The Stacks

Chapter 22: Forward

It felt so normal to wake up next to Harry. I watched his chest fall and rise; with each inhale, he snored lightly and with each exhale, his eyes fluttered a bit. I could tell he was rising to the surface of consciousness.

"Good morning," I whispered, rubbing my hand over his bare chest, which was surprisingly warm as opposed to the chill of the air in my apartment.

"Mmmh," he hummed, rolling towards me and gathering me in his arms. I moved my hand around to his back to pull him closer. He rested his head above mine, causing my face to be burrowed into his chest, which I didn't mind at all.

For a long time, we lay there, listening to each other's breath, feeling each other's heartbeat. This was the most content I had ever felt. Harry was a puzzle piece that fit into my life when I didn't even know one was missing. And now that I'd witnessed some of his sorrow and had a peek into his old life, I felt even closer to him.

"Can we just stay here all day?" I mumbled after we had held each other for close to an hour.

"Mmm," he hummed again. I giggled lightly, realizing he wasn't fond of using words first thing in the morning.

"Was that a yes?" I teased and then I squeezed him, in effect smashing us even closer together.

I felt his chest vibrate before I heard his quiet laughter. "Don't squeeze too tightly, I have to use the bathroom."

"Ew!" I laughed and scooted away from him.

"Be right back," he murmured. I admired the view as he walked away; tight black boxer briefs over his backside. I heard him brushing his teeth, so when he came back to the bedroom, I took my turn in the bathroom, relieving myself and brushing my teeth, just in case I needed fresh breath for any reason.

I began to shiver as my bare feet trekked back across the wooden floor in my bedroom. There was a plush rug under my bed, but much of the floor was still uncovered.

"Brrr," I said, launching myself into bed right next to Harry.

"How did your feet get cold so fast?" He said, almost shrieking at the icy skin I pushed against his legs.

"I don't know; they've always been like that. But now I have someone to warm them up for me." I pressed my foot against another part of his leg and he jumped back.

"Shit, that's cold!"

"Sorry," I said with a less-than-sorry grin.

"No, you're not," he grumbled playfully. "It's a good thing I love you."

"Yeah, that's a very good thing," I said, closing in to kiss him softly.

When we finally hauled ourselves out of bed in search of breakfast, we discovered that mountains of snow had fallen in the night.

"It's a good thing we're not heading back to my house today," Harry said with not even a trace of disappointment in his voice. He wrapped his arms around my waist and let his chin rest on my shoulder as we watched the snow falling in heaps on the city streets. Only one lone car ventured along Woodward Avenue, slowly trudging through the mess.

"I can see you're really bummed out about that," I teased.

"I like being here," he said with an unbridled grin. "I thought we covered this the other night."

"You just don't want to do any more cleaning," I bantered. Of course, I knew yesterday had been an emotionally heavy day as well, but that didn't need to be said.

"Well, that too. It's just...." He paused and I stopped to look at him, questioning. "I've been thinking about the house, especially now that I have some courage to get rid of a few things. On the one hand, I think I should just sell it because it was part of my life with Cathryn. But then I think I should keep it for the same reason. It's maddening."