Inherent

Since last week when nearly everything changed, Harry and I have fallen into a routine. Of course, with Harry things are never boring, but I take relief in that he’s keeping his promise and the near guarantee to have him barge in my house to spend the night after he finishes his work for the day. Almost every night for over a week, now, he has spent sleeping in my bed. It’s all so very new to fall asleep and wake up next to someone every day—a wonderful kind of new. Since it’s the same peaceful kind of sleep I found at his place after we went to the Uptown, I have absolutely no complaints.

Those couple of nights when I did force a little distance between us to see what it was like, Harry’s newly designated space in my bed was left empty, I felt alone but not as alone as I used to. I find strength in Harry even when he isn’t near, in the reassurance that he is just a phone call away as he promised. Just reminding myself of that allowed me to rid my mind of all my fears, worries, and doubts and fall into an uncharacteristically easy sleep.

But still, it wasn’t nearly the same as him pushing me into his side and wrapping his arms around me while we slept together. Nothing in the world, I came to realize, can compare to the sense of happiness I feel in those moments. The only reason I tried to sleep alone those few nights is because I realized Harry was on the verge of moving into my house altogether. He even took to leaving some clothes in my closet and has a personal space for his toothbrush, razor and shaving cream in my bathroom cupboard.

I’m fine with that, too. I am. I just wanted to see if we could handle a little distance, and I didn’t enjoy it much at all. He can stay over as long as he wants now that my small experiment has been tested and deemed a failure… or a success, depending on how you want to look at it.

It being Friday, now, it’s hard to believe that over a week has passed by since Harry gave me the pendant and made us official—though I don’t think too much on it while I busy myself with wondering about whatever his surprise may be.

Everything other time he has done, said or given me something has been totally unexpected, so I’m stumped straight away. I have been since he brought it up weeks ago. He offered to pick me up from work today to head straight into whatever mischief he has planned, but doing so would have meant he’d have to drop me off in the morning, too. And there are two very real possibilities of what could go wrong if he did. Alex would surely notice Harry dropping me off, and I don’t want his mind wandering more than it already is. Even worse, I don’t want to risk any more confrontation between the two.

It certainly doesn’t help either that Alex has been so distant with me. I can’t remember the last time we shared a tension-free conversation. Before, this might have been a good thing. Us drifting apart. But now I know Alex is doing this for a reason and his anger is brewing under the surface… and it’s only for me. Harry, too, perhaps, but mostly directed at me.

In fear he might blow his lid once and for all, I have been way too intimidated to ask what exactly has been up his ass all this time.

So here I am, waiting for Harry just after five p.m., and I drum my fingers against the kitchen table while all these thoughts swirl through my mind in a confused heap. If Harry was here he’d either lure me into talking it all out or he would melt all my worries away with his presence alone.

Right on time and just before my mind feels as if it will shut down in exhaustion, I hear the familiarized heavy rap at the front door. With practically a skip in my step and bubbling with anticipation over what Harry is planning, I make my way through the house to quickly unlock the deadbolt before I swing open the door.

Since Harry reminded me that even though I might believe it to be, my neighborhood isn’t safe, I have kept both the front and back door locked. Although it might hard as hell, I know I have to let it go. Caleb isn’t coming back—I have never been so delusional to believe he might be. It was just normal for me, though, the routine I had with Caleb, and especially after his death I craved normalcy.

Leaving a door open for a dead person isn’t anywhere near ‘normal’, and it took Harry’s concern for me to realize that.

The sight of him in my doorway with a pair of wayfarers perched on his nose, covering his eyes, the only giveaway to his mood being his cheeky smirk, is one to behold. I feel the little tension I’ve been harbouring dissolve almost instantly. I can always count of Harry to liven my day, to collect my frazzled being and make some sense of my disjointed thoughts.

“Hey,” I grin. I find I can’t help it, even when I’m nervous, to smile along with him.

“Hello, darling,” he greets with his dimpled smile, as if today is just like any other. Today is Friday, I remind myself. The day of the surprise.

He swoops down to slant his mouth against mine in a greeting kiss, and only when he pulls away do I take notice of the non-descript grey shopping bag he holds loosely, but I don’t push for information just yet.

After I open the door wider, he saunters inside and toward the living room. I wait to see what, exactly, his game is. He turns to me, sure to swing the bag at his side, and he cocks his head to the right when he takes note that I’m following after him in anticipation. “Did you have a nice day at work?”

Harry asks me this every day, or some variation of the question, and my answer is always the same. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?” He presses. Again.

“Well,” I frown, wishing he’d just tell me already. “The copier broke down, and Alex pretty much did too.”

My lame attempt to make light of my less than stellar experience with a disgruntled Alex and a slow moving repairman doesn’t work for Harry. He simply frowns back at me while I choose to sit on the couch, more anxious than ever.

When Harry chooses to remain stood near the threshold, this throws me off even further. As soon as it’s out of my mouth, I know I shouldn’t have brought up my own forbidden subject of Alex and how he has been acting toward me lately. Harry doesn’t need to be concerned with my work squabbles, and I shouldn’t have brought forth opportunity. I swallow when he makes a show of cracking his knuckles, the sound deafening to my timid ears, and he purses his lips.

“He give you any trouble?” His hoarse question raises several red flags and I curse myself for my own stupidity—instantly, I’m on alert and tense once again. Harry removes his sunglasses, hooking them at the neck of his sleeveless shirt so I receive a clear view of his eye and his serious expression.

In an attempt to distill such thoughts from Harry’s mind, I shake my head rapidly. This new protective side of Harry has given me somewhat of a shock over the past few days. I’m used to him just being genuinely concerned for me, but until Alex, he has never been threatening.

Until Alex. I probably shouldn’t blame my brother’s old friend for Harry’s protectiveness, but I do. If he wasn’t so sour we might not even have a problem… or as much of one, at least. “Nah. It worked itself out.”

Aware I totally contradicted what I said just moments before, I watch Harry study my small form on the sofa. He doesn’t believe me, and he’s right not to. In an obvious attempt to distract him, I send a pointed nod to the bag still held at his side.

“So,” I leave the one word, posed as a question, open to interpretation.

Another smile overtakes Harry’s mouth, and though I know he’s probably dog-eared my little act of avoidance for future reference, he chooses to humor me. He shifts his weight onto one hip and cocks his head to the side, as if clueless. “So.”

“It’s Friday…” I trail off and wonder if I should check my calendar just to be sure.

“And?” He uses the same insinuating tone as I do while he rustles the bag again, only to draw more of my attention to it.

“Harry,” I groan. I know he’s doing this on purpose, building up the anticipation. The fact that I dislike surprises doesn’t even cross my mind; I’m far past that. Now I want to know, more than anything, what the hell he has stowed away in this mysterious bag of his.

Finally, Harry laughs and decides to cut me a little slack. I relax at his familiar, playful smile and the sound of his deep chuckle, reminding myself that Harry wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, whatever he has planned is nothing but pleasant, and not to freak out.

“Come here,” he says, and gestures with a crook of his finger. As if he’s absolutely sure I’ll like whatever he has to show me, he wears a look of satisfaction already. Now, this confidence of his—that’s something I’m used to. I hesitantly stand, feeling shy all of the sudden. When I’m within arms’ reach, Harry holds the bag out for me to take. My fingers reach but not all the way, slowly with the same amount of hesitance. Harry notices.

“Go on, open it.” He waves me along to hurry me up, though I shake my head. I recall what he told me about two weeks ago and can even recite his exact words—surprise on Friday, keep your schedule clear. What on earth could possibly be in this bag that would require the whole night? I’m almost too afraid to look, but I see Harry grow more and more impatient with each passing second.

Still unsure, I force myself to take the bag from his grasp gently. “Jules, it doesn’t bite.” His smile is infectious, and with another encouraging wave, I find his upbeat, mischievous mood is starting to rub off on me.

“You sure?” I ask lightly, to which he teasingly rolls his eyes and nods. With my own lips quirked upward and my eyebrows furrowed in anticipation, I thumb open the mouth of the bag and peer down into its contents.

Clothing—that’s all I can decipher. It takes another uncertain glance up to Harry, waiting for his slight nod of encouragement, before I pluck up the first item in confusion. It’s a hat, though not just any hat. The red and white ball cap is adorned with the ever familiar logo of the Cardinals, my favourite baseball team.

“Harry?” I question, confused though happy with the gift. At least it’s nothing overly extravagant or something I would otherwise spend the next twenty years paying off if I had to purchase it myself. I just don’t understand Harry’s motive and why he randomly decided to get it for me. Of course, today he chooses to be abnormally silent and instead of answering my unasked question, he plucks the cap from between my fingers and sets on my head, the bill tipped down in my face and obstructing my vision. The playful action spurs a light giggle from me as I reach to adjust it, squinting up at the mystery boy in wonder.

He surprises me further when he reaches into the bag himself and brings out a hat identical to my own; I watch in amusement as he tucks his curls back before putting on the cap. We match, and I find the concept adorable.

“There’s more,” he urges with a smirk. Further digging in the bag uncovers what I at first believe to be two plain white t-shirts, the smooth fabric lightweight in my hand as I drop the bag to unfold them. These are far from regular t-shirts, too. They’re jerseys, and they look to be replicas at that. They both have button down fronts and sport Yadier Molina’s name and number on the back. One is much larger than the other, and Harry steals that one from my hand too.

I stare in surprise at the gorgeous, expensive replica… something I would hang up on my wall to drool over rather than wear and chance ruining.

“This is awesome,” I gape, still clueless as to why he went out and bought a bunch of Cardinals merch. I grin with that familiar flutter in my chest, so welcomed compared it its usual stutters. “I see you remembered my favourite player, too.”

“Yeah, I thought it would suit you tonight…” he leaves the sentence hanging and me at the end of my rope of anticipation. Soon, however, he reaches for his wallet and produces two white, rectangular pieces of paper. Somewhere in the recesses of my logical mind I recognize what they are, yet I’m not quite capable of processing what it means. Harry holds them out for me to take and examine, too, but I’m too afraid to touch them. The sight of the navy blue ink bordering the two stubs brings back distant memories from years ago with Dad and Caleb.

Instead, my hand flies to my mouth in shock while I stare, wide-eyed at what I finally conceive to be tickets. There, clearly typed in Harry’s outstretched palm, reads Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Friday, June 13 at 7:05 PM.

“Harry—is that what I think it is?” I halt my broken sentence spoken through my hand in total, jaw slackened shock. I point a finger to the offending tickets, unable to process anything else than what the tickets say and holy crap, that’s tonight.

“Yes, Jules, it is what you think it is,” Harry laughs, undoubtedly pleased with himself and the fact that he’s managed to keep this from me for weeks now.

In the next second a vast array of emotions overtakes me in what feels like an avalanche. My first thought strays to Dad and how I haven’t been to a Cardinals game since his death. It’s on my list, too, and I wonder just how long Harry really has been planning this. There isn’t a single moment to spare for me to be sad, though, at the prospect of seeing my favourite baseball team live… and most of all, with Harry. I’m going to have and share in this experience with him, and instantly am filled with a giddy, child-like excitement I haven’t felt in years. Without thinking, I let my jersey fall to the floor on top of the bag before I launch forward to all but tackle Harry into a hug, my arms around looped around his neck while I press my cheek into his chest.

His arms constrict around my waist straight away even though I know he must be shocked at my unconstrained reaction. “This is amazing,” I exclaim, all I can manage because right now everything feels surreal. “I can’t believe you did this. Thank you, Harry.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he murmurs easily into my hair.

When I finally release him from the tight embrace, my heart rate fluctuating though I pay no mind to it, he smiles a different smile—a soft one—for the moment absent of any of his usual cockiness and so genuine it serves for another surprise when I see it’s directed to me. Much too excited to ponder over why, my grin widens until I swear it hurts.

“Remember what I said?” He turns coy with his light questioning, and he looks at me underneath his eyelashes while one finger points toward his mouth. Right away I recall our lunch date, and somehow my elation overthrows my usual shyness so much I have no problem leaning up on the tips of my toes to connect my mouth eagerly with his. I take in how his lips taste, of mint chewing gum, while his fingers press gently into my upper back to draw me closer and deepen my otherwise innocent expression of thanks.

After we part I laugh a free, breathy laugh; one I have caught myself doing a lot lately. I have Harry to thank for every bit.

“Thank you,” I say again, though the kiss did a much better job of conveying my gratitude than my soft spoken words ever could.

Harry nods, still so close our chests brush with each breath we take, and he keeps his heart stirring smile as he nods toward the hallway. “Go change,” he instructs, stepping back to pull his own shirt over his head to discard it with a careless toss onto my sofa. I have to force my eyes away from his shirtless form and not to ogle his defined chest and torso any longer than deemed appropriate, though while I turn around and scamper off to my bedroom I catch his returned smirk and a mumbled “that was definitely worth it.”

Notes

A little shorter than usual! The next chapter is insanely long though and something... *interesting* happens. That's all I can say.

Really, though, I wanted to get something out for you all because with this chapter I bring good news :)

Inherent was nominated for an award over on 1D Heaven! I'd like to thank whoever was so kind to nominate me. It would literally make my life if anyone takes a moment to head over and vote. We're nominated for 'Best Harry', and it's in the first list of options. I don't really expect to win--I'm just so happy to have even been nominated!

Here's the link :) Voting ends on the 14th.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ynE7M9F_YWic7R6n3T0P2vS7Omi__Z9fUT3fFll5Y2I/viewform

So, yeah. Because this chapter was shorter than usual, the next will be posted soon... perhaps a comment or two might hurry things along? Hahaha. Seriously though, thank you everyone!