Pirouette [h.s.]

chapter 6

// But if someday soon you're on the dark side of the moon //

// I'll be waiting for you when you come home //

When You Come Home  -Paradise Fears

Harry's POV

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"Thank you for agreeing to come with me tonight. I, uh, I had fun. And I'm sorry, again, for everything."

"It's okay, thank you for dinner. I'll let you know when I get home." I watch as Phoebe teeters between her two feet with an almost-pained looking smile stretching across her face. She throws her leg over top of her bike seat, gripping onto the handlebars so hard her knuckles start turning white. I hear her voice again, as she stares down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of how I'm positioned, almost inaudible against the San Francisco night. "And thank you for stopping whatever was going to happen at Dino's."

I open my mouth to respond, to tell her that she doesn't ever need to thank me for that, but before I even have the chance to blink, she's flying away, leaving me to watch as her feet pedal tiny circles over and over and over, propelling her bike down the street.

"Be safe."

I stay standing outside of Peking Chef for a few moments, stunned and frozen in place. Until, suddenly, the thoughts start pouring in like rainfall.

Damn.

That girl is fucking beautiful.

Even in her gas station uniform, she's stunning. I can't even imagine when she gets all dressed up. Or, holy hell, seeing her on stage performing? I think I'd lose it right then and there. Maybe she'll let me watch her dance some day.

She's got the bluest eyes I've ever seen, like the color of the sky right as soon as the sun breaks across the horizon. Hard and icy blue, but there's a warmth behind them that I'm sure feels like a sunbath catnap once you break through to it. They pulled me in last week when we first made eye contact at Dino's. Enticing and captivating and just absolutely beautiful.

Last week, her hair was pulled back, so I hadn't gotten a good look at it, but seeing it down today, falling across her back like a waterfall of midnight, all I wanted to do was run my fingers through it. It's all dark brown and that space between wavy and straight, just begging to be twisted around my fingertips, or fanned out across a pillow, or pulled.

Her laugh was like a fanfare of trumpets and I felt it rattling deep inside of my bones. I wish she hadn't muffled it with her hand. And her sweet golden smile. God, her smile left me speechless. Like it took all of the oxygen and ripped it away from my lungs. That floaty feeling and the subsequent plummet back to earth.

A cloud of honey and lavender followed her around tonight and I caught myself wondering if that's how she always smells. Peaceful and light and fresh and sweet, with a deep, earthy quality that drags you down. I wonder if her skin tastes the same.

And then when she tapped on my wrist. It was like I was jolted to life; her soft, gentle fingertips brushing against the skin of my arm to get my attention. Electric. I almost didn't even hear what she was asking me because my ears were ringing with the aftershocks.

I can't pretend that I'm not attracted to her. I can't pretend my fucking animal brain wasn't salivating over her like a piece of meat. I want to dip into her mind and swim in her thoughts; uncover all of the secrets she's got hidden and bask in the sunshine I know lives inside of her. But I also want to swallow her whole. I want to devour her, mark her pretty body like a breadcrumb trail back home, and learn her inside out. I want to touch every inch of her skin and drown inside of her hypnotizing eyes.