Love Will Tell Us Where To Go

It’s amazing how well you can sleep in a hospital bed when you have jet lag. Even after waking up once when a nurse checked on Harry I was able to fall back asleep fairly fast. I was afraid she would tell me to not sleep in his bed with him, or even worse, kick me out, but luckily she didn’t mind.

My dad picked us up later that morning and took us home. He stayed home from work to not only pick Harry and I up, but to cook us breakfast as well. We waited in the theater room since that was where we were going to eat anyway.

As we looked for something to watch, I had the feeling that his mind was elsewhere. “Are you alright?” I finally asked. He nodded in reply, only to ask a few seconds later, “Sorry, what did you say?”

“What are you thinking about? You seem so distracted.”

“My parents already know.” he blurted out. “What?” I replied. “But….when?”

“They wouldn’t let Chloe or anyone else see me without permission from my parents first. I had to call them and tell them everything. They understand for the most part, but they’re still upset. Especially about the wreck. But they’ve already said they’ll ship my stuff over here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I don’t know…” he replied. “I guess I just didn’t want you to worry. They reacted better than I expected, you know.”

“They hate me, don’t they.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I can’t blame them.”

“This is why I waited to tell you. Please, don’t think like that.”

“Excuse me for -” I was irritated for a second, but I have a different perspective on life right now.

“I’m sorry. I want your family to like me, that’s all.”

“They do, silly.” he told me as he pulled me closer to him. “They saw how much happier I got when I met you. They saw the way you changed my life for the better. Even this can’t make them not like you.”

“Did you talk to your brothers?”

“Yeah, I did.” he said with a laugh. “They’re just shocked I actually did it. They didn’t expect me to ever do something like running away.”

“I didn’t think I was that kind of person either.”

“I almost forgot!” he exclaimed before trying to get up. “I’ll get it, what is it?” He didn’t listen. “I can get it. I want to -” he fell back down on the couch as soon as he stood up. “I’ll just show you later.” Curiosity was killing me, but I decided to wait.

After finishing breakfast I helped Harry get to his room. Something much easier said than done. Having never been on crutches before, going upstairs was a struggle. On both of us. “That wasn’t too bad!”

“Babe, we almost fell down the stairs…when we were at the top.” I said with a smile. “Sorry.” he told me sweetly. I kissed him on the cheek before saying, “Let’s get you to your room.”

Both of our rooms are rather large. Even Harry’s has a bit of a seating area along with enough room for a desk for his laptop and other stuff. “Sit on the bed and close your eyes.” he told me once we got in the room. I gave him a questioning look. “Don’t look at me like that. Now, sit. Close your eyes.”

I did what he said and waited. I could hear him moving around. It sounded like he was looking for something. “Do you need any help?” I asked. “No.” was his reply. “You better keep your eyes closed.”

I waited with the sound of Harry walking around on crutches and rummaging through piles of stuff. Just as I was about to ask again if he needed any help, he placed what felt like and article of clothing across my lap and part of my arm. I opened my eyes to see a shirt.

I held out in front of me what I quickly discovered was a Ramones t-shirt. Not just any shirt though, one I had mentioned wanting. “Aw, thank you so much!” He was sitting on the bed now so I gave him hugged him tightly. “I can’t believe you remembered I wanted this.”

“Of course I remembered.” he told me with a smile. “I got something for myself too. Close your eyes again.” I let out a laugh as I asked, “Why? Just show me.”

“Just do it.” he said before I did. “I want to put it on too.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to look?” I asked with a smirk, but kept my eyes closed anyway. “Calm down.” he told me in a pretend serious tone. I opened my eyes a bit to see if his look matched his tone. Just as I caught a glimpse of his smiling face he said, “Hey, no peeking.”

“Fine.” I sighed as I once again listened to him struggle with finding whatever he was looking for.

“Oops.” he muttered after the sound of a thud. “You dropped one of your crutches, didn’t you?”

“…Maybe.”

“Do you need me to -“

“Got it.”

“You are so silly, you know that right? I am totally willing to - want to help you. But no. You have to be stubborn. You’re going to get tired of it after a while though, but will I help you then? Nope. It’ll be too late. So don’t come crying to me when - ” my sentence was cut off by a shirt being thrown at my face. Instinctively I opened my eyes. “You little jerk.” I said through my partially held back laughter.

“Close your eyes!” he commanded. I did, but not before looking at him a second longer…

“Crutches or not, I will make you pay.”

“You can open your eyes now.” I did, and although I had planned on continuing my rant on how I was going to get my revenge, that plan quickly faded at the sight of him in a sweater that was evidently what he was so eager to show me.

“You bought a jumper that says 'Teenage Runaway' on it?” I burst into laughter as I walked up to him. “Get it? ‘Cause we’re teenagers…and we ran away. It’s funny because it’s true.”

“Yes, I get it.” I told him as I put my arms around him. “It’s very soft.” He gave me a half smile before saying, “Wait a second.” he made his way back to the bed and sat down before setting his crutches to the side. He patted the bed so I sat down next to him, and as soon as I did, he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close.

I rested my head on his shoulder, and he kissed the top of my head. “I am so glad to be home.” I sat back up so I could look at him. “You consider this your home?” He laughed as he replied,

“Yeah, why? Should I not?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that…I mean…do you not miss London?” I know he’ll never admit to missing it as much as I’m sure he does, but I had to ask. I don’t know when I’ll ever stop feeling guilty for taking him away from his family. If I ever do.

“Of course I do.” My heart sank. “But darling, I wouldn’t change a thing. I wanted to leave home some day, I just didn’t know it would happen so soon. But that’s fine. Life is funny, and sometimes things you don’t see coming happen. Sometimes they’re bad, but this one…this one was better than I could have ever imagined.”

Sometimes Harry says stuff like that, and I become genuinely speechless. “I love you, too.” he said with a laugh in response to my inability to speak. “You are way too good to be mine, you know that?”

“Come here.” he pulled me close and kissed me. “Stop saying things like that. Now, what do you want to do tomorrow? I know I can’t do too much until my leg heals, but I thought we might could - “

“Babe.” I said with a smile. “We have to start school tomorrow. I’m getting behind, and you’re even more behind than me.”

“Aw, come on. Can’t we wait until next week?”

“It’s not that bad, I promise. Besides, we get to stay at home, which is much better than actual school. It’ll be just you and me. We get to stay in our pajamas, eat good food for lunch, watch shows during lunch and breaks, and we get to - ” he interrupted me with a kiss. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” I told him with a smile.

“You’re so beautiful…let’s take a picture.”

“No! I look horrible.” I protested, but he held me close to him as he took out his phone. “Smile!” he told me before taking the picture. Despite how I look, I smiled anyway. I smiled even more when we looked at the picture. “I’m putting it on Facebook.”

“Everyone from school will be shocked to finally see us. I imagine that will start some rumors.”

“Probably.” he replied as he uploaded the picture. He captioned it, “Nothing can come between you and I.”

“How did you come up with that? Like, is it lyrics to a song or something?”

“Maybe…” was his reply, but the look on his face said yes. “Did you write it?”

“Not completely. The rest of the boys have been helping. You’ll hear it…eventually.”

I wanted to hear it now, but I knew it would be too hard to get the rest of the guys together for a video chat, and he wouldn’t sing it by himself if it wasn’t just his song. Instead Harry helped me unpack as much as he could. I insisted i didn’t need any help and he could just relax, but of course he is way too sweet to just sit and watch me do all of the work.

Harry’s mom called in the middle of it, so while he was talking to her, I decided to take a break as well. I looked at Tumblr for a minute before checking the photo Harry had put up of us. There were a few likes already, more than I had expected, actually. I wasn’t surprised by Niall or Liam, or the three other random people I assumed were from school, but it was that sixth person that made me look twice.

Amanda has been friends with him since they were younger, and I no longer cared that they were friends on a social media site. She seemed actually happy for Harry and I before we left, but a part of me couldn’t help but doubt her sincerity. As I looked at the picture, a comment appeared. “So adorable! :)” and it was from Amanda.

As I looked at her comment, the more I began to think about how people are. Some people seem so stuck in their ways that the possibility of them ever changing seems nearly, if not completely, impossible. I’ve never been a very optimistic person when it comes to things like that, so seeing her change somehow gave me hope. Maybe not everyone is a lost cause.

I liked the photo before liking her comment. I almost replied, but I didn’t want to do too much. I know Harry will notice, but I don’t know if he’ll say anything to me about it. I have a feeling though that even if he did, he wouldn’t seem surprised by what Amanda or I did. That thought gave me even more hope.

Notes