Surprise

A fuzzy memory comes to the front of my mind. 

Harry and I were building legos on the kitchen table. He always had the best lego sets, and his maid would always set out snacks for us to eat. I loved going to his house after school. While we played, his dad stormed into the apartment, followed by his mom sobbing behind them. They completely ignored our presence and headed upstairs. Their bickering carried across the penthouse, allowing us to hear their every word.

A young Harry grabbed my hand and guided me into his room. His hands were so soft. The yelling was still clearly heard there. They were fighting about everything under the sun. I sat uncomfortable on his bed, biting my nails nervously, hoping for a chance to go home. Harry was shuffling around in his closet, staying quiet the whole time. Eventually, he came up and grabbed  my hand, and led me into the closet. We crawled to the back, which had a blanket, pillows, and a flashlight set up.

Once he closed the closet doors it was quiet. The quiet was so refreshing and peaceful. It felt like we were the only people in the world. We situated ourselves, then he pulled out a 3 Musketeers candy bar, split it in half, and shared it with me. He gave me a toothy smile, with his eyes scrunched, and his dimples showing. His smile made my stomach flip. I couldn't  help but give the biggest smile back.

I almost forgot about that memory. 

My chest tightens, and a wave of sadness settles over me. How many hours has he spent in that closet alone? I grab the candy bar out of my backpack and walk up to his closet doors. I hesitantly hold my hands on the handles. Should I be doing this? Is he going to find this creepy? I shake the thought out of my head and swing the doors open. After pushing some clothes out of the way, I see Harry curled up in a ball, with his head in his lap. I drop to my knees and crawl in next to him. I am much bigger than the last time I sat in here, forcing me to hunch my back, and sit cross legged. He tenses up as I get close, visibly shaking with fear.

“Har,” I softly say “are you okay?” He whips his head up, and looks at me. His eyes are puffy, tears still streaming down his face. He lunges out to me and pulls me into a familiar hug, gripping my shirt tightly with his hands. The force of his embrace knocks me over, him topping on top of me. He doesn't move away, even with our new position. He digs his head into my chest, and keeps his arms completely wrapped around my waist. His hands are fidgeting, which end up twisting my shirt between his fingers, his hand slightly grazing my lower back, sending chills down my spine. I simply return his hug, and slide one of my hands down to his lower back, pulling him into a closer embrace. My other hand strokes the back of his hair gently, twirling his curls in my fingers. He smells so good, and he's so warm. We stay like this for a while, our breathing synchronizing, with small sniffles coming from Harry. I don't dare to speak. 

“You scared me so much,” he whispers into my ear, breaking our silence “I thought you were my dad."  My anger slowly rises again, my blood boiling remembering what I watched. I force the rage back down, I'll save this feeling for later. I have to be here for Harry right now. We stay in this hug for a long time. He sniffles quietly, while I play with his hair. After a while, he sits up and rubs his eyes. I feel a rush of disappointment and longing, but I shake the feeling away. I instead take the opportunity to sit myself up, and get as comfortable as possible.

“Why are you here?" he asks, his voice shaky and weak from the crying.

“Ok rude,” I laugh.

“No, like I'm really glad you're here, but I'm confused about why you are,” he spits out. “Did you sneak in?" 

“I came to hang out,” I smile. I rushed in here, I didn't think of many excuses. He blushes, and then burrows his head in his knees. I weakly hear him say.

“This is so embarrassing.”

“Do you not remember the state I was in yesterday?"  He laughs and pops his head up, smiling at me. I grab the milky way bar that's been thrown aside, tear it open, and hand Harry half. He smiles widely, making his nose and eyes scrunch up, and showing his sharp canines. His dimples are still so prominent. So cute.

“You still know my favorite,” My stomach flutters, I look down and take a bite of the candy bar, hoping he doesn't see me blushing. He gracefully takes a bite of the food, then glides his thumb on his lips, licking the chocolate that began to melt. His lips look so soft. My stomach feels all tingly.

“Do you want to talk about what’s going on,” I ask, feeling the need to break our silence before I go crazy.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he assured. Liar. How can I get him to reveal what’s obviously going on? Wait, no I sound like such a fucking hypocrite…this is how I made him feel. I can’t say shit to him.

“Have things been rough with you dad?" I questioned. Actually I don’t care. I don’t care if I’m a hypocrite. 

“Yeah,” he meekly says. “He’s been weird recently”

“Weird how?" I ask.

“He’s just been testy,” he shrugs.

“You seem pretty upset,” I said softly, trying to pull the answer out of him. “He was angry at me for coming home so late,” he said.

 “When did you get home?” I asked.

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” he joked. Oh right. I was so fired up I forgot the cryptic way he was acting.

“Oh yeah, cause you slept over,” I anxiously said, trying to deflect from the situation.

“Whatever," he says, a tinge of sadness in his voice “Are you planning on sleeping over?" he asks as he pops the last of his candy bar in his mouth.

“Do you want me to?" I ask. I probably shouldn't stay, but I can't resist if he says yes.

“I don't really want to be alone,”he replies, hugging himself tightly.

“Will your dad be okay with it?" I question. What the hell is Norman's deal? 

“He's probably going to completely ignore me for the next week. He won't even notice,” Harry quietly says. 

“How long has he been acting like this?" I try and rack my brain, thinking of moments Harry has acted differently. I'm such an asshole. I don't remember any times. Harry always acts the same.

“He started acting weird around 3 months ago. He said work has been very stressful. He'll be fine soon,” he quickly spouts out. “Let's leave the closet; my legs are going numb.”

“Thank God, it's so cramped in here," I say with a lighthearted tone. I haven't noticed for three months. I'm such a terrible friend. My stomach feels sick with this knowledge. Harry doesn't deserve any of this. 

We both crawl out of the closet, stretching and popping our backs once we are out. Harry glances around his room, and begins to frantically clean. He keeps his steps quiet. He quickly finishes, I mean that wasn't much to clean anyway, and heads to his closet. He pulls out his large fluffy Parka and throws it over to me. I catch the massive coat and put it on over my hoodie. He then grabs himself a jacket and puts on his shoes.

“Let's go get something to eat," he says, his voice small.

“Uh, okay,” I smile and begin walking to his door, but Harry softly grabs my hand to stop me.

“No, it will be easier to go this way,” he says. “Just in case."  He smiles. It's a fake smile. He seems so anxious. What can I do to help him? He guides me to his window, pushes his blankets aside, and quietly opens it up. The room fills with the smell of rain.

He pulls himself onto the window sill, his legs dangling off the side. He jumps out, disappearing from my view. What the fuck? He isn't close to the ground at all. He might not die from this height, but he would break a few bones. I lunge out of the window, and ready my web shooters to catch him, but instead, I almost smash myself into Harry's face. He giggles, and steps over, grabbing  my hand and helping me jump down. I forgot there was a fire escape right here.

He still holds my hand and guides me to the ladder, our hands still entwined. I'm happy he's ahead of me, my face is burning red from embarrassment. He shuffles down the fire escape together, before landing on the dark pavement.