Twenty-Six: The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

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"I think I'm gaining a little flab," Harry pokes at his stomach, pressing his finger into the fabric of his white t-shirt and shoving a pastry into his mouth. I laugh at how he contradicts himself as he continues to poke at his stomach while chewing on the pastry. "We might need to stay some place that has a gym tonight."

"You are not gaining flab," I roll my eyes at him.

"Oh really?" he turns his head to me, crumbs falling out of his mouth as he talks. Somehow even with his sloppiness and the eyes he's giving me like he doesn't believe a single thing I just said he still manages to be uncontrollably attractive. "Come over here and feel then," he says it like it's a challenge.

He nods his head, inviting me closer to him. I stand up from my cushioned seat in the coffee shop and nearly trip over my backpack on the way over but I make it to his, sitting on the arm of the chair. He grabs my wrist moving my hand to his stomach and presses it down firmly. Even through the fabric I can feel his warm skin, and despite his pastry stuffing mouth that insists he's gaining flab, I feel nothing close to squishiness.

"See," he raises his eyebrows at me. "I'm getting soft."

"You're so dramatic, Harry," I laugh at him because the only thing I feel is hard muscles.

He smiles at me again, wrapping an arm around my waist and then looks up from where I sit above him. "That's because I was flexing. Here, feel now," he breathes out, speaking quietly to me. His stomach becomes less tense but there isn't much of a change.

"Okay, maybe a little flab," I smile at him, my tone clearly showing that I'm joking. "Maybe you should lay off the pastries."

Harry stick his tongue out at me with laughter following. His arm wraps tighter around my waist to where I almost falling off the arm of the chair and straight into his lap.

"I'm only joking, Harry," I smile at him sweetly, patting the top of his head. "Don't mind a little squish. It isn't fun to cuddle with a rock."

"So you appreciate the flab for cuddling purposes?"

"Yes," I nod, laughing quietly. "You have the optimal amount of flab."

"Flab and abs?"

"Mhmm," I smile at him. "Now stop worrying about that."

He nods his head, grinning widely and I know with the look on his face that the conversation wasn't at all serious. Harry is just being his normal silly self, trying to get a reaction out of me and it feels so nice that it's back to this.

Even with the confession and apologies there wasn't an immediate switch back to purely happy moments with us. It's only been a few days since that not so great night and with every day that passes his carefree attitude begins to return more and more.

The rest of the day after our intense morning talk was spent catching up on sleep. Harry needed it for his head and I needed it because it felt like we had been going nonstop for days. He didn't say a lot for the rest of the day, still appearing a little sad, but he managed to squeeze in at least a dozen more apologies. It was sweet and of course I appreciated it, but he's been very cautious the last few days. Like he's afraid to get too close or to kiss me for too long and truthfully I don't want him thinking that much into it.

I'm not this fragile flower that can easily be crushed by one person kicking around in the dirt. I understand why Harry's being cautious and it's obvious that he hasn't stopped thinking about the small incident that night, but at this point it almost feels like he's overthinking it.

It's nice that he's concerned because it shows even more how he truly feels about me and that I'm not just this thing he wants to conquer. But at the same time I don't want him babying me through it. I've always known what I wanted and generally I do a good job of getting myself there. I don't need him to be overly careful around me.

Nowhere In Particular // H.S.Where stories live. Discover now