We Made It

9.

"Door open Harry." Anne says. We've heard the same words for months now.

"Mom. It's just Louis." I smile at his pouty voice. It's always the same argument with him.

"I know."

"He's slept over many times before." Harry was getting exasperated. I rubbed his arm and kissed his shoulder where his mum couldn't see.

"He's never been your boyfriend before Harry." She looks around him. "Louis." She always expects me to be the responsible one.

I nod. "Door open Mrs. S."

I grab his hand and both of our school bags and lead us upstairs. His room was the third door on the left. We pass by his sister Gemma's room. She is a year younger than me and a year older than Harry. I bang on her door as we pass and yell "DOOR OPEN GEMMA!" I know her boyfriend Mike is in there with her. She pulls her door open and throws a pillow at us. Harry opens his door and plops down on his bed. I toss our bags in the corner and slip off my shoes.

"What does she think is going to happen?" He asks not expecting an answer. He asks this everyday.

I walk up to him and place my hands on his thighs. "Harold. We are dating now."

He gulps. "I know." He whispers.

He's so cute. So innocent. So...mine.

I pull him forward and wrap his legs around my waist. I grab his hands and put them around my neck. "We'd start like this."

I turn around and place his back against his wall. I slide my nose down his neck and nip his collarbone. He whimpers and innocently grinds down on me. I growl and grind back pushing my weight against him further. His hands fist my hair and I groan as he tugs. I slam my lips on his and he nibbles my bottom lip. Our tongues battle each other and I walk us backward to the bed again. I sit down and he's kneeling over my lap. I scoot back and pull him down not letting our lips separate. We finally remember we need to breath so he pulls away and places his head in my neck.

"You see..." I whisper breathless. "Young padawan learner."

He kisses my neck and his hands run down my chest. I shiver.

"This is why she said door open."

I grab his face in my hands and kiss him one last time. I sit us up and move him off my lap. He sighs and looks down at his lap. Is that...rejection on his face? Surely not.

"Harry. I want to but not like this." I place my finger under his chin and bring his eyes to mine. "Not with your mother downstairs and sister down the hall."

He nods. "I just...it feels...fuck."

He flops down and I laugh. He hardly ever curses...thats left for me. "I know exactly how it feels."

He looks at me and laughs with me. "So...we'll do homework?"

"Is that my new nickname?" I wiggle my eyebrows and he shoves my shoulder.

"Lou. Come on!"

He stands up and grabs our bags. We sit against the wall at the head of his bed. I have my English essay out along with the book we had to read and he has his math. He glances at my essay and tries to understand what the book is about. I look at his math homework and lean over to write a 3 where he had a 2.

"There. Now you can do the multiplying correctly." I smile and write some notes in the margin of the book.

"What's it about?" He asks as he writes his answers.

"Of Mice and Men?" He nods. "George and Lennie. The great depression. They move from place to place searching for work. George is obviously Lennie's protector. The ranch they...settle on for now... chaos happens. Lennie is special you see. He loves everything but without meaning to he hurts those things. Lennie makes a mistake and a group of people come for him. George can't let them put Lennie through the pain they want to so he takes Lennie's life himself. Quickly. Painless. I don't think George will ever get over it but he loved Lennie more than anyone."

He puts his pencil down and looks at me. "That's sad. What do you have to write about?"

"The characters. Analysis. What traits you like from each one. Very tedious and time consuming. Now...would you like me to check your math?"

He shakes his head no. He goes back to his work and I finish my essay. To be honest at first I didn't like the book but the relationship between George and Lennie grew on me. I had actually read the book in one day surprisingly...usually I dragged reading out for weeks. After that first time I had read the book 3 more times. The spine was becoming very used and there were notes everywhere.

"Hey boys." Gemma says standing at the door.

"Hey."

"You guys going to the party next week?"

I nod. "It's our last day as students. After midnight we won't belong anywhere until we start Uni."

It's still mind boggling how fast the months have passed. I wanted to slow it down. I wanted more time with him like this. Hanging out. Doing homework. Playing video games. Watching movies. Him listening to me play guitar. Dinners with each other's families. Dates to the cinema and restaurants. I'm not ready to leave him yet.

"You'll belong here." Harry whispers.

Gemma smiles wide. "Awww widdle brudder being all womantic." She baby talks.

He throws his pillow at her and hits her in the face. "Shut up Gem. What do you want? We're busy."

"Oh I heard how busy you were. Homework...is that my new nickname." She mocks.

I laugh and Harry let's out a loud cackle. "Snoopy." I call her.

"Dinners ready that's why I came up."

We both nod. We put our work away and toss our bags by his door. I get in front of him and he hops on my back. I walk carefully down the stairs with him and into the dining room. Anne and Robin smile and Gemma rolls her eyes and whispers something to Mike. Dinner is delicious. Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Harry and I clear the table and load the dishes into the dishwasher. We head back to his room. Harry puts on his pajama bottoms and crawls under his blankets. I do the same. He turns and lays on his left side and I turn and lay on my right. He grabs my hand and locks our fingers together. He closes his eyes first and I watch him sleep for a while.

How am I going to be strong enough to leave him? This week was our last week of having homework so next week we won't have that excuse for these sleepovers. I'd already gotten my dorm assignment and the name of the boy I'd be rooming with. Jackson. I was supposed to arrive a week early for orientation and to meet him. The party next week was a right of passage. Last year I had been in Gemma's spot. I waited and counted down the minutes to midnight until I was a senior. Funny that now I wanted it to stop so I could stay. I shove my thoughts from my head and kiss Harry's forehead before closing my eyes.

It would work out. It had to.