My face went blank as Emily told me where she was going. Much to my own confusion, Emily started smiling. Shortly after, her smiling turned to laughing. "I'm joking," she said as she kept walking down the hall. "Kinda dark, I know. I just wanted to scare Harry and guilt trip him, since this is technically his fault in most ways," she added.
"If you're not going to the hospital, then where are you going?" I asked as I followed her onto the elevator. "I'm just going to stay with Calum for tonight," Emily replied as she pressed the button to take us down to the lobby of the apartment complex. "How is he?"
"He's basically fine, honestly. A few bruises here and there, but it's certainly nothing major. How's Harry?" Emily slightly grimaced as she said Harry's name, leading me to assume she was probably more than just slightly annoyed with him, and that she was most likely just asking how he was, for my sake. "Pretty much the same as Calum," I responded simply.
"If Calum's okay, then why are you staying with him tonight?" Emily stopped walking and turned around to face me. The yellow lighting in the lobby almost resembled a horror movie; the fact that the apartment complex was already generally creepy at night, really wasn't helping. "Maddi," she incredulously said, as if I was entirely missing the obvious punchline of a joke.
I tilted my head forward to urge her to continue. "No offense to you, but I clearly already know Harry's still up there, and he'll probably stay there. I'd really rather pry my fingernails off than be in that apartment right now." I didn't have time to respond, because, right after she said that, she quickly turned on her heel and walked through the front doors of the building.
I turned in the opposite direction and went back to my apartment. Just as Emily said, Harry was still in my apartment, and still sitting on my couch. He didn't seem to notice that I'd come back, and if he did notice it, he didn't acknowledge my presence. He remained still as he looked down at his hands, seemingly picking at the edges of his fingernails. He almost resembled a child that had just gotten in trouble.
"Harry," I said softly as I approached him. Still, he didn't look up. I repeated his name as I got closer, but to no avail. I sat down beside him on the couch and placed my small hand on his own. Harry still refused to lift his head, or even make the slightest movement. I noticed the edges of his fingernails were starting to get raw, likely from the amount of picking he'd done. I lightly pulled his hands away from each other. At this, he finally lifted his head and looked me in the eyes.
"I'm sorry," his melodic voice spoke in such a light, hushed tone, it was hardly audible. It was almost as if he was speaking quietly, because he didn't want to believe he'd done what he did. Perhaps, in his mind, he thought that, if he heard himself apologizing, it made his previous actions a reality. He was ashamed to admit that he'd actually done what he did. Maybe an apology, to him, meant admitting it.
"I'm sorry," he repeated as he broke his gaze and stared back at his seemingly fascinating hands. He repeated those two words over and over, progressively quieter each time, until he was only mouthing the words. His brown hair served as a veil for his face as it slightly hung forward. I'd never been good with emotions, and I'd never been near a fight, so I was unsure of how to console him.
I put my hand on his back, but I applied so little pressure, I was pretty positive I was only rubbing circles on his shirt, rather than his actual back. Once I realized he wasn't going to have a horrible reaction to my touch, I leaned my head forward and just rested it on his shoulder. "I know," I finally responded to his repeated apology. It wasn't a harsh or condescending tone - it was soft; knowing; forbearing. We stayed like this for a while - neither one of us even pondering the general idea of moving anytime soon.
When I finally did move my head, it was only to look upward towards his face, and even then, I still didn't move my head from its place on his shoulder. He looked tired, to the naked eye. But, the more I looked at him, I could see past the physical exhaustion. I scanned his face as I took mental notes of everything I saw.
His lips were in a slight frown; his usually bright eyes almost appeared dull; his brows were tugged towards each other, and slightly upwards; He almost even looked like he'd lost his coloring everywhere, including his typically pink lips.
This time, I did lift my head off his shoulder. While one hand was still rubbing his back, I raised my free hand and lightly swept some of his hair out of his face with a gentle, reassuring smile. "Do you want to go to sleep?" I questioned, almost in a whisper, as if I was afraid of startling him. He simply nodded in return, prompting me to stand up. I held my hand out for him to take, which he graciously obliged to do.
We reached my bedroom, and Harry, of course, basically made a beeline for my bed. He gently lied down on the soft mattress and threw the comforter over himself. I briskly made my way to my bathroom to brush my teeth and change into more comfortable clothes. When I exited the bathroom, I glanced over to Harry, who returned the glance. He lightly patted the spot beside him on the bed as I made my way towards him.
I lied down beside him after I turned the lights off. He reached over and gently placed his hand on my waist, pulling me closer to him. I nuzzled my face into his chest, feeling it lightly rise and fall with each breath. His hand rested on my back, lightly tracing patterns on the relatively thin fabric of my shirt. His hand was so light, it felt like he'd been tracing my back with a few feathers.
I eventually allowed myself to drift to a serene sleep as the sound of his heartbeat served as a lullaby; a song that only I had the grace and honor of being able to hear at this very moment. Before I let my subconscious mind take over as I starting falling asleep, I could've almost sworn I heard Harry's voice for the first time since his repeated apology earlier.
"I think," he began in a low, hushed whisper, that I surely wouldn't have heard if I was even slightly farther away from him. "I-" he quietly laughed at his own stuttering. "I think I love you, Maddi," he finally said, still in such a faint tone. He must've thought I was already asleep, which probably meant he was too timid to actually say it to me yet; which, is why I let him continue thinking I was asleep.
It was indescribably beneficial to me, that I had my face buried into his chest, so he wouldn't see my uncontrollable blushing or gentle smiling.
~ ~ ~
The sun shown in through my windows this morning, waking me up. As I awoke, I felt strands of my hair being tenderly twirled around and combed through with gentle fingers. I lifted my head to see Harry glancing down at me, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips - far more enjoyable than the frown that had been permanently displayed the night before.
Unfortunately for me, it wasn't Saturday quite yet. I still had one more day of work until I could have a free weekend. I still had a good bit until my alarm would go off, signaling that it would be time for me to get up, but I figured I'd go ahead and get ready earlier today, since I was already up.
I looked around my room to see that everything suddenly had a slightly golden tint to it, from the sun peeking through my windows. I usually close my curtains at night to prevent the sun from waking me up earlier than necessary, but I must've forgotten to close them last night. I began sitting up in my bed, until I was gently pulled back by Harry. He pulled me backwards so lightly, in fact, it felt like I was simply floating back down to my mattress.
He nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck as he benignly, but ever so slightly firmly wrapped both of his arms around my waist. "Do you really have to get up right now?" His voice was muffled as he spoke. I smiled at his simple query. "I still have a little bit of time until I necessarily have to get up," I responded through a smile.
I felt him nod at my answer as he placed one, simple, light kiss on the side of my neck. I was almost positive he'd fallen back asleep shortly after that. I felt his warm breath on my neck as he inhaled and exhaled, and I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back due to how close we were. I reached over and grabbed my phone so I could turn my alarm off and avoid waking him up.
Much to my own dismay, 6:45 had rolled around, which meant I'd have to get up. I somehow managed to unwrap Harry's arms from around my waist and get up without waking him. I quickly made my way to the shower, and then proceeded to follow through with my usual morning routine. As I left the bathroom, I saw that Harry was finally getting up. He sat on the edge of the bed before standing up and groggily walking, or, rather slightly stumbling, forward.
He lightly jumped as he lifted his head and saw me, as if he wasn't expecting me to be standing there. I couldn't help but even still admire him in his half-asleep state. His eyes were barely able to stay open; his hair disheveled; his shoulder slightly slumped forward.
We both bid each other good morning as I made my way out to the kitchen. After grabbing my bag and keys, I walked back into my bedroom to tell Harry goodbye, since I had to go to work. Harry leaned down to press a small kiss on my lips, that is, until I slightly pulled back. He gave me a puzzled look before I elaborated simply with, "morning breath," I said with a laugh.
He returned the laugh and nodded as he followed me out of my apartment, and began walking to his own.
~ ~ ~
I got to work on time, as usual, and was met there by Emily and Jace. Emily's been driving me to work here lately, so it was odd to walk here again, but I slightly enjoyed it, honestly. Emily went to the back to pin her name tag to her shirt. When she was out of earshot, Jace leaned forward and quietly asked, "have you talked to her yet?"
"Who?" I asked confusedly. He lightly huffed and glanced around before answering, "Emily." I suddenly remembered that he'd asked me to talk him up to Emily the previous night. Before I had a chance to answer him, another voice seemed to join our conversation. "Talk to me about what?" Emily said with a soft laugh as she leaned against the wall, still pinning her name tag to her shirt.
Jace and I simply exchanged glances as we looked back to her, and Jace did an awkward, nervous laugh. He simply turned around and walked away, probably pretending that didn't just happen. Emily, still unknowing of our previous conversation, laughed at Jace's actions.
"Anyway," she began. "What'd you need to talk to me about?" She asked.
This should be an interesting conversation.