all made with recycled sea glass. Feel free to look around and ask me any questions. You could also make your own custom designed plate if that interests you." My eyebrows raised. I was impressed. I looked at Harry and he also had the same expression on his face.
"Yeah, we would love to make some," Harry said.
"Perfect, come on to the back station. I'm Miles by the way," he held his hand out towards me first since I was closer to him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Charlie," I shook his hand with a smile.
"Harry," Harry shook Mile's hand.
"Nice to meet both of you," he smiled at us. "So what brings you guys to Salt Spring Island?" He asked as we headed to the back of the store. I looked around me at all the creations he made while making sure I didn't knock anything to the floor. I was so fascinated by everything that I decided to let Harry answer the question.
"We just decided to go for a little weekend trip here since we're doing a film in Vancouver."
"Hollywood or indie movie?"
"Hollywood."
"Really?" He looked back at Harry not really believing him.
"Really," Harry chuckled.
"Cool so if I search you up on Google, there will be a Wikipedia about you?"
"Yeah," Harry lightly laughed.
"And you too, Charlie?"
"Oh, no. This is my first movie so people don't know about me yet," I chuckled.
"I'm sure once the movie will come out, everyone will know about you. Especially if you're doing a movie with this popular actor over here. What's your last name, Harry?"
"Styles."
"With Harry Styles," Miles said. I couldn't help but laugh at his comments.
Once we made it to the back, he pulled out two glass plates and placed it in front of us. He also took out some smaller coloured glass, a glass cutter and gloves. We put on the gloves and he told us how to cut the glass safely using the equipment. Harry and I followed his demonstrations and cut up the different coloured glass to make a design that would afterwards be fused onto the clear glass plate. Harry and I asked him questions while we worked. He explained to us how the glass fusion process works and some other glass techniques like glass blowing. He also told us how his passion for glasswork originated and in return, Harry and I told him why and how we went into acting. It was so interesting talking to him. I learnt so much that it really made me appreciate glasswork a lot more since it was hard work.
For my design, there was a small purple circle in the middle of the plate made with a cluster of tiny purple glass pieces. The ring around that was a light blue colour, followed by a deep green emerald coloured ring, a bright but gold-ish yellow one, a fiery orange, and a bold red ring on the outside. Each ring had different sized pieces of glass that were cut in a variety of shapes. I was proud of my work. It looked cute.
Harry's one was also pretty impressive. There wasn't any pattern to it, it was more of an abstract looking design of different shapes and colours glass scattered around. But at the same time, all the pieces fit well together nicely and none of them looked out of place.
"Are these going to be for you?" Miles asked as he carefully placed them on another table.
"This is going to be for my parents. It will be their cute key bowl—or plate. They've always said how they needed to buy one and this is the perfect size so it's perfect," I smiled.
"This is gonna be for my mum. She loves when I bring back presents from the different places that I go to."
"That really nice," Miles smiled at us. "When do you guys leave the island?"
"Tonight," Harry said.
"Oh, okay. So I won't be able to fuse it in time for when you leave. But if you give me your addresses, I could mail it to you when I'm done."
"Yeah, that works."
Harry and I split ways as we looked around the store at all of Miles' creations. I wanted to buy something for Ellie, myself, and also Joslyn and Derek. I got two small but cute starfish figurines for Joslyn and Derek; one an emerald green colour and the other a super light sky blue. I walked around to another table where a huge array of plates and bowls were displayed. I spotted a pie dish with a black wavy rim and a colourful flowery design and instantly knew that was going to be for Ellie since she loved to bake. I picked it up and carefully held it in my hands as I went to the counter to drop them off.
I walked around and passed by Harry. I saw him hold up an iridescent coloured plate in his hands. He looked at the price tag on the back of the plate and silently nodded his head to himself. I went over to the vase section and a few of them immediately grabbed my attention. I was able to recognize that the vases were made with the glass blowing technique since the red and blue coloured glass melted together so seamlessly. I was also able to see streaks of the different shades of colour along with some black and white streaks which made it looks so cool and authentic. I carefully picked one up but my eyes widened when I saw it was one hundred dollars. I really wanted to buy it for myself since it looked so beautiful. But after much thought, I placed it down since I was already spending so much money. Instead, I decided to get a small plate that had the exact same design so I was still very happy.
I went back to the counter and Miles cashed out the items I had chosen. He made sure to carefully wrap each of them with a lot of bubble wrap so they wouldn't break before putting them in a plastic bag. Even though the total of all the glasswork was a lot, I had a smile on my face since I was happy with the items I had. I also gave Miles a generous tip to help with the shipping of my custom made plate. Just as I finished, Harry came up to the counter, also finished with his shopping so I stood to the side and waited.
"You could go to the car if you want," Harry said since he saw me just standing there. He pulled out his keys from his coat pocket and handed it to me.
"Thanks. And thanks again, Miles!" I gave him a smile and wave.
"No problem, Charlie," he smiled back at me as he grabbed more bubble wrap.
I exited the store and pressed the unlock button on Harry's key fob. I opened the back seat door with my free hand and carefully placed the huge bag of glassware on the floor of the seat. I shut the door close and climbed into the passenger seat. As I waited for Harry, I took out my phone to play a game called Stack. I just downloaded the game last night so I wasn't good yet. Just as I lost on the thirty-sixth layer, I heard Harry open the back door. He placed his stuff in the back seat, also on the floor, before getting into the driver's seat.
Harry drove back to the house in silence. Once we were inside, Harry asked if we wanted to go to Ruckle Provincial Park. I said yes so we both changed into more appropriate clothing and footwear before driving to the park. On the way there, we drove through some forested area. And since it was winter and off-season, we had to pay a fee in order to enter the park. I didn't have my wallet on me since I didn't think I would need one. But luckily, Harry did and paid.
As we explored the park, we didn't say anything to each other. I didn't want to make small talk since it didn't feel right. Also, the only thing I really wanted to say was about the previous night, but then again, it didn't feel like the right time to talk about that since the scenery was so beautiful and calming almost. So we walked side by side and hiked through some of the trails. I let Harry lead the way since I didn't have the best sense of direction. When we reached the shoreline, both of us were in awe from the view. We were on a small cliff so we had such a great outlook of the water and nearby islands. In the distance, we were able to see the mountains and a few sailboats on the water. Both of us took pictures of the view.
After about an hour or two, we finally reached the car once more and drove back to the house. In my head, I was preparing what to say to him. Maybe I'll cook some dinner and while we eat I could start the conversation? I thought that was the best option so I went with that.
For a few hours, Harry and I were seated on the sofa in the living room. I was on one, he was on another, both of us just minding our own business and doing our own thing. Harry was on his laptop with headphones on watching a movie, I assumed. I took the time to look over my script to make sure I had memorized all my lines for the next few days while watching YouTube videos also with earphones on.
But once I started cooking dinner, Harry went upstairs. I heard the shower going as I boiled some penne pasta in a pot. But when he finished, he didn't come down. I made some tomato pasta sauce with chickpeas, corn, yellow peppers and peas and when I finished, a sudden wave of nervousness came over me. I slowly got the courage to walk up the stairs and when I got to the top, I saw Harry's door was shut closed. When I stood right in front of his door, I raised my hand and softly knocked on the wood three times.
"Yeah?" Harry called out.
"Could I open the door?"
"Yeah."
I quietly opened the door and saw Harry sitting on his bed with his laptop on his lap. He changed out of his previous clothes and was now wearing a black t-shirt and navy sweats.
"Just wanted to say that dinner is ready."
"Thanks, I'll be down in a minute," he said, just quickly glancing at me.
"Okay." I looked at him for another second before closing the door.
When I went back downstairs, I got two bowls but only filled one of them up for me. I topped it off with some parmesan cheese before taking a fork and sitting at the table. Five minutes later, Harry came down and joined me at the table once he got his food.
"I'm sorry," I blurted out just as he went to take his first bite. He stopped midway with his fork just centimetres away from his mouth and his eyes locking with mine. "I'm sorry about Friday and I'm sorry about last night." Harry scanned my face to try to read my intentions. When he figured that I was being genuine, he continued his movements and brought the food to his mouth before slowly chewing. Since he wasn't saying anything, I decided to continue talking. "I don't know why I keep trying to get something out of you—that's a complete lie—I guess I...uh..." What was coming out of my mouth wasn't what I originally planned to say and it was really throwing me off. "I guess I just want to have answers, but it was wrong of me to keep pushing when you didn't want to answer and I'm sorry. You were right when you said that I have to learn to back the fuck off and I promise I will work on that and try not to do that anymore. But I really am sorry—"
"Five," Harry said and raised his hand up with his fingers spread out. I stopped talking. I just stared at him with my mouth still open.
Huh?
"You said 'sorry' five times." I stayed silent as Harry took ate another forkful of the pasta. His face was expressionless, I couldn't read what he was thinking.
"Sorry?" I said in a 'what' kind of way. But when I realized that I said, I clamped a hand over my mouth. Harry raised an eyebrow at me. "But I am, Harry. And I want you to know that."
"I think I got the memo," he said with a tiny smile on his lips. But a second later, his serious face returned once more. "You know... I've done a lot of thinking today and I realized a lot of things about myself. Like with what I said yesterday, my words made it seem like I was blaming you for everything, which is not true. I'm the one to blame for all this. It's ninety-nine percent my fault. We wouldn't be in this position right now if I wasn't rude to you from the start, so I'm sorry... I've done a lot of horrible things—really messed up things like the fucking awful prank I did to you in the garage. What you said to me after I did that to you really opened up my eyes and I am really ashamed of doing that. My mother would not be proud of me... I'm sorry for causing you all that fear from that unacceptable prank and for all the other horrible things I said to you, Charlie," he said with a sad expression as he looked me in the eyes. "I know I have a lot to work on with my anger and all the messed up things inside of me. You were right to say that I'm broken and anger is how I deal with it. But it is not the right thing to do. It was wrong to take it out on you and... I am really sorry." Harry finished off, his eyes not once leaving mine. I was silent for a few moments, absolutely taken aback that he gave me a proper apology for every wrongdoing he had done.
"I think that was three sorries?" I finally spoke up making Harry roll his eyes. Though another smile crept onto his face. "Jokes aside, I forgive you, Harry," I took a deep breath. Harry gave me a slow nod as he too took a deep inhale. "Does that mean that we could start fresh and start being a bit more open with each other?" Harry nodded his head. "Could we hug this out?" I asked with a hopeful tone. Harry stiffened up a bit and looked away but after two seconds, he looked back at me and stood up with his arms open. I was surprised once more.
Happiness flooded inside of me as I stood up and skipped over to Harry who had just the faintest smile on his lips. I instantly wrapped my arms around his torso in a firm hug. Harry hugged me back just as tight as I rested my head against his chest. I closed my eyes and embraced this sweet moment between us. It was like I could visibly feel all the tension we previously disintegrate into the air. I was excited for this fresh start in our relationship.
When we pulled away, Harry's smile broadened. "That was a nice hug," I commented earnestly as we sat back down in our spots.
"Thanks for the dinner," Harry said he continued eating.
"No problem," I smiled at him.
"Oh!" Harry suddenly said with his mouth filled with food. "One second." Harry stood up once more and ran across the room and up the stairs. Five seconds later, I heard him come back down with his hands behind his back.
"What's that?"
"Uh... I guess you could say a 'sorry' present?"
"That's four now. One more and we will be tied," I joked. Again, Harry playfully rolled his eyes.
"Here." Harry pulled out what he was hiding and placed it on the table in front of me. It was something wrapped in bubble wrap.
"Is this from The Glass Foundry?"
"Yeah, open it." I did exactly what Harry said and carefully peeled off the two pieces of tape to unwrap the bubble wrap. As soon as I had a peek at what it was, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened with surprise.
"You did not!" It was the vase I really wanted to get for myself.
"I saw you staring at it for quite some time so I was surprised when you didn't get it."
"It was so expensive, I couldn't justify getting it for myself—oh my God, thank you, Harry! I really love it," I smiled at him.
"You're welcome," he gave a sheepish smile.
"Now I have matching vase and plate." I placed the vase on the table and stood up from my chair. I walked around the table and gave Harry another hug.
I was sure Joslyn, Derek, and William would be happy to hear about the progress we made.
============================
alfkjdlajflkasf the moment we have all been waiting for :)) is it too early to start looking for a ship name??? lol if you have one in mind, leave a comment here :p
hope you liked the chapter! thank you so much for reading, i love you sooooooo fucking much xx.
~ May ❤︎