Light Me Up [HS AU]

30

Harry and I were on the same page about going slow. I didn't want to mess anything up for anyone, so I let him set the pace. Over the first many weeks, everything was so new and fragile that we both seemed to hold our breaths waiting for something to send us down for the count. But we kept growing closer. We stayed at each other's places more than we stayed alone. I was worried that I'd jinx it if I spoke too much about how happy I was, so I didn't speak much about our new, budding romance to anyone.

Ethan's lawyers had indeed been trying to build a case against Stone Publishing for breach of contract, but the legal team of the firm was superior to Ethan's lawyers in all aspects and he ended up with a settlement of a pretty substantial amount. I would have loved to see the end of Ethan Hale with that final act, but unfortunately he seemed to blame me in particular for his book being rejected. I received notes, emails and text messages from him, reminding me how I had just proved his theory; I had crushed his dreams. In the beginning Morgan and I just laughed at the messages, trying to lighten up the mood, but soon enough his frustration turned into something else. He would wait outside the office building, standing across the street, just leaning against the building staring as I left after work.

Harry was very unimpressed when he heard it had happened a couple of times. I had come straight to his place after work and he was cooking me dinner. "Does he say or do anything?" he asked, pausing his vegetable chopping.

"No, he just stands there and looks at me." I shrugged and picked up a piece of carrot from the chopping board Harry was using. I was sitting on the kitchen counter watching him cook, or supervising as I liked to call it.

"Does he seem threatening?" Harry was fully abandoning his chopping task, looking intently at me. I jumped down from the counter and scooted him over, so I could take over the chopping.

"I wouldn't say so, but it's kind of creepy. Ethan can be pretty intense though, so it's probably just him trying to make me feel guilty. I never reply to his texts and letters, so he's probably a little frustrated with me." I chopped on, but Harry put his hand on top of mine, stopping my motion.

"Letters and texts?" He asked looking at me with a serious expression.

I hadn't spoken to him about it, because I didn't want to cause any disturbance in our little love bubble. I even made Morgan promise she would keep it between us.

I swallowed hard and looked up at him. "Yes. He's written a few lines here and there. Mostly just telling me how I've ruined his life and proven his theory to be true."

"Can I see them?" Harry asked with a concerned expression on his face.

I unlocked my phone and handed it to him, as I continued chopping vegetables.

***