#374; time after time
Title: time after time
Artists: Super Junior, f(x)
Pairings: Henry/Amber
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 2.879
Warnings: None.
Prompt: #374 - Henry/Amber. Henry keeps reliving the same day over and over again, and he doesn't know why, or what he has to do to move forward. (hint: he's gotta get the girl.)
Notes: (๑>ᴗ<๑)
Henry has bad days, just like every other person, but sometimes, there are Bad Days, and today is one such day.
His watch had stopped but he didn’t realise, taking his time eating breakfast and checking his reflection, before realising it hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes and checking his phone only to realise he’d missed two buses. He was going to be late. Henry cursed his luck.
He sprinted to the bus stop and luckily made the next one, heart racing and hair messed up all over again.
He made it to his classroom, almost forty minutes late for his presentation. The teacher glowered at him when he snuck into the classroom, but was still kind enough to let him present after the last person.
But Henry had been so focussed on getting to the bus stop in time, he had forgotten his cue cards and scrambled to remember the speech he had painstakingly made for hours the night before.
Henry stepped out of the classroom, shoulders slumped because he had totally messed it up. Someone gave his shoulder a squeeze in encouragement, but Henry was too busy wallowing in his misery to even lift his head.
He sighed and trudged down to one of the cafeterias on campus, straightening and smiling at the wonderful smell of freshly toasted sandwiches. He was just deciding between the daily special and his usual ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, when he heard a familiar voice ordering next to him. He turned to see Lily, the girl he had dated for a few months in the summer after finishing high school. The breakup had been awkward, with Henry unable to explain how he stopped having feelings and Lily unable to understand why.
She turned at his gaze, her expression dismissive, but then recognition crossed her face and her mouth fell open.
“Hey,” Henry said quietly, awkwardness sinking into his bones.
She looked uncomfortable. “Hey,” she said coolly. Henry ordered the daily special and the guy nodded, taking his money and giving the change while Lily continued to act standoff ish.
“So,” she said, as Henry was pushing his wallet back into his pocket, “how have you been?”
“Pretty good,” Henry said, practiced smile on his lips, “How about you?”
“I have a boyfriend,” she said simply, looking at him for his reaction. He tried for a smile.
“That’s great, congratulations,” he said. Her eyes narrowed, and Henry chewed the inside of his cheek, unsure what to do; but then the cafe guy handed her her sandwich and she left with a curt nod, but no words. Henry let out a deep breath, glancing to watch her small figure dodge chairs and tables and people and leave the area.
Henry got his sandwich and left the food court, sitting outside in the sun that was finally starting to peek through. That soon disappeared behind a cloud, however, and Henry realised he didn’t like the sandwich he had ordered. “Should have stuck to the usual,” he muttered to himself, getting up, only to find he had sat in a soggy patch of grass from the rain last night. He groaned. Today was a Bad Day.
Except it only got worse. After his other classes (that were blissfully normal), Henry jogged to science building, spotting Amber leaning against the wall to the entrance, head down as she peered at her phone.
“Hey!” he said brightly as he bumped shoulders with her. Except instead of the usual elbowing and sly grin that Amber would always give him, she turned to him with a glare, mouth pressed in a thin line before going back to her phone.
“Amber?” he asked, as she continued to aimless scroll through her Facebook feed. She was trying to refresh it over and over, even though there was nothing to show anymore. Amber hated Facebook and Henry didn’t understand.
“I’m surprised you’re not too busy again,” she said coldly, and Henry heard the bitterness in her voice.
“What are you talking about, Amber?” he sighed, exasperated, “You know I’m no good at all these cryptic, implied things,”
“Really?!” Amber cried, finally putting her phone down to look at him. Her eyes were blazing and Henry felt the need to shrink away. “It’s so obvious, and you’re still trying to play dumb?”
Henry searched his brain for something, anything, that might have made Amber mad at him. He clearly did something…..
“Wait,” he turned to her, “Is this about yesterday?”
Amber rolled her eyes. “It took you that long to realise?”
Henry frowned. “Hey, I told you I was busy,” he cried. Why was Amber being so grouchy? And wasn’t Charlie, her dick boyfriend, meant to be here? Charlie was fine most of the time, except for when Henry was around and he got all clingy and possessive over Amber. She hated it too.
“Yeah, too busy to even give me a proper reply?!” Amber cried, “Too busy with your assignment when your best friend said she needed you?!”
“You never said that!” Henry protested.
Amber gaped at him. “I can show you the texts, Henry,” she fumed, “The texts asking you for just an hour for me to get my mind off some stuff. I would have thought that was pretty obvious!”
“Yeah and why do you need me, huh?” Henry retorted, “Don’t you have Charlie-boo for that?” he imitated the way she had affectionately called him a couple of times.
Amber’s mouth dropped open, hurt and anger flashing across her face. Suddenly, she abruptly closed it, lips quivering slightly and Henry thought he saw her eyes look a little watery.
“You don’t understand anything,” she muttered bitterly, turning away and stomping off. Henry watched her go, anger still coursing through him until he saw her lift her hand and use the sleeve of her jumper to wipe at her face.
Henry cursed as he fell back against the brick walls of the science building. He had just yelled at his best friend and made her cry. He was such a dick. He sighed.
The Bad Day had just become the Worst Day Ever.
He ate a miserable meal of leftovers in his fridge and flopped onto his bed early, staring at the ceiling for a long time, replaying the whole day and how it kept going from bad to terrible to unbearable. Henry sighed again.
“I wish I could go back and fix it all,” he muttered as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
-x-
Henry woke to his alarm beeping, checking his reflection, but when he checked his watch, he remembered that it had stopped. He glared at it before reaching for his phone, noting the time before faltering. He grabbed his phone again, looking at the day and date.
Didn’t he just go through Tuesday? The Worst Day Ever?
But sure enough, his phone said it was Tuesday and the date was the same one circled four times in his diary for his presentation. He frowned, shrugging and assuming it was a dream.
He made sure to eat breakfast quickly and made it to his usual bus, breathing a sigh of relief. He had remembered his cue cards too.
The presentation went smoothly this time, the teacher nodding along to all his points, a small smile on her face.
Henry went to a different cafe and bought his usual sandwich instead. He didn’t meet Lily, and he didn’t sit out on the grass and get a damp butt. The rest of his classes went normally and Henry felt glad that the other day had just been a dream.
Except then he found himself walking towards the science building and he could see Amber leaning against the wall with her phone.
He bit his lip, quietly thanking his dream for giving a heads up. He snuck up beside her gently, nudging her softly, saying a quiet, “Hey, sorry about yesterday,”
She glanced up at him, expression still unamused, but at least she wasn’t glaring.
“You could have at least replied to me properly,” she muttered. Henry smiled wearily.
“Yeah, my bad. Did you still want to get your mind off stuff?” he asked. She looked up at him, face blank for a moment before she broke into a small smile.
“Yeah,”
They played basketball until the sun was setting and they were both drenched in sweat. Amber collapsed into the middle of the court, limbs splayed out as she gasped for breath. Henry chuckled and dropped down beside her, limbs splayed out as well, fringe sticking to his forehead.
“So, want to talk about it, or more basketball?” he asked.
Amber was quiet. He was about to ask again when she said, “We broke up,”
Henry sat up. Amber continued to stare at the bleeding orange sky. “Charlie and I, we broke up,” she said, “yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, Amber,” he said on automatic and she laughed quietly.
“I guess it’s for the best,” she murmured, looking at the sky again. “We were never going to work.”
“You guys were together a year, Amber,” Henry said, “You…” Are you okay? He wanted to ask.
“He hated you,” Amber said softly, “and I couldn’t keep having the same fight over it again and again,”
Henry bit his lip, head down and Amber turned to him with a smile. The setting sun’s rays were on her face and she looked so pretty. Henry looked away as she smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it too much, I’ll be fine,” she chuckled as she sat up. “I made the decision, and I ended it,” she sighed a little, smiling again. Henry couldn’t help but watch her. “He knew from the beginning and said it would be fine, but it just kept coming up over and over,”
“I have to be with someone who won’t ask me to choose between him and you,” she turned to Henry and he tried to figure out what to say. His mind had stopped working, as it often did around Amber.
Instead, he got to his feet, the basketball under one arm. He offered his other hand to her and she grinned at him as she took it and clambered to her feet.
“Thanks,” she said quietly, embracing him. She smelled of sweat with the faint scent of lemon. She changed her shampoo?
Henry was about to ask as she pulled away before realising it was weird to know what kind of shampoo his best friend used. He kind of liked the lavender scent though.
“Not mad at me anymore?” he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. She chuckled.
“Nah,” she patted his shoulder, “Even if I was, I wouldn’t stay mad for long.”
“You’re my best friend, Henry; that’s not going to change,”
Henry went to sleep with a smile on his face and contentment in his heart.
-x-
The alarm beeping was unwelcome, as always, and Henry rolled out of bed, getting ready while still half asleep. He put his watch on out of instinct before remembering the battery was dead and cursing as he grabbed his phone. He wasn’t late yet. He sighed with relief before frowning, brows furrowed as he glanced at his screen again.
Tuesday. Again. Didn’t he just live through Tuesday? He checked his phone, but it didn’t seem out of order. As he left the apartment, he stopped by the convenience store, and true enough, the paper for the morning was for Tuesday. That meant he had a presentation.
He sailed through his presentation smoothly, as before, and it was only when he sat down to eat his lunch - the usual sandwich and not on the grass - did he take the time to contemplate.
He couldn’t have dreamed living through Tuesday twice, and especially not that clearly and vividly. If he had dreamt it, he shouldn't be able to remember everything so clearly, right?
Suddenly, something flashed back in his mind.
”I wish I could go back and fix everything”
He had said that before falling asleep, when Tuesday had been the Worst Day Ever, and he had stuffed up his presentation, met Lily and made Amber cry.
Was this it then? Was he going back to Tuesday again and again until he fixed everything? Was that even possible?
Henry frowned. But even if it was true, yesterday (Tuesday, the second time round) had been fine. He had done his presentation well, hadn’t met Lily nor had a bad sandwich, and he had made it up to Amber so she wasn't mad at him anymore.
What more was there? He had fixed everything…… hadn’t he?
He went through the rest of his classes in a daze, with thankfully nothing going wrong. He walked up to Amber quietly, apologizing before anything, and they ended up at the basketball courts again, like before.
Lying on their backs, eyes staring at the sky, Henry too lost in his thoughts to ask Amber what was wrong, as he had done the day before. So Amber was the one who spoke first.
“I broke up with Charlie,” she said. Henry sat up, the surprise still genuine, because he realised he hadn’t asked first.
Amber sighed, glancing at him and giving him a wry smile. “We fought about you and me again,”
“Us?” Henry asked, because he still didn’t get it. They were friends, that’s all there was to it. Well, at least for Amber. Henry had buried his feelings a long time ago; well, the seedling of affection for Amber that went beyond friendship that had morphed into a giant tree.
…… Yeah, he hadn’t buried it very well at all.
Amber hummed, nodding. “Me or him, he had said,” she chuckled, the sound hollow as the sun set and cast its rays across her face.
Yeah, not buried in the slightest; more like blossoming.
“I shouldn’t have to pick,” she said, huffing, cheeks puffed out adorably. No. No, not adorable. Henry mentally hit himself.
“It’s okay anyway,” she said, and Henry scolded himself that he was barely saying anything this time. He was the best friend, he was meant to do the comforting! But then again, he reasoned, Amber was usually comforted just by him giving her a shoulder to lean on and an ear that would listen to her. “I was having my doubts anyway,”
“Doubts?” Henry echoed, feeling stupid. Amber nodded, glancing at him before looking away. Henry blinked, frowning. Her face had been a little red from the basketball, but hadn’t she cooled down by now? Why were her cheeks still a little pink?
And then suddenly, it clicked.
“Amber, do you - ?” the words died on his lips. Amber just turned to watch him. His brain was working in overdrive. Did she? Didn’t she?
Was his crush not as one sided as he thought?
He leaned forward a little, hesitating, and she just stared and stared. Now or never, his mind said and so Henry went for ‘now’ and closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together and scrunching his eyes shut.
There was a second for Henry to think ‘maybe I should have gone with ‘never’ because now I’m going to lose my best friend’, but then soft lips were pressing against his. Amber was kissing him back.
They broke apart, both breathing heavily, unable to believe what just happened, before Amber broke into a grin and Henry leaned over to kiss her again.
They kissed as the sun set behind them, the bleeding orange sky swirling with greys and blues until it became a midnight blue backdrop.
Henry had kissed her gently then before pulling away with a smile and getting to his feet.
“Hungry?” he asked as he offered his hand. Her eyes crinkled up into half moons as she grinned and took his hand.
They ate greasy Chinese food in one of the restaurants nearby and then Henry tangled their hands and pulled her towards his apartment. They kissed outside his front door - Henry supposedly taking too long to find his keys; but then Henry pulled away making a disgusted face. “You taste like fried noodles,” he said, finally fishing his keys out of his pocket and opening the door as Amber rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder.
They put on a movie and Amber was actually totally engrossed in it (that is, until Henry’s hand slipped under her shirt and she elbowed him in the stomach).
They fell asleep with Amber’s head tucked under Henry’s chin and her hands holding onto the edges of his shirt. His arm was around her waist and their legs were tangled together at the other end of the couch.
Henry woke up with his best friend under his arm and when he checked the time on his phone, he noted that it was Wednesday.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then went back to sleep with a smile on his face.
Wednesday became Henry’s favourite day after that.
Artists: Super Junior, f(x)
Pairings: Henry/Amber
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 2.879
Warnings: None.
Prompt: #374 - Henry/Amber. Henry keeps reliving the same day over and over again, and he doesn't know why, or what he has to do to move forward. (hint: he's gotta get the girl.)
Notes: (๑>ᴗ<๑)
Henry has bad days, just like every other person, but sometimes, there are Bad Days, and today is one such day.
His watch had stopped but he didn’t realise, taking his time eating breakfast and checking his reflection, before realising it hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes and checking his phone only to realise he’d missed two buses. He was going to be late. Henry cursed his luck.
He sprinted to the bus stop and luckily made the next one, heart racing and hair messed up all over again.
He made it to his classroom, almost forty minutes late for his presentation. The teacher glowered at him when he snuck into the classroom, but was still kind enough to let him present after the last person.
But Henry had been so focussed on getting to the bus stop in time, he had forgotten his cue cards and scrambled to remember the speech he had painstakingly made for hours the night before.
Henry stepped out of the classroom, shoulders slumped because he had totally messed it up. Someone gave his shoulder a squeeze in encouragement, but Henry was too busy wallowing in his misery to even lift his head.
He sighed and trudged down to one of the cafeterias on campus, straightening and smiling at the wonderful smell of freshly toasted sandwiches. He was just deciding between the daily special and his usual ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, when he heard a familiar voice ordering next to him. He turned to see Lily, the girl he had dated for a few months in the summer after finishing high school. The breakup had been awkward, with Henry unable to explain how he stopped having feelings and Lily unable to understand why.
She turned at his gaze, her expression dismissive, but then recognition crossed her face and her mouth fell open.
“Hey,” Henry said quietly, awkwardness sinking into his bones.
She looked uncomfortable. “Hey,” she said coolly. Henry ordered the daily special and the guy nodded, taking his money and giving the change while Lily continued to act standoff ish.
“So,” she said, as Henry was pushing his wallet back into his pocket, “how have you been?”
“Pretty good,” Henry said, practiced smile on his lips, “How about you?”
“I have a boyfriend,” she said simply, looking at him for his reaction. He tried for a smile.
“That’s great, congratulations,” he said. Her eyes narrowed, and Henry chewed the inside of his cheek, unsure what to do; but then the cafe guy handed her her sandwich and she left with a curt nod, but no words. Henry let out a deep breath, glancing to watch her small figure dodge chairs and tables and people and leave the area.
Henry got his sandwich and left the food court, sitting outside in the sun that was finally starting to peek through. That soon disappeared behind a cloud, however, and Henry realised he didn’t like the sandwich he had ordered. “Should have stuck to the usual,” he muttered to himself, getting up, only to find he had sat in a soggy patch of grass from the rain last night. He groaned. Today was a Bad Day.
Except it only got worse. After his other classes (that were blissfully normal), Henry jogged to science building, spotting Amber leaning against the wall to the entrance, head down as she peered at her phone.
“Hey!” he said brightly as he bumped shoulders with her. Except instead of the usual elbowing and sly grin that Amber would always give him, she turned to him with a glare, mouth pressed in a thin line before going back to her phone.
“Amber?” he asked, as she continued to aimless scroll through her Facebook feed. She was trying to refresh it over and over, even though there was nothing to show anymore. Amber hated Facebook and Henry didn’t understand.
“I’m surprised you’re not too busy again,” she said coldly, and Henry heard the bitterness in her voice.
“What are you talking about, Amber?” he sighed, exasperated, “You know I’m no good at all these cryptic, implied things,”
“Really?!” Amber cried, finally putting her phone down to look at him. Her eyes were blazing and Henry felt the need to shrink away. “It’s so obvious, and you’re still trying to play dumb?”
Henry searched his brain for something, anything, that might have made Amber mad at him. He clearly did something…..
“Wait,” he turned to her, “Is this about yesterday?”
Amber rolled her eyes. “It took you that long to realise?”
Henry frowned. “Hey, I told you I was busy,” he cried. Why was Amber being so grouchy? And wasn’t Charlie, her dick boyfriend, meant to be here? Charlie was fine most of the time, except for when Henry was around and he got all clingy and possessive over Amber. She hated it too.
“Yeah, too busy to even give me a proper reply?!” Amber cried, “Too busy with your assignment when your best friend said she needed you?!”
“You never said that!” Henry protested.
Amber gaped at him. “I can show you the texts, Henry,” she fumed, “The texts asking you for just an hour for me to get my mind off some stuff. I would have thought that was pretty obvious!”
“Yeah and why do you need me, huh?” Henry retorted, “Don’t you have Charlie-boo for that?” he imitated the way she had affectionately called him a couple of times.
Amber’s mouth dropped open, hurt and anger flashing across her face. Suddenly, she abruptly closed it, lips quivering slightly and Henry thought he saw her eyes look a little watery.
“You don’t understand anything,” she muttered bitterly, turning away and stomping off. Henry watched her go, anger still coursing through him until he saw her lift her hand and use the sleeve of her jumper to wipe at her face.
Henry cursed as he fell back against the brick walls of the science building. He had just yelled at his best friend and made her cry. He was such a dick. He sighed.
The Bad Day had just become the Worst Day Ever.
He ate a miserable meal of leftovers in his fridge and flopped onto his bed early, staring at the ceiling for a long time, replaying the whole day and how it kept going from bad to terrible to unbearable. Henry sighed again.
“I wish I could go back and fix it all,” he muttered as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
-x-
Henry woke to his alarm beeping, checking his reflection, but when he checked his watch, he remembered that it had stopped. He glared at it before reaching for his phone, noting the time before faltering. He grabbed his phone again, looking at the day and date.
Didn’t he just go through Tuesday? The Worst Day Ever?
But sure enough, his phone said it was Tuesday and the date was the same one circled four times in his diary for his presentation. He frowned, shrugging and assuming it was a dream.
He made sure to eat breakfast quickly and made it to his usual bus, breathing a sigh of relief. He had remembered his cue cards too.
The presentation went smoothly this time, the teacher nodding along to all his points, a small smile on her face.
Henry went to a different cafe and bought his usual sandwich instead. He didn’t meet Lily, and he didn’t sit out on the grass and get a damp butt. The rest of his classes went normally and Henry felt glad that the other day had just been a dream.
Except then he found himself walking towards the science building and he could see Amber leaning against the wall with her phone.
He bit his lip, quietly thanking his dream for giving a heads up. He snuck up beside her gently, nudging her softly, saying a quiet, “Hey, sorry about yesterday,”
She glanced up at him, expression still unamused, but at least she wasn’t glaring.
“You could have at least replied to me properly,” she muttered. Henry smiled wearily.
“Yeah, my bad. Did you still want to get your mind off stuff?” he asked. She looked up at him, face blank for a moment before she broke into a small smile.
“Yeah,”
They played basketball until the sun was setting and they were both drenched in sweat. Amber collapsed into the middle of the court, limbs splayed out as she gasped for breath. Henry chuckled and dropped down beside her, limbs splayed out as well, fringe sticking to his forehead.
“So, want to talk about it, or more basketball?” he asked.
Amber was quiet. He was about to ask again when she said, “We broke up,”
Henry sat up. Amber continued to stare at the bleeding orange sky. “Charlie and I, we broke up,” she said, “yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, Amber,” he said on automatic and she laughed quietly.
“I guess it’s for the best,” she murmured, looking at the sky again. “We were never going to work.”
“You guys were together a year, Amber,” Henry said, “You…” Are you okay? He wanted to ask.
“He hated you,” Amber said softly, “and I couldn’t keep having the same fight over it again and again,”
Henry bit his lip, head down and Amber turned to him with a smile. The setting sun’s rays were on her face and she looked so pretty. Henry looked away as she smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it too much, I’ll be fine,” she chuckled as she sat up. “I made the decision, and I ended it,” she sighed a little, smiling again. Henry couldn’t help but watch her. “He knew from the beginning and said it would be fine, but it just kept coming up over and over,”
“I have to be with someone who won’t ask me to choose between him and you,” she turned to Henry and he tried to figure out what to say. His mind had stopped working, as it often did around Amber.
Instead, he got to his feet, the basketball under one arm. He offered his other hand to her and she grinned at him as she took it and clambered to her feet.
“Thanks,” she said quietly, embracing him. She smelled of sweat with the faint scent of lemon. She changed her shampoo?
Henry was about to ask as she pulled away before realising it was weird to know what kind of shampoo his best friend used. He kind of liked the lavender scent though.
“Not mad at me anymore?” he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. She chuckled.
“Nah,” she patted his shoulder, “Even if I was, I wouldn’t stay mad for long.”
“You’re my best friend, Henry; that’s not going to change,”
Henry went to sleep with a smile on his face and contentment in his heart.
-x-
The alarm beeping was unwelcome, as always, and Henry rolled out of bed, getting ready while still half asleep. He put his watch on out of instinct before remembering the battery was dead and cursing as he grabbed his phone. He wasn’t late yet. He sighed with relief before frowning, brows furrowed as he glanced at his screen again.
Tuesday. Again. Didn’t he just live through Tuesday? He checked his phone, but it didn’t seem out of order. As he left the apartment, he stopped by the convenience store, and true enough, the paper for the morning was for Tuesday. That meant he had a presentation.
He sailed through his presentation smoothly, as before, and it was only when he sat down to eat his lunch - the usual sandwich and not on the grass - did he take the time to contemplate.
He couldn’t have dreamed living through Tuesday twice, and especially not that clearly and vividly. If he had dreamt it, he shouldn't be able to remember everything so clearly, right?
Suddenly, something flashed back in his mind.
”I wish I could go back and fix everything”
He had said that before falling asleep, when Tuesday had been the Worst Day Ever, and he had stuffed up his presentation, met Lily and made Amber cry.
Was this it then? Was he going back to Tuesday again and again until he fixed everything? Was that even possible?
Henry frowned. But even if it was true, yesterday (Tuesday, the second time round) had been fine. He had done his presentation well, hadn’t met Lily nor had a bad sandwich, and he had made it up to Amber so she wasn't mad at him anymore.
What more was there? He had fixed everything…… hadn’t he?
He went through the rest of his classes in a daze, with thankfully nothing going wrong. He walked up to Amber quietly, apologizing before anything, and they ended up at the basketball courts again, like before.
Lying on their backs, eyes staring at the sky, Henry too lost in his thoughts to ask Amber what was wrong, as he had done the day before. So Amber was the one who spoke first.
“I broke up with Charlie,” she said. Henry sat up, the surprise still genuine, because he realised he hadn’t asked first.
Amber sighed, glancing at him and giving him a wry smile. “We fought about you and me again,”
“Us?” Henry asked, because he still didn’t get it. They were friends, that’s all there was to it. Well, at least for Amber. Henry had buried his feelings a long time ago; well, the seedling of affection for Amber that went beyond friendship that had morphed into a giant tree.
…… Yeah, he hadn’t buried it very well at all.
Amber hummed, nodding. “Me or him, he had said,” she chuckled, the sound hollow as the sun set and cast its rays across her face.
Yeah, not buried in the slightest; more like blossoming.
“I shouldn’t have to pick,” she said, huffing, cheeks puffed out adorably. No. No, not adorable. Henry mentally hit himself.
“It’s okay anyway,” she said, and Henry scolded himself that he was barely saying anything this time. He was the best friend, he was meant to do the comforting! But then again, he reasoned, Amber was usually comforted just by him giving her a shoulder to lean on and an ear that would listen to her. “I was having my doubts anyway,”
“Doubts?” Henry echoed, feeling stupid. Amber nodded, glancing at him before looking away. Henry blinked, frowning. Her face had been a little red from the basketball, but hadn’t she cooled down by now? Why were her cheeks still a little pink?
And then suddenly, it clicked.
“Amber, do you - ?” the words died on his lips. Amber just turned to watch him. His brain was working in overdrive. Did she? Didn’t she?
Was his crush not as one sided as he thought?
He leaned forward a little, hesitating, and she just stared and stared. Now or never, his mind said and so Henry went for ‘now’ and closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together and scrunching his eyes shut.
There was a second for Henry to think ‘maybe I should have gone with ‘never’ because now I’m going to lose my best friend’, but then soft lips were pressing against his. Amber was kissing him back.
They broke apart, both breathing heavily, unable to believe what just happened, before Amber broke into a grin and Henry leaned over to kiss her again.
They kissed as the sun set behind them, the bleeding orange sky swirling with greys and blues until it became a midnight blue backdrop.
Henry had kissed her gently then before pulling away with a smile and getting to his feet.
“Hungry?” he asked as he offered his hand. Her eyes crinkled up into half moons as she grinned and took his hand.
They ate greasy Chinese food in one of the restaurants nearby and then Henry tangled their hands and pulled her towards his apartment. They kissed outside his front door - Henry supposedly taking too long to find his keys; but then Henry pulled away making a disgusted face. “You taste like fried noodles,” he said, finally fishing his keys out of his pocket and opening the door as Amber rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder.
They put on a movie and Amber was actually totally engrossed in it (that is, until Henry’s hand slipped under her shirt and she elbowed him in the stomach).
They fell asleep with Amber’s head tucked under Henry’s chin and her hands holding onto the edges of his shirt. His arm was around her waist and their legs were tangled together at the other end of the couch.
Henry woke up with his best friend under his arm and when he checked the time on his phone, he noted that it was Wednesday.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then went back to sleep with a smile on his face.
Wednesday became Henry’s favourite day after that.