leather journal / h.s

19

M A R Y

i woke up that saturday morning to the bright light coming through my window, and the birds singing their usual early songs. it was a beautiful day, and it was decided that i wanted to do something, but there weren't many options seeing as penny was being an unfaithful friend. harry was probably busy and i had no other friends, except for louis maybe.

i was glad that i had decided to take the page down. it was becoming more trouble than it was worth, and i felt like i was hurting harry a lot. that's not what a good friend is supposed to do.

and i know, a good friend isn't supposed to be keeping things near and dear to their friends behind their backs, either. but i was working on that. there had to be a way where i could give it back without him knowing i ever had it.

mom pounded on my bedroom door. "honey!" she yelled, and i clapped twice which in our house meant that she was welcome in.

she tread inside, wearing black flats and a casual dress to match. i wondered where she was heading to. "good morning!" she said cheerfully, just like any other day. "jett has a soccer game tonight and im taking him out for the day. a friend says she wants to come over so i naturally said yes, seeing as you have so many friends!"

my heart sank. there was only one person that would actually want to come over, and that one person was not someone i wanted on our soil at the moment. not penny, anyway.

"o-okay." i said, because there wasn't much at all i could do about the situation. "thanks, mom. have fun." i started to get out of bed and she met me halfway to give me a hug.

"you too, bye mary!"

and then she walked out of my bedroom door with a wave.

as soon as she disappeared from my field of view, i hopped out of bed and threw on my slippers.

i ventured down the stairs and into the bathroom where i freshened up, brushed my teeth, and took a super quick shower. afterwards i grabbed a protein shake and ran back to my room.

with penny, there was no telling how long it would take her to get here or why she was coming in the first place. i had to admit that i was nervous. not of her chewing me out, but the fact that she could have brought it upon herself to tell harry everything and she was visiting to gloat in my face about it. that scared me the most.

i quickly fixed my hair up in a high bun and threw on some sweats and a tee. no, i didn't look desirable exactly, but who was i trying to impress?

just in time, the doorbell rang and i made a last minute decision to take the scrunchie out of my hair and let it flow freely and messily for once. i quickly tread downstairs, and with a deep dread in my heart, opened the door.

it was harry.

"um, hi." i choked out, and when i realized how terrible i must have looked, i cowered in fear that he might judge me. but he didn't.

he just smiled. "i brought you something." he said in his low, raspy voice, and held out a bouquet of roses. i gushed at them and my heart did flips at his kind gesture for me.

"thank you so much." i grinned. "come in and help me find a nice vase to put these in!"

he looked taken aback by my words but his smile did not falter for even a second. "sure." he said smoothly, and with newly rosy cheeks he took a bold step inside-- flowers in hand.

i led him to the kitchen, where thankfully no one occupied any longer-- as the normal weekend rush for breakfast often had it crowded. there was an empty vase on the counter that i filled with water, and harry helped by putting the flowers in by their stems.

"were you planning on staying?" i asked, and deep down i wished for him to say yes. that way, i wouldn't be facing penny alone.

he nodded, making me smile. "i actually just wanted to hang out a bit, if that's fine with you." he looked down at the tiled floor, making me smile to myself. "um... yeah."

when he looked up, our eyes met. "that's more than fine with me." i cooed, my eyes piercing into his like a thousand knives. all we could do was smile at each other, and it was crazy that i could feel the electricity radiating between the two of us.

"how about we watch a movie, mary?"