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“No way, no fucking way!”
Harry Welsh was currently pacing around the office of Dick Winters, gesturing with his hands aggressively and simmering with contempt. Dick was pinching the bridge of his nose, trying his best to deliver the bad news to yet another pissed-off teacher.
"Harry please, almost everyone has to do it, alright, it's not just you."
The staff of Toccoa Public High School was currently in a state of chaos as it was just announced that due to a spike in the student population, more teachers were being hired. However more teachers meant less room, so it was decided that all non-tenure teachers would have to share. Upon hearing about the change, Harry found himself marching down to Principal Winters’ office to air his grievances. Which brought him here: Annoyed and ready to fight whatever jerk he was being forced to share with.
“I’ve had that room for 5 years and now some new jackass is gonna ruin it for me?” Harry cried, turning on the balls of his feet to start another lap of his incessant pacing
“you're just sharing a room, you’ll probably never have to interact with them, and for Pete’s sake, would you please sit down!”
Harry complied, sitting down in the chair in front of Dick with a huff. There were stacks of paperwork everywhere on Dick’s desk, empty styrofoam cups that once held the shitty excuse for coffee that was made in the teacher’s lounge, and hundreds of technicolor post-it notes scattered all around with various vague reminders on them.
Dick sighed and massaged his head temples, likely trying to ward off a stress-induced migraine.
And Harry felt the familiar sting of sympathy as he looked at his friend. He looked incredibly tired, running on steam
“Look Harry,” he starts, I know this is going to be difficult but-“
Harry stops him, raising his hands in surrender.
“I get it, Dick, I know. You gotta do what you gotta do”
Dick’s expression softens from its previous state of stress to one of mild content. Harry knows for a fact that he’s happy the other man has begrudgingly stepped back from his argument.
“Thank you, Harry, I know it’s difficult and I really am sorry about all this” As he speaks, he begins shuffling around the jigsaw puzzle of paperwork on his desk before finally grabbing one and making a small noise of triumph. He reads it over quickly before circling a name in an orange highlighter. He hands Harry the paper.
“Is this the lucky winner?” Harry says, sarcasm leaking through every word
“You know it, now if you don’t mind, I’ve got to find a way to tell Sobel that he can’t keep writing up every kid that laughs in his general direction.”
“Say no more”, he says, pushing off of the arms of the chair, paper slightly crumpling in his left hand. He stops in the door frame before exiting,
“Oh and Dick?
He picks his head up from his work and makes a humming noise
“Don’t think for a second that I’m not gonna be incredibly difficult to deal with.”
Dick scoffs but there’s a small smile
“Not a doubt in my mind, now get out of my office.”
Harry raises his hand to his forehead with a dramatic salute, “Yes sir”
As he leaves, he looks at the paper burning a hole into his hand and scans it for that bright orange circle.
Inside there are only two words: Grogan, English 10
“Alright jackass, let’s see what you got”
That night when he got home, he grabbed the bottle of scotch and flopped down on his secondhand couch. His leg bounced with anxiety as he twisted off the cap and took the biggest swig he could. He knew that without some liquid assistance, it would be a restless night, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. So after downing a healthy 1/4th of the bottle, he promptly passed out on his couch. He hadn’t even taken off his work clothes.
The next day, however, he felt as if he hadn’t slept at all. His alarm shot through his ears like a damn bullet and the light from the window burned his eyes.
“Goddamnit”, he muttered as he stumbled around his apartment, trying his best to look presentable in his hungover state.
By the time he had arrived at the school and got into his classroom he was halfway to passing out. He slid into his chair and looked at the empty desk across from his. He could feel it mocking him, or maybe that was the hangover talking. Either way, he all but threw his head down on his desk, wrapping his arms around his head to shield his eyes from the light. It was a blissful experience until a knock on the door brought him back to reality.
Harry let out a small groan at the noise. As an unfamiliar voice rang out in the room
“Hi, sorry, is this room 205?”
“Yeah what do you want-“ as he picked his head up he stopped. He was stunned silent because in the doorway was probably one of, if not the most, beautiful women he had ever seen. She had strawberry blonde hair tied up in a loose ponytail, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, and a pair of large round glasses covering eyes the color of warm honey. She was holding a large cardboard box with K. Grogan scrawled across it with a black marker. She smiled warmly and entered the classroom, not waiting for him to pick his jaw up off the floor
“Oh great! Hi, I’m Kitty Grogan, I’m gonna be sharing a room with you this year.”
She extended her arm out, moving awkwardly as she tried to balance the cardboard box between her arm and her chest. Harry found himself dumbfounded. This was K.Grogan? This was the person he was hyping himself up to destroy. and against his better judgment, he opened his mouth
"You're a girl?"
Kitty raises her eyebrows and makes a face that is somewhere between surprise and anger
"Last I checked, hope that won’t be an issue." her once warm and inviting eyes now burning holes into Harry as he began to sputter out an apology.
"Yes, I mean no. it's not- I didn't- shit. can we pretend I didn’t just say that"
Kitty lets out a small nose laugh, watching Harry drown in his words. trying his best to remedy the situation, Harry gets out of his chair. “Here let me get that for you, “ he says as he attempts to grab the box from her arms.
Kitty turns away slightly. "Oh I got it, why are you afraid my womanly frame can't withhold the weight."
Once again, Harry's face turns red as he tries to unfuck himself.
"No, no no I didn’t mean it like that it's just that-" he begins to trail off as he sees a smug grin begin to stretch across Kitty's face.
"You're fucking with me, aren't you?"
She laughs, and, Jesus it's the sweetest sound Harry's ever heard
"Yeah, yeah I am. Here," she extends the box to him, "you can take it, make it up to me." she smiles, there's dry humor in her voice
Within seconds the box is in his arms, it weighed a ton. Inside it was multiple English textbooks, two semi-wilting houseplants, and a picture frame with a Polaroid of a cat. He sets it down on the desk opposite his
“Sorry for barging in on you like this” Kitty apologizes as she begins to unpack her things. Decorating the desk with mason jars filled with pencils and pens and tiny pots of fake flowers.
No worries, I’m Harry Welsh, by the way, he says, trying his best to be laid back. And he knows already, he’s failing. His head is pounding and he’s sweating his ass off. Jesus Christ, get yourself together he thinks to himself.
“I'm Kitty.”
“I think you already said that.”
“Shit, I did, didn’t I?”
There’s an awkward silence that fills the room that Kitty is almost tempted to laugh at. So instead she finds herself rearranging the tiniest things on her desk. Shifting things over a millimeter or changing the direction her stapler is facing. Doing anything to try to avoid making him uncomfortable with her presence. Then through the silence, Harry clears his throat. Her shoulders jump at the sudden noise and she looks slightly wild-eyed when she turns to him.
“Shit sorry, I didn’t mean to scare ya there. So, um, what do you teach?”
He already knows the answer, but at this point, he'll take any excuse to try and prove he's not a total asshole
She waves her hand in dismal at the apology, “It's alright, I’m just a little jumpy.” She readjusts herself, trying to maintain calmness and coolness.
“English, I teach English.”
“Cool, cool” he rocks back on his feet
“What about you?”
“History”
“Cool, cool.” She laughs again, her smile warming Harry in a way he didn’t think was possible
“Well,” he clears his throat again, “I’ll uh, I’ll leave you to unpack, bet you don’t want me breathing down your neck.”
“Oh okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then, right?”
You know it, he says walking towards the door
“I-”
Harry stops dead in his tracks and turns back to her, she looks at her shoes, smiles, and looks back at him.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Harry returns the smile and feels his heart pick up as he looks at her
“Yeah, uh you too. I look forward to working with you too.”
-
“Why didn’t you tell me she was going to be pretty?” Harry cried into his phone. He was back in his apartment now, once again pacing, and probably annoying his downstairs neighbors with his footsteps
He hears Dick sigh on the other line, followed by a muffled apology to who Harry is assuming was Nix. “If this is your reason for interrupting my dinner with my fiancé, I’m going to fire you.”
Harry runs his hands through his hair exasperatedly, “Okay sorry but still, why didn’t you tell me?”
“It didn’t exactly cross my mind as important information, Harry, and if you hadn’t already realized, I don’t exactly notice things about women.”
“Yeah well imagine my surprise when I noticed the most beautiful women in the world walking into my classroom. I’m gonna tell you right now if this was some type of setup, I swear to god, Dick.”
Harry was aware that he was probably babbling and that Dick was definitely just ignoring him as he went on but he had to get it out there. How was he supposed to work with her when she looked like that? The only thing bringing him out of his ranting was Dick repeating Harry’s name until he shut up. It wasn’t until the fourth time was he successful.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, but I’m stressing out over this.” He finally sinks into his couch, giving up his pacing battle for something that wouldn’t kill his back.
“Harry?”
“Yes, Dick?”
“It’ll all be fine, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Okay, I’m going to hang up on you now.”
And before Harry could say anything else, the line was dead.
-
The first day of school goes by without a hitch. It was the usual routine of introductions, going over the syllabus, and giving half-assed assignments out that Harry didn't plan on touching until the weekend. But the situation with the new guest in his room was still something that he needed to get used to. The periods when she teaches were the ones he had off, and his space to veg out for forty minutes between classes was now gone. This is why Harry was currently spending his time sitting in ricketty folding chairs that belonged to the office of one P.E. teacher by the name of George Luz.
“I think you're making this out to be bigger than it really is, man. C’mon, she can’t be that hot.” George says, tossing a Nerf football back and forth between his hands.
“Yeah, you’d think that,” Harry says as he picks at his lunch, “ But George, you gotta believe me when I tell you that she’s like my dream girl.”
George lets out a cackle and chucks the football at Harry “Oh my god! Your dream girl, what are you, twelve?”
Harry scowls him in return, “Fuck off, I’m being serious.”
“Okay okay,” he replies once his laughter dies down, “Ya know Harry, I could maybe help you out..” The look on George’s face tells Harry that his friend is up to his usual fuckery.
“Help me how?” Harry questions
“Maybe I’ll stop by, a little introduction never hurt anybody?”
Harry's eyes start to widen as he imagines what an “introduction” from George Luz might entail.
“No way,” he argues, “No, I don’t know what you’re thinking about doing but no.”
George raises his hands in mock defense,” Harry, my dear friend, don't you trust me?”
“No I don't, that's the whole thing.” Harry looks down at his watch and starts to gather his things
“I need to go, I better not see your ugly face come into my classroom anytime today!”
“I can make no promises!" George shouts as Harry makes his way out the door, “See you later lover boy!”
-
Friday could not have come soon enough, Harry thinks to himself as he makes his way back to his room. He had just spent the last period on lunch detention duty and he was ready to grab his shit go home and pass out. His week wasn't bad perse but it was draining enough that he knew it would take a literal emergency for him to get off his couch this weekend.
“Okay guys,” Harry hears a sweet voice say as he waits outside of room 205, “I think we’re out of time for the day, but I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.” And with that, the bell rings and a steady stream of students leave the room.
“What’s up, Mr.Welsh.” Two kids greet Harry as they shuffle past
He gives them a wave before entering the room. Kitty’s erasing the blackboard, half of her name still decorates it in neat cursive. “Hey roomie!” she says as she turns to see him, “How was your first week back?”
“Hey! It was pretty good, what about you? Hope the kids weren’t too bad.” Harry remembers when he first started teaching on his own and how the kids ate him alive, he's praying that Kitty’s experience will be different.
“It was actually really good,” she chirps, “ mean I know it's just one week but it’s a good start, right?” Harry nearly chokes on her optimism, “Uh yeah, it is. What are you planning on doing with them?”
Kitty turns to grab a journal from her desk, flipping through the pages before finding exactly what she’s looking for. “I’m glad you asked 'cause, I don't know if this is too annoying but I wanted to run something by you if that's okay?”
“Really?” He takes the book hesitantly, Harry’s incredibly confused but also happy, she actually wants to talk to him.
“Yeah,” she looks at her feet and then back at him, he notices that she starts fidgeting, “I mean you don't have to if you don't want to but-” No, no,” he places his hand over her overactive ones, “I want to. “
Kitty’s hands still, they are soft and warm. Kitty smiles and Harry sees a small blush creep onto her cheeks. He is almost sure that his cheeks match her’s. “Great,” she says, “so I wanted to start with a unit on contemporary poetry but…”
-
While that had initially begun speaking on matters of education, the conversation had begun to morph, somewhere around the fifth time they went off on a tangent, the two stopped trying to get back on track. And it just went from there, they talked about music, documentaries, favorite time periods, even aliens. the conversation just flowed naturally, so much so that Harry didn't even realize that they had been sitting there for almost two hours until Kitty looked up at the clock and gasped. “Holy shit, I gotta get home,” she laughed and began gathering her things.
“Me too.” Harry replies, even though he wants nothing more than to say “please stay”.
"But, before I forget, let me give you my number," she pulls out her phone, and immediately Harry does the same. As they exchange numbers harry has to keep himself from screaming, he knows it’s stupid but still, this was something to be happy about.Kitty pulls on her jacket and grabs her bags, “See you tomorrow, roomie!”
“Bye, Grogan.”
“Oh, one last thing,” she says. Harry lets out an inquisitive hum. “I got a very interesting visit today, from a certain P.E. teacher,” She pauses to look at Harry’s mortified face, “, he had some very compelling things to say to me.”
Harry can’t speak, he opens and closes his mouth like the world's dumbest fish. Kitty smiles, “See ya tomorrow, Welsh,” she gives him a wink before disappearing.
Standing there in his empty classroom, Harry doesn't know whether or not he wants to hug George or kick his ass. He’d be happy to do either one.
-
Aside from his massive schoolboy level crush on her, sharing a room with Kitty wasn’t bad. In fact, he really enjoyed it. It had been three months since the initial shock of meeting each other, Harry and Kitty had developed somewhat of a routine, one full of shy flirtation, but a routine nonetheless. During the day they each kept to their respective sides, being considerate of each other’s spaces and classes but once the bell rang, it would right back to talking and joking around. The two even started a tradition where every Thursday after school, they’d stay after and work on lesson plans together. It came about the second week of school when Harry found her with papers strewn across her desk and her manically writing on the chalkboard, and he immediately offered to help. He remembered all too well what it was like to be a first-year teacher, trying to string together lessons and maintain your plan books.
Harry was on his way to the classroom for their weekly meeting when he heard it. At first, he thought she was talking to herself till he realized that Kitty was on the phone. She sounded frustrated, angry and he could tell that now wasn’t the best time to go in. He leaned against the wall beside the door and tried his best not to listen in. However, it proved futile as it only took a few seconds of hearing the obvious annoyance in her voice, he had to eavesdrop.
“What part of don’t contact me again don’t you understand, Dan!”
There's quiet where he assumes she's listening to the other person. “No, I don’t want to. No! Just leave me the fuck alone okay, it’s over, it’s done.” There’s another beat of silence and some grumbling before Harry hears a very loud bang.
“Fuck!”
Immediately, he goes in to see what happened. And inside he finds Kitty standing in front of what looks to be a very unlucky filing cabinet. She’s shaking out her hand, trying to get rid of the pain that radiates down her wrist.“Shit, god that fucking hurt.”
“Woah there Grogan, what are you trying to do, have a boxing match with your filing cabinet?”
“Smartass.” She retorts flexing her fingers, red and already starting to bruise. Blood is slowly seeping out of a gash across her knuckles, its crimson liquid clashing with the paleness of her skin. She starts to grab a handful of tissues from the box on her desk, pressing them to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. “That looks like it hurts,” Harry says opening up one of his desk drawers. “Yeah well it doesn’t tickle,” Kitty replies, she sits down in her chair with a huff, leaning her head back to look up at the ceiling. She takes a deep breath, trying to ward off the desire to punch her filing cabinet again. She’s pulled out of trance with a tap on her knee, she looks down to see Harry kneeling in front of her, first aid kit in hand. “Alright,” he says as he pulls the tissues away from the wound, “Let’s see the damage.” He begins to prod her hand gently and reaches to open up a pack of alcohol-soaked gauze. “This might hurt a little,” he warns as he begins to wipe away the blood. Kitty laughs lightly, oh “I think I’ll live.” but then hisses as the alcohol touches her skin
“Who’s the smart ass now,” Harry says smirking. Kitty pokes his shoulder with her other hand, “Still you.”
As he begins to bandage up her knuckles, Harry asks, “So what happened? Cause I’m pretty sure that hunk of metal wasn’t trying to pick a fight." She waves her hand in dismissal.
“It’s nothing, it’s stupid.”
Harry looks at her hand and then back at her, “C’mon it's gotta be something; who’s this Dan guy that’s got you so upset?” She takes a breath, “Dan is my ex. He called me after ninth period ended, asked me to meet him for coffee after work today.”
“And...? I mean there's gotta be more, that doesn't seem like a very ‘filing-cabinet-punching -worthy’ story.” Harry questions, trying to dig further.
“And that’s it, I just,” she clears her throat, “I don’t want to see him, but he wants to see me. Just tired of trying to explain that to him.” There is a beat of silence and Kitty can almost hear how unconvinced Harry is.
“That’s it,” she says again, trying her best to stress that it’s nothing.
“Okay,” he says. Harry knows this is a conversation for another time, but he doesn’t want to push her.
“Okay,” she says back with a smile and puts her non-injured hand on top of his, squeezing it. And Harry can’t help but smile. They stay like that, in silence, in each other’s space till they’re interrupted by the tinny ringing of Harry’s cellphone. They drop each other’s hands and turn toward the aforementioned noise. Harry begrudgingly fishes his phone out of his pocket and swipes on the screen to answer. He is greeted by the booming voice of George Luz.
“Harry Welsh!” he shouts, Harry cringes at the volume and pulls the phone further from his ear, Kitty lets out a small nose laugh at his misfortune. Harry chuckles, “George Luz, what can I do ya for on this Thursday afternoon?”
"Listen, Harry, you’ve been skirting my invitations the last few weeks and that simply won’t do. So! You are coming to The Screaming Eagle tonight for drinks, okay?”
Harry looks to Kitty then to her hands then back at her, she cocks an eyebrow at him and his pondering “I don’t know Geor-” he starts until his phone is pulled from his hand, Kitty taps the screen and puts it on speaker and puts in on the desk, she leans closer to it, “Luz, it’s Kitty Grogan, we’re in. Welsh and I will be there at 6.”
“Alright!” Harry can hear George’s cheers through the phone, “Now that’s what I’m talking about! See Harry, I knew she’d be good for you!”
Kitty’s eyes meet Harry’s in response to George’s statement, she makes a face that says “oh really?”
“Okay, I’ll see you guys later!”
“Sorry about that,” Kitty says after she hangs up, “Hope you don’t mind that I said yes for you but I need a fucking drink and I wanna hang out with you.”
And how could Harry say no to that?
-
They entered the crowded bar craning their necks to find people they knew. “Hey, over here!” George waved at them from a booth in the back. They squeezed into the booth, sitting with just enough room for their outer thighs to touch. Harry felt his heart pick up at the contact. “I'm glad you guys could make it! Especially you, Grogan, I've been meaning to get some new blood into this group.” George says as he jabs the arm of the person sitting beside him. Next to him, a dark-haired guy with tired eyes and a five o’clock shadow flips him off.
“If you're trying to call me old, Luz, I'd watch it. I’ll make Dick give you cafeteria duty for the rest of the year.”
“I call bullshit, Harry, come with me to the bar, this round is on you.”
"Oh, how kind of you," Harry remarks as they shuffle out of the booth. This leaves Kitty alone with the stranger. “Hi there.” She greets him somewhat timidly
“Hey,” He stretches his arm out to Kitty across the table, “Lewis Nixon.”
Kitty shakes his hand, “Kitty Grogan, nice to meet you, Lewis.” Nixon smiles as they let go, “You too. Ya know, I’ve actually heard a lot about you.”
“Wait, really?” Kitty questions, perplexed as to how he knows her. Lewis laughs at her obvious concern, “Don't worry, all good things. Between Dick’s glowing reviews and this idiot’s,” he gestures to Harry, “ramblings. Would have thought you were the best thing since sliced bread.”
“Dick?”
He chuckles, “Principal Winters.”
“Wait how do you know-”
“My fiance.”
“Congratulations,” she smiles, she wants to say something else but her brain is currently stuck on the idea of Harry “rambling” about her. “Sorry, but what does Harry talk about?”
“Oh boy.” Lewis says before downing the rest of the drink he’s been nursing, “What doesn't he talk about? Don't know if you could tell but he’s very taken with you.”
Kitty can feel herself heating up and purses her lips together to abort the smile that wants to spread across her face. “Is he?”
“And by the looks of it, you feel the same.”
“Nixon! Stop harassing Grogan!” Harry taunts as he and George set the drinks on the table.
“I wouldn't dream of it, I know that's your job,” he says with a smirk, watching Harry’s face go red within milliseconds. “now if you don't mind,” Nixon pulls a twenty out of his wallet and throws it on the table before getting up, “my ride's here.”
And sure enough, standing at attention is Winters himself. “Hey boss,” Harry greets him, followed by a slap on the back from Luz and a wave from Kitty.
“Evening fellas, Miss Grogan, hope these fools didn't rope you into this.”
She shakes her head with that signature smile, “No, sir. Just inviting myself along.”
“Good for you, you ready to go, Nix?” Kitty doesn't miss the way Dick’s eyes soften when he looks at his partner or the way a shy smile breaks across Lewis’s face. “Absolutely. See ya later, guys.”
-
George had left not long after Lewis had, after receiving what seemed to be a marijuana-induced prank call from his roommates. This left Kitty and Harry alone together and after six shots of tequila and multiple beers between them, they were playing the most disorganized game of 21 questions.
“Okay, favorite movie.”
Kitty downs the rest of the amber liquid in her glass “Easy, Dead Poets Society. Least favorite holiday?”
“New Year’s Eve, it’s completely fuckin pointless. The worst thing about your last relationship?”
Kitty throws her head back in a laugh “That’s way too loaded of an answer, pass. Worst first date, go.” Harry hiccups and shakes his head “Hard pass on that.” Kitty makes an exaggerated pout, “What? Why?” She draws out the last word drunkenly, Harry laughs and swirls his glass, “Absolutely not, you're gonna think I’m an asshole.”
“I doubt that,” she says, punctuating her sentence by resting her head on his shoulder, glasses becoming askew. “I’d never think that.” whether or not the other one realizes it, the warmth from it is enough to set them both on fire.
-
It's the Friday before winter break, the sky gray and fraught with rain. The final bell had rung almost an hour ago and Kitty and Harry were still in their room, avoiding having to go home. Kitty had been different since that day she punched the cabinet. She seemed anxious and on edge, every time a door shut too loudly or if Harry touched her without her seeing him. It was like that phone call had shifted something in her. He decided to tread lightly but he still had so many questions.
“So, any plans for the holidays?” Kitty asks as she wipes down the desks.
Harry looked up from his pile of essays to grade and immediately noticed her expression. It was safe to say that he’s studied her face long enough to know its nuances and right now, Kitty was making the face she always did when she wanted to ask him a question that held any significance. “Not really, I’m, probably gonna do what I do every year: Order takeout Chinese, screen phone calls from my family, and slowly get drunk until I pass out to Frosty the Snowman. Why? You gotta better idea?”
Her face turns that shade of red that always amuses Harry and she almost shrinks into herself, “Well, maybe, I don't know I mean-” “Spit it out, Grogan”, Harry jokes
She huffs but then smiles, “I’m going to be alone for Christmas this year, and now knowing that you have the same predicament, I was wondering..." Harry knows exactly where she’s going with this and exactly how he wants to answer but lets her finish as not to freak her out.
“...if you wanted to come over to mine.” there's a moment of quiet and Kitty immediately starts to shrink further into herself but before she can sputter an apology. Harry’s smile eases her worries about pushing too far
“It would be an honor, Grogan. I’ll be there at 2.”
-
Kitty frowned and pulled at her dress, looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't sleep at all the night before and spent the entire time since she woke up changing her outfit about ten times and ranting to her cat, before settling on a black dress with clementines on it. Two o’clock was fastly approaching and with every pass of the little hand, her panic crept further in. Her anxiety was through the fucking roof and her hands kept shaking. She’d already downed one glass of wine to try and calm her nerves but nothing worked. She really liked Harry and was praying that no matter what, she was not going to fuck this up.
It was her first Christmas since Dan, really it was her first everything without him. “It's for the better, it's all over now" she reminded herself, but that nagging part of her brain let loose the one phrase that always killed her ‘is it really though?’ A knock on her door startles her out of her head and she takes a few deep breaths before answering it.
Outside stood Harry, handsome as ever, holding a bottle of liquor and a plant with a bow wrapped around the pot. “Wow.” Harry looks at her with wide eyes and becomes acutely aware that blush had begun to spread across his cheeks. He clears his throat, “You look beautiful.” Kitty is filled with that fluttering feeling in her chest at his words, she tucks her hair behind her ear, she should be embarrassed at how flustered she is by this but what the hell, she deserved something nice, she reminds herself.
-
"You never told me you had a cat", Harry says as the animal jumps up and makes itself at home on his lap. Kitty laughs and gives it a little bop on the nose, “Yeah, this is Neil.” She shifts her voice to a babying tone as she begins to pet underneath the cat's jaw, “He’s my little baby, aren't you?”
"Weird name for a cat though”
“Named him after Neil from Dead Poets Society. It's a funny story actually, my ex, hated cats, refused to get one the entire time we were together. And then when we broke up, I moved in here. The first night I was here, I heard this crazy loud meowing outside my door. I opened it and low and behold, he appeared.'' Her face is pure joy as she tells this story, it's like the sun and it's gorgeous.“It was like he was waiting for me,” she says with a smile.
“Well, he's very lucky to have you,” Harry replies and notices how with each pet of the cat, Kitty brushes her hand against his.
-
After dinner and a quick exchange of gifts,( Kitty gave him a copy of Catch-22, she was incredulous when he told her that he had never read it) the two were watching and mocking some cheesy holiday movie that was playing on the hallmark channel. However after a while, Kitty finds that she’s the only one making commentary, she looks to Harry and he’s just looking at her. “You okay over there?” she asks, the anxiety that had been plaguing her earlier starting to brew again.
“Sorry, yeah I’m just-”
“Tired?”
“No, it's not that, I- can I ask you something?” Harry shifts away from the T.V. so that he’s looking at her fully. And finally, the damn that had been holding back the questions he has for her finally breaks. “Your ex, what happened there?”
Kitty’s heart drops, she feigns ignorance, “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, he called you and I don't know, you’ve just seemed, don't take this the wrong way, off since then.”
Her face falls, she knows exactly what he’s talking about, and without thinking, she makes the jump, it’s now or never.“He called me to meet with him because,” she takes a deep breath, “he wants me to ‘un call off’ our wedding.”
Harry almost chokes, that was not what he was expecting, “I’m sorry did you say wedding?”
The anxiety is back in full force this time, and begins to fidget, picking at the skin around her nails as she begins to explain, “Yeah, uh, Daniel and I were engaged after I got out of college he proposed. We’d been on and off since high school and I guess he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get away from him anymore.”
“Jeez I-” Harry tries to interject, she cuts him off. “I mean I said yes but I didn’t really want to, I was just scared of what he’d do if I said no.” Kitty starts to pick a little harder as her heart begins to pick up more.
“Did he ever, I mean he didn’t hurt you or anything right?” Harry asks, he really hopes the answer isn’t what he thinks it is. She lets out a laugh that tells Harry that his question is terribly stupid. Harry’s eyes start to go wide as he starts to imagine the worst.
Kitty, likely noticing this, continues. “Look it wasn’t like some episode of Law & Order or anything, it started as mostly verbal. It was like little things at first. He’d comment on my clothes or how much I was eating. But then, I don’t know, one-day things just kinda shifted I guess. He started to scare me, I was just walking on eggshells all the time. Didn’t dawn on me that I shouldn’t marry him until he started to hit me.”Kitty chokes out the last sentence, Harry moves his hand to hold hers, she squeezes back tightly.
“You don’t have to talk about it anymore-” She shakes her head, no I want to tell you, I trust you, she gives a small smile before continuing
“I know what would have happened if I had stayed and I just didn’t want to live like that anymore. So, I left the ring on the counter, packed all my shit, and moved. A friend of mine was moving out of her place, so it all worked out.” Her face had just started to get brighter as she talked about leaving that piece of shit until Harry sees that spark fade and get replaced with a look of deep sadness and fear, and her face fell again. “But,” she clears throat and squeezes her eyes shut to, what Harry assumes, ward off tears, “he hasn’t stopped trying to get me back and it’s, it’s fucking scary.”
“Kitty, I’m- I’m so sorry. Look I know that it probably doesn’t mean a lot coming from an asshole like me but, I’m proud of you. That takes so much fucking strength to leave something like that, you’re amazing.”
“Thank you, Harry”, she whispers, tears have begun to slip out of the corners of her eyes. “Um, can you- can-”
“What is it?”, he asks, wiping away one of her tears with his thumb.
“Just,” she pauses and then buries her head into his shoulder, “just hold me.”
Harry responds without hesitation by pulling her closer to his side, wrapping both arms around her. He can feel her uneven breathing and the dampening spot on his shirt where she cries. They stay like that for a while, till her breathing starts to calm and she’s no longer shaking. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles, voice wet from crying
“Hey,” he shifts, picking her head up and tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She looks away from him, eyes red and glassy. He holds her face in his hands, ducking slightly to find her eyes. “Please don’t be sorry, okay? You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about, Kitty.” She nods her head shakily. He smiles at her, softly and without thinking, leans up and presses a kiss to her forehead before moving his head down. Kitty raises her head the slightest bit to meet him, their lips brush together. Harry feels and hears her take a sharp inhale, and he pulls away like he’s been burned.
“Oh my god, sorry, that wasn’t appropriate- I’m sorry,” he starts to get up but is stopped when she grabs his hand, pulling him back to the couch. “Kitty I’m sorry-” he starts but she presses her finger to his lips and smiles.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” she whispers and moves her finger aside. They’re not sure who leaned in to close the space between them first but it didn’t matter. Not when he could feel her lips moving against his, soft and warm. Kissing him back with the same power and passion in which she spoke. Her hand moves to cradle his jaw and his hands tangle in her hair. By the time they break apart, they’re both breathless, pressing their foreheads together and giggling. Harry rubs his thumb back and forth across her cheek before giving her one last kiss. When he pulls away her cheeks are flushed and the smile on her face is the most beautiful thing. She is the most beautiful thing. And it’s not long before they find themselves intertwined once more, kissing slowly and touching lightly. The noise of rain outside mixed with the sound of their breathing plays like a symphony and it’s a song Harry wants to hear every day for the rest of his life.
Harry lets out a breathy laugh as they pull away once again. “What's so funny?” Kitty asks with a smile. He grins down at her, “I'm just glad we share a room.” And he kisses her again, just because he can.