Sensation (h.s)

Chapter Nineteen

✺ Kate's point of view ✺

My morning goes as most of my mornings do. Wake up in Harry's arms, wait until he's awake, kiss for twenty minutes while chatting about silly little things, then get up and make breakfast.

Harry dances around the kitchen in his boxers as we fry bacon, then end up at the kitchen table with a shared plate of food and two cups of coffee. Conversation flows easily between us even though there's a very obvious elephant in the room.

Around one in the afternoon, Harry and I shower together. I tell him I have an appointment and have to hurry, but it doesn't stop him from getting his way. I end up pressed agains the shower wall with his body between my legs before either of us can lather our hair with shampoo. The memory leaves me blushing as I attempt to cover the spots on my neck with some concealer once I'm getting ready.

At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, I'm walking into the familiar building where I've been attending therapy for months. Mia is going on vacation with her family for the next three weeks but promised to pencil me in before leaving-- thanks to my parole officer, she was convinced I was in dyer need of the appointment.

"Kate, always so lovely to see you. Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?" She greets the second I step into her office. We greet each other with a simple handshake, then I'm accepting her offer for a bottle of water while pulling my coat off of my shoulders.

"How are you doing today? You look..." She passes off the plastic bottle to me and I furrow my brows in confusion as she trails off.

"I look..."

"You look happy." She laughs as if she almost doesn't believe her own words. I stay silent, unsure of what to say in response.

"I am, I suppose." I shrug my shoulders and slowly sip my water while Mia takes a seat across from me.

"Is it the new boy you've been seeing...?" She takes out a pad of yellow papers and lays it in her lap while looking over at me.

"I'm not seeing him, I'm just hanging out with him." I correct quickly, not sure if the title she's putting on him is going to have me getting ahead of myself.

"Right, of course." She smiles reassuringly and I clear my throat uncomfortably.

"Anyways, what's on your mind today? Anything in particular you want to talk about?" She lays her hands in her lap and I consider my thoughts for a moment before answering.

"My friend... The um, man I've been spending time with... He asked me to come home with him for the holidays. Like, to his parents house." It feels surreal now that I'm bringing it up in conversation. When Harry asked me last night I accused him of being drunk and told him we'd talk about it some other time. He battled with me for a few minutes, but eventually gave in. We've yet to discuss it all morning and I'm patiently waiting to see if he recalls doing it, even though I know he wasn't drunk.

"Oh, well, how do you feel about that?" Mia raises her brows in a very therapist-like way.

"I feel like... I don't really know. He's a very complicated person. He lost his wife last year and because of that he's been hesitant to get close with me." I find myself relieved to confide in Mia about about Harry. It's not someone she knows and she can only judge him based on what I tell her.

"He lost his wife?" She furrows her brows curiously and I nod.

"And... How did you say you met him?" She taps her pen against her paper and seems almost momentarily anxious.

"He's a professor. I had his class at the beginning of the year and we started talking and now we're... Yeah. Whatever we are that doesn't have a title." I laugh at my own words while Mia stays silent.