as it is || harry styles au

fifty-four

tw // mention of rape

h a r r y

     I was in a constant state of pinch me showing Ivy around the house.

     Her small intake of breath at every room we walked into as she gushed at all the small details I pointed out to her. The breakfast nook I envisioned Jamie sitting at while doing his homework. The living room I pictured us having Christmas morning in. The open concept of the kitchen, living, and dining area. The guest room downstairs where our friends from out of town could stay when they visited. The extra bedroom upstairs that we could decide to fill or make into another guest room.

By the time we made it to the backyard, Ivy was a beautiful, blubbering mess.

She wiped at her eyes. "Holy shit, Harry."

The backyard had a deck area, a pool, a lawn space that topped out at around three-thousand square feet, and a garden along the side yard. Plenty of room for Jamie to play and for a dog to run around if we ever got one in the future.

I wrapped my woman up in my arms, dropping my chin down to her shoulder. "It doesn't have the personal touch to it yet. I haven't put up any photos or found any furniture because I wanted us to do it together."

"No personal touch? Harry, you just outlined our life together within these walls. I can't think of this place as anything else other than home."

     My heartbeat quickened. "Really?"

     "Really." She turned to face me. Kissed my lips in a touch so sweet I couldn't believe I'd soon have the honor of doing so for the rest of our lives. "But you've always been my home, Harry."

     Now she had me choked up. "Not to steal the words out of your mouth, but you've always been my home, Ives. And it's a great honor to be a home to you."

...

"Do you want to go somewhere for spring break?"

     "Like where?"

     Harry shrugged. "The coast? Seaside? Florida?"

     I laughed. "How the hell are we getting to Florida?"

     "If you want to go, I'll make it work."

     "Oh, will you?" I egged on.

     While I was joking with him, I knew he was being dead serious. If I truly wanted to go, he would find a way to make it happen. Might I add that we were only seventeen years old. We couldn't rent a place, nor could we rent a car.

     He bundled up a paper from his notebook and threw it in my direction."Yes, I will."

     I laughed, picking up the paper ball that landed next to my knee and threw it back at him. "I can ask Zuri if she wants to go to Seaside. It's only like an hour and a half away, right?"

     He nodded. "With traffic, maybe two hours, yeah."

     "Is it okay if Zuri came?" I asked, realizing that I sort of just assumed that we'd invite her, too.