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 Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 8:58 pm
Should they talk about it?
That was about the only thing he had on his mind for the past several hours. From the moment he stepped away from her at the theater, all through the ride home, into the work he tried to do, the food he tried to cook and eat, and now the book he tried to read–she had been the sole thing on his mind.
Which was probably why he’d been reading the same page for the past half hour.
When he noticed again, Harvey let out a grumbling sigh, finally closing the book and setting it down. He hadn’t been all that interested anyway; it was one of Melody’s books. Something about werewolves. Maybe he wasn’t much for the fantasy romance genre since it did absolutely nothing to capture his attention.
Not that that was entirely the book’s fault right then.
Harvey glanced at the clock and wondered what time Mel was supposed to be home. With all the thinking he’d done he had a feeling he knew what the right answer was–they probably ought to talk about it. At the very least they could acknowledge that it happened and allow each other time to process.
He took another deep breath.
“Now to just…wait ‘til she’s home,” he said quietly to himself in a failed attempt to relax. Failed or not, at least it was a good distraction from the sudden silence that he noticed all around him. “Bathroom, then maybe I could put a pot of coffee on…”
And he moved to stand.
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Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 9:39 pm
Melody had clocked out at her normal time but lingered around work until Stacia was done with the project she’d been working on so they could walk to the cafe down the street for a little tête-à-tête. Some explanations were somehow oddly owed, but at least Melody trusted that her friend would keep them a secret and not spread gossip around work. It would have been a courtesy to have given Harvey a call and let him know she’d be late, but a 30-minute delay could be forgiven if she brought him home a pastry, right? At least that was her thought process as she remained in the car with the AC on in the driveway for a whole seven minutes before finally turning off the ignition. “There’s no reason to be nervous. It’s just Harvey trying to get a reaction.” Melody tried to reason with herself but her heart and mind remained conflicted. Rationally he was just acting like a protective brother-like figure. But emotionally- thinking about what happened at the theater… “Goodness, why do I feel like I’m back in college again?” She sighed, buried her face in both hands and let out an internal scream of frustration before stepping out of the car and heading inside. The door was locked, unsurprised since she was getting home late; for all he knew she was either working overtime or something of that nature. After fumbling with her keys for a moment she finally turned the knob and stepped inside and flipped the hall light on just in time to see her roommate getting up off the couch and walking away. “Well-” her gaze fell down to the boxed pastry she’d brought home for him. “So much for a peace offering…” she muttered to herself before walking towards the kitchen where she busied herself with putting away a few clean dishes from last night’s dinner; all except for one plate and a fork which was set out on the counter with the cinnamon roll placed on top of it. She wasn’t sure if he still liked milk with it but moved towards the refrigerator to pour a glass anyway.
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Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:03 pm
He was just a few steps from the bathroom when he heard the front door open, and he froze mid-step, nearly lost balance, then dropped his foot awkwardly in front of him. He probably looked exactly how he felt–like an idiot who forgot how to walk. Despite that, he chanced a glance back to greet her.
She was already turning and heading toward the kitchen, though, so he opened and closed his mouth in silence and hurried to the bathroom.
’What. The. Was. That?!’
Harvey stared at his reddened face in the bathroom, wondering exactly what was going on. He expected it to be a little weird, a little awkward, but he’d never in his life struggled to find so much as a sliver of courage to say hello to one of his best friends.
Probably his best friend.
He quickly finished his business and stepped back outside, determined to at least break the damn silence. He could hear the quiet sounds of dishes being put away, so he approached and had been about to say something when she turned and moved further inside, toward the refrigerator.
Again, like a fish he silently opened and closed his mouth.
Was she so mad about it that she refused to acknowledge him? The mere idea deflated him, and he found a new worry to chew on for the night. Rather than potentially poke a sleeping bear, though, he grabbed the cinnamon roll and turned to head for his room.
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Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:48 pm
Melody had just put the milk back in the fridge when she heard a floorboard creak behind her. She turned, glass in hand, just in time to see Harvey with his back turned making a beeline to his bedroom. Excuse me? her expression looked a mix between confused and offended but quickly shifted to annoyance after noticing that the cinnamon roll was gone. The audacity, assuming it was for him. Despite the fact it was for him, to just assume and walk off with it and not bother with a thank you? How rude in her mind that phrase was spoken with the same tone as Stephanie from Full House would have said it; childish and all. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Give it to him anyway? Ha- no. The temptation to toss it at him was too great, more so if the first thing out of his mouth wasn’t at the very least, ‘thank you’. She set the glass down on the counter, perhaps with a bit more force than she meant to use for for the sound of it was like a window breaking with how otherwise quiet the room was with neither of them talking. Blood rushed to her face in shock and surprise, painting her face an embarrassed pinkish hue. Melody turned quickly to one of the other cabinets in search of cookies, or some other snack, to go with the milk since she didn’t want to waste what was poured and toss it down the sink. This was no at all how this evening was supposed to go. Her intent was to bring a peace offering so they could talk, like adults. Get an explanation from Harvey on why he suddenly seemed to get protective over her and held her the way he did. A cordial conversation. Instead, the two of them were acting like this was college, or high school even, and it was giving her a bit of whiplash that left her feeling more frustrated at herself than anything.
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 12:27 pm
Harvey slinked away with the cinnamon roll as silently as possible, though considering the sound of her setting something down being louder than normal he had a feeling he wasn’t as silent as he thought. He cursed under his breath and hurried the rest of the way to his room, in his rush closing the door with far more force than intended. The slam shocked even him, nearly causing him to jump and toss the cinnamon roll into the air. Thankfully he didn’t, but he didn’t imagine that did anything to help the situation. So he cursed again, debated for a moment, then moved to his desk in double-time.
He set the plate down, grabbed a sticky pad and a pen, scribbled a note, and darted back out for barely a second to slap the note on her door. He had no way of knowing when she’d read it, or if she’d even bother, but it felt safer to do it this way—at least for tonight—if she was, in fact, as mad about the whole situation as she seemed.
Sorry for the door… and today, if it bothered you. We should probably talk, I just need a bit if that’s okay? Also thanks for the roll.
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 1:08 pm
Seriously?Melody threw her hands up in the air in flabbergasted bewilderment. What the hell did I do wrong? Was asking him to come drop the box off that much of an inconvenience? He didn’t seem particularly embarrassed when he left the theater. So what the ever living hell was that about? The quest for cookies had at that point been given up and when she was about to toss the glass of milk down the sink, when she decided to just give herself a moment to decompress. To retire to her room for a moment so she could get out of her work clothes and into some comfortable pajamas. When she emerged, however, there was a note on her door. “Classy,” she commented to herself sarcastically. Her expression shifted to something more along the lines of unamused as she stepped back in her room and retrieved her phone from her purse and sent him a texted message back. Quote: It’s fine. Just come get the glass of milk at least before it gets warm. Some time spent apart was probably a wise idea anyway. Parse out what happened and the feelings that came from it and figure out what options they had going forward. For now, she’d just retire to her own room and binge-watch something on Netflix in bed instead of camping out in the living room. Let him take care of the dirty dish or she’d take care of it in the morning. “Good night,” she said to the elephant in the room as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
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