The Fast Lane

Chapter 16

I looked at the clock in my room.  4AM.  Why was I awake?  Why wasn’t Harry laying next to me?  I glanced over at the bathroom, thinking he might be in there, but the light was of and I didn’t hear any noises coming from inside.  I got out of bed and snuck down the hallway in Harry’s Ramones shirt and my underwear to the kitchen and the living room.  Not there either.  I was getting a little worried.  I sat down on the couch and checked the time again to make sure it was really 4 in the morning.  It was. 

I curled up in Harry’s shirt and laid on the couch, looking out of the window in front of me.  The lights from the city were going on and off in the tall buildings, either from people who had been at work for way too long or from people coming in to work way too early.  I laid there for an hour, absent-mindedly watching each building.  At one point, I went in the bathroom and painted my fingernails my favorite color of sparkly blue.  I sat back on the couch and waited for them to dry. 

After an hour and a half, I was surprised to find myself relatively calm still.  I didn’t feel it necessary to call or text Harry. Instead, I just sat in the dark and waited. 

Finally at about 6, I heard a key slip into the lock.  I looked over as Harry quietly and slowly made his way through the front door.  He was wearing a black snapback and a large black hoodie, as well as some oversized old jeans.  To top it off, he had a brown mustache attached to his upper lip.  I squinted hard into the darkness at him to make sure I was seeing the mustache right, and then I burst into laughter.  He looked so funny. 

Harry yelped.  He flipped on the nearest light and jumped backward and waited for his eyes to adjust.  When he finally saw that it was me laughing, he doubled over and clutched his chest.  Laughing harder because I scared him so badly, I walked over and sat underneath his hanging head and smiled up at him.  His brown curls hung down to cover most of his face, but I could see definite relief in his eyes when he opened them. 

"Love, what in God’s name are you doing awake?  I thought you were a robber." 

I giggled, but then became very serious.  ”I should ask you the same thing.  Who are you anyway?  My Harry has no mustache,” I said, running my finger over the fake hair that covered his upper lip.  He leaned back against the wall behind him and slid down it until I was sitting between his legs.  He pulled me to lay back into his chest, and I could hear his heart still beating pretty fast from me scaring him. 

"I wanted to go see one of the races here."  

I frowned.  I guess Harry could see it even though I wasn’t facing him, because he quickly said, “I just stood in the back.  I wanted to see who was racing and who would win.  No one recognized me.  It was too dark.” 

I was a little upset that he didn’t tell me but then I guess it didn’t matter.  He didn’t race.  ”And… you had that fancy mustache on.  I mean, who would have even guessed it was you?” I said sarcastically, rolling my head back to look at him.  He kissed me on the forehead and then rubbed his mustache over where he just kissed. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A few weeks went by.  Without the excitement of the races, I was expecting a pretty boring summer, yet Harry and I kept ourselves busy with the most random games and traveling.  For the most part, we went just up and down the East Coast, between Tampa and Charlotte.  We took a trip to the Outer Banks and got pictures at every lighthouse that we possibly could.  We rode bikes everywhere and sent Alyssa about a thousand postcards.  We went to the beach too much, and I’m sure I probably have a few spots of skin cancer from getting burned over and over again.