𝐻𝐴𝑈𝑁𝑇𝐸𝐷,

he’d looked up just in time to catch that roll of her eyes.  at this point he knows she knows better, so he’s not even bothered by it.  but then it was his turn to roll his eyes, accompanied by another small smile as he looked back down to start finishing up with his paperwork.       ❝  i know.  i do take breaks.  how do you know i don’t?  ❞      he really enjoys the fact that they can be smart with each other yet neither gets offended.  probably cause neither of them mean any harm with it.  

❝  hey —  ❞      his head snaps up and he turns around in his desk chair when liz grabs the papers from him.   she’s lucky he wasn’t in the middle of writing something.       ❝  c’mon, i was almost done.  two minutes tops.  ❞     could he get those papers back from her?  probably with not much issue.  was he going to let her win this one?  absolutely.  

❝  okay, fine.  food’s more important.  ❞       he stands up, nudging his chair more into his desk, lifting a hand to touch her arm – a way to tell her to come with him.       ❝  you up for that little corner cafe?  ❞

          𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒, 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄.

it’d been years since he’s seen her.  years since he’s heard her voice in person.  years since he’d said a word to her - and since she’s spoken to him.  he can’t blame her for disappearing - for leaving oscorp, not speaking to him.  she knew.  one of the few who knew the story.  (or at least the gist of it).   but where she can just push the past behind her, try to forget about whatever happened?  he couldn’t.  he wasn’t allowed to forget.  because if he forgot?  what’s to keep him from letting slip?  letting what triggered that break the first time do it again?  

and it ate away at him - unable to forgive himself for what he had caused despite having no control over his actions, no control of his mind.  and seeing her in front of him right now, he sees that she’s unable to forgive him, too.  it’s all in her body language, how she reacts to him.

he saw the way she moved away.  he didn’t expect that to feel like a knife.

❝  something tells me that you still haven’t figured that out.  ❞      his tone was soft, struggling to mask the hurt he just encountered.  something he likely deserved for causing her pain he’d never know the extent of.  when her eyes finally met his again, it took every bit of will in him to not look away.  he wasn’t sure which was more painful - meeting her eyes, or seeing her afraid of him.       ❝  i thought about you, too.  ❞      he spoke after some silence, a hand clasping the other to try and stop the tremble.       ❝  it both tore me apart and kept me together…  ❞

gaze cast down, finally breaking free of that pull to her.        ❝  so you’re a lawyer now.  ❞      he doesn’t know what else to say.  he doesn’t want to let the conversation end - wants to talk to her again.  he knows it’ll never be what they had before.  he’s not even sure if they’d ever have anything together again.  but if this was the only opportunity he had to actually talk to her?  he was going to take it.  

          𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑.

          𝐒𝐇𝐄  𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓  𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊  𝐀𝐓  𝐇𝐈𝐌  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐖𝐀𝐘  𝐒𝐇𝐄  𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃  𝐓𝐎.

     her  arms  are  crossed  tightly  over  her  chest,     nails  digging  into  bare  arms:     barely  notices  the  cool  bite  of  the  wind  as  she  avoids  eye  contact.     YEARS  had  passed,     she  was  a  LAWYER  now,     but  she  couldn’t  seem  to  let  him  go.     she  still  loved  him,     despite  everything  he’d  done,     despite  the  way  she  ran  from  him.      HE  WAS  A  MONSTER     ——     she’d  convinced  herself  of  that,     convinced  herself  that  he  never  really  care  about  her,     not  the  way  she  cared  about  him.     HE  KILLED  GWEN.     she  can’t  forget  that,     can’t  forget  the  tears  that  streamed  down  her  face  at  the  funeral.     SHE  CAN’T  FORGIVE  HIM.     but  she  can’t  help  the  tingle  in  her  spine,     the  butterflies  in  her  stomach,     the  way  she  wants  to  touch  him.     she  longs  for  the  hug  she  used  to  find  comfort  in,     but  the  FEAR  prevents  her  from  stepping forward     [  .  .  .  ]     if  he’d  killed  gwen  so  easily,     then  what’s  stopping  him  from  doing  the  same  to  her?        she’s  certain  the  fear  is  obvious  in  the  way  she  shuffles  back,     the  way  his  words  make  her  physically  cringe.     THIS  WAS  A  MISTAKE,     the  same  way  it  was  a  mistake  that  she  wasn’t  able  to  help  him  in  the  first  place.     she  should’ve  been  there  for  him,     she  should’ve  helped  him.     ❛     HARRY,     i     [  .  .  .  ]     ❜     she  doesn’t  know  what  to  say,     hasn’t  known  what  to  say  for  a  long  time:     how  do  you  tell  the  man  you  once  loved  that  you  can’t  bear  to  look  at  him  anymore?     ❛     i  spent  everyday  for  months  thinking  about  you.     ❜     another  pause,     &     finally  her  eyes  shift  upwards,     heartbreak  flooding  her  body  all  over  again  as  she  looks  into  blue  orbs.     ❛     i  could  never  figure  out  how  to  let  you  go.     ❜

last song –––  champagne problems by t swift  currently reading  –––  nothing bc depression but i intend to read the shining by stephen king when i have the motivation  currently watching  –––   the good doctor by myself and jersey shore with my bf  last movie  –––  texas chainsaw massacre: the beginning   currently craving  –––  spaghetti 

❝  yes, i’ll be grabbing lunch when i’m finished filling these out…  ❞      blue eyes barely lifted from his work - just enough for him to see who was walking into his office.  the upwards curl to his lips showed he really did appreciate her checking in on him, even if he seemed to be stubborn on not needing it.  (he does.  he gets caught up in work far too often and forgets food exists).  but before she could say anything in response, he fully looks up again.

❝  or is this more a business visit than friendly?  ❞      liz had just been working for the company when they met.  harry went into this not intending on making any friends from oscorp, but somehow she managed to be that exception.       ❝  d’you have time for lunch?  ❞

          𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌.