Lone [MATURE HS]

Chapter 36.

Charlie hasn't spoken a word to me. He's ignoring me when he sees me at the uni. When we have our lectures together, he doesn't care enough to even look in my direction. I want to talk to him, but at the same time, I feel unsure whether I can be yelled at again for something I cannot fully control at the moment.

I sit outside, chewing on a granola bar and typing out a paper. I've been productive, lately. The detective, Jackson, has gotten officers patrolling my house on occasion to keep an eye on us. It makes me feel safer, though I feel like Katherine's damage is about to be more internal than anything else.

Halloween is tomorrow and I'm unsure whether we'll be doing anything. By we I mean Harry and I. We're drawn together not by just our relationship now, but due to the sense of shared trauma. I can trust him, he can trust me. It works too well it's sort of scary considering what would become of either of us if we were to lose that sense.

Sitting outside on the wooden lunch table underneath a tree, the designated perfect shade, a granola bar between my lips, I type furiously onto my laptop. My eyebrows furrowed deeply, frustrated yet productive due to the amounts of caffeine I've consumed. I took my time this morning with my appearance.

I hadn't worn makeup in a while, but today I did. I styled my hair and wore round silver hoops before my ear piercings had the chance to close up. Lilac knitted sweater on, tucked in at the high waist of my denim jeans. My outfit was cute and I felt just the same about myself. For once, I was productive and in the mood to prepare myself to move on with my studies.

Someone sits next to me, and in a brief second, I'm confused until I look to see Harry. Hair brushed back away from his face, pale green eyes looking attentively and almost observantly at my face. A single strand of his hair falls over his forehead, dark eyebrows messy. Pink lips curved into a sweet grin, just watching me.

A brown coat worn over his grey sweatshirt. His knee covered in dark jeans bumps mine. I take a bite of my granola bar, eyes squinting at his cheeky smile. "What..." I mutter, questioning the way he grins even wider at the evidence of my suspicion.

"Nothing," he shrugs. He gazes over my face, examining the details."You look so beautiful," he then states calmly, quietly.

A happy, cheeky and squinted eye smile curves perfectly into my face, cheeks raised and pink. He melts at my reaction, face falling into a softened, neutral expression. For a moment he just watches me. He reaches out his hand, gripping my chin and moving forward to kiss my lips. My eyes shutting. His slightly calloused thumb brushes over my pinked cheek, kissing me softly again and again, until I'm giving in to his affection too wholeheartedly for public decency. I pull away, looking at him once more. "Something's definitely up," I conclude quickly, grinning amusedly.

He grabs the half eaten granola bar from my hand, taking it into his own and taking a quick bite out of it. "Nothing is up. I'm completely, utterly...and," he purses his lips, eyes squinting slightly in thought. "I'm fine," he finally says. His eyebrows furrow, eyes averting to the tree behind me before looking to my eyes again. I glance at his leg, which bounces nervously.

My amusement is very evident. "Mhmm," I hum suspiciously, my own eyes turning to slits. "You're gonna tell me or are you just going to sit there and stare at my gorgeous, flawlessly glowing face?"

"I am going to stare at your gorgeous, flawlessly glowing face." He nods.

I place a hand of mine on his bouncing leg, pressing gently onto his thigh to relax him. He gazes down, realizing the obvious jitter of his movements. Moving my body forwards, much closer to him, I whisper "What's wrong, baby?"

He groans with a closed mouth, lifting his eyes to the sky before gazing back down at me. "Can I...Can I just look at you in silence for a minute? It helps."