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I kept quiet the entire dinner mainly because I still didn't know what was going on with Mr. Payne knowing about Harry and mine's relationship. Was he going to tell? Well Harry had invited him in to eat so I didn't think he would. I couldn't eat either. Having another teacher around in my life out of school felt weird and uncomfortable. I was so use to it just being Harry and I every single night that having not only his family, but also his friend who happened to be another one of my teachers here was incredibly strange.
"Could you pass the bread, babe?" I looked up at Harry and saw him staring back at me, waiting for the bread basket. For some reason, I didn't want him calling me babe anymore. At least, not in front of Mr. Payne or, as I was told to now call him, Liam. I looked back down at my plate after handing Harry what he had asked for. I was sat between his mother and him and all I wanted to do was go home or have the others go home. Don't get me wrong, I really liked his family and Liam was one of my favorite teachers, but I just wanted to be alone with harry and it was clear that that wasn't going to happen soon so the next best thing would be being alone, period.
Suddenly, I felt Harry's hand on my thigh and his lips were brought closer to my ear.
"Is everything alright, baby? You're awfully quiet." His whispering voice sent chills down my back as I whipped my mouth with a napkin.
"Yeah, I just don't feel too well." I wasn't lying when I whispered back to him. My stomach was upside down, head pounding. I told myself that after dinner was over, I'd go back home.
I quietly watched as Liam made conversation with Gemma and Harry had his own with his mom. I was completely left out, but I preferred that over having to talk. I felt like if I opened my mouth, all of my dinner would come back up. This felt like the longest dinner period of my life. Every time I thought it was finally over, someone started up about a new topic and took more food. I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get out of there.
I stood up, bringing my dishes to the sink.
"Sorry to be so impolite, but I've got a ton of homework to do." I apologized to the guests looking at me, wondering why I was leaving. My excuse was a complete lie. I had finished all of my homework during my free period in the afternoon and now all I wanted was some time to myself.
"It was very nice meeting you both" I told Harry's mother and sister with a small smile. Before I walked out of the kitchen, I heard Harry's sad voice ask me a question.
"Do you want me to drive you back? The roads are pretty bad with all that construction." I turned around and immediately recognized the look on his face. It was disappointment. I'm not sure if he was disappointed in me and my little effort I made to talk to his family or disappointed that I was leaving.
"No it's ok, but thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." I gave him another small smile, all the energy I had in my body completely gone. The worry of Liam knowing about us drained me. I heard him mumble an 'ok' as I walked to the front door and he call out.
"I'll call you tonight." My head nodded even though he couldn't see me. I got my shoes and coat on, picked up my bag and left Harry's apartment.
•••
The drive back home was quite long because of all the traffic and construction. On top of all the construction, there was also snow falling. Where I lived, it was normal to get snow in the beginning of spring, but just because it was normal, didn't mean I enjoyed it.
When I finally got home, I was very pleased to see my brother was still at work. I had at least a couple of hours before he would be back and I planned on using every single second I had to relax.
I walked into my kitchen after hanging up my coat and plugged in the kettle. While the water was boiling, I went up to my room and changed out of my jeans and sweater and into one of Harry's t-shirts I'd taken, not bothering with pants. I went back down to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of tea. I brought it into the living room with me, setting it on the table next to the couch. I took a moment to look around my small living room. With my parents gone, my brother and I couldn't really afford luxuries. All we really had in this room was a couch, a coffee table and a decent size TV. Although my brother had a job that made a lot of money, most of that money went to paying back his student loans.
I sat down on the couch, turned on the television and also turned on my phone. I reached my hand out to the coffee table for the remote as my phone vibrated indicating I had a text. As I scrolled through my recordings, I opened the message and saw it was from Harry.
'Is everything alright babe? You left in quite a hurry...'
I read the message and I couldn't help but smile. Just knowing Harry took the time to text me and make sure I was fine warmed my heart. I quickly typed back a response before pressing play on my recording of Pretty Little Liars. I wrapped myself up in a blanket, sipping on my tea. I was really focused on the show until my phone buzzed again. I looked at another message from Harry.
'Can you tell me what's really bothering you baby?'
I let out a sigh and paused the show with the remote. Harry knew me too well. Even over text message, he could tell something was wrong.
'There's nothing really bothering me. I enjoyed meeting your family, but at the end of the night I kinda wanted to have some time alone with you although I understand that I'm not the only person in your life'
I sent back and resumed watching my television show. It was sometimes weird to watch PLL since I'd been with Harry because of Aria and Ezra's former relationship as student and teacher. I was just hoping that my relationship with Harry wouldn't turn out like theirs did. I didn't think any woman would come out of the blue and tell Harry he was the father of her son and that situation would force us to break up.
Another sip was taken from my tea as another message lit up my phone. I looked down and underneath Harry's name on the screen was what I wanted to read the most, I just didn't know it.
'Everyone left. I'm coming over. We can have our alone time.'
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