Larkspur Lane - HS

Go Slowly

Elodie James

I almost kissed him.

I almost kissed him.

What am I doing? This is not what I'm supposed to be doing. This wasn't supposed to happen.

I trail behind him silently, letting him lead me back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Kaia waits for us.

"Here, just wait here for a sec, okay?" Harry turns to me and stops me gently with his hands on my arms. His voice almost giddy.

I look at him strangely, what is he up to?

I hear Kaia giggle and the two of them pop up in front of me mischievously, Harry hiding something behind his back.

"What?" I laugh at them.

I watch as he pulls out a weathered teddy bear from behind him and purses his lips together in a whistle. "C'mere girl!"

Not even ten seconds later a big golden lab comes barreling into the entryway of the kitchen wagging its tail excitedly.

"Elodie, this is Lily." Harry grins as Lily tugs at the bear in his hands.

I let out a shocked laugh, "You got a dog!"

I crouch down and call her over to me ready to smother her in pets. She trots up to me happily and revels in my touch letting out happy pants as she cuddles up to me.

"Oh my God, H, she's precious." I pout up at him and he smiles so brightly that his dimples pop out. The sight tugs on my heart strings, having not had the privilege to witness such a genuine smile from him in years.

"Knew you'd be excited." He says pleased with himself. "She's almost five." He bends down to pet her. "She's my baby."

Almost five.

"So you got her after I left then?" I ask softly.

He looks at me shyly, "Yeah, uh, my anxiety got pretty bad after...She helped a lot."

Ah, right. Another thing I made worse.

I shoot him a forced smile to which he frowns.

I hate that he can still read me.

"Harryyy, I'm hungry!" Kaia shouts from the kitchen.

I watch as he shakes himself off and stands back up. "Right." 

I make my way to the counter, sitting down next to Kaia.

"Hey El?" She tips her head in my direction and I smile at her use of my nickname.

"What's up Kai." I smile at her.

She beams at me, "What's it like making movies?" her voice full of wonder. It reminds me of when I was her age, when even just the idea of being in a movie was enough to get me excited.

"It's really fun." I whisper to her, "Sometimes it's hard, I have to get really sad or angry and that takes a lot out of me. But it's fun pretending to be someone else for a little while."

She leans in to whisper back to me, "I think I wanna be an actor when I'm older." She peeks her head over her shoulder to make sure Harry isn't listening. "But I don't think my mom would like that." Her brows furrow sadly.

Her words wind me, people always tell me that they bet so many young wannabe actors look up to me but I had always brushed the thought off. Hearing Kaia share something so big with me struck a chord in me, "Yeah? I think that's incredible Kai. Does Harry know that?"

Her cheeks burn, "Not really." She shrugs, "He thinks I wanna be a doctor like my mom."

"Mum's a nurse, Kai." He mumbles walking past us. "And I thought that's what you wanted to do too?"