Always

Chapter 27

I spent the rest of my day helping my mom with errands.  We ran to the shops, cleaned up the house, even did a little yard work.  It was nice to spend some time with her, even if we were only doing chores.  She had tried relentlessly to get information about Harry out of me, which I answered as shortly as possible. 

Every little detail I told her turned into a much bigger deal than it should have been. OH, he plays guitar?  How long has he done that?  What songs does he play?  Followed by my short response of, “I don’t know, mother.” To which she would huff, frustrated that I didn’t know all these tiny details yet.  At the mention of his sister, she questioned what she was like, did we get along, what was her favorite food?  Blushing embarrassedly, I had to admit that I’d only met her once, and that our first interaction hadn’t exactly been chummy.

It was times like these that it struck me how odd it was that I felt so strongly about him, so utterly consumed, when there was still so much I had yet to learn about him.  How could I be so completely captivated by a person I knew hardly anything about?  That wasn’t true, however. 

I knew a lot about Harry; I knew what kind of person he was, I knew his sense of humor, and I knew he was the most amazing boy I had ever met.  These things were more important to me, things that told me who he really was and shaped him as a person, than minor details that I had all the time in the world to learn about.  My mother, on the other hand, didn’t seem to see it my way. 

She did see, however, how incredibly happy I had been lately.  It was the first thing she had mentioned to me that morning, and it wasn’t the first time she had said it.  Although my reluctance to provide details confused and frustrated her, she agreed that if Harry was making me this happy, he must be doing something right.  She had no idea. 

After I had finished helping my mom, I had showered and gotten ready to see Harry, glad that it was finally almost time to meet him.  Time seemed to drag by when I wasn’t with him, only to fly by when we finally were together.  I was never aware of the passing hours when I was in his company, which was both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing, because it meant that no matter what we did, I was completely content. 

More than content- so inexplicably happy and fulfilled that there was nothing more I could ever ask for.  A curse, because that meant whatever time we spent together was quickly over, leaving me only yearning for the next time we were reunited, aching for the moment I was back in his presence. 

I said goodbye to my mom as I skipped out the door, grin fully plastered on my face as I made my way down my driveway and took a left.  I had given up on trying to figure out what Harry had planned for us, because the last time he had planned something there was no way I ever would have guessed.  His actual plans were much better than anything my imagination could come up with. 

As I rounded the oak tree at the end of his driveway, I had to restrain myself from breaking into a full out sprint to his door.  I knew his mother wasn’t home, so I reached my hand out to the knob to let myself in as I usually did.  Gripping the handle and attempting to turn it, I was surprised to see that it was locked.  I wiggled it one more time, frowning at the brass knob that refused to budge.  I hummed softly to myself as I rang the doorbell, thinking Harry had probably just forgotten to unlock it.  Standing there in front of his door, I bounced on the balls of my feet, waiting for his green eyes to appear behind it and let me in.  Seconds passed with no answer, so I rang it again, glancing around behind me suspiciously.  Still nothing. 

My eyebrows furrowed together as I pulled out my phone to check the time.  7:07.  Frowning, I called Harry.  As the ringing carried on, I felt more and more confused.  Where was he?  And why wasn’t he answering his phone?  I took a deep breath, shifting my weight back and forth on my feet as I held my phone to my ear, calling him again, but to no avail. 

I spun around on his porch and looked out at the street, thinking maybe I’d see him pulling up into his driveway.  He was probably just running late and hadn’t heard his phone, nothing to worry about.  I didn’t want to call him again and come off as clingy or crazy, so I just sat down on his front step, twirling my phone around in my hands, knees bouncing.  He had to show up sooner or later; we had plans, after all, and he would never blow me off. 

Twenty minutes had passed before I caved and called him again.  A few minutes late was one thing, but nearly a half hour?  Unheard of, especially for Harry, who was always extremely punctual.  Again, my call went unanswered.  I was really starting to get concerned now; what if his car had broken down again and he was stuck on the highway somewhere, trying to flag down a car for help?  I was about to jump in my own car and go look for him when it occurred to me that he would almost absolutely have his phone on him if that were the case, and would have called me.

No, no, I was being silly.  He was probably just with his mom, or his sister, or lost track of time doing…. something.  He was probably fine, and I was overreacting.  I took a few more deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart, chiding myself for being so emotional.  I’d hear from him any minute, or he would actually just show up soon.  Any minute now. 

I checked my phone again, noticing that it was 7:42 pm.  Refusing to let the panic return, I firmly set my phone down by my side and shook my hands, ridding them of the feel it.  I exhaled and looked up, hoping that when I returned my eyes to ground level I would see a lanky, brown haired boy in glasses standing in front of me. 

Squeezing my eyes shut, I counted to ten before lowering my head and opening them again.  I blinked a few times, eyes trying to refocus after being held shut so tightly.  Once they focused, I did a triple take to my left; a large, black SUV was coming towards me. 

I shot to my feet, not deciding to but finding myself standing all the same.  Relief flooded through me at the sight of his silhouette behind the wheel, smile stretching across my entire face.  It wasn’t until he was turning into his driveway that I noticed something was off; his posture was slumped against the wheel, holding his body up awkwardly as he drove.  He didn’t wave or show any kind of greeting to me, even though I was sure he could see me on his porch.  Smile dropping from my lips, my feet automatically started moving toward him as he shut off the car.  When I reached the hood of his car and finally got a good look at him, I felt the blood drain from my face, the cause for his strange behavior evident now.

Sorry I know it's short!! I will be posting more in an hour or so, so thank you for reading and being patient :) xx