My Heroine

“I never expected you to offer to do this.” Harry grinned briefly from where he was working so diligently with full concentration.

“Why not?” He asked raising his eyebrows but never looked up from his work. Lia smiled as his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth, ever so slightly, as he placed the tiny paint brush onto the small nail.

After waking up the next morning together, the couple refused to leave the confines of her bed or put on clothes, although Lia put on the shirt that she had stripped from his body the night before much to the delight of Harry. It was much later in the evening, after they had spent hours cuddling, napping, talking, watching tv, kissing and even microwaving food for dinner which only happened because Harry flat out refused her offering to cook for them. After all of that, here they sat; Lia’s feet were on Harry’s lap as he held a tiny paint brush in his right hand and a bottle of OPI Pink-ing of You in his left.

“Do you take pleasure in painting toes? Such concentration on your face, if this whole Apache Pilot career doesn’t work out you should consider opening a nail salon.”

Carefully closing the bottle, Harry grabbed her left foot being careful of the nails and started to move his fingertips on the bare bottom of her feet.

“Stop! Harry stop it!” Lia screamed laughing trying to move from his grip and torture but Harry held her there with minimal force.

Gasping for breath, her laughing and screaming for him to ‘stop’ continued until Harry smiled at her stopping his attack. Lia, now red faced and breathing hard with tears of laughter falling down her face, narrowed her eyes at him as he picked up the bottle that he had laid next to him. Placing a small kiss at the base of her knee, he opened the bottle placing one last neat stroke on the last toe.

“Looks great, love. Want me to do yours?”

Harry could see the humor in her eyes which matched the smart ass type of smile she had on her face.

“Sure, fingers or toes?”

Lia looked at him, all joking gone from her face.

“You’re serious. You would really let me paint your nails.” She said watching his face.

“If you really want to and it makes you happy,” He said shrugging. “Why not? It’s not like it doesn’t come off with that remover stuff anyways. Also, to answer your question from earlier, it gives me pleasure to make you happy, if that meant painting your toes so be it.”

Lia looked at harry with loving eyes, shaking her head as a small smile formed.

“What?” He questioned watching his beautiful girlfriend shake her head with a smile firmly planted on.

“I don’t know. I mean, you’ve always been a very sweet, loving and caring boyfriend you know?” He nodded wondering where this was going. “So when we started dating again I knew what type of boyfriend you would be. But I never expected you to be like this.”

“Like what?” He pulled her closer so her legs laid slightly open over his crossed-Indian style ones. His hands rested on her sides with his thumbs gently moving circles with his thumbs.

“There is a lot this time that feels just like it did 10 years ago. We’re still comfortable with each other, it’s still easy to be with you, and we can still tell just by looking, what the other person is feeling or thinking. Then there’s this part that’s all new, things that weren’t there before. I mean you would have never painted my toes before or say yes if I wanted to paint yours. You used to put me first a lot of times years ago, you know, putting my feelings before yours. Then there are times that you didn’t like the reason we split.” Lia couldn’t help the tears that came to her eyes. “If just feels different this time, a good different. We’ve changed in certain ways that just makes this, us, stronger. Sorry, I just babbled a whole lot.”

Harry saw the blush that rose in her cheeks as she wiped the tears that fell. Placing a hand onto her cheek, his thumb wiped away the tears that fell after her action.

“It is different this time.” He spoke softly. “I was an idiot the last time; young, stupid and naive. I didn’t know what I had in front of me until it was gone. I didn’t treat you even half of what you deserved Angelia, I love you…so much. There has never been anyone that even came close to you. The way I feel about you, I know I’ll never feel again with anyone else. I told you before, that I will spend every day making it up to you, for how stupid I was. But this, what you are seeing and feeling, is just me treating you how I should have treated you so many years ago. You are the most precious being I have in my life. We are stronger now, we have grown and we are still two people who just belong together.”

“Soul mates.” He nodded as she whispered to him.

“Soul mates. You’re it for me; there is no one else for me but you.” Pressing his lips to hers, pulling her closer to him when a sigh escaped her lips. Once again, they moved to love each other in the most perfect way that only the two of them could.

“I don’t want to move.” Harry whined the next morning, his face deep in her hair as she laid naked in his arms.

“Well, you don’t but I do. I’m supposed to have lunch with Kate and your brother today.” She laughed at the loud groan that emulated from the man behind her.

“Screw them, stay in bed with me.” His face moved to place a series of very convincing kissed on her neck.

“You know I would love to, especially with you being very persuasive, but they would become suspicious if I canceled all of a sudden.” Harry sighed knowing that she was right.

“Will you come to my place after?” He asked his eyes were bright, hopeful.

“Absolutely.” She kissed his lips as they got up getting ready for the day. She saw him out the door with a lingering kiss that placed all sorts of thoughts into his head. Almost a half hour later, she heard a buzz meaning that the car that Will had sent for her was waiting downstairs.

Pulling up to Will and Kate’s place in Kensington she wasn’t at all surprised to be met outside by Will.

“You know you have a doorbell, I could easily ring it.” She joked noticing the nervous look on his face. “What is it?”

Will looked at her nervously, but she also saw a twinge of guilt.

“Harry is inside. He sort of invited himself to lunch.”

That little shit.