Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

seventy three.

It had been two weeks since our trip to Sydney. We were two weeks into Term 4, two weeks of living with everyone in Harry's cottage, two weeks of thinking and planning. Michael had been going to work as usual, Clem spent her day in her room completing online classes, Adrian continued to work, Ella worked from home and was based in the living room.

It was an odd dynamic but we all made it work. We were aware of everyone's schedules and made things like bathroom rotations run smoothly. Dinner time was eventful, we all took it in turns of cooking, washing dishes, drying and putting away. After we had all eaten, Michael always tended to head straight to bed with little conversation.

Watching him interact with everyone less and less was very upsetting. He made it very obvious he still carried such heavy guilt on his shoulders whenever he looked at Ella or myself. No matter what any of us said to him, he still believed he could have prevented Will's violent actions. But he couldn't have, if Will wanted to hurt Ella, he would have found a way.

Adrian and Clem were quieter than usual as well. That was one of the most prominent changes in the house. There were no sarcastic comments or banter, they existed in a state of being seen and not heard. They only spoke when spoken too, unless it was to one another. I missed the noise they brought, I missed the normalcy.

Harry was Harry. He was never anything short of comforting, he was the one constant. Everything around me was changing except for him, he stayed the same. There was a sadness in his eyes though as he watched his friends shrink in on themselves, I wished I could take away the hurt he felt but he wouldn't let me.

"You've been through so much, baby. You don't need to worry about me, if there is something wrong I promise I'll come to you." He would tell me over and over but I couldn't find the heart to believe him.

Dinner tonight was quiet once again. I had made sticky chicken for everyone in hopes of someone making a joke about the sauce or the name, anything really. Michael, Clem and Adrian ate silently while Clem and Adrian exchanged looks throughout the meal. Ella hardly ate, she hadn't been recently, she merely pushed the food around her plate before excusing herself to the reading nook.

Adrian and Clem, after washing and drying the dishes, moved to the couch and turned on the tv. Harry and I didn't move from the dining table, neither of us could really be bothered getting up from our seats. We just sat in silence gripping one another's hands.

"It's your birthday soon, Jo. What do you want to do?" Harry whispered, thumb stroking the back of my hand.

"Hmm, nothing. I just wanna spend time with you, not get the shit beaten out of me?" I raised my eyebrow at the last part, waiting for Harry to laugh at the joke.

He didn't.

Instead he rolled his eyes at me, slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I rested my head on his shoulder and let out a deep sigh. The last time I had genuinely enjoyed my birthday was almost a decade ago, my fifteenth birthday was the last time I hadn't dreaded the Twenty-Third of October.

After my fifteenth birthday, I lost interest in the idea of celebrating my life. By my sixteenth birthday, I had crossed the bridge from 'why wouldn't they like me?' to 'why would they?'. I loved that Harry wanted to make me feel special, he always wanted to make me feel like I was the most important thing in the world. But no part of me wanted to have a day dedicated to myself.

"I'm gonna plan something, you're gonna hate it at first I bet. It's gonna be so good though that you'll end up having a great time. I just know it." He responded, smugly.

12:00am.

I was shaken awake and rudely pulled from my dreams. The room was dark, all except the faint light line seeping under the bedroom door from the hallway. Harry was propped up on his elbow looking down at me with a sleepy grin on his lips.

"Happy Birthday, baby. I just wanted to be the first to say it. I love you, go back to sleep, pretty girl." He punctuated his sentences with kisses around my face before settling on my lips.

"I love you so much. Now I'm going back to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

Harry's breathing slowed beneath my hand, letting me know he had fallen back to sleep rather quickly. Knowing he wasn't awake allowed me to finally react to his wake-up call. My face flushed instantly and I couldn't contain the schoolgirl like giggles that shook my whole body.

And for a brief second, I found myself excited to see what Harry had in store. Excited to see how I would be spending my birthday. Excited that he was excited. Being a Saturday meant we had the entire day and I knew for a fact he would make the most of every second.

So my head came to rest gently on his chest, my eyes fluttered closed and dreams of our future flooded my brain as soon as I drifted to sleep.

*****

It's my baby Jo's birthday, what does sweet Harry have planned? I can't wait!!

Also... 125K?!?!?! That is fucking mind boggling! I love you guys so fucking much, thank you for sticking with my shitty little book that was intended to give me something to do during lockdown. I never imagined or anticipated it would reach such a large audience!

Love always,
Abbey x