Forever (h.s.)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18: Half a Heart

The next morning I woke up to bright light streaming through the curtains and directly into my face.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked around. Harry was still fast asleep under my head, his lips parted in a gentle snore. Suddenly, everything that had happened the previous night came rushing back to me. I smiled.

I rose from the couch without waking Harry and plodded sleepily into the bathroom, where I released my hair from the messy bun I'd slept in and pulled it up into another one. I then brushed my teeth and returned to the kitchen where I poured myself some juice and checked on Harry. He was still completely out.

I was sitting quietly at the counter when I had a thought: there were five people who would really want to

know the recent news of our makeup and their names were Fiona and the rest of the boys. I immediately called a cab, deciding not to wake Harry nor wait for him to wake up.

Searching for a way to let him know where I was, on a whim I picked up my phone and set it up for a video.

First pointing it at Harry, I hit play.

"Morning sunshine," I whispered, panning over Harry's sleeping self, from his rumpled t-shirt to messy curls.

He shifted in his sleep but didn't wake up. "Look at that face," I crooned, zooming in on his parted lips and long lashes. I giggled in spite of myself and turned the camera to face myself.

"I'm going to go get the boys and find Fiona," I explained, scratching my nose. "Apparently, you're too tired to come." I switched it back to Harry, who sighed in his sleep. I giggled again and switched the camera back. "So that's where I'll be."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Deciding to make it part of Harry's wakeup documentary, I carried the camera with me to open it. A tall mean-looking guy in a suit stood there, and I was so surprised I almost forgot I had the camera. He ignored it, if he saw it, and said:

"Are you part of the Sutherland family?"

"Yes," I replied, confused. The man pulled out a very important-looking letter from his jacket and started

to hand it to me, then pulled back.

"You can get this to Bill Sutherland?' he asked disbelievingly. I nodded.

"That's my dad."

"It's very important information about his next business trip," he said loftily, his Britishness accentuating the whole high and mighty image he was creating. "Please make sure he receives it post haste." I tried not to laugh out loud at the expression and nodded like a soldier.

"Yes sir," I said, sort of mocking him, then suddenly he seemed to notice Harry sleeping on the couch behind me. Even his mustache seemed to disapprove as he glanced from Harry and back to me. I froze, unsure of what to do. So I smiled sweetly, taking the letter from the man's hand and closing the door with a hurried,

"See ya!" Letting out a sigh of relief, I rolled my eyes into the camera, saying, "See how much trouble you cause? I mean by George, even when you're asleep." I hoped he got my reference to the man's haughty attitude, otherwise I'd just sounded like an idiot.

Dropping the letter on the counter, I turned the camera back onto sleeping Harry. "You sleep through

anything, don't you," I commented, teasing a few fingers through his hair. There was a sharp intake of breath, and a tiny low hum from his throat, but still he didn't wake up.

"So I'm leaving, angel. Love you, see you soon." I stopped the video, and after watching it myself and

laughing out loud, I texted it to Harry and left his phone on the coffee table. Kissing his forehead and deciding against changing out of my sweatpants, I jogged outside just in time to meet the cab.