harry.
"i'm surprised you actually want to come back to this clinic, harry," mrs. styles said.
"yeah."
"i mean, you usually hate any counselor i take you too."
"yeah."
"so something's different."
"no."
"but-"
harry got out of the car. "i'll see you later, mom," he said. his mother nodded, and harry ducked his head, yanked up the hood of his sweater, and walked into the clinic.
after a rushed sign-in with the receptionist, he all but bolted into the counseling room.
and halted in surprise.
there was a mat lying on the floor, and a picnic basket. the chairs were gone. hazel-grace was sitting on the floor by the basket, grinning up at him. "hi."
"w-what happened to like... the chairs?"
she shrugged. "you like sitting on the floor, so."
"yeah but-"
"i thought we could have a picnic."
"a picnic." he repeated it with no small amount of incredulment. "like. indoors."
"yeah. an indoor picnic." she didn't seem to get why he was puzzled.
harry sat down on the checkered blanket, tentatively. "did you um. pack food?"
"of course," she snorted, pulling out a stack of sandwiches, cupcakes, and some drinks from the basket.
harry was quiet for a long time.
a worried look crossed hazel-grace's face. "i'm sorry; i know this isn't really what a counselor's supposed to do. and i should've asked you what you liked to eat, and oh my god, you've already had lunch too, haven't you? and you don't want to eat anything or-"
"how did you know i liked red velvet cupcakes?" he interrupted, reaching for one.
she swatted at his hand. "those are for dessert."
he snaked his arm around her and grabbed a cupcake, licking the frosting with a smug smile. "don't care."
relief showed on her face. "you're not mad?"
oh god. she thought he was mad. harry didn't know what to do. why would he be mad? "why would i be mad? an indoor picnic." he shook his head. "you think i'd be mad about that?"
she shrugged.
he put his cupcake down and gave her a small smile. "it's really nice, hazel-grace. thanks."
"well, you're welcome." she blushed with happiness. it was charming, how happy she got when other people were happy.
harry glanced down at his hands. "although i do wonder... are you trying to get me fat or something? first ice cream, now cupcakes. all in two visits."
laughing, hazel-grace tucked her legs under her and shrugged, smiling sweetly out at him from behind a veil of hair. "who knows? maybe i am, harry."
"hmph." he pretended to be mad, but he couldn't rid himself of that damned smile.
"has anyone ever told you you have a nice smile, harry? dimples, too."
they had, actually. harry got that a lot.
(not recently, though. because smiling wasn't really something he'd been doing a whole lot of, recently. until he'd met hazel-grace, he'd hardly smiled at all.) harry almost felt guilty, for smiling.
he shouldn't be smiling. gemma was gone. why was he smiling?
"um. thank you." he gave hazel-grace a grateful look. "yeah, people tell me i have dimples a lot. which is weird, because i already know i do."
"i mean it in a good way. i've always wanted dimples."
he studied her. "i think your smile is fine. it's um... i like your smile."
"thanks-"
"i-"
they both shut their mouths at the same time. hazel-grace's cheeks grew red. "let's talk about something else."
"cupcakes."
"i can't even cook, i already told you that."
"i love baking cupcakes. these are good, though, for store-bought cupcakes."
"my mom made them, actually," hazel-grace told him. "she's awesome."
"i need the recipe," harry said, happily polishing off his second cupcake.
"harry, what you need to do is stop wolfing down dessert and eat your sandwich."
harry pouted.
relenting, hazel-grace got up. "come on."
"what?"
"i live really close by. we can walk to my house."
"and do what?"
"get the cupcake recipe."
scrambling to his feet, harry said, "are you serious? like seriously serious? we're going to your house just for a cupcake recipe?"
"yeah."
he threw his hood off so he could peer down at her better, dimples etching deep craters into his cheeks. "oh my god. you're awesome."
"yeah." she laughed and grabbed his hand in hers. harry froze at the sudden warmth and softness of her grip, his heart doing weird things.
then she was tugging him out the door, and he ran into a wall, and harry decided he should focus on walking properly instead of the fact that hazel-grace was holding his hand.
she was holding his hand.
dedicated to @stwhyles bc she gave me awesome candy & i love her a lot so
thank you if you read this weird story... every comment and vote makes me smile like a freak tbh
