The Way I Feel Inside | h.s.

44

Bee's POV:

I eyed every feature on Harry's face as he spoke, taking it all in during these last few minutes of daylight. His hood was down now and he had taken my sunglasses off to perch them on top of his head. I'd done the same with my heart-shaped glasses. The tips of his chestnut curls swayed around his face in the breeze, and his eyes reflected off the seafoam water that rested in front of us as we sat shoulder to shoulder on folded legs in the sand. The beat of the music and the chatter of festival attendees was still constant, but far enough away that we could hear the sounds of the nature that surrounded us here in our little oasis.

He told me of his idea to come here, that he'd brought Mitch and Sarah along. The words rolled off his tongue with ease, and although he spoke slowly, I wished I could slow him down even more. I tried my hardest to take mental screenshots of every twitch of his lips and squint of his eyes. His large hand ran through his hair, or his finger flicked the tip of his nose when he spoke of certain details - like how Sarah had to park their RV because he couldn't do it himself.

He did all of this for me. He came here for me. It was an unbelievable fact that I needed to repeat to myself in my head over and over. I couldn't make sense of it.

"Stop looking at me like that." A ghost of a smile on his lips, he glared at me accusingly despite his gentle tone. His eyes seemed to morph into an even more dazzling shade as his gaze intensified. Those little specks of sunlight that I had first seen under his dressing room vanity lights were now dancing around in his irises.

"How am I looking at you?" My voice cracked as I spoke, remembering two weeks ago in my car when Harry had said the same thing.

I glanced at him questionably, searching his eyes for any other hidden meaning in his words. This look brought out an immediate exhaled chuckle from his lips as he broke eye contact and flicked the tip of his nose with his bent right index finger. "Don't look at me like that."

I smiled at his nervousness and took the opportunity to feel more control in this situation. I stared at him and asked, "Like what?"

He noticed my confidence and raised a challenging eyebrow, leaning his left elbow onto the center console and moving his head a couple inches closer to the middle of the car, closer to me.

"Like an interviewer who wants to pry personal information out of me," he warned, narrowing his eyes as they bounced back and forth between each of mine.

Harry didn't answer me. Instead he tilted his head, his glare softening into a gentle stare, like he was watching my brain replay the memory.

Then his fingertip was on my bare shoulder, ghosting down my arm. I shivered involuntarily and he smirked at the small raised hairs while his hand found mine in my lap to interlock our fingers. His eyes returned to mine as he dipped his head down to place a slow kiss on my shoulder, puckering his lips and making me smile at the light smacking sound the kiss left behind.

I sighed, tightening my hold on his hand in my lap. I looked out across the sky that was soon to become a peaceful shade of indigo.

"Come with me."

At his words, I turned my head absentmindedly to look at him again. "Where we goin'?"

His eyes had grown serious, causing me to frown. "What?" I pressed.

He turned so his entire body was facing me, one galaxy-covered leg still tucked under his frame and the other stretched out on the sand in front of me.

"Come with me, on the road," he said definitively, his eyes gleaming with hope as his hand squeezed mine.

"Come with you," I repeated.