Black Ink || Harlena a.u.

48.

It hurts to directly look at the sun; that's a fact.

We spend our lives ducking under the light, stealing glances here and there, but never enough to distinguish all the little details; neither the soft curves nor the smooth lines because we can't. It's almost, if not completely, impossible.

We feel the sun's warmth, we feel the heat against our skin, but we're afraid to hurt and so we never look for any longer than a split second.

The only exception we make is when the sun is rising or when the sun is setting. The calm pinks and oranges and reds are what we admire. The before and after. But never the present.

It isn't until the sun is going down, that we start to wonder why we haven't looked at the sun in awe before; the reason being pain.

But beauty lies behind that pain because at a certain point, when we steal that quick glance at the sun, there's a small instant when the moment becomes blinding and you have to blink a few times before looking away and regaining composure.

My attention turned away from Harry's sleeping figure and towards the clock next to the nightstand.

It would be a few hours before Harry woke up, and in those remaining hours, I waited until the sun rose.

***

Harry drove the rental car towards my parents' house. I had explained to him the situation at hand, even if he had already had his suspicions.

"So they're just not talking to one another?" He asked. One of his hands was on the steering wheel, the other was rubbing his chin in thought as his eyes scanned the road ahead of him. I assumed his expression came from being able to understand the whole cheating part, considering that, well, he knew from first hand experience what that felt like.

It was hard not to stare as he kept touching his lips, "Exactly. I don't know how much longer this is going to last." I had become quite tired of having to hear all the bickering. Neither wanted divorce, but neither wanted their marriage; a fucking paradox.

"Don't worry," he switched hands so that the one that was previosuly on the wheel, closed around my wrist and squeezed, "Something's gotta give."

I sighed in hope that his words became true, but even I knew how naive that sounded.

Harry made a few more turns from the hotel before pulling up in the driveway.

He turned to look at me, his lip slightly curling up before nodding his head towards the direction of the front door, "C'mon."

When we stepped in, we were surprised to see my parents conversing with one another, but all eye contact being completely avoided.

There was no yelling and no doors slamming, just the two on the couch with a movie playing in the background.

"Told you," Harry whispered in my ear before planting a kiss on my cheek. "Move it along, now."

My head shook as I walked towards my parents, "Hey, you two."

They turned to look at me before greeting Harry and I.

"Why don't you two sit down, while I go make some coffee?" My mother asked, but it was more so of her telling us what the plan was.

"Okay," I answered, but I watched my surroundings cautiously. "So," I began tentatively as I sat down and Harry followed. "Everything going okay?"

My dad sat up before clearing his throat, "Yes."

I gave him an encouring look, still not fully understanding what the hell was going on. He seemed pleased, but something stopped him from fully expressing his glee, and I had a feeling it was Harry being here.

"Your mother and I have decided to make peace and just start over," he explained. "We're taking it step by step."

I felt my eyes widen in delight, "Wow- okay. I'm so glad."

"Stop being weird," Harry whispered as his hand placed itself on my leg. We were far enough so that my dad wouldn't hear him, but not far away so that he didn't see us with a hindering suspicion.

"I'm not," I argued quietly.

"I'm gonna go finish up some paperwork," my dad said as he excused himself. We didn't say anything as he left the room, the tv still speaking even though no one was listening.

"You made that so awkward-"

"I did not-"

"Oh, my god. Even I wanted to leave," he rolled his eyes but I saw a ghost of a smile play on his lips.

"You're not helping," I laughed. He kissed me quickly before my mom came back in the room.

"You two finish up the coffee, I have to go meet up a friend in a few minutes," she shrugged, smiling warmly at Harry before setting the tray down.

"Thank you, Marlene."

"Of course. Justin is in his room, but I don't think he'll come down any time soon.

I nodded, "Alright."

"See you later, you two," she blew a kiss before heading out and leaving us alone in the livingroom.

"Your mum loves me,"

"Harry-"