destined [h.s] - ON HOLD

7

It turns out that Harry's pancakes trump my creation of sunny side up eggs, but I really should've seen it ending that way. He makes a pretty decent breakfast, even if it is basically the only thing he knows how to cook in the kitchen.

Even now, as we sat on the couch with our bodies pressed together, an hour after we'd already finished eating, he continued to talk about it.

"I do make a good plate of pancakes, don't I?" He boasts, overdoing his victory.

I sigh heavily, "you do."

"I'm just messing with you, you know that right?" Harry nudges me, most likely peering down to see my reaction.

All I do is shrug, yawning as I feel weak from laying still for so long.

"What do you want to do today?" He asks absentmindedly while playing with my hair. I could feel the beat of his heart through the fabric of his t-shirt as I laid my head on his chest, not really sure what I wanted to do with my day.

"I have no clue." I say honestly, and he lets out an annoyed sound.

"We could take Augustus to the dog park, go to the lake, or go to the zoo?" He suggests, all three decent suggestions.

"The zoo sounds nice, we've never been." I say, running my fingertips across his forearm with delicacy.

"Well get up then because I've got to get dressed." He says, and I do just that. The both of us walk up to the bedroom, finding generally warm weather outfits.

For myself I pick out a sundress, and Harry decides not to stray from his usual while putting on a white t-shirt and black skinny jeans. "Can you ever wear something different?" I ask him, always having to wonder what he would look like with some other type of clothing on.

"On our wedding day I'll wear a tux, that's the most I will ever deviate from the classic Styles wardrobe." He grins, "and I'll only be doing it for you baby."

"You're lucky you're charming then." I say, deciding that I will convince him to wear something different soon.

After about fifteen more minutes I am finished getting ready, Harry having been done after about five. As I walk downstairs he's waiting at the bottom of the stairwell, eyes trailing up and down my body as he reaches his hand out to take mine. He brings it up to his mouth before lightly kissing my knuckles, something he's never done and makes my heart swell.

"You look absolutely beautiful." He compliments before leaning down and pressing our lips together. It's a slow kiss, one that's not rushed or quickly escalating, just simple and still manages to make my body come alive.

When he pulls away I quickly kiss him one more time, "thank you."

With that we walk out the front door and get into his car, Harry leaning forward to turn the ignition only to have the car rev to life. As he begins to drive his hand finds my own on my thigh, entwining them as we pull out of our drive way. Even now as I look back I our house I can't help but be proud of us and how far we've come in the past six years, all of it seeming to lead to us being content and able to get married whenever we feel ready instead of feeling obligated to do so.

When Harry turns on the radio I look back out the dashboard, a familiar song playing as we drive through the neighborhood until finally getting onto a busy road. "And I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be, and satisfaction feels like a distant memory." Harry sings lightly, his voice rasping as the lyrics leave his lips. I've always felt that if he hadn't been so consumed with boxing that singing could have been another outlet for him, but of course he always denies the suggestion.

Our car rides mainly go like this, Harry singing even when he's convinced he's terrible at it, and me listening in silence as I stare out at the road head and landscape around us. It's these serene moments between us that I cherish, when his hand is connected to mine as we move from place to place, something about it calming and beautiful.

"Ready to go see some animals mating?" Harry asks as we pull into the zoo parking lot, and I can't help but be grossed out by his words.

"That's disgusting." I say to him as we step out of the car.

"I'm kidding love, maybe they do that at night, or any time of day like us." He winks at me, and I quickly swat him on the arm, unable to contain the laughter that escapes me.

"You talk about our sex life too much." I say, scolding him for talking about it in public.

"Well it's a good one, we should be proud of it," he says, shutting up as we walk up to the admissions box before paying for our tickets to get in. Harry hands me mine as we walk up to the entrance, showing it to an employee whom nods his head, allowing me to go in.

Automatically I am ran into by a small child who apologizes to me before continuing on, clearly their parents not supervising very well. When Harry is allowed in he takes my hand in his again, holding a map with his other one. He looks over it for a moment before looking at our surroundings, then pulling me with him to wherever he's chosen to go.

"We're going to see the lions," he says after a moment of walking. I can't help but smile at the tight grip he has on my hand, as if he's afraid to lose me in the crowd of people all gathered at the zoo. It's not that surprising that so many people are here, the zoo just opened and it's the only one nearby, unless you'd like to drive another three hours to the only other one closest to us.

I'm constantly bumping into people not paying attention to their surroundings, and I can tell by Harry's body language that he's becoming annoyed, as am I. It seems that once we get to the lions exhibit there are less people, finding an open bench before sitting on it, watching the beautiful creatures as the roam in an environment full of lush grass accompanied by a small clear water pond, somewhere they can drink when necessary.

Harry releases my hand before placing his arm across the back of the bench, my head leaning onto his chest as we watch the majestic animals, "they're beautiful." I inquire, Harry making a noise of agreement. I'm surprised when he leans down and presses a kiss to my cheek, lingering there before pulling away.

A small boy who was watching the lions in front of us now looks at Harry and I, "she has cooties, you know that right?" He asks, and I laugh at his statement.

"You're right, that was pretty gross." Harry says, making a disgusted expression at his actions. The boy laughs before turning back around, seeming to have become uninterested with us. In this moment I am reminded of how good of a father he will be, glad that I was able to find a man that I can start a family with, something that he wishes for as well.

After a few minutes Harry seems to be restless, "do you want some cotton candy?" He asks, and I accept his offer, watching as he stands before getting lost in the crowd of people.

I watch as two lions play happily together, clearly they're unnatural surroundings not hindering them. After a few minutes they both get worn out, sprawling out on the grass before falling asleep. At that many of the people watching them leave, clearly not entertained at the fact that they now have nothing to watch that will keep their attention. The minutes tick by and more people leave the exhibit, myself looking around for Harry whom I finally spot walking back over to the bench with a bag full of bright blue cotton candy in hand.

When he's close enough I see that he has a worried look in his eyes which causes me to be on alert as well, "what's wrong?"

"Someone's watching us."

_________________________

drama time !

pick up line of the day:

do you have a map?

because I'm getting lost in your eyes.

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-Jo x