Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

sixty nine.

Monday seemed so long ago - although it was only Wednesday night, the events of Monday seemed to have occurred years ago. Every word spoken on Ella's parents couch replayed in my mind and the plan sat heavy on my spine, causing a constant pain to spread around my skull.

Clem had opted to stay with Adrian when we left Ella's, Michael had gone back to his house so it had just been Harry and I since Monday. He had been acting strange since he received a phone call late Monday night. He had been tip-toeing around me for the entirety of Tuesday and today he has hardly spoken a word to me.

We've been on the couch for most of the day wrapped up in a blanket together, absentmindedly watching the TV, no words shared. My mind was trying to convince me that this was the final straw and he was going to kick me out soon, but the way his hands were tracing shapes on my arms and thighs begged to differ.

But it didn't stop the tiny piece of doubt clawing itself out of me. Once again, Harry proved that he was always able to tell exactly what I was thinking.

"I did something." He whispered, face scrunching up in worry.

The opening line was not providing me a great deal of comfort, inflating my doubt with every second that passed. I forced a smile onto my face and tilted my head so I could see him better.

"I can be really impatient. So when I said the other day that I wanted to meet your Grandparents, I didn't want to wait. There may be two seats reserved on tomorrow's 9:00am flight to Sydney with our names on them."

My face must have registered his words before my brain did because he quickly shifted to place his hands on my cheeks and rub his thumb along my cheekbones.

"I got the tickets before all this other shit happened so I understand if it's shitty timing and you don't want to go but I wanted to give you the option. You're the boss, remember? If you don't want to go with everything going on, I will cancel them right now. If you want to go, I'll go pack a bag."

He was right, with everything going on this would be a very poorly timed trip. It would almost be selfish to get on a plane and fuck off, leaving everyone else to deal with the mess I had made. But I was really good at running away.

"Fuck it, lets go."

The flight was turbulent and crowded, yet one of the best plane rides I'd been on. Harry gripping my hand while he slept on my shoulder for the hour, his hold on my hand tightening with every section of turbulence we crossed. As much as I hated flying, I couldn't stop the shit eating grin that sat upon my lips with every adjustment he would make, nuzzling himself closer to me every time.

"You make a cute couple, hold on to that one." The elderly lady sitting opposite the aisle from us spoke as we neared Sydney Airport.

I had noticed her glancing at us throughout the flight but my brain immediately decided it was because she couldn't believe someone like him was leaning all over me. I gave her a soft smile before glancing down at Harry's sleeping figure.

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky. We're not quite a couple yet but I think I'll keep him around."

She extended an arm across the aisle to grab my free hand, "We think we have so much time. It's just been two years since my love passed, we always wish we had them longer."

With that, she removed her hand from mine and went back to the book she held in her lap. Her words held weight though, we don't know how long we have and to waste time in the 'sorta-kinda' stage seemed idiotic.

As we started our descent into Sydney Airport, Harry began to stir and eventually sat up from his spot on my shoulder. He pressed a kiss to my temple and started putting his bits and pieces into his backpack. I caught a glimpse of the lady staring at us once again and this time instead of being self conscious, I was proud.

We landed at 10:25am and had collected our bags and exited the airport by 11am. Harry had mentioned he had booked an Airbnb in my grandparents suburb so we could be close but still have our space and I was rather excited. The idea of seeing my Pa and Nan in a matter of hours was crazy, almost bringing tears of joy to my eyes at the thought.

The taxi ride felt rather quick and in no time we had arrived at the quaint little house we would be staying in. We were only a few streets away from them and I couldn't sit still. Our bags were dropped at the house and we started the ten minute walk to their house.

"I'm nervous." Harry whispered as we hit their block.

It was strange to see him this way, usually he presented quite confident and instead he looked like he was about to shit himself. His breathing was uneven and I don't think he had noticed how tight his grip on my hand had gotten.

"I'm nervous too, would you like to know why?" He nodded shyly, "I'm nervous because there is a very high chance the two people I idolise most in this world will demote me to their second favourite person when they meet you. You have this insane ability to make people just fall in love with you, so I expect nothing less today. They'll swoon over you, I know it."

A faint blush formed on his cheeks, like he wasn't used to receiving such praise. They were going to absolutely adore him and I couldn't wait to see it. He looked gorgeous today; his tan pants sat loosely on his legs, white shirt clung to his body and defined his abdomen, and the open colourful button up tied his whole personality together.

"I love you." He smiled as we turned into the front yard of their place.

My heart swelled and that fucking smile pasted itself to my face again. We were only halfway across the yard when the front door swung open and Pa rushed out. He moved so quickly he stumbled at the stairs before regaining his composure and meeting us in the middle of his yard.

"Jo's here! Quick! My gorgeous granddaughter is here. I've missed you so much." His voice was enough to make me drop Harry's hand and wrap my arms around Pa's short figure.

It wasn't until I heard Pa letting out little sobs in my shoulder that I realised I hadn't actually said anything to him yet.

"I missed you so much, Pa. You have no idea how much I've been thinking about you recently. I love you so much." My words only seemed to make his tears come more frequently.

"JoJo! Move dear, you have to share." Nan spoke from behind Pa.

Pa reluctantly stepped aside so Nan could throw her arms around me and squeeze me so tight that for a second, I forgot everything that had been happening at home.

"And you, you're the man that brought our JoJo here! Nice to meet you mate, we're going to get along just fine. Anyone Jo loves is instantly in our good books." Harry extended his hand to Pa but Pa slapped it away, "Nah we don't do that here."

Suddenly Pa had tugged Harry into a bone crushing hug and any worries I had about this trip disappeared.