hiraeth ; harry lewis

i. what a goddamn cliché

Harry was not made for speed dating or for social interactions in general. This was obvious to the boys, and it had been made incredibly obvious to the two girls who had already been; the first girl hadn't even remembered his name at the end of it, but remembered his date as being the worst, while for the second he had just sacked it off, chugged some champagne, and left in disgrace.

The viewers would eat it all up, but Harry just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Thankfully, there was only one left, and they had something more than just "stranger who looks like this" to go off: Valentina Morgan was Vik's childhood friend, and he had personally asked for her to be included. Hopefully, this final speed date would go alright, or better than the other two, and then Harry could leave the shoot and drown his sorrows in alcohol.

"Okay, who's first to go for this one?" JJ asked as the second girl departed the set, glancing around at the other six guys.

"I'll go first," Vik offered, raising his hand. "Val will probably be more comfortable with the rest of you if she's already been with me."

"What is the story with you two?" Josh asked. "You haven't told us a lot outside of old childhood friend."

Vik shrugged. "That's basically all there is to it," he said. "She was my best friend when I was a kid back in Sheffield, but with me moving towards doing YouTube as a full-time career and her very much focused on university, our paths separated and we drifted apart. She moved down to London in July, and I saw that and reached out to reconnect."

"Do you think she'll get along well with us?" Harry asked, scratching his upper chest and shifting in his seat.

"Don't worry," Vik said. "I wouldn't have suggested bringing her along if I thought she wouldn't be good for the video and with us. She's sound."

As if on cue, the girl in question walked in, raising her eyebrow at the white-clothed table adorned with scattered rose petals and champagne glasses before sinking into her assigned seat.

Vik had sent a photo of her to the group chat, so they'd already known what she looked like, but Harry couldn't help but appreciate the sight of her in person. She was wearing dark jeans and an oversized denim jacket, visibly folded up at the sleeves, which slipped off her left shoulder, exposing an expanse of light brown skin. Her hair was thick and brown, half of it tied up, the other half loose against her back, with twin wavy strands pulled loose and framing her oval, sharp-featured face.

He blinked, frowning, then realised he hadn't been breathing.

Valentina Morgan had literally taken his breath away. What a goddamn cliché.

---

"Hey!" Val exclaimed as Vik walked towards her, rising from her seat and reaching out to pull him into a tight hug. The knot of tension in her chest eased at the sight of her friend, and she couldn't help but hug him even tighter as she realised he'd probably planned to go first to help her relax. The days of Vik knowing her like the back of his hand had passed, but it warmed her heart to know that he still remembered enough.

"Hi," Vik replied, cheek pressed to the side of her head. He was an inch or two taller than her, and he'd never let her forget it. "I'm Vik, I'm 24. What's your name?"

It was so strange to hear Vik introduce himself to her. They had been friends for so long, had never needed reintroductions even when they lived cities apart and stopped talking, that Vik had become a staple in her brain, someone whose name and face she would never forget.

She felt like she was six years old again, holding her hand out to a boy in the playground and hoping he would take it. A long time had passed; she was now four times that age and getting older every day. It was a sobering thought. She would not mind being six years old again, thinking she had all the time in the world.