Forever, Ever

It was nearly noon and customers were few and far between so far today, which surprised none of them that much considering it looked like it was going to storm at any minute, the clouds thick and grey in the sky. Ana was sat up front behind the register today, the only other people at the shoppe were Julia and Barbara in the back baking. She stared outside, watching people walk by occasionally, but mostly watching the wind blow the trees and the clouds float by slowly.

"Ana! Phone for you," Barbara called from the back.

Ana glanced nervously at the phone, no one ever called for her. She hesitantly picked it up, bringing it to her ear, giving a shaky 'hello'.

"Why d'ya sound so frightened, love, it's just me," Harry's deep voice came from the other end.

She slouched in relief, letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"No reason, what are you calling for?"

"Well, I was wondering," he said, drawing out the 'g', "if you might like to take your lunch break with me and go somewhere to eat. I figured I might as well eat before I came in, but then I thought I might take you with me as well. Whatdya say?"

"Umm, sure, I'll go."

"Great! I'll pick you up in a few. Bye, love."

"Goodbye."

She set the phone back down and continued to watch outside the window. It wasn't long before a black car obscured her view of across the street. A handsomely dressed Harry emerged from the driver's side before strolling into the shoppe.

"Barbara, love! Ana is taking her lunch break with me," Harry called out.

Barbara emerged from the back, brushing her hands off on her apron.

"Alright, I'll man the register while you're both gone," she said, moving behind the counter.

Ana placed her - for now- clean apron on the hook.

"My jacket's upstairs," she said quietly to Harry.

He nodded and she turned to go to the back door leading to her flat. She heard his footsteps behind her, she hadn't expected him to follow but she didn't mind. He jogged up the steps behind her and waited for her to open the door. He stepped in behind her as she opened it, taking in her flat. It was a bit small, and not too much in it, but it fit her, he thought. Very simple, like her.

She grabbed her jacket from the hook and slid her arms into it, pulling it snugly over her shoulders.

"Good to go?" he asked and she nodded.

He opened the door and closed it, locking it behind them as they made their way down the steps and outside. Harry quickly jogged ahead of her to open the passenger door for her, shutting it after she got in before going back around the car to finally get in the car himself.

"Alrighty then. Do you like soup?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Do you like sandwiches?"

She nodded once again.

"Good, then I know where we're going," he grinned, showing off his dimples.

It was only a ten minute drive from the shoppe to the small cafe Harry was talking about. He once again opened the car door for her when they arrived. Ana looked up to admire the small corner cafe that was settled on a fairly busy street and smiled; it was perfect.

Harry kept his hand on her back as he led her inside, looking left and right for any photographers that might be lurking around. The smells from the cafe wafted around them as they entered, making their mouths water and their stomachs growl. They stepped in line and scanned their eyes over the menu board hanging in front of them.

"What do you think you might get?" Harry asked Ana.

"Some soup... and a sandwich," a small smirk evident.

He looked at her out of the side of his eyes before rolling them at her, "Har-har, someone makes jokes around here. I think I'm just going to get soup, it feels like a soup day."

She just laughed softly at him before they stepped up to the counter to order. She got a small sandwich and some soup, like she said she would, and Harry got a very large bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. They took their food in hand and made their way to a vacant table in the corner of the cafe.

"So, tell me about Miss AnaBelle," Harry said, blowing on a spoonful of soup.

"I'm not really that interesting..."

"Well, I hardly know you, I call that interesting enough," he smiled at her. "Tell me a bit."

"Well.. uh, what do you want to know?"

"What's your name?"

"AnaBelle," she said flatly.

"No, I meant your full name."

"Oh, uh... i-it's AnaBelle Rosslyn M-Miller," she said quietly as she looked down at her food and picked at the sandwich, something which Harry took notice of.

"Harold Edward Styles... and your initials spell 'arm'," he said, taking a bite of soup.

She looked up from her sandwich and stared at him, confused, "What?"

"Your initials spell 'arm' AnaBelle 'A', Rosslyn 'R', Miller 'M'. 'A', 'R', 'M', arm."

She was quiet for a moment before she covered her face with her hands and giggles escaped through her fingers. This caused Harry to grin widely, showing off his dimples, as he watched the girl in front of him crack up. It was refreshing from her normally quiet demeanor, she never said much, she was very quiet-spoken, he liked when she laughed like this.

"No one has ever told me that before!" she giggled.

"Well, glad to be the first," he said, continuing eating.

He watched as she wiped the corners of her eyes and took a deep breath, settling herself before taking a large bite of her sandwich.

"I told you we were going to be great friends, Ana," Harry smiled at her.

She nodded, smiling up at him from her food, "Yeah.. I think we are. I-I've never really had a friend before," she trailed off.

He looked at her like she must be joking but all that was on her face was seriousness, causing his face to drop the tiniest bit when he realised she was speaking the truth. But he quickly recovered and flashed her one of his signature smiles and reached over the table grabbing her hand in his.

"Well, I'm glad to be the first, then."