.Perfect Fantasy. |H.S.|

Chapter 38. Adrenaline.

.Harry.

"Shit!" I smacked the steering wheel just as hard as my boot had slammed on the brakes, right in the momentum where everything screeched to a halt.
Every muscle in my body tensed, while a protective instinct drove me to blanket Natalia with my left hand, my heart drumming in my chest with the thought that I almost grazed her chest in such a ridiculous reaction.
All kinds of risks reeled through my mind. None of them good.
Not one of them.
A trickle of unease danced at the base of my spine, accelerating my heartbeat as I looked over every inch of her, sitting right there with her wide open eyes looking down at my hand instead of at outside, clearly too shaken to speak or even breathe.
Felt a gentle tug on my heart just by that sight alone; a faint blush rose to the tips of her cheeks, a twinge of color that spread as her lips opened in a slight sneer and I knew what she was thinking of because I was thinking of the same thing. "I am not a bad driver!"

"I didn't say such thing," She pursed her lips, looking at me as I moved my hand from her space, and breaking into a grin that could have matched the lights of the last lonely car driving past us in the two-way lane. "But now that you're mentioning it..."

I waved my fingers in front of her to shut her up, turning to check on Sean and quickly assessing the back window, where the loud pounding of the rain was making it hard to find out what just happened. All that really mattered was that, in the light of whatever bad luck was striking, I was thinking clearly enough to realize that we needed to physically check all of the tires. "What the fuck was that?"

"It felt like an object, but I didn't see a thing," Sean decided, busying himself with something inside his bag, taking a small flashlight in his hands, and shaking it in the air to show me. He quickly covered the top of his head with his heavy coat and mentioned a fast, "There's no need for all of us to get soaked," before he jumped out of the car and moved around until he was in front of us, evidently drowned by the weather, and ducking to see whatever the problem was.

Minutes passed, stretching without any other sign of movement and with nothing but water cascading all around us. Tried to remain where I was, just gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles grew white, "Oh great, now I feel like a dick." I mentioned keeping my voice reasonable but my patience wearing out. Anxious to see what the hell was taking him so long, I unbuckled my seatbelt, pulling the hoodie over my head and tying the strings stupidly tight, expecting it to cover me up somehow.

"What are you doing?" Her voice wondered as her eyes drifted over me, an intense scrutiny that saw way too much. "Wait, no! You're going to get sick, Harry."

I stalled, just for a second as I made a quick plan of getting out and walking straight to the front of the car, "He's not coming back, probably needs help."

She swallowed hard and let out her breath slowly. "Fine, just be safe."

"What else is there to happen?" I quickly stated over her 'only an idiot' mumble while she sulked back in her seat. It was just a whisper in the blowing rain that drenched my clothes in an instant as I dashed out the door—the rain thickened against everything, the warning lights flashing my face as I tried to focus on whatever it was Sean was doing. "What is it?!" I yelled at him as water was running into my eyes, the disruption of the battering wind making my words almost unheard. Almost, 'cause he moved to the side, showing me a single scrap of metal attached to the rubber. Fucking wonderful. "Shit." The front of my hair was already drenched and plastered to my head, the hoodie doing nothing as I wiped it off my face just so I could see better.

He motioned for me to help him remove the metal part and we both pulled two times, my hands numbly gripping the edges to finally look at the small crack that lined along the edge of the ruined rubber, my whole body stiffening and resigning to this fate.
We needed the spare.