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The next two weeks passed in a blissful haze.  The entirety of my thoughts was consumed by Harry.  My body was constantly longing to be near his.  It didn’t matter where I was: at home, at school, at work, anywhere in between.  I was fully and completely infatuated.  This quiet, lanky, previously completely unnoticed boy had taken over my life.  Every night I wasn’t at work was spent together, doing nothing usually other than contentedly hanging out in each other’s presence.  Every moment I spent was him only pulled me further into his spell.

  It had taken him nearly the entire two weeks before he had accepted my hand at school, linking his in mine as we walked down the hall.  Just as I had a few weeks earlier, I had reached my hand across the small distance separating us, only this time instead of acting as if I’d shocked him, he tentatively closed his large hand around mine before tangling his fingers into mine.  I had nearly released his hand in surprise. 

I wasn’t the only one who had been surprised, however.  To say we had been stared at by the other students was an understatement.  Judgmental eyes probed our clasped hands, surely very confused as to how this had even come about.  While my friends had some idea of what had been going on with Harry and I, the vast majority of the rest of the school had been completely oblivious. 

The effect of Harry and I being together was something I did not see coming; I had figured most people wouldn’t even notice, much less care as much as they seemed to.  It was none of their business, why should they let it bother them so much?  How very, very wrong I was.  People seemed to take it extremely personally that we had become something.  The “popular” people were insulted that I had dipped so low into the rankings of the school, while the “lower ranking” students seemed insulted I hadn’t chosen them.  Nobody was happy. 

The only good thing that had come out of the entire thing was that for once, I seemed to be getting the negative attention rather than Harry.  While this thought comforted me slightly, it only seemed to disturb Harry.  He didn’t like the fact that people were trying to use him against me to hurt me.  After much reassurance on my part that I did not care in the slightest, he finally stopped bringing it up, although I could tell that it still bothered him beneath the surface. 

One particularly nasty incident had been the first time Colt had spotted us together.  He wore a sneer so intense that I was sure it had to hurt his face, somehow managing to look absolutely shocked, disgusted, and infuriated all at once.  While I had taken one look at his expression and averted my eyes anywhere else, Harry had amazingly held his eye contact until he was past us, something that had to have taken every ounce of courage he had.  I knew Colt wouldn’t be particularly excited about it, but even I was surprised at the intensity of his anger, which only seemed to grow with every sighting of us.  Luckily, we didn’t run into him and his ridiculous rage that often.

Harry was rarely the carefree Harry that I had come to know while we were at school.  Seeing me as the target of snide remarks and rude glances seemed to take a toll on him.  Despite my efforts to loosen him up at school, he remained the quiet, soft-spoken boy I had met on the first day of our project. 

As far as I was concerned, nothing these people had to say or do would have any effect on us whatsoever.  I did not give a shit what anyone thought.  I liked Harry.  A lot.  And that was enough for me.  I didn’t feel the need to explain myself or justify our relationship because the only people it really concerned were Harry and myself. 

While it was true that I had no desire to explain things between Harry and I to anyone, I did have an urge to at least talk about it amongst ourselves.  Aside from our confessions two weeks ago after he had taken me to his spot for our own drive in, we hadn’t really talked about what we were feeling.  Normally, I wouldn’t have cared.  

I knew Harry liked me; I could tell by the way he was with me- almost always holding my hand, the way he would look at me when I spoke to him, and most of all, in the way he kissed me.  Deeply, thoroughly, and feeling it with every fiber of his being.  Kissing was easily the way Harry most expressed how he felt, and I had never felt more privileged to be allowed to kiss a boy back, never felt more special to be the one he kissed like that. 

Despite all this, I didn’t know what exactly we were.  Was he my boyfriend?  Or were we just friends who messed around and would sometimes hold hands at school?  I hadn’t brought it up at all because I loved the way things were going and didn’t want to risk things changing, but I often found myself eager to discuss it.  So far, I had managed to hold back; I think I was hoping Harry would bring it up himself.  I had to wait another entire week before the topic finally came up on Friday evening.

***

I raised my hand to knock on Harry’s door.  Usually, I would just knock once and let myself in, but not today.  Today we were not the only ones in the house; today was the day I met Harry’s mother and sister.   When the door swung open, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.  Harry’s long body was revealed to me, taking up much of the doorway as he smiled down at me. 

“Hi,” he said as I reached up to press a kiss to his cheek and return his grin.

“Hi.”  It came out very breathy, betraying the nerves I had been trying to hide.  Never before had I been so anxious to meet an adult as right now.  He stepped back from the door to allow me to enter his home. 

“Don’t be so nervous, Joey,” he said, rubbing his palm down my arm, trying to relax me.  Usually it was the other way around.

“It’s hard not to be since I’m meeting your family,” I said, pinching my eyebrows together and looking at him in concern.

“You made me meet your mother the very first night we ever hung out,” he reminded me.  I had almost forgotten that I had put him through that.

“That was different.”

“How?” he asked, hint of amusement showing in his eyes.

“We weren’t…. whatever then,” I said vaguely, gesturing between us.  Before responding, he pursed his lips together and furrowed his eyebrows, meeting my gaze.  He was just opening his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a middle-aged woman with long, dark hair entering the foyer from the kitchen.  His mother.

“Hello, Joey, right?” she asked, smiling at me and coming to stand next to Harry, roping an arm around his waist.  That was about her only option because her head barely came up to his shoulders.

“Yes, I’m Joey,” I said, returning her smile, trying as hard as possible to look casual.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you, dear, I’m Anne,” she replied before squeezing Harry once then stepping forward to hug me in greeting.  A little surprised, it took me a small moment to realize what she was doing and return her hug.  My family didn’t hug a whole lot.

“It’s so nice to meet you, too,” I said sincerely.  When I pulled back, a young woman who could only be Gemma entered the space, grinning at me.  Clearly Harry was close with his whole family, so it was wonderful to finally meet the women who had raised him. 

“I’m Gemma,” his sister said, grasping my hand in both of hers.  I immediately noticed she had the exact same eyes as Harry, sparkling green and crinkling in the corners as she smiled at me.  Harry hadn’t said anything and was happily watching us greet each other, satisfied smile on his face as he shoved his hands into the front pocket of his jeans. 

“Hi, Joey,” I introduced myself, returning her smile.

“So how long have you and my son been dating?” Anne asked casually.  So casually I almost didn’t register she had asked until Harry let out a weird sputtering noise.

“Um…” I said, not really sure how to answer.  If she wanted to know how long we had been hanging out, the answer was nearly two months.  If she wanted to know how long we had been together in whatever we were, I suppose that was about two months as well. 

But if she wanted to know how long we had been officially boyfriend and girlfriend, I had no idea how to answer because I didn’t know myself.  I didn’t even know if we were dating.  I looked to Harry for some sort of clue as to what to say.  I saw that he had been watching me intently, studying my reaction to the question.  Apparently I had reacted in a good way, because he smiled slowly before answering for me.

“Nearly two months I suppose,” he said, looking at me rather than his mother.  My heart pounded in my chest and I felt a smile stretch even further across my lips.

“Two months?!” Gemma exclaimed. “And we’re just meeting her now?”  She wasn’t mad, more surprised at the fact that he had hidden me from them for so long. 

He just shrugged in response, now clearly out of answers for her as well.  Anne shifted her gaze to me and I was relieved to see a hint of amusement there.  “Well, I really wish I had more time now that I’ve found this out! Joey you and I will need to get to know each other soon,” she said, smiling at me once again.  “I’ve got to get going- I’m supposed to help with this banquet for work.”

“It really was nice to meet you,” I said, relieved that our first encounter seemed to have gone well, despite being rather brief. 

“You too, dear,” she said smiling before turning to Harry.  “I’ll be home really late, so take care of yourselves.  Be good,” she added, causing Harry to blush fiercely and mumble something I couldn’t make out in return.  She grinned at us one more time before slipping out the front door, gone nearly as quickly as she had appeared. 

“I’ve got to get going too, but can I talk to you quick, Joey?” Gemma asked sweetly.  I gulped.

“Uhm, yeah, of course!” My eyes darted to Harry nervously before returning to Gemma, where she stood by the front door, clearly waiting for me to join her.  He just shrugged at me, clearly having no idea what she wanted.  I turned from him to follow Gemma out the door, which she closed as soon as we were on the front porch, separating us from Harry. 

“So. Joey,” she said, smiling at me.  While her lips were pulled into a grin, her eyes held a hint of a threat that was just subtle enough to pick up on.  My heart thudded nervously in my chest.

“Gemma,” I returned, unsure of what to say.

“What are you doing with my brother?” she asked, suddenly serious.  The smile was finally gone from her face as she studied mine.  I swallowed.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you with my brother?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Um… because I like him?” I said.  It came out as a question.  Why else would I be with him?

“You don’t have some kind of hidden agenda? Or this isn’t some kind of stupid bet or dare or something, is it?” she pressed.  It was clear she didn’t trust me, which hurt my feelings.  I had done nothing at all to make her suspect so.

“What? No, of course not!” I said, offense leaking into my voice.  She stared at me skeptically, not saying anything. “I don’t!”

She narrowed her eyes.  “You don’t?”

“No!”

“No offense, but you don’t seem like the type of girl to go for my brother,” she replied, offending me anyway.  It was clear now she was basing her whole argument on my appearance.  “He hasn’t exactly had girls beating down the door.”

I stared at her, eyebrows furrowing together.  She couldn’t be serious.  “I don’t know how you got that idea of me but it’s not true at all.  I like Harry, a lot actually, and I don’t see what else really has to do with it.  He’s an amazing person, I would never do that to him, ” I said sternly. 

She stared at me again.  I tried to keep my voice calm, wanting her to believe me rather than get into a fight with her.  She was just being a protective big sister, after all, which I could respect.  Clearly she cared deeply for her brother if she was putting me to the third degree. 

“You like Harry,” she repeated, her gaze finally softening slightly.

“Yes,” I said earnestly, never dropping her gaze.  A smile crept up on her face.

“Okay,” she finally sighed.  “I’m really sorry about that, it’s just… he’s my little brother and I’m really protective of him,” she explained.  She was so strong-spoken, completely opposite of Harry.

“I understand,” I replied.  “I just want you to know that I’m not playing any games or anything.”

“I see that now.  I’m sorry again, I just had to make sure,” she said.  “For his sake.  He’s such a gentle soul,” she chuckled.  It was clear she adored her brother. 

I smiled.  Harry was indeed a gentle soul, and I loved that about him.  “You’re a good big sister, Gemma.”

“I know,” she replied, grinning fully at me now.  “Okay now that I’ve grilled you, I do have to go.  Hopefully we can get to know each other more soon.”

“I would like that,” I said honestly.  Despite getting off to a rough start, I did like her.  She was honest and strong, qualities I had great appreciation for, and would have wanted in an older sister if I had one.  She grinned at me one last time before striding to the door and pulling it open, calling a goodbye to Harry somewhere in the house.  With that, she turned to me.

“See you around, Joey, treat him well.”

My heart warmed at the love she clearly had for him.  “I will.”

She nodded at me, content with my answer, before jumping off the porch and walking down the driveway to her car.  I waved as she drove off, mind still reeling from our conversation.  I ran my hand through my hair before turning to return to Harry in the house.

“What was that?” he asked, cheeks slightly pink and dimples present as he grinned nervously down at me.

“She just wanted to talk.  She seems really nice,” I said, deciding not to tell him how she had accused me of playing games before finally believing me.

He shrugged.  “Weird. Yeah, I guess so.”  I rolled my eyes at his casual response.  Steeling myself, I finally asked the question I had been pondering for some time now, which had finally come up in the conversation with his family.

“So we’re dating, huh?” A shy grin sat on my mouth as I looked up at him, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

“Oh, erm, I guess we should talk about that first, huh?” he said, suddenly, fidgeting with his fingers and looking flustered.  “I didn’t mean to assume anything-”

“Harry-“

“Because I know I shouldn’t just assume that we’re dating just because we, erm, you know hang out and stuff, but I just didn’t know what to say and-“

“Harry-“ I tried again.

“I understand if that’s not what you want and that’s fine because I don’t really know what I’m doing I just, um, that’s all I could think to say and-“

“Harry!” I almost shouted, smile still firmly on my face now that I had listened to him ramble on.  “I’m so glad you said that.” He froze and met my gaze.

“Really?” Surprise was evident on his features.  Why he was surprised was beyond me, because I thought it had been fairly obvious how I felt about him.

“Yes!  I never knew what you were thinking about this whole thing,” I said.

“Really?” he repeated incredulously, apparently unable to say anything else.  I giggled.

“Really really.  So… does that mean you’re my boyfriend?” I asked, holding my breath for his response.

“If you would like me to be,” he said quietly, holding my eye contact and reaching his fingers up to brush along my jaw softly, having stepped closer to me at some point. 

“I would love for you to be,” I said as I pulled my hand up to run down his arm that was reaching toward my face, tickling my nails across his skin. 

“Then I’m yours.” 

I couldn’t stop the grin on my face from spreading so wide it hurt my cheeks.  He was mine.  I was his.  Officially.  Standing up on my toes, I pressed a kiss to his soft lips as he wound his arms around my waist, pulling me against his chest.  My arms linked behind his neck as he arched his back, gently lifting my toes off the ground and never breaking our kiss.  When we pulled apart, we were both grinning like idiots, so ridiculously happy in that moment that I could have stayed in forever and been content.  

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