7 December 2018
9 days left in Operation Mistletoe


I didn't know what to with that information as Iris with one last worried look skated off towards the group that was still beckoning us leaving me staring between her and Harry stagnant on the ice. Struggling to process I skated slowly towards the group ducking Harry's arm as he attempted to pull me into him again. I played it off as a teasing gesture, but I think Courtney picked up on my mood as she mouthed me a 'you okay?' from across the group. With a shrug, I headed towards the shoreline.

"Are you going to join us?" Came Harry's confused call after me.

"I think I just need a break for a while," I said with a forced smile climbing onto the bench next to Quinn. Pulling at the laces of my skates I managed to get them off and shove my feet into my fur boots before letting out a long sigh.

"It sounds like you could use some of this," Quinn offers handing me a hydro flask.

"What is it?" I say playing with the lid.

"Warm cider," He says with a smile causing me to take a sip and the liquid to burn all the way down my throat causing me to splutter.

"You didn't tell me it was hard cider."

"But you needed it," Quinn said before leaning back against the bench his lanky legs stretched out in from of him.

With a shrug, I copied his posture taking another sip of the cider now prepared for the burn that was turning into pleasant warmness in my gut.

"Harry problems?" Quinn asked not entirely turning his attention to me although I could sense his curiosity.

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted with a shake of my head. "Iris just said something that I can't shake."

"Oh Iris," came Quinn's mumbled reply before louder, "you can ignore her she's just a little....overprotective of Harry."

We both watched at the girl herself hopped onto Harry's back in what was apparently going to be a game of ice chicken. I watched for a second before turning to Quinn and asking the question that had been on my mind ever since the little conversation Iris and I had had.

"So what's the deal with the two of them?"

Quinn stopped staring at the group and for once turned to actually look at me his dark eyes flashing.

"It's not really my story to tell." He said before pausing for a second and letting out a sigh,

"Well I can tell you what I know, the two of them were dating before we all even started Yale, it made Harry a kind of wet blanket our first semester. In fact, his pledge nickname was Dopey for a while it just didn't really seem to stick. Well anyways we come back from Christmas break, and no Iris and a moping Harry all we know are it was kind of ugly. And then by the end of summer break, she's back, and they're 'just friends,' Quinn used his fingers to accentuate his last two words before sinking back onto the bench.

"That's all I really know. I mean there' s been other girls since Iris but Harry hasn't really been the same since they broke up, but I think that something else happened too but he won't tell us. Apparently being brothers for life doesn't really mean anything to him."

I took a second to process Quinn's words. It was hard to imagine that in a week my impression of Harry had changed so much. From the dorky slightly awkward boy that had kissed me to the mysterious enigma that I couldn't figure out.

I don't know how long I sat there taking sips from the cider in front of me but the sun set behind the horizon and the rest of the group came in so that we could start the fire to fend off the cold and cook some dinner. Apparently, the boys had decided that hotdogs, potatoes, and smores constituted a proper meal. I was sufficiently tipsy due to the cider when Harry came and grabbed me from the bench and practically fell into his arms when he helped me up.

"You didn't come back out?" He asked with a hint of worry.

"I think I tripped on a root and tweaked my ankle on the way back," I lied with a kind of drunken ease as I fell into Harry's side accepting the other end of the blanket that he draped over his shoulders. Taking a seat along one of the logs I just stared at the fire as the group argued about what they were going to do with the potatoes before wrapping them and the chopped hot dogs in tin foil and throwing them into the fire.

Between Harry's warmth and the blanket, I was quickly getting drowsy, my eyes drooping and my head resting against Harry's shoulder. I could see Courtney's curious and Iris's indignant gazes from across the fire, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

"You okay?" Harry's voice tickled my hair as he poked at the fire with a stick.

"Just tired," I mumbled burrowing deeper into him and the blanket.

"Well don't fall asleep on me," Harry stated poking me in the side and causing me to scoot away from him a little bit.

"Just get me some food to soak up the cider, and I'll be fine," I said letting out a yawn.

"I think I have a better idea," Harry stated before standing yanking the blanket with him despite my protest and offering me a hand. "Come with me."

Reluctantly leaving my seat by the fire, I took Harry's hand, and with him telling them we'd be back in a second let me towards the other end of the clearing. Without the crackling of the fire and the din of conversation, all I could hear was the sound of our boots crunching in the snow as Harry pushed through a couple of trees and onto a rock outcropping. Leaning over the lake was one tree that managed to grow through the rock and leading me over to it Harry leaned against the tree a soft smile on his face.

"I found this place the summer before my senior year of high school." Harry stated for the first time telling me something more than what his favourite colour was, "I think I just needed an escape."

"What was going on?" I asked seeing if he was really opening up for once.

"Just a lot of stressful situations and stuff I didn't want to deal with," Harry stated back to being vague as usual. "I used to come here and just throw rocks into the lake and pretend that my problems were attached."

"Did it work?"

Instead of answering the question Harry just reached out and led me until I was standing in front of him wrapped in the blanket and his arms. The soft smile was still there, but there was also a haunted look that had the entire conversation between Iris and I running through the back of my mind.

"What do you think?" He finally answered.

"I think you'll never tell me." I said softly not able to keep the bitterness out of my tone.

"What's that supposed to me?" Harry asked a pained expression crossing his face as he stepped back dropping his arms.

"It's nothing," I said being as vague as he was.

"No what?" Harry asked again, his tone insistent.

Turning back to Harry I held his gaze for a second before answering, "It means that anytime I ask you a question about yourself you just change the subject."

"I've told you a lot of things," Harry said he voice going oddly calm. "Remember the truth game?"

"Yeah, useless trivial facts and as soon as anything got remotely personal, you would shut it down." I protested my arms waving slightly to accentuate my point.

Harry just looked at me seemingly unable to answer me before shaking his head, "If that's what you think then I guess we should go back and join the others."

"Fine," I stated curtly before heading back into the woods.

"Fine," Harry echoed, and with the crunching of the snow, I knew that he was following me.

Reaching the rest of the group by the fire, I squeezed onto the log next to Courtney ignoring her concerned look. With a smile and a thank you I accepted my tinfoil packet and used the food as an excuse to ignore Harry as he rejoined the circle next to Iris and sent me a confused look. Leaning my head on Courtney's shoulder, I was determined that he wasn't going to get to ruin my night, not this time.

Notes

:)