#'yeh this is [ship name] and [ship name]. yeah. for sure. totally' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

legend-waitforit-harry · 7 years ago

Text

Blame this on @hestylesno as she’s the one who sent me this pic from which this concept slew and then this… yeah. Also totally her fault for encouraging me further into it. So here you have it!

Featuring alien!Harry, scientist!Ed and a girl torn between her protective brother and a really beautiful stranger.

Harry has always been curious. Always taking the less traveled path, always peeking inside the haunted house, always eating that one thing his mother asked him not to. He wasn’t a rebel. No, Harry didn’t like to be called so. He was just curious, at times too curious for his own good. And that was everyone’s main concern when like all his other brothers and sisters he was to join the survey ship and take rounds of the neighborhood. Coming of age, it was a ritual for everyone on their planet to know their surroundings, which extended all through the Milky Way. He as a child, as a very very curious child, loved to know about his neighbors. Especially the ones from whom he got his name.

It is an interesting story, because it wasn’t supposed to happen, like most of the things that happened to Harry. He, like all the other children, learned to run before speaking. And running he was when he ended up in the radio centre. To his luck, the chamber was unguarded making our little mop of curls smile bright. With a keen interest in the galaxy, this opportunity was no less than any treat his mother could ever give him. And so he gladly took it. When the men in duty came back they found two stray messages aired in the vacuum of Space and a kid listening into the receiver intently. Now as much as it is a joy to see a child of his age sit so calm and quiet, it is never a good thing to intimate others out there of their presence without thorough research and a number of meetings of the Supremes. So the terror of the scene struck the men immediately as they tried to erase the stray messages and pull the kid off the receiver. But they realized it’s too late when there was a sweet voice coming through it calling for “Harry, Harry! Is that you?” And the little mop of curls bobbed in rhythm with a wide smile as he chanted, “Ha-ry, ha-ry”, his first words.

Those stray messages were never recovered and at last were left at the mercy of the Divine Star. The radio waves he caught on were traced to be from the blue planet, the noisiest planet with the most restless creatures, though nobody dared to reach out for it again. The whole incident became a matter of existential crisis as they hoarded in the craters waiting for the extra terrestrial beings to come invading their mother planet like one of them other ones who totally mistook their hospitality for submission. Thank the stars they were half their size. But this time they had someone else to blame and everyone was furious with this little boy who couldn’t hold on to his curiosity and has to go on endangering everyone’s life. Some said that if the aliens come they’ll trade him for their lives while others just wanted to throw him into the oblivion of Space already. But all he did was sit on his mother’s lap as he kept on chanting his new favorite word, “Ha-ry, Ha-ry”. And after about a year of waiting, when at last the Supremes decided that they were safe, the same people who wanted to trade the kid for their life boasted they knew it all along that they were safe. But none of that actually made his name Harry, except for the fact that he just won’t stop chanting it.

And due to all of this, on the day that the ship on task was about to leave, not only did he get kisses and words of advice from his mother, but also side glances and snarky remarks mixed with desperate pleads from all of the community. The Supremes nearly kept him from boarding but some rules even they couldn’t break. Thus letting Harry reluctantly embark the ship. And as it took off, everyone prayed to the stars to knock some sense into the curious boy and not let their own children die in the process.

But as it was, the stars had something else in store for him.

///

It was dark, too dark for your liking. And the candle melting on your hand didn’t help you much. And neither did your fuming rage. If blowing up the transistor and sucking in the power of the entire village wasn’t enough for your brother, he even had to forget where he left the torch. Cons of having a scientist for a brother you assume. But that doesn’t justify you haunting around the house with a candle like a ghost. And he deserves to know it.

With that thought, you pull down your hair and wrap a white sheet around you as you creep to his mini lab in your backyard with a candle in your hand. Even though he is a scientist and all, he has an active imagination when it comes to these things. And you would also like to think that you’re quite a convincing ghost with your preparations. Though you didn’t plan on the pitch black of the new moon making everything eerie, your own footsteps giving you goose bumps making you mutter all the prayers you know under your breath. But when the bushes behind you rustle and you could hear someone else’s breathing you couldn’t hold it anymore.

“Ed! Ed, I know it’s you.” You call for your brother taking cautious steps towards that corner. “Ed, that’s not funny. At. All.” You say sharply, sounding braver than you feel. But all that bravery drains you when Ed does reply to you, from behind.

“What’s all the ruckus for?” and you jump out of your skin. Turning around to find him at the threshold of his lab with the candles from inside marking his silhouette. “It’s-“

The sudden movement make you both turn to look at the figure emerging from the bushes and a scream instantly leaves both of your mouths soon joined by a third voice. Lifting the candle after you register the fact that the other person is as scared as you. You find a boy of your age, with a mop of curls, shining eyes and a bright red nose. As if on cue, he sneezes and you look down at the flimsy pink night gown he is draped in, which even in the dark you can say belongs to Mrs. Carlson down the street. You burst into a fit of giggle as he rubs his nose, eyes bouncing between the two when your brother at last recovers from the scare. “Whoa, mate! Could have given me a heart attack there. And what’s that you’re wearing?”

You examine the stranger’s confused face and decide that he might still be in shock thus turning around beckoning both inside the house. “I’ll find you proper clothes” you say going inside to dig for something fitting.

“Yeh new here?” Ed asks eying the guy as he looks around still rubbing on his red nose. “What’s your name, mate?” Ed tries again. But their guest just tilts his head staring at the ginger head like he is from another world. “I’m Ed.” He extends a hand which makes the guy recoil before taking it cautiously. Lips part and close as he tries to bring out a word but fails.

“Ha-ry. I’m Ha-ry” he says at last, slowly like he is testing his own voice. And surely he was as he recollected all the things they were taught in preparation for something like this.

“Ah, I thought you’re dumb or something. No offence!” Ed raises his hands in mock surrender.

“Ed, don’t scare him!” you come from inside with arms full of clothes which you dump on the couch. You look up at him smiling as he reciprocates with his own bright smile. Extending his hand, Harry mimics Ed’s previous actions and repeats himself, now with a higher pitch testing his voice.

“Harry!”

You giggle at his sudden surge of excitement introducing yourself. He joins you in as you both laugh with his freezing huge hands wrapped around yours seeking warmth.

But your brother butts in pulling you away. “Now that everyone knows everyone” he says a bit harshly as he stands between the both of you. “What were you doing in our backyard, Ha-ry?”

You look at the confusion clouding his face again, his cheeks pink from the cold. “At least let the guy dress up, will yeh?” You say elbowing Ed aside as you lead Harry to the other room to change.

Though you were less worried about the stranger in your house than fixing up dinner in the dark, Ed won’t stop mumbling things like if he is a thug, a serial killer, a runaway prisoner, a psychopath and his most favorite, an alien. You role your eyes at all of them, and specially the last one, though the fact that you are feeling so at ease about the whole situation itself is a bit disturbing to you.

“We are two. We outnumber him.”

“What if he has a weapon?”

“The guy hardly has clothes, Ed!”

Harry enters the room dumbfound staring at the both of you as you siblings stare back at him trying to calm down from your argument. “Wait, you gave him my clothes?”

“It was either that or Grandpa’s old dress shirts and sweater vests.” You speak taking in the sight of Harry drowned in a yellow sweater with skinny jeans and though the sweater is gigantic for him, the jeans just fit him perfectly. He catches your eye with his eternally confused look, “Huh?” And you think maybe he’d pull off your Grandpa’s clothes too.

“So, quiz time.” Ed claps his hands stepping forward, “Where are you from and what are are you doing here?”

“Ed!” you warn him and he looks back at you ready to defend himself but you beat him to it. “Not everybody is a genius like you. Let the guy be. He clearly looks traumatized enough without you giving him the third degree.”

Ed’s mouth opens ready to give a speech of his own when Harry chirps in, softer than before like he is talking to himself. “Trauma-…genius?”

Though he is just picking up the words trying to make sense about everything, his words comes out as a question which in turn elates Ed giving him a chance to re-introduce himself. “Dr. Ed Sheeran, you must have heard about me. The only one with a doctorate in a hundred miles radius and a thriving astrophysicist on his way to the millennium’s greatest discovery. I won’t have to be giving these introductions once I track those buggers up there” he mutters the last part to himself.

Harry takes his hand recognizing this gesture with another surge of excitement as he congratulates himself at knowing it. But Ed, in his moment of fame, mistakes the excitement as having to do something with his declaration. And his genius mind runs at the speed of light as he puts two and two together. “Are you by any chance one of them young boys pursuing to be in this field?” “What now?” you croak from behind, your mouth stuffed with cheese and crackers.

“Don’t you remember? The boys from the Catholic school, who wanted to get into research instead of living the mundane life of a teacher or a factory worker and then were shunned by their parents?”

“You mean the scandal that accused you of starting a cult? Yeah, sure.” You laugh thinking about the various accusations on your brother just for being different. Your all time favorite being him turning into Frankenstein.

Ed turns to Harry guiltily while Harry just tilts his head giving a nervous smile starting to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, more to the credit of his devoted time with the radio than to his lessons. “So…. Are you?”

Harry looks between both of your awaiting faces and does the only thing he feels natural. Bob his head in a rhythm as he smiles bright. You both let out the breathe you didn’t know you were holding, laughing at the tension that settled in the room. But soon that takes over with Ed’s eagerness as he drags Harry back into the garden shed that he made into his lab, ignoring your calls for dinner. Harry stumbles all the way to the lab, tripping over his gangly human legs as he is pulled into the cramped space. The wooden shack is spacious inside though is crowded with instruments and machines and the rest of the open space covered with research papers. Ed quickly apologizes clearing the papers before going on to explain about the various devices though Harry gets caught with the flickering flame of the candle. He raises his arm to touch it when the power comes on and everything in the room burst into live. A small shriek leaves Harry’s lips, mainly at the surprise of the artificial light though Ed takes it as a scare from his robotic arm. “I’m sorry. That’s Thing.”

Harry gives a quizzical look to Ed which makes him wave his hand in the air. “I know it sounds stupid. But I thought it’d be fun, you know like from the Addams’ family? Mr. Thing T. Thing? I know it’s not very original and all. But-“he switches it on as the hand springs up and waves at Harry. He looks at it confused and mimics the action. “It makes me coffee when I’m working! That little missy in there can be very moody when she wants.”

Harry smiles and nods again but then his eyes lock on the screen over Ed’s shoulder. And as Ed goes on to explain the mechanism of the arm, Harry zones out to the night sky showing on the big screen, with all the stars twinkling on its black canvas. And amongst it all is the one tiny dot that hardly seems any different but means the world to him, literally. His home.

Harry burst into tears soon after seeing his home as a tiny dot, instantly missing his people and feeling guilty of whatever happened. Thinking about how he screwed up yet again and was lost on this strange planet all alone. And the thought of it all was tolling on him. After his break down, without much of talking, you and Ed thought it’s best for him to be tucked in the guest room, only thing being that the guest room wasn’t a guest room but a store room cum library with a mattress. Ed explained to you, what he thought, was an emotional outburst from being overwhelmed to be so close to your dream. And though it did sound very absurd to you, you guess there wasn’t much you understood in this field.

Harry at last stopped sobbing but by then the whole house was silent with slumber. But that didn’t bother Harry as much as the fact that he didn’t know where he was. And in the darkness, without the knowledge of what the Earthlings call ‘electricity’, Harry resolved to use his absorbed solar energy, thanking the Divine Star as always before radiating the light he absorbed then embarking on the journey. The room immediately lit up to be a dusty old storeroom with boxes stacked in one side and cupboards covered in cobwebs but Harry found it all amusing. Being immune to the dust and dirt of this world, he eagerly dug into the boxes despite of the small voice in his head warning him that this might be dangerous, as if he ever listens to that.

Some boxes were less dirty and disheveled, filled with clothes that smelled the same as he was wearing, thus concluding they were procured from there. The others filled with odd little boxes which opened to thinner layers and a lot of tiny drawings scattered on them. Harry being a stranger to this mode of information keeping, didn’t understand the significance of the books he was holding, though he has always been faster in reading than speaking, being the youngest of his species to learn their letters. By the age when others were learning their alphabets, he already moved on to his mother’s literature collection. So even if he didn’t understand the concept of books, he understood the concept of reading and by the time the sun came up he was done rummaging through most of the books there, gaining enough knowledge to address a roomful of university students the Theory of relativity and at least explaining Shakespeare’s sonnets to a high school class.

The next day, Harry, though quite, seemed to be very fluid as he adjusted easily into your routine. He did his dishes after breakfast, cleaned up the guest room before taking a bath and was outright polite around you both, excusing the fact that you found him lying on the roof early in the morning. And though Harry easily pleased you with his polite but quite demeanor, Ed didn’t think so when Harry was taken to work.

“Can you not-“Ed has to rush around each time when he looks up to see Harry fiddling with a machine, his voice raising immediately making Harry jump a foot high. “-touch that please. The wiring is very delicate.” He finishes in a more calm tone once the tool is in his hands. But it is repeated all over again and again as Harry couldn’t keep his grabby hands to himself.

At last Ed makes Harry do the regulation of the radio waves instead of demonstrating them himself, knowing that this kid of a man couldn’t sit still until kept occupied. But to Ed’s surprise Harry is in fact an expert at radio communication tuning it in the accurate angle to acquire the right frequency at the first trial, something which even Ed has not mastered yet (he should have just hired an astro-radiologist). When the radio livens with the heavenly sound of cosmic blur Ed couldn’t stop from hugging the life out of Harry as he announces him in-charge of the radio and the best apprentice ever! (Which was pointless considering the only other assistant he ever had was you though you never agreed on anything like that)

Ed rambles a lot of half finished sentences trying to pick up his lecture from last night but getting distracted with his calculations every now and then. More often than none, he gets so engrossed in his research that he forgets to even straighten his back, let alone get out of the shack. But Harry doesn’t mind as he tries to focus and grab the waves from his vessel or his planet, whichever comes first. But it seems like a harder task than what he just did for Ed as the equipment given to him are way outdated than the ones he had back at home, at last these were running on ‘electricity’.

Truth be spoken, Harry was banned from the radio centre, or anywhere near it after the first incident. No one with sound mind would let him in that area and it killed Harry from inside because he didn’t have a good relationship with closed doors for obvious reasons. And with his petulant whining and pleads he landed with a radio receiver of his own, specially designed for him with only and only the facility of receiving waves and his family has never known silence since then.

But Harry couldn’t be more grateful about landing here out of all the places. He didn’t know much about the rest of the humankind but he knew for sure that Ed was one of a kind. And with his obsession with, indirectly, Harry’s life gave him a strange kind of security. He just felt assured that this is the best place he could be right now. So, all he focused at the moment was to find his ship.

When the sun set, you had to practically drag them both out by the collar for dinner when you stepped in the dark lab to switch on the lights, which obviously both of them couldn’t bother to do themselves. Ed couldn’t stop gushing about how Harry was so handy with the radio and all his new hypothesis though you couldn’t care less.

“I had to go around apologizing on your behalf again. The grocers said nobody would sell us anything if there’s another power cut because of you.” You lean on the counter trying to act stern though you have to hold your laugh when Harry gets cross eyed examining an egg like it was a dinosaur’s instead of a chicken’s.

“Those ignorant brats, they are! They’ll all be scattering around us for a piece of me once I’m done with this project.”

You sigh letting your chin drop. He is always so sure about his work but it has been years and there is just no progress and-

“Hey, you! Don’t get all sad on me. You do believe that I will get it through, right?” Ed stands by you squeezing your arm in assurance and you have to nod, at least for his sake. “I’ll prove that extra terrestrial life exists and all these are not just myths. And then NASA will be begging me to join them and then these people will miss us to bits. I’ll never let you and Professor Enoch down. He spent his whole life doing this, can’t let it waste now, can we?” he says chucking under your chin and you nod again with a bit more assurance though you doubt if it’s convincing. But you didn’t get to worry much as there is a cracking sound behind you and you turn around to see Harry’s cheek dripping with the egg yolk.

///

It is quite surprising how a third person fit in the small world of you both. Ed eases into the idea of having an apprentice and often in their breaks, you’d find them on your ragged couch sipping on tea with Ed rambling how penguins have individualistic sounds to recognize each other or how George Reeves is the best Superman ever(!) And Harry filling in a few words here and there in his slow drawling voice, which doesn’t only keep Ed occupied but also entertains you when Harry would take a break after seeing nothing but spots in front of his eyes from focusing on the screen for too long. You also love how Harry actually listens and even more how he takes pauses between words like every word he says has been delicately constructed just for you and how he gets animated with his hands and eyes when he tries really hard to explain something. And it gets even more interesting when he stumbles upon your Grandma’s stashed gypsy jewels and now more than often his lanky fingers adorned with gypsy rings are flashed all over your face.

Harry has also taken more of a liking to your dad’s shirts, not that you mind. And anyway, when he asks for kale juice in McDonald's, his exotic dressing sense is the last thing you’re worried about.

“You should hang out less with my brother. He is getting in your head.” You say sipping on your chocolate shake.

Harry just tilts his head frowning at you and you let out an exasperated sigh.

“He has adopted these strange things over the time. At least, now he isn’t eating his apples with ketchup.” You cringe a bit with the thought.

“And….. that’s weird?” Harry’s genuine confusion nearly makes you spill your drink.

But that never stopped you from dragging Harry along with you whenever you got a chance to. With your friends gone to uni and spending hours of looming around the empty house, it was good to have company. Though to no one’s surprise that led Ed to take over his brotherly duties of tormenting Harry each time he’d be around you. Like the time Harry was explaining you evidences of the existence of Atlantis (which vaguely sounded like a Vernian thesis your Granddad owned) while you were doing laundry in the basement and Ed busted in dragging a very confused Harry claiming that he really needs a tea break though he already took one not even fifteen minutes ago, leaving you to roll your eyes.

But anyhow, you know Ed loves him to bits. May it be the time you walked in the lab to see them subconsciously coordinating into a routine like an old married couple or when you trudge by the living room at midnight, sleepy and thirsty, to find them drunk and teary watching Downtown Abbey.

And if you still had your doubts, it vanished the night you three decided to binge watch movies. And you obviously insist on horror movies not only because you know full well that Ed is an easy scare but also because Harry starts boasting that it couldn’t make him flinch (though in reality he had no idea what a horror movie is) and you want to test his words. And true to his words you find him giggling away half way through the movie, but soon you join in as you notice that Ed sitting between the both of you is jumping at every little thing happening in the movie. But then your eyes meet behind Ed’s back and a devilish grin pull at your lips as he catches on your thoughts and reflects your grin.

You hold up your hand counting backwards from three and Harry mouths the numbers as you both pounce on Ed shrieking at the end scaring the daylights out of him. Even his red face and ragged breath and gushed cusses couldn’t stop you from literally rolling on the floor laughing. Making Ed dump all the pop corn on you both and vanishing into his room.

Though, overnight guilt takes over you and the first thing you want to do the next morning is apologize to your brother, except for he is not in any of his usual places. And worried you enter Harry’s room to wake him up when you find a sleeping Ed cuddling his pillow with a mouthful of Harry’s hair with one of Harry’s arm thrown across him as if he is protecting Ed from all those ghosts in his dream. The scene is so endearing that you’d have just stood there cooing at them all day but then again you had to take a photo to torment them both later.

It’s good to see Ed at last opening to someone after being a recluse for years following the demise of his mentor, Professor Enoch. He always was a misfit, with his red head and spindly limbs, and would be pushed around by the other guys. That was until he met Prof. Enoch, who also happened to be your Granddad’s best friend, and all of a sudden everything fell into place. With the telescope he got for his tenth birthday and books about stars and galaxies crowding his shelf, Ed became a favourite of Professor Enoch. And that was the first time he felt like he belonged somewhere. But the thing with them just so happened to be that both gave in to social isolation locking themselves in the Professor’s mansion for days on end and nobody would know what they were up to. And that’s why it hit him hard after the Professor’s death and Ed again confined himself, this time, to his make shift lab.

So after months of seeing your brother shut himself off, when the other day you went to the market without knowing that there were whiskers drawn on your face, you couldn’t be really angry on the red faced giggling duo of Harry and Ed. At least seeing him easing around someone, even at your own cost, it’s worth it. And just the fact that Harry spent the rest of the evening following you like a kitten and apologizing with a little pout wasn’t helping your anger either.

On the other hand, Harry is having a blast. To his great pleasure, he has learned a lot of new things. Starting with speaking skills to better ways of cracking an egg rather than to slap it on his face, though he still struggles with the idea of electricity and where in space Krypton is. But by far the best thing is the food. It’s all so different that he couldn’t have enough of it and that makes him utterly thankful for the metamorphosis adaptation enabling him to enjoy it all. Though when he tried the shorter green leaves from the lawn when the ones inside finished, all hell broke as you went off on Ed for starving your guest to madness.

And to think about it, you weren’t that far off with your accusations. Since just the other night, Ed was so engrossed that they completely forgot about dinner and Harry would have not noticed either if it weren’t for his grumbling stomach, which by now he has learned is his human body’s way of reminding him to eat. But with Ed busy and you asleep, he helplessly wanders in the kitchen sniffing every bottle and jar trying to find one of those things that you people make him to eat. And then he realizes that for the first time in his life he actually didn’t dig in and thus has no idea about cooking. But it seems that his luck was with him as you walk out drowned in a night shirt and PJs with printed cheese and bananas all over, making his stomach growl even louder which makes you chuckle knuckling at your sleep ridden eyes.

“Hungry, Harry?”

And he just stands nodding at you as you turn to the fridge to take out the frozen soup that you had for dinner. But by the time you prepare to heat it, you look up to find Harry licking off sugar syrup off his fingers.

“What are you doing?” You narrow your eyes at him with a smile creeping on your lips and he stops mid lick looking at you like a deer in the headlight. The sight makes you burst out laughing. He is about to scratch his head in embarrassment before remembering about the syrup on his fingers and you both cringe at the thought of what could have happened and then break into laughter again. Mid-laugh it strikes you and you switch off the heat turning to him with wide eyes as if you’re conspiring something and as always he is all ears for any and all of your conspiracies.

“Do you have a sweet tooth, Harry?” He tilts his head blinking at you for a while before deciding that agreeing would be the best way to go and he nods.

With that innocent look on his face, you feel wicked to pull out the bottom drawer and reveal your secret stash of chocolates. But it does not feel all that wicked when Harry looks into it with wild eyes as if you have just lit the Christmas tree. Picking a Hershey’s bar you give it to him as you pick a kit Kat and lift yourself on the counter with your legs dangling. Harry leans on the closed fridge door carefully unwrapping the bar and your eyes fix on the curls falling over his eyes and the shadow of his cheekbones lit by the dim light of the hall.

Your concentration is broken by a long moan as Harry tilts his head back with the first bite of the chocolate. A chuckle slips out of your lips and Harry looks back at you even more embarrassed now and immediately the guilt of laughing at him hits you.

“How long has it been since you last had a chocolate, Harry?”

“Too long.” He lies through his teeth.

“Strict parents?” And Harry nods without even thinking as he takes another bite.

“Our Mom was also strict about sugar in the house. Chocolates were only for Halloween. But dad was cool with it. He is the one who’d encourage us to have a secret stash, guess I’m stuck with the habit.”

“Where are they?” Harry asks with a frown stopping mid-bite. But when you hesitate he retracts. “You don’t-“

“Oh, no. It’s fine. We just don’t talk about them anymore.” You shrug, your chocolate long forgotten. “Our parents died in an accident when we were in our teens. But we didn’t know them very well anyway. Mum had a traveling job and dad traveled with her. To be honest, I don’t remember much from the time when we used to live together.”

Harry frowns at you with disbelief and you wonder if he is really close to his family.

“Do you miss them?”

And now it’s you frowning as you think back to the time when you last thought about them. “I think so, sometimes. I was really young when we were together. I remember at that time, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I’d say ‘my dad’. And my mum hated it. My dad was a writer, would sit at home all day surrounded by crumpled paper and ink stains all over him. His mind was always in a different world, always lost, a bit slow to catch on things but had the wittiest comebacks when he actually listens. I just… don’t know why I said it. Maybe it was just that, you know? To be able to lose yourself in a different head-space. Now I know why Mum hated me for saying that, I mean, she’s one of the strongest and the most ambitious women this small town has ever seen. Well, guess where Ed got his determination from?” You let out a breathy chuckle looking at Harry, but he is still frowning, listening to you intently, so you continue. “And dad on the other hand was just…. Nice, you know? Quite, always polite and… he was in fact the nicest person I have ever known. I think somewhere I still want to be like him.”

And you run out of words. This is a revelation to you as well as you think back to what you just said. You didn’t know how much you actually missed them or how much you remembered, but talking about it aloud brought back all the feelings and it is like your father is right there in the room with you.

“You’re nice too.”

Harry chirps in your thought train and you give him a wide smile. “Aw, you’re not bad yourself Harry.” You say patting him on the shoulder as you get off the counter heading to your room stowing away the intact kit kat back in its place.

“Thank you.”

You look back to see Harry watching you with soft eyes and a small smile and then at the half eaten chocolate in his hand. “It’s cool. You can grab one anytime you feel like. Just don’t tell Ed, I don’t share my secret stash with him, that’s why it’s a secret.” You end with a wink. But Harry just shakes his head.

“No, I mean everything. Thank you for everything.”

This makes you stop and stare at him for a while. His warm smile, glowing eyes and just… him. He feels so familiar but then again maybe it’s just memories fogging your emotions.

You nod with a small smile tugging at your lips as you turn to head back again.

“Good night, Harry.”

///

Between working with Ed and hanging out with you, Harry doesn’t regret much about all the mistakes that has led him to here. He would miss home, true. But in those times you’d hand him a glass of hot chocolate (he can never have enough of that) and start blabbering some anecdotes from your childhood to ease him which would inevitably lead to Harry teasing and cracking really bad jokes about it. And at last you decided to just stick to Ed’s embarrassing stories instead of yours (which you learned the hard way after bringing up the story where you accidently killed a spider when you were 7 and were scared for days thinking the giant mother spider will come to eat you and Harry, being the sweetheart he is, took it upon himself to scream “SPIDER!!!” pointing at your feet when you’re mid step often ending up with you falling on your ass). But he did appreciate it, the way you would rub his back when he was particularly feeling low and sad or just tired when your brother exhausted him by being the workaholic he is. He loved it how you would stay up late at night saying that you are reading a book or binge watching a show when you’re actually waiting for them and to remind them to have sufficient amount of sleep. And at those times, how your lashes would stick together refusing to open your eyes and you rub your eyes sighing (because you obviously cannot yawn when you said you’re not sleepy). And how you would leave sticky notes all over the house threatening them to take care of themselves and not burn the house down while you’re away.

But there is also something bothering him, the things he can’t explain. Like that small flutter in his chest when you’d smile at the ground thinking about something and when you cringed your nose when he cracked a joke, though he knows you like it and you’re suppressing a smile, and the way you look at him when he is talking even when he can’t remember the right words. And that flip in his stomach when you laughed at something he said wrong about some Earthling thing about society (why is everything so confusing here?) and then you would patiently correct him when it is not completely absurd, and if it is utterly absurd, that would earn him a slap to his chest and narrow eyes. And the sudden feeling of burning up when you would give him a sly smile and a wink when you both teamed up against Ed in a joke. Or the need to hold on to you when you would hug and his hands would trace over the soft bumps and curves of your body or when you rested your head on his shoulder after a long day and would nuzzle against his neck. And to add on, he couldn’t find a remedy in all of those books which was driving him crazy.

Not that Ed helps either. With his brotherly instincts kicking in, he just stands there throwing daggers at Harry when you both are giggling away at some inside joke. And more often than none he’d come in dragging Harry because “What if our brothers up there are calling us and we’re not there to pick up the damn phone!”

So Harry is just on his own in this one.

///

Ed has eventually relaxes around him over the time and trusts him with the lab and maybe even more. Harry has picked up on your habits and often takes on your job to remind Ed to eat in time and sometimes to even take pee breaks (because Ed is just so engrossed). He has taken Ed to be like a brother he never had. Where in his planet he never fitted in, with his long history of mishaps and different, often daring, thinking left him with no friends, here Ed didn’t care much about his mistakes and surely appreciated his thinking, especially when it was proving to be beneficiary to both of them.

And though he has always been a workaholic, breaks with Harry were surely becoming one of his favourite things. Usually in his breaks he’d opt to do some mindless TV surfing with a cheese steak and some beer, but Harry surely adds spice to his mundane routine. It turns out Harry was not very acquainted with any TV series or movies, which was strange since his knowledge of music wasn’t only varied but dated over decades (thanks to his radio). So, you and Ed took upon yourselves to update him with all your favourite things, starting from the superhero movies since Harry couldn’t shut up about Krypton (though Ed thought he was only ribbing him). But somehow they end up watching Before Sunrise with beer and nachos at their disposal.

“You know, this movie broke my heart for the first time.”

Harry didn’t know he was smiling at the screen until he turned to Ed with a frown. “What? How?”

“I mean, not the movie. Because of this movie. This point” he says pointing towards the screen with his beer bottle as they hop off the train in the movie, “where he says that ‘think of this as time traveling’ and I thought, you know I don’t want to have to do that. And I… had this girl in my class who was always my lab partner and she won’t do a thing and I’d do the whole thing and at the end she’d thank me with a smile and that’d be enough for me.” Harry chuckles shaking his head at Ed which Ed mimics, “Yeah, I was pretty whipped for her. So anyway, after I watched this I was like, what is the worst thing that could happen anyway? And now I can safely say that spaghetti stains on my favourite Heisenberg t-shirt was so not worth it.”

Harry burst out laughing with crinkles forming by his eyes and Ed just sat there shaking at himself.

“You know, I just realized you have never said anything about your childhood. You’re living with us and I don’t know a thing about you.”

Harry’s smile slid down his face as he thought back to the big secret that he is holding. He really wanted to spill the truth already trusting you both enough now. And the thought of tonight being the night makes his insides gooey.

“What do you wanna know?” he asks with a straight face, still considering if he should tell Ed about him already.

“How about…. Tell me how you got into this field, for starters?”

He had to squint his eyes considering the question. It’s not like he lied about that before, he has surely always been into this even back at home. But he doesn’t remember how it all started.

“I think… I was very young. My mum would tell me stories about people from faraway land as bedtime story and I just… wanted it all.” He ends with a shrug. That wasn’t hard, neither a complete lie. He does remember her telling those stories, though it was mostly because he urged her to.

“Your mom sounds very cool, Harry.”

Harry smiles thinking about her starting to miss her again but then he notices Ed’s face fall and his mind goes back to the story you told him a long time ago and he knew he somehow had to bring that smile back.

“You know once, I stayed up all night to see where the sun goes.” Harry said looking at Ed nudging him with his socked feet that lay upon the coffee table beside Ed’s. Ed looks up to him with a questioning look. “And then it dawned on me.”

“Was that a joke, Harry?” Ed narrows his eyes as Harry stares at him with wide eyes holding his breath. And Ed couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh shaking his head because it is just like Harry to say something like that and Harry joins in.

“I have another one!”

“No!”

“This one’s good, I swear. Okay, how do you know the moon is going broke?”

“It’s down to its last quarter.” Ed says with a smile already pulling on his lips.

“You knew that already!”

“It wasn’t funny anyway!” But he was still laughing as Harry whined and pouted.

And surely Harry was much more useful than just to crack really bad jokes when he is piss drunk (or not). And it all came to a result when one evening the radio starts beeping and all his gadgets blurring the red light. Ed and Harry jump to their feet looking at each other with matching expressions. They did it! At last they got something in return, they don’t know what yet but they did!

Both the lads couldn’t help but launch on each other with a tight grip jumping around in victory when the beeping increased to a shrill sound and they released each other looking around.

The heat meter was going mad, Ed noticed and turned to tell that to Harry but he was already heading to record the signals that made them dance to their victory.

“Good thinking, mate! But you should really-“

Ed leaned in beside Harry looking at the screen with it’s ECG like marking when the whole system blew off due to overheating. You entered on time to see their darkened ashen faces staring at you with matching pouts and hair stood on attention. And you barked out in laughter. That is until the lights went off with a distant burst.

“EDDD!”

///

You were pissed off, no doubt. No matter how many times Ed apologized for blowing out the transmitter, again. He knew that you were so pissed that he even made Harry apologize to you with all his charm and “we’re so sorry, love. To make the current a history.”

But all the charm and jokes couldn’t have persuaded you, especially since you were the one who went out to the city for about everything and were answerable for all their acts. You warned them and they had to learn soon.

And that’s how the socially awkward duo found themselves walking to the market the next day. Ed remembers your outburst from the last time he blew the electricity and he totally gets it. With the side glances and whispers storming around him, he can feel the heat raising his neck already. This was most probably the best way to punish him.

And if that wasn’t enough, the first shop that Ed goes to, just to hide from others, turns out to be Steve’s. The same Steve who in school used to hide Ed’s books and call him names and pull ridiculous pranks on. And the smirk that pulls on his lips tells that he hasn’t changed much.

“Look, who do we have here? The crazy scientist and… who’s this? His lab rat?” Ed gulps cowering into himself, memories from his childhood flashing in front of his eyes.

Harry looks at Steve then Ed and then back at Steve. “He’s not crazy! Don’t look at him like that!” ‘Cause how dare someone look like that at his human?

“Harry, don’t.” Ed mutters trying to keep Harry from pouncing at Steve already which just agitates the bully more.

“Oh, so have you got yourself a boyfriend here, ginger? Is he the alien that you’ve been waiting your whole life for? You really had to summon someone from the another planet ‘cause you couldn’t get any on this, didn’t you?”

And that was what triggered Harry because no one should ever put anyone down for their passion, and this was Ed we were talking about.

With all his concentration Harry had to pull that one trick that he hoped he’d never had to, the heat of the Divine Star that he had absorbed that morning focusing on his target to form a laser like beam. To be honest it’s more like a magnifying glass focusing the sunlight at a point but it’s enough to burn and burn it does as Steve feels the heat on his head with the smell of burning hair overpowering his senses. His hand immediately clutched his head holding on the wrinkling hair patch as Ed laughs out at his plight despite of not understanding it. And soon the rest of the crowd that gathered around starts laughing at Steve’s misery as Harry and Ed moves on with the shopping taking advantage of the shifted attention.

“Thank you for standing up for me, mate.” Ed says to the ground on their way back. Harry shrugged not thinking much of it. “No, I seriously mean it. I’ve never had a friend, so it’s nice to have someone by your side, you know.”

Ed looks up at Harry when he nods urging him to go on. “I’ve spend my entire lifetime dreaming this one dream that I never got to really live, you know. And I don’t regret that! But yeah, it’s nice to have someone.”

“You spend your whole life on this one project?”

Ed nods looking out in the distant like he can look back at the small kid with specs bigger than his face drowning in books heavier than him. “I’ve been curious about the universe since ever. But when I learned the possibilities of life outside the Earth, it got me even more excited. I think it was partly because I felt like I didn’t fit here and maybe… That makes Steve right, doesn’t it?” His laugh was empty and it saddened Harry. But he couldn’t do much then bump his shoulder against Ed’s and that was enough to earn him a smile.

“Why are you so sure that there is anyone there?” Harry asked again changing the topic. And it did wonders as Ed looked at him with a smirk of his own.

“Can I let you in on a secret?”

Harry frowns at that, his stomach flopping in a not so good way. But he leans in anyway, all ears.

“So I was living with my Professor, yeah? We were doing really well on this one project, it wasn’t a big deal. Just some model radio thingy. It wasn’t even supposed to work as an astro radio, you know, like the one we have back in the lab. It was more for the microscopic range. But one night it just started beeping all strange. The maid thought it was possessed. Turns out it caught some signals, which was strange since it didn’t work properly. And it didn’t, not at least like it was supposed to. Instead it caught radio signals of macroscopic scale and we found two different records. Now we never deciphered them, so it wasn’t really viable officially. But we knew it was from them and that’s why I just need to get them again this time around and decipher it. If we have a record to present later, no one can discard that!”

All through that, Harry thinks he might have an inkling of what Ed is on about. But he refuses to believe that his childish mistake can shape out someone’s entire life, so he pushes that thought back in his mind and grabs at everything else.

“So if you were to find someone out there you’d befriend them?” Harry asks to distract though he also wants to test the water if he can at last reveal his identity. He has been itching to do so every time he realizes just how much he has come to adore the both of you.

Ed bursts into laughter that sparks hope in Harry before Ed continues, “yeah sure. Once I dissect them to see what all the buzz is about” and that makes Harry freeze.

///

With the whole system blown off, there wasn’t much to do in the lab for them. But Ed was determined on getting it fixed as soon as possible to check if the signals that they got yesterday could be retrieved at all. And as much as Harry wanted to help, he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Ed after his intention of cutting an alien into pieces. Even the thought makes Harry shiver. And miss home. So he heads out to his favourite secret spot (as he had to sneak out every time after the first time he got caught), the roof.

He laid there, his limbs sprawling out as he stared at the stars above, naming all of them thinking back to their atmosphere and the people out there. But mostly, that one small star that looks like it forgets to twinkle, the place that he calls home. He is just about to get teary eyed when you find him. Clearing your throat you announce your arrival and he nearly tumbles off the slant. And though he feels like he could have died with a heart attack, the sound of your laughter eases the pain a bit and a soft smile settles on his lips.

He helps you out to lie on the roof as well, staring at the sky without saying anything. And he wonders what you think of the tiny star that is his world. But before he could say anything you start.

“Thanks… for what you did today. Ed told me. He’s really happy to have you here, you know?”

“I know.” Harry replies on autopilot though he can hear the warmth of your gratitude.

“You’re like the brother he never had and he’s really grateful for it.” Your words make Harry soften from his previously rough mood and he wants to tell you that he is grateful too, to have you both.

“So am I.” But you beat him to it as you turn your head to see Harry looking at you from your side where he is laying.

Harry opens his mouth and closes, words barely forming. And you couldn’t help but stare at those lips thinking how soft they would feel on you.

“I am grateful for you lot too. I never really had friends.” And Harry turns back to look at the sky. You sigh shaking your head lightly laughing at your own thoughts.

“I did. Loads of them. But now here I am, stuck with two dorks.”

Harry chuckles before saying, “What happened to them?”

You sigh, unknowingly playing with your hair. “Nothing. After school everyone moved to uni and nobody remembers the girl left behind with her excuse of a gap year to take care of her up-to-no-good brother”

You laugh again as you say that though Harry is frowning at you. “Really?”

You at last catch on what he is saying, “uh no. I mean, I didn’t just stay back because of him, of course. I didn’t even know what I’d major in. Growing up I’ve seen Ed and…. He has always been so ambitious. He always knew what he wants from life. Me on the other hand, I have no idea. I couldn’t even decide on my major.”

“Maybe you can become a writer… with all your crazy stories about giant spiders.”

That earns him a slap to his chest making him chuckle. The vibrations in his chest forming a sweet hum under your fingertips and you leave your hand there.

“Yeah, right. After staying with my brother for so long the only thing I’d be able to write about is alien invasions.”

“That’d be great too!” he exclaims with a spark zipping through him.

But you dismiss it with a “Nah, that’s overdone.” He falls back.

He is just about to start whining that if you don’t show them as invading but just visiting with warm hugs and treats that’ll make it more interesting (and realistic), when you call his name softly. He’d have thought it is just the wind but he can feel you tense up beside him, your words just sitting at the tip of your tongue.

“Do you think anybody’s really out there?” you ask just above a whisper.

You know that’s a stupid question to ask him since he is also working towards the same goals as your brother. But you need to know what he thinks. So you hold your breath.

“Why, yes! Of course.” He says after a dramatic pause. And his declaration knocks the air out of you and makes you look up at him with wide eyes.

“Who, Harry?” you say quietly as if the air around you is fragile and might break if you speak any louder.

But Harry doesn’t seem to care about any fragility as he sits up and makes a gesture that was too fast for you to follow. You sit straight and lean closer to examine his clasped hands that he is offering you. And when he opens his palms slowly there is a small yellow light sitting right in the middle.

“This little fella.” He says softly as the firefly lifts up from his hand lighting up both of your faces as you both look at his blooming and dimming tail as he flies off.

As the light gets distant your eyes fall back on Harry and you can feel your blush creep on your face when you see his eyes trained on your lips. His smile wavers, just a bit, when he looks up at you to see that he is caught. But then ever so cheeky, he just licks his lips and smirks at you melting something inside you.

You don’t even realize you’re leaning in until you feel his breath hit on your Cupid’s bow and you close your eyes. And right then, you hear Ed’s voice bellowing from downstairs calling for Harry, just the perfect timing. You internally groan as Harry helps you off the roof and you pretend to not notice the slight tremor in his structure.

///

You and Harry stand facing a very red faced Ed sitting stupefied in front of his monitor thingy. In the clouding confusion, you want to ask him what’s up when you notice that he isn’t even looking at you. Following his line of vision, you look at a very timid Harry, equally red faced though evidently for a very different reason. On instinct you step towards Ed trying to defend Harry for whatever it is that is brewing between them when Ed speaks up in an accusing tone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Harry gulps. He knew. He obviously knew! He knew it since the time he got the signal; it was his ship contacting him. They were coming they said. And that’s why he was more interested in reading the rest of the message rather than manage the overheating machines. But he never got to read it completely and from then he is just counting the time that he has left with you two.

And apparently, Ed has not only fixed the system but retrieved and deciphered the message as well.

“I wanted to.”

“What’s going on, guys?”

“Why didn’t you?” If Ed were a cartoon, there’d be steam above his head. And you’ve never seen him like this. But the part that breaks your heart is the teary eyed Harry who is choking on his words as he tries to explain.

“I wanted to! I just… you were about to dissect me.”

“How could you think like that, you fool! You’re like my brother. I’d never. But I don’t think I mattered at all anyway. This whole time you were just using us to get back, weren’t you?”

“GUYS! Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

You stand between them looking at both of them with bewildered eyes. Your stomach knotting fearing the unknown.

“Ask him.” Ed says looking away. And you turn towards Harry who couldn’t meet your eyes either.

After a few seconds pass by Harry starts with his voice shaking. “I didn’t come from that village you thought I did… I don’t even remember what was the name you said. But… I just didn’t know what to say at the time. I couldn’t just trust anybody… and I was scared. I mean… it is normal to be scared if you end up all alone on a different planet, right?”

Harry looks at you with red rimmed bleary eyes when you gasp in realization and disbelief.

“I was so so so scared. It was all my fault. I wanted to look closer so I got my cousins to fly the ship lower and lower. And then I was peeping out though we were never supposed to be this close to any planet without instructions. And I just… I think I miscalculated the force of gravity of Earth. I fell and everyone panicked and they kinda… left me. I mean, it was just my cousins actually, the elders didn’t even know, or else they’d never let us so close in the first place.”

“And it was so dark and after the metamorphosis, humans are really weak, no offense. I couldn’t see in the dark and it was freezing and I… was all alone. I don’t think I’d have survived if it weren’t for you guys. But I was just scared…. And by the time I got used to you, I didn’t know how you’d take it. So, I just waited.”

“Waited for?” You couldn’t stop yourself before asking.

“For you to find out.” He shrugged though he was anything but non chalant.

Harry’s eyes lingered on the both of you. A shocked you and an angry Ed, and he could feel another wave of fresh tears forming in his eyes and Ed chuckled dryly.

“And we did! Cheers mate.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry begged but you looked away.

You couldn’t let his big eyes, pout and broken voice get to you right now when you had a crisis in hand to handle. You looked at Ed who was already on his machine working something and you had an inkling of what it might be.

“What now?” Your question comes in a sharp breath, though you don’t feel as in control as you sound.

Ed sigh running his hands over his face and you couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling right. You ignored the blabbering mess that Harry has reduced to as Ed frowns down at his equipment.

“I can try sending them a message telling them where to find us.”

He breathes out and your heart swells with pride for your brother as Harry stands still realizing that Ed indeed would help him out despite his personal feelings.

“You… You will do that for me?”

“I don’t know what you thought of me, mate. But I can never cause you any harm.”

You hold on to Ed’s arm feeling his anger pulsing under his skin.

“I… I really didn’t want to hurt you. Trust me.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Harry. The point is you never trusted us!” And your grip on him tightens with your own heart breaking at the thought.

“I don’t want to leave like this.” His voice watery as he looks at the both of you with pleading eyes.

Ed looks at you for a second and you, for the first time this whole evening, notice that it wasn’t anger at all that was coursing through him, but sadness.

“Then don’t leave.” Ed whispers looking at Harry that makes him gasp with a sob. And before you could blink, Harry launches himself on Ed enveloping him in a bear hug and Ed reciprocates as you see his face reddening with his own eyes brimming with tears.

You wait beside them grasping your chest as the impending farewell dawns upon you as well. But you don’t get to shed a tear as Ed looks at you from the side and invites you in their hug. You’re all a teary mess when there is a loud chaos outside.

You break away first to look at the home made analog clock sitting on the shelf.

“I’ll go look what’s happening, you both get working on the message.”

The words coming out of your mouth wilts something in you but Harry already knows that as he reaches up for your hand squeezes it and you offer him a small smile before you can break down already.

The noises from outside gets louder as Ed clears his throat getting your attention and lifts his chin directing you and you couldn’t help but roll his eyes at him.

It turns out that the noises were only getting louder because it was the whole village heading towards your house with torches and what seems like sticks and weapons and you shiver to your bones. It won’t have threatened you as much as it does if it weren’t the incoherent chants about your brother and his alien friend. You don’t know how they’d know if you both found out just right now. But then the crowd was led by Steve and you never expected him to follow logic anyway so it didn’t matter. You bolted across the house locking all doors and windows before heading back to warn the guys. But Steve already spotted you.

“Tell your brother his secret is out. You cannot hide that thing out here forever.”

You keep on reminding yourself that you don’t need to listen to him and your top priority right now is Harry and your brother’s safety but Steve always brought the worst out of you.

“If anything that should be hidden is your ugly mug.” You spat out.

“Always the feisty one, aren’t you? Go get that creature and hand him over to us or we’re burning down the house.”

You were done taking threats and you head out right to the front yard facing the crowd, staring down at their leader who was double your size.

“Try stepping into my Granddad’s house and see who’s the one burning into flames.”

This agitates the crowd into a chaos making Steve sneer at your helplessness as you are outnumbered. But you don’t care as long as you get to land a few on his smug face but you stop when your hear our name being called out from behind you and you turn to see Ed and Harry looking at the crowd.

“There is that pest. Get him!”

Ed grabs Harry’s hand and pulls him towards the forest though Harry’s eyes are trained on you as you try to ward off the crowd unsuccessfully. When at last you realize that you were clearly outnumbered and you couldn’t save them, you head towards the other way into the forest where they disappeared.

You can hear some people following you as well and you try to outrun them by taking the rough route that you are used to since your childhood. Anything that keeps them off Harry and Ed’s tail. And you are successful until you hear others through the woods and you don’t know where they are.

You stop to catch your breath and look back trying to locate the noises. Until someone bumps into you from the back and you turn around to see Ed about to scream and you have to clamp his mouth before he can.

“Ugh disgusting” you remove your hand when you could feel Ed’s tongue graze your hand and clean it on your cloth. He mutters an apology before looking up to watch the crowd on the other side who were still looking for them.

“Now what?”

“I have an idea.” Harry mutters before focusing on the opposite way.

“What are you on about?” Ed asks frustrated, fixing the strap of the bag that he is carrying.

But before Harry could reply the woods where he was looking at starts crackling and smoke fills the air. You watch the trees catch fire as Ed turns to Harry in awe, “Wow that was you?”

Harry shrugs, “I’ll teach yeh that the next time.”

“Wait; is that what you did to Steve in the market today?” Ed looks at Harry suspiciously. “We should go! We’ll be late!” Harry says with wide eyes as if he just got caught red handed.

“Wait, what?!” You ask totally lost on what the guys are talking about but you don’t get to ponder upon as the people on the other side notice the fire and erupt into shrieks followed by instructions.

Ed leads the way as Harry pushes your shoulder slightly in the direction to distract you from staring at the blazing forest fire and the people across it.

“Let’s go.”

///

You have no idea where you are heading as Ed leads the way and you reach a clearing. You people at last stop as Ed looks at his watch.

“They must be here anytime now.”

“Not so soon, bugger.”

You watch in terror as Steve crawls out of the woods drenched in water and out of breath. You look behind him but can’t see or hear anyone else. Relief washes over you as you check nobody was following him but not for long as you watch him head towards Harry with anger burning in his eyes.

“Do not go near him.” Ed threatens standing in front of Harry.

Steve’s eyes flicker between the both before bursting into laughter. “Or what? You’re gonna throw a punch, Edward?”

And you prepare to step up before you watch Ed pull back his arms.

“Oh piss off!” and with that he actually throws a punch knocking Steve out.

Ed stands there surprised by his own strength clasping his bleeding fist as Harry and you throw your arms around him in congratulatory hug.

Your shrieks of rejoice are soon overpowered by a strengthening breeze and increasing buzz from above as you turn around to watch the distant light growing brighter.

Ed turns to Harry, his arm around his neck as he squeezes his shoulder.

“You’re going home.”

Harry couldn’t help but bury his face on Ed’s shoulder with a silent “I’ll miss you.”

“yeah, right. Obviously you will. Who else will argue with you about penguins and octopus now?” he jokes but you can hear his voice cracking. “You are the best apprentice I can ever ask for.”

“Heeeey” you say with mock offense just to realize that you’re choking on tears as well.

“I thought you didn’t want to be my apprentice.” Ed says wrapping his other arm around you when Harry looks at you.

Your heart skips a bit as he smiles at you, his eyes looking right into yours. And you don’t know how will you ever let him go.

Ed backs off, awkwardly heading towards the approaching ship, for the first time ever giving you both privacy.

“I’ll miss you.”

You both say at the same time and burst out laughing before catching your breath and looking at each other again. Harry’s eyes slide down to your lips and there is the flutter in his chest again. He doesn’t know if he is allowed to, now that you know who he is. But you just roll your eyes with a smile, “Come on, now!” and pull him by the lapel of his shirt until his lips smashes on yours.

Your teeth knock and your nose bump and you both feel each other shake with laughter. But soon taken by the warmth of your skin and the softness of his lips and the smell of your shampoo and the taste of his mouth, you couldn’t stop your fingers getting tangled in his curls as his hands rest on your waist. You tug his hair, he pinches your love handles and you have to pull away because you know that’s all you’ll ever get together.

He rests his forehead against yours and you breathe in the same air.

“You can be anyone you want” he whispers against your lips, his thump stroking your skin. “Just follow your heart, love. It might not always be right but you’ll never regret it. At last, that’s how I found you, the nicest person I know.”

He smirks repeating your once said words to you and you have to grip his shoulder because obviously he has to say something like that right before he leaves. But instead of allowing another tear to fall, you steal another kiss and pull away completely.

Ed stands there capturing photos of the ship that has landed twenty feet away from you and you have to hit him on the shoulder to stop being so inconsiderate.

“What?! He doesn’t mind.” You look up at Harry and he shrugs.

This was the least he could do to thank you both for everything.

You look up at the not so gigantic ship with all the intricate details that pretty much makes it look like a cartoon space ship, though not the typical one, as Ed hands Harry his bag and a last hug.

The door of the ship opens slowly, with the light increasing to a blinding point and Harry couldn’t contain his excitement anymore. There are the silhouettes of his people on the entryway to welcome him and he happily walks towards them with a pep in his steps.

Ed keeps on snapping photos and only stops to wave Harry bye before the door closes. And just like that, the ship prepares to take off.

You both look at it as it lifts off the ground with smiles on your face and tears in your eyes. Until there is a meek voice from behind. You turn around to see Steve looking at the ship as well, “What is…” And he faints again out of shock making you both burst into laughter.

///

Ed at last got the recognition from world renowned scientists and organizations. His research published into books and he was in news as the potential Noble recipient of the year. He credited his professor in his research and a certain curious child who couldn’t keep his hands off the radio and send random messages about banana and candy floss into the universe because of whom it all started. Among all the invitations of universities and research laboratories that he received, Ed got a lot of offers to choose from where to continue his research. But instead he opted to buy and transform his respected Professor’s house, his first research lab, into an institute and encourage young scientist to believe in their dreams. But only after a long and well deserved break in Hawaii.

Whereas for you, you at last decided on your major and went back to the social life you once had, now that Ed can afford real assistants to take care of him. You didn’t exactly take up writing as a livelihood, no. You were majoring in psychology to be able to understand how on earth your brother is still considered a human, though you might or might not have a secret stash of stories about unrequited love and fireflies.

But wherever you both are, one day every year, you both meet up in the small shack in the backyard of your granddad’s house to tune into the cosmic blur and listen about all the mishaps that goes on in the other end of the universe until your stomach aches from laughing and face hurts from smiling.

a/n: Shoutout to @twistofpayne for going through the 12K+ words of mess that it is, over and over again. And to the lovely @stylessemantics for keep on telling me that this isn’t completely crazy.

#soooo this happened #please be nice #alien!harry #my writing #harry styles fanfic

78 notes · View notes