The Neighbors

Chapter 28

Harry and I lay entwined in each other's bodies for a long time. It was the most amazing feeling I'd ever known in my life.

"Harry," I whispered.

He rolled over and propped himself up onto his elbow, using his free hand to move some stray strands of hair away from my face. "What is it, luv?"

"I love you."

Harry just stared at me with a bit of shock on his face. For a moment, I was frightened, thinking maybe he couldn't say it back to me anymore. Maybe he loved someone else now and hadn't expected me to say it to him.

"What's the matter, Harry?" I asked, a tear filling the corner of my eye.

"You've never said it like that before," he said.

"Oh," I smiled in relief and the tear escaped before I could dry it away. I wasn't sure what he meant because I had told him I loved him before.

"Hey, what's the matter? Are you crying?"

"No...well, um yes. I wasn't sure how you felt about me anymore. I mean, yes, we just had sex, but these are unusual circumstances, and I thought-"

"I love you, Lise. I've loved you almost from the day I first met you as a 17-year-old kid in high school. I told you nothing would ever change that, and nothing has. This year has been torture for me so far, but I wanted to be able to come back to you, more in love with you than ever and tell you that you – and only you – are my soul mate, my other half."

"I love you, too," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You just said that," he winked. He kissed me hard and then asked, "Were you starting to doubt that I still cared about you?"

I just nodded.

"Why?"

"Well, it sounds stupid now, but I thought maybe you were into Victoria."

"What?" He laughed. "That gold-digging witch?!"

I laughed, too. "Well, she told me some things..."

"What did she tell you?" He asked, suddenly more serious than just a moment ago.

"Well, she um, said that she had hooked up with you on more than one occasion and that you two were spending a steamy New Year's Eve in New York together."

"That lying bitch!" he said, making me laugh out loud.

"Watch your language, Harry!" I scolded, still giggling. "You have no idea how relieved I was to hear your grandma talking about your New Years Eve here. That was my first clue that Victoria had been lying."

"Oh, Lise, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that she hurt you and that you doubted my love for you. Can I kiss you and make it all better?"

I giggled and said, "Yes." 

Then he kissed me deeply and I sighed once again. "And do you want to know what else Victoria said?"

He just cringed.

"She said that you were really hot in bed!"

"Oh, my heavens!" He said, rolling his eyes. "I guess I will have to set her straight when we get home."

"Can our year be over now?" I asked.

"Yes!" Harry said emphatically. "So I've finally proven to you that I'm in love with you?" He teased.

"You didn't have to prove it to me, Harry. I wanted you to prove it to yourself."

We fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up the same the way the next morning. As I watched him sleep, I was grateful that I didn't have to shoo him out of my bed before the girls came in. We would have to be careful about our PDA's when we returned home, and I wasn't quite sure how we should approach the topic of sex. I had always been a little old-fashioned, wanting to wait til I was married, which I did with Eric. Obviously, that plan went out the window last night with Harry, and of course, these were very peculiar circumstances. But knowing that I wanted to marry him, I still wanted to have something to look forward to, and I hoped he would understand that.