Part 16... fanficparker

Harrison's heart splinted as soon as he read the unread message flashing on his phone screen.

I know you aren't sleeping.

It was from you, time-stamped around eleven-thirty last night. You were using his tactic, but the only thing was- Harrison had actually slept. Probably, because he got into the bed sooner than he used to and forced sleep upon himself. But now he felt nothing but guilt.

It was always easy to run in circles even if it was depressing. But facing the problem, doing something out of your comfort zone was always a hell no for Harrison. There was nothing new you had told him last night. He himself knew all of that- all that was good for him. 'Don't run from your past, face it' et cetera stuff. It was not like Harrison had never tried. He had tried multiple times. He always thought of approaching Tom and gang and confront everything, after all, what was even there to lose? Regardless of that, whenever it came for taking real actions... He just couldn't make himself do it. It was difficult to even imagine going through everything once again.

It was a shame that he even skipped the opportunities that fell right onto his feet. When he was around twenty, his old friends tried to talk to him but he rejected the opportunity twice. And now he doesn't know how to do it himself. This experience definitely helped him to not let go of the chance he had with you. He did learn a bit from his past but surely he could learn more. His lips curled up in a disappointing smile. He sighed lightly and pushed the phone back to the night-stand, then turned on his back to face you. His crumbled heart swelled at your sight. He realised he didn't even notice how beautiful you looked in his clothes till yet. He could gift all his wardrobe to you, just to see you in his clothes daily.

He perched himself on his elbows to peek at you properly. The sheets were barely covering your feet while you were lying on your back, one hand resting on the mattress while the other was placed over your forehead. Your lips were twisted downwards and you were slightly frowning. Another wave of guilt rushed into his heart. It didn't seem like you had a very comfortable night. His hand travelled to lift your hand away from your head, dropping it softly on the bed as he caressed your head and pushed back your hairs gently with his fingers.

The blonde didn't even notice the smile that spread on his face when he heard you groaning softly and shuffling on the bed, parting your mouth and wetting your lips with your tongue. He scooted over you and pecked the middle of your forehead and then leaned down, pecked the corners of your eyes followed by your cheeks.

He stopped when your hand cupped his face, swiping a thumb across his jawline. His lips twitched when your eyes fluttered open. You stretched your body not leaving his face and them threw another arm around his shoulders. You were basically under him. You crossed both your arms behind his neck, your e/c eyes dancing between his icy blue ones.

"Morning!" You greeted him in a sleepy, groggy voice.

"Morning..." He breathed out. His grin slowly flattened when he noticed you squinting your eyes while your face was closed in a grimace. His fingers combed through your hairs, occasionally massaging your forehead.

"Thought you were mad at me," You whispered and he shook his head.

"I can never, love..." He answered and his voice did sound honest. He ducked his head down, planting a kiss in your hair. You hummed in response.

"You're having a headache, right?" He asked, lifting his head up, even though he knew he was right.

"A little bit..." You answered, clearing your throat. Your voice sounded strained. He didn't speak for a minute as if he was thinking.

"I should... get you an ice pack... And even make you some... coffee. Will that be good?" He offered.

"That would be good," You closed your eyes and sank your shoulders in the mattress, dropping your hand back on the bed. He stepped out of the bed and then came back in a few minutes.

"Come 'ere," He mumbled, sitting beside you, resting his back against the headrest. He kept the ice pack wrapped in a white hand towel near his feet. You lifted yourself as his arms softly encircled your waist, pulling you to his chest. You scooted closer to him, resting your head on the point where his shoulders meet his chest, keeping your palm flat on his sternum.

One of his arms was still looped around your waist, his thumb was gently touching the little skin that was exposed because of the t-shirt (his t-shirt) rolling upwards. His other arm came to push the loose hair strands behind your ears, failing to do so though. The hairs were too small to be pushed behind yet he looked satisfied and gazed at you, smiling. Your heart was doing all that painful tightening and squeezing and thumping yet feeling warm and calm. He again kissed you on your forehead and then nuzzled his nose in your hair. And then picked the ice pack and pressed it on the spot where he was previously nuzzling he nose.

Everything he was doing was super tender but it also hinted to something deeper inside of him- insecurity, fear of losing... He was distracting himself from his nerves. You knew insecurity was not something that could go away easily. It will take time and you will give him that time. Then he spoke, confirming your assumptions.

"I... am really sorry for..." He hesitated and clicked his tongue in an attempt to search for the correct words, "My pa-passive aggressive behaviour last night."

You lifted your head from his chest to look at his face, his eyes were again radiating that nervous energy. Your free hand travelled to your head as you placed it above his hand, balancing the ice pack properly. You tried to catch his eyes but his pupils continued to dance in the middle space.

You sighed, "I shouldn't just blurt it out. It was a sensitive topic---"

"I want to do it." Harrison interrupted. He doubted his voice sounded screechy like Voldemort. But he also sounded a bit panicky, so maybe not exactly Voldemort.

He finally looked straight into your eyes and took in a shallow breath. "I want to do it," He repeated much more confidently this time. "I will talk to Tom," He released the breath out but much more deeply.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded, "I will."

"That's... That's awesome," You sighed of relief and his lips curled into a miniature smile. You leaned in and pecked them, feeling yourself smiling ear to ear. A chuckle erupted from his throat when you pulled back, making your eyes narrow in confusion.

"What?"

He cleared his throat in an attempt to contain his giggles, though some of them managed to escape.

"So weird, we are casually kissing..." He bit his lip in admission. It made you laugh but soon a ting in your head made you wince. The headache wasn't gone just yet.

"Oh god. You should rest," He made you lay down and tucked you under the cover while you pressed the cold compress to your head.

"Shit," Harrison suddenly panicked and jumped off the bed.

"What?"

"I left the coffee on the stove," He sprinted to the kitchen leaving you alone in the room. You would have been laughing at his shenanigans but you couldn't. Instead, your chest tightened. Harrison thought you were having a headache because of your conversation with him last night. He was wrong. It was not the conversation you had with him that made you feel so stressed that it could implant an ache in you. No. It was all because of the conversation you had with your dad.

Last night after Harrison slept and failed to reply to your text, you had left the room. You wanted to lighten up your mood, so you decided to watch some television in the living room. Your parents were already sitting on the sofa. You did greet them with a small smile when you arrived and joined them in whatever programme they chose to watch.

"So... Harrison's leaving tomorrow?" Your dad asked after a few minutes into the show.

"Yeah. Tomorrow morning." Your eyes were still on the screen. There was a small pause after which you heard your him sigh.

"...So, that means... Your mom and I will get to spend some time with you?" His voice was small, sad and a mixture of what you call hopeful and hopeless.

"What do you mean?" You twirled your head to look at him, his tired eyes reflected the blue from the TV and he was already looking at you.

"I guess that's why you brought your Hufflepuff boyfriend here. So you get an excuse to not spend time with us." He breathed out sharply with his nose, closing his eyes for a moment and then got up from the sofa. It was enough to make a lump rest at the back of your throat and heart to stop beating for at least three seconds.

"I am sorry if we couldn't be the parents you wanted." He said looking down and then walked across the hallway to his room.

That was exactly why you had a headache in the morning. You had spent half of the night replaying your dad's words. It was a big accusation and you hated the fact that at least half of it was true.

***

Harrison produced a slight smile, peeking at you from the sideways as you both were standing inside the lift, accompanied by an elderly couple. You flashed back at him, it was his silent way of reminding- 'We can go back if you don't feel good', he had practically said you this at least fifteen times. And your smile translated to 'I am fine. Don't worry', literally the fifteenth time.

The lift stopped on the terrace, beautifully decorated in pink and white lit by the hundreds of stars that blinked in the black sky. Breathtaking. Soon you found yourself being a part of the gathering. Harrison made you meet Jerry and his wife, both of them were friendly but also super busy. They had called a lot of relatives. Maybe because of their missed wedding ceremony.

Formal parties especially a party that's already called 'a get together' are nothing but inconsequential polite conversations, food and drinks. The latter two were appetising enough that you didn't mind the little inconsequential polite conversations with strangers you were forced to be a part of. Of course.

Harrison poked his head over your shoulder while you both were sitting on a table munching over the snacks and sipping over a mysterious red drink.

"Did I tell you how angelic you are looking today?" He whispered near your ear.

"Let me think..." You rested a finger below your chin, raising an amused eyebrow, "Yeah, like fifty times already."

"And you zero!" He said in a fake hurt tone, carrying a fake pout as he sat up straight against the chair, hands folded across his chest.

"Harrison I told you, you look great."

"You didn't call me... angelic," He clicked his tongue but ended up laughing. You facepalmed, resting your elbow on the table unable to contain your own giggles.

"Should we vacate this table and give others a chance to sit, angel?" You spoke dramatically, raising your empty glass at him, an undercurrent of laughter flowing through your words.

"Why not, angel!" Harrison stood up and offered you his hand, "Mind joining me in dance?" Not forgetting to mention his seventeenth-century fake posh accent.

He dragged you to the lit dance floor where the main couple and a few other people were dancing or basically just swaying their bodies with the music. It made your face to go red. Harrison coughed to drag your attention from the dancing couples to him, curling his fingers around your hand, giving it a small squeeze.

A duet was new for you. You haven't even danced as a couple before. Yet, you turned to face him, his black suit was looking neater than ever, his blue tie complimenting with your own dress.

"I will step on your toes... wearing these sharp heels," You warned as his arm encircles your waist, pulling you closer. He chuckled breathlessly in your hair while you press your face to his shoulder in an attempt to hide it. Slow dancing in public was more embarrassing than you expected. For minutes you both swayed your body with the soft music without any words.

"Y/n..." He whispered near your ear, "Remember... that party?"

Your muscles tensed at the memory.

"I cried when you left," He gulped, his voice lowering its pitch further down.

"And I cried the night when you slapped me in front of Simon."

You were barely moving yet were already panting.

"W-why are you telling this to me?"

"I dunno..." He paused, tightening his grip on your waist, "Just wanted to tell."

"Oh."

He hummed at your response.

"I-I won't slap you ever again," You added quickly.

"I won't do anything like that again too..." He trailed off but then added, "Your dad talked to me when you were in the shower."

You froze on the spot, he stopped his movements along with you.

"You lied." He said in a low voice, pulling himself to look at your face.

"It wasn't about your mom being impressed with me and forcing you to date me..."

Of course. That reason was far too dumb. It was over five years, you were meeting your parents in person after leaving your house with a huge argument taking place about your career. You were still not ready to face them and thought a boyfriend would be a good distraction.

"Y/n?" He spoke sternly, getting your attention to his face from your feet.

"I..."

He interrupted you with his hand resting behind your ear, "Just... spend this week with them. Will you?"

His eyes danced between yours, waiting for your response.

"I... will," You spoke slowly, feeling a slight bit of confidence rushing through your veins. If Harrison can agree to meet his old friends, why can't you do this simple thing?

"Promise?" His lips curled into a small smile. You nodded and he leaned over your face.

"Are you okay with public kissing?" He asked with his breath falling over your lips.

"No... no. Privacy," You gently pushed his head back with your hand, chuckling nervously.

"What about an empty lift? I wanna make up for the missed one week in advance." He asked, wrapping his fingers around your wrist.

(How are you all doing? And did you like this chapter? I will love your feedback. Also, only two chapters are left... Thank you so much for sticking with me for so long.)

Word count: 2.5k words
Date published: 3rd Jun'20