Scandal // h.s au

sixteen: "I'm listening."

His lips were desperate at first. Needy, for that renewed life she seemed to pour into him. Hers were neither warm nor cold, they were neither hard nor soft, they were neither full nor thin. They were just right, as was she.

His kisses softened, mellowed out when he realized she wasn't pulling away, that she wasn't leaving, that he could kiss her for hours on end, and she would still kiss back. His hands lifted to cup her face, caressing her soft cheeks, wiping away the few tears that had silently escaped. He had no cigarette or toothpick, but he didn't bite on his lips. He bit on hers. And she took it, so gracefully, so selflessly, as she parted her lips and almost willed him to do more, to go to his extremes and she wouldn't mind.

A breathless moan dissolved into his mouth, as he pecked her lips, one more time before pulling away, resting his now sweaty forehead against her own, her face still held in his hands. He was slightly breathless, but God, were his lungs overflowing with air and ecstasy. She rested her palms onto his chest, and he couldn't help but smile.

" It's this. It's now. It's with you, that I feel alive, in the most raw sense of the word." She whispered, answering the question he'd asked her the night before, her cheeks tinted in pink, as her eyes avoided his own. His smile widened, planting a final kiss to her forehead, before completely pulling away. He bent down, retrieving his cigarette, putting it between his teeth arrogantly.

" We have work to do. Care to join, Miss Montgomery?" He questioned, a knowing smirk on his swollen lips. She held his bright green eyes, deciding that this, was the Harry she was slowly beginning to love. Him; with his messy hair, and confident smile, and mischievous emeralds.

She nodded, giggling slightly, before following him out of the conference room.

" Oh, the file!" She announced, running back to collect the papers, as his laughter filled the air.

It caused her figure to halt all its movement, simply to take in that beautiful sound. Recomposing herself, she took the file, and ran out, her feet light on the ground, his demeanor brightened by their previous secret intimacy. His fingers brushed with her own, but they never quite held hands. Their feet moved in perfect sync, only she fell a few steps behind. His lengthy hair almost tickled her nose, but not quite.

It was odd, how they always found themselves in that position; him leading her somewhere he couldn't protect her from, somewhere he had no way through, no understanding of. And her willingly following him to the ends of the earth, an unspoken longing between them, words that were too heavy to be confessed or heard, lingering in the air.

He put on his sunglasses, pushing through the doors, to reach his car. He got in the driver's seat, and naturally, she settled in the passenger's seat, immediately turning to face him, ignoring the seatbelt.

" What is it about the seatbelt that you're so religiously against?" Harry spoke, the smile remaining on his lips.

" Honestly?"

" That would be the appropriate strategy, yes."

" I just like how it catches your attention, how you seem to care, about something as simple as that." She wasn't as fearful as she had been before. It might have been due to him initiating the kiss they shared. It could have been due to the lightness in his tone that opened her up a bit. She didn't know really. All she knew was that his smile widened, and he took off his glasses, as if to fully take her in, before turning to start the engine and drive away.

She fell back into her seat, putting on her seatbelt, after accomplishing the purpose behind it.

" Harry?"

" Hmm."

" Why do you wear sunglasses all the time?"

" Honestly?"

" That would be the appropriate strategy, yes." He couldn't help but laugh at the easiness with which they managed to coherently exist.

" I don't see much color in this world, Miss Montgomery, that's why I don't mind the darkness of my lenses, but you are a goddamn rainbow on your own, and I can't not see that."

Although his eyes remained on the road ahead, he could almost witness her chest halting with her restrained breaths, her fidgeting hands leaving one another, before a sigh went past her lips, and her smile immediately brightened. She captured a single hair lock behind her ear, the way she always did when she was nervous or shy. He knew that because he always watched her, even when she thought he didn't.

" So, we need to see Louis, make sure all is well with him. Then, we need to go back to the neighborhood and see all other houses, and maybe we should speak to the officer that was at the crime scene, or the one handling the case right now, and - wait, why aren't you stopping me already?" She had her eyebrows furrowed in questioning, but a smile was making its way onto her lips. Again, he found the overwhelming laughter rocking through him, against his normally unruffled nature.

" I'm listening, Miss Montgomery. I'm listening."

The promise in his tone, the care in his words, it all stirred great warmth within her, and her heart expanded with something quite close to love.

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a/n: who's enjoying harry slightly opening up? tbh i am. i love writing his character so much, and once you start getting to know aimee more, you'll know why i love writing hers as well :)

so until then, please let me know what you think, it'll mean a lot.

till next time, ily x