oh, anna [-hs]

faith

a/n ooh boy get ready for this one.

24.

When I get home, Emma's laying sprawled out on our floor. She groans when she hears the door open.

"I have been defeated!" she shouts at me. I laugh and walk over, laying down next to her.

"By what?"

She shoves a napkin over for me to read. In bold sharpie, a tic tac toe board is drawn out, with a clear victory for whoever played O. "I see, and your opponent was?"

"Leo," she grumbles. I snort.

"How?"

"I don't know he'd just tap his nose or paw on certain spots and I think I was so impressed by it he won."

"Is this what you've been doing since you got off work?"

"Maybe." She sits up and tears the napkin in half. "How was therapy?"

"Aah," I groan out a noise and get up off the floor, making my way to the fridge to find something to eat. Her eyes follow my figure.

"That good, huh?"

I make another indecipherable noise. That's all I can think to do when presented with that question. It's all I can articulate. Like I said, it's good but it hurts.

I pull a tub of ice cream out of the freezer and jam a spoon into it, the metal frosting over with a light condensation.

"Are we ready for tonight?" I perk my eyebrows up, bringing a hefty spoonful to my mouth and immediately regretting it. It freezes to the roof of my mouth. I wince.

"I figured we could just order pizza, or they could bring something. We're already buying them booze. It's the least they can do." Emma peels herself up off the floor and flops onto the leather chair. Leo jumps up onto her lap not long after, looking for absent-minded scratches.

From across the room in my bag, my phone buzzes. My eyes widen and I dive for it, pulling the device out and accepting the call.

"Hello?" I ask, the ice cream freezing my hand. I pinch it in between my elbow and ribs. Emma perks her eyebrows, curious as to who's on the other end.

"Quentin Anna Bellini," his voice is smooth, low, pleasantly surprised I think. It calms me in a way I wasn't expecting.

"Harry Edward Styles," I retort. Emma's eyes widen and she kicks Leo off her lap, adjusting in the chair to lean closer and listen in. I set the ice cream down on the kitchen table and sit down in front of it.

"I'm sorry I didn't pick up your call. I was on a plane."

"Where are you going?" I play with the spoon in the tub.

"I was coming back from London." He pauses. "It's really wonderful to hear from you. Why'd you call?"

"Um," I press my lips together, suddenly feeling embarrassed by my impulse to contact him earlier. I have nothing to say. "I was just wondering what you were up to."

He chuckles a little from the other side. In the background I can hear the soft motor of a car. "Quite a bit. I won't lie. I've been fairly busy with work. I was in London for a quick holiday. My first weekend off since you left."

"Wow," I nod to myself. Emma makes a face at me. She wants to know what we're saying. I gesture at her to stop, and she rolls her eyes. "Did you see your family?"

"I did actually. My mum and sister. It was nice, but now I'm back."

"Back to work." I feel the conversation going nowhere, slipping away from me. But I can't think of anything to say. Why does this feel awkward? I feel itchy. Ugh.