ii.
Harry has a headache.
It throbs behind his eyes, like a sizzling red fire that had expanded to capacity yet still reached with jagged tendrils out to wrap over his brain. The cause was simple; he'd had work right after returning from the holidays, in which he had traveled by plane with a three-year-old who decided to be incredibly grumpy during, whose mood wasn't helped by the five-hour delay on a connecting flight. Baggage claim twenty more minutes than necessary, and albeit traffic being smooth given it was 4AM, by the time they had gotten home, Harry was still too jittery and itchy to relax. Laid Teddy down for bed, not bothering to change him from the t-shirt he had been in for travels, before climbing into his own bed only to lie awake for three hours before giving up on sleep altogether. He, instead, took his shower, picked out his suit but walked around in his boxers as he not only cooked breakfast for he and Jenny (he figures Teddy will sleep for a while longer), but also cleans out the foods in his fridge from what might have been spoiled and what wasn't.
Y/N.
Not only had he been too agitated to sleep from the mere task of navigating the airport with a jetlagged Teddy, but his mind had been overwrought with the fact that he'd be seeing Y/N the following day. His nanny – his sweet, exuberant nanny who had looked so lovely in her sparkly red gown, and who did so good with Teddy, he had let his emotions get the better of him and he'd kissed her. Just a careful press of his lips to the soft of hers, warming his insides, even more so when she only pulls away because she's breathless.
"Harry," she had murmured through a small smile, "What're you getting sweet on me for?"
Harry doesn't know if it's the two glasses of champagne that had him feeling looser or just the moment that had softened him up like tepid butter, but he had merely responded, "You're just amazing...so amazing."
She didn't react adversely to it – instead, she leans in and pushed her lips to his cheek much how he had done to her early in the night, when he'd again, been overcome by the moment (her meeting his friends and them loving her after he'd seen her gently bob back and forth singing in Teddy's ear while simultaneously making him a plate of food to nibble on) and had been swooping in for a mouth to mouth but caught himself last minute. "Thank you," she told him, "You're not too shabby yourself." Harry chuckled warm – she always made things so easy – and with a squeeze of his hand, she bids him goodnight, letting him know she might be here for a little while more to gather her bearings.
The next morning Harry had woken up to Teddy's racetrack that she had bought him already done up, waiting for him in the den.
He didn't regret his decision in kissing her.
And he still didn't! Honestly, he didn't, but that adrenalin of the night had long since worn off and he was feeling right nervous that he had crossed a line she would have set. She had kissed him back and didn't seem affronted after the fact but he could never be sure, but he also didn't know how to bring up the fact that he kissed her! He definitely didn't know how to bring up the fact that he'd gone to his room all dopey and smiling like a school girl who'd just had her first moment with someone.
So not only had he been trapped in meeting after endless meeting, he could barely focus because he wondered what would be awaiting him once he got home. Would things be normal? Had they changed? Hell, what if she didn't come back at all? She'd never directly said that she was with somebody but she'd never specified being single either – could she have been with that Adam bloke all along and now he's stirred drama in their relationship? Would she want to quit? Oh god...god, the thought of that just made his heart drop to his stomach.
