Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 10

INTIMATE

"I think you should get it."

"Shut up."

"No, seriously!"

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and Noah and Harry were already together again, less than 24 hours after their date. They were at the farmer's market, specifically looking at some inspirational art made by a sweet middle-aged lady who absolutely adored Noah.

The paintings were beautiful, honestly, with intricate landscape backgrounds and painted inspirational (and somewhat cheesy) quotes over the top.

Noah and Harry were looking at a painting of a city skyline with the words 'Keep on Fighting' painted on it.

The irony of the quote was the exact reason why Noah was trying to persuade Harry to buy it.

"Come on. Keep on fighting? Couldn't be more perfect for you," she tried one last time to convince him, impressively holding onto her serious demeanor despite the laughter that was threatening to break through.

Harry jokingly rolled his eyes and dragged her away from the booth by their joined hands.

At one point, they approached a handmade jewelry stand which made Noah gasp excitedly and pull Harry towards it. Countless displays of rings, bracelets, and necklaces covered the tables. Harry glanced at the ring display while Noah used her time to sort through the delicate necklaces the booth had to offer.

More specifically, she was looking at some dainty initial necklaces. When Harry returned his attention to what she was looking at, she spoke up, "I've always loved these kinds of necklaces but I wouldn't want one with my own initials. 'N' isn't a very exciting initial, is it? Or maybe it is. To me it's kind of eh. You're lucky, though, 'H' is such a good initial."

"I think 'N' is a good initial."

Noah huffed playfully, "you think anything to do with me is good."

Feeling called out, Harry's cheeks reddened. "Well... you got me there."

There was an innocent sadness to Noah's pout as she stared longingly at the necklaces. Soon enough, she turned around and started walking in the original direction they were headed. "Let's go see Faye now," she said.

When they made it to Faye's booth, Faye was in the middle of helping out a customer so Noah and Harry waited at the back of the stand until she was done. Faye's daughter was working there, too, and she was busy with her own customers.

"My darlings! So good to see you again. How are you two?" Faye exclaimed when she had a free moment, walking towards them with her arms outstretched so she hugged them both at the same time. It was a little awkward given the height difference between the two, but Faye managed.

"We're doing good, Faye. Just wanted to stop by and say hi," Noah said with a smile.

Faye charmingly pinched Noah's cheek, "you're too sweet. How was Holden's birthday?"

As Noah began explaining how her brother's birthday went, Harry politely excused himself to the bathroom. Noah happily continued chatting with Faye, filling her in on all things about her family as of recently. Faye also gushed a bit about her young granddaughter, which made Noah smile and coo at the cuteness.

It wasn't long before Harry came back and shyly joined the conversation for a few minutes until Faye had to get back to attending her booth. The three all said goodbye and exchanged hugs briefly. It was strange for Harry to hug someone other than Noah, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

Noah and Harry walked around the farmer's market for another twenty minutes or so before heading back to his car. Once they were both inside, Harry decided to, once again, bite the bullet.