Also called: Sharing is Caring
Prompt: All Harry has ever known is to share with y/n. and vice versa. So when she’s knocking on his door, betrayed by a business/job opportunity and now needing a place to stay, he’s glad he’s chosen a one bedroom flat because all he knows is to share with her, to the point where they are both sure they are currently sharing her pain and his happiness to help her get to a happy middle and feel better, but Harry doesn’t know if she’s also sharing that heavy thudding of his heart that is suddenly very loud.
Notes: May have a part two.
In which Harry and Y/N share pretty much everything.
All Harry and y/n have ever known is to share with each other. When he was younger Anne worried that Harry, even though sweet and caring, was never into sharing much with other kids in his class or even with his sister Gemma, but that had seemed to flip 180 when y/n’s family moved right in front and something in little Harry’s mind sort of triggered. He would claim that it was unfair he had a sister and y/n had no one, so he took it as his job to make sure she felt that. Whatever it was, Anne was grateful Harry was learning the valuable “sharing is caring” lesson after all.
No one expected the duo to be so tight, but Harry and y/n kept surprising people through the years as they stumbled through every single stage with the other close behind, holding their hand, to the point where Gemma thought maybe her mom had given birth to twins that were now reuniting. The bond only grew stronger, along with them, making it seem like Y/N and Harry sort of shared everything, from material things, like toys and clothes and even food – half of their closets at each others’ place, and no smoothie gone without two straws – to not so material things, like their actual feelings. To them, there was no point in being afraid, there was always someone there to go through it all with. Everything good was enhanced, everything bad was split into survivable doses.
It was freaky that y/n knew when Harry was feeling down before even seeing him – well, it was already freaky to see one without the other close by to begin with, but nevertheless, the bond was sort of telepathic – and how Harry knew exactly what y/n was craving while on her period and he stopped on his way home from soccer practice to buy it for her. How they managed to not get sick at the same time was beyond people’s minds – except there was that one time when they both caught the chicken pox and were quarantined together in y/n’s room for a week, not that anyone could complain –
Sharing with each other was all they knew, all through grade school and high school, to picking the same colleges – shocking everyone by choosing different majors, but they are, after all, two separate individuals no matter how little it seemed like it – and working together at the bakery down the block and saving up to share a flat through uni years.
Sharing with each other was the closest thing to home they had, no matter where they were.
Living with Harry was easy for y/n. And vice-versa, especially after having had a taste of it with the whole chicken pox thing. What wasn’t easy was knowing in the back of their heads that when uni ended, at some point, they would eventually have to split. Harry knew keeping in touch with y/n would always be easy, but he wondered if it would be the same after having so much of her, for so long. And just like they thought, eventually they moved out to one bedroom flats, a few towns and 5 hour car ride away from each other, in order to grow as functioning members of society and keep a job. None of their friends understood why they picked one bedroom flats – and frankly, when asked, neither did them – even though unconsciously, they both felt like having more bedrooms would make the place too big, and hoped that whenever the other visited they could just slot together into one bedroom and share everything like they had always known to.
And then, the time to share an incredibly small, but somehow comfortable space – in Harry and y/n’s terms – came around
Y/N had jumped at the chance of a new job. While she was ok at her old one, she wasn’t fully happy or pushing her full potential, it was time for a change, time to move up the chain and do better things. And the best part was that it meant some great news for her and Harry. She had packed all her bags and wanted to keep the surprise until last minute, but she couldn’t contain herself the moment Harry facetimed her like he did every other day.
“I’ve been shat on by a bird fo’ the second time this month, y/n” was the first thing he said when she answered, and she rolled her eyes at the statement.
“Classy, Harold. Real nice”
“Tell tha’ t’the bird! Going ‘round like tha’”
“I’ll hand-wash it if you need me to, stop whining”
“Yeah, I’ll send you a shit-stained shirt by post, return it nice and clean, please” Harry mocked and dismissed her comment as he settled himself on his desk at work. She could tell he was at his office by the decor on the walls behind him. He worked at a creative boutique, designing for magazines and blogs of different brands and he claimed it was a very creative and relaxed place to work at. Normally during lunch time he was alone and used the time to call y/n.
“There might be no need for that” she double tapped her phone to switch to the other camera, showing Harry all her belongings in boxes and bags, bare walls and closed curtains.
“Where’re yeh going?”
“I might have been offered that job I mentioned last month” she tapped back to the front camera so she could catch Harry’s face as he pieced together the information. Last month, she had briefly spoken about a job opportunity, one so incredibly good, Harry joked it couldn’t be legit, but quickly got on board with when she told him it meant it could also move her to his same town and put them at a tolerable 20 minute distance – which compared to how they grew up as neighbours and lived together through uni, was still very much, but not as much as being 5 hours away – and giving them the chance to do what they knew best, be close to each other.
“No fucking way!” He exclaimed, jolting up from his seat and adjusting his headphones, making sure he heard her correctly.
“Surprise!” Harry’s hand was covering his jaw dropped mouth. Y/n would be so much closer. Something felt so right about that, despite whatever doubt any of them had about the new job. He was trying to hold back tears, too emotional to deal with the information he was being handed.
“When do yeh get here?”
“Tomorrow!” and they continued chatting giddily until Harry was called back to work by his boss, hanging up under the promise that y/n would go directly to his place upon setting foot in his town. She had a copy of his keys anyways, and was welcomed to invite herself in and make herself comfortable after her meeting with her new boss.
But that didn’t happen.
The following day, Harry took off early from his work to try and be home to receive y/n, after she’d sent him a text that the meeting seemed like it would take longer. And a bit longer turned into a lot longer and a lot longer and a lot longer, for it was starting to get dark outside and Harry’s anxiety was about to bubble over before there was a knock on his door. He immediately expected the worst. Y/N had keys to his place for god’s sake, there was no need to knock, ever. But he put on a smile, because the most important part was that she was finally there, and he opened his door ready to engulf her in his arms, something he realised she needed the moment her angry face and glistening cheeks caught his eye. She didn’t get to spit a full word out when Harry had wrapped himself around her and rubbed calming circles on her back. She didn’t need to say a word. Harry just got it.
He pushed and pulled her bags inside his warm flat, as best he could with one hand, the other still holding onto her frame, refusing to let go. Her belongings long forgotten by the entrance as he carried her to his bed where he could properly cuddle her and hopefully help her feel better. She continued sobbing softly, although the look on her face let Harry know she wished she wasn’t crying over whatever it was that was happening. Harry knew she was upset, he didn’t have to see her, he could sense it, and he also knew these tears were not ‘I missed you so much’ tears. Something had happened.
It wasn’t until after a cup of warm tea and some crackers that y/n finally sighed, ready to tell. Something short of an hour had passed and Harry never pushed, only shushed her little whimpers, knowing she would tell whenever she felt ready to tell. The best thing of knowing each other so much is how soothing the other can be. He didn’t need to ask anything; he knew what tea to make, how to make it, with how many blankets she’d want to be wrapped around and what film he’d eventually slip on the dvd player to cheer her up. He knew which one of his fuzzy socks she’d like to wear and what snack she’d love to have and he’d stocked up the night before after learning the news of her move. He was ready for everything and anything. Even for this, still unknown, upsetting thing.
“It was a scam” she hummed at the end of her tale. The job offer that both her and Harry briefly worried over, turned out to be just that. The too good to be true thing y/n and Harry had naively called it. And now, just how they had overlooked those details because the promise of being close again seemed worth every aching wave, they felt defeated. Sure, Harry would be fine after all, but he didn’t grow up sharing everything with y/n not to feel as betrayed and exhausted as her over this. They shared feelings in a spiritual level not even they understood, but learned to accept and work with. They would share her pain, and perhaps it would make it easier for her to handle, that’s how wonderful their friendship was.
Harry reached over his counter, caressing her cheek with his thumb, the palm of his hand resting warm on her face as he soothed her once more.
“It’ll be okay, y/n” he whispered but she didn’t believe it. What was she going to do? She had moved her whole life for this job, it was an irreversible trap and now she had…
“I have nothing” she buried her face in his chest, full body flush against him in look for comfort, and he let her get it out of her system.
Well. She had something, she realised as Harry kissed the top of her head.
“You have me, okay? And you always will” and she nodded, knowing well that it was true.
It was in an embrace as tight as that one they shared in his kitchen, that they laid in his single bed for the night, deciding to catch some sleep and calm down. The single bed was a grand idea, any more space and they would feel like seas apart. This was more than enough. The closeness was all they needed to relax.
For the first time since he’s known y/n, Harry found it impossible to sleep next to her. Something was off, and it wasn’t the fact that she had lost it all. It wasn’t that she didn’t know what she would do, for she knew that she had a home with Harry if she ever needed it, and most likely that’s what was going to happen until she got back on her feet, and while she would hate to be a burden, they both knew the plan wasn’t as insane, and she knew in the back of her head Harry would never feel like she bothered him.
Even so, something felt askew. It didn’t have to do with her, but with him.
His chest ached. It was a weird sensation. He had it the night before and assumed it was excitement over seeing his best friend again, but it hadn’t calmed down since her arrival, if anything it had doubled – tripled even – and he didn’t know what was going on. What confused him tenfold was the fact that she slept soundly. He was glad, don’t get him wrong, she needed it and deserved it after such a day. But it was strange that he was feeling something that he couldn’t place, something so bizarre, so strong, and their almost magical bond had not woken her up from her slumber as it did Harry.
He didn’t know what it was but it choked him up more when y/n cuddled up to him, arm resting on his chest, breathing hitting his neck, legs crossed over his, tangled in a mess of long limbs. He felt warm, like he needed air, but he was worried he’d wake her. Whatever it was, it was too strong to ignore any longer. It would be a lie to say he didn’t have a single clue as to what he was feeling. He refused to name it for months, but he couldn’t deny it any longer.
All he’s ever known is to share with y/n. From material things to memories and feelings. Tears of fear and anxiety threatened his eyes when he thought that maybe, just maybe, there was one feeling they weren’t sharing. That there was one emotion that wasn’t as strong in both their bodies like every other one was. They shared it all, but maybe they didn’t share the heavy thud of his heart against his ribcage. So strong he’s surprised she cannot hear. Maybe they don’t share the complete adoration Harry has for her.
And Harry was terrified of it.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think please! This will have a part two and instead of leaving all of you in the suspense and since I've written a lot of things where Harry doesn’t get the girl in the end, you guys can rest assured that something good will happen for this one.
