It's Not Heavy, I'm Stronger Than I Look--Haria
Hanna smirked as she watched Aria haul box after box up the long flight of stairs. She’d offered to hire movers, but Aria had insisted on moving them herself. There was something enjoyable about watching her girlfriend get all sweaty, though she could think of a few other ways to get sweaty that would be more fun.
“Do you want some help?” Hanna asked, taking pity on her despite having sworn up and down that she didn’t move stuff. Aria glared at her over the stack of boxes.
“It’s not heavy. I’m stronger than I look,” she snarked. Hanna rolled her eyes as the short brunette nearly dropped one of the boxes.
“What’s in there anyway? That must be your hundredth load,” she said. It was Aria’s turn to roll her eyes.
“It’s my fourth load, and it would go faster if you helped me,” she pointed out. Hanna raised an eyebrow, not bothering to remind her that she had literally just offered to help a few seconds ago.
“I told you, I don’t move shit. I offered to hire movers, remember?” she asked. Aria sighed and put down the boxes.
“And I told you that it’s ridiculous to hire someone to move a couple of boxes,” she countered heatedly.
“Have I mentioned how happy I am that you’re moving in?” Hanna asked, changing the subject. She really didn’t want to start a fight on their first night living together. Aria smiled widely.
“Only once or twice. Have I mentioned how glad I am to be moving in?” she asked. Hanna nodded.
“Only once or twice,” she teased.
It was true, after several hard years of long distance, they were finally moving in together. It was something Hanna had been dreaming about since they started dating over Christmas break of their junior year of college. But with Hanna interning for a famous designer in New York and Aria unexpectedly getting hired at a publishing company in Boston, they had been forced to be apart most of the time. They had agreed that their positions were too rare and valuable for either to give up, though they’d both seriously considered it more than once. Hanna couldn’t even count the number of times she’d almost packed her things and hopped on a train, only to remind herself that she’d never get an opportunity like this again.
It had been hard, the distance, but they’d made it work. Regular Skype sessions and phone calls made the lack of physical closeness bearable. Still, when Aria had called her a month ago with the news that her company wanted to transfer her to New York, Hanna had wanted to jump with joy. In their two years of dating, neither of them had ever asked the other to move. She had wanted to ask Aria to come to New York, but was afraid of what might happen: either Aria would say no, or she would say yes and end up resenting Hanna for asking her to quit her job.
“Are you at all worried about us living together?” Aria asked, breaking Hanna out of her thoughts. The blonde frowned.
“Why would I be worried?” she asked. Aria raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, we’ve been dating for years, but we’ve only been on a couple of dates. How do we know if we’re ready to live together?” she asked. Hanna laughed.
“Ar, you’re my best friend. I already know all of your weird quirks that most couples would need time to figure out,” she said. Aria wrinkled her nose.
“I don’t have weird quirks!” she protested. Hanna laughed again.
“Aria, you keep a pig puppet on your dresser,” she said. Aria frowned.
“So?”
“So, it stares at me while I sleep. It’s weird. But it’s something that I accept I have to live with,” Hanna said simply.
“Okay, well you leave your shoes all over the place,” Aria sputtered. Hanna nodded.
“True. Which is why I’m not dating Spencer,” she said. Aria rolled her eyes.
“Here I thought you weren’t dating Spencer because you liked me,” she joked. Hanna giggled.
“Well, there’s that too. Do you have more stuff downstairs or is that everything?” she asked, realizing that they (or Aria, anyway) had stopped moving things inside. The brunette nodded.
“This is it, amazingly. There’s still a few things I had sent to my parents’ house, but this is everything I have with me,” she said.
“Excellent. Then I propose we go out to dinner to celebrate us moving in together,” Hanna suggested, already thinking of all of the restaurants she wanted to show Aria.
“I think I should take a shower first. I’m disgusting,” she complained, gesturing to the sweat stains on her shirt. Hanna wrinkled her nose before an idea occurred to her.
“I could join you,” Hanna said suggestively, her voice lower than usual. Aria’s eyes darkened.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said, following Hanna to the bathroom.
“I am so glad you’re moving in.”