Written

Chapter 24

HARRY

I don't open my eyes when I wake up. Hayley and I are still on the couch, almost exactly the way we were when we fell asleep like this last night. For a moment it is easy to pretend that I am someone else, someone other than myself. Anyone. At this point I know that there is no more denying Hayley, I have to have her. But she didn't ask for this, she has no idea what loving me could get her into. I should want to protect her from that, and I do. Only not enough. My need for her outweighs my worry. I am selfish.

She stirs in my arms, turning around so that her face is pressed against my neck. My arms pull her tighter to me, thinking that if I hold her hard enough her broken pieces might stick back together. She sighs, signaling to me that she is awake.

"Morning," I say, stroking her hair. Her hair is mesmerizing; there is so much of it and it falls down over her shoulders in a dark, shiny curtain. It never looks bad, even after she cried for hours and fell asleep on a tiny couch, wrapped in the arms of someone significantly larger than her.

"Mmmmm," she just hums into my neck as her arms wind around my waist. Again, I pretend I am someone else. I pretend that this is normal, that everything will be okay. That I can hold her now and love her and there will be no consequences, no debt to pay for it later.

"What do we do now?" Hayley whispers. The question holds so much significance. What do we do? What are we, who are we anymore? I choose the simplest of answers I could give her.

"Breakfast," I say. She laughs.

"Let me just get dressed," she says. I had forgotten that she has no food here, she hadn't planned on returning. As she pulls herself away from me, I can't help but marvel at her morning beauty. Hayley barely wears any makeup in the first place, so it's not like some girls, who take their makeup off and look like a different person. I watch as she absentmindedly pulls her hair away from her face and rubs her tired eyes. She is beautiful. She disappears into what I assume is the bedroom and returns wearing cutoff shorts and lacy pink tank top, the picturesque image of a classic American girl. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a careless style but it suits her. She is free.

She catches me staring. "What?" She asks.

"Nothing," I smile and slowly walk toward her. She moves towards me as well, as if gravity wants us to be closer. I take her wrist and pull her into me again. There is a certain calm that comes with holding her close, like our heartbeats sync and her skin is a drug. She places her palm against my cheek before pulling my mouth to hers. She moves gently, subtly. Kissing her is a confusing feeling: exciting and new, like fireworks. But it's also comforting and familiar, like home. I've always hated people saying "we belong together" because I never understood it. But now I do. I belong with Hayley, and I don't know if it's forever or just for now. It's not something I can think about clearly, it's been too fast and too intense to reach any logical conclusion. But right here, right now, in this moment...we belong together.

HAYLEY

Accommodating a global superstar turns out to be harder than I imagined. We cannot really go anywhere or do anything, but I don't find myself bored. Instead of going out places, I drive around the town I grew up in. Harry sits in the passenger's side with his hair tucked into a hat and sunglasses covering his face, even though the day is overcast. It is hard to keep my eyes on the road and not continuously glance over at him. I show Harry everything: my high school, the supermarket where I had my first job, the clinic where Ryan had his earlier treatments. We do not linger there, it brings up too many questions with answers I do not want to consider.

Harry seems intrigued by the high school, so we circle back and I park in the parking lot. It is Saturday and no one is around, so I take a gamble and say it's safe to get out. We walk around the school and Harry tries all the doors, though I know they will be locked.