You woke up to a knock at the door. Sliding out of bed with a grumble and grabbing your dressing gown due to the slightly chilly September morning, you stalked towards the door.

Stifling a yawn you threw it open to be welcomed with...nothing. Your features scrunched up into confusion and annoyance, surely people still didn't play knock down ginger?

Poking your head out of the doorframe and eyeing the empty hallway suspiciously, you were about to close the door before you noticed the reason for your disturbance; a large bouquet of sunset orange, yellow and pink wildflowers stood at the foot of your door.

With wide eyes you leant down and grabbed the beautiful flowers greedily, feeling very flattered and pleased by their presence as you placed them down in your living room. You thought only one person would do something like this, and was happy to be proven correct when you opened the small envelope attached with the bouquet.

Cecelia,

Picking you up at 8.

Birthday celebrations start now,

Wear something nice.

H x

Your eyes scanned the note eagerly, and after reading it through a couple of times, you clutched the note to your chest, all grumpy sleepiness now replaced by pure curiosity and excitement. Harry had obviously taken note of your love for birthdays, especially your own, and that made you incredibly happy. You'd been so busy with work that you hadn't had time to organise something for your big day tomorrow, or spend much time with Harry in general, so the thought of Harry taking it into his own hands made your heart flutter at his simple act of kindness.

You knew there would be no chance you'd get back to sleep now, not with the upcoming event this evening that you were already delighted about, so you began to get ready for a morning run to maybe try and burn off some energy.

And it worked a treat; when you got back you had a quick nap on the sofa while watching your favourite sitcom. You were pleased as a nap was always the perfect way to pass some time, and since you'd been feeling pretty exhausted as of late, you needed all the sleep you could get.

While making your lunch another knock at your door sounded through your apartment.

As you wandered over to open the door you felt like you were in groundhog day, having already done this once before. Luckily, when the door swung open there was a person holding a package. You thanked the delivery man before taking the box and closing the door behind you with your foot.

You eyed the cardboard box in confusion, grabbing some scissors and slicing open the sellotape to be met with a box of chocolates and a small fluffy teddy bear that was holding a felt heart with the words Happy Birthday stitched onto it.

"Who is this from?" You mused lowly to yourself, before reading the small note attached to the chocolate box.

Princess,

Happy Birthday!

See you later,

Love, D x

A jumbled mess of thoughts crashed through your mind after discovering the gift was from Damon. First of all, in all honesty, you felt a little bit uncomfortable. Being called 'princess' was never a pet name you favoured, and definitely not coming from Damon... And then there was the signing off with his initial again! It just wasn't the same as when Harry did it, and you knew these constant comparisons were quite unfair, but it was impossible not too when all the things Harry had done were so, well, perfectly Harry. But what really confused you was the 'see you later' at the bottom, as you had no plans to see Damon any time soon, so for what reason would he say that?

You knew the teddy was an ode to a past memory you both shared; Damon had bought you something similar for a past birthday, but it was one that was now tainted.

"I don't want you to fucking see him!" His loud voice echoed across the walls of your shared bedroom.

"He's just a friend for gods sake, I don't understand why -" you words were cut of as a scream left your lips as the small teddy flew by your head at such a speed it could have definitely hurt you had it hit you. You never thought Damon would hurt you, or fear the way he could use such innocent things and make them seem so deadly, but here you were sobbing as the man who claimed to love you was doing just that.

"Damon please, stop, I'm sorry!" You sobbed out.

He was visibly trembling with anger, this fight was one you'd had before but tonight was much, much worse. You knew you'd be in trouble as soon as you passed the threshold of your apartment and smelt the liquor on his breath.

In a few long strides he was gripping your wrist so tight it left a bruise, "You won't see Liam again, you hear me?" He spat the words out.

All you could manage was a timid nod as he let you go with a push so your back hit the wall with a thud, leaving the room and slamming the door in his wake. You slid down the wall and crumpled into a ball, your body heaving with sobs.

Grimacing slightly, you placed the bear back in the box, not having relived those memories in a very long time. It was clear what Damon had tried to do - send a sweet gift as a kind gesture to show he was trying - but in reality it had absolutely backfired and just reminded you of all the reasons why you should stay away.

And then your eyes landed on the soft flowers across the room and all the painful memories slipped away into nothingness, at the reminder than men could be kind and gentle, and that maybe this wasn't just about teddy bears and flowers, but about the very obvious sign they were giving you.

◇

You waited patiently for Harry outside the door of your townhouse apartment block, tapping one heel-clad foot against the top step. The September evening air was chilly on your legs, the sun having almost set, so you hugged your soft coat around you tightly, admiring the way the late orange glow beamed through the leaves on the trees.

Thankfully, a sleek black car began to pull over on the side of the road by your home. You watched, a small smile playing on your lips as Harry exited the vehicle in a bright yellow suit paired with a silky black shirt. You'd never met someone that was able to pull off the eccentric prints and colours Harry seemed to have a fancy for, but he did it impeccably every single time.

Your eyes connected, the same closed-lipped smirk dancing on his own lips. It was like a spark ran through you both when you looked at each other. As he ascended a few steps you began to walk down to meet him in the middle, maintaining your electric eye contact the entire time, your heart fluttering wildly in your chest at how close you were soon going to have him.

Gazing down at him from your one step higher vantage point, you revelled in the way his eyes burned as he looked up at you, his irises a deep green today. A beat passed before either of you spoke.

"Hi," you whispered.

"Hi," he whispered back. Even though you were slightly taller than him, what with your heels and the step that you stood on, he easily closed the gap to place a light kiss millimetres away from the corner of your mouth. Goosebumps rose on your skin as his hot minty breath fanned your face, making your curled hair flutter in the process.

"You got a hair cut," you noted, fingers coming up to brush the stray hairs away from his face, "Shorter suits you."

"Thanks love," he murmured, you were still stood achingly close, the small gap between you seemed to pulse in the air around you, "Shall we?"

He offered his hand out to you, and you gladly took it, as these stairs were not ideal in heels. Ever the gentleman, he opened the car door for you and you slipped inside the back seat, thinking that you would never tire of that simple gesture and how it always made you heart warm.

"You look beautiful as ever Cecelia," Harry spoke as the car started to drive off, eyeing your white dress with a sparkle in his eye. You looked over at him, adoration unmistakably written across your features - you couldn't even hide it anymore. Every time he called you by your full name it made your heart sigh in happiness. How you didn't have heart problems because of this man you did not know.

"Thank you H...and thank you for the flowers," you shot a beaming smile his way.

"You're welcome, and um, 've got something else for you," his voice was laced with shyness as he pulled a small velvet box out of his suit pocket.

"Oh Harry, you didn't have to get me anything -"

"Don't be silly, of course I was going to. Open it." He urged.

You chuckled at his eagerness, your own excitement building as you flipped open the box. A gasp left your lips as soon as your eyes settled on the dainty silver bracelet laid inside. It had a small cobalt blue gemstone set in the middle of the chain, and it shined like the brightest star in the sky, it was absolutely stunning.

"Harry..." a lump formed in your throat, preventing you from carrying on, as you tore your eyes away from the gift to stare at Harry in wonder.

"D'you like it? The gem is your birthstone, a sapphire."

"I...God, Harry, I can't believe this, it's perfect. Thank you so much," You tried to make sure the tears didn't spill over as you threw your arms around him, holding him to you as tight as possible. When you pulled away, your face was inches from his and you stared into his dreamy face for as long as you thought was acceptable, reminding yourself that he was your boss and it would be weird to carry on gazing at him, but you could've happily stared forever.

"Can you put it on?"

"Of course," he seemed slightly out of breath as he spoke; his heart was hammering a mile a minute in his chest, he was just completely enamoured by you and so glad you loved his gift.

His soft fingertips worked at the clasp, grazing across your skin and leaving fire in their wake as he placed it across your wrist as you continued to swap between admiring the gorgeous gift and the man sat next to you who just couldn't possibly be real.

"You can send it back and they'll add more gems if you want, you know, when you have kids or something, or get married...things like that," Harrys soft, thoughtful voice was a melody you could listen to forever. An image flashed across your mind of an amethyst gem joining your one, knowing that was the birthstone for February and for Harry. It shocked you that your subconscious would go straight to that from his words, a man who was still your boss at the end of the day.

You managed to murmur back a response, your mind still wrapped up in what you had just thought before the car stopped and you were getting out and taking Harry's hand again, admiring the new bracelet on your wrist that was twined next to his soft palm. It was like your mind was a movie that was frozen on the same frame; that frame being the image of you looking down at Harry's hand in yours, but instead of a sunflower yellow suit, a crisp black one framed his wrist, the flutter of a white gown below you, as you marvelled at the same bracelet but with two gems on it instead of one.

Finally being broken out of your stupor by Harry opening the door of your favourite bar you spoke, "Ooh I haven't been here in ages, it's my favourite bar!"

"Yeah I know, that's why I picked it." Harry responded with a sarcastic tone and confident smirk. He placed his hand on your lower back as you rolled your eyes at him, beginning the walk down the stairs to the main seating area.

You stared around in confusion at how empty it was, "Harry, why's no-one here?"

Harry stayed silent, which only added to your confusion. You stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face him, tugging on his sleeve, "Harry what's -"

"SURPRISE!"

You screamed in astonishment, your hands flying up to cover your mouth, as loads of your friends jumped out from behind the bar, round corners and even some under the tables all yielding party poppers that exploded into the air.

Completely unable to comprehend what was going on, you turned around to Harry to see him grinning a huge Cheshire Cat smile, all bunny teeth and dimples and you swear you could've kissed him, "Did you do this?" Your voice was hardly a whisper.

He nodded, clearly very pleased with himself and your reaction, before pulling you in for a tight bear hug and speaking lowly into your hair, "Happy Birthday my love."

"Celia!" A very familiar voice sounded and you left Harrys embrace, not having time to process what he had just called you.

"Frills!" You gasped, tears blurring your vision, "What are you doing here?!"

She wrapped her small arms around you and lifted you up to twirl you around, she was much stronger than she looked, "Lover boy over there flew me out for you."

And for yet another time in a very short duration you were astonished, yet again, by Harry, "Really?" The disbelief was clear in your voice.

"Yep, if you don't marry that man Celia, then I bloody will!" Her tone was definitely impressed, and you knew she was a tough act to please. You swotted her around the arm before greeting the rest of your friends, thanking them constantly, completely wrapped up in a whirlwind of emotions.

And when your eyes met Harry's over Emmy's head as she hugged you, you knew you could never, ever let that man go no matter the barriers you'd have to jump over to be together.

omg guys even im getting all in the feels writing this hahaha

what do you think about Damons note?? :/

the pic for the flowers, outfit, and the bracelet (but obviously with just one gemstone for Cecy's gift) are down below! I literally want this bracelet at some point in my life lmao but I thought it was a good present for harry to give her so I hope yous agree :))

as always thank you so so so much for all the reads, comments and votes it really does mean a lot, I can't believe we're over half way to getting 1k votes and slowly reaching 5k reads!! :O

also we had a little cameo from Liam up there...but ive got another one coming in the next chapter so look forward to that! any ideas who it might be??

love you all loads and hope you're all still keeping safe,

kait x