Red String [h.s] (Completed)

Chapter 56

"I want to kiss you like the first time
Hold you like it's not goodbye
Wish I hadn't been so cruel
I want to let all my defenses down
Scream until you hear me out
I'll lay it on the line for you"

After saying goodbye to Tom, they walk up the stairs to her apartment on the fourth floor. She walks ahead of him and he takes the opportunity to really look at her with no chance of being caught. He holds back the urge to pinch her butt as she walks in front of him, just like he did when they were on the stairs at the cabin. He can almost hear her squeal. He misses that sound. At one point, she looks back at him over her shoulder as if checking to see if he's still there. Harry understands that feeling. Feels like he has been feeling it all afternoon. Like he'll blink and she'll be gone

She opens her apartment door and it's different than he imagined it to be. The furniture is older, not exactly her style. The pictures on the wall are not what she would pick either. He's not sure how he feels about it. It's as if she is purposely not making her mark on it. He figured that even though it was a temporary space she would still want it to feel like home. He doesn't even see any paint supplies or any sign that she paints here at all. All of it leaves more questions than answers.

He carefully looks to see if there are signs of another person living here. He can tell it's a one bedroom apartment, so no roommate, but he wonders if there is a boyfriend. He sees no extra shoes. No men's clothes. Nothing laying around that doesn't look like hers and he feels relief at the thought that she is single.

Amy has hung her jacket and purse at the door and taken off her shoes. She walks towards her kitchen and Harry lingers in the living room, still taking it all in.

"Would you like a drink? I might have some wine..." she trails off as she looks through her fridge.

"A water would be great."

Harry knows he should keep his head clear and drinking wine with Amy is probably not the best way to accomplish that. He doesn't have a history of making good choices while drinking.

Amy takes out a glass bottle full of water from her fridge and two cups and places them on her kitchen table. She pours one for Harry and one for herself. She watches him reach out and take it and notices he no longer is wearing the heart ring on his hand. It makes her stop her movements before she regains herself and moves back into the kitchen, pulling out food to make dinner. She's not sure why that affected her as much as it did. Of course, he's not wearing it. We're not together anymore, she thinks. But inside it hurts her. She sees it as a symbol that they're not in love anymore.

"I hope you don't mind but I don't eat meat anymore so this will be vegetarian," she says as she starts preparing dinner.

Harry chuckles in response, more to himself than anything.

"What?" Amy asks, confused.

"Nothing, it's just I stopped eating meat too."

"Really? When?"

"Not too long ago," he says.

He doesn't want to admit it was right after Japan. He had got home and made the change immediately, remembering how Amy had been trying to convince them to switch to a vegetarian diet when they were together. He thought it would be one change he could immediately make to change her opinion of him.

"Have you been cooking more?" Harry asks as he now leans against the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I figured it was about time I learned," she says smiling at him as she continues to cook. "It's nice though because I didn't really cook much before so it's not like I'm relearning how to cook meals meatless. But I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."