Masterpiece [h.s]

twenty six

The sun is up high enough for Carter and Harry to be awake, but neither one's made a move to leave the warm and gentle comforts of the bed. Carter lets her fingers lightly dance over Harry's soft tan and the dark ink stains that are scattered around his arm.

There are times when she hates the silence between them—hates it so much that she wants to scream and rip her hair out from the roots—but she doesn't mind this type of silence because it's the type of silence where they can both breathe and listen to the steady hum of traffic and feel the dull thud of their hearts as they pump life through their veins.

Harry twists her hair around his finger and traces soothing circles in her skin. Every now and again he'll bring his warm and gentle lip to her neck, or wherever he wants, really, and he'll mumble sweet words that seep into her pores and into her veins only to flow right back to the heart that he has beating so much faster.

After a while, Carter thinks that the silence is too much. Her light eyes lift to meet his equally light eyes, her lips pulled up in a gentle smile. "I really like this."

Harry smiles and his dimples fall into his cheeks in that beautiful manner that Carter's come to adore. "Me too."

He takes her hand and entwines their fingers before bringing them to his lips so that he can kiss each of her fingers individually. Carter leans into his embrace and sighs contentedly because he feels like home.

She remembers how she previously linked 'home' to another human being and how her home burnt down in a blazing fire, the embers are still scalding to the touch long after the event transpired. This is different. Harry is different.

With Harry, she isn't looking to be loved or throwing her love around in hopes that it'll last. Everything about the way that she loves him is so drastically and so beautifully different and she feels bad for comparing it to such a reckless love that she once held in her hands.

Even his name is beautiful to her despite how lackluster and old that it is in all reality. However, she's afraid of what will happen next, and some part of her tells her that she'll always feel that way because of how highly she values trust and how carelessly she's lent it to others in the past.

Harry lifts his free hand and places it on her cheek. His fingers are rough and calloused from all of the time that he's spent and all of the time that he spends on his masterpiece and everything about the way that they feel against her skin makes her happy as his familiar and comforting warm lips meet with her forehead.

She notices that his smile falls a little as his thoughts break through his conscious. "Carter...if you're here does that mean that you...?"

He's talking about the competition all of the sudden, but Carter's been waiting for this since they woke up late in the afternoon. She shakes her head and beams up at him, "Not at all. I'm actually in the final three. I was the first one to earn my spot."

Carter catches the light behind his eyes and the way that the corners of his lips are lifting higher despite his already blinding smile. "You did!?"

Again, she nods and this time it's quicker and accompanied by a light giggle. He's gotten so giddy in only a few moments and she loves it and can't be bothered to look away. He's beautiful and he's hers.

"Yes!"

In moments, his hands are on her face and he's kissing her deeply and fervently, his lips pressing to every inch of her face as she giggles and playfully tries to push him away because he's literally smothering her with affection.

He catches her lips in another deep kiss. "I'm so proud of you!"

Carter's still beaming as she leans forward and give him a quick kiss of her own. If she could've, she would've stayed in bed with him all day, just cuddling and kisses. His lips have this addictive quality that always brings her right back for more.