Saudade

Chapter 7

                A week and a half later I sat cross-legged on one of the couches in the theater alone, pushing Dove Chocolates into my mouth as fast as I could unwrap them while I watched The Notebook. I had my cheeks stuffed with three chocolates each, mouth half-hung open as I watched Ryan Gosling peel off Rachel McAdam’s tights, when Harry’s bedroom door swung open. He was in sweatpants and shirtless per usual. I quickly chewed my chocolates and swallowed, pausing the movie. He cocked an eyebrow at me, then welcomed himself to heave down at my side and grab a chocolate from my bag.

                “This is your Friday night? Well then, press play,” he said through his chewing, gesturing to the TV. “Things get good after this.”

                “Do you ever go home?” I asked him, popping another chocolate into my mouth.

                “Nope, press play.”

                “Why did you just wake up?” He dove then, wrestling with me for the remote. He finally snatched it away from me, resuming the movie and holding down the volume until I could feel each sound vibrate in my bones. We watched the rest of the movie in silence, taking turns to grab a handful of candy every so often. When it was over I was embarrassingly teary eyed, but I wiped them away and looked over at Harry. “Seriously though, why don’t you go home?” I asked, turning so I was facing him.

                “I don’t like to be alone,” he shrugged. “Plus, I like being here with Spencer and Ed. They don’t mind me being here and I like coming here so I figure why not?”

                “I never actually see you around though, you always just show up at random times,”

                “I’ve been trying to stay out of your way, to be honest,” he cleared his throat, “plus I’ve had stuff going on.”

                “Why have you been trying to stay out of my way?” I asked, knitting my brows and leaning forward a bit to hear his answer better.

                “Well, I figured you didn’t want to deal with me…you know, because-” he shifted uncomfortably.

                “Oh, Harry, you didn’t have to stay out of my way. It’s okay. It was…mutual. I was just upset at first. It’s really fine.”

                “I also wasn’t the nicest about him,” he pointed out, “and I’m sorry about that.”

                “Don’t worry about it. It’s over, remember?” He nodded curtly.

                “So you’re okay?” he asked me carefully.

                “Definitely.” We sort of stared at each other for a second before a scream from upstairs made us both jump and dash for the stairs. When we got to the main level we were out of breath but scurried for the front door, finding Spencer talking fast on the phone. Ed was just shaking his head and smiling, then Spencer threw down her phone with a huge smile on her face, cheeks flushed red. Harry and I took a moment to swap looks of confusion before returning our attention to her. It was then she threw up her left hand, revealing a ring with multiple diamonds on her third finger while she screamed. I began screaming too, grabbing her hand and bouncing with her. I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly. I then looked at Ed and wrapped him in a huge hug as well. Harry chuckled, giving Spencer a hug and repeating ‘cheers.’ “Oh my god!” I yelled a few times, and Spencer just nodded excitedly, intertwining her fingers with Ed’s.

                We all made our way to the dining room, Harry and I taking the duty to find a bottle of champagne and glasses. We returned to the table, Harry popping the cork too quickly and unleashing a shower of champagne bubbles across the table, but everyone was too happy to care. We drank through three bottles that night, up until two AM listening to Spencer gush about their evening. They went out to dinner at her favorite restaurant in London before heading to Lake District. They had laid under the stars talking about their past couple years together when Ed pulled out the ring, beautifully delivering an entire monologue to ask for her hand.