who's your daddy ; h.s.

part two

Olivia was radiant.

Her smile was shiny, it gleamed off silverware and sparkled when the sun hit her just right. Everyone wanted her, and Harry was so lucky to have her. She may not have been his girlfriend, but she found great comfort in treating him as though he were her boyfriend. It felt so easy, as if being hers came naturally to him, as if he were born to take care of her and make her happy. They had assumed their position in bed, innocently.

Her head would start on his chest before slowly falling into his lap, and he would massage her scalp so she would fall asleep there, and he could sleep peacefully knowing her head was in his heads, and she was protected. He felt like his head and his heart could peacefully rest knowing she was right there.

The mornings were their favorite parts of spending the night with one another. In Harry's opinion—his favorite part of their sleepovers was every moment he spent with her. He could not get enough of her, and as soon as she allowed him to, he was loving up on her every moment he could get. He felt as though his heart beat for her—as if everything in his life had added up and became equal to him finding her. His soul felt complete when he held her hand, and he knew from their first date that Olivia was the woman he wanted to marry. The problem? When Harry fell, he fell hard. And when he fell, he tended to lose sight of anything or anyone else in his life, only able to gush over who had swiped up pieces of his heart. In turn, he was terrified of confiding in her. Speaking his truth when it had been two months of spending countless hours on the phone until the other fell asleep, napping on Friday afternoons after class and taking her coffee in the Library after she had finished a grueling lab for her upper division requirements. Two months of helping her figure out what type of law was calling her name, and two months of Harry falling deeply, helplessly and endlessly in love with her.

Thea had known Olivia since they were in the beginning stages of being a teenager and knowing every inch of her like the back of her hand, it took being cornered in the kitchen for Olivia to fess up that the rumor mill had been true—she was seeing someone and she was in love. Not shocking, Olivia had been in love with her high school boyfriend, and her middle school boyfriend, and the girl who made out with her the summer before they left for college, and she never saw again. To put it simply, Olivia loved. She was made from the hands of Aphrodite herself, plagued with a curse of not just beauty, but love.

Harry, however, the romantic, found himself in serial situations over the course of his college experience. Woman after woman, drink after drink, he found someone to take home. He'd learned after getting his heart crushed in high school that this era of his life was simply meant to be lived. He never did not anticipate Olivia, or the way his heart picks up speed when he saw her the first time. Harry never had an interest in being that guy for the women he surrounded himself with. But for Olivia, he would be anything. Her handsome prince in shining armor, a lovesick puppy she dragged around on a leash. Harry didn't fight it. Didn't question it but allowed himself to indulge in every feeling she brought. And while she brought him new overwhelming senses of adoration every day, Harry did not know what it felt like to love until he met Olivia.

"I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying, H." Olivia giggled. "You put the Tapatio on the popcorn!" Harry shrunk up his face in playful disgust.

"What?"

"it's yummy, I promise! Just try it." She urged, picking up the popcorn bowl and nudging it towards him so he would simply try a bite. It was the way her cousins ate it, and ever since, it had been one of her favorite snacks of all time. Harry decided he would take one for the team, the glowing smile on her face urging him to get over himself, because he would do anything to keep that smile on her face for just a moment longer. He mumbled in agreement, taking a kernel well doused in the spice, and took his chances. As expected, it was disgusting. But nevertheless, Harry persisted only for Olivia's curiosity to grow. "So? What do you think?"