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buckle up kiddos this chapter's a wild ride
"But most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life... the way I feel when I'm with you."
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The first half of the car ride home is silent, save for the sound of Baby shuffling around in the backseat as she changes from the dress back into her own clothes. Harry can't help himself as he steals glances through the rearview mirror at Baby's half-naked figure. He doesn't know whether to keep quiet or attempt to comfort her, knowing that she's anxious from seeing the couple at Freeman's in the audience. Now that the routine is over, he can finally breathe. For the first time since Peggy had told him she was pregnant, he felt a giant weight lifted off his shoulders. The old couple in the theater was not a concern to him. He'd cross that bridge when he got there. He'd figure out a way to prove that Peggy was the one who had performed after all.
"You know, you did really good," Harry tells Baby, looking back at her as she pulls her shirt over her head and tucks it into her pants.
"Do you think that couple is gonna tell Mr. Freeman I was there?" Baby asks, climbing over the middle console and sitting down in passenger seat, trying her best not to kick Harry in the face as she does so.
"Nah I doubt it. They probably didn't even notice. They're too old to see past five feet in front of them, anyways," Harry assures her, tapping his ring-clad fingers against the steering wheel absentmindedly. Moving his hands has always been a nervous habit of his, something to distract himself with when he's in new situations. Baby sighs, convincing herself that Harry is right, and it will all be okay. She has nothing to worry about.
"You know, by the second turn you really had a hang of it. I'm proud of you," he compliments her, turning his head to look at her briefly. Even with Harry starting to open up to her, it always surprises Baby when his demeanor shifts from serious to soft. She isn't sure if it's something she'll ever get used to. She isn't sure if she'll even have the chance to, now that the performance is finished.
"I didn't do the lift," Baby mumbles, hanging her head, disappointed with herself. The biggest part on the routine, the part that they had spent so much time working on, and she couldn't go through with it. She isn't even sure why. She trusts Harry and she was able to do it in the barn. What was so different about it this time?
"Hey," Harry says, placing a comforting hand on Baby's thigh. This time he doesn't remove it because, in all honesty, he doesn't want to. Baby doesn't want him to either. She hopes Harry can tell by the way her leg relaxes underneath his touch. "You did great."
She looks at him and smiles, the familiar net of butterflies let loose in her stomach to fly around. At this point, she'll do anything to be able to keep seeing Harry. To keep spending time with him. To keep feeling his hands on her body.
