Under Pressure {H.S}

Chapter 57

Harry's POV:

I look over at the girl I love, and I smile.

She's leaning over the bow of the boat, looking down at the midnight-blue water while I sit on the cushions from our little picnic set up.

I got us one of those cheesy 'New York from the Water' tours, except it's for rich people. It's a yacht that takes you around to look at all the buildings. Obviously, we don't need the tour guide. So it's just us and the captain driving us around.

I silently pull out my phone and take a photo of her. Her silhouette against the New York skyline. The water reflecting the lights. New screensaver.

"Ah!" she squeals, jumping up and down slightly. I drop my phone on the cushion. She looks at me and points toward the water. "The moon! I see the moon in the waves!"

I chuckle at her excited state. She giggles in response, turning back around and bending over to look in the water again.

I watch her attentively, partly scared she's going to fall, mostly scared this may be our last surprise date.

I have to tell her about the meeting, but that won't be a problem. What I'm scared about is what's coming in the next month. After her birthday, I have to tell her the truth. Hopefully... hopefully, she will forgive me. For everything.

She won't.

She might.

I'm not sure I'd even forgive myself.

Her red hair whips in the wind. I watch her back curve as she stands straight again, my big sweatshirt around her body.

"Please don't fall," I half-beg.

She giggles. "I need you."

I fight the urge to blush at her words. She needs me. I need her. I shake my head with a knowing smile. "I know what you're going to do."

She plays with her rings out of habit. There's a big difference between her nervous fidgeting and her habit fidgeting. When she's nervous, she adjusts her rings to sit perfectly on her fingers. When she's just fidgeting, she uses her thumb to spin her rings around her fingers. She spinning her rings right now.

"No you don't," she argues.

"You want to recreate that scene from Titanic," I raise my eyebrows.

She runs her tongue along the inside of her cheek. "That was not what I was going to say," she says stubbornly.

"Yeah?" I tilt my head. I know that drives her insane. "Then what were you going to say, Love?"

She squints her eyes. "I know what you're trying to do."

"What's that?"

"You're going to get me all flustered so you can call my bluff."

I smirk. "It's working."

"You suck."

"You swallow. From my experience, at least."

She stands with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "Harry!"

I laugh. "What?"

"I can't believe you just said that! Out loud!" She giggles.

I shrug, trying to be cool. I can't stop smiling. "Just telling the truth, babe."

She looks around like someone might hear her. It's just us and the captain. He's inside so he can't hear us.

When she realizes that we really are alone, she just smiles. She approaches me, her hair still blowing in the wind. When she stands at the end of the cushions I'm sitting on, she holds out her arms. I oblige, grabbing a hold of her hands as she pulls me up to stand. She has to squat and pull hard in the process. I laugh at her weak arms.