Hold My Hand

"I'm just saying, I can walk through crowds by myself. I don't need you to hold my hand." Hannah furrowed her eyebrows as a slight blush spread across her cheeks from the embarrassment. She looked at her friend with a quick glare.

"Oh, come on, Hannah. Think about it; I lose my stuff all the time. I'm like, the queen of losing things. Don't doubt that I would lose a human in a crowd of other humans." Mamrie laughed, trying to make her friend feel better.

Hannah didn't say anything else. She just let Mamrie drag her through the crowded mall. Though she was a little embarrassed, she had to admit it was mostly because she found herself liking to hold Mamrie's hand. Her hands were soft and sometimes the redhead would run her thumb over Hannah's. She liked that the most.

"Oooh, Hannah, look! It has little skull and crossbones on it." Mamrie held up the small coat. "I can add it to Beanz's collection. She can wear it on Halloween."

"It's adorable. Just like Beanz." Hannah smiled as she watched Mamrie giggle over the tiny coat. They looked around the pet store more before checking out and searching for another store. Then just like after the past five stores, Mamrie grabbed Hannah's hand. Hannah noticed that there was fewer people around for her to have to do that, but she shrugged it off. Mamrie smiled as she spotted a store with dresses.

"Do you mind if we go in here?"

"Of course not, Mames. We can go anywhere." Hannah gestured for Mamrie to continue toward the store. Hannah loved seeing Mamrie search for clothes. It was the combination of the faces he made when she thought something was terrible and the squealing that happened when she found something she liked. That and, of course, the jokes she'd make regardless of if she liked it or not.

"What do you think of this one, Han?" She held the dress up to herself and faced Hannah.

"It's beautiful. Do you want to try it on? I think I saw some ties by the dressing rooms too, so I'll check them out while you change."

"Okay. Come on!" Mamrie took Hannah's hand and pulled her to the dressing rooms. Hannah did as she said and looked through the ties, finding a couple that she liked. One actually matched the dress that Mamrie was trying on. As she draped it over her shoulder, Mamrie walked out of the fitting room. "What do you think?"

"You look perfect." Before Mamrie could reply, a couple girls walked up to them.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to tell you that you two make an adorable couple." Hannah blushed worse than from the hand holding, but Mamrie spoke up.

"Thank you, girls. You're so sweet." Mamrie smiled as the girls walked away. Hannah didn't say anything to her about her response. "I'm gonna change back. Wait for me by the entrance."

"Okay." Hannah put the tie back on the rack and made her way to the entrance of the store. She walked back and forth by the bench until she felt Mamrie intertwine their fingers. They went to a few more stores and after each one, Mamrie held Hannah's hand. After their last store, there was barely anyone around yet Mamrie still did the same and the thumb thing became more frequent. It wasn't until they were walking to Hannah's car that she knew why.

"I bought this for you." Mamrie said, pulling out the tie Hannah had found. "It matches my dress."

Hannah caught the tone in Mamrie's voice and blushed yet again. She stuttered a little bit before speaking.

"There was more to the reason you were holding my hand, wasn't there?"

"Maybe." Mamrie grinned.

"And there's a reason you bought the tie and dress."

"Maybe." Her grin remained.

"Mamrie, would you like to go out sometime?" Hannah smiled.

"I'd love to." Mamrie smiled back, placing a kiss on Hannah's cheek and again, holding her hand.