"Winner! Winner! Winner!" The small cartoon dog screamed as it lit up on the gun shooter stall wall.
Harry cheered and dropped his gun before throwing his hands up in the air. I rolled my eyes at him and he tackled me in a huge hug before kissing the top of my head.
"Jealous? That's the fifth game now." He said, pulling away from me.
"You're cheating somehow." I snapped.
The operator of the stall handed Harry a huge stuffed cat toy and Harry grinned before handing it to me. "From me to you."
I blushed and took it, struggling to wrap my arms around it. "Okay, next game, I am beating you."
He laughed. "Oh yeah? I'll hold you to that." He said, starting to walk to the next stall.
I caught up with him and put my cat teddy on the ground as I listened to the operator describe the rules for fishing for ducks. In order to win something from off the top shelf, we had to hook five ducks. Three for the second shelf and two for the bottom shelf. I saw Harry eyeing up some candy on the top shelf and I nudged him in the hip playfully. He looked up at me and I winked.
"Ready?" I asked him.
He crouched down, getting in a good fishing position. "Bring it."
The lady behind the stall handed us each our rods and started up the large disc in which the ducks moved around on. I glanced over at Harry to see that he was looking at everything carefully, as if analysing it over. I laughed to myself and focused on my own game. After a few seconds thought, I decided that in order for me to hook a duck, I would have to throw my rod about a few centimetres before it came into my vision.
I tries this strategy out and successfully caught two ducks. Then another one, and another one.
"40 seconds left." The lady announced.
I looked over at Harry to see that he had four ducks as well. He looked up at me and winked before snatching my rod away. I screamed and snatched his. He aimed my rod at two ducks and knocked them over and I kicked him in the leg before stealing the four ducks he had hooked and putting them on my own side.
"Excuse me..." The lady said, trying to break us up.
Harry tried to hook another duck but I pushed him to the side at the last minute and he tumbled to the ground. I laughed and I felt strong arms wrap themselves around my legs and within seconds I was on top of Harry, my face just inches away from his.
I stopped laughing and tried to slow my irregular breathing down. Harry moved his hand up and brushed a stray piece of hair out of my face and put it behind my ear before leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine.
I couldn't help but smile into the kiss as I hardened the pressure. I heard the operator yell at us from above, but I couldn't focus properly. My head was dizzy but it wasn't sickening. Harry then pulled away and smiled at me before gently pushing me off him and pulling me up with him as he stood up.
"So, who won?" Harry asked a very confused operator.
She blinked before shaking her head multiple times. "Uh, you both got four."
I looked down at my pile of ducks, which had Harry's four as well. "Um, excuse me, but I believe I have eight and Harry has none."
I heard Harry laugh and the woman just looked at me. "I saw you steal his."
I just looked back at her. "Um, sorry?"
"She earned them all on her own." Harry said, making me look at him and smile.
"You both got four." The woman said sternly. "Choose something from the middle shelf."
"No, see, you're wrong. Because I have eight." I said.
"I believe she does have eight." Harry agreed.
"Whatever game you're playing, it isn't funny." The woman said. "Now please just choose something and leave."
I looked at the top shelf. "I'll have the giant bag of those chocolate things." I said.
The woman looked over at the prize shelves, then back at me with a total dead-pan look. "That's on the top shelf. You need five ducks to get something from the top shelf."
"I have eight." I said.
She let out a loud sigh. "Oh for god sakes, fine." She said, getting down the prize I wanted and handing it to me. "Now just go away."
Harry and I nodded before shuffling off. Once we were well away from the stall, we burst into laughter.
"I got these for you." I said, handing him the bag of chocolates with a smile.
He grinned. "Yes! I was eyeing them from the start."
I held up my cat teddy, which I had grabbed before we left, and laughed. "I know. I saw you."
He laughed and looked around. "Are there any more stalls?"
"No, I think you won. You won like a hundred of them. I get it, you're better."
Harry laughed. "Oh yes! I'm the master! Told you you couldn't beat me!"
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I won the duck game. I mean, you got no ducks."
Harry just laughed and shook me off. "Well, shall we go home then?"
I sighed. I didn't want to go home yet, but I knew Harry probably wanted to. "Sure."
"You wanna come to my place?" Harry asked suddenly.
I looked up at him. "Really?"
He shrugged. "If you want, I mean, you don't have to."
"No, yeah, I want to."
He smiled. "Yeah? Okay. Cool. Let's go then."
----
"Where's your family?" I asked Harry as we walked through his front door.
He took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside the door. "Out." He laughed.
"Okay." I laughed back.
"They won't be back till later, it'll be okay." He said, walking towards the staircase before hesitating. "Want anything to-" Then he stopped and awkwardly looked down. "Uh, never mind."
"I'm fine, thanks." I said softly, my cheeks heating up.
He looked away. "Yeah, okay. Hey, wait." He said to me, as if I was going anywhere.
"Yeah?"
He looked at me. "Do you eat at all?"
I looked away. "Not a lot." I said.
"Can you try? For me?"
I gave a half smile. "One day."
I saw Harry smile too and then he sprung forward and grabbed my hand. "Come on." He said, pulling me upstairs.
He lead me into his room and let go of my hand before outstretching his arms. "Ta daaa!"
I looked around his room, which used to be my own, and gasped at the sight. Harry had transformed it so that not only was it now a teenage boy's room, but so that you could see the stars and view from outside clearly. There was now a window seat by the window, which wasn't there before, and one lone curtain that looked like it was never used, as well as a large, soft looking blue rug on the middle of the floor.
"Ever since you told me about the moon and star thing, I've been fixating on it." Harry told me. "So I created this sort of viewing area for when it comes."
He pointed to the rug. "See, the light comes through the window and shines right there, so you can sit or lie down there and have the stars dance on you." Then he pointed to the window seat. "And I had that built in here so that you can sit here for hours and just look at it." He said, turning to me, his whole face lit up in complete delight.
I smiled. "That's so lovely." I said.
He grabbed my hands again and stood in front of me. "Stay with me tonight." He said. "And we can watch it."
I looked away suddenly. "I don't know....."
He turned my head back to face him. "It'll be fun." He smiled.
"Okay." I nodded. "But you have to find me something to sleep in."
He laughed and pecked my forehead before pulling away. "We're going to have a great ol' sleepover, you and I."
My eyes went wide. "Oh god."
----
"YOU ARE MY FIIIIIIRE, THE ONE DESIIIIIIRE, BELIEVE WHEN I SAAAAAAY, THAT I WANT IT THAT WAY!" Harry screeched, holding the microphone up to his mouth and attempting to do a random dance move as he read the lyrics on screen.
"Harry, stop!" I laughed.
He turned to me. "But we are two worlds apart, can't reach to your heart, when you say that I want it that waaaay."
"Harry, you're not even singing it properly." I said.
"Bonus points!" He cried, dramatically starting to dance. "TELL ME WHY, AIN'T NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE. TELL ME WHY, AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MISTAAAKE. TELL ME WHY, I NEVER WANNA HEAR YOU SAAAAAY THAT I WANT IT THAT WAY!"
I cringed as he continued to screech into the microphone. He was an amazing singer, but the microphone was faulty and was making him sound like a dying seal. He moved towards me and tried to pull me up. "Come sing!"
"No!" I cried, remaining in my spot on the couch.
"Come siiiiiing!" He whined.
"The microphone is broken! Why do you have this thing?" I asked, eyeing the karaoke game.
"I've had it since I was little." He frowned. "You're so mean, Heather."
I laughed. "The song's over."
He looked behind him at the TV and his shoulders sunk. "Aw."
He then sat down beside me on the couch and pulled me into him. I squealed and buried my head into his chest as he wrapped his arms around my back. I looked up at him and took every feature of his in.
"You're so beautiful." I told him.
He looked down at me and studied me. "You are."
"No, you are."
"You are."
"No, you are."
"You are."
I laughed and shook my head. "Can I ask you something?"
He rested his chin on the top of my head. "Yeah."
"What do you see in me?" I asked him, looking ahead at the TV screen that showed a list of various song titles.
Harry hesitated. "I know you don't believe it, but I see total beauty in you."
I closed my eyes and sighed inwardly. But Harry continued. "When I first laid eyes on you, I was absolutely blown away. Everything about you is perfect."
"Look, don't say that."
"Heather, it's true. Despite.....everything, you're still perfect. And....I'm..." He stopped talking, so I looked up at him.
"What?" I asked.
He bit his lip. "I'm totally in love with you."
The words took me aback and I pulled away from Harry in shock. "W-What?"
He shifted his position. "I mean it. I love you." He laughed to himself. "I.....I am. I can't believe it. But I am."
I just stared at him in disbelief.
"I want to spend every minute of every day with you, and I want to do everything I possibly can with you and I want to love you forever, because I know I will and-"
I laughed and placed my finger over his lips to shut him up. "I love you too." I smiled.
He smiled back and I leant forward and kissed him gently, removing my finger. He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me down on him as he lay down on the couch. I pulled away and smiled at him. "I need to go to the bathroom."
He laughed and nodded.
I got off him and left the lounge, leaning on the wall around the corner to catch my breath. I closed my eyes and played Harry's words over and over in my head. There was a feeling sparking deep within me and I felt like leaping into the air and screaming for joy and dancing and kissing Harry more. And I had to bite my lip to actually stop myself from screaming. I was unbelievably happy, like I was on my 7th birthday when dad took mum and I kayaking. We spent the whole day on the water and mum fell in, and I had never laughed harder. Then dad and I had a race on who could get to shore the quickest and dad won, and I tipped his kayak over and he toppled into the water, but he pulled me in with him.
I couldn't help but grin madly as I ran upstairs into the bathroom.
----
"Wait for it...." Harry said as him and I lay down on the rug on his bedroom floor, awaiting the stars and moon to dance around on us. "Waaaiiit.."
"I'm waiting." I said.
"Yes, but wait."
I turned to him and stared at him as he kept his gaze fixed on the open window. His eyes were lit up with fascination and although he was showing no emotion, you could still see him faintly smiling. I loved the way he looked when he was excited. It was like what he was waiting for was the only thing that mattered to him in that moment, and everything else had to wait.
The suddenly, I felt light on me. Harry grabbed my hand and held it on his chest. "IT'S HERE!" He cried as the moonlight shone on us.
I smiled and looked back out the window. I saw light spots all over my arms move around and Harry's warm hand squeezed my own.
"It's so beautiful." Harry said, turning to me. "I think of you every time I watch it."
I smiled and I suddenly saw something flash past the window. "Make a wish!" I cried, closing my eyes and holding them firmly shut.
"There's nothing to wish for." Harry said.
I opened my eyes again and looked at him. "Oh come on, don't be cheesy."
He laughed and looked down at me. "I already have a car."
I laughed and hit him in the arm as he laughed again. "No, I did make a wish."
"What did you wish for?" I asked him.
"I can't tell you! That just defies the whole purpose of wishing on a shooting star." Harry said.
I rolled my eyes. "You're so lame."
"You're so lame." He fought back.
"Whatever. Loser."
He laughed and looked straight at me. "What are we doing tomorrow?"
I searched my mind for any plans I had previously made and my stomach dropped. "I have to go to a family dinner." I groaned.
"Would you mind if I came?" Harry asked, taking me by surprise.
"You want to come?" I asked him.
"Well, yeah. If it's okay. How else will you get out of eating?"
I looked down at my legs. "I know. I was worrying about that. How will you help?"
Harry shrugged. "I'll try. That's the best I can do. I mean, that's all I can we can do right? Take little steps at a time."
I laughed. "Yeah."
"Yeah."
I smiled before yawning. Harry looked over at me. "Tired?"
I nodded and rested my head on his chest before closing my eyes. There was some shuffling around before what felt like a blanket was draped over me and I felt myself smile as I drifted off to sleep, my head falling and rising with every breath Harry took. And I would have given anything to have just stayed in that moment forever.