And Then (Part 1)

Chapter 12

The doctor and Harrison come back in the room together. Harrison stands next to me and holds my hand while the doctor takes a seat. "So what brings you here today?" I blush and tell him, "I would like to go on birth control."

"Ok, we'll have to do an exam first." Harrison's hand tightens on mine and I rub my thumb on the top of his hand to comfort him. We discuss the different kinds of birth control and I decide on the shot. It'll be nice to not have my period and it works right away. Win, win. Well, except that I hate shots and I'll have to come back regularly. Lose, lose. Ugh. No pain, no gain, right?

The doctor positions me for the exam and Harrison stays by my head and doesn't let go of my hand. I feel the metal enter me and then the pinch of the probe. I take a deep breath and squeeze my eyes shut and squeeze Harrison's hand tightly. Now he's rubbing my hand with his thumb to try to comfort me. The doctor is finally done and tells me to get dressed and that the nurse will be back in to give me the shot shortly. I finally exhale when he leaves the room.

I wipe myself off before getting redressed. "I'm sorry" Harrison says. "For what Harrison?" I snap. "I had no idea how painful that was going to be for you, Annie." I snicker at him. "Yeah, it felt so good, I better get his number so I can feel that again" I snark at him. I'm still feeling the pain, or at least remembering it, so I'm snapping at him. "I'm sorry Harrison. It just hurt and now I'm snapping at you. You don't deserve that." He shakes his head. "Yes, I do. I'm so sorry."

"Ok, we're both sorry. Let's stop talking about it please." I finish getting dressed and the nurse comes back in and gives me the shot. She tells me that I'm all set and that the shot works pretty quickly. She winks at me and lifts her eyebrow towards Harrison causing me to blush and smile back at her.

I pay at the front desk, and we leave. It's nice outside, the warmth from the sun feels good on my skin. We walk in silence at first and then it seems that Harrison can't hold it in any longer, "Do you forgive me Annie? Are you going to stay with me?"

"Yes and yes." I answer.

He stops walking and pulls my hand to stop me from walking too, I wait for him to speak again. He sits down on a bench and pulls at my hand for me to sit down too, so I do. He lets my hand go so he can run his hands through his hair and then he takes my hand back in his. "I don't want things to change between us." He brings my hand up and rests his face in it. "Can I take you somewhere?" he asks.

"Where?" I ask curiously.

"Hyde Park. I know you said that you have already been there with Danny but there's something I want you to see that I don't think even Danny knows about" he tells me.

"Ok" I kiss his cheek and I linger there. He turns and kisses me on the mouth. It's the kind of kiss that fairytales and romance novels are full of. He holds my face and kisses me over and over, looking at me like I am everything. I can't help but kiss him back the same way. If I'm being honest, I feel like he's it for me, I can't imagine ever being with anyone else. He ends the kiss and pulls me in for a hug, it feels so good to be in his arms.

"Ok, let's go." He stands up and reaches out his hand for me and I take it. We walk over to Hyde Park. The park seems even prettier today; it's probably because I'm here with Harrison. He takes me to a tree that appears to have a lot of carvings on it. Once we get closer to it, I can see that it is full of initials and hearts and other symbols. "People come here and carve their wishes and desires into this tree." He explains. "Wow! The city allows this?" I ask.

"They don't really like it, but they don't stop it either, I mean it's already too late anyway." He has a point. The damage is already done; it cannot be repaired or reversed.

"This is pretty amazing." I say as I walk around the tree touching the different carvings. "Come look over here." Harrison says, and I see that he is pointing to a specific spot on the tree. I have to stand on my tiptoes a little to see what he's pointing at. There is a heart there with some letters in it. I read them out loud. "H.F. + " I look at him and he looks at me. "I put that up there when I first saw your picture and was trying to find out about you. I wished for you, but I didn't add your initials yet since I didn't want to jinx it. I have never wished for anyone before you. And now you're here, I almost can't believe it. It's like my wish came true and I'm so happy, but I'm scared now. We've had a couple of fights, and I don't like it. I don't want to fight with you, I don't want you to hate me" he tells me.