Flowers in the Window || W2S

4

It turned out Holly Hayes was actually a lot bitchier than you'd expected.

"It's not even the fact that she's going after me now," Harry was saying, waving his hands around to emphasise his frustration. "What the fuck even compelled her to cheat on him in the first place? He's a perfectly lovely guy, he's done nothing to her.."

"Poor George," you sympathised.

He sighed. "Yeah, poor George." He rubbed his hands over his tired face and yawned. That in turn made you yawn, and you stretched your arms out, clicking your back in the process. You went to do the same with your legs, but your knee caught the underneath of your desk, which caused your water bottle to fall. You turned to pick it up, anticipating the clatter that would sound when it hit the floor. Instead, there was a smaller clamping noise, and suddenly the bottle was in Harry's hand, reaching out towards you as it balanced on his fingers.

"Nice reflexes," you murmured.

He chuckled and tossed it to you. "Thanks."

There was somewhat of a nervous gleam in his eyes as he held your gaze. Almost like you were missing something-and he was checking to make sure you'd missed it.

"Do you want to go get food?" he asked abruptly. "I'm starving."

"Sure."

The walk to Shakes and Cakes was anything but quiet. You and Harry talked the entire way-somehow managing to go from arguing about Emily Brontë, to once again discussing how Holly had shattered the heart of one of Harry's mutual friends, to you receiving an in-depth rundown of every relationship his group had ever been in, along with a thorough analysis of Harry's full thoughts and opinions on girlfriends past and present, even pulling out his phone to show pictures like a proud dad. It was a lot to digest-Josh had been in the same relationship since they started high school, that black haired one was called Talia..yes, Ethan was the ginger one, and that brunette one was Freya-no, the other brunette one, that one was called Faith. And we don't talk about any of JJ's exes.

By the time you pushed open the cafe door, you felt like you'd known them all for about 10 years. The way Harry spoke about them, almost like they were his family..it warmed your soul. They were his stars, in a way.

Surprisingly, it took very little time for your order to be made. Take-out seemed the better option, given the place was incredibly crowded, and pretty soon the both of you were skipping back up the streets, bag of delicious baked goods firmly tucked under his arm, the fresh sunshine warming your faces and giving you a beautiful, elated sense of euphoria.

"I've been meaning to ask," Harry said as you turned the corner onto Becker Street. "Why do you live with your uncle instead of your parents?"

"Oh." The mood dropped. Obviously there were people who knew about your mother, but that didn't mean you liked discussing it. Nobody ever knew what to say, and if they did, they always said the wrong thing. 'My mum's dead."

"Oh." He didn't know what to say either. "How?"

This was the part you always dreaded thinking about. Even after seeing her corpse on the slab, in the wooden box, and crying over her every night for years, staring at the stars as though you could pick her out of the thousands-no, it was this part that truly gave you nightmares. "I don't really like to talk about it. It was bad, though."

And maybe it was the fact that you looked as sad as you felt whenever you thought of your mother. Maybe you were bringing out the kinder side of Harry-or maybe that side had always been there and you'd just never noticed. Or maybe it was the fact that you'd only really been friends for a couple of weeks and you were already this comfortable around each other. Whatever it was, you didn't know. But when Harry reached down and put his arm around your shoulders, you were pleasantly surprised by the fact that it didn't feel in any way awkward, despite the fact that no more words came. It was the opposite, really. It felt like a strange, new kind of safety. It was warm-it made the sun feel like beaming down on you again. It was..