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But a part of me wanted to introduce them if only to see their faces when they took him in—tattoo, ripped jeans, long hair, and all.
“I want you to meet them,” I told Harry at last, because I knew I’d been silent for too long, but as soon as I said it, panic flooded me. Harry. Meeting my parents.Nausea. “Do I get to meet your family?”
Harry popped in the DVD and took his place on the couch, turning to me while the opening credits started. “My cousins and I don’t have a great relationship,” he said softly. “I haven’t really spoken with them since I moved out.”
“What happened?”
“A lot of things.” He shook his head. “But if wewereon speaking terms, I would introduce you to them in a heartbeat.”
My chest ached for Harry then. Lost both of his parents and wasn’t on speaking terms with the family who raised him. There was more to that story, but I didn’t want to pry it out of him, not now. I didn’t want that shadow to come back into his eyes. “They are missing out,” I said confidently.Missing out on being in your life.
It caused Harry to chuckle, and he wrapped his arm around me. “They are. I’m sure they’d love you.”
I fell into his embrace easily, leaning my head onto his shoulder. It wasn’t as close as we’d been earlier, but this felt just as perfect. Quiet moments like this between us were rare. Whenever we hung out, we were always doing something—delivering for Dial and Dine, chatting after a gig. But this soft moment, with my head against his shoulder, I loved just as much.
After the movie started playing on the TV, long enough for me to think the topic passed, Harry spoke again. His voice was quiet, as vulnerable as his expression. “Do you think your parents will like me?”
I blinked at the screen, my brain unable to comprehend the moving picture. Would my parents like him? The thought seemed innocent enough, but I wondered the same thing about myself sometimes. Would they like me if I stopped being their dutiful little soldier? And then another thought trailed quickly behind: Did their opinion matter?
I settled more firmly against his side, and when I answered, it felt as if I answered both his question and the one lingering in my mind. “You’ll have to meet them and find out.”
