"I'm never looking your mother in the eye ever, ever again," I said with conviction, shaking my head in attempt to clear the embarrassment that still lingered heavily. Harry's hand squeezed my thigh comfortingly as he grimaced at me across the console.

We were on our way home from the wedding after finally having convinced Anne we could be trusted to drive home by ourselves. She had almost made me drive home with Gemma while she rode with Harry, trying to drive home her point but Harry had, thankfully, talked her out of it.

"That was so humiliating," I groaned, leaning forward in my seat and pressing my face into my hand. Now that I was finally able to openly discuss it with him, I felt a little better. We had spent the remainder of the night being followed closely by Anne, her eyes constantly prying and observing as we moved through the wedding. As soon as Harry would find herself near me, she would swoop in and whisk him away, handing him off to what seemed to be an infinite number of old, crusty ladies with wandering hands.

To be fair, Harry had probably had a much worse evening than I; Anne made sure to find me dance partners as well, although while they were old and spindly, they were all well-mannered enough to be gentleman about it. Poor Harry had been the subject of several older ladies advances and attempts to set him up with their granddaughters, to which he had to politely refuse, but to no avail. They were ruthless.

"I'm so sorry, babe," he said, squeezing my leg again. "I can't believe she did that."

"It's okay, Harry," I said, sighing. "At least it's over. And hey... at least she knows?" I finished, the end of the sentence rising in a question in my uncertainty.

"Plus, I think you've more than paid the price for it," I said, giggling.

"Yeah, who knew there could be so many old, single women a wedding?" he said, shuddering in his seat.

"You aren't related to the one who kept pinching your ass, are you?" I said, stifling a laugh behind my hand as I watched him squirm.

"No, thank god. My mom would have had to deal with it 'cause there's no way I could have stayed if I had been," he said, face scrunching up in distaste as he remembered the wizened old lady's roaming fingers.

"You poor thing," I sympathized, rubbing his forearm with my palm as I forced myself not to laugh. It really can't have been fun for him, but I couldn't say I blamed the old ladies- he really was adorable. If I had been an old lady at the wedding, I definitely would have wanted a dance with him.

I giggled to myself quietly, picturing Harry from an elderly woman's point of view. Tall, handsome, those eyes that made you feel like you were the most important person in the world, and in a suit? Couldn't get much better in terms of a potential date. I was definitely a lucky girl to be the one to take him home at the end of the night, so to speak. There was no way I'd be able to "fall asleep" at his house again after what Anne had figured out- she would surely be kicking me out as soon as we arrived back home, wanting me as far away from her son and his bed as possible.

"You're mom's never gonna leave us alone, now, is she?" I asked in defeat, turning my gaze to observe his profile. He frowned out the windshield.

"Probably not. But that doesn't change the fact that she's gone a lot, or your house is open, or, you know, she can just shove off," he said cheekily, grinning conspiratorially at me. My mouth fell open in amusement as I shoved his shoulder lightly

"Look who's a badass all of a sudden," I laughed.

"Just saying," he chuckled. "She knows now and she didn't actually try to stop us or anything so... I dunno. Let's just not worry about it," he said lightly. I hummed my assent as the beams of his headlights swooped across my house as he pulled into my driveway. My shoulders slumped a bit at the thought of leaving him, but I knew it was late and that it would only be more awkward if I tried to go over to Harry's after the interaction with his mother.

Sure enough, I could see the beams of her own headlights sweeping across the night's darkness as she parked a few houses down, honking once to indicate to Harry that he needed to go home. He rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, woman..." he muttered under his breath, glaring down the street. Usually I would disapprove of him saying something like that, but I couldn't help but agree and hope that she would get over this soon.

"I gotta go," he said reluctantly, shifting his gaze back down to me, a sympathetic smile twitching at his lips. "Sorry, Jo."

"It's alright, I get it," I said, laughing lightly. "Even after that horrible event which we should probably never talk about ever again, I still had an amazing time with you," I told him, smiling sincerely and squeezing his hand in my lap. He grinned at me, his mood visibly lightening at my words.

"I did too, love," he said softly. "And I really am sorry about my mom, that was the worst."

"Harry, it's fine, just forget it and like I said, never bring it up again, yeah?" I said playfully, running my fingers up his forearm.

"Deal," he agreed. A honk sounded from down the road and his gaze darted over my head before groaning when he saw his mother still hovering in his driveway, sitting in her car and honking.

"I'm going to kill her," he groaned. "See what kind of trouble you get me into?" he teased, poking me in the rib.

"Oh, you really wanna complain about it?" I laughed, raising my eyebrows challengingly and grinning.

He paused for a second, resting his index finger on his chin as if thinking about his options, lips pressing together in a smirk. "Hmm..."

I let out an indignant scoff before shoving him lightly across the seat, causing his face to break into a grin.

"No, baby. Not for a second," he said smoothly, grabbing my hands that were still attempting to push him and pulling me closer to him, curling his finger under my chin as his face leaned close to mine.

"Nice recovery," I said quietly, smiling victoriously at him. His eyebrow jumped up playfully, full, red lips parting into a wider grin that exposed his beautifully white teeth.

"Hmm, I do what I can," he whispered before pressing his lips to mine, not parting them but simply letting the pressure linger between us. He pulled back just enough to speak again, lips mumbling against my own. "I love you."

I grinned and pecked his lips quickly. "I love you, too."

He gave me one last lingering kiss, cupping my cheek gently in his large hand before he pulled back. "I gotta go before she literally runs over here but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded. "Yes, tomorrow, please. Goodnight Harry."

"Night, love."

I pecked his lips quickly before opening the door and bouncing out, disappointed to be leaving him but feeling giddy from our evening together despite the awkwardness. I sprinted up the front walk before the chill of the night air could settle into my bones, where I knew it would stay because I wouldn't have Harry to help keep me warm, inside and out. It was getting to be ridiculous how much I relied on him, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was inside with the door shut tightly before I saw his headlights drive away, heading to his own home that was so close yet so far away. A loud clang followed by a hushed cursing in the kitchen alerted me to my mother's presence. I kicked off my shoes before padding down the hallway to greet her. Her back was to me when I walked through the arch, crouched down in front of a cupboard that was positively overflowing with pots and pans. Her arm disappeared into the cabinet as she strained to reach the probably only pot left in there.

"What are you doing?"

She jumped so high, I instantly felt bad and realized I probably should have announced myself first. Her hand clutched at her chest as if I had scared the bejesus out of her, and she closed her eyes while taking a deep breath.

"You scared the hell out of me," she said. I chuckled lightly.

"Sorry."

"Whew, it's alright," she said, straightening herself out and finally reaching the elusive tool she was reaching for, which turned out to be a kettle. "How was the wedding?"

"It was... great," I said, making sure I sounded cheerful and innocent and not at all guilty. There was no way I wanted her to find out about Anne's lecture. "It was down by the harbor and it was so beautiful."

She smiled at me. "Well that sounds great, hun. Do you want some tea? I was just going to make some before bed," she said, accentuating her point by yawning. I hadn't even realized it, but it was already past eleven.

"No, I'm fine," I said, waving away her offer. "I'm just gonna go shower and get to sleep."

"Okay, honey. Goodnight!"

"Night."

I left the kitchen as she started picking up the spilled pots and pans, the metal clanging loudly together as she tried to reorganize them. I shook my head as I suddenly realized where my lack of prowess in the kitchen probably came from; it appeared neither of us was really skilled in that aspect.

After climbing the stairs, I shuffled into my room, exhaustion from the evening finally starting to hit me. Walking straight through my room to my bathroom and turned on the shower. Steam filled the room as I struggled to release myself from the dress. Harry had done it so effortlessly while I was surprised I managed to stay on my feet before finally getting it off.

I took a quick shower, scrubbing off the events of the night before climbing out, drying off, and pulling on Harry's hoodie and a pair of his boxers I had stolen. After quickly combing out my hair and brushing my teeth, I collapsed into my bed, beyond ready to fall asleep.

Despite my desperate desire to drift off, sleep eluded me. Everything about my bed felt off. It was too cold, too big, too empty, and it was blatantly obvious what was missing: Harry. I shook out my limbs and forced myself to relax, trying to melt into the mattress and fall asleep, but to no avail. Tossing and turning under my sheets, I could find no position that felt comfortable enough to even consider; I was missing an extremely important aspect to my sleeping conditions.

I huffed in frustration as I rolled over once again, staring at the ceiling as I tried to imagine Harry next to me, curling his arm around my waist, hugging me to him while his lips pressed a goodnight kiss to my neck before drifting off. As lovely as it was to imagine his chest pressing into my back and his soft breath rolling across my skin, it wasn't the same. I couldn't fall asleep.

My fist collided with my pillow, trying to mush it into a shape that even somewhat resembled Harry to try and trick myself into thinking he was here. I curled my body around it, hugging it to my chest as I closed my eyes in determination.

Much to my dismay, three hours had passed tortuously slowly and I was still wide-awake. I was somewhat annoyed with myself that I couldn't even fall asleep without Harry here now. It was more inconvenient, than anything, because it was impossible for us to spend every night together. Most nights, I at least got to cuddle a bit with him before he had to leave, which probably helped. Tonight, however, I had been completely cut off, and I was feeling the after effects.

I glanced at my clock and was upset to see that it was after 2 am. My eyes darted to my phone on my nightstand, and I was extremely tempted to call Harry. I didn't want to wake up him, however, so I decided to text him; if I tried to go the entire night without him, I'd never fall asleep.

J: Harryyyy are you up?

I hit send and stared at my screen, squinting in the bright light from the phone, praying he would respond. Almost immediately, my phone buzzed in my hand and I grinned widely.

H: Yeah, can't sleep, why are you up?

J: Can't sleep without you

H: Me neither, babe. Is your mum asleep?

I smiled even wider, following his train of thought easily.

J: Yes

H: Be there in five

I kicked my feet giddily beneath my covers, more than pleased that I had gotten my way so easily. Even though I shouldn't have been, I was pleased to know that he, too, had problems sleeping without me. I knew I should want him to be able to rest, but the selfish part of me celebrated at the idea that he needed me as badly as I needed him.

Silently, I pulled back my covers and padded toward my door, slipping it open quietly before listening in the hallway to double check that my mother was, in fact, asleep. No sound could be heard, so it looked like we were in the clear. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed down the stairs to unlock the front door and wait for Harry.

A quiet creak of the front porch alerted me to his arrival, and I opened the door just wide enough for his lanky frame to slip through. As soon as he was inside, his cold lips met mine in a brief greeting.

"Hi," he whispered, smiling at me.

"Hi." My lips pulled apart as I grinned at him before shutting the door behind him and locking it. He followed me silently up the stairs, leaving on his coat and shoes, which he didn't take off until we were safely in my room. I climbed back into my bed while he stripped down to his boxers, which I greatly appreciated.

I reached out my fingers to him, beckoning him to me as he climbed under the covers and immediately wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his chest and spooning me from behind.

"Are these mine?" he whispered, fingers gently snapping the waistband of his boxers I was wearing. I grinned guiltily.

"Maybe."

"What's mine is yours, now, huh?" he joked quietly, kissing the back of my neck just as I had envisioned earlier.

"Exactly," I said, feeling the sleep that had evaded me creeping in. "Thanks for coming over, " I said, yawning.

"Well I had to if I wanted to get any sleep at all," he murmured, kissing my skin innocently again. "Goodnight, love."

I snuggled myself tighter against him, tangling my fingers through his on the hand that wrapped around my waist.

"Goodnight, Harry."

The second I closed my eyes, with Harry nestled tightly behind me, I fell asleep.

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