She Lays Down [h.s.]

Twenty-Four

Mary wakes up to an empty bed and sunlight streaming through the open curtains. Harry's at work and he's opened the curtains to let some light in because he knows that she'll be lazy and sleep in for half of the day if he doesn't. That and he thinks that the room is a little too dark sometimes and he's a happy person so he doesn't like that too much.

The thought makes Mary smile as she stretches her limbs and blinks hard to clear the sleep from her head. Harry's left a note on her pillow, just like he usually does, but today it's different because it's their one-year anniversary.

She told him not to make a big deal out of it because she knows that he likes to, but she already knows that he hasn't listened to her because that's just how he is. He listens, but if it has to do with toning down his affection in any way, there's a small chance that he'll actually follow through with what she's asked.

And today is one of those days where he's chosen not to heed her advice.

Marigold,

Good morning, love! I can't believe that it's already been a year! Feels like I just got to kiss you yesterday! I know that you said no over the top stuff, but when I saw this I couldn't help myself. I've hidden your present in the house, if you can't find it before I get home, you'll just have to wait until I get home to find out what it is! I love, love, LOVE you!

xxx Harry

Mary's smiling from ear to ear. He always manages to make things interesting and she absolutely loves that about him. She takes her time waking up and going through her daily routine, even going taking the time to take a lengthy shower.

Once she's eaten and taken some time to think about what it is that Harry's gotten her for their anniversary. He's not one to keep things typical and that opens up an incredibly large window of possibilities.

There are also a lot of hiding places in the house. This she knows from experience because Ember likes to play a game where she hides things and whoever finds them first wins. Harry usually wins at that though and she's not sure if it's because he and Ember are in cahoots or if she's just bad at finding things. She has a pretty good feeling that it's not the latter.

Mary flits around the house, looking in every known hiding spot for her gift. She doesn't know how big it is, so she literally has to search the entire house from top to bottom.

Nothing. After two hours of searching, she's found absolutely nothing. Out of boredom, she decides to check the book shelf again. She's pulling out books to see if there's anything behind them or between them that she could have missed when the thought hits her.

It's in one of the books.

Harry knows that she periodically reads East of Eden whenever she gets the chance too and she's almost positive that it's somewhere inside those well-worn pages.

Mary's overly careful as she pulls the book from the shelf and slowly flips through the pages. She makes it about halfway through when she sees the two slim slips of paper that Harry's carefully tucked between the pages.

Bursts of Passion

One night only: 7-9pm

Sheer Walls Gallery

Her eyes widen instantly and she almost drops the book. There's no way that she read that correctly. Mary takes a second look at the tickets and nearly squeals with excitement. She's read the words correctly and she's absolutely thrilled.

Harry brought up the gala months ago and the fact that it was on the exact date of their anniversary, or what they call their anniversary anyway because it's not the date when they started dating, it's the date when they first took notice of each other.