Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 21

IMPRESSED

As Harry turned the car onto the street, white-knuckling the steering wheel in the process, he was beyond nervous. The nerves that he felt when meeting Noah's friends were mere butterflies in comparison to the absolute bottomless pit of anxiety in his stomach right at that exact moment.

His hands were sweaty, his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears, his breathing was labored, and his stomach felt like it was being thrown into an incinerator. Harry felt the continuous plummet, now he was just waiting for it to go up in flames.

Noah knew that Harry was nervous, so she reached over the center console to place her hand on his thigh as she said, "it'll be fine, baby. I promise. Just be your usual, charming self and they'll love you. And, if you feel overwhelmed at any point, we can leave. Please don't feel bad about asking to leave if you need to, okay? I can see my family whenever and it's just Thanksgiving. I just want you to be comfortable and have a good time, okay?"

Harry was forever grateful that Noah knew exactly what to say. She was way too sweet for her own good, which made Harry even more perplexed as to why she was with him. As he parked the car along the street, he pulled himself out of those thoughts, however, and leaned over to press a kiss onto her lips.

"You're too good to me. I'll keep my shit together, I promise. Just initial nerves. I'm sure they'll fade soon enough. I wouldn't want to take you away from your family," Harry replied with, holding her eye contact to add weight behind his words.

A playful glare was what he received in response. "No. Don't you listen to me, silly? It wouldn't be taking me away from my family. Anyway, you know I'm able to read you too well, so I'll know if you're overwhelmed."

Harry only scrunched his nose cutely at her in response, unsure of how to verbally respond.

"Cute bub," she tapped him on the nose with her index finger, "you ready to go in?"

Harry's gaze moved to look out the windshield at the house in front of him. He had already seen all of the cars parked on the street, meaning there were a decent amount of people inside the house. It was a normal looking house with a normal yard, meaning it was far from intimidating. Harry tried to allow that to ease his nerves, but he knew that it was who was inside the house that mattered the most.

It was Thanksgiving so Harry was dressed a little more formal than usual. He was wearing a blue and white long sleeve button up shirt tucked into a pair of gray loose fitting slacks. Over his shirt was a beige cardigan, with the sleeves rolled up alongside the shirt underneath and on his feet were a pair of black dress shoes. His hair was left mostly down, somewhat styled as it was getting longer without a haircut.

Noah was wearing the same pants that she wore on their first date: the beige, faux-suede, slightly flared high-waisted pants that hugged her hips and thighs well. On top she was wearing a cream colored oversized sweater, tucked into the waistband of her pants. She had some simple black boots covering her feet with her hair in a half-up, half-down bun that allowed her face to be on full display to Harry, as her hair was pulled back. He really liked when her hair was like that, because he got to fully admire how pretty she was.

Harry let out a nervous breath and nodded, opening his door to exit as Noah did the same. When they met outside the car, they immediately grasped each other's hands and intertwined their fingers together.

The couple made their way up the path to the front door with Noah leading the way, letting Harry take another deep breath before she opened the door and made her way inside. It was her parent's house, after all, so she didn't have to knock.