Un-Tying the Knot {h.s.}

Chapter 27

"Careful," Harry murmurs as he catches my elbow before I stumble over another fallen branch.

Even with the full moon and the flashlight, I can barely keep upright in the densely populated forest. I instantly envy Harry's lithe grace as he purposely charges through the woods like he lives here -- which I guess he does, but that's beside the point.

I take a minute to peer back over my shoulder, and I realize I can no longer see the porch light on the house. In this moment, I come to grips with just how far from civilization we are.

It's just the two of us.
In the middle of nowhere.

Is this a good idea? If someone, like you know, Eleanor, were to wake up and find both of us strategically missing, what would they think? What if they found out that we snuck off to a tree house in the woods at 3am? Would this raise eyebrows, or no?

Yup.
Bad idea.
Definitely.

Suddenly, something catches on my tights that makes me squeal, making me jump as I quickly grab onto Harry's jacket. Concerned, he swiftly turns around and sees my petrified face, moving the flashlight down to my leg where a thorny branch had stuck to the fabric near my calf.

"You alright there, Al? Thought the outdoors was your forte," he chuckles at his own joke before leaning down and grabbing the branch, gently running his fingers along my calf as he pulled it from my leg. I bit my lip in response, too stunned by the feeling of his hands on my leg to mutter a thank you.

I quickly put my hand in front of my face when he shines the flashlight at my eyeballs, scowling at him. He just chuckled, that hearty laugh that gave me butterflies.

"Yes," I mumble, reaching for the light. My hand found his and gently pushed it down, smiling a little when I see he also has his lip bit. We both chuckle at each other after our strangely cute moment.

But maybe I was imagining things. A girl with a crush isn't really a reliable judge of a man's actions.

"Who knew you were such a girly girl," he laughed.

He meant to be cute -- but suddenly my stomach tightened and not in a good way. The memory of all my brothers friends making fun of me and calling me a sissy triggered something deep inside.

"I am not," I huff, swiftly snatching the flashlight from his hands and charging ahead of him with vigor.

"Where you going?" he asked.

I stopped, noticing his voice was still where I left him. I turned around, holding the flashlight up to see him with his arms crossed, a smug smirk on his lips.

"To find your treehouse," I mention, shakily pulling a strand of hair behind my ear with my now very cold fingers.

He chuckles, pointing. "Well, its right there -- but if you want to go traipsing around in the woods for awhile, we can do that too..."

He grins at me as I scowl, looking at me as if my scowl is the most adorable thing in the world.

I pull my eyes away from him reluctantly to look to my left, finding an old wooden ladder leaning against a tall oak tree. I let my light travel up it, noticing a tiny ramshackle hut held by two of the thickest branches of the tree with the ladder disappearing into a crudely cut square hole.

I hear the rustling of leaves behind me and turn in time to see Harry standing next to me, peering up at the tree house with his breath exhaling in curled clouds.

"So are we going up?" I ask.

Harry turns to me, slightly bewildered. "You want to?" he asks, seeming genuinely perplexed. I just laugh.