Sycamore Tree // H.S. (HIATUS)

ten

Mia continuously rubs her tiny head against your leg, while you fill her bowl with two spoons of cat food and place it on the floor. "There you go," you say and stroke her head, before standing up again.

Halloween is over, Harry has been gone for over a week now and comes back tonight. Today is the last day you came to his empty house to look after his little pet.

The last time you saw Harry, the evening before he left, he asked you to look after Mia while he was gone, you agreed without thinking about it and since then, you came to his house everyday after uni. You're almost sad this routine is ending today, but you have missed him, a lot.
You tend to spend more time in his house than you have to, always downstairs, though, you never dare to go upstairs.
You brought your laptop on day two and did your homework until Mia left you alone in the kitchen and you started feeling like a creep.
On day three and four you looked through his record collection for some that you knew, finding out that he has a very eclectic taste of music and he probably is one of those people that answer with "everything" when you ask them what they listen to.
On some days you desperately wanted to play a song on his shiny black piano, but you didn't because you're too scared to break it.

You've got this, is what he said before he got into his car the last time you saw him. Neither of you was confident enough for sober kiss and he gave you a little kiss on the cheek instead.

He called you on day five, you talked for an hour, but  due to the time difference, it was late at night for you and you didn't want to fall asleep on the phone.

The flowers in his kitchen have died, so you replaced them with new ones today. He always has fresh flowers in the vase on his island or his dining table, and if you were him you'd be happy to see a bunch of fresh ones.

He has left you a handwritten note, telling you where you find the cat food and some cash in case he runs out. You haven't touched the cash, but you've stuffed the note in the back pocket of your jeans to take home with you today.

As soon as she was done eating, Mia ran outside into Harry's spacious garden and because you didn't want to leave while she wasn't in the house, you sit down in his living room, waiting.

For the first time, you're taking a closer look at the framed pictures on his shelf. Normally, you would feel awful lurking around like his, but technically Harry allowed you to do so when he instructed you to stay for a bit after you fed his cat.

You recognize Matty and Olivia in one of the pictures, they're all posing with what looks like coconut cups in their hands. You wonder how they met, setting a reminder in your head to ask him once the time is right.

His friend from the pub, Charlie, is on another one. It is a picture of the two boys and some others on a sofa, probably all of Harry's childhood friends.
Charlie has hit on Rebecca at the pub again a couple of days ago, but this time he was sober and caught Rebecca's attention for more than five seconds. Secretly, you're rooting for them, even though you have told either Rebecca or Harry.

On a bigger framed photo, you see two other women with Harry in their middle, smiling brightly into the camera, they must be his mom and sister; he has mentioned them before and you can clearly tell they all have the same features. Next to the photo of him and the women, stands a vertical picture of his mom and another man. He hasn't mentioned him to you yet, you wonder who he is and make another imaginary reminder.

Besides all the photos, the vinyl copy of his first album and a few selected awards, Harry has put an old 35mm camera on the shelf and you ask yourself if he has a film in it. Suddenly, you get an idea and grab the camera from the shelf and carefully pick up Mia from the sofa.