Ever Since New York

Chapter 23

When I woke up, Harry wasn't in bed with me.

I rolled to my right and reached over with my left hand to grab my phone on the night stand, looking through all of the notifications and messages.

"Congrats!" - Niall

"wow, sis. can't believe it. love you both to death." -Louis

"Omg you're like, horrible. How can you not tell your best friend? Well, I love you anyway!" -Alyssa

What the hell?

I get up and take a quick shower, washing the sweat and the grime off of me from last night and then step out, wrapping myself in a towel before I walk back into my room.

I decide that I wanted to dress cute today and picked out my light blue romper with white lace as the stomach and along the rims of the shorts and pair it with my white sandals.

After fixing my hair in a French braid, I make my way down the stairs and smile when I see Harry wearing blue jeans and a button-up shirt that was completely open.

I walk over to him and kiss his shoulder blade as I wrap my arms around his waist.

"What'chu making?" I ask.

I hear Harry chuckle and giggle as the vibrations of his back tickle my cheek.

"I'm making us some pancakes. How many do you want?" he asks.

I pull away and hop onto the counter, swinging my legs a bit. "Just two. I'm not really that hungry."

Harry looks at me, smiling his perfect smile, his soft one just for me.

I blush and look away, biting my lip.

Harry finishes making the pancakes and moves between my legs, reaching up to get plates from the cabinet, his lips brushing against my ear teasingly.

I scrunch my nose up and push him away playfully before hopping down and putting the pancakes on our plates.

Harry gets out the syrup and butter and I take our plates to the table, grabbing us some forks and knives as he comes over.

We sit down and as we eat, we talk about the news and life.

"Birdie, you're 21 now. You're so smart you skipped two grades, graduated with your brother and your Associates Degree and then graduated from Oxford University with a business and arts degree.  Why are you working at that coffee shop?" Harry asks as he takes a big bite of his pancakes.

I blink and lean back in my chair. "Well...I've always liked the easy road. I know that's horrible to say, but it's true. I've always had things given to me. Louis giving me money, my parents giving me money and cars and paying for my college. I just got tired of it. I wanted to make my own money, do things on my own until I was financially stable enough to get a new job, a better one." I confess, looking up at him.

Harry smiles and nods, looking at me. "I'm proud of you. It must've been really hard, but look at all that you have now. A nice car, a great starter home. And yeah, Louis helped, but you paid him back. And for that, I'm really proud of you." he says.

I smile and stand up, walking over to him.

Harry scoots back a bit and leans back in his chair, watching me as I straddle his hips and wrap my arms around him.

"I love you." I tell him, resting my forehead against his gently.

He wraps his arms around my waist and smiles, meeting my eyes. "And I love you."

I smile and kiss him softly, enjoying the feel of his soft lips on mine.

After we finish eating, we wash up the dishes and watch a few movies until about 3 p.m.

"Let's go out." Harry suggests.

We were lying on the couch watching Star Wars and I turned, looking at him.

"Sure. Where do you wanna go?" I ask, rolling over to face him.

Harry strokes my back and shrugs, kissing my forehead. "I was thinking we could watch the sunset on the beach? I know it's cheesy and cliché but still. I'm a sucker for sunsets." he says, grinning.

I smile and kiss his nose before sitting up. "Yeah, that sounds great. The sun doesn't really set until around six so we can go eat or something." I tell him.

Harry nods and we get up.

"I have an ice-chest in the hall closet that we can put food and drinks and stuff in if you want." I say, walking to the kitchen.

"Yeah, great. I just have to get something real quick." he says, rushing up the stairs.

I raise my brows and sigh quietly, then grab the ice-chest, filling it with waters and beers from the fridge.

Harry comes back, our jackets in his hand and he smiles at me.

He holds up the jackets and looks at them. "Just incase it gets cold. I don't want you getting sick." he says.

I smile and we grab our phones and I take the jackets as Harry grabs the ice-chest from me and we make our way out to the jeep.

Once in, buckled up and driving, I pull out my phone and re-read the messages from this morning.

"So, I get these weird 'congrats' messages from a few people this morning. I have no idea what the heck they're about but it was weird." I tell Harry.

Harry's hands tighten on the wheel as he looks at me, smirking. "Yeah, that is weird."

I raise my brow and then turn on the radio, sitting back as we listen to "Marry You" by Bruno Mars.

Smiling, I glance over at Harry and take his free hand in mine. "I love this song. It makes me all giddy and happy."

Harry smiles and brings my hand up to his lips, kissing my knuckles softly.