within the meadow √ h.s.

t w e n t y t w o

days turned to nights then to weeks and soon delilah had remembered her old life before harry. the phone calls were frequent, and letters soon appeared as well as postcards, but the void of his presence could not be filled through a speaker or through words on a card despite delilah's adoration for words on paper. she worked as much as she could to distract from the loneliness that began to creep up on her like the new year.

delilah avoided the meadow for almost two weeks. it wasn't intentional it was just what seemed to happen. the week of christmas she drove to her mother's house where she would be able to see her niece. she was so excited to be surrounded by her family and away from reminders of who was no longer around.

her childhood house was decorated and it brought back memories of weekends spent hanging lights and ornaments while fighting with gabriel to put the angel on top of the tree, gabriel always winning despite delilah's valid arguments. for a moment delilah wished that she had never left that town but soon remembered everything good that had happened when she did. delilah didn't want to feel regret, and she almost didn't want to feel anything if that meant she could move on smoothly.

all of her siblings ran out to help her with her one bag and hug her. they all knew what was going on in her life, and although laura told them all to act like they knew nothing, they simply failed. delilah felt the love from everyone and remembered that everything was going to be okay.

amelia had grown since delilah last saw her. she had pictures and she was sent videos of her crawling, but she really didn't realize how chunky of a baby she was. delilah scooped her up in her arms and amelia giggled in bliss.

everyone's life seemed to be moving at an alarming speed. everyone except delilah.

dinner was loud and filled with laughter, the twins experiencing a failure when attempting one of their many pranks. it was a lovely night with nothing but love.

delilah stayed up late to read of course, but she was also hoping harry would ignore the inconvenient time difference and call. her hopes diminished when it was two thirty in the morning and her eyes were heavy. however, just as she turned the lamp off and spun on her heels to go to the bedroom, her phone rang.

"hi, sunshine," harry's voice woke delilah up instantly. "i wasn't sure if you'd be up."

"hey, harry," delilah's smile was brighter than any other. too bad harry couldn't see it. "how are you?"

"i'm good! just miss you is all," harry sighed knowing it was such bad timing for the two of them to have met. "i'm at this old cafe and sketching some things. how was your christmas?"

"great. it was nice to come up to my mom's and hang out with everyone. the food was probably the best part."

delilah didn't want her conversation to wake anyone in the house, so she grabbed a blanket off of the couch and stepped outside to sit of the porch steps.

no one said anything. on opposite sides of the world with completely different environments and topics to discuss, delilah and harry stayed silent.

"i love you, delilah," harry nearly whispered. delilah's heartbeat slowed, just like her entire world as the realization surfaced. her eyes seemed to let a tear slip and she just wanted harry back to hold her and whisper sweet things into her ear.

"i love you, harry," delilah said without allowing harry to hear the storm that would soon be released from delilah's heart. "it's really late, and i should go to sleep. stay safe, harry."

and when delilah hung up the phone, the storm rumbled and escaped her soul as she hid her face in her hands and let go of something so beautiful the gods would be envious.

they say if you love something, let it go, and if it's meant for you it will gravitate back. so, delilah set her amorous love for harry free knowing that the universe will grant her what she needs.

on the other side of the world, harry sensed the urgency in delilah's voice to get off of the phone. he sensed the inevitable reality that delilah would soon find someone else to hold her and whisper sweet things in her ear. he sensed her love would soon only be platonic even though he had every intention of loving her in every way until he saw her again.

harry felt the ache in his chest, but he knew deep down that the meadow allowed something magical to happen for a reason and that delilah and him were made for each other. he was optimistic and would continue to be that way which sparked some hope into the universe for delilah and harry.

harry's hope had to keep it all alive, and he was willing to provide that hope for as long as he needed.