Harry and Payton

Chapter 14

    Harry eyed Payton who sat staring at him from the other side of the couch, rolling a tennis ball along the cushion for him to pick up and roll back to her. Payton snatched the ball and rolled it around in her hands, sighing heavily. Harry scooted closer to her, placing his hands on her knees before looking up into her eyes.

   “C’mon, love. It’s my second last day here, let’s go do something.” Harry moaned, tilting Payton’s chin to look up at him. Payton groaned and flopped onto her back, dropping the ball behind her.

   “We’ve already done everything fun in Chicago, it’s not as entertaining as you think.” Payton responded, her eyes sliding shut. Harry hovered over her, smirking slightly as Jake walked into the room. 

   “There has to be something we can do.” he said, looking back down at Payton. She slightly shook her head before sitting upright again, glancing up at him. He held her gaze for a quick second before letting it drop as he pursed his lips to think.

   “We could go watch the Cubs play at Wrigley Field.” Harry suggested, raising his eyebrows at her. Payton slightly shook her head.

   “Pretty sure their season’s over and since when have you been interested in baseball?” Payton chuckled, eyeing him. Harry shrugged, taking Payton’s hands in his, running his thumb over her knuckles. 

   “I don’t mind it, as long as it gets us out of this house.” he replied, giving Payton a frown. She ducked her head slightly, glancing down at their hands.

   “You seem to forget that if we go anywhere and get noticed we’ll be mobbed.” Payton said, slipping her hands out of his to fiddle with her infinity necklace that hung around his neck. Harry sighed noisily, falling onto his back as he ran his hands through his hair, closing his eyes. 

   “Right.” he muttered, rubbing his eyes. A light bulb went off in Payton’s head and she smiled, hopping off the couch to scurry into the kitchen. Confused, Harry slowly sat up and walked into the kitchen after her, cocking an eyebrow.

   “There’s one place we can go though.” Payton said, smiling at him. Harry rested his elbows on the counter, placing his chin on his fists as he raised his eyebrows at her.

   “And where would this place be?” Harry asked, watching Payton as she threw food and drinks into a cooler. Payton looked up at him as she zipped up the bag, skipping up the stairs.

   “You’ll see.” she called, giggling.

    Payton set the cooler down on the grass, taking in a deep breath as she looked over at the pond in front of her, smiling. The memories of the place flooding back as Harry appeared beside her.

   “My parents used to take my brothers and I here when we were younger.” Payton said, sitting down on the grass. Harry quickly sat down with her, remaining quiet as Payton took in all the emotions she was feeling. She couldn’t run from them forever, the longer she tried to hide from them, the harder it would be when she needed to face them the most. 

    She subtly placed her head on his broad shoulder, sucking in a deep breath before looking up at him and smiled slightly. He grinned at her, brushing stray hairs out of her eyes before cupping her face to press his lips against hers. He slowly pulled away, giving her a cooked grin.

   “Shall we eat?” he suggested, giving her a wink. Payton laughed and nodded, spinning around to throw him a sandwich. He caught it effortlessly and quickly unwrapped it to start eating. Payton grinned and moved beside him, resting her head on his shoulder again.

   “Truth or dare?” Harry asked, smirking at her. Payton mock-rolled her eyes and lifted her head off his shoulder to face him. 

   “Truth.” Payton responded, giving him a confident smile. Harry tilted his head from either side and chuckled softly to himself.