The Stacks

Chapter 7: How Did This Happen?

Song: "How Did We End Up Here?" by Five Seconds of Summer

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Harry and I spent Friday cozied up in my loft with the wind rattling at the windows. We started a game of Scrabble, a game at which I excel due to my love of words and reading, but I soon realized that Harry was going to be tough competition. It was when he added gob onto my word smacked  that I challenged him. "Gobsmacked? You totally made that up." I crossed my arms and gave him a smug look. 

"You're kidding, right?" He asked. "You've never heard the word gobsmacked before?" 

"No I haven't, because it's not a word," I replied.

He pulled a rather nice iPhone out of his pocket. "Siri, what does gobsmacked mean?" 

Siri answered in a polite voice, "It means utterly astonished, astounded."

"Fine," I huffed playfully. "Since you have like a million points and I only have 70 or so, I guess you win. Besides, I only have x, v, and e left."

Harry chuckled at my exaggeration of our scores. "It's not that bad. We can have a rematch later if you'd like. As long as I don't overstay my welcome."

"This is a bit odd, isn't it?" I mused. "I don't normally invite strangers into my apartment. And then invite them to stay overnight and to play Scrabble the next day." I dropped my head and laughed. 

"Well, that's a good thing," Harry replied. "But we're not exactly strangers, are we? We've gotten to know each other a little over the past few weeks, right?"

"You only told me your name two days ago," I reminded him.

"Yes, well there is that," he said with laughter rolling out of his chest. His face fell quickly, though, and he opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn't come out right away. "After the anniversary of my wife's death, I had a bit of a breakdown. Suffice it to say you didn't catch me at my best."

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to ask how she died, was it sudden, how long had they been together, how did they meet. But I didn't feel like he had opened up to me enough to want to go into all the details. So I simply repeated the only thing I knew to say: "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, thanks," he said. He stood up and stretched while I put away the game. "You're right, though. This is a bit odd. But at the same time, it isn't. It's nice that we can just be comfortable together, just two friends getting to know each other." He paused, clearly wanting to say more. Finally, "Thank you," came out with a contented sigh.

He sat down on one end of the couch and I sat on the other, facing him with my knees pulled up in front of me. I grabbed the wool blanket he had used in the night and placed it over my knees. I offered the other end to him and he turned and sat the same way facing me, pulling the other end of the blanket over his lap.

"It just feels like it shouldn't be so comfortable though, you know? But I'm glad it is," I admitted.

"Me, too." He smiled warmly and leaned his head against the side of the sofa. I did the same and soon we had both hunched down, using the arm rests as pillows, legs still crossed so we weren't in each other's space. And we slept while the rain drove hard against the windows.

When I awoke a few hours later, I timidly got up off the couch, not wanting to disturb him. I assessed the contents of my fridge and pantry, wondering what I could possibly offer for dinner. Between mac and cheese, a few freezer meals, and canned soup, I didn't have much at the moment. 

"Why don't I order dinner?" I heard Harry's sleepy voice behind me. I spun around, holding my hand to my chest. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. It seems I keep doing that."