Searching For Sanctuary

18. Done

I stood there for a moment, staring at the door. I just locked it. My arms were crossed over my chest tight, holding myself together. I backed away from the door slowly. I could hear Harry on the other side of the door, muttering to himself. He hadn't knocked yet, so I guess he was building the courage to do it.

I was backing away slowly, shuffling on the cold, wood floor.

"Hello!" Harry called as he rasped on the door.

I tore at my fingernails, glancing around the living room. I was caught in an in-between. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to go open that door but it wasn't like I was determined to leave it closed and locked with him on the other side.

One chance.

I was going to give Harry one chance to prove that this could work, that we could start over. I wasn't going to let my guard down, but I was going to make an effort to let him in. For today, I would give him his one shot to show me that we could work.

And if it crashed and burned, then I was just going to accept it. I had been teetering on this balance beam for too long. It wasn't going to take much to unbalance the beam, so the smallest thing could send me flying. He was going to have to be careful.

I sighed and unfolded my arms, padding towards the door. I unlocked it and turned the knob, stepping back. Harry stepped forward and stood in the doorway, bowing in front of me. He straightened up and stuck his arm out for me to take, smiling broadly.

"Hello, I'm Harry. It is a pleasure to meet you."

His smile was face-splitting and toothy, lighting up his face. I could see the excitement and happiness in his eyes. I could tell that it took some effort on his part to refrain from bouncing on his feet as he stood before me.

I placed my hand in his. "Aisling."

"Well, Aisling," He pulled his hand back away from mine and started bouncing. "I am here to formally ask you on a date."

"Well, are you going to ask me?"

"What? B-But I just did?"

I grinned. "No, you told me that you were here to ask me on one. You didn't ask."

"Oh," He frowned, but then it transformed into his beaming smile. "Well then, Aisling, will you go on a date with me?"

I tapped my chin and hummed. I looked around the room and pretended to glance at my watch. "Well, we would have to revolve it around my schedule. You see, I have a job, and other very important requirements that demand my personal assistance, so I'll see if I can squeeze it in somewhere."

"What?! Aisling!"

I put my hand in the air in defense. "You should have asked me if I was busy first, and then if I was free, you should have asked if I was available to go on a date with you. Geez, you're rather rusty, aren't you? How have you survived with your sweet talk sucking this bad?"

"Oi! You gave me the okay to go outside so I could come back in here!"

"What?" I laughed. "I've only just met you. Now that I think about it, I'm not quite sure I can go on a date with someone as weird as you.."

He looked distraught. "What? I'm messing this all up, aren't I?"

"Eh, maybe just a bit." I shrugged.

"Can I go back outside and try this again?"

"Go for it."

So, he grinned and sped out of the living room, closing the front door behind him. On the other side of the door, I could hear him rehearsing what he planned t say when I let him back in. He knocked again, so I moved towards the door and opened it.