CHAPTER 20 #2
Work had been exhausting, and she probably should’ve gone straight home, but home at the moment meant Larissa’s house, and she’d been trying to spend a little time away from Larissa every day, if she could, to attempt to start the moving on process.
The bar had been a bust, though. Sitting on a barstool, drinking a beer and eating bad cheese sticks wasn’t the definition of a good time in her mind.
Having grilled cheese sandwiches with her best friend while they watched a movie together was the very definition.
Unfortunately, that feeling of being awake quickly changed back to exhaustion by the time the last game of the World Series started in the movie.
Larissa looked tired as well, and Harlow thought about suggesting that they just go to bed, but instead, she moved her legs into Larissa’s lap, as she’d done many times before, and Larissa held on to them without saying a word, as she had done many times, too.
Eventually, Harlow fell asleep to the sensation of Larissa’s hand moving up and down her calf over her sweatpants.
When she woke up, it was with something pressing into her back.
She opened her eyes to find herself still in the living room, and the TV in front of her was still turned on and was on the menu for the movie they must have finished after all.
Harlow looked down then and realized that she was on the couch, and Larissa was behind her.
And not just behind her. Larissa was holding her from behind, and it was Larissa’s nose that was pressed into Harlow’s back somehow.
Harlow knew she should wake Larissa up and pretend like this wasn’t a big deal.
“Friends cuddle sometimes, right?” She could say and laugh the whole thing off.
She didn’t move, though. She couldn’t. They had never fallen asleep on the couch like this before.
Larissa had fallen asleep once or twice, yes.
Harlow had fallen asleep, too. But they’d never both fallen asleep on a couch holding on to one another.
In fact, when Harlow had fallen asleep, her legs had been in Larissa’s lap.
Larissa had been sitting upright, watching the movie.
Harlow had been lying on her back, and her legs had unfolded and moved into her friend’s lap.
That had been it. How exactly had Larissa ended up behind her like this with her arm under Harlow’s boobs?
Her heart was racing, and given Larissa’s proximity to her, there was a chance that she could feel it and that it would wake her up.
Not wanting that, Harlow tried to get her act together and focus on the good.
Larissa was holding her. Larissa, her best friend, the woman she’d been in love with forever, was holding her.
Harlow had always wondered what it would feel like to lie in bed with Larissa like this.
Of course, in her mind, she had always been the one doing the holding, but this was nice, too.
Larissa holding her was nice, and she smiled to herself.
She was going to let herself enjoy this for a few more minutes.
That would be it because the clock under the TV told her that she only had a few minutes until she had to get up to shower for work.
“What time is it?” Larissa muttered from behind her.
“Hey. Morning. I mean, good morning. Yeah, it’s morning,” she rambled and covered her mouth with her hand to try to get it to stop.
“Harlow?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“All good. It’s time to get up, though. I need to shower before work.”
“We fell asleep, huh?” Larissa said, and her arm moved away from Harlow’s body, making her miss it immediately.
“Yeah, seems like it.”
“Sorry. I should have taken you to bed, but I was too tired to walk there myself, so I just crashed with you.”
“It’s okay,” Harlow said and moved to sit up. “I think I’ll go charge my phone before my shower so that it makes it through the day.”
She wasn’t sure why she had added that, but maybe just to have something to say that wasn’t about them falling asleep together.
“Want breakfast? I can make those toaster waffles for you to take with you,” Larissa offered. “Can’t mess those up, can I?”
Harlow stood, wiped her face with both hands, and replied, “Yeah, sure. Thank you. Just use the second setting on the toaster, please. Four burns them.”
“Two. Got it.”
“You have work?”
“Later, yeah,” Larissa replied.
“Okay. Well, I’ll shower then and head out.”
“Want coffee, too?”
“Will you put it in a travel cup for me, please? I’ll take it with me.”
“Will do. I can also pack you a lunch. I got that honey ham you like, and there’s tomato and lettuce, and you know about the cheese already.”
Harlow laughed and said, “Yes to all of that. Thank you. I’ll be ten minutes.”
She headed into her room with her phone and set it to charge. She had a few notifications, but nothing important in messages or on social media. There was an email that caught her eye, though. Harlow picked her phone back up and went to open it. She had gotten the apartment.