within the meadow √ h.s.

t h i r t y s i x

harry was in a deep slumber that winter afternoon on his and delilah's day off. she had woken up early, and didn't want to wake him so just sat next to him being smothered by a book. the main book in her life was the inventory one at the cafe which made her slightly miss the small words on the pages.

she felt harry shifting and saw him stretching from the corner of her eye, but made no effort to look away from the stained paper. her eyes were focused and brows furrowed in concentration.

"you're squinting," harry mumbled tiredly. and turned onto his stomach. he stared up at her while she continued to read the lines and lines printed in front of her. "you should get your eyes checked."

"i'm fine," she brushed his suggestion off and fell back into her own realm of folded corners on pages and tattered spines with the book coming undone in her hands.

harry stood up from the bed and grabbed his sketchbook; something that had been needing more creations put onto the pages. they stayed like that for hours; harry creating something beautiful with details some wouldn't catch—like that small wisp of a curl sticking up from delilah's hair—and delilah squinting at the pages because she probably needed glasses but too interested in pointless knowledge to be bothered.

they went to the meadow later that evening—even though it was technically trespassing—and were bundled up in clothing and each other's love as they saw equipment in the distance to begin construction. they couldn't believe that someone would destroy something so magical. it was hard to comprehend in delilah's head because the meadow had always been there for her and her mother, and to think that soon it wouldn't be a meadow, but a grouping of dozens of houses left her mind boggled.

they pushed away the loss that was lingering in the breeze and did what they had done all day. harry drew the meadow, but left out the details in the distance of the equipment sitting there. he drew the meadow because it needed to be preserved in some way, and this was all he knew.

harry's creative mind sparked an idea, one that would change everything.

+

"how has it already been a year?" delilah muttered as she baked a cake for their one year anniversary. harry was taking her out to dinner, but he had gone off somewhere earlier in the morning so delilah occupied herself by baking him a cake and preparing his gift.

they agreed to not buy each other anniversary gifts, but delilah got harry something simple that she hoped he loved. she frosted the cake, and although it didn't look as pretty as she hoped, she imagined it tasted just fine because the delicious sweet scent filled the house.

"delilah!" harry called from the front door. he found her in the kitchen after inhaling the intoxicating sweetness in the air. "it smells amazing."

"no! stop! don't come in, harry! you can't see it yet, i'm serious," delilah shouted and ran to push him out of the kitchen. he laughed and kissed her head and followed orders.

"darling, we should start getting ready," he said looking at the time. they walked up the stairs after delilah covered the cake and felt their stomachs grumble. "i can't wait to eat whatever it is you made, and you."

delilah's cheeks went more red than she thought was possible while harry laughed at her reaction and pulled her into his side before they went off to the showers.

"harry, red or dark green?" she asked holding two potential dresses up to her bare body with a towel in her hair. he turned around and thought 'i'd actually prefer you with nothing on' but instead chose the red because her caramel skin looked remarkable in the rich color. he also knew that the red dress was a little less tight which would be easier to remove from her body later in the evening.