the story of us |h.s.|

08 - wonderland

"we found wonderland
you and i got lost in it
and we pretended it could last forever
[...]
and life was never worse but never better"

Nadine.

Ever since that day, Harry's been nothing but good to me. I've found myself having to call or text Daphne when I need someone to watch Andie less and less because Harry's more than happy to.

Getting to know Harry again has been...harder than I thought. A person can change a lot in ten years, and we're living proof of that.

We started our 'getting to know you' phase off really slowly. Harry could sense I still have a little resistance to this whole thing even though it's ultimately my decision.

Today, Harry gave me an in depth tattoo tour of his patchwork sleeve, though teased about having to 'know him better' to see the others.

"Thanks for watching Andie again," I say, standing in Harry's doorway.

"It's no trouble at all. Have fun at work."

I scoff, "Yeah. Fun at work. That's funny."

"Wait, before you go, question of the day." He stops me.

Harry's also instilled a question of the day, so we'd have to talk to each other at least once a day if we couldn't meet up in person.

"It's your turn, Dennie." He prompts.

I rack my brain searching for a question when one hits me that I'm surprised I haven't asked him yet. "Why'd you start calling me Dennie again?"

He rolls his bottom lip in between his teeth, pensively staring down at the ground.

"Honestly, it was harder for me to call you Nadine. You were Dennie when I knew you then. You'll always be Dennie to me." He clears his throat. "Okay, now my turn."

It never occurred to me that it was more of an adjustment to call me by my full name rather than the nickname I've had my whole life. It was after he left I decided to start going by my full name.

Well, that and the death of my sister. We were Dennie and Georgie. It didn't feel right to be Dennie without Georgie. Yet, the more time went on, the more I healed, Dennie started to trickle back into my life and with it, the person I was before then too.

I'm not even sure Harry knows about Georgie or my parents at all.

"Do you have any tattoos?" His voice pulls my attention.

I let out a slightly embarrassed sigh. "A peach on the nape of my neck and a daisy on my hip bone."

A smile flashes across his face. "What happened to not getting any?"

"Time." My curt answer served as the final nail in the coffin of this conversation. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way to pick Andie up, okay?"

Harry nods his head. "Yeah of course. See you tonight."

With that, I left. Harry shut his front door as I retreated back to my car.

I haven't forgotten about Harry's sudden change of heart a couple weeks ago. While it's nice to have an old friend back, I'm still a little skeptical of his motives. Throughout this short time of our reconnection, I've found myself slowly falling back into the mindset I had ten years ago.

Harry's still charismatic, charming, suave, kind, endearing–all of which are incredibly infectious. It's what made me fall for him in secondary school. It's what made me get lost in him so easily.