Ever Since New York [H.S]

Oh, Tell Me Something I Don't Already Know

It wasn't until I knew that Harry had been awake for a good 15 minutes before I pretend that I had only just woken up. I didn't even have to do any kind of convincing; Harry and Anne never once thought otherwise.

"Hey, so, whilst you were sleeping. I was on the phone to Gemma." He began to explain, stopping to pause as if he wanted to ensure that he had my full attention before he proceeded. "Gemma decided that she's catching the very first flight Tuesday morning from London just to meet you."

"Are you sure she's not too busy?" I asked. I didn't want to sound ungrateful or make it out as if I didn't want to meet her, because in actual fact I do. "You've mentioned her busy schedule before. I wouldn't want her to feel as though she should rush out here if she's got things going on there." I explained.

"If she were too busy with work she wouldn't have come up with the idea, love." Harry assured me, resting his hands over my shoulders then rubbed gently over them in a relaxing and soothing massage kind of way. "Gemma wants to meet you Ivy. Don't stress." He spoke once more only this time pressing a small kiss to the top of my forehead.

With today being Saturday morning, this only left me with 3 full days until I was due to meet Gemma. I spent the morning listening to stories that Anne had to share about both Harry and Gemma, coming to the conclusion from the things that I had learnt that Gemma always treated everyone with kindness. A lot like Harry. This being something the two of them shared. Somehow, I couldn't help but feel nervous. What if she didn't like me? This is Harry's sister we're talking about. This is a huge deal. What if she didn't like me she could quite easily convince Harry that I wasn't worthy of his friendship. She wouldn't do that, would she? Hearing the stories that Anne had to tell helped put me at ease, I couldn't be more thankful for her right now. Anne is a true blessing.

As the day went on, Anne's stories continued as did Harry's tea making skills. I learnt of the time when Harry was five - he refused to clean his room, ending up writing a note to Anne stating that if she made him clean his room he would no longer love her. This very story causing a light giggle to fall from my lips.  The same year Harry wrote a letter to Gemma after the two got into an argument of some kind. Anne showed me a photo of the letter, reading, 'I'm angry at you and I'm not talking to you today and tomorrow. P.S all day. P.P.S I still love you.' From this I gained the impression that Gemma means a lot to Harry. Something of which I quite admired.

Anne told me of her true favourite letter that she had ever received from Harry. Informing me that to this day she still has it. Even insisted on showing me the photo that she had taken of it on her phone. The letter reading, 'Dear Mum, you are my favourite mommy ever. I'm sorry for calling you a piece of poo. And telling you I hate you, and that I’m not going to clean my room. I love you.' I couldn't stop the faint giggle that had fallen from my lips. Both notes were written with poor grammar, spelling mistakes all over the place, but it was Harry.

As the day progressed I learnt things about Harry that I never knew before. Things that I never could have learnt from Harry. I felt grateful for Anne's presence and was gracious that she had stayed the night and insisted on spending the day with Harry and I. I wasn't surprised by the hospitality skills that Anne had raised Harry with, by tending to this, Harry brought out several sandwiches and snacks for us all to munch on, so that we wouldn't wither away to nothing. The way Anne had raised Harry was unlike any other. She raised him to be a true gentleman. A gentleman which she would be proud of.

They spoke of music; telling me all about Harry's music background and how he could sing before he could talk. I knew that Harry had been busking from such a young age, Harry told me this himself, though, hearing Anne tell me the same thing made my heart ache. "When Harry was eleven. He would head down to the local pub, be there by 10am each weekend, performing right up until 4pm." Anne informed me. The smile coating her lips was wide and just showed how genuinely proud she is of her son.

"Did he ever miss a show?" I found myself asking. Curious to learn more about Harry, and taking this as my opportunity to do just that.

"No, never." Anne confirmed. "Not one." The smile on her face growing wider with each story that she told. "There was a time that Harry was sick. I told him to say in bed and assured him that the community would understand if he couldn't make it. With Harry being the person that he is, he stumbled out of bed, sick and all, pulled on a large coat and away he went." With all the stories that I had been kindly provided with along with a couple of baby photos that Anne had to show, it warmed my heart causing me to smile wide. Once that came to an end and Anne was finished with her story telling I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. As 6:30pm dawned on us, the three of us moved on over towards the kitchen, I sat on a bench stool seated beside Anne as Harry assured us that there was nothing he needed us to do besides relax. 

"So, Mum, any time after dinner I can drive you back to Ivy's work to collect your car." Harry spoke softly. I could tell that Anne's company was something Harry enjoyed, something that he wasn't always given enough of when it came to their busy work schedules.

"Thank you, Harry. That would be very much appreciated." She responded, beaming a wide smile up at her son.

Anne and I talked amongst ourselves trying to give Harry the concentration anyone should have in the kitchen. Harry knew exactly what he was doing. A true master chef within his own home. For dinner, Harry served us spaghetti and meatballs, a dish he knew everyone adored. Once the three of us had polished off our food, I cleared our plates, taking them over to the sink in the kitchen to be washed. Proceeding on washing the plates before I had used a tea towel to dry them then set them back in place in the cupboard, using the same procedure on the cutlery and pots and pan. Just after 9pm I thanked Harry for our night out, our movie marathon and for letting me stay the night before moving on to thank him for his gracious presence and hospitality skills and for the dinner that he had beautifully prepared. It took a lot for Harry to convince me that Anne was upstairs in the guest room and not hiding out downstairs spying on us.

"Again. Thank you, Harry." I commented. Pressing my hands to Harry's chest as his larger ones rested against my waist as he held me close. His body heat providing the main source of my warmth.

"Spending time with you is something that I love most in the world, Ivy." I heard Harry reply. His words being spoken in that thick raspy voice that I had come to love. "Text me when you get home, so I know you're safe." He added.

It was dark out, so, I couldn't make out much of the scenery that was surrounding us and couldn't be sure that everything I thought was happening was real. I felt a hand reach up and twist strands of my hair around the finger; knowing that this was such a Harry move. Before I could even process what was happening, I felt a pair of soft plump lips against my own and as I fluttered my eyes shut I gave into temptation, parting my lips just enough to kiss Harry back gently.