Shelter 《H.S.》

Chapter 010

"Have I ever told you about how I met Morgan?" Harry asked one evening as the pair sat in the living room, a pizza sat on the table in front of them and a movie played in the background on Netflix.

Skylar turned to him, eyes wide and inquisitive as she shook her head. Harry never talked about Morgan or anyone, really. He'd been staying with her for nearly two months and she knew next to nothing about him. He was a closed book.

"I met her in secondary school. I was thirteen and she was sat beside me in class that year. I watched her all the time. I know that sounds creepy, but she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I always used to tell her these awful, corny jokes and she never laughed, always just gave me this hard look before turning back to whatever she was doing but I was smitten with her. Well, one day I overheard her telling another girl in our class how she was failing History so I jumped at the opportunity to tutor her. We started hanging out every other day while I tutored her and ended up being friends. Had a massive crush on her for the rest of secondary," He explained before stuffing nearly half a slice of pizza in his mouth and biting it off.

"So, when we got to sixth form, I had probably been well past the properly smitten. She came over one night when we did our homework together in the dining room and she stayed for dinner then, we got set up in the living room with desert and tea and we were in the middle of talking during some movie we were supposed to be watching when she blurted out that she had a crush on one of our classmates, Daniel. Broke my heart that night, she did." He paused, shoving the rest of his slice into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully as he slid another piece off the cardboard and onto his paper plate.

Skylar chewed slowly before swallowing what was in her mouth and replying, "Did you tell her then?"

Harry snorted a laugh, "No, I was a tit. Told her I'd talk to him and see how he felt. Turned out he fancied her too. They dated the rest of the year so Morgan quit coming over and we didn't speak all summer. When school started back up that fall, I'd shot up 6 inches, broadened out and my voice had finally deepened and it was like she really saw me for the first time."

Skylar couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up from her throat, full-bellied with her eyes crinkling at the corners. A smile creeped up his own face at her glee along with a disgruntled, playful "Heeeeyyy!" falling through his own plump lips.

"I never took you for that teenage boy, if I'm being honest." She said once her laughter died down, fighting the smile that threatened to take over her features as Harry gave her an indignant look.

"Heeey!" He whined again, eyebrows puckered low on his forehead and his bottom lip jutted out comically.

"She was intimidating, and I was sixteen!"

"If I'm being honest, I don't know how you kept a ten year relationship that resulted in marriage from your fans. I had no idea you were married and I've followed your career for years!" Skylar replied, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"It was really hard at first. There was always speculation about our relationship, but I like to keep my private life under wraps so when I started becoming more publicized, I locked any old photos down and away and we stopped going as many places together and the places we did go together, we were mindful about how we interacted. It was just a piece of myself I wanted to keep to myself, y'know?" He answered, finishing his pizza and shutting the box as they leaned against their respective couch arms.

"Makes sense. I didn't pay much attention to what was said about you. Not that I didn't care, but I was more into your music than I was your personal life." She said with a shrug, dusting the crumbs of her hands.

"Fans like you were always my favorite," he replied, a sad smile curving his lips upward, "You guys never read too deep into anything and just let the music take you where you wanted to be."