Chapter Text
The party was very boring and Harry hated it very much. Not only that he needed to accompany his parents and greeted his parents’ friends, enduring from the various cheek-pinching that had definitely turned his face all red and swollen, he was also required to wear this silly clothes that was all tight and restricting, with a reminder to make sure to keep it nice and clean by the end of the gala. The shoes were uncomfortable; he couldn’t even walk properly in it. Harry hated everything and wanted for the party to end so he could wear his comfortable shoes and shirt again.
So, it was not very surprising that as soon as opportunity presented itself, Harry sneaked out of the big ball room out into the garden that was tended by the kind Mister Scott. Harry was tiny for his age, so it was not difficult at all to slip between the guests. His feet—aching because of the shiny shoes—brought him further away from the party, deeper into the garden. He knew this garden very well and was about to head to his favourite hiding place but he stopped when he saw a man blocking the way. He could easily sneak around to avoid the man, but Harry noticed that the man looked very upset.
“Hello?” Harry asked carefully. The man looked up immediately, eyes wide. He had beautiful eyes, Harry thought, even in the dimmed light since the sun had almost set. “Are you alright? You looked upset, Mister.”
The man was looking at Harry oddly, but then smiled.
“I’m alright. What are you doing here?” asked the man, slightly accented. Harry looked down at his feet, glanced at the party behind.
“I’m getting bored inside. Everyone keeps trying to pinch my cheeks, so I sneaked away from mother.” Harry paused. “Please don’t tell mother or father,” added Harry just in case, looking up to see the man in his eyes because that was what his father always told him to do if he wanted to ask for something. He was ready to run if the man decided to bring him back to his parents; he would not get back inside. The man chuckled.
“I won’t. I think it’s boring inside as well,” said the man. Harry smiled in relief. This man was nice, which made Harry felt bad when he realised that he hadn’t introduced himself. His mother would be very upset if she knew about this.
“Um, I’m sorry. My name is Harry Hart. What is your name, Mister?” asked Harry, offering his hand like how he saw his father did. The man took his hand and shook it seriously. Harry liked this man even more now. Usually many people would laugh and giggle at him, not taking him seriously. He was six years old, not a baby.
“My name is Eg—umm, Gary. I’m Gary,” said Mister Gary with a soft smile. But then, he made weird faces and soon looked upset again. That wouldn’t do. Harry had not known Mister Gary for so long, but he didn’t want to see him sad. His smile looked better on his face, Harry thought.
“You look upset again. What is wrong, Mister Gary?” asked Harry curiously, taking Mister Gary’s hand to lead him to an empty bench nearby. Mister Gary looked dejected.
“I—I did something stupid. My boyfriend asked me to marry him, but I ran away,” said Mister Gary sad. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
“Boyfriend?” whispered Harry confused. There was a young gardener a few months ago who was nice to Harry and let Harry helped around the garden whenever he could sneak out. But then the young gardener didn’t come to work again. He heard conversations from the maids and how it was because his father found out that this young gardener was kissing another man. He asked his mother why about that and being told that it was wrong and not what the God wanted. Harry had been confused then.
“Yes, a boyfriend,” replied Mister Gary calmly. “When you actually care about someone, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a boy or a girl. So you can have a boyfriend even though you are a boy—or a girlfriend if you are a girl. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you truly care about them,” said Mister Gary. Harry frowned, thought about his mother’s explanation and then Mister Gary’s. Mister Gary’s explanation made more sense. How did mother know what the God want anyway? Harry nodded.
“You like your boyfriend, Mister Gary?” asked Harry curiously.
Mister Gary nodded. “I like him very much.”
Harry frowned. That was confusing.
“Then why don’t you want to marry him?” asked Harry again. Harry didn’t know much how marriage worked, but from story books he read, it happened when two people liked each other very much. Mister Gary went quiet for a few seconds before he answered.
“I guess… I was scared. I am scared. I—I love him, but what if after we get married, he didn’t like me anymore? What if we ended up fighting and I lost him? I am frightened, ” replied Mister Gary. That just made everything more confusing. His hands were trembling, so Harry placed his hands on top of Mister Gary’s trembling hands.
“Is your boyfriend a bad guy?”
“He is the best man I ever know. The best, the kindest,” replied Mister Gary.
“Does he love you?”
“He says so. But I don’t know whether he will now... that I ran away from him.”
“If he loves you, he will understand, I think. Do you want to marry him?” asked Harry again.
“I want to spend forever with him,” replied Mister Gary with certainty. Harry smiled. It was all simple and he wondered why Mister Gary was so scared and confused. It was not a difficult problem at all.
“Then, you should tell him so. You don’t need to be scared, Mister Gary. He loves you,” explained Harry. Mister Gary loved his boyfriend. His boyfriend loved him too. As long as they loved each other, nothing bad would happen. Mister Gary looked at him for a moment, before Mister Gary leaned forward to hug him, kissing the top of his head. Harry felt his face got warm.
“Thank you, Harry,” said Mister Gary, voice muffled through his hair. before he leaned away. Mister Gary stood up and then looked at Harry fondly with a smile so wide his entire face seemed like glowing. His eyes were twinkling like stars. “I will see you soon, Harry.”
Harry was about to say something, but then in between one blink and the next, Mister Gary disappeared. Harry frowned. He was there, and then he was not. Harry called for Mister Gary in the garden, but there was no Mister Gary at all. Eventually, his mother found him and dragged him back into the boring party—this time making sure that Harry couldn’t sneak away again.
Harry kept thinking about Mister Gary during the rest of the party, wondering whether he had imagined everything and fell into a rabbit hole like Alice because Mister Gary was nowhere to be seen. The hug felt real, but no one’s eyes should be twinkling like brightest stars and no one had a glowing smile. And also, man couldn’t get married to another man, Harry found out after he had asked his mother, although it was silly because why couldn’t man get married to another man?
Harry must have imagined everything up.