Tying You To Me

Loving You Always: A Tying You to Me Extra

It was the countdown Quinn noticed first. One of those widgets you could add to the home screen of your phone. There wasn't a picture or description, but 34 days were left when she first saw it and she quickly tried to calculate what the date could mean.

It wasn't the end of Harry's tour and the date didn't correspond to any notable birthdays or anniversaries. Unless it was something new Harry had up his sleeve, she had no clue what it could be.

"Big plans for the summer?" Quinn tried hard to sound casual when she brought it up later that night. Harry was chopping vegetables for a stir-fry as she heated oil in the pan. He paused, a thoughtful smirk on his face, and Quinn could almost hear the wheels spinning in his head as he thought of a sarcastic retort.

"Well, I'm just making a quick trip over a castle in a couple of days. Have a few more shows here and there but nothing too exciting." He looked up from the cutting board and flashed her his trademark grin.

"Nothing else though. No other shows? No filming or fashion things? Like say in 34 days?" Harry's eyes were back on the vegetables, and at the mention of the date, his hand slipped, the knife nicking the tip of his finger.

"Shit."

"Oh, Harry." Quinn spun around behind her grabbing a clean paper towel, doubling it over before pressing it against the small cut. "Hold that there," she said, turning back to toss some of the cut vegetables into the pan. "Is it still bleeding?".

"No, it wasn't too bad. Just startled me more than anything. But that's what I get for letting you distract me."

"I distracted you?"

"Yeah, you're interrogating me when I'm chopping vegetables," Harry teased.

"Your hand slipped. I'm sorry, but how is that my fault???"

"You're getting all in my business asking weirdly specific questions that make no sense."

Quinn flushed, feeling only slightly guilty that she'd been so nosy. "I'm just trying to...plan some things out."

"Oh? Like what?"

"I don't know, lunch?"

"You want to plan a lunch...34 days from now."

"Yeah." Quinn held his gaze, unrelenting.

"You're something else woman." He shook his head, the grin never leaving his face. "Inflicting pain on your poor boyfriend, on his well deserved day off. Keep this up and we'll see if I get you a rin–" Harry blanched, and then cleared his throat. "But, uh, to answer your question, it's a work meeting that I can't miss so I'll have to pass on lunch that day."

"With Columbia?" The words came out faster than Quinn intended, as she tried to process the words that had almost come out of Harry's mouth.

"Yeah." Harry looked at his finger. "Looks like it's not a serious wound. I'm going to wash up and then I can chop some more if you need it."

"That would be great." Quinn's voice sounded strange to her own ears. "I think we might need more broccoli and carrots." She went back to pushing vegetables around the pan, paying careful attention and trying to distract herself from the thoughts currently racing through her mind.

The countdown was the furthest thing from her mind as she fixated and the single word Harry had almost said – ring.

Rings had been top of mind since he'd given her that trinket after Christmas. While it mostly lived upstairs in the jewelry tray he'd made for her, Quinn had been known to pick it up and put on her left ring finger when she was alone, savoring the physical and symbolic weight of it and praying that a real one would be coming soon.