Bare feet pad behind me, my hands holding Harry's over my shoulder as I lead him into the kitchen. His arms flex as we walk towards the fridge, my hand grabbing the ice cream out of the freezer.
"We have to go back to New York soon," he whispers, my bare legs stepping between his as he sits on the counter.
"Do we have a meeting?" I ask, his head nodding.
"Then after that meeting we have to go to a meeting in England," he grins, his hand stealing the ice cream. He eats a spoonful and my eyes watch as he does so, his lips curving.
"You know what?" he says, my hands taken in his.
"I say we go back today and do something together. It only takes a few hours and we'll have a lot of fun," he smiles, my lips curving at his playfulness. He's been really happy lately and we've barely argued. If we had, it's over stupid things like what show to watch or what to have for dinner.
The pad of my thumb runs under his eye, a little fuzz attaching itself to his cheek. My lips press to his cheek and I grab his thighs afterwards.
"I would like that," I smile, his lips curving.
A small kiss is received from him and we finish eating the small amount of ice cream in the carton. His fingers are cold from holding it, his thumb and forefinger cupping my chin so I look at him, his eyebrows frowning.
"You have a bruise on your cheek," my fingers quickly covering it up.
It was from the party a few nights ago. When I had went to use the restroom, a woman came in and I aided her pain. She had miscarried and was so angry that she swung at me, hitting my cheek. The information was left out when explaining what had happened to Harry, but apparently it's visible now.
His soft fingers grip mine and retract my hand, his thumb brushing the light mark on my cheek. His eyes roam the skin, setting his fingers over the mark to assure himself he wasn't the cause. When he's finished, he continues to brush over it, bringing me closer.
"What happened?" he asks, my hand wrapping around his wrist.
"It was from the club. The girl, uh, sort of hit me," his eyebrows crunching.
"Please don't worry. It doesn't hurt," I say before he says anything, my hands gripping his tightly. My lips kiss his knuckles and he sighs, moving his head to the left side of my face. The soft kisses he presses to my discoloring skin cause me to smile, his fingers lightly holding the crook of my neck.
"You're tough. That's hot," he whispers, my head rolling back as I laugh. He jumps off the counter and hugs me, kissing the top of my head.
The rest of the day moves in a blur between packing, the car rides, and the plane ride. When we return home, Harry is moving around the house and answering calls. Ed arrives at the house soon and the two lock the door to the office. A discussion takes place but I can only hear muffled noises.
I knock on the door and Harry opens it, running his hand through his hair as he does so.
"Hi, I'm just telling you I'm going to see Grace," I smile, his shoulders relaxing.
"Oh, okay. Be back soon."
I nod and kiss his cheek, his hand closing the door abruptly. I wonder what's going on that's so important. He seems like he was worried I heard something, his eyes concerned and his muscles tense. Whatever it is, I hope it's nothing bad.
After retrieving my keys and purse, I drive to the café I'm meeting Grace at and park. When I walk in, I hug Grace tightly and we sit across from each other.
"How have you been?" I ask, her sigh telling me stressful.
"Miles and I broke up," she sniffs, my eyebrows furrowing.
"Why?" I gush. The two are practically inseparable.
"Well, we had an argument and he said he was pissed. He broke it off and now I have no idea where he is so I called you. I'm so upset," she says, my hand giving the waiter a signal to wait a while. He nods and walks away, glancing at Grace first.
"Was it intentional?" I ask, her shoulders shrugging.
"I just- I thought I loved him but he walked out. I didn't do anything. It was his fault we got into the argument in the first place."
My lips frown and out of pure curiosity, I ask what he did.
"Well first of all, he came home yesterday plastered and I refused to sleep with him. He slammed me into the wall because he was angry and he left. He returned later and found me crying, wondering what happened. I yelled at him for his drunk actions and he yelled back that it was because he was drunk and he didn't mean it. He didn't comfort me or make sure I was okay or anything. He yelled he was pissed and walked right out. Last night was the coldest night of my life and I'm so happy you came home," she says, wiping a tear that runs down her cheek.
"You can stay with me," I suggest but she shakes her head.
"I can't. You and Harry should be alone and I can't intrude," she says, my lips frowning.
"No, please," I insist. Her small smile appears as she shakes her head, kindly declining.
The waiter returns and I order a coffee, Grace ordering a tea. The waiter smiles at her and she grins at him, his brown eyes glinting with something I've never seen before. I think it's desire.
"He totally likes you," I say, not caring that she just got out of a relationship. He totally checked her out.
"What?" she nearly laughs, my head nodding.
"His smile was so bright and his eyes were brighter than ever," I explain, her head turning to look at him. He's looking at her and he flushes pink when they meet gazes, his attention turning back to the notepad in his hand.
"He's cute," she smiles, my lips curving.
Grace POV
Reagan leaves shortly after we split the bill, saying Harry won't stop texting her. I honestly couldn't be happier for her and Harry; the two of them out of a romance novel. I collect my things and I drop my notebook on the ground, a large hand coming into view as I reach down for it. He grabs it and stands, our eyes connecting.
"This yours?" the waiter asks, his brown eyes charming and Australian accent enticing. His eyes compliment his shaggy hair and his muscular build is delectable.
"Yeah," I shyly grin, his black shirt tight on his torso. He's giving me heart problems; its beating way too fast right now.
"What's your name?" he asks, my hand retrieving the notebook from his hands. Our finger brush slightly and the small touch results in butterflies. What's going on and why has this feeling never occurred before? I never felt so fluttery, not even with Miles.
"Grace," I smile, his hand held out for me.
"Ashton," he grins, my hand folding into his.
"Are you okay? I saw you upset and I desperately wanted to ask how you were," he rambles, my cheeks flushing. He's too freaking cute.
"Oh, yeah. My boyfriend broke up with me," I explain, not feeling bad anymore. Reagan's talks help so much in this situation. I've known her since college and I come to her with everything.
"That's rough. I've honestly barely even dated. It's too much," he smiles, his smile so beautiful.
The café becomes deserted as Ashton and I continue talking, his personality charming. He has no edge to his voice and is genuine, not my normal type but I can't seem to stop smiling when I'm talking to him. We continue talking but I see the one person I didn't want to see walking by the window, his nostrils flared and his fists clenched.
"Woah, what's wrong?" Aston gushes, looking out the window at my angry ex. He rushes into the café and my stomach drops.
"I have to go," I say, Miles slamming the door open. Ashton stands and steps in front of me.
"Grace, what the fuck is this?!" he yells, my eyes never seeing someone so angry.
"I-I was-" but Ashton helps me.
"She's just talking with me. What's wrong with that?" Bless your soul Ashton.
"She's my girlfriend. That's what's wrong!" He yells at Ashton, my feet walking towards Miles.
"You broke up with me. I'm not your girlfriend," I say, his jaw clenching.
"Stop being such a bitch and come home with me!" he yells. I've never seen this side of him before.
Two hands grab my waist and pull me back, Ashton placing me behind him.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect girls?" Ashton says, the calm voice something I admire.
"Grace, come home with me now!" Miles yells, disregarding everything Ashton's said.
Before anything else is said, Ashton slams his fist against Miles' cheek, the blood dripping down Miles' nose. My hand cups my lips and Ashton stares at his hand, Miles wiping the blood from his nose.
"I'm done with you Grace! So fucking done!" Miles yells, my hand moving off my lips. The door slams behind Miles and I wrap my arms around Ashton, his shock still evident. No man has ever stood up for me like that.
"Thank you," I whisper, his arms moving around my waist and he tightens them increasingly.
"No one should say those things to someone," he says, my hands moving to his shoulders.
I've never met a man with moral values before. He's so pure and smart, the black rim glasses he put on after serving us accenting his behavior.
"I-I want to kiss you," I whisper, not afraid of admitting what I want.
His eyes widen and I can tell immediately he's not familiar with this type of interaction.
"I might be bad at it," he whispers, my smile bright.
As I lean in, my lips press to his and the soft lips move perfectly with mine. I'm a girl who moves fast, but my heart still needs to mend. I guess my thoughts on love were false and I need to learn what love truly is before I do anything else.
Reagan POV
"Harry," I laugh, his feet running before me with my hand laced in his tightly.
"Do you remember this place?" he asks, showing me his top floor office at H Publishing.
"You work here," I smile, sitting on the chair.
"No. I first met you right here."
I smile and he kisses my cheek, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the seat. We enter the elevator again and we run to his car, his hand steering through the city. He drives up his old driveway and I look at him with a confused look, his lips curving. We walk into the house and he stops us by the sink in the kitchen, my eyes looking up at him.
"First kiss?" I ask, his lips curving.
"You're catching on," he grins, kissing me lightly. We walk carefully up the burned stairs, his arms cradling me like a child.
"I don't want you falling," he whispers, pressing his lips on my temple. We walk along the burned floors, his hand opening my old 'room'.
"We had sex for the first time in this room," he says, my hand shoving his shoulder as he relishes the moment.
"I knew this was going to happen," I say, his laugh absolutely charming.
He takes me into his old bedroom and explains everything we ever did in the room. I give him credit for remembering everything.
The next place he takes me is my old apartment building, his feet leading me to my old bedroom window. We look into the old room, the vacant walls sad looking. It wasn't that great of a place to live in.
"We made love for the first time in this room," he whispers in my ear, kissing the lobe softly. I smile and he stands up, grabbing my hand and lifting me to my feet. He entwines our fingers and walks to the bus stop, my head resting on his shoulder.
"Where I found you," I whisper, his lips pressing to my forehead.
"You guessed it," the ends of his lips curving.
Our adventure continues to our old apartment together, Harry explaining everything that happened in the building to me. Every event and memory, the ones good and the ones not so good being said, are told to me in detail. The attention he's given to our relationship is something admirable.
"I know we went through crap here, so we're leaving now," he grins, my hand taken in his.
The sundress I wear flows in the summer sun as we walk a little farther, Harry and I smiling brightly as he buys ice cream for the two of us in the park. We sit on a bench and he points out the paparazzi in the bushes, my lips releasing a laugh. I can't get over how happy we are right now. There is nothing I want more than staying this happy with Harry the rest of the day.
"I would take you to England, but that's next week, so I guess we'll just have to settle for this," he smiles, showing me the little canoe in the river on the outskirts of New York.
"Just like our little date," I tease, kissing his dimple lightly.
He helps me into the canoe, his arms flexing as he rows us down the river.
"How was lunch yesterday?" he asks, my eyes taking in the scene. There are beautiful green trees and the swans in the water are amazing.
"Alright. Grace and Miles broke up. He's a shithead and hurt her," I say, dipping my fingers into the water. The ends of my hair land in the water and I smile, lifting my body and glancing at Harry.
"But she met some new guy and she says he's really cute. They are friends right now but that's because she's working on her feelings right now. He was kind of cute but I didn't see it. She did apparently," I say, squeezing Harry's knee.
"That's moving on fast," he says, my head nodding.
"That's just Grace though. But I found my dude and stuck with him," I say, Harry smiling at me.
"Here we are," he smiles, my eyes viewing the park. He steps out of the boat and grabs my hands, helping me out. He ties up the boat and walks with me to a field. We lay down and watch the clouds, my eyes closing as I bask in the sun. We lay for a while until Harry's hands lift me into his arms, my body placed on my feet as we enter a small gazebo.
"I don't remember this place," I smile, his hand pulling me towards him. His fingers spin me in front of him before he leans down, kissing me lightly.
"You will," he grins, my eyes watching him.
"Reagan Elizabeth Albright, I have never met anyone like you before. You've helped me in ways I never knew I could be helped. I love you and I-I've known for a while now that I don't want anyone else. You've taken the bad out of my life and all day yesterday, I was planning for this moment. I was scared you overheard me and I didn't want to let you down. Next week will mark a year for us but it only takes a minute to fall in love with you," he whispers, kneeling down on one knee in front of me.
Everything is perfect. Harry is the only thing I see and I couldn't think of anything else I would want more. Every day I wake up to Harry, a future where we can have children together, and our lives spent together. The tears fall down my cheeks already and Harry reaches into his pocket, pulling out a velvet box.
"I-I asked your mum to ask your dad for permission but she said just go for it through her tears. So I did just that," he grins, my lips curving. I wipe the tears and he sets the box into my trembling hand, my eyes taking in the beautiful ring. I feel like I'm on top of the world. This is so insane but so right all at the same time.
"Reagan, will you marry me?" he asks, my arms around him in a second. My hands entwine through his hair and I whisper 'yes' in his ear, kissing his cheek lightly. I'm so overcome with emotions right now and I want nothing more than to stay in his arms.
"Reagan," he smiles, a laugh echoing after as I continue to kiss him.
"Wait," he says, moving me back. He slides the ring on my finger and he wraps his arms around me.
"Resume," he smiles, our lips meeting once again.
---
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