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Part of being a Charmed One meant giving up normalcy. Since discovering her sisters and their powers, Macy could count the number of times she had gone on a date- only with Galvin, and even then, the issue of her magic, or demonic capabilities, tended to be at the forefront of the conversation.
After she lost him, there was a period of calm as things fell into a new sense of order. It was a few months of peace with the occasional magical creature mishap to disrupt the day, but the loss of someone does put a damper on your romantic life. It felt wrong to move on, especially when she rewrote history multiple times to get him back. Wrong, when he sacrificed himself for the town.
While their relationship was not perfect, Galvin was her first ‘serious’ one. There was a mourning period that had to pass before she could open her heart to another.
Which is why her feelings for Harry surprised her- it crept up on her and one day, she realised that things were a little more complicated than circumstantial affection. A simple moment when she realised that there was something more: a moment of jealousy.
Harry and Macy had fallen into the habit of having lunch on most days of the week. It was a short walk across campus to his office, and ever the gentleman, he would walk her back to the lab. It was on one of these occasions, that Macy had her realisation.
She had walked into his office, the door already ajar only to find that he had company. It was a young lady gazing intently at her professor as she leaned over his shoulder, with a look that Maggie would describe as ‘heart eyes’. The recipient, however, was oblivious to the fact, as his own eyes were focused on the laptop before him, perhaps going through the term paper the student had come to talk about. Macy felt her own narrow at the younger woman, feeling herself get annoyed at the familiarity with which this virtual stranger stood beside Harry. A little too close. The witch felt the temptation to use her telekinesis to relocate the individual to the wall, and she would barely need to flick her wrist to do so. Instead, she cleared her throat pointedly while she rapped her knuckles against the door.
‘Macy! Sorry, the time ran away from me.’ Harry looked up, smiling at her. Macy’s gaze, however, was fixed on the student. She had leaned back abruptly, surprised to find another person in the room. Macy merely smiled at her, not bothering to introduce herself as she normally would, a move that would indicate that she was the intruder and not the other way around. She held the girl’s gaze while saying, “Are you ready for lunch, Harry?” The effect on his student was instantaneous- the girl’s face fell as she shuffled back, and Macy felt a twinge of pity for her. 'To be young and have a crush on a teacher, been there done that,' she thought.
Harry himself seemed blissfully unaware of the exchange. “I’m sorry, Lydia, as you see, I have a prior engagement. I will send you an email about the further comments this evening.”
“Of course, Professor. Sorry to interrupt your girlfriend and you.” She squeaked hurrying to gather her bag, throwing an apologetic smile at Macy. Macy didn’t bother to correct her assumption, “No, that’s alright. Harry tends to be a little longwinded.”
She watched the girl scuttle out of the room before turning back to her lunch.. date. Harry was looking at her, eyebrow raised. Macy gave him a shrug, feigning innocence. Whether or not he had his suspicions, the Whitelighter did not pursue it further, simply closing his laptop and making his way out with his charge.
Macy, on the other hand, could not help but feel slightly alarmed at her own behaviour. She had acted possessive, like a child on the schoolyard when someone else had taken their place on the monkey bars. No, that was too simplistic a comparison. She had acted like a jealous girlfriend, and to her surprise, she truly felt that way. To think that she considered using her powers against an innocent, it was so unlike her. ‘But how innocent was that girl if she was cosying up to your man?’ came the voice inside her head.
She made a mental note of that comment, deciding she will dissect her own thoughts in the privacy of her room later that night. Putting pen to paper had always been her way to make sense of the world, falling into the cliche that a scientist constantly needs to test a hypothesis. Yet, cliches are cliches for a reason, no?
So, she did what she did best that night- overanalyse. Did she think of him differently now? When did that start? Was it purely due to proximity, or was there more to it? But witches and Whitelighters are forbidden to tangle- or did that not matter, now that Elders were obsolete? Or was it more wrong, now that her sisters and she had taken the place of the Elders?
Yet, most importantly- what if her feelings were unrequited? Harry was older, in the most literal of sense, but that also meant that he was wiser in these situations. He had been a guardian of witches for many years, surely he has built up a wall against feelings like this. Especially after the debacle with the Callaghan sisters. Charity was beautiful and powerful- it was no surprise that Harry fell for her. And Macy was… she had such darkness in her, and so easily lost control. He would never care for her in that way.
But she did sense it when she read his mind- that brief glimpse into his head with the gift of being Source, gave her. He cared a little more for her, and in a way different than he did for her sisters. They agreed to not speak of that moment again, but it was empirical evidence of his affection and reciprocity. And they had been getting closer since that day, despite the decision to ignore that moment. Their regular lunches, the fact that he would often stay overnight in the house instead of returning to his apartment leading to late-night conversations over hot cups of tea, the way hers were the first eyes he would seek when a group decision was needed- as though being on the same page as her took precedence over the majority rule.
Macy stared at her journal. Her writing had progressively turned into scribble on the page; so much for empirical evidence. None of it would be admissible, for logic was tainted with so much, too much emotion. She was biased for wanting the data to prove the one thing she dreaded but desired at the same time- that Harry Greenwood could have romantic feelings for her. As she did for him.
‘If you were here, Mom, you would be able to give me advice about this. A girl could use her mother, right now. Or even Dad.’ She laughed at the idea of her father meeting Harry. She wondered if they would get along, how her father would react to her dating someone older than he was. She entertained the idea, before shaking her head. ‘Macy Vaughn, you are an adult, not a lovesick puppy. And most importantly, this is the least of your concerns at the moment. Mel would be embarrassed for you.’ She continued aloud, imagining the conversation if she brought this matter to her sisters. Maggie would giggle hysterically, but Mel would inform her that duty came before all else. Macy did not need a reminder how much all three of them had to go through because of being the Charmed Ones.
She looked down at her journal and considered tearing the page out. True, part of it was chicken scratch at this point, but the beginning was still legible. What if someone found it? She did not think her sisters were the type to snoop, but what if? Perhaps getting rid of the evidence altogether would be the smartest decision. But scientific papers that are failures should still be kept for posterity, she reminded herself. Yes, posterity. Not for any other reasons at all.
She found herself at the foot of her bed, lifting layers of the carefully arranged sheets before hiding her journal there. Out of sight, out of mind, no? The trunk had just closed when she heard a knock on the door. ‘Macy?’ She shot up off the floor at lightning speed, before jumping on her bed, to pretend as though she had not just been ‘disposing of evidence’.
‘Yes, Harry, come in,’ she replied, silently willing away the blush that was creeping into her cheeks. Damn her feelings. She was determined to look composed as she looked at him.
‘I wanted to talk to you about this afternoon ... about what happened with Lydia, 'he began.
Macy froze, alarmed at the possibility that Harry had noticed her behaviour with his student those hours ago.
‘What about it?’
‘She called you my girlfriend, and I did not correct her. Which was wrong of me but I thought it best to leave it at the moment as Lydia seemed a bit.. keen, sometimes. I was not sure that you minded, but I thought I should apologise for involving you in that. But you see, students, especially freshman who take my class, they are always glad to have someone agree with their opinions, and share their beliefs, so they tend to develop crushes on their tutors- which is perfectly normal, but I thought it best to avoid that sort of confusion with a promising student, which is why I did not.. say anything.. are you laughing at me?’
Macy had been attempting to suppress her mirth at watching him babble. His need to reassure her was adorable, and it was so like him, to make sure she did not think the worst of the situation. Funny, when in fact, the situation had turned her head around for completely different reasons.
‘Harry, it’s fine. I understand.’ His shoulders slumped in relief as he smiled back at her before excusing himself. She did not know where she got the courage but she called his name, halting his steps out the door. ‘Just so you know, anyone would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend.’ The blush that burned in his cheeks as he gave her a shy smile made her heart flutter in her chest.
Once he was out of the room, Macy was back at the trunk, digging out her journal once again. Scientific papers need diagrams, right?