Do I Wanna Know?

Chapter 25

If our new bedroom for the time being had blackout shades like we did back home, then we must have forgotten to draw them before passing out last night. It was nice having the full moon flood the room in a pale blue color, and now everything was washed a bright yellow, and it felt warm.

Harry was beside me, asleep on his chest with one arm tucked under his head and the other laid out toward my side of the bed. His cheek was smushed into the pillow and his hair was a disaster flopped over his head. He didn't look like he was capable of the things I knew he was capable of now.

I let my gaze fall from his face to the muscle in his arm, and in this lighting, now that I was paying close attention, I could make out small faded scars etched deep into his skin. Some of them were out in the open, some were underneath the tattoos.

He only had more that I could see on his ribs and back, and I couldn't believe that I never noticed or asked about them before with how intimate we were with each other. I wanted to know how he got every single one, but then the thought of knowing also made me sick.

With the lightest touch of my middle finger, I traced the newest one from San Francisco but then winced and retracted my hand when I felt how deep it was. I couldn't imagine him feeling panicked as he got in the car and let Louis stop the bleeding for him. I couldn't really imagine him ever being panicked about anything.

"Why'd you stop?"

I whipped my head up to his face as he mumbled the words in his hoarse morning voice, but his eyes were still shut. "'Cause it feels gross."

His expression contorted into a pout as he slid his left arm up under his pillow like the other one was. "Mean."

I pressed my lips together to stifle my laugh as I laid my hand flat on his back, opting to touch the divots from his muscles instead. "Don't ever get any tattoos here, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because I love your back the way it is. It's sexy."

He smiled just enough for me to see his dimples. "I think you accidentally just gave me a compliment."

"It wasn't an accident."

"Well," he paused to let out a nose-scrunching yawn. "You've never given one to me before."

I blinked at his shoulder, trying to remember if I have or not. The thought that I hadn't seemed absolutely ridiculous, seeing as there were about a million things I could have complimented him on.

"Okay, fine," I adjusted my head on my pillow and continued tracing shapes and lines across his back. "Your eyes are really pretty, and I like your dimples when you smile. Makes you look less intimidating."

"Hm," he made a face of consideration like he had never thought about that before. "What else?"

I rolled my eyes and dipped my finger down to the base of his spine. "I like the face you make when you're trying not to smile. And your laugh, and your accent. That's it."

"Gimme one more."

"No."

"Yes."

I laughed into his arm before I inched up to rest my chin on his shoulder. He still had yet to open his eyes, but he was smiling as he waited. "I like how you make me feel so safe when you hold my hand or put your arm around my shoulders, and honestly...when I just see that you're in the same room as me."

When he opened his mouth to probably say something sarcastic, I cupped my hand over his parted lips until he sighed in defeat.

"I like the way you look before you kiss me, and the way it sounds when you say my name right after."