#love harry | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

s65ns · 4 months

Text

Out of Time - Chapter Three.

Out of Time Masterlist

Previous Part: Six Months / Next Part: Two Months

⚠️ TW: Mentions of Cancer ⚠️

word count: 2.5k words

••••••••••••••

Chapter Three: Four Months

third person's pov.

"Mari, hey!" Evelyn said as she opened the door for her childhood best friend.

"Evelyn! I missed you!" Mari exclaimed. Mari opened her arms wide to engulf Evelyn in a long awaited hug. Evelyn hugged back with every cell in her body.

"My! Look at you!" Mari said as she cradled Evelyn's face in her hands. Evelyn rolled her eyes knowing her friend was being modest and that she definitely looked like complete crap. She had rolled out of bed in her SpongeBob onesie and currently had no makeup, Mari was not fooling her.

"Oh stop." Evelyn said, swatting Mari's hands away. They sat down on the couch and did their best to catch each other up on what was going on in each other's lives.

Mari and Evelyn used to be the best of friends. Their mothers were best friends so it was only right for them to become best friends as well. They were practically joined at the hip everyday. They rode the bus together. Did their homework together. They even got in trouble together.

Mari and Evelyn were an unstoppable duo. That was until Mari's dad had to relocate to Australia for work. At age 14, Mari and her family had to pack up and head to Australia together, leaving the poor girls devastated.

They managed to keep in touch, but things were never quite the same. Mari and Evelyn used to take turns each year visiting each other. Once they were well into their teenage years though, the visits faded out. It wasn't until Mari got news that Evelyn was sick did she start visiting again.

"So...are you seeing anyone?" Mari asked wiggling her eyebrows. Evelyn scoffed, rolling her eyes and took a sip of her homemade pumpkin spice coffee.

"As if. Who would want to be with a woman basically on her deathbed?" Mari smacked Evelyn.

"None of that kind of talk. I don't want to hear it. You know words are powerful. I'm sure there are plenty of guys flocking and throwing themselves at you and you're probably just turning them down with your negative mentality." Mari said. Evelyn rolled her eyes once again, taking another sip.

"You're wrong. There are no-" Evelyn's speech was cut short by her phone buzzing. Both her and Mari's eyes snapped to the phone buzzing on the table. On the screen flashed the name Evelyn had been trying to forget.

Mari slowly turned her back to Evelyn with a smug smile on her face. Evelyn kept her eyes casted down as she felt Mari's gaze fall on her.

"No guys, huh? So who's Harry? Last I checked you don't just put a heart next to any random guy's name. You don't even have a heart next to my name!" Mari said in disbelief.

"Actually I do have a heart by your name."

"Yeah? Show me." Mari said smugly. She knew pretty well Evelyn did in fact not have a heart by her name.

"I have a heart by your name in here." Evelyn said patting her chest. Mari and Evelyn burst out laughing.

"Whatever. Don't try and avoid the question. Who's Harry?" Mari was not letting Evelyn get away that easy. Mari had never seen Evelyn give herself the chance to be loved by someone, so for her to see a guy's name with a heart next to it meant a lot to her.

"He's just a friend." Evelyn mumbled.

"Just a friend? Come on, Eve, I know you better than that. You put a heart by his name!"

"Alright! Alright," Evelyn paused to put her cup down on the table, "he is a friend who is, perhaps, interested in being a bit more than friends."

"Sooooo?" Mari asked expectantly.

"So...nothing happened. He asked me to be his girlfriend a couple months ago, and I said no."

"Oh." was all Mari could say.

"Yeah." Evelyn said with a sigh.

"Why'd you turn him down?" Mari asked. Evelyn thought about her answer. She knew exactly why she turned him down, but she didn't exactly want to let Mari know about her insecurities.

"Because he doesn't deserve that. He deserves someone who he'll be able to be with for the long run and have children with and perhaps buy a house that's far too big with a white Pickett fence around it. He deserves to get his dream and I can't give him that. I'm nothing more than a sick woman getting worse and worse every day until her demise. He wouldn't be happy with me and I want him to be happy." Evelyn said.

Mari nodded her head solemnly. She placed a reassuring hand on Evelyn's knee, rubbing circles.

"I know you could probably care less about what I have to say with how stubborn you are, but take it with a grain of salt. Don't you think he already knows all of this and is still willing to take the chance? I mean, he's braver than most men, but doesn't that go to show how much he loves you? How much he cares about you?"

"I'm not sure if he loves me in that way. It could very well just be an infatuation with something you know isn't going to last. It's like how some men like to chase things they know they can't have." Evelyn said with a snort. Mari nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well then let me ask you this. How do you feel about him? I know you said you want him to be happy, but do you love him?"

Before Evelyn could answer Mari's question, there was a rap at the door. Evelyn's brows furrowed as she wasn't expecting anyone.

"I'll get it." Mari said leaving her spot on the couch. She glanced through the peephole to see a man with curls up to his shoulder standing at the door impatiently. The man was gorgeous to say the least.

Mari took a step back to open the door. There stood Harry in all his glory. His head snapped in the direction of the door opening to see a woman that wasn't Evelyn.

"Can I help you?" Mari asked. Harry furrowed his brows, but smiled nonetheless.

"Hello, I'm Harry. Is Evelyn here?" he asked.

From the couch, Evelyn shouted, "Who's at the door?" A wave of relief washed over Harry as he heard the familiar voice. Mari glanced back at Evelyn to see she had emeresed herself back into her show.

Mari placed a finger on her lips in a shush motion and quietly ushered Harry in. Harry stepped in taking off his shoes. The thumping of his shoes hitting the ground caught Evelyn's attention.

She turned around from her place on the couch and released an audible gasp. Mari stood behind Harry with an evil grin on her face.

"Hello, Evie." Harry said with a small smile. Inside Harry was somewhat angry with his girl for not answering his texts or calls. The only saving grace he had to know she was safe were her poetic story posts on Instagram.

But Harry was also relieved to see she was okay. He could immediately tell she had gotten thinner, but nonetheless she looked beautiful in his eyes.

Harry walked over to the couch tentatively. Evelyn's eyes followed him as he came closer.

"May I?" he asked pointing to the spot next to her on the couch. Evelyn nodded her head while making a mental note to kill Mari later for letting him in.

"Oh my! Would you look at the time. I've got to get going, yeah? I've gotta feed my cats and do some of Tony's laundry. You kids have fun. But not too much fun, yeah?" Mari said slipping her coat and shoes on.

Evelyn was sending Mari daggers with her eyes while Harry sat there amused.

"No clearing any cobwebs." Mari said with a wink. Evelyn picked up the pillow nearest to her and chucked it at Mari just as she was closing the door.

Harry let out a small chuckle at their antics. They both turned back around and focused on the TV show in front of them.

The atmosphere was tense. Evelyn could tell Harry wanted to say something, but was holding back for her to make the first move.

After sitting there in silence for another minute, Evelyn grabbed the remote and put the show on mute. She turned her body to face him.

She let out a sigh before asking, "Why are you here, Harry?"

Harry cocked his eyebrow as he turned to face Evelyn.

"Why am I here?" he asked rhetorically. Evelyn nodded waiting for him to proceed.

"I'm here because I wanted to talk to you." he said.

"Why?"

"Because you ghosted me and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Why?" Evelyn asked again.

"Because I asked you an important question two months ago and you randomly vanished." Evelyn couldn't hold Harry's gaze. She casted her eyes to ground out of embarrassment.

A moment went by before Harry spoke up again.

"Did I do something wrong?" Evelyn shook her head no.

"Not particularly."

"Then what is it?" he asked. Harry was beginning to get impatient. He had been waiting for a response for two months. He thought maybe Evelyn needed time to think about an answer for his question. But when she suddenly stopped returning his text and calls, he knew something was up.

He didn't want to show up to her house uninvited. He never really planned to. He just happened to be in the area and his feet led him to her front door.

Evelyn mumbled something Harry couldn't quite hear.

"I'm sorry?"

She mumbled again. Harry subconsciously leaned closer to hear her better.

"I'm sorry, love. You're going to need to speak up." Harry's eyes never left Evelyn. They were like a hawk watching their prey. He'd never seen Evelyn seem so small before. He wondered if maybe he had done this.

"It was because of your question." Evelyn said clearly. She finally let her gaze trail back up to Harry's.

Harry's face contorted in bewilderment.

"You stopped talking to me for two months, because I asked you to be my girlfriend?" Harry asked incredulously.

Evelyn sighed. She was speechless. She had no other excuse for her actions except for fear. The fear of losing him.

"Yes." was all she could say.

"Why? I thought we were finally getting somewhere in our relationship?" Confusion was written all over Harry's face. He didn't understand where he went wrong or what he may have misunderstood.

"Our relationship is only going to end in heartbreak, Harry. You know that." Evelyn said holding back the tears welling in her eyes.

"Loving you is a losing game that I am not prepared to play."

"Then don't. Don't play with me, Evelyn, because I'm not playing with you," Harry pauses to take a deep breath before continuing, "I love you."

A neutral silence falls over them as Evelyn lets Harry's words sink in. As Evelyn thinks, Harry continues to speak, "I have loved you for a while now, and trust me, I wanted to respect your wishes. I wanted to keep everything platonic between us, but I can't deny my feelings for you."

"I was reading a poem by Courtney Peppernell the other day. It said 'one day someone walks into your life, a total stranger, and they become so important to you. And while you've known them such a short time, you feel you have loved them for a lifetime' and that is the exact way I feel about you, Evie. I felt that way back then meeting you in that car park and getting to know you and how amazing you are, and I feel that way about you now even after you ghosted me. And believe it or not I'm going to feel that way about you forever."

Evelyn's face flushed at his confession.

No one had ever said such sweet things to her. She almost let herself enjoy the moment before remembering her impending doom.

"But Harry-"

"And I know you're going to try to detour me with the whole 'Harry, I'm dying' thing as if I don't already know that," Harry cradles Evelyn's face in his hands, "but I'm going to love you through this. Even if you don't feel the same way about me. I'm going to love you. I already do. And there's nothing you can do to try to stop me from it."

Tears begin to well up in Evelyn's eyes as a smile appears on her face. Harry's thumbs wipe the tears away as they fall.

Evelyn moves closer to Harry to hug him. Oh how she had missed his warmth. His sweet smell suffocating and intoxicating her at the same time. She let herself fall apart in his arms as she always had before and Harry soaked up every minute of it. He sat holding her one arm wrapped around her back and the other holding her head to his chest.

After a moment of simply existing with each other, Evelyn sat up. She placed her hands on Harry's thighs as a means to stabilize herself. Her eyes flickered back and forth between Harry's eyes.

Harry watched her intently with a soft smile on his face. He used his thumb to wipe more of her tears away and fix the beanie atop her head. Evelyn let out a small laugh at how pathetic she must look.

She was the one to ghost him and yet he's here comforting her. How ironic.

"We're going to be okay, Evie. I promise." Harry said reassuringly. He held the side of Evelyn's face and brought their foreheads together. She smiled nodding against him. They both closed their eyes and relaxed into each other's comfort.

"I love you." Evelyn said. Harry's eyes snapped open at this. He moved his head back as he grabbed Evelyn's chin with his two fingers to make her meet his gaze.

"You what?" Harry asked. He wanted to make sure he hadn't misheard.

Evelyn giggled before repeating herself, "I love you." Harry felt tears of his own well up in his eyes.

"So does that mean..." Evelyn nodded her head 'yes' before Harry could even finish his sentence.

A wide grin spread across Harry's face as he slowly leaned in. His eyes went back and forth between Evelyn's eyes and her lips.

He waited patiently for Evelyn to give him the go ahead before he could kiss his girl.

Evelyn nodded her head as she leaned in as well and their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

The new couple felt nothing but butterflies and fireworks in their chest as they finally let themselves feel what they have always felt...

Love.

10 notes · View notes