W Y A T T

"Who are you and what have you done to Harper Moore?"

Harper opened the door for me in nothing but pink sports shorts and a white t-shirt that looked a little too big for her small frame. Her beautiful, strawberry blonde hair was tied up into a loose ponytail and she looked absolutely stunning. I wondered for the hundredth time since she came to New York, how did I ever agree on staying just friends with this girl.

Harper rolled her eyes at me before focusing on the instructions she was holding in her hands. The dorm looked like it had been raided, with books scattered all over the bed, a box of tools on the floor, and what looked like small pieces of furniture laying around.

"Shut up." She shot me a glare. "I'm trying to assemble this bookcase."

Her words instantly caused my lips to curl up in a small smile. "Really?"

"Well, yeah. If I'm gonna stay here, even if it's just for a year, I'm gonna need somewhere to keep my books." She sat criss crossed on the floor and picked up two nails and a hammer. "The desk isn't working anymore."

I wish she could see it the way I see it. How she's allowed herself to grow and be brave enough to face her fears. For Harper, this is just a piece of furniture she bought to store her books, but the way I see it, this bookcase means something more. So much more. But I wasn't going to tell her that. With time, she'd figure it out anyway.

"Oh, cool." I put down the box of donuts on the small inch of the desk that wasn't occupied. "Do you need help?"

"I'm a woman, I think I can build a bookcase that comes with instructions."

God, I fucking love it when she goes all feminist on me.

"I know you can. But see, I brought donuts and everything cause I thought we'd be studying. Plus, I think it'd be a fun thing to do together."

"Okay." She got up from the floor, leaving the instructions manual behind and waltzed in my direction. As she moved closer, I could smell her, her hair and her skin and I had to make a really big effort not to let it show how it affected me. She opened the box and picked up a donut, taking a bite.

Needing a distraction, I fetched the instructions and opened it on the first page, looking at the images and then at the pieces that she had already laid out on the floor.

"If you can't get it either, we'll just go to international students and look for a Swedish kid." She said in between bites.

I chuckled and grabbed a donut for myself as well. "I think we're okay."

"Speaking of international students, where is that roommate of yours?"

"Oh, she transferred to another dorm with a girl from Ukraine as well."

"So you're all alone again."

"Hence why I got the bookcase."

"Okay." I nodded before looking around the room, taking in the space. "An electric screwdriver would help but I think we can manage with a regular one. I know where we can find it."

"I have it." She stated matter of factly. "I thought of everything."

Of course she did.

"Well, let's get to work then."

Ten minutes into this whole bookcase assembling thing, and I can officially confirm that this is one of the most intimate things you can do with someone. You're sitting on the floor, up close to that person, looking at instructions and the pieces, the bolts and the wood boards, putting it all together in your heads. You get to see how the other person thinks, how their brain works, how they're logical. Fuck, maybe I'm just in too deep and this activity alone is making me think things. Maybe I'm just right.

"This is actually quite easy." She said once we figured it out. And it truly was. IKEA wasn't joking when they say that their furniture is designed to be assembled by their customers.

Harper was doing the whole thing herself, I was just there to help her when she needed or to help her figure out a step that wasn't too perceptible on the images.

We took a few pauses in between, mostly to fuel up on sugar with the donuts that I'd brought with me, but we'd end up talking about everything and anything.

"I'm sorry I kept you from studying tonight." Somehow, the pink box had already found its way between us, on the floor. "You can go back to your dorm, if you want to. I'll figure it out on my own. And if I need help, I'll just search for a Youtube tutorial."

"Nonsense. I'm right where I want to be."

My words carried a lot more weight than they seemed to, and I was sure Harper knew, but when she spoke up, she went for the polite route instead.

"In that case, thank you."

"I can still drop by tomorrow and we can study. If you have nothing planned, of course."

"I don't." She said. "I mean, I was planning on getting some more books for my brand new bookcase. Some decorations too. But you're totally right, I should probably study instead."

"Oh, that sounds great actually!" I sat up straighter and told her about my idea. "I could come with you to the bookstore and we could study there."

I was actually fully prepared to hear some excuse from her to tell me that no, she didn't want to do that. But Harper was different. She was adjusting to her new life and it was finally suiting her, she was finally fitting in.

"Yeah, of course!" She said with a smile. I found myself smiling back at her.

"Well since I'm on a roll, asking you out..." I stopped myself from stumbling on more of my words and pressed my lips tightly before taking a breath. "Have you heard about the protests next week?"

"No. Is this about the new abortion law?"

We're in 2023 and we're still talking about women's rights and abortion like it's two centuries ago. Instead of moving forward, we're moving backwards and we must do something about it, especially as the younger generation. Abortion is a tricky subject, causing a lot of opinions and a lot of what ifs, when it should just be the women's choice, but it seems like we're gonna need to fight to earn that right.

"Partially, yes. There's gonna be a women's march and it's supposed to end in front of the supreme court where they'll protest about the new abortion law."

"That's really cool."

"Me and a few friends from my women's studies class are actually planning on going." Harper gave me a surprised look. "You're more than welcome to come with us and feel free to join us on Monday while we'll be making the signs."

"Absolutely, count me in! For the signs and the protest."

"Cool."

Harper and I have a connection, a soulmate-like connection that's magical and far too good to be true. But besides all that, we have a lot (if not everything) in common. We want the same things. Essentially, we want the world to be a better place, we want to see change. In fact, to this day I still don't know why she told me we should stay friends and ignore our romantic feelings for each other when we have the same vision, when we want the same things. But that's something for me to find out some other day. In time, I'll figure out what's going on in that head of hers.

Once the bookcase was built we high fived and sat side by side on the floor, our backs resting against the bed frame, resting and looking at the result of our work. I sat with my legs pulled up, and my wrists on top of my knees.

"Good job." I told her, nudging her arm with my elbow. Harper flashed me a smile and thanked me.

"You know, I'm glad you came over and helped me. I actually had fun."

"Me too." I said. "Who knew assembling a piece of furniture would be so much fun?"

And it truly was. If this had been a date (which I know it wasn't), this would have easily been my favorite date that I've ever had.

"Yeah, I had a pretty good time too."

I was watching Harper carefully pick up her books and organizing them before putting them on the shelves, and I couldn't help but think how domestic this whole thing is. How I craved this. How can such a simple task mean so much?

I don't know if it's that easy for her, but me? I can't see her as just my friend. I could never. We're it. 

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author's note

this chapter was the closest thing to an impromptu chapter that i've ever created 🤭

question: have you ever built an ikea 

you know the drill - vote, comment and follow for more <3

xoxo, mars