as it is || harry styles au

twenty

i v o r y

"Harry, I want you to read to me."

My easygoing, momma's boy of a five-year-old now only wanted Harry to read him his bedtime story.

When Harry and I got back to my place, we found Jamie up and running around with an exhausted Em explaining that he'd woken up at eleven at night with all this energy. I blamed it on the sweet tea he snuck from Em at the diner.

"Harry has to go home, honey."

"I got it, Ives." Harry gently scratched his fingers at the small of my back, then followed Jamie to his bedroom.

"So, it's Ives now?" Em spoke up when it was just the two of us.

I acknowledged their question with a long stare, then continued on. "Thanks for watching him, Emmy. You should get some sleep. Take my bed tonight. It's not much, but it's better than the couch. I'll sleep with Jamie."

"First off, don't ever thank me for watching my nephew..."

"Sorry."

"...and second, I'll take you up on your bed offer."

I saw in their eyes that they were only agreeing because they wanted me to sleep on an actual bed and not an air mattress.

Em stepped towards me and kissed the side of my head. I wrapped my arms around their waist. It was going to be so difficult saying goodbye again. They were my sounding board in all things, and after Jake making himself known again, there was so much unsaid between Em and I.

"Love you. Sleep well, Ivy."

I kissed their cheek. "Love you more. You better set your alarm because I won't be waking you up for your flight. I hope you miss it."

Their back was to me while they headed to my room. "Alarm's already set, babe."

"Momma!" Jaime stomped back into the living room after Em went to bed. "I think you misscu...miss-con...confused me..."

"Misunderstood, honey."

"You misunderstood me. I want you to come read with me and Harry, too."

"Oh, really?" I put my hands on my hips and gazed down at my five year-old.

"Yep." He grabbed onto my hand and started tugging. "You gotta hurry because Harry's getting sleepy."

Yeah, I'm not letting that man drive home tonight.

Harry sat on a beanbag chair in the corner of Jamie's room where a small toy chest sat containing more books than it did toys. Harry looked massive compared to the lump of fluff he sat on.

     The look he gave me was one I don't think I'd ever received before and one I wouldn't ever recover from. There was a gentle fondness behind his tired eyes. He always looked at me with love and respect when we were kids and adolescents, but this meant so much more in so many complex ways.

Jamie grabbed a Magic Treehouse series book and handed it to Harry. I already knew he wouldn't make it past the second page. For as energetic as he seemed at nearly midnight, he was bound to crash hard, especially with a book with pictures that weren't in color.