A Promise

A/N: Hello, end to world's longest hiatus. Kind of. To make matters short, I'm in a much better place than I've been for the past two years. It's been fabulous and I took a break from writing because I firmly believe that you can't write until you live. When you are as depressed as I was, you don't feel alive. I've been…wait for it… living it up lately, and it's been great. So, on the eve of my high school graduation, I present you with this. If you recognize me from the super early days of the fandom, cool! If you don't recognize me- hey, I'm Allison; nice to meetcha.

Also, I haven't really been reading fics in the section lately so if someone already did this idea, I promise (oh look, pun) that this was unintentional. And this is unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: No ownership. Except I did squeal at the screen and go MY BABIES ARE BACK!

There were three things Natalie Goodman didn't do: dances, horror films, and promises. This was before she knew Henry as more than that guy who lent her pencils every now and then, and it continued into the relationship. Unfortunately for her, relationships required compromise.

The first two weren't a problem. If Henry really wanted to have a prom experience full of corsages, awkward photos, and the works- she was going to put on a dress and heels. It made him happy, and she knew that he of anyone deserved happiness. Natalie didn't enjoy the part where she was surrounded by her peers and teachers dancing to God-awful music; she could happily live without that. But Henry had done things for her when things got shittastically bad- the least she could do was slow-dance with him.

Henry's secret obsession with low budget horror films was hard for Natalie to stomach…literally. Her aversion to blood combined with his love of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the works made this compromise difficult. Difficult, but doable. Natalie tried to make the best of the "horror movie date" situations by clinging to Henry's arm and burying her face into his woodsy smelling sweatshirt. This was the one time where she could indulge herself in an embrace without him lightly teasing her. (Henry compromised in this situation, too, by whispering goofy commentary into her ear during the film.)

The promise part…that was different. Growing up around broken promises made Natalie immune to them. There was no binding quality to those words; they were just a string of phrases. She knew Henry was genuine, and she'd always try to believe him when he promised things to her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, though, she doubted he'd follow through. Especially when it came to college.

"Nat- I'm not breaking up with you," Henry sighed, picking at a loose thread from her comforter as he sat on the edge of her bed. She was lying down, looking more at the ceiling than him.

"Isn't that what a lot of high school couples do after graduation?"

"That doesn't mean we have to, though." Natalie groaned in frustration and covered her face with a pillow.

"What happens when it doesn't work?"

"Nat, I promise we can work-hey!" Henry's train of thought was stopped by the pillow Natalie threw at his head. He picked it up and threw it back at her.

"Can we drop the subject? Or do you need me to throw something heavier at your skull," Natalie mumbled. Henry scooted the rest of his body onto the bed and crawled next to her.

"Move over."

"And if I don't?" Henry poked her in the side- a spot he learned was incredibly ticklish. Natalie squeaked and kicked him, muttered a few curse words, and gave him more room on the bed. "You bastard."

"It worked, didn't it?" he said, a slight Henry-laugh in his voice. It was the kind of laugh caught between a kid laugh and a controlled laugh- his trademark. "Why don't you believe me when I said that we could last past high school?"

"You promised me."

"So?"

"You can promise just about anything to a person, and when it doesn't work you just feel stupid. Maybe I want it to work and stuff but I just know something will fuck it up and I don't want my hopes up. Maybe I don't really know what's next and it's freaking the fuck out of me and I'm just-." Natalie's stream of conscious was stopped by a swift kiss from Henry. In all other situations, she would have protested. Tonight it was a relief, like he was telling her it'd all be okay without wasting lengthy explanations. She curled up against him when she saw his arms were outstretched. This is something, she thought, I don't want to lose. The two lay intertwined for a while until Henry broke the silence.

"Okay…listen to me on this. I promise that we'll work out as long as we're both willing to make it work, okay?"

"Isn't that kinda…obvious?" Natalie smirked lightly.

"Well, Miss Smartass, I promise it anyway." He stuck out his pinkie and waved it in front of her face. "Time to make it official."

"You can't be seri-."

"Oh, but I am. Do you promise to trust me on this?" She thought about it for a moment before linking her pinkie to his. Maybe she was still nervous, but it was a compromise. It was Henry, and if she was going to trust anyone, it would be him.

"I promise," she smiled, her grin matching the one inches away from her face.