a/n: the song is kind of irrelevant, other than that's what the title is from. anyways, i â¤ï¸ kacey musgraves.
also, hey y'all it's been a while. i've had a crazy month, but i'm back and here to write.
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After a while of watching movies, the sun was sinking down, casting a golden glow over Anne's living room. Though it took some bickering, there was a final movie decision made. Sadly, I had to be the deciding factor, because they both had very different picks.
Anne wanted to watch The Help, and Harry wanted to watch This Is 40; and after arguing for a very short time over which would be the best to watch, they both turned to me. And although The Help is an amazing movie, I didn't really feel like balling my eyes out, so I went with the other choice.
Anne joked that I was biased and chose against her just because Harry's my boyfriend, folding her arms in defeat and quietly mumbling, "Okay, I see how it is." And in response, Harry just chuckled and pulled me into his side, planting a kiss to my temple.
I knew Anne wasn't actually angry, it was very obvious she was kidding around, but she was definitely uninterested in Harry's film choice. She only made it a few minutes in before standing up without saying a word. As she stood up, Harry and I both turned our heads in unison, mentally wondering why she had gotten up. But when she turned back around to tell us she had gotten up to get started on dinner, we both quickly understood.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" I was quick to offer, sitting up from where I had laid cuddled next to Harry.
"No, no," Anne waved me off. "You two just relax."
I felt guilty that I had hardly helped with any meals the entire time I've been here. Any time I had visited my family, I was always expected to help prepare basically everything, even as a guest. A lot of the time, it would be the women - usually my mom, sisters, and I - in the kitchen while the guys watched the football game or something. The men hardly ever helped while the girls worked their asses off to get everything ready for them. Insanely cliche and misogynistic if you ask me.
"Are you sure?" I ask her, a solicitous look creeping across my face.
"Yes," Anne reassures firmly, raising her eyebrows as she steps around the couch to head toward the kitchen, "Positive."
I've learned by now that Anne is so stubborn that arguments with her are nearly pointless. And as much as I wanted to help her prepare dinner, I didn't really feel like losing an argument.
I guess I don't feel like doing anything at this point.
I slowly lean back into Harry's side, his arm wrapping around my shoulders, his hand resting lazily on my lower back. I could hear his heartbeat thump calmly beneath my ear, and his chest rose up and down slowly as air filled then emptied out of his lungs.
"Have you talked to Jess?" Harry asks out of the blue after a moment of silence.
I wasn't sure whether I was flattered that he knew me well enough to know that Jess is my comfort person, and I would probably want to talk to her in a time like this...or if I was embarrassed that I'm that easily predictable.
"Well..." I sigh, switching my glance away from the tv so it was now focused on my thigh that was curled up into itself. "I sent her a text this morning, like before the whole...thing."
"And then what?" He pushes gently for answers. "Did she respond?"
"Yeah." I sigh again. "Yeah, she did. But when I went to open her text, I saw the text from my boss and I guess I just...forgot to look at it again."
Now that the topic was brought up, I was really curious to see how Jess had responded to my message. It's been a few days since I last spoke to her, which normally would make me worry about how she's doing. But this time was different. I was just far more...distracted this time.
"Well why don't you try calling her after dinner?" He suggests. I tilted my head back to gaze up at him, only to see his face calm and relaxed, eyes glued to the comedy movie playing on the television in front of us. "She might like to hear your voice." He shrugs.
"I would." I turn my attention back to the tv. "But with the time difference, she might be at work still."
"Oh, that's true." I feel the movement of Harry's head nodding in agreement. "Well then I guess just text her. She can text you after work, can't she?"
"Yeah, she can," I say bluntly, my own eyes gluing to the tv now, all the individual pictures mushing together into blurry movements as my eyes glaze over.
I feel Harry's body shift, snapping me out of my short, but definite daze. He sits up fully, causing me to do the same. I flash him a confused look, and in response, I get a look of concern.
"Is everything alright?" He asks me in a low, discrete voice as if this was top secret and someone could be listening in. His brows are drawn together as his green eyes dig into mine.
I stare at him blankly, and he stares back.
If it was Jess I was talking to, I honestly probably would've said something like, "did you just get here?" But because Harry is just trying to be a good person, it'd be rude of me to be sarcastic with him. He's just trying to be nice, I can't be snarky.
"It will be," I say after a moment of thinking, finding a way to weave around answering the question directly. Because, honestly, I didn't have an answer. I felt fine at this very moment, but who's to say how I will feel in a day, or even in an hour. I mean, not too long ago I felt like everything was chipping away and would soon come crumbling down on me.
Harry doesn't say anything to that. Instead, he just stares at me for a minute longer, his eyes searching over every one of my facial features. I couldn't tell if he was trying to think of something else to say, or if he was looking for something on my face. Nonetheless, it took everything I had in me to fight every urge I had to not turn away. But after a moment, he slowly switches his glance back to the tv, his arm wrapping around me once more, much tighter this time. I snuggle my head back into his chest and we don't say anything more.
By the time the movie was nearly over, I could already smell the evidence of Anne cooking in the kitchen. The smell was strong, but extremely enticing. I honestly couldn't wait to see what she had in store for Harry and I.
I suddenly felt a presence near the right side of my head. Slowly and cautiously, I turn my head to the side to see Anne leaning over the couch, just about to say something to me. I hadn't expected anyone to actually be there, especially as close as she was to me, so I couldn't help but flinch as soon as my eyes landed on her face.
At first, her head drew back, as if I surprised her just as much as she did to me. But then a wide smile spread across her lips as she found it amusing that she startled me enough to make me flinch, which made me assume my fear was probably unintentional.
She giggles at my reaction and Harry turns his head to finally look at his mom, as if my dramatic flinching wasn't enough to gain his attention.
Now that she had the attention of both Harry and I, she quickly calmed her laughter.
"Dinner's nearly ready," she declares finally, which is presumably what she came over to tell us. "Would you mind helping me set the table?"
I didn't hesitate to stand up, wasting no time to finally go help Anne, now that she wanted my help. Harry slacks a little bit behind me, taking his sweet time to get up. I had already walked around the couch by the time he finally stood up.
I guess he wasn't as excited about setting the table as I was.
"What smells so amazing?" I ask Anne as I enter the kitchen, choosing the reword the 'What's for dinner?' question in hopes of coming off as a little less demanding.
"Shepherd's pie," she tells me with a smile, slipping a pair of red oven mitts onto her hands. She grips the sides of the steaming hot glass pan that sat on top of the stove, still freshly pulled from the oven.
I stepped out of the way of the walkway so she could walk through to the formal dining room. And in doing so, I feel my back collide with a muscular chest that felt so incredibly familiar and could only belong to Harry. I quickly flip around to apologize, only to feel Harry's hands land on my hips. My eyes gravitate up to his face, where I see a soft smile, barely a smirk maybe. It was impossible for me to not smile back.
"Alright, lovebirds. Comin' through," I hear Anne speak up from behind me, causing my smile to drop immediately. Realizing the moment was over now, I quickly reached forward and grabbed Harry's forearms, pulling him out of the way of the dangerously hot pan Anne held in her gloved hands. I had caught him off guard, so it was surprisingly a whole easier to pull him that I expected.
Harry practically trips over his own feet as he's pulled near the door to our left, where I was originally planning to stand out of the way before I ran into him.
"Plates are in the cabinets," Anne calls from the dining table, obviously just as a nice way of telling us to hurry our asses up.
Harry and I pause to look at each other for a moment before walking into the kitchen to get the plates and utensils, and anything else we would need to set the table.
"I'll grab the cups," I tell him the second we stepped foot into the kitchen. In all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure which cabinet the plates were in; but I knew where the cups were, since I had watched Anne retrieve mugs from the very cabinet only a few hours ago.
Anne kept the cups and mugs in the cabinet closest to the refrigerator, which I happened to take note of when watching her get mugs for tea earlier.
I walk over to the fridge, stopping just before the door, turning to the counter space and cabinets which hung over it. I reach up and open the cabinet, revealing well organized shelves stocked full of an assortment of cups and mugs - a complete array of different patterns and colors. I almost felt a little overwhelmed, and wasn't sure which cups to pick, since I didn't see any basic glass cups.
"Hey, Harry," I call over but keep my eyes locked on the cups in front of me, my hand resting on the edge of the wide-open cabinet door.
He hums in response from the other side of the kitchen, where he was accompanied by the sound of ceramic plates being stacked on top of each one another.
"What cups do you think your mom wants to use?" I ask in a lower voice this time, continuing to eye the assortment. "There are so many to choose from."
"Yeah, she's got quite the collection going on," he acknowledges. "But I don't think she'll really care which ones you choose. I mean, she obviously likes them all or she wouldn't have them."
He did have a really good point there. But I still wanted to play it safe, and not ruin any kind of aesthetic she may have been going for.
"Does she have any glasses by chance?" I ask out of curiosity, finally looking over at him. He stood leaning against the countertop, three plates stacked comfortably in his arm, watching me from a distance.
"Next one over. To the left." Harry points to the cabinet next to the one I was looking at.
That's so incredibly logical, yet I completely failed to think of it. Wow.
I softly shut the colorful cabinet before opening the one to its left, seeing exactly what Harry told me would be in here - glasses.
Surprisingly, the cabinet was fairly full of glass cups. Obviously they weren't all just basic, cylinder-shaped glass cups.There were wine glasses, champagne glasses, glass coffee mugs...pretty much every kind of cup, but in glass form. From what I know, Anne lives alone, other than when her kids come to visit. So I couldn't help but wonder what she needed all these glasses for. Maybe she threw a lot of parties?
We weren't drinking any wine, champagne or coffee with our meal, that I knew of, so I figured those cups would be unnecessary for this occasion. Going with the most rational decision, I reached up and picked out three normal, medium sized glasses. I held one in my left and two in my right, using my elbow to shut the cabinet door once I had a good grip on all three of them.
I turned to Harry, who had been standing to my left this entire time, watching my every move. Looking down at the plates resting in his arm, I noticed the utensils I hadn't seen there before. I look back up at his face and flash him a soft, yet kind of awkward smile as a way of letting him know I was ready to go set the table.
We walked past the counter space that divided the kitchen and dining room, now joining Anne next to the dining table where she stood patiently waiting for Harry and I.
Without saying much, Harry sat the plates and forks in front of the chairs we all had sat in every time we can in here, and I placed a glass next to the top right edge of each plate.
"Let's eat! I'm starving," Anne was the first to say anything, immediately pulling out her chair the moment the table was set. Harry and I both chuckle at her eagerness.
Just as I was about to pull out my chair to sit down, Harry's arm nudged me out of the way, so the chair was now out of my reach. I furrow my eyebrows at his actions, but soon understood once he pulled the chair out and gestured for me to sit down.
I smile gratefully at his kind gesture, murmuring a small "thank you" before taking my seat. I scoot in my chair so my stomach was only like four inches away from the table, excited to dive into this appetizing meal. Harry walks around the table, taking his usual spot across the table from me.
Anne picked up a spatula, one of the utensils Harry had brought over from the kitchen, and cut out a small square of the prepared dish in between the three of us.
"Lili," she says in her soft voice, holding out her hand.
I quickly took the hint and handed her my plate that was sitting right in front of me. She slides the portion of food off the spatula, the square landing right onto the center of my plate. Steam rose off the freshly cooked food, and I seriously couldn't wait to dive in.
I place my plate down and pick up my fork. Now, I wasn't planning on taking a bite yet, and wouldn't until everyone had been served. But I was hungry and wanted to be ready.
I haven't had shepherd's pie since I lived with my parents, since it wasn't a dish Jess and I have ever thought to cook. But I remember liking it, so I was excited to be able to try it again for the first time in a while. And even if I didn't like it, I was way too hungry to not eat it.
I watch as Anne dishes up Harry, then herself. And once they picked up their forks, I took it as my cue to dig in. I stuck my fork into the soft casserole-type dish, more steam arising from the food as I cut the edge off, balancing it on my fork as I prepared to bring it up to my mouth.
Suddenly, Harry clears his throat abnormally loud, causing my eyes to flick up to look up at him, just as I'm about to stuff my face with a forkful of shepherd's pie. As soon as my eyes shifted up enough to where his face was into view, I saw that he was already staring at me. I froze all movements as my mind automatically went on red alert, considering the way he cleared his throat and the fact he was staring at me. Thinking I must've done something wrong and he was discretely trying to tell me to stop what I was doing, I quickly put my fork down on my plate, my eyes wandering around.
My first initial thought was that I was eating at the wrong time, like before saying grace or something, not that we've done that even once while I've been here. But when I looked around, I noticed how next to me, Anne was enjoying her food, completely oblivious to whatever it was Harry was pointing out with the clearing of his throat.
Maybe I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Confused, I turn my head to face Harry once again, furrowing my eyebrows to show him my misunderstanding. He glances at Anne in silence, then back at me.
"So I think Lili and I will be heading out tomorrow morning," Harry finally speaks up, switching his glance back to Anne.
This caught her attention.
"What?" She says in shock after quickly swallowing her food, her hand brought up to cover her mouth. "Why?"
I could honestly be asking the same question, I was completely unaware of this as well. I knew we would be leaving sometime in the near future, but I didn't think it would be this soon.
"I got a text from Jeff earlier saying rehearsal for the radio show on Valentine's got rescheduled to tomorrow night," Harry explains bluntly and in a very matter-of-fact tone. "I can't get out of it."
Although I understand why we had to go, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness wash over me as soon as Harry said we were leaving tomorrow. Despite all the tragic events that have occurred while staying here, I've really enjoyed getting to know and spending time with Anne, and it was upsetting to know that our stay was coming to an end so unexpectedly soon.
"And there's no way you can get out of it?" Anne asks and I could sense the hope in her tone.
"Nope." Harry shakes his head. "Completely mandatory. No way around it."
"Oh, well that's a bummer. I really enjoyed having you both here." Anne looks down at her plate sadly. Though her words alone may not have sounded that way, I could tell she felt sad, simply by the way she spoke.
I switch my glance from the subtly sad face of Anne over to Harry's nearly expressionless one. I couldn't tell if he was being serious. If he happened to be lying, not that I should ever accuse him of doing so, his poker face was on point.
But from the looks of it, he wasn't lying and he was actually upset that we had to leave tomorrow, but was just trying to hide it like he does at times.
I really thought that...until I saw Harry staring at me blankly once again, just like he did on the couch. That look of thought. I only saw him staring out the corner of my eye, and when I looked up and his eyes met mine, he quickly looked back down at his food before shoving a forkful into his mouth.
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a/n: buckle up besties!ðâï¸