"You'll never get this done, you know?" The satisfaction was evident in his voice.
"You could leave me alone so I can actually get this finished. Or pick up a brush." I gestured to the abundance of supplies I had purchased.
"Mmm, no thanks. Don't re...
They loved him, just as I suspected. We were immediately dragged inside and met with the sweet scent of honeycomb that filled the house. Nostalgia was a beautiful thing and it lifted all the stress from my body. Of course Pa would have something on the go for us to have when we got here, that has never changed.
We were led to the kitchen and encouraged to take a seat at the island bench. Nan made tea for everyone as Pa finished off the sweet he was making. It had been a long time since I had been at their house but everything was still in the same place. My dad being an only child meant that I was Nan and Pa's only grandchild, and looking around their house it was very obvious.
The walls had framed pictures of the three of us, a large frame held my school pictures from every year including my university graduation, there was art work from primary school being displayed on the fridge and art projects sat in their display cupboard. It felt like a walk-in time capsule that I didn't want to leave.
"Whatcha making, Pa?" I tried to see his creation around him and Nan's bodies.
"Homemade violet crumble, just need to finish dipping them in the chocolate and they'll be ready for my assistant to taste test."
"So Harry, tell me about yourself." Nan asked as she handed the both of us a mug of tea.
Once Harry started talking about his life in England and his move to Australia, Nan and Pa couldn't stop asking questions. He sat there happily and excitedly answering every single one of them and telling them stories for over an hour. Upon hearing that Harry owned his own home and allowed Clem to stay there for free so she could pursue her education, Nan looked at me and mouthed 'marry this one'.
I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't stop the heat rising on my cheeks. I used to always want to get married, Will crushed that for a while but now with Harry, the idea excited me again. It was strange how after such a short time together how serious we were. It scared me to know that if he asked me to marry him tomorrow, I probably wouldn't hesitate to say yes.
Just looking at him sit on a weirdly shaped stool, sipping tea from a mug that said 'grandkids are the reward for not killing your children', snacking on Pa's homemade violet crumble pieces and making them laugh like there was no tomorrow only solidified my opinion. I'd marry him. What we had couldn't be determined by time.
He tested me at times though. While on the tour of their house, I caught him on numerous occasions taking out his phone and taking pictures of the frame photographs of me as a child. He claimed it was for scientific research, Nan thought it was hilarious and continued to point out the worst ones she had hanging as we passed them.
By 2:00pm, Harry and I decided to head out so we could go out for late lunch. Pa insisted we take some violet crumble and text us tomorrow when we were coming back around so he could have something ready upon our arrival.
Once again we walked around the suburb, taking our time to stroll through the main street before settling on a quiet cafe nestled in between two clothing stores. We ordered our food and sat down on a seat by the window to eat.
"You look so beautiful," Harry whispered, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, "but not as beautiful as you did here." He held up his phone, proudly displaying his new lock screen.
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A loud laugh left me and I threw my head to the side, avoiding looking back at his screen. Of course Harry had set one of those pictures hanging on the wall as his wallpaper. I would expect no less from him. The smile that was glued to his face with every picture he saw made me think he was up to no good.
"Ugh, you're infuriating Harry. Mark my words, when we go and see your parents I will ask to see every baby book and photo album they have." I bit back, stealing a tomato from his plate.
"When we go? I like when you make plans for the future. Makes me all giddy." He reached across, tapped my nose and stole a chip from my plate.
"I think about the future all the time. I think about what year levels I'd like to teach, I think about getting my own place and what it will look like, I think about what my next car will be, I think about a world without my grandparents in it, I think about you going bald, I think about kids. I think about it all, Harry."
His lips were pursed, as though he was trying to contain a smile. His fingers ran through the curls on his head while he chuckled.
"I won't go bald, look at the hair on me." My laugh echoed through the quiet cafe and Harry shook his head rapidly, causing his hair to sway about his face.
"I want a future with you. I'm not sure about a lot of things but that's one thing I'm certain about. I love you, Harry. Even though you do shit like that." I gestured towards his phone making him grin.
We finished our lunch and started to stroll back to the house. Hand in hand we walked, no fear of consequences and no worry about the current events. It was as if we had stepped into another dimension once we stepped off the plane in Sydney, a dimension in which we could just be together with nothing else playing in the back of our minds.
With full intentions of watching a movie, we cuddled up on the couch but the both of us were in a deep sleep within ten minutes of it starting. Everything felt so domestic and it was filling a void I didn't realise I had.
