Aquarelle [h.s]

forty-three

The visit to Niall's house ended up taking a toll on Harry just as I'd anticipated and, after waking up three times that night and ending up giving up on his sleep altogether, he chose to stay at home the day after.

Even though I wasn't really allowed to do it, I convinced my boss to let me work from home on that day, so that I could've stayed at home and kept him some company.

I knew that it wasn't necessary and that he was more than able to take care of himself, but I couldn't help it. Maybe, deep down, I just wanted to have the reassurance that it wouldn't have escalated to something worse, or maybe I simply couldn't find a reason for him to go through that on his own when I could've kept him company instead.

Thankfully it ended up only being a one time thing, and the day after everything went back to normal, even though he was a bit quieter than usual for the couple of days after that.

Over the next couple of weeks, we found a new equilibrium, one that allowed us to spend time together while still working and getting everything done. It surprised me to realise how easily and efficiently our time could be organised just by working together on it instead of making it a reason to argue over. It was shocking to understand how pointless my last weeks with Nicholas had been.

Harry made it a habit of coming to visit me at work since his workday usually ended a little before mine, bringing me a cappuccino more often than not. On my part, I went to surprise him at work whenever I was lucky enough to finish early - each time having to sneak in not to be caught by the elusive evil boss.

My productivity went down a little bit, as I was more preoccupied with kissing Harry than drawing him when we were together, but I didn't really mind. It certainly wouldn't have hurt to take the whole art thing in a more relaxed way now that I didn't have any immediate deadline.

I also didn't hear from Nicholas again, so that was a plus. It surprised me how quickly Harry and I fell into a new routine, as if we hadn't done anything else for the past five years.

Being with Harry felt like coming home, which didn't make much sense considering that we'd changed so much over the past years. Despite him being so different, though, there was a familiarity in him and everything he did that I couldn't seem to be able to escape. It was lovely to get to know him all over again, at times discovering that he wasn't as much of a stranger to me than I'd thought.

The doorbell rang and I jumped to my feet quicker than it would've been socially acceptable to admit, not wasting any time as I made my way towards the front door of my studio and opened it, moving to the side to allow Harry to walk in. I still didn't know why he didn't seem to have any intention to use the key to the studio I'd given him some time before.

"Hey" I greeted him, not giving him any time to reply before pressing my lips against his.

He hummed into the kiss, seeming to be slightly surprised by my actions, but brushed it off fairly quickly. "I thought you'd told me to come here to model?" He murmured as soon as our lips parted, and I shrugged.

"Among other things" I stated, pulling him close to me again by the collar of the cream-coloured knit cardigan he was wearing.

"I see" he whispered against my lips, kissing me again.

I tangled my fingers into his curls as he deepened the kiss, inadvertently taking a few steps backwards and hitting the desk. "Oops" I said quietly, turning my head to make sure no damage had been done before going back to looking at Harry, discovering that he seemed to be concentrated on something on the side of the room. "What is it?" I asked him gently, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen onto his forehead back.