Speak |h.s. a.u.|

Chapter Twenty-Three

              "Annabelle, lets go on a date." Harry said, not giving her any chance to decline. He wanted to take her on a date. No, he wasn't prepared for it, he hadn't made any plans or reservations at any place, but who cares? He was going to show Annabelle a good time, and do his best to make her happy. This could be like a, 'Hey, I'm sorry for all the crap we've been going through, so let's go out and have fun, and be happy together' date. Why not, right?

So, he takes her hand and leads her out of her house and to his car in her driveway. He noticed she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt. It was something so simple, yet somehow, Annabelle made it look like something only a model could pull off, something that took hours to get ready, even though it was only a t-shirt that was way too big for her small body. He loved it. Her hair was down, and curly. Natural. As always, she had many rings on her fingers. He wanted to know why she wore so many rings and what they all meant.

Harry wanted to know everything.

They buckled up and he began driving aimlessly. Telling Annabelle they were going on a date was sort of just a spur of the moment thing.

Harry looked over at Annabelle, seeing she was already looking at him, out of the corner of her eye. Her hazel eyes quickly darted to the road ahead of them, her cheeks turning red, which Harry thought wasn't only adorable, but beautiful. She was so pale, she had no color to her, but when she blushed, it just made her look even more intriguing.

He grinned, looking down to see she had a necklace on. It was brown, with a white piece of wood hanging down on her chest. It was shaped like a fish. And that's when Harry knew exactly where to take her.

*

They walked inside of the large building, and Annabelle's eyes were huge. I mean, she already had big, adorable, (If Harry calls her adorable anymore, he will start to lose all masculinity that he has- which isn't much) puppy eyes, but when she smelled the salt water and saw the large tanks full of different fish, she looked like she couldn't be any happier. Harry liked that.

Harry paid for two tickets, and Annabelle sort of felt bad for never having any money, and not being able to pay for anything on dates. Yeah, this was only her second date with Harry (with anybody, actually), but she still felt bad. The only money she had was the American money she had saved from her birthdays from when she was younger.

Is there a way to trade that in for the money that British people use? Annabelle still didn't quite understand all of that; how the British money system worked. She wasn't sure if she ever would learn, no one would teach her, and it's not like she could just ask for help. She'd just give money to the cashier, hoping it was enough, and take any change they would give back to her- which was probably a horrible idea.

Harry walked beside Annabelle, letting her lead the way. He knew she was excited, and he didn't want that to change. He loved seeing the happiness that filled her eyes, and the soft smile that she would try to hide whenever he looked at her. Annabelle wasn't conceited, in any way, and Harry loved that about her. He loved how she was too insecure, even though he didn't understand why. She's beautiful and amazing, that's all Harry could focus on.

When they ended up in a dark room with two large tanks of random fish on each side of the wall, Harry grew a pair and held her hand. It was cold and small, as always, but he liked that. He liked the thought of him being able to keep her warm and safe. He finally started to take the lead, taking her to even more interesting exhibits of odd looking sea creatures that she had never seen before. It fascinated her in a way that no one could explain, not even her. It was such a simple thing, but she was in love with each and every creature she saw. Harry thought that was adorable.

After going through more than half of the aquarium, Harry telling random jokes, reading the little signs with facts about the fish out loud, and making the most random and obvious comments like, "That one has has a blue tail," or, "Look, this shark is smaller than that one. It must be a baby," they finally stopped and sat down in the cafeteria. Harry was starving- in fact, he was always hungry and never stopped eating. Annabelle hardly ever ate, and to be honest, the smell of the fish made her feel sick to even think about eating. So she just drank some water while Harry ate a burger. It kind of made him feel awkward, having her just sitting there, staring into space while he practically swallowed everything whole. He didn't mind too much, though. He was comfortable around Annabelle.

After they left the cafeteria, his feet were starting to hurt from walking so much. So were hers, but she didn't care. She loved fish, and was excited to continue seeing them.

"Are your feet sore yet?" Harry asked as they were walking into an exhibit where they had more sharks. Annabelle shook her head, looking down at their hands. Harry had grabbed her hand again after leaving the cafeteria. She loved it when he would just randomly start holding her hand. She loved it when he would say the most random, odd thing, or make a stupid joke that he thought was hilarious. She loved how safe and comfortable she felt when they were together.

Harry was falling for Annabelle. Annabelle was falling for Harry.

It was only a matter of time before they ended up totally falling head over heels in love with each other. And they didn't mind.