Goodnight and Go [H.S.]

I

Sitting in the extremely overpriced restaurant for my sister Gwen's birthday, I look over to my friend, Kieran, who's to the right of me. I tip my head back in a laugh at something she said as Harry makes his way back to the table after dismissing himself to the bathroom. He and Gwen are seated across from us, and I look over at him with a smile. I can tell that something's been nagging at him all night - the look in his eyes showing that he kept going somewhere else, and wasn't exactly present during conversation.

I kept trying to meet his gaze every now and then, to try to give him some kind of expression to ask what was wrong, but he grew too fidgety for that. Kieran continues to talk to me while I hold my glass with my cocktail in it against my chest, still keeping my sight set on Harry as he takes his seat again - his eyes never meeting mine. His arm drapes over the back of Gwen's chair, and I watch as the tips of his fingers caress the outside of her arm.

Swallowing harshly, I look away from them and back over to Kieran, engaging in our previous conversation as to get my mind off of whatever my best friend could be going through. I knew Gwen had been a bit demanding on how she wanted this birthday dinner to go, considering it was her 30th, and I figured that maybe Harry was just anxious about making sure that everything went the way she hoped. He always hated disappointing her, and he always strived to make sure he did right by her.

But that's who Harry is. He's always a people pleaser - never wanting to upset anyone.

We had already made our way through our meals, and we were all waiting for the dessert to be served. My parents sat on the other side of Gwen, and I watched as my mom continued to gush about her oldest turning 30 - tears springing to her eyes as she went on about it. I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes at that. It wasn't that my parents preferred Gwen over me, but she was definitely more successful than I currently am, and they took every opportunity to brag about her accomplishments.

That's not to say that they aren't proud of me as well, but it's a lot easier to brag about your daughter who's a country renowned interior designer instead of your daughter who's currently finishing up her tattooing apprenticeship. They've had several conversations with me about how they didn't mind the career path I had gone with, but they were a bit disappointed that I had decided to use my art degree on tattooing instead of going into a different field of art.

The only person who really encouraged me to follow my apprenticeship was Harry, which wasn't surprising considering all the ink that adorned his body. I've had the honor of tattooing him a few times, nothing super big, but it meant a lot that he trusted me in that way. Just recently he let me tattoo a bird cage among his ribs, and before that it was an eagle on his forearm. Gwen doesn't mind tattoos, she has a small one herself, but she wasn't super thrilled at the fact that Harry had added to the existing ink on his arms - on display most of the time for others to see.

A few minutes pass before Harry clears his throat and stands from the table again, and I look up to him as his eyes scan over all of us. "Good evening everyone," he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he looks back over to Gwen. "I just wanted to take a moment to say some words about the birthday girl before our dessert gets here."

Everyone quiets down, and their attention quickly becomes focused on him.

"As you know, Gwen and I have been dating for the past six years, all thanks to the help of my best friend, and her sister, Carter," he gestures his hand over to me as he speaks, and I hope the expression I give him comes off as adoration, and not one of jealousy. "I was introduced to Gwen not too long after Carter and I finished college, and I guess the rest is history."

He looks over at Gwen who's staring up at him with the widest smile, and I can see the love she has for him swirling in her eyes as he continues. "These past six years have been truly the best ones of my life. From the time Gwen and I started dating, we've practically been inseparable, but I guess that's what happens when you just know," he chuckles nervously as he brings a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "She's definitely wrangled me in a bit, because if you had seen me in college, like Carter had, you would know I was a bit wild."