You//H.S

6.

{song; bubble gum by clairo (found on youtube and soundcloud...it's perfect for this chapter!)}

alice realized that she was falling in love with harry the morning after the mashed potato incident (which anne made them clean up immediately, by the way).

for when she woke up the morning after, all she could think of was harrys beautiful eyes and his stunning smile. her mind raced as she thought of how funny he was, and so outgoing and sweet. alice found herself constantly thinking about him, no matter what she was doing.

it was such a new and unknown feeling for her, but so amazing. though alice was insanely nervous with the fact that harry could not return the feelings in which she felt, just thinking about him put her on what felt like a high. all of her friends, jenna included, assured her that harry liked her, but alice was skeptical.

alice was laying on her bed sunday afternoon when her cell phone rang suddenly. alice could not help but to smile to herself when she saw annes name pop up on the screen.

"hey, anne!" alice answered enthusiastically. the two had grown strangely close since alice and harry had started hanging out.

"hi beautiful, i was hoping you could come over in a little bit. harry won't be home, he will be at a speech class." alice groaned softly, hoping anne wouldn't hear, but knew she had as soon as she heard a giggle."i'm sorry anne, it is not that i do not want to spend time with you, i do of course, i was just hoping to see harry as well." annes laugh traveled loudly through the line, causing alice to pull the phone away from her ear a little bit.

"trust me love, i know. we shall talk about it at...does three sound good?"

"i will be there!" alice responded. it sounded a lot better than laying in bed at home all day and watching 'Say Yes To The Dress' while becoming lost in her thoughts of harry. 

anne and alice exchanged their goodbyes quickly. alices eyes wandered over to her clock, which read 2:30, only leaving her 15 minutes to get ready if she didn't want to be late.

since harry wasn't going to be there, alice was not particularly worried of how she looked. she hurriedly threw on an extra large t-shirt with a grey pair of sweatpants. she grabbed a jacket and head out of the door.

+

"Pumpkin!" anne exclaimed happily as alice entered the door. she seemed to have a new nickname for alice every single time she saw her.

"hi, anne!" alice answered with the same amount of happiness, maybe a little bit more.

the two women began to talk about a large majority of topics as anne began to heat up some water for tea.

once the tea was made, with cookies of course, the pair sat on the sofa in the parlor.

"so i am sure you're wondering why i invited you over, and no it is not because i am a lonely old woman who needs girlfriends to drink tea and eat cookies with!" anne joked, causing alice to chuckle.

"then why?" alice questioned, blowing on her tea so it could cool faster.

"we need to talk." anne responded quietly.

"about?"

"you and my son." anne said simply, causing alice to choke on her tea. "what about us?" alice said, trying to sound calm though her voice cracked on each word.

"i know you love him."

alice attempted to say something, but she could not, for it felt as if someone had covered her tongue with glue and then thrown sand on it. it suddenly became hard to breath as alices brain comprehended what anne had just said. "what?" alice finally squeaked out.

"i can tell. how you look at him, how you talk to him, and about him. it is exactly how i responded to my husband robin." anne smiled fondly.

"though my lovely robin has passed on, i will never forget how that love felt, because i will always feel it...because i will always love him. love is not something you can just run away from, alice. you have to embrace it. because when you find someone you love, you can not let them go, because you never know when you will lose them. and you can not be afraid of love either, you need to tell him. don't just do it for you, do it for him too."

alice was stunned by annes words. she began to open her mouth but was quickly cut off. "don't tell me. tell him." anne said with a loving smile, nodding towards the door.

alices mouth fell open at the sight, for standing against the frame of the door stood the man she loved.