Always

Chapter 47

We were sitting on Harry's bed one afternoon, listening to him absentmindedly strum some notes on his guitar, ignoring our homework when I decided to bring it up to him. My heart beat nervously in my chest, hoping he would be willing to at least hear me out. He was patient and kind, so I was pretty sure he would, but I couldn't help feel anxious.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, frowning distractedly down at his guitar, trying out a few different chords for whatever song he was playing.

"Can I ask you something?" I bit my lip nervously as he looked up at me, his lips slightly parted as he took in my nervous behavior. His fingers stilled on the guitar.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked. His eyebrows knitted together over his green eyes.

"Well, I just had this idea... and you can say no, if you want, so please be honest with me if you don't want to do it because I know it's a lot to ask..." I was rambling, stalling.

"What is, Joey?" he asked patiently. I inhaled deeply before blowing the breath out stiffly through my nose.

"If you don't mind... could you- would you maybe... talk to my dad about... about what's going on with him and my mom?" My lips pulled back in a grimace as I asked, my eyes shifting between his knees and his face, unable to hold his gaze.

"You want me to talk to your dad about him and your mom?" he repeated, his tone even. He didn't shoot it down right away, which gave me hope.

"Yeah, I mean, if you don't mind. I know that's probably a lot for me to ask of you and it's kind of weird but... he doesn't talk to me like he talks to you," I said, sad that it was the truth. My dad spoke with Harry so easily and openly while I had to struggle to get him to reply with more than one word.

"Maybe if you talk to him he'll try harder to not fight with my mom or something? Maybe it would help them?" I continued, fingers tangling together in my lap. I dared a look at Harry's face to discover that he appeared to be deep in thought.

"I could do that," he finally said, his voice deep and cautious.

"Really?" I asked, trying to control the relief in my voice. "You'd do that?"

"For you, yeah," he said, gaze meeting mine. "I don't know what I'll say but I'll try."

"Oh, thank you, Harry, you're the best," I said happily, beyond thrilled he had agreed, and so easily at that. Maybe if Harry talked to him, he would see how important this was to me and would try harder to make things work and stop fighting so much.

"I know," he joked, shrugging his shoulders and grinning at me. I pulled myself up to my hands and knees and crawled across his bed, resting my hands on either side of his hips so my face was even with his.

He continued to grin at me as I leaned over his guitar in his lap to kiss him, pressing my lips firmly to his own. My lips molded against his some more as I reached one of my hands between us to grab his guitar, slide it out of his lap, and set it onto the bed next to us.

His hands came up to cradle my face as his tongue slid slowly across my lower lip, deepening the kiss. Rising out of my position, I pulled myself up so my knees rested on either side of his hips, allowing me to sit on his lap and straddle his waist. My arms wound around his neck, hugging his chest to mine as he tugged softly on my bottom lip.

His lips released mine before connecting to my neck, trailing soft kisses up the skin there. I had just tilted my head to the side to allow him better access when he suddenly vibrated his lips against my throat, blowing a raspberry into my skin and making me instantly squirm away from him. I let out a squeal at the feeling, laughter immediately booming out of my chest as he continued to tickle my neck with his lips.