Chapter 6

 

 

They lost track of time dancing and only stopped when they ran out of energy. “Do you want a drink?” Harry asked, trying to regain his breath. Hannah just nodded and they left the tent for the house.

Food and freshly poured drinks were lined up on the back veranda, attended to by a dozen caterers. They filled a plate each and grabbed a champagne flute of orange juice. Harry led her back onto the lawn and through a set of trees.

The music was quieter back there and nobody else dared venture that far. They reached Harry’s tree house and went inside. The little hut was only a foot off the ground.

Inside were traces of Harry’s childhood – crayon drawings on the walls of suns and monsters, a stray matchbox car, and a single page of an X-Men comic. They sat on the floor, their dinner plate in front of them.

“This place is really cool,” Hannah commented. “Did you used to play here all the time?”

“Only every single day.”

“Veronica has a cubby house in her backyard. We used to play house all the time.”

Harry mocked being offended. “This isn’t a house, it’s a fortress. Only the bravest of knights or cowboys or superheroes are allowed to enter.”

Hannah giggled. “Which one am I?”

He didn’t even need to think about it. “You’re a superhero, Puppy Rescuer, defender of all those with hairy tails.”

“Does that make you my plucky sidekick?” She asked, her eyes twinkling from laughter.

“I’ll be your sidekick. Except, it’s usually the sidekick that gets killed or kidnapped or something.”

Hannah pursed her lips together in thought. “You could be Kitten Man, the finder of homes.”

Harry stood on his knees, puffing his chest out while putting his hands on his hips. He spoke in an overly-deep voice. “I am Kitten Man, leader of the fluffy little cats.”

“Has quite a ring to it.”

He sat back down. “Maybe we’ll keep working on it. How’s your food?”

“Delicious. This whole party isn’t exactly what I thought it would be,” Hannah confessed, looking at her meal instead of at him.

“What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know, I guess a lot of rich people that were kind of… snobby.”

“A lot of them are,” Harry replied honestly. “But my parents aren’t like that. They had nothing when they got married. They earned every single dollar they made by hard work. They’re kind of my heroes.”

Hannah’s eyes shot up to meet his. “They used to be poor?”

He nodded. “My parents grew up with nothing, they don’t take anything for granted. They never let me get too spoilt because they don’t want me growing up feeling like the world owes me.”

It was a revelation to Hannah, she just assumed Harry’s family were always rich. She never imagined they had once been just like her mother. She suddenly understood why Harry was so unaffected, his parents had succeeded in keeping him grounded.

“So it doesn’t bother you that my family don’t have much then?” Hannah asked, it was a question she had asked herself many times before.

“Of course it doesn’t. I’m with you because you’re you. Not because of what you own.” His words brought a smile to her lips. Apparently she had been the only one stressing about who had what. She felt silly for making such a big deal out of it. Thankfully Harry didn’t know all that went on inside her head.

Harry broke the silence before it settled in for good. “If you’re finished with dinner, I want to show you something.”

Hannah placed the knife and fork neatly onto the plate. “All ready.”

He grinned, taking her hand in his as they stood. He turned right, leading her further away from the party. They walked down a track of stones to a pond. It wasn’t just a little backyard pond with a few koi fish bumping into each other, it was more of a small lake. Large boulders surrounded the banks, along with a smattering of palms, ferns, and other plants.

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the moon and stars to fill the sky. Harry picked up a small pebble from the path. “Watch this.” He threw the stone into the pond, sending it skimming across the top. Each time it hit the water, a burst of light rippled out from the impact.

“Phosphorescence,” Hannah gasped. The naturally occurring light display was so beautiful, like their own set of fireworks in the pond.

“My dad’s kind of a nerd when it comes to things like that,” Harry explained. “He says it reminds him of when he was a kid and went fishing with his dad.”

Hannah picked up a pebble and threw it into the water. It only skipped twice but the lights that lit up upon impact were just as beautiful. “It’s amazing.”

“You’re amazing.”

She stopped, still holding the next pebble in her hand. Everything was so perfect she didn’t understand what she had done to deserve it.

Suddenly, she couldn’t think anymore. Harry wrapped her in his arms, pulling her close. Their lips found each other in the moonlight. Hannah relaxed into him, dropping the pebble so she could place her hands on his chest. He cradled her cheeks, the warmth burning in the best way possible.

When he let her go, she giggled. She didn’t mean to and it probably wasn’t appropriate, but she couldn’t stop herself. The whole party was so unexpectedly enjoyable that the burst of happiness couldn’t be suppressed.

“I’m glad my kissing technique is so funny,” Harry said teasingly. “I’m so happy you find my attempts hilarious.”

She found it difficult to catch her breath, no matter how much she wanted to explain herself. “Your kissing technique is perfect. I’m just happy. These kinds of things don’t happen to me, they happen to other girls. Not me.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.”

She finally stopped laughing, looking into Harry’s eyes and seeing only a look of love there. She took a step back, embarrassed all of a sudden at being so close to him. She turned her eyes skywards, looking at the millions of stars twinkling back at them.

“See that star there?” She said, pointing to a particularly bright one. She remembered back to when Harry had done the same thing on the beach. She wondered if he remembered it too.

He joined her, snaking his arm around her back. She leant her head on his shoulder, thinking how perfectly it fit there. “I see the star.”

“It’s called Corioses and it was discovered in 1932. Can you believe it’s been burning so bright for all that time?” Hannah remembered when her father had told her about that particular star. She couldn’t believe it was older than her grandmother.

“That’s a long time,” Harry agreed. He pointed to another star. “Tell me about that one.”

Hannah took a deep breath before launching into the story behind the next star. She lost track of how long they were standing there in the moonlight discussing the stars. All she knew was that when Coco picked her up, she was in her pajamas.