Table For Two

38 - Harvey

 So I stay over at Ali's that night and I think we actually set a world record for how many times two people can exchange the words "I love you" in one evening because I swear I am even saying it in my sleep with my arm wrapped around Ali's waist and Athena camped out at the foot of the bed, acting like a heater. None of this feels real yet. I keep expecting to wake up and this is all a dream which is probably why I struggle with falling asleep. But I do eventually. And when I wake up, Ali is turned facing me, already awake and just... looking at me and smiling. I blink awake and stretch before sighing and smiling back at him.

"Good morning" I murmur.

"Morning. I love you" he says and kisses me on the cheek. I chuckle and shuffle closer to him so I can hug him.

"Love you too"

"We are going to be so insufferable, aren't we?"

"If I see one post on Instagram that has #couplegoals on it, Ali, I will actually die of cringe."

"Wow, that's rude. And here I was planning to get a HarLi t-shirts made for us"

"Oh my god you are such a ridiculous human being"

"Correction - your ridiculous human being"

I stop and just pull him into a kiss, completely ignoring the fact that we both have morning breath. I hear him giggle against my lips and I smile. When we pull apart, I look deep into his mystical green eyes and... yeah, I can't picture anything more perfect than this. I just go back to kissing him and he pulls me close. I don't know how long we lie here just... being us. We do eventually get up and shower (separately) and get ready to meet Nia in town. I text her to let her know we are on our way and to meet us at the Cafe Nero by the bus station. She just comes back with a thumbs up and a kissy face emoji. Ali feeds Athena and she grumbles contentedly. We walk into town, holding hands and honestly I think I must be grinning like the world's biggest idiot because there are a few people giving me weird looks but I really don't care. About halfway down into town, as we dipped into the tunnel beneath the main road, Ali asks a question.

"So... I know we said the L word last night"

"And this morning"

"And this morning. Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome but I was interrupting."

"You were. How dare you. I must duel you for my honour."

"Now you're getting distracted."

"Let me have my fun! Homophobia!"

"Ali..."

"Sorry, you're right" he clears his throat and squeezes my hand tighter "okay. So, we said that and I do. I really do. And it seems like we've done everything a bit out of order."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... I'm pretty sure one of us is meant to ask the other to be their boyfriend first before we actually say... that."

I ponder this and run my thumb across the back of Ali's hand before I realise he is looking at me expectantly.

"I mean... there's no textbook way to do these things, right? We can do things in whatever order we want."

"I know, I know, I just... I guess since whatever the fucked up situation I was in I just didn't really know whether I would actually feel strongly enough to say it like, ever and be so confident that I was right. Let alone have the person say it back. So I guess I put off actually asking you to be my boyfriend in case you said no? I know that sounds so stupid but it made sense in my own warped sense of logic."