It's been a week since the divorce was finalized and Mary's still feeling hurt and alone because of how much time and love that she gave Alec. Ember's at her parent's house for the weekend so Mary's all alone in her house and the rain isn't helping her mood at all. She's been toying with the idea of talking to Harry for a while, but she prefers talking to him in person and she really doesn't want to bother him with her problems because she already does that a lot and she feels bad about it.

But sitting alone really isn't helping her at all and her mind is driving her crazy. She tries to turn on some music and read one of the books that she's been putting off for a while, but it doesn't really help at all. Before she's really thinking of what she's doing, she's standing on Harry's doorstep in the rain and waiting for him to answer the door.

He answers after about a minute with slightly wide eyes and a soft smile playing at his lips. "Hi."

The corner of Mary's lips lift up in a slight smile, "Hi. Can I come in?"

Harry steps aside and gently shuts the door behind her. Mary's clothes are soaked with water and she's shivering as they stand by the door and look at one another. He knows that she's there for a reason, but he doesn't want to press her to say anything unless she wants to.

Mary tugs on the sleeves of her sweater and drops eye contact to stare at her hands, "I'm sorry for bothering you again, I'm just really lonely and I wanted to see you."

Harry smiles because she's always apologizing when she really doesn't need to. "You don't bother me, Mary. I like being around you and I like that you wanted to see me. Do you want to change into some dry clothes? It's kind of cold in here."

She looks up at him with a soft smile, "If you wouldn't mind."

He leads her upstairs and gives her one of his sweaters and the pair of sweatpants that she let him wear the last time that he stayed over. Mary doesn't really feel like wearing the sweatpants though and she ends up leaving them on the bathroom counter.

Harry's a little surprised when she steps out in just his sweater and her underwear. It's incredibly attractive and it takes a lot of his effort to keep his eyes on her face and not her legs. Mary notices, but she doesn't mind at all because she's comfortable with him and he's supposed to look at her like that. The last time that Alec looked at her like that was the night that Ember came into existence.

She sits on the bed and crosses her legs under her and Harry does the same.

"He tried to take Ember from me, you know. The stupid bastard actually tried to take my child away when he couldn't even stand to see her for more than five minutes on her birthday. I think the worst thing about it was that he knew that she's the only thing I wanted out of the divorce. I don't care about the house or the money, but I love my daughter more than he ever has and that's what really pisses me off. What drives someone to do that? To try to take everything away from someone that they've already taken so much from?"

Harry takes her hands in his and gently runs his thumb over her knuckles, "At least your lawyer and the judge knew what was right, that's what really matters. I don't know what would drive him to do that, maybe jealousy or maybe greed, but that's really low of him to even try to do. Especially because I was there when you told him that he could have anything but your daughter. I'm sorry that he's done so much to you, Mary. But, he can't hurt you anymore and you can finally take some time for yourself and do the things that make you happy."

Mary smiles at him and gives his hands a light squeeze, "You make me happy. It's a little scary because I've only ever been with one man, but I really like you and so does my little girl. Thank you so much for waiting for me, it means so much to know that you care about me enough to take what I want into consideration instead of just going for it like I know that you want to."

He smiles at her like she's the prettiest thing that he's ever seen, and, in his eyes, she is.

"I really like you too, Mary. I wouldn't feel right taking advantage of you in any way, or Ember for that matter."

Mary detaches their hands and leans forward to kiss his cheek. Harry's feeling a little playful and he pulls her down into the mattress with him with a boyish grin on his lips. She laughs and cuddles closer to him because he's incredibly warm and comfortable.

"Do we have to give this a title?"

Her nose is cold against his skin, but he loves it for a reason he can't really seem to place. He holds her a little closer and pulls the blanket up because now he knows for sure that she's still cold.

"Not if you don't want to. I'm still going to let people know that I'm with you though, can't have anyone thinking that you're still on the market."

Mary hums in agreement because she'd like to let people know that she's taken and that she's with him too. She's not sure if she wants to give their relationship a title yet though. There's so much to love about him and he's proven to her that he means it when he says that she'll have him and that she'll be there for him. But it's only been three months since she left Alec and she's not really sure that she's completely over him yet. She doesn't want to make Harry feel like her heart isn't in it or with him.

Her fingers draw invisible patterns on his arm, "I do, I just don't want people to get the wrong idea and I'm not sure how I'll know if I'm completely over Alec. I think that I am, but I don't want to be wrong and to make you think that my heart isn't in it for you. How do you know that you're really over someone?"

Harry runs his fingers over her legs for a moment, it's nothing overly sexual, it's just his mind not really thinking and just enjoying being in her company. Mary doesn't seem to mind though so he collects his thoughts and answer her thoughts. "Well, people can think what they want. You're divorced Mary, you can do whatever you want and it really isn't their place to decide if you've had enough time to get over your ex-husband or not. To your question of how you know that you're really over someone, you just kind of...know. It's like a weight that's been taken off your shoulders and you can finally relax and take a breath without worrying if you're going to drop it or not."

Mary thinks about what he's said for a moment and how she's been feeling recently. She does feel a lot better about things now that some time has passed and now that she's been spending so much time with Harry. But she doesn't feel like she's entirely free of him yet and she wants that to happen as soon as possible because she really wants to be with Harry and to feel what it's like to be loved by him.

She's tired of feeling alone—tired of being alone—and she's really frustrated on the physical side of things because she hasn't really gotten much sex since Ember was born and that's frustrating.

So, she decides to go out on a limb and just jump into things with him because she already knows that he wants to be with her and they're going to be intimate at one point or another anyway.

Mary squirms a little to get out of his embrace and straddles him, her lips pressing to his neck and her hands flat against his chest. Harry's not really sure what's come over her all of the sudden, but he makes no move to push her away because it feels so good and he's fantasized about this happening on more than one occasion.

His eyes close as he turns his head and his hands slide down to her waist, his fingertips reaching under the soft sweater and gently pressing into her smooth skin. He's so caught up in this moment with Mary's lips on his skin that he doesn't realize what it is that she's doing for a good minute.

Harry wants her like this, he really does, but her heart isn't where it should be and he wanted it to be special when they were finally intimate with one another. Hell, she hasn't even let him kiss her yet.

She's kissing the space behind his ear when his grip tightens on her hips and he finally finds his voice, "Mary...stop."

Mary's not really listening and he has to gently push her back for her to listen to him, "Mary..."

She's looking at him with slightly widened eyes and pouted lips, "Did I do something wrong?"

Immediately, he shakes his head and takes her hands in his, "No! No, you didn't do anything wrong at all. I just—I know that your mind is in a different place and that you're hoping to use sex as a distraction. I don't want our first time together to be a distraction, Mary. I want your heart to be in it and I want it to be special. There's nothing wrong with you at all, I promise."

Mary sits up and gets off of him to sit on her knees on the other side of the bed. She's so embarrassed that she let herself do that and she can't bring herself to look at him as she apologizes.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just been so long and I—I don't know why I let myself do that."

Harry sits up and takes her hands in his to let her know that it's alright, "I'm not mad at you, Mary. I've been there before; I just don't want you to be mad at yourself or to regret it later."

Mary looks up at him with a soft smile, "Why do I feel like you always have the right things to say?"

He smiles at her for a moment, "Because I try way too hard for you. Can I show you something?"

She's taken off guard by his question, but she doesn't really think much about it because she knows that he's full of surprises. Mary nods and he lets go of one of her hands as he carefully climbs out of bed and gently pulls her with him.

She follows him silently as he leads her downstairs and onto one of his oddly plush couches. Harry leaves her there and heads over to the entertainment center. He's digging for something near the back and Mary's incredibly curious, but she doesn't want to say anything because this feels like something important and she doesn't want to ruin it.

He moves some things around before he's finally found what he's looking for. Mary's surprised when he turns around with a photo album in his hands. For some reason, she really didn't take him to be a photo album kind of guy and it's really a nice surprise to see that he is.

Harry's wearing a smile that's a mix between nervousness and sadness as he sits down beside her and hands her the thick black book. It's clear that whatever he's got to say is something that's hard for him to think about and Mary doesn't push him to talk because he's never done that to her and because she wants him to know that she's listening whenever he's ready.

She allows her fingers to gently trace the soft patterns along the front cover as she waits for him to tell her what's on his mind. Harry twists his fingers in his lap for a few moments, his thoughts jumbled and taking somewhat of a toll on him because he hasn't talked about this for about five years now and the memories are coming back in waves.

Mary's hands are right there, right next to his own, and he takes her right hand in his left to ease his nerves. She looks at him with soft eyes and gives his hand a gentle squeeze to let him know that she's listening and that it's okay.

Harry's silent for another moment before he exhales through his nose and holds her hand a little tighter. "I've told you that I understand how you've been feeling, even when Alec was cheating on you, but I haven't told you why. Her name is Kate. Well, Katie really, but I always called her Kate. We started dating during my Junior year of high school, she was a Sophomore at the time."

He pauses and smiles at the memory of when he first asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes. "Things were...wonderful for my last two years and we were in love by the time that I left for college. I called her every night and texted her constantly. I trusted her with my heart and my love and I really thought that she was the one. Kate came up to visit me twice every month and after three years of college I asked her to marry me.

"She said yes and I was the happiest man alive. I finished my last year of school and we moved in together near her college so that she could still study and so that I could still be near her. Everything was good, or I thought so anyway. On our anniversary, I left her a bouquet of flowers that I picked myself and a long note telling her how much I loved her and telling her to meet me at her favorite restaurant downtown for dinner.

"I waited, and waited, and waited for hours for her to show up. Three hours later I got a text from her saying that she was leaving me for my best friend because they've been seeing each other since I left. She took all of her things and left me the ring even though I told her that I didn't want it back because it was meant for her. Kate left me only a few months before our wedding. We'd already booked and ordered everything and I had to tell everyone that she'd been cheating on me for years and she left me for my best friend.

"After that, I spent most of my nights at bars, drinking away my feelings and going home with women that I barely knew. It was one of the worst times of my life and I let it be that way because drinking and having sex pushed all of those feelings away for a little while. I wasn't myself and I hate that I let myself act that way, but I can't turn back time and cope with my heartbreak the way that I should have.

"It took a while to pull myself together, and when I did, I really felt the heartache and eventually I learned to accept that she just wasn't right for me and that that person would come along some day. The only thing that I kept was that photo album in your hands, it has all of Kate and I's photographs from when we were together in it. One day, about a year after she left me, I looked through it and that's when I accepted that she wasn't the one and that's when I knew that I was finally over her. I don't know if looking at photos of you and Alec will help you know, or if they'll help you get over him at all, but looking at photographs helped me, so I thought that I would share that with you."

Mary's looking at him with glossy eyes and parted lips. She doesn't know what to say because he's just told her an extremely personal and an extremely emotional part of his life and she knows what it feels like.

It's been a while since anyone has opened up to her like this and she's blown away because she's fallen for him so hard already and he's pretty much just told her that he's in the same boat. And it's really scary for her to feel like this after being separated from Alec for three months. It's terrifying because she's only ever felt this way once before and she thought that the one time was it for her, she thought that she'd been lucky enough to find the one on her first try.

She doesn't want to feel like she's felt for the last four years ever again, but she doesn't want to just give up on love because one man broke her heart after keeping it in his hands for so long.

Harry clears his throat to catch her attention and he smiles softly when her eyes meet his again, "For the record, I wasn't interested in another woman for five years."

He's telling her this because he wants her to know that he isn't trying to rush her into a relationship or anything. He wants her to be comfortable and to know that she can take her time because he certainly took his.

Mary drops her eyes to their hands for a brief moment, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "It's me, isn't it?"

Harry smiles and runs his thumb along the top of her hand, "Of course it is."

She leans into him and lets the photo album rest on her lap, "I'm sorry about what happened with Kate."

Harry shrugs, a smile still on his lips, "I'm not. In a way, she prepared me for you. And, don't tell her, but you're so much better."

Mary pulls her lower lip between her teeth as she tries to hold in her smile and that light feeling that he's given her. "I haven't even let you kiss me yet."

Harry hums and rests his head on her shoulder, "Exactly."

They sit in silence for a minute or so before Harry's smiling because Mary hasn't opened the photo album yet. "You can open that, you know."

Mary's fingers skim over the cover for a second time. She knows that she can open it and that he wants her to, but she's sure that she'll be a little jealous seeing someone else with him.

And suddenly it hits her. She's over Alec.

Mary smiles as she shakes her head and places the album on the coffee table, "I don't need to."

Harry takes the opportunity to pull her a little closer and actually lay down on the couch with her, "Why's that?"

Mary finally lets herself fall into him completely. She's done thinking about Alec and how he hurt her and she's accepted thinking about Harry and how happy he makes her.

"Because I am over Alec and I do want to label this."

"Does that mean that I'm allowed to kiss you?"

Mary smiles at the thought, "Yes, it means that you're allowed to kiss me."

Author's Note: Sorry for the short and really crappy chapter