Keeper

Chapter 34

The various indulging smells of autumn him my nose in a flash; the smell of weathering pinecones and that of a campfire burning viciously not too far away. The sound of the whispering wind and crunching leaves met my ears, my eyes brightened and overcome by delicate oranges and yellows.

The warm and sultry smell of Harry's cologne and mild perspiration permeated off of his skin and clothing; mixing viciously with the air around me. I watched curiously as he made his way over to my side of the car, his two hands tucked deep into his faded jeans pockets. Once he reached me though, he took out his right hand and held it out to me, his eyebrows lifting as he waited for my expected response.


Quickly I placed my hand in his already warm palm, his long and strong fingers encasing mine as he started to walk; leading me down towards a paved walking path.


"I figured we'd go for a walk." He shrugged, his eyes meeting mine for a brief second.

My eyes floated to our hands, then ever so slowly up to Harry's rather serious side profile; his attention only set on where he was taking me.

All of a sudden he pulled on my hand, his direction on the path changing drastically as he reared into the shadowed woods, the tall and ominous trees providing a protective canopy over our heads. The thick crunching of the leaves underneath both of our feet created a synchronized rhythm that matched my steady heartbeat; it was mesmerizing.


During out not-so-lengthy 'journey', Harry told me about how out of every season there is, Autumn will always be his favorite time of year no matter what.


"There's just something about it, you know? Like, I don't know, the air seems fresher, and the soft blue color of the sky looks purer. I also love Halloween and all of the disgusting, gory-ass movies that go along with it, you know?"


I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement but not without a laugh; his explanation completely showing me the side of him that I was beginning to admire.


"You can't not love Autumn and Halloween, I mean haunted houses and hayrides- I'm all for it. But if I'm honest...the holidays around Winter are what it's all about."


After I spoke I caught a light, 'tsk' leaving Harry's lips, my head cocking sideways just in time to catch his eyes already on me. He narrowed them into slits,


"You serious?"



~


For the remainder of the walk we practically had an ongoing debate about which holiday was more favorited. I said Christmas and of course, Harry argued Halloween. Eventually we can upon a small stream, the trickling sound of the water bringing a feeling of strong peace and content, undeniably creating such a beautiful setting.


But we had yet to reach a winner of our argument.





"Have you even been in here before? In these woods?" Harry asked, his eyes flicking over to mine.



"Yeah-" I answered, shyly shrugging my shoulders.


"-I would come in here all the time with Layla and Anna. You know, it's where we, 'snook away to' when we were in junior high."


"Oh really?" Harry persisted, cocking an eyebrow in question.


"Our parents never knew, though. Of course." I laughed, swinging back and forth on the heels of my feet.


"Of course." Harry recited, gradually bringing his lips up into a smile.


Everything grew silence once again for a few seconds, Harry's eyes detaching from mine and moving towards the adoring nature around us.


"All of these trees, they have a story to tell," He began, the sudden sound of his voice catching me off guard.


"All of these old and new carvings, the pairs of initials; they all have some sort of origin." Harry spoke, his eyes wondering wispily amongst the abundance of skyscraper-like trees.


He stepped closer to me, his black and navy blue plaid flannel sleeve-covered arms wrapping around my waist carefully. I rested my arms around his neck before his forehead came down atop of mine, our eyes now at a semi-equal level.



"And whatever happens in these woods, stays in these woods," He whispered, his warm breath running heavily just below my ear.



I closed my eyes for a second, expecting more from him, but once I reopened them I realized Harry had already pulled away, his eyes digging into me as his left hand searched his pocket for something unspoken about. I squinted my eyes a little when a little, oval black object came into view. It appeared to be just a dark wood, it's true identify hidden by Harry's large fingers. With a flick of his wrist and the soft sound of metal on metal a decent sized blade came into view, it's surface somewhat shining in the dim amount of light that was offered.


"I've got this pocket knife-" Harry began, his eyes flickering to mine as his hand continued to hold the blade up.

"-and the perfect tree." He shrugged, his lips slightly curving upward.


His fingers ran slowly up the edge of the blade all the way to it's very tip, though as I studied it Harry's eyes never left me. Once I looked back up at him I raised an eyebrow. He nodded his head in my general direction, as if signaling me to turn back around. I did as he inquired, spinning around on my heel to become face to face with the great oak tree in front of me. It's untarnished bark appeared as if it were merely a beautiful, blank canvas, the dangerous knife in Harry's hand now registering in my mind now simply as a fresh pencil or new paint brush.


I felt harry come up behind me, his chest gently resting against my back as his hands reached out towards the tree, the pocketknife skimming lightly over the bark. With a flick of his wrist he began his work, carving out letter after letter of both of our initials encircled by a heart,


h
+
h


As cliché as that might sound, it was absolutely adorable. Harry started giggling as he finished carving the heart, in return making me do the same. As he connected the heart his lips brushed over my neck, just close enough to make the goosebumps raise on my exposed skin.


"Now when we're older we can come back here and remember the good old times; the times when we we're stupid and naive teenagers trying to have a little bit of fun." He spoke with a laugh.



He closed his pocket knife and stuffed it in his pocket, before wrapping both of his arms around my waist, His body heat warmed me up almost instantly, his hot breath beating faintly down the back of my neck.


All of a sudden I felt his careful lips press against the sensitive skin near my jugular vein, almost instantly the contact making me shiver. He began to suck rather lightly, just right before he began to use his teeth to nip ever so nimbly at the soft skin.


"Harry, I don't think-"


"Shh-" he whispered, stopping me mid-way through my sentence. As his lips left my neck for that brief second a gust of wind came about, the spot he had been tending to becoming bitterly cold. My teeth began to chatter and once Harry noticed he spun me around, a look of pure concern on his face.


"Are you cold?" He asked, his tone exceeding beyond that of worried, making me curious.


All I could think to do was shrug,

"Y-yeah."



"Then let me help warm you up." He whispered, bringing his lips down, slowing and without a doubt teasingly connecting them with mine. My eyes closed and I assumed his did as well. He began to guide me backward until my back suddenly hitting a hard and rough object; I quickly recognized it as a tree. Our tree.


His hands had a mind of their own, moving from my own two hands up to above my head, most likely supporting all of Harry's weight. A quick whiff of Harry's cologne met my nose and with that I was brought back to reality, my eyes shooting open and my hands coming up to softly press against Harry's chest.


I began to shake my head,

"We can't do this Harry." I whispered.


I watched as Harry's expression softened, his eyes mimicking that of a puppy in an attempt to help persuading,

"Harley, just-"


"-Not, not here anyway." I cut in, my arms snaking around his neck as I leaned in, my lips connecting with the very tip of his nose.


"C'mon." I insisted, nodding my head towards the exit of the woods before grabbing his rough, cold fingers in my small hand.



"Where, um, where-where are we going?" He stuttered, his mind still mostly likely unsure whether or not to actually believe the words that had come out of my mouth.


"My place." I spoke nonchalantly, my eyes wondering the scenery around us as we started our trek back to the parking lot.


"What, um- what about your parents?" Harry asked, his feet finally able to step in rhythm with mine.


"Won't be home till 'bout four, maybe even five."



~



The drive back to my parent's house was rather quiet, the tapping of Harry's nails on the steering wheel consuming my attention. I had assumed he had been doing it out of being impatient; or purpose he was just nervous. I didn't know exactly what I meant when I had said exactly what I had said, and I wasn't one-hundred percent sure what Harry had in mind either. We both got out of the car with a minimal amount of words spoken, just a simple,

'You've got the key, right?

And, 'Yeah, geez I'm not that stupid."




The smell of vanilla greeted both me and Harry as we stepped through the front door of the house and into the rater grande foyer, the keys i had been spinning around my finger flying into the saucer that lay on the small black table adjacent to the occupied coat rack.



I guided Harry up the stairs to the entrance of my room at the very end of the hallway, Harry laughing nonstop as he reminisced in the time I helped sneak him out not too long ago.


I opened the door and plopped down on the bed, my back against the headboard as Harry followed in suit, doing the exact same. He brought his knees up to his chest, his long sleeves exceeding his hands making his appear younger.



"Long time since I've been in here." Harry spoke sarcastically, breaking the silence.


"Hasn't it been?" I reciprocated, cocking a single eyebrow as I followed his position, bringing my legs up to my chest and hugging them tightly with my hands.



Harry's eyes scanned my somewhat cluttered room before they landed on something I handy expected him to pick up on, narrowing in curiosity.


"You paint?" He asked, turning his head towards me as he anticipated my simple answer.

I glanced back at the small, white-painted wooden frame holding my small watercolor landscape.



"Yeah-well, on occasion. I prefer drawing."



"What kind of stuff?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side as he leaned his cheek on his knees.


"Just whatever really, people, animals, comics, that kind of thing."


"Cool." Harry nodded, a smile appearing on his lips.


"What about you?"



"Nah, no not really." Harry laughed,


"I'm more of an, 'admirer', of that kind of thing."



"Not like I couldn't tell." I laughed, gesturing to the detailed ink designs visible underneath his shirt.


Everything became quiet for a second as well as still, a peaceful quiet if I'm honest. The feeling of Harry's hand placing itself over mine made my heart flutter involuntarily, his fingers wrapping themselves with mine. His eyes seemed to glimmer and his skin appeared sun-kissed although we were in such unflattering lighting; the way he appeared without a flaw and more attractive making my heart race and my internal conscience question my sanity.


With little to no sound and few fluent motions Harry was on top of me, his knees on either side of me as he rested his forehead against mine. Three of his lean fingers slowly made their way up to my chest, their movement stopped as soon as they reached the vibrations of my thudding heart.


"Your hearts racing a mile a minute. There's need to get all worked up, babe." He half smirked, taking his forehead from mine to get a clearer picture of me.


"I know." I laughed, my voice coming out weak to my dissatisfaction.


Harry swiped his tongue over his lipping before reconnecting his lips, his hands coming up to hold my face for his perfect angle, cupping my cheeks. His tongue guided over my bottom lip almost making my head spin.


Just when I was about to grab for the top button of his shirt a slamming car door caught my attention. Harry groaned against my lips before being the one to pull away, his left hand trailing down my chin before his wide eyes met mine.



"Shit." He cursed, his nostrils flaring due to habit as he removed himself off of me, and soon off of my bed entirely.


"You said they wouldn't be back till four? It's only like only three-thirty." The tone of his voice was beyond pissed and I couldn't exactly tell whether it was directed at me or at my parent's arrive.


Harry jogged over to the window overlooking the street, his hands stressfully running over his face,


"Fuck, it's your dad." He spit, turning back around to face me with a look of pure panic.












Hey guys :)

Sorry for the late update, there's this thing called t.v. aka doctor who and breaking bad that I've become obsessed with & loads of tests and homework.


Anyways, thank you for 100k votes omg :')