There was a cowboy – a sniper, a sharpshooter, a boy brushing against the line that was keeping him from being a man. There was a cowboy, and Harry loved him.
A cowboy who seemed to hide a miniature sun behind his teeth whenever he smiled and Harry knew that he would be given a heated glare if these thoughts ever managed to escape his mind and leave his mouth without a filter, but he couldn't help it. There was something about Irvine Kinneas that drew the wizard to him, inexplicably and without reason. It would have been painful, had Harry not accepted it a long time ago.
Neither he nor Rinoa had a place in with this wayward group of misfit soldiers. That didn't stop Harry from trying to build his own niche from the outside, though. Both may have fought with these friends, but that didn't mean they felt included. Rather, they would stand on the side lines, leaning against one another, and watching as the childhood friends stuck together.
Of course, no one realised that they felt this way – and Rinoa hardly ever showed it, since she felt more included than Harry did. Perhaps Squall falling in love with her, and she in return, gave her more inclusion than a boy with a one-sided crush would ever gain.
But then Irvine would turn to him, easy smile on his lips and hat tipped backwards, beckoning the wizard over to their group and would pull him into the fold. Jokes would be made and a stupid pick up line would follow after, to which Harry would reply, "You're ridiculous, cowboy." And he would wonder if the other ever realised – if he noticed the feelings he held so close to himself.
He doubted it.
So as he stood against the wall, watching Selphie leaning against the love of her life, of Harry's life as well, he smiled. If it was a little sad, a little hurt, he wouldn't point it out, and no one else would either. Zell would shoot him sympathetic looks. Selphie would avoid looking at him. Squall would look concerned, but do no more than that. Rinoa and Quistis would fawn over him, treating him like a child – and he didn't mind, really. They were sweet – and Irvine would remain oblivious to it all.
Harry had fought with these people, against a Sorceress who didn't know when to quit and monsters that would make the wizards back home cry for their mothers. They were a team, but— there was something that kept Harry apart. Maybe it was the fact that he was from another world, or wasn't raised with these people as they were with each other..
Whatever the reason, he didn't care, so long as Irvine would still look at him with that blinding grin. So long as he could rely on these people, he was fine. Really, he was. All that mattered were his friends, and the love he held for one of them.
There was a cowboy – a sniper, a sharpshooter, one who included everyone and made the people he came into contact with feel loved. There was a cowboy, and Harry loved him.
That love was just hidden in a corner: kept away from the light and never revealed.
a/n: feel free to create your own interpretations, of how harry ended up there, what he ended up changing, how he fought etc, etc.
i just wrote this on a spur of the moment thing, because of my love for irvine and harry and the fact that i think they'd be cute, one-sided or otherwise. (i hadn't intended for this to be one sided, actually, but..)
thank you for reading, and i hope you enjoyed this super short drabble! perhaps one day i'll expand, or write a happier one. c:
words: 546