The Trouble With Us

ten

Turns out Anne has cooked a magnificent dinner, everyone digs in straight away. I don't have much of an appetite tonight, so there's minimal food on my plate. It's a shame, because this food looks amazing. Mum looks next to me and notices my lack of food, but she doesn't question me now. Everyone engages in conversation which involves lots of memories. I haven't looked up once, I'm afraid our eyes will meet. Suddenly I hear Harry laugh and I can't help but look. Immediately our eyes meet, and I regret my moves. He watches me closely, giving me the faintest smile. But I don't return it, I physically can't. I look away and can literally hear him sigh across the dinner table. I look everywhere but at him, but I can still see in my peripheral vision that he's staring at me.

"How was the party last night boys?" Robert asks.

Before anyone says anything, I but in, "may I use the bathroom?"

Everyone looks surprised by me speaking.

"Of course love, up the stairs, and the second door to your left. I'm sure you remember even though it's been six years." She laughs.

I smile and nod, "thanks, I'll try."

And with that, I push the chair away from the table and excuse myself up the stairs as quick as I can. I find the bathroom easily and lock the door. I stand in front of the mirror for about ten minutes, trying to pull myself together and get over it. As I wash my hands I hear a soft knock at the door.

"Hold on a second." I murmur.

When I open the door I'm shocked by Harry standing on the other side.

He gives me a gentle smile, "hello."

"Hi." I reply, pursing my lips together.

"Erm..I was just checking to make sure you were alright." He murmurs somewhat awkwardly while intensely staring at my face.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine. I can't help but feel like everyone needs to look after me for some reason, like it's their job." I frown.

He shuffles back a bit, probably feeling like he was standing too close.

"I'm sorry if I gave you that feeling but that wasn't my intention," he laughs awkwardly, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't get lost or anything."

"Lost? This was basically my second home." I murmur.

"Was?" He questions.

"Yeah well you moved didn't you." I mutter.

"I'm back now." He points out.

I force a laugh, but it sounds too awkward for it's own good, "touché."

He too lets out a small laugh.

"You looked so different last night. I haven't seen you for a while obviously, and before I left you were just 'little Livvie' but now you're all grown up, so much that I struggled to recognise you." He murmurs, looking at his feet.

I hope that's a good thing....I'm supposed to be upset, but he did nothing wrong in the first place.

"I can't say that I didn't recognise you, but you have changed a lot too." I reward him with a small smile.

I watch his eyes light up, greener than they ever could be.

"Anyways, I suppose we should head back down stairs?" He suggests.

"Yeah good idea." I smile.

He waits for me to walk past him so he can shut the bathroom door for me. I hear him fasten his pace to catch up to me, and then I feel him place his hand on my mid-back, gently guiding me back down the stairs.

Is this even real. I can feel the hairs on my neck rising.

Before we reach the ground I notice Harry's hand drops, making me feel a little disappointed, but what do I expect? It was only a gesture of kindness. As we enter the dining room my eyes avert to Zach who frowns at our appearance. Did we take that long? Hopefully he didn't think anything happened. Harry's parents and mine didn't even notice our presence. The rest of the night ran pretty smoothly except Harry and I didn't talk again. Unfortunately, the rest of the night flies by and before I know it we're standing outside the door saying goodbye. I hug Anne and Robert goodbye, and watch as dad shakes Harry's hand. Harry turns to me and I can see in his eyes that he's debating whether to hug me goodbye or not due to my last reaction, so I make the first move and step towards him. He opens his toned arms open and gently pulls me in for a tight embrace. His body easily looms over mine, and it's so comforting. I can feel his chest rise and fall as he takes deep breaths. His arms are tight against my body, as if he doesn't want to let me go.

"Alrighty should we get going?" Zach interrupts.

I slowly pull away from Harry and look up at his face to find he's already smirking at me.

"Yes, we shall." Mum laughs.

Everybody bids their farewells one last time and gets in the car. I look through the window to find him already watching me. He gives me a cheesy grin and I give one back. The further away we drive, the sadder I feel. I didn't expect tonight to go the way it did, but I couldn't help it. I needed to realise that he didn't do anything wrong. And he was being so sweet, it really surprised me. As we pull into the garage I say goodnight to mum, dad and Zach. I take off my makeup and brush my teeth and make my way back into my room. Checking my phone, I find another three texts from Katie but I delete them all before reading them. And with that, I fall asleep, thinking about Harry.