Forever, Ever

"So what are you afraid of?" Harry asked, continuing their game of questions as they baked in the back with each other.

It only took a quick glance to the dark sky outside the window for Ana to know her answer.

"Storms."

"I don't like snakes. Not a big fan of heights, either."

"I feel like I'm afraid of a lot of things but.. storms, I really don't like storms," she confessed, squeezing some frosting on top of a cupcake.

"So what will you do tonight if it storms?" he asked, curious, as the weather didn't seem to be letting up outside, it only seemed to be getting worse as time passed.

"I don't know," she nearly whispered, shrugging her shoulders.

He was quiet for a moment as he thought over what he wanted to ask her, judging what kind of a reaction he might get from her. He didn't want her to be alone tonight if she was scared of storms, and neither did she, but again he knew that they had only known each other for a few days and she might not consider him as close a friend as he would consider her. He finally decided that he didn't care, he didn't want to leave her alone if he could help it.

"Would you like to stay at my house tonight?" he asked her, "or we could stay at yours, if you'd like?"

She stopped right in the middle of frosting a cupcake and just stood there, silent, staring down at the table.

"We could watch movies or eat a lot of junk food or both, we can do whatever you like," he continued.

She finally looked up at him, her eyes glossy with tears. He almost regretted saying anything until she gave him a watery smile and set down the frosting tip to step towards him and wrap her arms around his neck. He immediately wrapped his own arms around her thin waist, feeling her bury her face in his chest.

"Hey, what's wrong, love?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing.. just, thank you, Harry," she answered, pulling back to wipe away the few tears that had escaped.

"It's not a problem, it's what friends are for," he smiled softly at her, causing her to grin. "I'll go home in a while and get some stuff and then I'll come back over here and we can have a sleepover at your flat, sound alright?"

She nodded and wiped at her eyes again. Relief flooded over her at having met such kind people like Harry and Barbara in Holmes Chapel who were willing to help her. It was finally starting to sink in for Ana that she didn't have to be scared anymore, no one was going to turn her away here, no one was going to leave her helpless.