Artwork [h.s]

forty-seven

I stood up fast from my spot on the couch when I heard the doorbell ring, almost rushing to open the door, completely unaware of the stare my parents were giving me.

"Where are you going?" My dad said after having exchanged a long look with my mother, making me stop in my tracks and turn around quickly.

I sighed, letting the shoe that I was about to put on fall on the ground with a dull thud. "Out with Harry" I replied, hoping that they would've let me leave. That day had been more stressful than ever, considering my dislike for being the centre of the attention, and I had ended up texting Harry sometime around lunchtime, hoping that he would've come around and given me a reason to escape my parents' tender, but a bit too earnest, care.

My dad nodded. "Nice. I want to meet him" he said, instantly making my eyes widen in fear.

"Dad, I'm eighteen" I replied, hoping to dissuade him from that potentially destructive idea. I didn't want Harry to unnecessarily feel judged by people if I could avoid it, which, considering how he was, would've just risked to damage whatever was going on between us.

My dad gave me a hard glance, letting me know that he was completely serious. "I'm not kidding, Sierra. I never got to do it before because you never had a boyfriend, I'm so doing it now."

I sighed, giving a quick glance, knowing that I had to come to some kind of agreement, and do it fast, if I didn't want Harry to just live. "Can you please not scare him off today, out of all days?" I asked, knowing that I'd won in the second I'd mentioned my birthday. Little did my dad know how true my statement was. Knowing Harry, the simple idea of having to face a conversation with my father would've been enough to make him leave for good.

"Just because it's today" he replied, going back to the book he was reading, and I nodded fast, putting my shoes on fast and almost running to the door, hoping that Harry hadn't disappeared in the meantime.

I grabbed my coat and a scarf, putting them on quickly as I opened the front door. "Hi" I said quickly, leaning against the side of the door to catch my breath in what I hoped was the most nonchalant way possible.

He gave me a humoured glance, but decided not to comment on it. "Hey, Happy Birthday" he replied quietly, giving a wary glance to the inside of the house.

I turned around quickly, discovering that my father was very visibly staring at us from the entrance of the living room, and shook my head, stepping outside and closing the door behind myself. "Thank you" I said, putting my hands in the pockets of my coat to try to fend off the freezing cold. "And thank you for coming. I was looking for a reason to escape" I admitted quietly. "Can we do something?" I asked, starting to walk down towards the street with Harry by my side.

"What do you want to do?" He asked me softly, looking down as he spoke, the tip of his nose a bit reddened by the cold.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Something normal. Like, I don't like when people make a big deal of my birthday, it makes me uncomfortable" I shared before I could even decide if it was the case to do so.

He side-glanced at me, the corners of his lips slightly turned up at my words. "I guess it's bad that I got you something, then?" He said, surprising me. I would've never expected Harry to get me a birthday present, despite all the time we'd spent together. He just didn't seem like the kind of person that would've done something like that.